If I were younger, Zoug thought, and still a provider, I might take her as a mate, when she becomes a woman. She'll need a mate someday, and ugly as she is, she's going to have some trouble finding one. But she is young, and strong, and respectful. I have kin in other clans. If I'm strong enough to go to the next Clan Gathering, I'll speak for her. She may not want to stay here after Broud becomes leader, not that it matters what she wants, but I wouldn't blame her. I hope I will be gone to the next world before that happens. Zoug never forgot Broud's attack on him and didn't like the son of Brun's mate. He thought the future leader was unreasonably hard on the girl for whom he had developed an affection. She did deserve to be disciplined, but there were limits and Broud went beyond them. She was never disrespectful to him; it took an older, wiser man to know how to handle women. Yes, I will speak for her. If I can't go, I'll send a message. If only she weren't so ugly, he mused.

As difficult as it was for Ayla, it wasn't all bad. Activities were at a slower pace and there were fewer ch.o.r.es to do. Even Broud could find only so many tasks before there were none left. As time went along, he got a little bored; there wasn't any fight in her anymore, and the intensity of his hara.s.sment slackened. And there was another reason that Ayla began to find the winter more bearable.

At first, in an effort to find valid reasons for her to stay within the boundaries of Creb's fire, Iza decided to begin training her in the preparation and application of the herbs and plants Ayla had been gathering. Ayla found herself fascinated with the art of healing. The girl's avid interest soon involved Iza in a regular program and made the medicine woman think she should have begun sooner, as she became fully aware of just how differently her adopted daughter's mind worked.

If Ayla had been her true child, Iza would only have had to remind her of what was already stored in her brain, to get her accustomed to using it. But Ayla struggled to memorize knowledge Uba was born with, and Ayla's conscious memory wasn't as good. Iza had to drill her, go over the same material many times, and constantly test her to make sure she had it right. Iza pulled information from her memories as well as her own experience and was surprised, herself, at the wealth of knowledge she had. She'd never had to think about it before; it was just there when she needed it. Sometimes Iza despaired of ever teaching Ayla what she knew, or even enough to make her an adequate medicine woman. But Ayla's interest never flagged and Iza was determined to give her adopted daughter an a.s.sured status in the clan. The lessons went on daily.

"What is good for burns, Ayla?"

"Let me think. Hyssop flowers mixed with goldenrod flowers and cone flowers, dried and powdered together in equal parts. Wet it and make it into a poultice, cover with a bandage. When it dries, wet it again with cold water poured on the bandage," she finished in a rush, then paused to think. "And dried horsemint flowers and leaves are good for scalds; wet them in the hand and put them on the burn. Boiled roots of sweet rush make a wash for burns."

"Good, anything else?"

The girl searched her mind. "Giant hyssop, too. Chew the fresh leaves and stalk for a poultice, or wet the dried leaves. And...oh, yes, boiled yellow-spined thistle blossoms. Put on as a wash after it's cooled."

"That's good for skin sores, too, Ayla. And don't forget that horsetail-fern ashes mixed with fat make a good burn ointment."

Ayla began to do more of the cooking, too, under Iza's direction. She soon took over the ch.o.r.e of preparing most of Creb's meals, except, for her, it wasn't a ch.o.r.e. She took pains to grind his grains especially fine before they were cooked to make it easier for him to chew with his worn teeth. Nuts, too, were chopped fine before she served them to the old man. Iza taught her to prepare the painkilling drinks and poultices that eased his rheumatism, and Ayla made a specialty of the remedies for that affliction of the older members of the clan, whose suffering invariably worsened with their confinement to the cold stone cave. That winter was the first time Ayla a.s.sisted the medicine woman, and their first patient was Creb.

It was midwinter. The heavy snowfalls had blocked the mouth of the cave several feet up. The insulating blanket of snow helped to keep the warmth from fires inside the large cavern, but the wind still whistled in through the large opening above the snow. Creb was unusually moody, vacillating from silence to grouchiness to apologetic repentance to silence again. His behavior confused Ayla, but Iza guessed the reason. Creb had a toothache, a particularly painful toothache.

"Creb, won't you just let me look at the tooth?" Iza pleaded.

"It's nothing. Just a toothache. Just a little pain. Don't you think I can stand a little pain? Don't you think I've had pain before, woman? What's a little toothache?" Creb snapped.

"Yes, Creb," Iza replied, head bowed. He was immediately contrite.

"Iza, I know you're only trying to help."

"If you'd let me look at it, I might be able to give you something for it. How can I know what to give you if you won't let me see it?"

"What's to see?" he motioned. "One bad tooth is the same as another. Just make me some willow-bark tea," Creb grumbled, then sat on his sleeping fur gazing into s.p.a.ce.

Iza shook her head and went to make the tea.

"Woman!" Creb shouted shortly afterward. "Where's that willow bark? What's taking you so long? How can I meditate? I can't concentrate," he gestured impatiently.

Iza hurried over with a bone cup, signaling Ayla to follow. "I was just bringing it, but I don't think willow bark is going to be much help, Creb. Just let me look at it."

"All right. All right, Iza. Look." He opened his mouth and pointed at the offending tooth.

"See how deep the black hole goes, Ayla? The gum is swelling, it's decayed through. I'm afraid it will have to come out, Creb."

"Come out! You told me you just wanted to look so you could give me something for it. You didn't say anything about taking it out. Well, give me something for it, woman!"

"Yes, Creb," Iza said. "Here's your willow-bark tea." Ayla watched the exchange with amazement.

"I thought you said willow bark wouldn't help much?"

"Nothing will help much. You can try a piece of sweet-rush root to chew, it might do some good. But I doubt it."

"Some medicine woman! Can't even cure a toothache," Creb grumbled.

"I could try burning out the pain," Iza motioned matter-of-factly.

Creb flinched. "I'll take the root," he replied.

The next morning Creb's face was swollen and puffy, making his one-eyed scarred face more fearsome. His eye was red from lack of sleep. "Iza," he moaned. "Can't you do something for this toothache?"

"If you had let me take it out yesterday, the pain would be gone by now," Iza motioned and went back to stirring a bowl of parched, ground grain, watching bubbles slowly rising with a gentle pukkah, pukkah, pukkah pukkah, pukkah, pukkah.

"Woman! Have you no feelings? I haven't slept all night!"

"I know. You kept me awake."

"Well, do something!" he exploded.

"Yes, Creb," Iza said. "But, I can't take it out now until the swelling goes down."

"Is that all you can think of? Taking it out?"

"I can try one more thing, Creb, but I don't think I can save the tooth," she gestured sympathetically. "Ayla, bring me that packet with the splinters of charred wood from the tree that was struck by lightning last summer. We'll have to lance the gum to reduce the swelling now, before we can get the tooth out anyway. We might as well see if we can burn out the pain."

Creb shuddered at the instructions the medicine woman gave the girl, then he shrugged. It can't be much worse than the toothache, he thought.

Iza sorted through the packet of splinters and withdrew two. "Ayla, I want you to get the tip of this one red hot. The end should be like a coal, but still strong enough so it won't break off. Rake a coal out of the fire and hold the tip next to it until it smolders. But first, I want you to watch how to lance the gum. Hold his lips back for me."

Ayla did as she was instructed and looked into Creb's huge open mouth and at the two rows of large worn teeth.

"We puncture the gum with a hard sharp splinter beneath the tooth until the blood flows," Iza gestured, then demonstrated.

Creb's hand was clenched into a fist, but he made no sound. "Now, while this is draining, get the other splinter hot."

Ayla quickly ran to the fire and soon returned with a smoldering ember on the end of the charred splinter. Iza took it, looked at it critically, nodded her head, and motioned to Ayla to hold back his lips again. She inserted the hot point into the cavity. Ayla felt Creb jerk as she heard a sizzle and watched a thin wisp of steam rise out of the large hole in Creb's tooth.

"There, it's done. Now we wait to see if that will kill the pain. If not, the tooth will have to come out," Iza said after she swabbed the wound on Creb's gum with a mixture of geranium and spikenard-root powders on the tip of her finger.

"It's too bad I don't have any of the fungus that is so good for toothaches. Sometimes it will deaden the nerve, often draw it out. Then I might not have to take the tooth. It's best to use when it's fresh, but dried works, and it should be collected at the end of summer. If I find some next year, I'll show you, Ayla."

"Does your tooth still ache?" Iza asked the next day.

"It's better, Iza," Creb answered hopefully.

"But does it still hurt? If the pain isn't completely gone, it will just swell up again, Creb," Iza insisted.

"Well...yes, it still aches," he admitted, "but not as much. Really, not as much. Why not wait another day or so? I have cast a powerful spell. I have asked Ursus to destroy the bad spirit that is causing the pain."

"Haven't you already asked Ursus many times to rid you of that pain? I think Ursus wants you to sacrifice your tooth before he will make the pain stop, Mog-ur," Iza said.

"What do you know of the Great Ursus, woman?" Creb demanded irritably.

"This woman was presumptuous. This woman knows nothing of the ways of the spirits," Iza replied with bowed head. Then, looking up at her sibling: "But a medicine woman knows about toothaches. The pain will not stop until the tooth comes out," she motioned firmly.

Creb turned his back and limped away. He sat on his sleeping fur with his eye closed.

"Iza?" he called out after a while.

"Yes, Creb?"

"You are right. Ursus wants me to give up the tooth. Go ahead. Get it over with."

Iza walked over to him. "Here, Creb, drink this. It will make the pain less. Ayla, there is a small peg near the packet of splinters and a long piece of sinew. Bring them here."

"How did you know to have the drink ready?" Creb asked.

"I know Mog-ur. It is hard to give up a tooth, but if Ursus wants it, Mog-ur will give it. It is not the hardest sacrifice he has made to Ursus. A powerful totem is difficult to live with, but Ursus would not have chosen you if you were not worthy."

Creb nodded and swallowed the drink. It's from the same plant I use to help men with the memories, he thought. But I think I saw Iza boil it; she makes a decoction rather than an infusion. It's stronger than when it's steeped. It has many uses. Datura must be a gift from Ursus. He was beginning to feel the narcotic effects.

Iza told Ayla to hold open the old magician's mouth again while she carefully placed the wooden spike at the base of the aching tooth. She gave the peg a sharp blow with a stone held in her hand to loosen it. Creb jumped, but it was not as painful as he thought it would be. Then Iza tied the piece of sinew around the loosened tooth and told Ayla to secure the other end around one of the posts set firmly into the ground that was part of the frame from which the herbs were hanging to dry.

"Now, move his head back until the cord is taut, Ayla," Iza told the girl. With a quick jerk, Iza yanked on the sinew. "Here it is," she said, and held up the cord with the heavy molar dangling from it. She sprinkled dried geranium root on the bleeding hole and dipped a small piece of absorbent rabbit skin in an antiseptic solution of balsamgum bark and a few of the dried leaves, and packed his jaw with the damp leather.

"Take your tooth, Mog-ur," Iza said, putting the decayed molar into the hand of the still-dazed magician. "It's all over."

He clenched it in his hand, then let it drop as he lay down. "Must give Ursus," he fumbled groggily.

The clan watched to see how well Creb recovered after Ayla a.s.sisted the medicine woman with her dental surgery. When his mouth healed quickly without any complications, they felt more a.s.sured that the girl's presence didn't alienate the spirits. It made them more willing to allow her to a.s.sist when Iza helped them. As the winter progressed, Ayla learned to treat burns, cuts, bruises, colds, sore throats, stomachaches, earaches, and many of the minor injuries and ailments they fell heir to in the normal course of living.

In time, members of the clan went as easily to Ayla as to Iza for treatment of minor problems. They knew Ayla had been collecting herbs for Iza and saw the medicine woman training her. They knew, too, that Iza was getting old and wasn't well and Uba was too young. The clan was getting used to the strange girl in their midst and was beginning to accept the idea that a girl born to the Others might someday be the medicine woman of their clan.

It was during the coldest time of the year, after the winter solstice and before the first breakup of spring, that Ovra went into labor.

"It's too early," Iza told Ayla. "She should not deliver until spring, and she hasn't felt movement recently. I'm afraid the birth will not go well. I think her baby will be stillborn."

"Ovra wanted this baby so much, Iza. She was so happy when she found out she was pregnant. Can't you do anything?" Ayla asked.

"We'll do what we can, but there are some things that are beyond help, Ayla," the medicine woman replied.

The whole clan was concerned about the early labor of Goov's mate. The women tried to offer moral support while the men waited anxiously nearby. They had lost several members during the earthquake and looked forward to any increases in their number. New babies meant more mouths for Brun's hunters and the foraging women to feed, but, in time, the babies would grow and provide for them when they grew old. The continuation and survival of the clan was essential to individual survival. They needed each other and were saddened that Ovra would probably not give birth to a living baby.

Goov was more worried for his mate than for the child, and wished there was something he could do. He didn't like to see Ovra suffering, especially when the outcome had so little hope of being anything but unhappy. She wanted the baby; she had felt inadequate to be the only woman in the clan without children. Even the medicine woman had given birth, as old as she was. Ovra had been elated when she finally became pregnant, and now Goov wished he could think of some way to ease her loss.

Droog seemed to understand the younger man better than anyone. He'd had occasion to have similar feelings about Goov's mother, though he was glad she had given birth to Goov, and Droog had to admit he was enjoying his new family, once he had gotten used to them. He even had hopes that Vorn might yet develop an interest in toolmaking, and Ona was sheer delight, especially now that she was weaned and was beginning to imitate grown women in her own little-girl way. Droog had never had a girl around his fire before, and she was so young when he had mated Aga, it felt as though Ona had been born to his hearth.

Ebra and Uka were sitting beside Ovra, sympathizing, while Iza prepared medication. Uka had been looking forward to her daughter's expected child, too, and held Ovra's hand while she strained. Oga had gone to prepare an evening meal for Brun and Grod along with Broud, and had asked Goov as well. Ika offered to help, but when Goov declined, Oga said she didn't need help. Goov didn't feel much like eating and went to visit Droog's hearth and was finally coaxed by Aba to try a few bites.

Oga was distracted, worried about Ovra, and was beginning to wish she hadn't turned down Ika's offer. She didn't know how it happened, but as she was serving bowls of hot soup to the men, she stumbled. Boiling-hot soup spilled on Brun's shoulder and arm.

"Aarghhh!" Brun cried as the scalding liquid poured over him. He was dancing around, gritting his teeth at the pain. Every head turned and every breath was held. The silence was broken by Broud.

"Oga! You stupid, clumsy woman!" he gesticulated to cover up his embarra.s.sment that it was his mate who had done such a thing.

"Ayla, go help him, I can't leave now," Iza signaled.

Broud advanced toward his mate with his fists doubled, ready to punish her.

"No, Broud," Brun gestured, putting out his hand to stop the young man. The hot grease from the soup still clung to him and he struggled not to show the pain he felt. "She couldn't help it. Beating her will do no good." Oga was crumpled in a heap at Broud's feet, shaking with humiliation and fear.

Ayla was apprehensive. She had never treated the leader of the clan, and regarded him with inordinate fear. She raced toward Creb's hearth, grabbed a wooden bowl, then raced to the mouth of the cave. She scooped up a mound of snow and went to the hearth of the leader, dropping to the ground in front of him.

"Iza sent me, she cannot leave Ovra now. Will the leader allow this girl to help him?" she asked when Brun acknowledged her.

Brun nodded. He harbored doubts about Ayla becoming the clan's medicine woman, but under the circ.u.mstances he had little choice but to allow her to treat him. Nervously, she applied the cooling snow to the angry red burn, feeling Brun's hard muscles relax as the snow eased the pain. She ran back, found the dried horsemint, and added hot water to the leaves. After they softened, she put snow in the bowl to cool it quickly and returned to her patient. With her hand she applied the soothing medication, feeling more tension leave the leader's rock-hard muscular body as she worked. Brun breathed a little easier. The burn still hurt, but it was far more bearable. He nodded his approval, and the girl relaxed a little.

She does seem to be learning Iza's magic, Brun thought. And she's learning to behave well, as a woman should; perhaps all she needed was a little maturity. If anything happens to Iza before Uba grows up, we will be without a medicine woman. Perhaps Iza is wise to train her.

Not long afterward, Ebra came and told her mate that Ovra's son was stillborn. Brun nodded and glanced in her direction, shaking his head. And a boy, too, he thought. She must be heartbroken, everyone knows how much she wanted this baby. I hope she'll have an easier time getting pregnant again. Who would think a Beaver totem could fight so hard? Though the leader felt a great pity for the young woman, he said nothing, for no one would mention the tragedy. But Ovra understood Brun's reason for coming to Goov's hearth a few days later to tell her she should take as long as she wanted to recuperate from her "illness." Though the men often congregated at Brun's fire, the leader seldom visited the other men's hearths, and very rarely talked to the women if he did. Ovra was grateful for his concern, but nothing could ease her pain.

Iza insisted that Ayla continue to treat Brun, and as the scald healed, the clan accepted her even more. Ayla felt easier around the leader afterward. He was, after all, only human.

12*

As the long winter ended, the tempo of the clan's life increased to match the pace of life quickening within the rich earth. The cold season enforced not a true hibernation, but an alteration in metabolic rates brought about by reduced activities. In winter they were more sluggish, slept more, ate more, causing an insulating layer of subcutaneous fat to develop as protection against the cold. With a rise in temperature, the trend was reversed, making the clan restless and eager to be out and moving.

The process was a.s.sisted by Iza's spring tonic, compounded of tritic.u.m roots, collected early in spring from the coa.r.s.e gra.s.s that resembled rye, dried woodruff leaves, and iron-rich yellow dock root powder, administered universally to young and old alike by the clan's medicine woman. With new vigor, the clan burst out of the cave ready to begin a new cycle of seasons.

The third winter in the cave had not been too hard on them. The only death was Ovra's stillborn child, and that didn't count because it had never been named and accepted. Iza, no longer drained by the demands of nursing a hungry baby, had weathered it well. Creb had suffered no more than usual. Both Aga and Ika were pregnant again, and since both women had given birth successfully before, the clan looked forward to its increase. The first greens, shoots, and buds were gathered and an early hunt planned to provide fresh meat for a spring feast to honor the spirits that awakened new life and to give thanks to the spirits of the clan's protective totems for seeing them through another winter.

Ayla felt she had special reason to give thanks to her totem. The winter had been both trying and exciting. She grew to hate Broud even more intensely, but she learned she could cope with him. He had thrown his worst at her and she learned to take it in stride. There was a limit beyond which even Broud could not go. Learning more of Iza's healing magic helped; she loved it. The more she learned, the more she wanted to learn. She found she was as eager to search out the medicinal plants for their own uses-now that she understood them better-as to use plant gathering as a means of escape. As long as the bitter winds and icy blizzards blew, she waited patiently. But with the first hints of change, restless antic.i.p.ation set in. She looked forward to this spring more than any spring she could remember. It was time to learn to hunt.

As soon as the weather allowed, Ayla took to the woods and fields. She stopped hiding her sling in the small cave near her practice meadow. She kept it with her, tucked into a fold of her wrap or beneath a layer of leaves in her collecting basket. Teaching herself to hunt was not easy. Animals were quick and elusive, and moving targets far more difficult to hit than stationary ones. The women always made noise when they were out gathering, to scare off any lurking animals, and it was a hard habit to break. Many times she became angry with herself for warning an animal of her approach when she caught a glimpse of one darting for cover. But she was determined, and with practice she learned.

Through trial and error she learned to track and began to understand and apply the bits of hunting lore gleaned from the men. Her eye was already trained to pick up small details that differentiated plants, and it took only an extension to learn to define the meaning in the telltale droppings of an animal, a faint print in the dust, a bent blade of gra.s.s or a broken twig. She learned to distinguish the spoor of different animals, became familiar with their habits and habitats. Though she didn't overlook the herbivorous species, she concentrated on the carnivores, her chosen prey.

She watched to see which way the men went when they left to go hunting. But it was not Brun and his hunters that gave her the most concern. More often than not they chose the steppes as their hunting ground, and she didn't dare try to hunt the open plains with no cover. It was the two older men she worried about most. She had seen Zoug and Dorv occasionally when she was foraging for Iza in the past. They were the ones she was most likely to find hunting the same terrain as herself. She had to be constantly on her guard to avoid them. Even starting out in the opposite direction was no guarantee they wouldn't double back and catch her with a sling in her hands.

But as she learned to move silently, she sometimes followed them to watch and learn. She was especially careful then. It was more dangerous for her to track the trackers than the objects of their pursuit. It was good training, however. She learned to move noiselessly as much from following the men as from trailing an animal, and could melt into a shadow if one happened to glance her way.

As Ayla gained skill tracking, learned to move with stealth, trained her eye to discern a shape within its camouflaged cover, there were times when she was sure she could have hit a small animal. Though she was tempted, if it was not carnivorous she pa.s.sed it by without trying. She had made her decision to hunt only predators, and her totem sanctioned only those. Spring buds became blossoms and leafed out the trees, blossoms fell and fruits swelled from their hearts, hanging half-grown and green, and still Ayla had not killed her first animal.

"Get out! Shoo! Scat!"

Ayla started out of the cave to see what the commotion was about. Several women were waving their arms and chasing after a short, squat, s.h.a.ggy animal. The wolverine headed toward the cave but veered aside with a snarl when it saw Ayla. It dodged between the women's legs and escaped with a strip of meat in its jaws.

"That sneaky glutton! I just put that meat out to dry," Oga gesticulated in angry frustration. "I hardly turned my back. He's been hanging around here all summer, getting braver every day. I wish Zoug would get him! It's a good thing you were just coming out, Ayla. He almost ran into the cave. Think what a stink he would have left if he'd gotten cornered in there!"