The food was attractively arranged on platters and in bowls of shaped bone, woven grass and fiber, and carved wood and displayed on long, low tables made of blocks and slabs of limestone. Bent wood tongs, carved horn spoons, and large flint knives were conveniently nearby, ready to be used as serving implements. Most people brought their own eating dishes, though there were extras for those who needed them.
Ayla stopped to admire the display for a moment. There were whole roasted haunches of young reindeer, plump grouse, platters of trout and pike, and, even more prized during the early summer season, servings of still scarce vegetables: young roots, fresh greens, new shoots, and tightly coiled young ferns. Edible sweet milkweed flowers added a pleasing decoration to many of the dishes. There were also nuts and dried fruits from the previous autumn’s harvest, and containers of
rich broth with chunks of reconstituted dried aurochs meat, roots, and mushrooms.
The thought struck Ayla that if they still had such prized food left after living through the rigors of the long winter, it spoke well, indeed, for their ability to organize the collection, preservation, storage, and distribution of adequate provisions to maintain the several Caves of Zelandonii throughout the cold season. The two hundred or so people of the Ninth Cave alone would have been too large a community for a less productive region to sustain year-round, but the exceptionally rich environment, as well as the large number of unusually convenient and serviceable natural shelters, encouraged the growing population of several Caves.
The home of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii was a high limestone cliff whose face was carved by weather and wear into an enormous, overhanging shelf that went from slightly south of due east to almost southwest in a long, shallow, south-facing curve that followed The River. The jutting overhang sheltered an area six hundred fifty feet in length and almost one hundred fifty feet in depth, offering nearly one hundred thousand square feet of covered living space. The stone floor of the abri beneath, layered with centuries of packed dirt and stone nibble, extended as a terrace or front porch somewhat beyond the edge of the huge rock ledge.
With so much space available, the members of the Ninth Cave did not fill up the entire protected area with living structures. No one made a purposeful decision to do so, but perhaps intuitively to lay claim and declare boundaries distinct from the adjacent area where the craftspeople of the vicinity tended to congregate, the residential dwellings of the Ninth Cave were clustered at the eastern end of the abri. Since they had plenty of room to spread out, the site immediately to the west of the dwellings was used for the community workplaces. Southwest of that, and continuing toward the end, was a large unoccupied space for children to play and for people to gather outside of their dwellings yet still be protected from inclement weather.
Though none of the others approached the size of the
Ninth Cave, there were many other Zelandonii Caves along The River and its tributaries, most of them living, at least in winter, in similar sheltered limestone abris with capacious front porches of the same material. Though the people didn’t know it, and their descendants wouldn’t even think in such terms for many millennia, the location of the land of the Zelandonii was halfway between the North Pole and the equator. They didn’t need to know it to understand the benefits of their middle-latitude position. They had lived there for many generations and had learned from experience, passed down through example and lore, that the territory had advantages in all seasons, if one knew how to utilize them.
In summer, people tended to travel around the larger region that they thought of as Zelandonii land, usually living in the open in tents or lodges constructed of natural materials, especially when gathering together into larger groups and often when visiting or hunting or harvesting quantities of vegetable produce. But when they could, they were always happy to find a south-facing stone shelter to use temporarily, or to share the shelters of friends and kin, because of their distinct advantages.
Even during the Ice Age, when the leading edge of the nearest mass of ice was only a few hundred miles to the north, clear days could get quite hot at middle latitudes in the warm season. As the sun passed overhead, seeming to circle the great mother planet, it rode high in the southwest sky. The great protective overhanging cliff of the Ninth Cave, and others that faced south or southwest, cast a shadow beneath it in the heat of midday, offering a respite of enticing cool shade.
And when the weather began to chill, heralding the severe season of intense cold in periglacial territories, they welcomed their more permanent and protected homes. During the glacial winters, though sharp winds and temperatures well below freezing prevailed, the bitter cold days were often dry and clear. The shining orb hung low in the sky then, and the long rays of the afternoon sun could penetrate deep into a south-facing shelter to lay a kiss of solar warmth on the receptive stone. The great limestone abri cherished its precious
gift, holding it until evening, when the nip of frost bit deeper, then it gave back its warmth to the protected space.
Proper clothing and fire were essential to survival on the northern continents when glaciers covered nearly a quarter of the earth’s surface, but in the land of the Zelandonii passive solar heat made a significant contribution toward warming their living space. The huge cliffs with their protective shelters were a significant reason the region was among the most heavily populated in all that cold ancient world.
Ayla smiled at the woman responsible for organizing the feast. “It looks so beautiful, Proleva. If the wonderful smells hadn’t made me so hungry, I would just like to look at it.”
Proleva smiled back, pleased.
“That is her specialty,” Marthona said. Ayla turned, somewhat surprised to see Jondalar’s mother; she had looked for her before she stepped down from the Speaking Stone but couldn’t find her. “No one can put together a feast or a gathering like Proleva. She’s a good cook, too, but it’s her skill at organizing the contributions of food and help from other people that makes her such an asset to Joharran and the Ninth Cave.”
“I learned from you, Marthona,” Proleva said, obviously delighted at the high praise from the mother of her mate.
“You have more than outdone me. I was never as good at making feasts as you have become,” Marthona said.
Ayla noticed the very specific reference to making feasts and recalled that Marthona’s “specialty” had not been organizing feasts and gatherings. Her organizing skills had been utilized as the leader of the Ninth Cave before Joharran.
“I hope you let me help you next time, Proleva,” Ayla said. “I would like to learn from you.”
“I’d be happy to have your help next time, but since this feast is for you, and people are waiting for you to start, can I serve you some of this young reindeer roast?”
“What about your wolf-animal?” Marthona asked. “Would he like some meat?”
“He would, but he doesn’t need tender young meat. He
would probably be happy with a bone, if there is one with a little meat left on it that isn’t needed for soup,” Ayla said.
“There are several by the cooking fires over there,” Proleva said, “but do take a slice of this reindeer and some daylily buds for yourself first.”
Ayla held out her eating bowl to accept the piece of meat and ladle of hot green vegetables, then Proleva called another woman to come and serve the food and walked with Ayla toward the cooking hearths, staying on her left side, away from Wolf. She led them to the bones piled to one side of a large hearth and helped Ayla pick out a broken long bone with a shiny knob at one end. The marrow had been extracted, but pieces of brownish drying raw meat were still clinging to it.
“This will do fine,” Ayla said, while the wolf eyed her with tongue-lolling anticipation. “Would you like to give it to him, Proleva?”
Proleva frowned nervously. She didn’t want to be impolite to Ayla, especially after Marona’s trick, but she wasn’t eager to give a bone to a wolf.
“I would,” Marthona said, knowing it would make everyone less fearful to see her do it. “What should I do?”
“You can hold it out to him, or you can toss it to him,” Ayla said. She noticed that several people, including Jondalar, had joined them. He had an amused smile on his face.
Marthona took the bone and held it out toward the animal as he approached, then with a change of mind, she tossed it in the general direction of the wolf. He jumped up and grabbed it in the air with his teeth, a trick that drew appreciative comments, then he looked at Ayla expectantly.
“Take it over there, Wolf,” she said, signaling him as well, indicating the big charred stump at the edge of the terrace. The wolf carried the bone like a prized possession, settled himself near the stump, and began to gnaw on it.
When they went back to the serving tables, everyone wanted to give Ayla and Jondalar samples of special treats, which she noticed had a different variety of tastes from the ones she had known in her childhood. One thing she had learned on her travels, however, was that whatever foods the
people of a region liked best, while they might be unusual, they generally tasted good.
A man, somewhat older than Jondalar, approached the group that surrounded Ayla. Though Ayla thought he appeared rather slovenly—his unwashed blond hair was dark with grease, and his clothing was grimy and needed repair—many people smiled at him, particularly the young men. He carried a container, similar to a waterbag, over his shoulder. It had been made from the nearly waterproof stomach of an animal and was full of liquid, which distended its shape.
By the size of it, Ayla guessed the container had probably come from the stomach of a horse; it did not appear to have the distinctive contours of a waterbag made from a ruminant with a multiple-chambered stomach. And by the smell, she knew it did not contain water. Rather, the odor reminded her of Talut’s bouza, the fermented drink that the headman of the Lion Camp made out of birch sap and other ingredients—which he liked to keep secret but usually included grains of some kind.
A young man who had been hovering near Ayla looked up and smiled broadly. “Laramar!” he said. “Have you brought some of your barma?”
Jondalar was glad to see him distracted. He didn’t know him, but had learned the man’s name was Charezal. He was a new member of the Ninth Cave who had come from a rather distant group of Zelandonii, and quite young. He probably hadn’t even met his first donii-woman when I left, Jondalar thought, but he had been fluttering around Ayla like a gnat.
“Yes. I thought I would make a contribution to the Welcome Feast for this young woman,” Laramar said, smiling at Ayla.
His smile seemed insincere, which aroused her Clan sensitivity. She paid closer attention to the language his body spoke and quickly decided this was not a man to be trusted.
“A contribution?” one of the women asked with a hint of sarcasm. Ayla thought it was Salova, the mate of Rushemar, one of the two men whom she regarded as Joharran’s seconds
in command, as Grod had been Brim’s in the Clan. Leaders needed someone they could rely on, she had decided.
“I thought it was the least I could do,” Laramar said. “It isn’t often that a Cave can welcome someone from so far away.”
As he lifted the heavy bag from his shoulder and turned to put it down on a nearby stone table, Ayla overheard the woman mutter under her breath, “And even less often that Laramar contributes anything. I wonder what he wants.”
It seemed obvious to Ayla that she was not alone in mistrusting the man. Others did not trust him, either. It made her curious about him. People with cups in hand were already gathering around him, but he made a point of singling out Ayla and Jondalar.
“I think the returned traveler and the woman he brought with him should get the first drinks,” Laramar said.
“They can hardly refuse such a great honor,” Salova murmured.
Ayla barely heard the scornful comment and wondered if anyone else did. But the woman was right. They could not refuse. Ayla looked at Jondalar, who pointedly emptied the water from his cup and nodded toward the man. She emptied her cup as they walked up to Laramar.
“Thank you,” Jondalar said, smiling. Ayla thought his smile was as insincere as Laramar’s. “This is very thoughtful of you. Everyone knows your barma is the best, Laramar. Have you met Ayla yet?”
“Along with everyone else,” he said, “but I haven’t really been introduced.”
“Ayla, of the Mamutoi, this is Laramar of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. It is true. No one makes barma better than his,” Jondalar said.
Ayla thought it seemed a rather limited formal introduction, but the man smiled at the praise. She handed Jondalar her cup to free both of her hands and held them out to the man. “In the name of the Great Earth Mother I greet you, Laramar of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii,” she said.
“And I welcome you,” he said, taking her hands, but
holding them only briefly, almost as if he was embarrassed. “Rather than a formal one, let me offer you a better welcome.”
Laramar proceeded to open the container. First he unwrapped a waterproof piece of cleaned intestine from a pouring spout that had been made of a single vertebra from the backbone of an aurochs. Extraneous material “around the tubular bone had been carved away and a groove cut around the outside. Then it had been inserted into a natural opening of the stomach and a strong cord tied around the skin that encircled the bone so that it was pulled into the groove, to hold it in place and make a watertight connection. Then he pulled out the stopper, a thin leather thong that had been knotted several times at one end until it was big enough to plug the central hole. It was much easier to control the flow of liquid from the flexible bag through the natural hole in the center of the solid section of spine.
Ayla had retrieved her cup from Jondalar and held it out. Laramar filled it somewhat more than half-f. Then he poured some for Jondalar. Ayla took a small sip. “This is good,” she said, smiling. “When I lived with the Mamutoi, the headman, Talut, used to make a drink similar to this out of birch sap and grains and other ingredients, but I must admit, this is better.”