The Land of Painted Caves ec-6

by Jean M. Auel

  'Greetings, Ayla and Jondalar, and Wolf,' Lanidar said, which caused some of his young visitors who had not noticed their arrival to turn around sharply. They seemed to appear so suddenly. But Lanidar knew they were coming. He had noticed a change in the behaviour of the horses. Even in the darkening twilight, the animals were aware of their approach and were edging toward them.

  'Greetings, Lanidar,' Ayla said. 'Your mother and grandmother are at the camp of the Seventh Cave, along with most of the Ninth Cave. You have been invited to share a meal with them.'

  'Who will watch the horses?' he said, leaning down to pet Wolf, who had come to him.

  'We have already eaten. We'll take them back to our camp,' Jondalar said.

  'Thank you for looking out for them, Lanidar,' Ayla said. 'I appreciate your help.'

  'I liked doing it. I'll watch them anytime,' Lanidar said. He meant it. Not only did he enjoy the animals, he liked the attention it brought him. Being responsible for them had brought several curious young men, and young women, to visit.

  With the arrival of the First Among Those Who Served, the Summer Meeting camp was soon caught up in the usual hectic activity of the season. The Rites of First Pleasures had the usual complications, but none that had been as difficult as the one Janida had posed the year before when she turned up pregnant before she'd had her First Rites. Especially when Peridal's mother had objected to the mating of her son with the young woman. The mother's opposition was not entirely unreasonable, since her son could count only thirteen years and a half, and Janida could count only thirteen.

  It wasn't only their youth. Although Peridal's mother didn't want to admit it, the First was sure she also objected because a young woman who shared Pleasures before her First Rites lost status. But, because Janida was pregnant, she also gained status. Several older men had been more than willing to offer her their hearths and welcome her child, but Peridal was the only one with whom she had shared Pleasures, and she wanted him. She had done it not only because he had pressed her so persistently, but because she loved him.

  After the ceremony of First Rites, it was time to organise the first Matrimonial of the summer. Then a large herd of bison was spotted nearby, and the leaders decided that a major hunt was in order before the Matrimonial Rites. Joharran discussed it with the First, and she was agreeable to postponing the ceremony.

  He was anxious to have Jondalar and Ayla use the horses to help drive the bison into the surround that was constructed to corral the animals. The value of the spear-throwers could be shown in hunting down the ones that evaded the surround trap. The leader of the Ninth Cave continued to encourage people to see how a spear could be cast from a much greater, and safer, distance with the spear-thrower. The implements were already becoming the weapon of choice for most of the people who'd had a chance to see them in action. The lion hunt was already common knowledge at the Meeting; the lion hunters had been enthusiastically telling the story of the dangerous confrontation.

  Younger hunters were especially excited about the new weapon, and quite a few of the older ones were as well. Many of those who were less keen were the ones who were skilled in using a hand-flung spear. They were comfortable hunting the way they always had and not eager to learn a new method at such a late stage in their lives. By the time the hunt was over and the meat and skins preserved or put aside for further processing, the First Matrimonial had already been delayed too long to suit many.

  The day of the communal Mating Ceremony had dawned bright and clear, and an air of anticipation filled the whole Camp, not just those who would be participating. It was a celebration that everyone looked forward to, one that they all took part in. The ceremony included the voiced approval of the newly mated couples by all the people at the Summer Meeting. The matings created changes in the names and ties of more than the new couples and their families; the status of nearly everyone shifted to some degree, some more than others, depending on the closeness of their relationships.

  The Matrimonial the year before had been a stressful time for Ayla. Not only because it was her Mating Ceremony, but because she had so recently arrived and was the centre of so much attention. She wanted Jondalar's people to like and accept her and was trying to fit in. Most of them did, but not all of them.

  This year the leaders and former leaders, as well as the the zelandonia, were seated strategically so they could answer when the First asked for responses from those present, which to her meant approvals. The First had not been pleased with the hesitation from some of the crowd the year before when she asked for the endorsement responses for Ayla and Jondalar, and she did not want that to become a practice. She liked her ceremonies to run smoothly.

  The accompanying festivities were anticipated with great relish. People prepared their best dishes and wore their best clothes, but the Mating Festival was not only a joyous occasion for the ones that were mating, it was also the most appropriate occasion for a Mother Festival. Then everyone was encouraged to honour the Great Earth Mother by sharing Her Gift of Pleasure, with joinings and couplings as often as one was able, and with whomever one chose so long as the feeling was reciprocated.

  People were encouraged to honour the Mother, but it was not required. Certain areas were set aside for those who did not wish to participate. Children were never required, though if some of them bounced around with each other in imitation of the adults, it usually drew indulgent smiles. Some adults just didn't feel like it, especially those who were sick or hurt or recovering from accidents or just tired, or women who had recently given birth, or were having their moontime and bleeding. A few of the zelandonia, who were undergoing certain trials that required abstaining from Pleasures for a period of time, volunteered to tend to the young children and help the others.

  The One Who Was First was inside the zelandonia dwelling, sitting on a stool. She swallowed the last of her cup of hawthorn flowers and catmint tea and pronounced, 'It's time.' She gave the empty cup to Ayla, got up, and walked toward the back of the lodge to a small, secondary, somewhat concealed access that was camouflaged on the outside by a construction used to hold additional wood.

  Ayla sniffed the cup; it was an automatic, habitual action, and almost as subconsciously, she noted the ingredients and reflected that it was probably the woman's moontime. Catmint, the waist-high, downy-leafed perennial with the whorls of white, pink, and purple flowers, was a mild sedative that could relieve tension and cramps. She wondered about the hawthorn, however. It had a distinctive taste and maybe she liked the flavour, but it was also one of the ingredients the First used in the medicinal preparation that she made for Marthona. Ayla was now aware that the medicines the Zelandoni gave Jondalar's mother were for the heart, the muscle in her chest that pumped blood. She had seen similar heart muscles in the animals she hunted and subsequently butchered. Hawthorn helped it to pump more vigorously and more rhythmically. She put the cup down and exited out the main entrance.

  Wolf was waiting outside and looked expectantly at Ayla. She smiled, shifted Jonayla who was asleep in her carrying blanket, and hunkered down in front of the animal. Taking his head in both hands, she looked in his eyes.

  'Wolf, I am so glad that I found you. Every day you are here for me, and you give me so much,' she said, ruffling his shaggy hair. Then she bent her forehead to touch his. 'Are you coming with me to the Matrimonial?' Wolf continued to look at her. 'You can come if you want, but I think you'll get tired of it. Why don't you go hunt?' She stood. 'You can go, Wolf. Go ahead, hunt for yourself,' she said, moving her hand toward the boundary of the Camp. He looked up at her a little longer, then jogged off.

  Ayla was wearing the clothing that she had worn when she mated Jondalar, her Matrimonial outfit, which she had carried with her for the entire year-long Journey from the home of the Mamutoi far to the east to the home of Jondalar's people, the Zelandonii, whose territory extended to the Great Waters of the West. The Matrimonial did remind many people of the previous year's event. Several people talked abou
t Ayla's unusual outfit when she appeared wearing it again. But it also reminded Zelandoni of the objections to her that some people had put forth. Although they weren't usually direct about it, the First knew it was primarily because Ayla was a stranger, and a stranger with uncanny abilities.

  Ayla was going as a spectator rather than a participant this time and was looking forward to just watching the ritual. Recalling her Mating Ceremony, she knew the ones who were Promised were gathering in the smaller lodge nearby, dressed in their finery and feeling nervous and excited. Their witnesses and guests were also congregating in the front section of the viewing area, with the rest of the Camp filing in behind them.

  She walked toward the large area where people gathered for various functions that involved the whole Camp. When she arrived, she stopped to scan the crowd, then headed toward the recognisable faces of the Ninth Cave. Several people smiled when she approached, including Jondalar and Joharran.

  'You are looking particularly nice this evening,' Jondalar said. 'I haven't seen those clothes since this time last year.' He was wearing the simple pure white tunic, decorated only with ermine tails, that she had made for him for their mating. On him, it looked stunning.

  'That Mamutoi outfit does become you,' his brother said. He did think so, but the leader of the Ninth Cave also understood how much wealth it displayed.

  Nezzie, the mate of the headman of the Lion Camp, and the woman who had persuaded the Mamutoi to adopt her, had given the garments to Ayla, but their creation had been requested by Mamut, the holy man who had actually adopted her as a daughter of the Mammoth Hearth. They originally had been made for her when it was thought that she would mate Ranec, who was the son of the mate of Nezzie's brother, Wymez. Wymez had travelled far to the south in his youth, mated an exotic dark-skinned woman, and returned after ten years, unfortunately losing his woman on the way.

  He brought with him fantastic stories, new flint-knapping techniques, and an amazing child with brown skin and tight black curls, who Nezzie raised as her own. Among his light-skinned, fair-haired northern kin, Ranec was a unique boy who always caused an exciting stir. He grew into a man with a delicious wit, laughing black eyes that women found irresistible, and a remarkable talent for carving.

  Like the rest, Ayla had been fascinated by Ranec's unusual colouring, and charm, but he also found the beautiful stranger enthralling, and showed it, which brought out a jealousy in Jondalar that he didn't know he had. The tall, blond man with the compelling blue eyes had always been the one that women couldn't resist, and he didn't know how to handle the emotion he had never experienced before. Ayla didn't understand his erratic behaviour, and finally promised to mate Ranec because she thought Jondalar no longer loved her, and she did like the dark carver and his laughing eyes. The Lion Camp grew fond of Ayla and Jondalar that winter they lived with the Mamutoi, and they all had been more than aware of the emotional difficulties of the three young people.

  Nezzie in particular developed a strong bond with Ayla because of her care and understanding of the unusual child the woman had adopted, who was weak, unable to speak, and half Clan. Ayla treated his weak heart and made his life more comfortable. She also taught Rydag the Clan sign language, and the ease and speed with which he learned it made her understand that he did have the Clan memories. She taught the whole Lion Camp a simpler form of the unspoken language so he could communicate with them, which made him extremely happy, and Nezzie overjoyed. Ayla quickly grew to love him — in part because Rydag reminded her of her own son, whom she'd had to leave behind, but more for himself, though ultimately she hadn't been able to save him.

  When Ayla decided to return home with Jondalar instead of staying to mate Ranec, though Nezzie knew how much Ayla's leaving hurt the nephew she had raised, she gave the young woman the beautiful garments that had been made for her, and told her to wear them when she mated Jondalar. Ayla didn't quite realise how much wealth and status the Matrimonial clothing conveyed, but Nezzie did and so did Mamut, the perceptive old spiritual leader. They had guessed from his bearing and manner that Jondalar came from people of high status, and that Ayla would need something to give her a good standing among them.

  Though Ayla didn't quite understand how much status her Matrimonial outfit displayed, she did understand the quality of the workmanship. The hides for the tunic and leggings had come from both deer and saiga antelope and were an earthy, golden yellow, almost the colour of her hair. Part of the colour was the result of the types of wood that were used to smoke the hides to keep them supple, and part the result of the mixtures of yellow and red ochres that were added. It had required a great deal of effort to scrape the skins to make them soft and pliable, but rather than being left with the velvety suede-like finish of buckskin, the leather had been burnished, rubbed with the ochres mixed with fat using an ivory smoothing tool that compacted the hide to a lustrous, shiny finish that made the soft leather almost waterproof.

  The long tunic, sewn together with fine stitches, fell to a downward-pointing triangle at the back. It opened down the front with the sections below the hips tapering so that when it was brought together, another downward-pointing triangle was created. The full leggings were close fitting except around the ankle, where they could bunch softly or be brought down below the heel, depending on the footwear that was chosen. But the quality of the basic construction only laid the groundwork for the extraordinary outfit. The effort that went into the decoration made it an exquisite creation of rare beauty and value.

  The tunic and lower part of the leggings were covered with elaborate geometric designs made primarily of ivory beads, some sections solidly filled in. Coloured embroideries added definition to the geometric beaded pattern. They began with downward-pointing triangles, which horizontally became zigzags and vertically took on the shapes of diamonds and chevrons, then evolved into complex figures such as rectangular spirals and concentric rhomboids. The ivory beads were highlighted and accentuated by amber beads, some lighter and some darker than the colour of the leather, but of the same tone. More than five thousand ivory beads made from mammoth tusks were sewn onto the garments, each bead carved, pierced, and polished by hand.

  A finger-woven sash in similar geometric patterns was used to tie the tunic closed at the waist. Both the embroidery and the belt were made of yarns whose natural colour needed no additional dyeing: deep red woolly mammoth hair, ivory mouflon wool, brown musk-ox underdown, and deep reddish-black woolly rhinoceros long hair. The fibres were prized for more than their colours; they all came from animals that were difficult and dangerous to hunt. The workmanship of the entire outfit was superb in every detail, it was evident to knowledgeable Zelandonii that someone had acquired the finest materials and assembled the most skilful and accomplished people to make the garments.

  When Jondalar's mother had first seen it the year before, she knew that whoever had directed the outfit to be made commanded great respect and held a very high position within his community. It was clear that the time and effort it took to make it were considerable, yet the outfit had been given to Ayla when she left. None of the benefits of the resources and work that went into making it would stay within the community that made it. Ayla said she had been adopted by an old spiritual man she called Mamut, a man who obviously possessed such tremendous power and prestige — in effect, wealth — that he could afford to give away the mating outfit and the value it represented. No one understood that better than Marthona.

  Ayla had, in effect, brought her own bride price, which gave her the status that she needed to contribute to the relationship so that mating her would not lower the position of Jondalar or his kin. Marthona made a point of mentioning that to Proleva, whom she knew would tell her husband, Joharran, Marthona's eldest son, leader of the Ninth Cave. Joharran was glad to have an opportunity to see the prized possession again, now that he fully understood its value. He realised that if properly cared for — and he was sure it would be — the clothing would last a long time. The ochres
used to burnish the leather did more than add colour and make it water resistant, it helped to preserve the material, and make it resistant to insects and their eggs. It would likely be used by Ayla's children, and perhaps their children, and when the leather finally disintegrated, the amber and ivory beads could be reused for many more generations.

  Joharran knew the value of ivory beads. Recently, he'd had occasion to trade for some, for himself but especially for his mate, and recalling the transaction, he looked at Ayla's rich and luxurious clothing with new appreciation. As he looked around he noticed that many people were surreptitiously watching her.

  Last year, when Ayla wore it for her Matrimonial, everything about her was strange and unusual, including the woman herself. Now people had become more accustomed to her, to the way she spoke, and to the animals she controlled. She was looked upon as a member of the zelandonia and therefore her strangeness seemed more normal, if one could consider any Zelandoni normal. But the outfit made her stand out again, made people recall her foreign origins, but also the wealth and status she brought with her.

  Among those watching her were Marona and Wylopa. 'Look at her flaunting that outfit,' Marona said to her cousin, her eyes full of envy. She would have been more than happy to flaunt it. 'You know, Wylopa, that wedding outfit should have been mine. Jondalar Promised me. He should have come back and mated me, and given that outfit to me.' She paused. 'Her hips are too broad for it anyway,' Marona said with scorn.

  As Ayla and the others were making their way to a place that the Ninth Cave had claimed for watching the festivities, both Jondalar and his brother saw Marona. She was staring at Ayla with such malevolence, it made Joharran apprehensive, for Ayla's sake. He glanced at Jondalar, who had also seen Marona's glare of hatred, and a look of shared understanding passed between the two brothers.