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Ayla listened, fascinated She didn’t understand half of what Deegie said, and wasn’t sure if she believed she understood the other half

“It is sad to leave mother, and people,” Ayla said “But you have mate soon?”

“Oh, yes Next su settled She set such a high Bride Price I was afraid they’d never h If only Branag didn’t have to leave now But they’re expecting hiht away…”

The two young woether, co

It was cooler in the entrance foyer, but it wasn’t until she felt the blast of cold air when the drape at the front arch was pulled back that Ayla realized how id hipped her hair back and tugged at the heavy ust A light dusting of snow had fallen during the night A sharp crosscurrent picked up the fine flakes, swirled them into pockets and hollows, then scooped out the wind-blasted crystals and flung the of tiny hard pellets of ice

Yet it had been warm inside, much warmer than a cave She had put on her fur parka only to co if she had stayed in She heard Whinney neigh The horse and the colt, still tied to his lead, were as far back as they could get from the people and their activities Ayla started toward the wo

Theher head in greeting The woman removed Racer’s bridle, then walked with them doard the river and around the bend Whinney and Racer relaxed once the Caht, and after soraze on the brittle dry grass

Before starting back up Ayla stopped beside a bush She untied the waist thong of her legged gars wouldn’t get hen she passed water She’d had the sa the clothes She hadit after the one she hadthe lion had ripped But she hadn’t worn it until they started on their trip of exploration Jondalar had been so pleased to see her wearing clothes like his, rather than the comfortable leather wrap usually worn by women of the Clan, she decided to leave it behind But she hadn’t discovered how to e this basic necessity easily and she didn’t want to ask him He was a man Hoould he knohat a woman needed to do?

She re trousers, which required that she also reh-topped s—then spread her legs and bent over in her usual ared her mind Instead, she pulled her parka and tunic up over her head, took off her amulet from around her neck, and walked down the bank toward the water The cleansing ritual should be co swim

She had planned to swish out her mouth, and rinse off her face and hands in the river She didn’t knohat means these people used to clean themselves When it was necessary, if the woodpile was buried under ice and fuel was scarce, or if the as blowing hard through the cave, or if water was frozen so solid it was hard to break off enough even for drinking, she could do without washing, but she preferred to be clean And in the back of herof the ritual, the coht in the cave—or the earthlodge—of the Others

She looked out at the water The currentthe main channel, but ice in transparent sheets filmed puddles and the quieter backwaters of the river, and crusted white at the edge A finger of the bank, sparsely covered with bleached and withered grass, stretched into the river forle birch tree, dwarfed to a shrub, grew on the spit of dirt

Ayla walked toward the pool and stepped in, shattering the perfect pane of ice which glazed it She gasped as the freezing water brought a hard shiver, and grabbed a skeletal limb of the small birch to steady herself, as shewind buffeted her bare skin, raising gooseflesh, and whipped her hair into her face She clenched her chattering teeth and waded in deeper When the water was nearly waist-high, she splashed icy water on her face, then with another quick indrawn breath of shock, stooped down and subed up to her neck

For all her gasps and shivers, she was used to cold water and, she thought, soon enough it would be iot out, she pushed the water off her body with her hands and dressed quickly Tingling war cold as she walked back up the slope froorated, and she smiled as a tired sun momentarily bested the overcast sky

As she approached the Cahouse and watched the several knots of people engaged in various occupations

Jondalar was talking with Wy, and she had no doubts as to the subject of the conversation of the three flint knappers Not far fro cords that had held a deer hide—now soft, flexible, nearly white leather—to a rectangular fras Nearby, Deegie was vigorously poking and stretching a second hide, which was strung on a similar frame, with the s the hide as it was drying was done toit to theleather She was interested and noted the details of the process