page47 (2/2)

“I’ve got to show this to Dalanar! This is unbelievable! He’s improved on so with the stone, like you, Wymez But you can al?”

Wymez nodded “I wouldn’t say you can shave it It’s still stone, not quite as easy to shape as bone, but if you knoork stone, heating makes it easier”

“I wonder ould happen with indirect percussion … have you tried using a piece of bone or antler with a point to direct the force of a blow froer and thinner that way”

Ayla thought that Jondalar had a natural feel for working with the stone, too But more than that, she sensed in his enthusiasm and spontaneous desire to share this o home

In her valley, when she had been hesitant about facing the unknown Others, she had thought Jondalar only wished to leave so he could be with other people She had never quite understood before just hoerful was his desire to return to his hoht; she knew that he could never be truly happy any other place

Though she desperately missed her son and the people she loved, Ayla hadn’t felt hoo back to a familiar place, where people were known, and customs were comfortable She had knohen she left the Clan she could never return To them, she was dead If they saw her, they would think she was a o back to live with theh she had been with the Lion Camp only a short time, she already felt more comfortable and at home than she had in all the years she lived with the Clan Iza had been right She was not Clan She was born to the Others

Lost in thought, Ayla hadJondalar ht her back

… I think Ayla’s technique must be close to theirs That’s where she learned I have seen some of their tools, but I had never seen them made before she showedstep fro a core to an intermediary punch, and that makes the difference between a heavy flake tool and a fine, light blade tool”

Wymez smiled and nodded “Now, if we could only find a way to e of a knife is never quite as sharp after it’s been retouched”

“I’ve thought about that proble a contribution to the discussion “How about cutting a groove in bone or antler, and gluing in bladelets? Sht?”

Jondalar thought about it for a moment “Hoould you make them?”

“Couldn’t you start with a sested, a little tentatively

“That , but a sht about starting with a bigger blade and breaking it into smaller ones …”

They were still talking about flint, Ayla realized They never seemed to tire of it The material and its potential never ceased to fascinate them The more they learned, the more it stimulated their interest She could appreciate flint and toolht the points Wymez had shown them were finer than any she had ever seen, as much for their beauty as for their use But she had never heard the subject discussed in such exhaustive detail Then, she reic The times she had spent with Iza, and Uba, when theher happiest memories

Ayla noticed Nezzie coot up to see if she could help Though the three men smiled and made comments as she left, she didn’t think they would even notice that she had gone