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the corass and short steppe grasses and herbs, feather grasses and fescues, the central steppic plains were an extraordinarily rich, abundantly productive grassland blowing in the wind

As Ayla and Jondalar left the southern plains and approached the cold north, the season seeress more quickly than usual The wind in their faces carried a hint of the earth-chilling cold of its source The inconceivablyover vast areas of northern lands, lay directly in front of the distance much less than they had already traveled

With the changing season, the increasing force of the icy air held a deep undercurrent of its potential power The rains died streaks of white replaced the thunderheads, the clouds torn to shreds by the strong steady winds Sharp blasts tore the dry leaves from deciduous trees and scattered thee of mood, a sudden updraft lifted the brittle skeletons of su of the game, resettled them in another place

But the dry, cold weather was , familiar, even comfortable with their fur-lined hoods and parkas Jondalar had been told correctly; hunting was easy in the central plains and the ani It was also the tirains, fruits, nuts, and roots were ripe for harvesting They had no need to use their e food, and they even replenished supplies they had used when they killed a giant deer, then decided to stop and rest for a few days while they dried the orous health and the happiness of being alive and in love

The horses were rejuvenated, too It was their milieu, the climate and conditions to which they had been adapted Their heavy coats fluffed out inter growth, and they were frisky and eager eachup scents familiar to the deep instinctive recesses of his brain, loped contentedly along, ain, looking sht

River crossings presented no problems Most ays ran parallel to the north-south direction of the Great Mother River, though they splashed through some that crossed the plain, but the patterns were unpredictable The channels meandered so widely they weren't always sure if a strea across their path was a turn in the river or one of the few strearound So stream that, in turn, emptied into another channel of the Mother

Though they sometimes had to detour fro of the river, it was the kind of open grassland thaton foot Theydistances each day that they made up for previous delays Jondalar was pleased to think that they were even co way around so they could visit the Sharamudoi

The crisp, cold, clear days gave the ht to above freezing To the east noere the reat river across the hot southern plains, the same listening glaciered peaks e curved toward the northwest in a great arc

On their left, the highest chain of lacial ice that reached halfway down its flanks, inarched in ridges fro peaks loouely sinister presence, an apparently insurmountable barrier between the travelers and their ultimate destination The Great Mother River would take thee to a relatively slacier that covered, with an armor of ice, an ancient rounded massif at the northwestern end of the alpine foreland of the mountains

Lower and closer, beyond a grassy plain broken up by pine woods, another hland overlooked steppe radually decreased as they continued north, blending into the rolling hills that continued all the way to the foothills of the western rassy landscape, and those that did began to take on the familiar dwarfed contortions of trees sculptured by wind

Ayla and Jondalar had traveled nearly three-quarters of the entire distance, from south to north, of the ian

"Jondalar, look! It's snowing!" Ayla said, and her smile was radiant "It's the first snointer" She had been s snow in the air, and the first snow of the season always seemed special to her

"I can't understand why you look so happy about it," he said, but her s back "You're going to be very tired of snow, and ice, before we see the last of it, I'm afraid"

"You're right, I know, but I still love the first snow" After a few more paces, she asked, "Can we make camp soon?"

"It's only a little past noon," Jondalar said, looking puzzled "Why are you talking aboutcamp already?"