The Valley of Horses (78 page)

He sensed a divergence, a path splitting, a choice, and he had no one to guide him. A current of warm air raised the hair on the back of his neck. He knew She was leaving him. He had never consciously felt Her presence, but he knew when She was gone, and the void She left behind ached. It was the beginning of an ending: the ending of the ice, the end of an age, the end of the time when Her nourishment provided. The Earth Mother was leaving Her children to find their own way, to carve out their own lives, to pay the consequences of their own actions—to come of age. Not in his lifetime, not in many lifetimes to come, but the first inexorable step had been taken. She had passed on Her parting Gift, Her Gift of Knowledge.

Jondalar felt an eerie keening wail, and he knew he heard the Mother cry.

Like a thong stretched taut and released, reality snapped back into place. But it had been stretched too far and could not fit back into its original dimension. He felt that something was out of place. He looked across the fire at Ayla and saw tears flowing down her face.

“What’s wrong, Ayla?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you sure she can take both of us?”

“No, I’m not sure,” Ayla said, leading Whinney, loaded with her carrying baskets. Racer trailed behind, led by a rope that was tied to a sort of halter made of leather thongs. It gave him freedom to graze and to move his head, and it would not tighten up around his neck and choke him. The
halter had bothered the colt at first, but he was getting used to it.

“If we can both ride, traveling will be faster. If she doesn’t like it, she will let me know. Then we can ride her in turns, or both walk.”

When they reached the large boulder in the meadow, Ayla climbed on the horse, moved up a bit, and held the mare steady while Jondalar mounted her. Whinney flicked her ears back. She felt the extra weight and wasn’t accustomed to it, but she was a sturdy rugged horse and she started out at Ayla’s urging. The woman kept her to a steady pace and was sensitive to the horse’s change in gait that signaled it was time to stop and rest.

The second time they started out, Jondalar was more relaxed and then wished he was still nervous. Without the tense worry, he became entirely aware of the woman riding in front of him. He could feel her back pressing up against him, her thighs against his, and Ayla became sensitive to more than the horse. A hot, hard pressure had risen behind her, over which Jondalar had no control, and every movement of the horse jogged them together. She wished it would go away—and yet she didn’t.

Jondalar was beginning to feel a pain he had not experienced before. He had never forced himself to hold in his aroused desire so much. From the first days of manhood, there had always been some means for release, but there was no other woman here except Ayla. He refused to bring it about himself again and just tried to bear it.

“Ayla,” his voice was strained, “I think … I think it’s time to rest,” he blurted out.

She stopped the horse and got off as quickly as she could. “It’s not far,” she said. “We can walk the rest of the way.”

“Yes, it will give Whinney a rest.”

Ayla didn’t argue, although she knew that was not why she was walking. They walked three abreast, with the horse between them, talking over her back. Even then, Ayla could hardly keep her mind on landmarks and directions, and Jondalar walked with aching loins, grateful for the screen the horse provided.

As they came in sight of a herd of bison, the anticipation of actually hunting with the spear thrower began to drain off a measure of their stifled ardor, though they took care not to stand too close together, and preferred to keep one or the other of the horses between them.

The bison were milling around a small stream. The herd was larger than when Ayla had first seen it. Several other small groupings had joined it and more would follow. Eventually, tens of thousands of densely packed, shaggy, brownish black animals would crowd across acres of rolling hills and river valleys; a lowing, thundering, living carpet. Within that throng, any one individual animal had little significance; their survival strategy depended on numbers.

Even the smaller number that had accumulated near the stream had subjugated their prickly individualities to the herding instinct. Later, survival would demand splintering again into small family herds to disperse and search for fodder during the lean seasons.

Ayla took Whinney to the edge of the stream near a tenacious wind-bent pine. In the sign language of the Clan, she told the horse to stay nearby, and, seeing the mare herd her young one close to her, Ayla knew she need not have worried about Racer. Whinney was entirely capable of guiding her foal away from danger. But Jondalar had gone to some trouble to find a solution to a problem she had envisaged, and she was curious to see how it would work.

The woman and man each took a spear thrower and a holder of long spears, and proceeded on foot toward the herd. Hard hooves had broken down the dry crust of the steppes and kicked up a haze of dust that settled in a fine coating on the dark shaggy fur. The movement of the herd was marked by the choking dust, the way smoke from a smoldering prairie fire showed the course of the blaze—and a similar devastation was left in the wake.

Jondalar and Ayla circled to get downwind of the slowly moving herd, squinting to pick out individual animals as the wind, laden with the hot rangy odor of bison, blew fine grit in their faces. Bawling calves straggled after cows, and butting yearlings tested the patience of hump-backed bulls.

One old bull, rolling in a dust wallow, heaved up to regain his feet. His massive head hung low as though weighted down by the enormous black horns. Jondalar’s six feet six inches topped the height of the bison at his humped shoulders—but not by much. The animal’s powerful, thickly furred front quarters tapered to low, lean hindquarters. The huge old beast, probably just past his prime, was too tough and stringy for their needs, but they knew he could be formidable when he stopped to eye them suspiciously. They waited until he moved on.

As they moved in closer, the rambling background noise of the herd increased and disintegrated into various pitches of bawling and lowing. Jondalar pointed out a young female. The heifer was nearly full grown, ready to bear young, and fattened from summer grazing. Ayla nodded agreement. They fitted the spears into their spear throwers and Jondalar signaled his intention to circle to the other side of the young cow.

By some unknown instinct, or perhaps because she had seen the man moving, the animal sensed she had been marked as prey. Nervously, she edged closer to the main body of the herd. Several others were moving to close around her, and Jondalar’s attention was distracted by them. Ayla was sure they were going to lose the cow. Jondalar’s back was toward her, she couldn’t signal, and the heifer was moving out of range. She couldn’t shout; even if he could hear her, it might warn the bison.

She made a decision and took aim. He glanced back as she was ready to hurl, took in the situation, and readied his thrower. The fast-moving heifer was stirring up the other animals, as were they. The man and women had thought the cloud of dust would be sufficient cover, but the bison were used to it. The young cow had almost reached the safety of the crowd, with others moving in.

Jondalar dashed toward her and heaved his spear. Ayla’s followed an instant later, finding its mark in the shaggy neck of the bison after his tore into her soft underbelly. The bison’s momentum carried her forward, then her pace slowed. She wavered, staggered, and slumped to her knees, cracking Jondalar’s spear as she collapsed on it. The herd smelled blood. A few sniffed at the downed heifer, lowing uneasily. Others picked up their dirge, jostling and eddying, the air rampant with tension.

Ayla and Jondalar ran toward the kill from opposite directions. Suddenly he started shouting and waving his arms at her. She shook her head, not understanding his signals.

A young bull, who had been playing at butting, had finally elicited a response from the old patriarch and dodged away, running into a nervous cow. The young male moved back, indecisive and agitated, but his evasive action was cut off by the big bull. He didn’t know which way to turn until his attention was caught by a moving bipedal figure. He lowered his head and ran toward it.

“Ayla! Look out!” Jondalar shouted, running toward her. He had a spear in his hand and pointed it.

Ayla turned and saw the young bull coming at her. Her first thought was her sling, an almost instinctive reaction. It had always been her immediate means of defense. But she dismissed it quickly and slapped a spear into her thrower.

Jondalar launched his spear by hand a moment before her, but the spear thrower imparted greater speed. Jondalar’s weapon found a flank, which turned the bison momentarily. When he looked, Ayla’s spear, still quivering, was lodged in the young bull’s eye; the animal was dead before he fell.

The running, shouting, and new source of blood smell started the aimlessly milling animals in a concerted direction—away from the disturbing activity. The last stragglers bypassed their fallen members to join the herd in a ground-shaking stampede. The rumble could still be heard after the dust settled.

The man and woman were struck dumb for a moment as they stood looking at the two dead bison on the empty plain.

“It’s over,” Ayla said, stunned. “Just like that.”

“Why didn’t you run?” Jondalar shouted, giving in to his fear for her now that it was over. He strode toward her. “You could’ve been killed!”

“I couldn’t turn my back on a charging bull,” Ayla countered. “He would have gored me for sure.” She looked again at the bison. “No, I think your spear would have stopped him … but I didn’t know that. I never hunted with anyone before. I always had to watch out for myself. If I didn’t, no one would have.”

Her words jogged a final piece into place, and suddenly a picture came together of what her life must have been. He saw her in a new way. This woman, he thought, this gentle, caring, loving woman, has survived more than anyone would believe. No, she could not run away, not from anything, not even from you. Whenever you let yourself go, Jondalar, and lost control, people backed off. But at your worst, she stood her ground.

“Ayla, you beautiful, wild, wonderful woman, look what a hunter you are!” He smiled. “Look what we’ve done! Two of them. How are we going to get them both back?”

As the full significance of their achievement filled her, she smiled, with satisfaction, triumph, and joy. It made Jondalar aware that he had not seen that smile often enough. She was beautiful, but when she smiled like that, she glowed, as
though a fire was lit from within. A laugh rose up in him unexpectedly—uninhibited and infectious. She joined him; she couldn’t help it. It was their shout of victory, of success.

“Look what a hunter you are, Jondalar,” she said.

“It’s the spear throwers—they made the difference. We walked into this herd, and before they knew what happened … two of them! Think what that can mean!”

She knew what it would mean to her. With the new weapon she would always be able to hunt for herself. Summer. Winter. No pit traps to dig. She could travel and hunt. The spear thrower had all the advantages of her sling, and so many more.

“I know what it means. You said you would show me a better way to hunt, an easier way. You did, more than I imagined. I don’t know how to tell you … I am so …”

There was only one way she knew to express her gratitude, the way she had learned in the Clan. She sat at his feet and bowed her head. Perhaps he would not tap her shoulder to give her permission to tell him, in the proper way, but she had to try.

“What are you doing?” he said, reaching down to urge her up. “Don’t sit there like that, Ayla.”

“When a woman of the Clan wants to tell a man something important, this is how she asks for his attention,” she said, looking up. “It is important for me to tell you how much this means, how grateful I am for the weapon. And for teaching me your words, for everything.”

“Please, Ayla, get up,” he said, lifting her to her feet. “I didn’t give this weapon to you, you gave it to me. If I hadn’t seen you use your sling, I would not have thought of it. I am grateful to you, for more than this weapon.”

He was holding her arms, feeling her body close to his. She was looking into his eyes, unable and unwilling to turn her eyes aside. He bent closer and put his mouth on hers.

Her eyes opened wide in surprise. It was so unexpected. Not only his action, but her reaction, the jolt that flushed through her, when she felt his mouth on hers. She did not know how to respond.

And, finally, he understood. He wouldn’t push her beyond that gentle kiss—not yet.

“What is that mouth on mouth?”

“It’s a kiss, Ayla. It’s your first kiss, isn’t it? I keep forgetting, but it’s very hard to look at you and … Ayla, sometimes I am a very stupid man.”

“Why do you say that? You are not stupid.”

“I am stupid. I can’t believe how stupid I have been.” He let go of her. “But right now, I think we’d better find a way to get those bison back to the cave, because if I stay here standing next to you like this, I’ll never be able to do it right for you. The way it should be done for your first time.”

“The way what should be done?” she said, not really wanting him to move away.

“First Rites, Ayla. If you will allow me.”

“I don’t think Whinney could have hauled them both back here if we hadn’t left the heads behind,” Ayla said. “It was a good idea.” She and Jondalar dragged the carcass of the bull off the travois and onto the ledge. “There is so much meat! It will take a long time to cut it up. We should start right away.”

“They’ll keep for a while, Ayla.” His smile and his eyes filled her with warmth. “I think your First Rites are more
important
. I’ll help you take the harness off Whinney—then I’m going for a swim. I’m sweaty, and bloody.”

“Jondalar …” Ayla hesitated. She was feeling excited, and yet shy. “It is a ceremony, this First Rites?”

“Yes, it is a ceremony.”

“Iza taught me to prepare myself for ceremonies. Is there a … preparation for this ceremony?”