The Land of Painted Caves

by Jean M. Auel

  “Well, that was exciting,” Beladora said.

  “That was fun!” both the twins said together. “Can we do it again?” Ginadela asked.

  “Yes, can we do it again?” Gioneran asked.

  “We’ll do it again, but we have to let Whinney rest a little now,” Ayla said. She was pleased with the distance they had traveled in their short burst of speed, but they still had some ways to go. They kept going, but at a walk. After she felt that her horse was rested, Ayla called out, “Let’s do it again.”

  When the horses started running, the riders hung on, knowing now what to expect. The ones who had been frightened were not as frightened this time, but it was still exciting to move with greater speed than any of them could have run, even those with the longest of legs.

  The native wild horses, which had been tamed but not domesticated, were very strong and tough. Their hooves needed no protection from rocky ground, they could carry or pull a surprisingly heavy load, and their endurance was well beyond what might be expected. Though they loved to run, the horses with the extra loads could sustain the pace for only a limited time, which Ayla watched very carefully. By the time she slowed them back to a walk, and after a while signaled them to take off in a run a third time, the horses even seemed to be enjoying it. Wolf did too. It seemed like some kind of game. He tried to anticipate when they would start to run again and get a head start, but he didn’t want to get too far ahead because he was keeping pace and needed to predict when they would slow down.

  By late afternoon Ayla and Jondalar were beginning to recognize the region though they weren’t sure, and didn’t want to miss the trail they needed to take to reach the Cave of Camora’s people. It had been Willamar who knew the region. Going at a slower pace made everyone notice the changes in the weather. The air was damp and the wind had started to pick up. Then they heard a resounding rumble and the roaring crack of thunder and not long after saw a flash of lightning and it wasn’t very far away. They all knew a big storm was almost upon them. Ayla began to shiver, but it wasn’t just the sudden blast of cold damp air. The rumbling and roaring reminded her too much of an earthquake, and there was nothing she hated more than earthquakes.

  They almost missed the trail, but Willamar and some of the others had been keeping a watch for them for several days. Jondalar was very relieved when he saw the familiar figure waving at them. The Trade Master had seen the horses approaching from some distance away, and had sent one of the people up to tell the Cave that the horses were returning. At a distance, when Willamar didn’t see anyone walking alongside the horses, he was afraid they hadn’t found anyone, but as they drew closer, he saw more than one head above the backs of the horses, and realized they were riding together. Then he saw the pole-drags and as they pulled up, people on them.

  People from the Cave were rushing down the path. When Camora saw her brother and her uncle, she didn’t know which to run to first. They solved her dilemma when both of them ran to her and hugged her together.

  “Hurry, it’s starting to rain,” Willamar urged.

  “We can leave the pole-drags here,” Ayla said, then they all hurried up the trail.

  The travelers stayed longer than planned, partly to give Camora a chance to visit with her kin, and for her mate and children to get to know them. The Cave was a more isolated band of people, and though they went to Summer Meetings, they didn’t have any close neighbors. Jondecam and Levela considered staying with Jondecam’s sister, perhaps until the travelers could stop and pick them up on their way back. She seemed hungry for company and news about people she knew. Kimoran and Beladora definitely planned to leave when the First did. Beladora’s people lived at the end of their proposed Journey.

  The First had been hoping to leave within a few days, but Jonayla came down with measles as they were getting ready to go, which delayed their departure. The three Zelandonia among the travelers gave remedies and instructions to the resident Cave on how to care for those who developed the contagious disease, explaining that they were likely to get sick, too, but that usually it wasn’t too serious. The local Zelandoni had become acquainted with the First and Jonokol while Ayla and Jondalar were looking for the others, and had grown to respect their knowledge.

  The people of the Ninth Cave told stories of their experiences with the sickness and made it seem so commonplace that the people didn’t feel quite as nervous about getting sick with it. Even after Jonayla started to feel better, Zelandoni decided that they should postpone leaving until the people of the Cave started to show symptoms so the three of them could explain how to care for those who got sick and what herbs and poultices would be helpful. Many of the Cave did get sick, but not all of them, which made the First think that at least some of the people had been exposed to measles before.

  Zelandoni and Willamar knew there were some Sacred Sites in the region and talked about them with Farnadal and their Donier. The First knew of them but had not seen them. Willamar had, but it had been many years before. The sites were related to the major painted cave near the Seventh Cave of South Land Zelandonii, just as the one near the Fourth South Land Cave was, and they were Sacred Sites, but from the descriptions, there wasn’t much to see, just a few rough paintings on stone walls.

  They had already been delayed so long that the First decided they could omit those sites on this Donier Tour so they would have time to see some others. It was more important to see the very major Sacred Site that was not far from Amelana’s Cave. And they still had to make a visit to the neighboring Giornadonii, and Beladora’s Cave.

  The wait gave the Ninth Cave an opportunity to get to know the people of Camora’s Cave better, and Jondalar, in particular, the opportunity to demonstrate the spear-thrower and show how to make one to those who wanted to learn. The wait also gave Jondecam and Levela more time to visit with Camora and their relatives and when the travelers left, they were ready to go with them. During the extended visit, the two Caves had become quite friendly, and they talked about a reciprocal visit sometime.

  For all the camaraderie, the visitors were anxious to be on their way, and the people of the Cave were thankful when they were gone. They were not accustomed to many visitors, unlike the Ninth Cave, which was located in the midst of a richly populated region. It was one reason that Camora still missed her family and friends. She was determined to make sure the Cave did make a return visit, and if she could, she was going to persuade her mate to stay.

  After they started out again, it took the travelers a few days to settle back into a comfortable itinerant mode. The composition of the new group of travelers was quite different from the one they had started out with, primarily because there were more of them, and more children, which prolonged the time it took to move from place to place. As long as it had been just Jonayla, who often rode Gray, they moved at a fairly rapid pace, but with two more youngsters who were old enough to use their own legs, and a younger one who wanted to walk because the other children did, their rate of travel had inevitably slowed.

  Ayla finally made the suggestion that Gray pull a pole-drag for the three children to use while Jonayla rode on her back. That helped the travelers to move a little faster. The trekkers settled into a very practical routine with all of them contributing to the well-being of the group in their own way.

  As the season progressed and they continued in their southerly direction, the days grew warmer. It was generally pleasant, except for an occasional rainstorm or muggy heat spell. When they were traveling or working in warm weather, men often wore a breechclout and perhaps a vest, plus their decorative and identifying beads. Women usually wore a loose, comfortable sleeveless dress with slits up the sides for ease of walking, made of soft buckskin or woven fibers that went on over their head and tied at the waist. But as the weather warmed, even light clothing could be too much and they stripped down more. Both men and women sometimes wore only a thong or short fringed skirt and some beads, the children not even that, and their skins turned nut brown. A
natural tan, slowly acquired, was the best protective sunscreen, and though they didn’t know it, a healthy way to absorb certain essential vitamins.

  Zelandoni was becoming more accustomed to walking and Ayla thought she was getting slimmer. She had little trouble keeping up, but she always insisted upon riding on her pole-drag when they arrived at a new location. People made a commotion when they saw her being pulled by a horse, which she felt added to the mystique of the zelandonia and to the position of the First Among Those Who Served The Great Earth Mother.

  Their route, which was worked out by Zelandoni and Willamar, took them south through open woods and grasslands, along the west side of a massif, a highland that was the leftover stump of ancient mountains, ground down by the passage of time, with volcanoes forming new mountains on top of the old. Eventually they turned east, swinging around the bottom of the central highland, and then continued traveling east between the southern end of the highland and the north shore of the Southern Sea. As they traveled they often saw game, birds and animals of many kinds, but except when they stopped to visit settlements, no people crossed their path.

  Ayla found herself truly enjoying the company of Levela, Beladora, and Amelana when they weren’t visiting another Cave or Summer Meeting. They did things together with their children. Amelana’s pregnancy was beginning to show, but she was no longer troubled by morning sickness and the walking was beneficial for her. She felt well and her vibrant good health along with her obvious show of maternity made her even more attractive to Tivonan and Palidar, Willamar’s assistants. But as they continued the Donier Tour, stopping to visit various Caves, Summer Meetings, and Sacred Sites, there were many young men who found her equally attractive. And she enjoyed the attention.

  Since Ayla was often with Zelandoni, the young women were learning some of the knowledge that Zelandoni was teaching her acolyte. They listened and sometimes joined in on their discussions about various things—medicinal practices, identifying plants, ways of counting, meanings of colors and numbers, stories and songs of the Histories and Elder Legends—and the Donier seemed to have no objection to passing her wisdom on to them. She knew that in times of emergency it wouldn’t hurt to have some additional people around who knew something about what to do if they needed to act as assistants.

  Traveling east, they found their way often blocked by rivers that came down from the massif and into the Southern Sea. Since none of the rivers were huge, they became adept at crossing them until they came to one that carved a large valley running from north to south. They turned and followed it north until they came to a tributary that joined it from the northeast and followed it.

  A little beyond that, the traveling group came to a pleasant area of open woodland on the edge of an oxbow lake. Though it was early afternoon, they stopped and set up camp amid some brush and grass near a copse of trees. The children discovered a large patch of bilberries before the evening meal, and picked some to share with their elders, but they ate more as they picked. The women saw huge stands of cattails and phragmite reeds at the edge of the water, and the hunters found fresh signs of cloven hooves.

  “We’re getting close to the home of those that live the closest to the most important Sacred Cave of all the Zelandonii,” Willamar said, after they built a fire and were relaxing with a drink of tea. “We’re a large group to be visiting and asking for hospitality without bringing something to share equivalent to our size.”

  “It looks like a herd of aurochs or bison stopped here not too long ago, judging from those prints,” Kimeran said.

  “They may return to the water to drink here regularly. If we stay awhile, we could hunt them,” Jonokol said.

  “Or I could go look for them on Racer,” Jondalar said.

  “Most of us are running out of spears to hunt with,” Jondecam said. “I broke another one the last time we went hunting, both the shaft and the point.”

  “This looks like a region that should have good flint,” Jondalar said. “If I can find some, I’ll make new points.”

  “I saw a stand of straight trees on our way here, younger than those in that copse, that would make good shafts,” Palidar said. “It’s not far away.”

  “Some of those bigger ones would make good shafts for a couple of new pole-drags to bring some fresh meat to the Cave we want to visit,” Jondalar said.

  “A few young bulls at this time of year would give us fresh meat and some for drying, and fat for traveling cakes and fuel for lamps, and a hide or two,” Ayla said. “We can make new footwear from the skins. I don’t mind walking barefoot most of the time, but sometimes I want protection for my feet and my footwear is wearing out.”

  “And look at all those cattails and reeds,” Beladora said. “You can weave footwear from those, too, and we can make new sleeping rolls, and baskets and pads and many other things we need.”

  “Even gifts for the Cave we want to visit,” Levela said.

  “I hope we don’t take too long. I’m awfully close to home, and I’m getting anxious,” Amelana said. “I can’t wait to see my mother.”

  “But you don’t want to return empty handed, do you?” the First said. “Wouldn’t you like to bring a gift or two for your mother, and maybe some meat for your Cave?”

  “You’re right! I should do that, so it doesn’t look like I’m just coming home begging,” Amelana said.

  “You know that you wouldn’t be begging even if you didn’t bring anything, but wouldn’t it be nice to give them something?” Levela said.

  24

  They all decided it was time to take a few days to hunt and gather food to resupply their traveling larder, and restock equipment that was showing signs of hard use. They were excited about finding a place with such abundance.

  “I want to get some of those berries. They look perfect for picking,” Levela said.

  “Yes, but first I want to make a picking basket, something to wear around my neck so I can use two hands to pick,” Ayla said. “I want enough to dry some for traveling cakes, but then I need to weave a mat or two to dry them on.”

  “Will you make a basket for me?” Zelandoni said. “Picking is something I can do.”

  “I’d like to pick, too. Will you make a basket for me?” Amelana said.

  “Show me how you make yours,” Beladora said. “Picking with both hands is a good idea, but I always carried the basket on my arm.”

  “I’ll show you all, including the children. They can help, too,” Ayla said. “Let’s go get some of those reeds and cattails.”

  “And collect the roots to eat with the evening meal,” Beladora said.

  Wolf was watching Ayla and Jonayla, and finally yipped to get the woman’s attention. He was running toward the open field, then running back. “You want to do some exploring and hunting, too, Wolf? Well, go ahead,” she said, giving him a hand signal that he knew meant he was free to go his own way.

  The women spent the afternoon pulling and digging up plants from the muddy edge of the lake: the tall phragmite reeds, whose plume-like tops towered over both Jondalar and Kimeran, and slightly shorter cattails, whose spikes were fruiting with edible pollen. The fresh rootstalks and lower stems of both plants could also be eaten either raw or cooked, as well as the little bulblets that grew from the cattail rhizomes. Later the dried old stringy roots could be pounded into flour for making a kind of bread, especially good when mixed with the rich yellow pollen from the cattail spikes, but equally important were the nonedible parts.

  The soft, hollow stems of the tall reeds could be woven into large baskets, or made into soft, springy bed mats, more comfortable to sleep on than fur bedrolls when it was warm, and into a ground mat for the furs when it was cold. The cattail leaves were also made into mats used for various purposes, including bedding and pads to kneel or sit upon. Besides being twined into baskets, they could be woven into dividing panels, waterproof coverings for dwellings, and rain cloaks and hats for people. The solid cattail stalk, when it became dry, made an e
xcellent firedrill. The brown “cat tail” tops would become fuzz that made good tinder, or stuffing for bedding, pads, and pillows, or absorbent material for babies’ waste, or women’s moontimes. They had found a veritable market of produce and products in the plants that grew so abundantly at the water’s edge.

  For the rest of the afternoon the women wove berry-picking baskets. The men spent the afternoon discussing hunting and collecting the straight new-growths of young trees to make the dart-spears for the spear-throwers to replace those that had been lost or broken. Jondalar took off on Racer to follow the tracks and see if he could locate the herd that had made them. While he was at it, he looked for outcrops of flint, which he was sure could be found in this area. Ayla had seen him go and guessed he was looking for the herd, and for a brief moment considered going with him, but she was involved in making baskets and didn’t want to interrupt her task.

  Though Jondalar hadn’t returned yet, they stopped for an evening meal and shared their plans. They were all laughing and talking when Jondalar rode into camp with a big grin.

  “I found them, a sizable herd of bison,” he said, “and I found some fresh flint that looks to be of good quality, for new spears.”

  He dismounted and took several large gray stones from the carrying baskets that were tied onto Racer’s back on each side for balance. Everybody clustered around him as he removed the carrying baskets, riding blanket, and halter from the stallion, then faced him toward the water, and slapped his rump. The brown horse waded into the lake and drank some water, then walked back out and on the sandy bank dropped down and rolled on his back, on one side, then the other. The people watching chuckled. It was amusing to watch the horse kicking his legs up in the air, obviously enjoying the good scratching he was giving himself.

  Jondalar joined them around the fire and Ayla gave him a bowl of food that consisted of reconstituted dried meat, the lower stems and roots of cattail, and the budding tops of cattails, all cooked in the meat-flavored broth.