The Mammoth Hunters

"Yes."

They walked toward the headwoman's lodge. "We came to pay a visit, Tricie," Deegie explained at the entrance, "and to see your baby."

"Come in," Tricie said. "I just put him down, but I don't think he's asleep yet."

Ayla stayed back while Deegie picked him up and held him, cooing and talking to him. "Don't you want to see him, Ayla?" Tricie finally said. It was almost a challenge.

"I do want to see him."

She took the baby from Deegie's arms and studied him carefully. His skin was so white it was nearly translucent, and his eyes such a pale blue they had almost no color at all. His hair was a bright orangey-red, but it had all the texture and tight, springy curl of Ranec's. Most distinctive, his face was an infant version of Ranec's face, Ayla knew without doubt that Ralev was Ranec's baby. Ranec had started him as surely as Broud had started Durc growing inside her. She couldn't help but wonder, when she joined with him, would she have a baby like this someday?

Ayla talked to the infant in her arms. He looked up at her with interest, as though he was fascinated, then he smiled and cooed a soft little delighted laugh. Ayla hugged him to her, closed her eyes and felt the softness of his cheek against hers, and felt her heart melt.

"Isn't he beautiful, Ayla?" Deegie said.

"Yes, isn't he beautiful?" Tricie asked, her tone sharper.

Ayla looked at the young mother. "No, he's not beautiful." Deegie gaped at her with surprise. "No one could ever say he is beautiful, but he is the most… lovable baby I have ever seen. Not a woman in the world could resist him. He doesn't have to be beautiful. There is something special about him, Tricie. I think you are very lucky to have him."

The mother's smile softened. "I think I am, too, Ayla. And I agree, he is not beautiful, but he is good, and so lovable."

Suddenly there was a commotion outside, shouting and wailing. The three young women hurried to the entranceway.

"O Great Mother! My daughter! Someone help her!" a woman wailed.

"What's wrong? Where is she?" Deegie asked.

"A lion! A lion has her! Down in the meadow. Someone help her, please!" Several men with spears were already ru

"A lion? No, it can't be!" Ayla said, as she started ru

"Ayla! Where are you going?" Deegie called after her, trying to catch up.

"To get the girl," Ayla called back.

She raced toward the path. A crowd of people was standing near the top of it watching the men with spears ru

"Rydag!" she called. "Come and get Wolf! I've got to get that girl." When Rydag came out of the tent, she commanded the wolf, "Stay!" in her firmest tone, then told the boy not to let him go. Only then did she whistle for Whi

She jumped on the mare's back, and raced down the path. The men with spears were already crossing the river when she guided Whi

"What does she think she can do?" someone said, angrily. "She doesn't even have a spear. The girl seems unharmed so far, but rushing at the lion with a horse might incite him. If that child is harmed, it will be her fault."

Jondalar overheard the comment, as well as several other people from the Lion Camp, who turned to him questioningly. He just watched Ayla, swallowing the misgivings that rose in his throat. He couldn't be sure, but she must have been, or she would never have gone down there with Whi

As Ayla and Whi

"Whi

She ran toward the lion, not even considering that he might not remember her. This was her Baby. She was his mother. She had raised him from a small cub, taken care of him, hunted with him.

It was just that fearlessness that he remembered. He started toward her, as the girl watched with fear. The next thing Ayla knew, the lion had tripped her, to knock her down, and she had her arms around his big shaggy neck, hugging him full-length, while he wrapped his forelegs around her in the closest thing to an embrace he could accomplish.

"Oh, Baby, you came back. How did you ever find me?" she cried, wiping her tears of joy in his rough mane.

Finally she sat up, and felt a raspy tongue lick her face. "Stop that!" she said, smiling. "I won't have any skin left." She scratched him in his favorite places, and a low, rumbling growl let her know his pleasure. He rolled over on his back so she could scratch his stomach. Ayla noticed the girl, tall, with long blond hair, standing wide-eyed, watching them.

"He was looking for me," Ayla said to her. "I think he mistook you for me. You can go now, but walk, don't run."

Ayla scratched Baby on his stomach and behind his ears, until the girl walked into the waiting arms of a man, who clasped her to him with obvious relief, then led her up the path. The rest were standing back, holding their spears in readiness. Among them she saw Jondalar, with his spear-thrower poised in readiness, and beside him a shorter, dark-ski

"You have to go, Baby. I don't want you to get hurt. Even if you are the biggest cave lion on the earth, a spear can stop you," Ayla said, talking in the special language that grew out of Clan words and signs and animal sounds. Baby was familiar with the sounds, and certain of the signals. He rolled over and got up. Ayla hugged him around the neck, and then she couldn't resist. She slid her leg over and eased onto his back, and hung on to his reddish mane. It was not the first time.

She felt hard, powerful muscles bunch beneath her, then with a leap, he was off, and in an instant, reached the full speed of a lion on the chase. Though she had ridden the lion before, she had never been able to develop any signals to direct him. He went where he wanted to go, but he allowed her to go with him. It was always an exciting wild ride, and she loved it for just that reason. Ayla clung to his mane, as the wind whipped her face, and breathed in his strong, rangy odor.

Ayla felt him turn and slow – the lion was a sprinter; unlike the wolf, he had no endurance for the long distance – and she looked ahead to see Whi

When the lion stopped, Ayla slid off his back. She hugged him and scratched him again, then with a signal that was suggestive of casting a stone with a sling, she told him to go. Tears fell as she watched him walk away, his tail weaving from side to side. When she heard the distinctive tone of his "hnk, hnk, hnk" grunting voice, that she would recognize anywhere, she sobbed in answer. The tears flooded and her vision blurred as the big tawny cat with the reddish mane disappeared into the tall grass. She knew, somehow, that she would never ride him again; that she would never see her wild, unlikely, lion son again.