What if I went back to the valley? And then brought Durc and Ura to live there? But Durc needs people… and so do I. I don't want to live alone, why should Durc want to live alone in a valley with me?

I've been thinking of myself, not Durc. It would not be better for him to come here. It would not make him happy. It would only make me happy. But I am not Durc's mother any more. Uba is his mother. I am nothing to him but a memory of a mother who died, and maybe it's better that way. The Clan is his world, and like it or not, this is my world. I cannot go back to the Clan; Durc cannot come here. There is no place in this world where my son and I can live together, and be happy.

Ayla woke early the next morning. Even after she did finally go to sleep, she did not sleep well. She woke often from dreams of shaking earth and crumbling caves, and felt uneasy and depressed. She helped Nezzie heat water for soup and grind grains for a morning meal, and was glad for the opportunity to talk with her.

"I feel terrible about all the trouble I've caused, Nezzie. The whole Lion Camp is being shunned because of me," Ayla said.

"Don't even say that. It's not your fault, Ayla. We had a choice, and we made it. You were only defending Rydag, and he is a member of Lion Camp, too, at least to us.

"All this trouble has made me realize something," Ayla continued. "Ever since I left the Clan, I've always thought about going back to get my son someday. Now I know I never can. I can't bring him here, and I can't go back there. But knowing that I'll never see him makes me feel that I just lost him all over again. I wish I could cry, grieve for him, mourn for him, but I just feel dry and empty."

Nezzie was sorting through yesterday's fresh-picked berries and pulling off the stems. She stopped and gave Ayla a level gaze. "Everyone suffers disappointments in life. Everyone loses loved ones. Some are real tragedies… You lost your people when you were young. That was a tragedy, but there was nothing you could do about it. It's worse if you blame yourself. Wymez lives every day of his life blaming himself for the death of the woman he loved. I think Jondalar blames himself for his brother's death. You've lost a son. It is hard for a mother to lose a child, but you do have something. You know he is probably still alive. Rydag lost his mother… someday I will lose him."

After breakfast, Ayla went out. Most people were staying around Cattail Camp. She looked toward the center of the Meeting, then at Larch Camp, the newly set up summer home of the Mammoth Camp. She was surprised to see Avarie looking across at her. She wondered how they felt today about setting up the Camp so close to Lion Camp.

Avarie went to the tent her brother had designated as the Mammoth Hearth, scratched on the leather, then without waiting for a response, went in. Vincavec had spread his fur bedroll out so that it took up almost half the floor space. In the middle was a backrest, an ornately decorated hide stretched across a mammoth bone frame that had been lashed together with rawhide. He was sitting up on his furs, lounging against the backrest.

"The feelings are mixed," she said without preamble.

"I can imagine," Vincavec replied. "Lion Camp worked hard with us putting up the lodge. By the time they left, everyone was feeling more than friendly toward them. And Ayla with her horses and wolf was fascinating – and a little awe-inspiring. But now, if old stories and customs are to be believed, Lion Camp is sheltering an abomination, a woman of unbridled evil, who draws animal flathead spirits to her like a fire draws moths at night, and spreads them around to the other women. What do you think, Avarie?"

"I don't know, Vincavec. I like Ayla, and she doesn't seem like an evil person to me. The boy doesn't seem like an animal, either. He's just weak and can't talk, but I do believe he understands. Maybe he is human, and maybe the other flatheads are, too. Maybe the old Mamut is right. The Mother just chose a spirit from the only men near Ayla when She gave her a baby. I didn't know she lived with a pack of flatheads once, though, or that the old man did."

"That old man has lived so many years, he's forgotten more things than a double handful of younger men have ever learned, and he's often right. I have a feeling about this, Avarie. I don't think it will have lasting bad effects. There is something about Ayla that makes me think the Mother watches out for her. I think she may come out of this more powerful than she was before. Let's find out how Mammoth Camp feels about siding with Lion Camp."

"Where's Tulie?" Fralie asked, looking around the tent.

"She went with Latie back to the Womanhood Camp," Nezzie said. "Why?"

"Do you remember that Camp that came offering to adopt Ayla, just before Mammoth Camp arrived?"

Ayla looked at Fralie questioningly.

"Yes," Nezzie said. "The one Tulie didn't think had enough to offer."

"They are outside asking for Tulie, again."

"I'll go see what they want," Nezzie said.

Ayla waited inside, not really wanting to face them, if she didn't have to. After a few moments, Nezzie returned.

"They still want to adopt you, Ayla," she said. "The headwoman of that Camp has four sons. They want you for a sister. She says if you have already had one son, it proves you are capable of having children. They have increased their offer. Maybe you should go out and welcome them, in the name of the Mother."

Tulie and Latie walked with purposeful strides through the encampment, side by side, looking straight ahead, ignoring the curious stares of the people they passed.

"Tulie! Latie! Wait a moment," Brecie called out, hurrying to catch up with them. "We were just getting ready to send a runner to you, Tulie. We'd like to invite you to share a meal with us at Willow Camp this evening."

"Thank you, Brecie. I appreciate your invitation. Of course we'll come. I should have known we could count on you."

"We've been friends a long time, Tulie. Sometimes old tales are believed just because they are old. Fralie's baby looks fine to me."

"And she was born early, too. Bectie wouldn't even be alive, if it wasn't for Ayla," Latie said, quick to defend her friend.

"I did wonder where she came from, though. Everyone thought she came with Jondalar. They are both tall and blond, but I knew better. I remember when we pulled him and his brother out of the muck near Beran Sea. She wasn't with them, then, and I knew that wasn't a Mamutoi accent, or a Sungaea accent either. But I still don't know how she controls those horses and that wolf."

Tulie was feeling much better as they continued toward the center of the hollow, and the earthlodges of Wolf Camp.

"How many does that make?" Tarneg asked Barzec as another delegation was leaving.

"Almost half the Camps have made some gesture of reconciliation," Barzec said. "I can think of one or two more who might still decide to join with us."

"But that still leaves about half the Camps," Talut said. "And some of them are arguing pretty hard against us. Some are even saying we should leave."

"Yes, but look who they are, and Chaleg is the only one I've heard who is saying we should leave," Tarneg said.

"But they're Mamutoi, too, and even seeds blown by ill winds can take root," Nezzie said.

"I don't like this split," Talut said. "There are too many good people on both sides. I wish I could think of some way to make it right again."

"Ayla feels terrible, too. She says that she's causing problems for Lion Camp. Did you see the look on her face when those youngsters that were fighting started calling her 'animal woman'?"

"Do you mean the ones that we caught by the ri -?" Danug started to ask, but Tarneg quickly interrupted.