Ayla spent the next couple of days talking to the women and learning every word she could. She had all the food and supplies she needed to sustain the three of them for a bit, so she stayed in the cave with the bed-ridden women. Whinney came and went with her colt, occasionaly visiting the trio, much to the surprise of the two strangers. Tholie and Rosh felt restless lying in bed all day. One morning they decided with each other that they'd get up and find out what's really outside of the cave. They waited eagerly while Ayla examined their wounds.

"Ayla, who taught you to sew someone's skin together?" Roshario exclaimed, awed by the stitches in her friend's leg. Ayla looked through the stitches, deciding whether to take them out or not. She knew the leg was healing correctly, but she didn't want to take them out too early.

"I taught. Not hold skin together all time. Others' clothes..." Ayla replied, as limited as she could, pointing to a pile of cut-up clothing.

"You sewed my skin like the Sharamudoi sew their clothes? I would of never thought about doing it that way," Tholie said.

Ayla smiled. After pulling at one of the knots, she came to the conclusion that she would cut the knots in Tholie's leg. Ayla picked up her knife and cut close to the knot. It came out clean and the tissues healed just as she wanted. Tholie gritted her teeth as the girl pulled out the remaining stitches. Ayla sighed; the leg held together. She might just have full use of her leg after all.

"Rosh, Tholie, you Sharamudoi?" Ayla asked, curious to learn about the Others. It strained her to say the long word with so many different sounds and the concentration on her face left many lines.

"Yes, but Tholie was born to the Mamutoi. She became a Sharamudoi when she mated a Ramudoi man."

"Ramudoi, river people, yes? Mamutoi?" Ayla questioned.

"Mamutoi are mammoth hunters. They live north of here. We were on a Journey to see them."

"Many different people. Never see people here. Only me."

"Do you know who your people are? Who were you born to, Ayla?" Tholie wondered. Her accent was unlike any other and her features were exotic. Now that she's able to speak, maybe she'll be able to tell us where she came from.

"No people. Earth shake, people die. I... little girl, lost. Clan rescue me and raise me. They my people, but leave and journey here." Ayla knew the story was wrong and there was so much more to it but it was so hard to express the great details of her struggle with such little words. "Not right, not know words."

"You are doing very well, Ayla," Rosh interjected. "You have learned very fast and the more you speak the more you learn! I have never known someone to learn a language so fast."

"I want speak so bad. Speak to you, learn of Others. In Clan they not speak, so I learn their... language? I try so bad to speak. Remember, remember." Ayla threw her hands in the air. Memories of the Clan pained her and her brain hurt from concentrating on all these words. She left her sitting place to start cooking a meal. Subconsciously, she'd go through the list of name words for the plants on her drying rack and for each object she gathered.

Tholie and Rosh sympathized with the young girl. Tholie understood very well how she felt; it was an ordeal trying to speak with the Sharamudoi the first time she traveled there. Ayla did learn incredibly fast, though. Her story was confusing but she put some ideas together and thought that she hadn't spoken much since losing her family as a little girl. She knows Ayla has the ability to speak in her and it was only a matter of time before it all comes together.

The three women enjoyed their meal together in a somewhat tense atmosphere. Ayla sat quietly, deep in thought. Tholie and Rosh thought it'd be best to let her think so they kept quiet as well. It wasn't hard though; they enjoyed Ayla's food so much and savored every bite. Their breakfast included a delicious fish Ayla caught earlier that morning, seasoned with coltsfoot, and sided with some freshly picked berries. The women were amazed by the range of plants and foods she brought home and thought the land outside this cave was very rich in resources. It was hard to believe she was the only one that lived here.

After finishing their meal, Tholie and Rosh were once again eager to get outside of the cave. Ayla had offered them some of her wraps to wear but instead they asked if she saved their packs from their Journey. She went to retrieve them from the back, untouched after she found the women and brought them to the valley. She wished so badly to examine the objects of the Others but didn't dare intrude on someone's privacy. She watched intently as the women started pulling their belongings out.

"I can't believe you saved these Ayla! Look! There's our tools, including some that Darvo gave us. And the chamois skins are still here. We still have a change of summer clothes too. It's colder now, but if we could borrow some furs from you Ayla, they'll work out perfectly," Rosh reasoned. She was so happy to see her things from the Sharamudoi. Homesickness suddenly hit her and Tholie rubbed her shoulder in understanding.

They dressed quickly, each helping the other get clothes over and around their injuries. Ayla watched and thought clothes of the Others seemed harder to put on than her simple wraps. Her eyes fell back on the tools they pulled out; they were beautifully made and some were oddly attached to bone or antler. Tholie saw her looking and handed them to the girl. Ayla grinned, cradling them in her hands. The craftsmanship was beautiful; the blades were so thin and delicately chipped away to create a fine sharp edge. They looked so breakable to Ayla.

"Those tools were made by one of the best flint-knappers we have seen. He apprenticed a young boy who made those tools there. We were supposed to bring them to the Mamutoi and share them with one who calls himself the Master Flint-Knapper," Tholie commented, reminiscing in the memory. She wondered briefly how Jondalar, Thonolan, and Jetamio were all doing.

"Come on! I want to get outside of this cave and see the world again!" Roshario exclaimed. She knew they'd have plenty of days to share secrets and stories of home. Her arm was healing well and her head no longer hurt. Tholie wouldn't be able to walk well but she was willing to hobble out of the cave for some fresher air. Rosh stood up slowly, regaining feeling in her legs and slowly stretched her sore muscles. She didn't realize how long she had been lying down since the attack. After she felt steady both she and Ayla helped Tholie to her feet. Rosh looked around the cave and spotted a long, thick stick standing up near the entrance of the cave. She grabbed it for Tholie to use as a walking stick, then noticed the uniquely sharpened point.

"Is this a spear, Ayla?"

"Spear, yes." She would have continued but she was unsure about how the women would feel about her making weapons. Did the Others forbid women to hunt as well? But if these two were on a Journey, did they hunt for food?

Tholie watched Ayla's expressions closely. She seemed almost uncomfortable. "They're uniquely made. Big, but sturdy. You'll have to show us your technique sometime," Tholie said with a smile. Ayla studied their words and faces, smiling back at them. They didn't seem offended at all! They slowly walked to the entrance and Ayla pushed the hide back.

The women walked out onto the stone cliff that connected to the cave in the rocky wall. On the opposite side was another wall, covered with small trees and shrubs. A wide river ran through the gorge lined with sandy shores. Around the edge of the cliff the gorge opened up into a beautiful yellow valley. They spotted a small brown figure hidden in the tall grass and recognized Whinney and her colt, the dun mare barely visible herself. Ayla grinned, trying to see her little valley through the eyes of strangers. It seemed long ago when she first found this cave and she's considered it home for so long.

Ayla would have stopped them here, but the stone ledge offered no shade and not much of a view. Tholie and Rosh argued that they would be fine walking down to the valley, so they slowly descended down the steep path. Ayla took them to a small line of trees along the bank of the river and set woven sitting mats on the wet grass. While the women settled down, Ayla walked over to an apple tree and brought over the small, tart fruit for them all to enjoy.

"Ayla, how do you come to be living with a mare and her young?" Tholie asked, glancing over at Whinney and her foal. The little colt was still learning how to use his legs but that didn't stop him from running and jumping between his dam and the women. Whinney chewed lazily on the grasses, keeping her eyes on the open valley for any dangers to her colt. Why were these animals so docile around humans? Ayla denied having special powers over them, but Tholie didn't push the issue due to language barriers.

Ayla took a deep breath. She thought about the words in her head before saying them out loud. "First summer, need meat and furs for winter. Rabbits, hamsters not good for winter." Tholie and Rosh nodded; it wasn't long ago they were barely getting by on the small critters. "Herd of horses lived in valley. I watch them, think: I hunt horse, get good meat and fur for winter! Make spears, dig... hole. You know, hunt with hole?"

"I think you are talking about making a pit trap. You dug a pit trap to hunt the horses," Roshario replied.

"I dug a pit trap to hunt the horses," Ayla mimicked, then pointed to an opening in the trees where she built her trap. "Horses walk to water there. At night, I dig pit trap and make fence. Morning I chase horses to fence. Mare falls in hole. Mare was nursing, find little filly with hyenas. I hate hyenas! Chase them away and offer mashed grain to filly. She accept me and stayed."

"How did you make her stay with you, though? Why would a wild animal choose to live in a cave with someone?" Roshario asked.

"Her herd run away, no mother. She hungry and I feed her. She need me, I need her." Her eyes grew watery and she quickly hid her face.

"Like a mother would with her own child," Tholie added, her young daughter appearing in her mind. "She doesn't leave you, even if she sees a herd of horses?"

"Leave, yes. She join herd of horses, start a baby. She come back. I needed her."

The women decided to change the subject to something more cheery. The colt bounded towards the women again and sniffed at their hands, still sticky from the apples.

"What will you call the colt, Ayla? How did you name the mare?"

Ayla thought for a moment. She didn't know what to call the colt. Whinney's name was derived from the noises she made when the girl first lived with her. She explained to the women, but they couldn't make the same noise she did and instead settled on a word that sounded close to it. This colt made the same noises as his dam, so that idea didn't work well.

"I not know. I never name anything."

"You said yesterday you had a son, didn't you name him?" Roshario asked, a bit perplexed. Her son was mentioned only as a passing thought during a conversation about their families. The sudden look of pain on her face at his mention kept the women from asking further questions. Ayla could see their genuine curiosity and the more they talked, the more comfortable she grew around them. She felt she could open up to these women, and as mothers they might understand.

"No, woman don't name. Creb name him, Durc. Brun accept him into Clan. They say he is deformed, but he isn't. Durc just looks little like me, and little like them..."

"That's an odd way to do it. The mother usually names her child. Why did they say he looked deformed?" Tholie asked, suddenly interested. Babies usually looked like the mother, and sometimes her mate, but enough to look deformed?

"He was smaller than Clan baby, thin and long. He had big head, weak neck. Everyone say he can not hold up, but he can. Big brown eyes like Clan. But high forehead, like me. Also has... what you call this?" Ayla said, pointing to her chin.

"Chin," Roshario answered. The way she described her son was odd. In her words, certain features sounded unnatural for babies. They could be small and thin, especially if a mother has trouble with the birth. And all babies had chins.

"Chin, chin. He has a chin, like me." Alya finished, holding back tears. She longed to see her son. To see his beautiful brown eyes again, and play the sound games with him. Could he have learned words like she did? She believed he could have.

"Ayla," Tholie hesitated, "where is your son? Why are you here alone?"

"The leader, Brun, has son who hate me. He started Durc in me. Thought he hurt me, but I want baby so bad. He cursed me. He become leader and cursed me, force me to leave without Durc. To Durc, and Clan, I am dead. I have no one, so I travel north to find Others."

"Your clan, they live south of here?" Rosh prodded. Hadn't Tholie mentioned once that the Mamutoi ran into trouble near the sea?

"South, by sea. Earth shake ruin Clan's cave, so they travel and find me. They say I come from east but no Others east. Only Clan."

"The east? Oh no..."

Roshario gasped. "Flatheads!"

Author's Note:

Thank you everyone that has read and reviewed this story previously. After three years I've picked up this story again and hope to finish it until the end! I've done a bit of revising and editing of the previous chapters to keep it up to par with the newer chapters. Stay tuned, and enjoy!