The Land of Painted Caves Read Online Free PDF Page A

bury their hearts, give them back to the Mother.”
    The other hunters nodded in agreement.
    Ayla walked to the lioness that she had killed and took out her waterbag. It was made of the carefully washed stomach of a deer, with the lower opening tied off. The upper opening was pulled up around a deer vertebra, with the projections cut away, and sinew wrapped tightly around it. The natural hole in the center of the section of spine made a more than serviceable pour spout. The stopper was a thin leather thong that had been knotted several times in the same place, and stuffed into the hole. She pulled out the knotted leather cord stopper, and took a mouthful. Then she kneeled over the head of the lioness, pulled it around and opened the jaws, and squirted the water from her mouth into the mouth of the big cat.
    “We are thankful, Doni, Great Mother of All, and we are grateful to the Spirit of Cave Lion,” she said aloud. Then she began speaking with the silent hand signs of the formal language of the Clan, the one they used when addressing the spirit world, but in a quiet voice, she translated the meaning of the signs she was making. “This woman is grateful to the Spirit of the Great Cave Lion, the totem of this woman, for allowing a few of the Spirit’s living ones to fall to the spears of the people. This woman would express sorrow to the Great Spirit of the Cave Lion for the loss of the living ones. The Great Mother and the Cave Lion Spirit know it was necessary for the safety of the people, but this woman wants to express gratitude.”
    She turned around to the group of hunters who were watching her. It wasn’t done in quite the manner they were used to, but it was fascinating to watch her, and felt utterly right to those hunters who had faced their fears to make their territory safer for themselves and for others. It also made them understand why their Zelandoni Who Was First had made this foreign woman her acolyte.
    “I will not make a claim to any other lions that may have been pierced by one of my spears, but I would like the spear back,” Ayla said. “This lion has only my spear in it, so I will claim it. I will keep the skin and tail, the claws and the teeth.”
    “What about the meat?” Palidar said. “Are you going to eat some?”
    “No. The hyenas can have it as far as I’m concerned,” Ayla said. “I don’t like the taste of the meat of meat-eaters, especially cave lions.”
    “I’ve never tasted lion,” he said.
    “Neither have I,” said Morizan of the Third Cave, who had paired up with Galeya.
    “Did none of your spears reach a lion?” Ayla asked. She saw them shake their heads in a sadly negative response. “You’re welcome to this one’s meat, if you want it, after I bury the heart, but I wouldn’t eat the liver if I were you.”
    “Why not?” Tivonan asked.
    “The people I grew up with believed the liver of meat-eaters could kill you, like a poison,” she said. “They told stories about it, especially of a selfish woman who ate the liver of a cat, a lynx, I think, and died. Perhaps we should bury the liver, too, with the heart.”
    “Is the liver of animals who eat any meat bad for you?” Galeya asked.
    “I think bears are all right. They eat meat, but they eat everything else, as well. Cave bears don’t eat much meat at all, and they taste good. I knew some people who ate their liver and didn’t get sick,” Ayla said.
    “I haven’t seen a cave bear in years,” Solaban said. He’d been standing close by, listening. “There aren’t many around here anymore. Have you really eaten cave bear?”
    “Yes,” Ayla said. She considered mentioning that cave bear meat was sacred to the Clan, eaten only for certain ritual feasts, but decided it would just encourage more questions that would take too long to answer.
    She looked at the lioness, and took a deep breath. It was big and would be a lot of work to skin. She could use some help, and observed the four young people who