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.
"She means the brother and sister that Ayla and Deegie caught hitting each other." Danug would have to be careful. He had almost slipped and mentioned something about the boys that were fighting, Tarneg thought.
"I've never seen Rydag so upset," Nezzie continued. "Every year the Meetings have been harder on him. He doesn't like the way people treat him, but this year is worse… maybe because it's so much better for him at Lion Camp now. I'm afraid all this is not good for him, but I don't know what to do. Even Ayla's worried, and that worries me more."
"Where is Ayla now?" Danug asked.
"Out with the horses," Nezzie said.
"I think she should take it as a compliment when they call her 'animal woman.' You must admit, she is good with animals," Barzec said. "Some people even think she can speak with their spirits from the other world."
"Some of the others say it just proves that she lived with animals," Tarneg reminded him. "And accuse her of drawing different kinds of spirits that are not so welcome."
"Ayla still says anyone can make animals friendly," Talut said.
"She tries to make less of it," Barzec said. "That may be why some of the others don't put as much importance on it. People are more used to someone like Vincavec, someone who lets you know how great he thinks he is."
Nezzie looked at Tulie's man, and wondered why he didn't seem to care much for Vincavec. The Mammoth Camp had been one of the first to take their side.
"You may be right, Barzec," Tarneg said. "It's strange how quickly you can get used to having animals around, when they behave so well. They don't seem unnatural. They're just like any other animal, except you can get close to them, and touch them. But when you think about it, it is beyond reason. Why should that wolf obey a signal from a weak child that he could easily tear apart? Why should those horses let someone sit on their backs and ride them? And what would make a person even think to try it?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if Latie tries it, someday," Talut said.
"If anyone will, she will," Danug said. "Did you see her when she was here? First place she went was the horse lean-to. She missed them more than anyone. I think she's in love with those horses."
Jondalar had been listening without making any comment. The situation Ayla had caused for herself by admitting her background was painful and debasing, but in many ways it hadn't been as bad as he had imagined it would be. He was surprised that she hadn't been more thoroughly denounced. He had expected her to be vilified, driven out, completely ostracized. Was the taboo worse among his people, or did he just think it was?
When the Lion Camp stood up for her, he thought they must be a rare exception, who might be more forgiving because of Rydag. Then, when Vincavec and Avarie of Mammoth Camp came to offer support, Jondalar began to reconsider, and when more and more of the Camps voluntarily came to offer support to the Lion Camp, he was forced to inspect his own beliefs.
Jondalar was a physical man. He understood concepts such as love, compassion, anger, with an empathy that was based on his own feelings, even though he could not express them well. He could discuss intangible philosophies and matters of the spirit with intelligence, but they were not his passion, and he accepted his society's positions without deep misgivings. But Ayla had faced the crowd with such dignity and quiet strength, respect for her soared. It gave him a rare insight.
He began to understand that just because some people thought certain behavior was wrong, that didn't make it so. A person could resist popular belief and stand up for personal principles, and though there might be consequences, not everything would necessarily be lost. In fact, something important might be gained, if only within oneself. Ayla was not expelled from the people who had so recently adopted her. Half of them were willing to accept her, and believed her to be a woman of rare talent and courage.
The other half were of a different mind, but not all for the same reasons. Some saw it as an opportunity to gain influence and status by opposing the powerful Lion Camp at a time when their position was threatened. Others were genuinely incensed that a woman who was so depraved could be allowed to live among them. In their opinion, she personified evil, even more so because she did not appear to be evil. She looked like any other woman, more attractive than most, but she had duped them by a trick of controlling animals that she must have learned when she lived with the bestial flathead abominations, who had even fooled some people into thinking they were human.
Many feared her. By her own admission, she had spawned one of those misbegotten half-animals, and now threatened every other woman at the Summer Meeting. No matter what old Mamut said, everyone knew certain male spirits were consistently drawn to the same woman. The Lion Camp had allowed Nezzie to keep that animal child, and now look what they had! More animals, and an abomination of a woman who had probably been drawn to him. The entire Lion Camp ought to be banned.