THE SHELTERS OF STONE

The girl walked toward the entrance, carrying on her hip a thin, lethargic baby of about six months, who looked as though she hadn't been washed since she was born. A toddler with snot running down his nose was hanging on her leg. Ayla thought she saw another child behind her, but wasn't sure. She seems to be more mother than her mother, Ayla thought.

"Bologan all right?" Lanoga said, a worried look on her face.

"He's alive, but he is injured. You did right to come and get me," the donier said. Zelandoni shook her head with exasperation and a feeling of anger toward Tremeda and Laramar. "I'll have to take care of him at my place," she said.

Normally, only the most serious maladies were attended to in the donier's dwelling; in a Cave as large as the Ninth, there wasn't room enough for all the people who were sick or injured at one time to move there. Someone with Bologan's injuries, as serious as they were, usually would be cared for in his own home, with Zelandoni going there to treat him. But there was no one at this home to take care of him, and Zelandoni couldn't bear the idea of even entering the place, much less spending any time there.

"Do you know where your mother is, Lanoga?"

"No."

"Where did she go?" Zelandoni said, rephrasing her question.

"Went to the burial," Lanoga said.

"Who is taking care of the children?"

"I am."

"But you're not able to feed that baby," Ayla said, shocked. "You can't nurse."

"I can feed her," Lanoga said, a defensive tone in her voice. "She eats food. The milk dried up."

"Which means Tremeda will have another baby within a year," Zelandoni said under her breath.

"I know babies that young can eat food if they have to," Ayla said, sympathetically, feeling a twinge of painful memory. "What do you feed her, Lanoga?"

"Mashed-up boiled roots," she said.

"Ayla, will you go tell Joharran what happened, and ask him to come here with something to carry Bologan to my dwelling? And some help to carry him?" Zelandoni said.

"Yes, of course. I'll be right back," Ayla said, hurrying away.

It was late in the afternoon when Ayla left Zelandoni's dwelling and hurried toward the leader's. She had been helping the Ninth Cave's healer and was going to tell Joharran that Bologan was awake and seemed to be coherent enough to talk.

Joharran had been waiting for her. After he left, Proleva said, "Would you like something to eat? You've been with Zelandoni all afternoon." Ayla shook her head and started to go. She opened her mouth to make apologies, but Proleva quickly added, "Or maybe a cup of tea? I have some tea ready. It's chamomile, lavender, and linden flower."

"Well, maybe a cup, but I need to get back soon," Ayla said. As she got out her drinking cup, she wondered if the mixture had been suggested by Zelandoni or whether Proleva realized that it was a good drink for pregnant women. It was innocuous, with only a mildly calming effect. She took a sip of the hot tea the woman ladled into her cup and savored the taste. It did have a nice flavor, and anybody could drink it, not just pregnant women.

"How is Bologan?" the leader's mate asked as she sat down beside Ayla with her own cup.

"I think he will be fine. He had a bad knock on the head, bled a lot. I was afraid the bone might have been cracked, but head wounds do tend to bleed heavily. We cleaned him and couldn't find any evidence of a break, but he does have a big swollen lump, and other injuries. He needs rest and care right now. It seems obvious that he was in a fight, and he was drinking barma."

"That's what Joharran wanted to talk to him about," Proleva said.

"The one that worries me even more is that baby," Ayla said. "She needs to be nursed. I'd think other nursing mothers could give a little of their milk to her. Women of the Clan did when…" she hesitated a moment "… a woman lost her milk early. She had been taking care of her mother, and grieved too much when she died." Ayla decided to refrain from mentioning that she was the woman who had lost her milk; she hadn't yet told anyone that she'd had a son when she was living with the Clan. "I asked Lanoga what she fed her. She said mashed-up roots. I know children that young can eat food, but all babies need milk, too. She won't grow right without it."

"You're right, Ayla. Babies do need milk. I'm afraid no one has been paying attention to Tremeda and her family. We know the children are not very well cared for, but they are Tremeda's children, and people don't like to interfere in other people's lives. It's hard to know what to do about them, so most of us just ignore them. I didn't even know she had lost her milk," Proleva said.

"Why didn't Laramar say something?" Ayla asked.