THE SHELTERS OF STONE

Joharran pointed to the slope ahead. "Instead of climbing this, we can turn east to The River. It turns north ahead and you have to cross to the other side because the water runs right next to the cliffs on this side, but there's a long, shallow stretch that's easy to get across. And the Twenty-ninth Cave keeps stepping-stones there, as we do at the Crossing. We go along the other side for a while, then The River turns east again and crowds the cliffs on the other side, so you have to cross back over, but it spreads out and gets shallow again and that crossing also has stepping-stones. We can stop at two of the shelters on this side to visit, but we have to cross over again to get to the third and biggest one, because that is probably where we'll stay, especially if it rains."

"If we go that way, we have to climb; if we go this way, we have to cross running water," Jondalar finished for him. "What do you think would be the best way with the horses and the pole drags?"

"It's easy to cross rivers with the horses, but if it's very deep, the meat on the pole drags can get wet, which means it could spoil if it's not dried out again," Ayla said. "On our Journey, we had the poles attached to the bowl boat, so it always floated up when we had to cross rivers. But didn't you say we have to cross The River at least once anyway?"

Jondalar walked behind Racer's pole drag. "I was thinking, Joharran. If we can get a couple of people to walk back here behind the horses and lift up the ends of the poles just enough to keep them out of the water, I think we could get across without getting anything wet."

"I'm sure we could find people to do that. There are always a few young men who like to splash through the water whenever there's a crossing anyway. I'll go ask around," Joharran said. "I think most people would rather not climb any more than they have to, with the loads they're all carrying."

When Joharran left, Jondalar decided to check Racer's lead rope. He stroked the horse, gave him some grain that he had in a pouch. Ayla smiled at him; she was paying attention to Wolf, who came to see why they stopped. She felt the special bond she and Jondalar had formed on their Journey. Then it occurred to her that they had another. They were the only people who understood the connection that could develop between a person and an animal.

"There is another way to go upriver… well, two more," Jondalar said while they were waiting. "One is to pole up by raft, but I don't think that would work too well with the horses. The other is to go along the top of the cliffs on the other side of The River. You have to take the Crossing, and it's actually easier to go all the way to the Third Cave and start from there. They have a good path to the top of Two Rivers Rock that continues as a trail across the highland. It's more level than this side, only a few minor dips. There aren't as many tributaries on that side of The River, but if you plan to stop at the Twenty-ninth Cave, you have to come down and cross The River again. That's why Joharran decided to stay on this side."

While they rested, Ayla asked about the people they were going to visit. Jondalar described the unusual arrangement of the people of the Twenty-ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. Three Rocks consisted of three separate settlements of stone shelters in three separate cliffs that formed a triangle around the floodplain of the meandering river, all within a mile and a half of each other.

"The Histories say that they used to be separate Caves, numbered with earlier counting words, and there were more than three," Jondalar explained, "but they all had to share the same field and rivers, and they were always disputing rights, arguing about which Cave could use what, and when. I guess it got rather bitter, some men actually started fighting with each other. Then the Zelandoni of South Face got the idea to join together into one Cave, work together and share everything. If a herd of aurochs migrated through, it wouldn't be the hunters of all the different Caves going after them separately, but one hunting party from all the Caves working together."

Ayla thought for a while. "But the Ninth Cave works together with the neighboring Caves. On that last hunt, the hunters from the Eleventh, the Fourteenth, the Third, the Second, and a few people from the Seventh all hunted together and everyone shared the food."