Jondalar slowly approached the group of people gathered near the firepit. One individual stood out from the rest -- a tall man, taller even than himself, built like a cave bear, with hair of an indescribable shade of orange. He was clad in garb of outlandish design and proportion that seemed to be made entirely of opossum skins. On his head was a large, furry cap of opossum-skin with the head left on. Matching polished amber nuggets that replaced the eyes gleamed in the midday sun. While the 'possum on his head seemed to be hissing aggressively, the man was also wearing a huge, friendly grin and held out open hands in greeting.

Ayla's heart nearly skipped a beat when a very old man who had just emerged from the earthlodge came up beside the orange-haired giant. She had that intense urge to sit in a submissive posture and await a tap on her shoulder, that always made Jondalar so uncomfortable. She signaled to Wolf that he should stay with Whinney, and moved ahead and gave in to it.

Jondalar's forehead nearly tied a square knot.

The shriveled ancient raised his large white eyebrows, but said nothing. He handed the tray he was carrying to the big man. Then he picked up a bowl from it, gave its contents a quick stir with a finger, and poured the liquid into two wooden cups that were on the tray. He set the bowl back on the tray and, picking up one of the cups, tapped Ayla's shoulder. When she looked up, he smiled and handed her the cup. Then he held out the other cup to Jondalar.

Ayla rose gracefully to her feet as she accepted the cup of murky liquid. She sniffed it, then glanced at Jondalar. He looked at the cloudy contents of his cup, then looked at Ayla. She tasted hers... it was most unusual, nothing like any of the many herbs and roots with which she was familiar. It tasted like a far-off memory of musty closets and ancient overshoes. With a slight shrug and a glance at the smiling old man, for whom she felt uncommonly deep trust and respect, she nodded to Jondalar and drank the strange brew.

Jondalar still had misgivings, but he bottoms-upped as well. They handed the cups back to the old man, who put them back on the tray and set it down on a flat-topped rock. They very soon began to feel a bit strange. At first there was only a buzzing in the ears. Then Jondalar felt a sort of tickly, echoing sensation in his head, as though the back of it had opened into a large cave in which a lot of people were honoring the Mother. Ayla had an eerie sensation of having been in this place before.

While they stood musing over their altering perceptions, Wolf snuck up a little closer, since no one seemed to be looking at him. He sniffed at the articles on the tray, and found the aroma intriguing. It reminded him of an old boot of Frebec's of which he had been particularly fond. He licked the cups and bowl clean. Then he quickly ducked back to wait with Whinney again. After a few moments, he shook his head. His brow furrowed deeply.

"Well, then," the huge 'possum-clad man rumbled. "Let's introduce ourselves, shall we? I am Mactruc, headman of Possum Camp of the Tonkatoi. In the name of Ton, the Great Earth Mother, I welcome you and your animal friends." He held his big hands out to them.

The blond pair stared speechless at him. Jondalar's jaw flapped a few times before he could get a sound out. "I, uh, I'm Jondalar of the Zelandonii, and, uh this is Ayla of the Mamutoi uh erm we uh"

Ayla, being more accustomed to total upendings of existence and complete overnight changes of lifestyle, got her dung together while Jon was munching on his tongue. "In the name of Mut or whatever Her name is, we thank you, Mactruc. This mare is called Whinney (she said it human-style), and this young horse is her son. His name is Racer. The wolf is called Wolf." Wolf grinned. "Just let him sniff your hand, so he will know your scent."

Looking just a tad dubious, Mactruc let Wolf sniff his hand. Then Wolf took a good snort at his crotch, which caused great amusement among the bystanders. "Wrowf!" Wolf said, cheerily. "Erm, nice Wolfie," Mactruc said, patting Wolf's head.

Then came the usual introductions to those who were present. They were greeted with smiles, grins, and warm words of welcome. Jondalar thought that Skuzzie, Mactruc's sister and headwoman of Possum Camp, had a particularly wide, stiff grin, but then she was particularly wide anyway. Her daughter, Wormie, had an identical grin, an identical greasy ponytail, and the same wet-possum aroma. "Some of the fellows are out hunting," Mactruc said. "I'm glad I stayed behind. Tonka said there would be Visitors today. I hope they get enough for a proper Feast."

"I don't know, Mac, honey," Fuzzie said. I think I'd better get a roast or two out of the fridge just in case." She smiled warmly at Ayla and Jondalar. "Why don't you two young folks come inside and have a cuppa tea? ...Um..." she looked at the horses, who were gazing longingly at the rather decent grass in a low meadow nearer the stream.

"That would be very nice, thank you," Ayla said. "Jondalar, let's unpack the horses so they can graze over there" He nodded, still a little dazed from the odd reception, and started undoing thongs. "Wolf likes to stay near me; if you don't mind him coming inside with us, Fuzzie...?"

"Not at all," she replied, patting Wolf and scratching very competently behind his ears. A little girl - about three years old, Ayla guessed - was pulling on his tail and chanting "WUF-fie, WUF-fie". She had amazingly blue eyes. "Wormie," Fuzzie called, "please don't let Dollie tease the wolf." Dollie's nearly spherical mother rolled over and dragged the child off. Jondalar stared at them, blinking, as if trying to remember something.

As they entered the earthlodge, Ayla noticed a not-quite familiar smell. It was very much like a Mamutoi lodge, including the homey burnt-bone odor, but there was something else, an animal? - she couldn't place it... it almost sort of reminded her of Baby. Another feature that struck both of them as soon as their eyes adapted to the relative darkness inside, was that the walls were lined with small shelves, on which were displayed hundreds of carvings of animals and other things. It was hard to make out exactly what in the dim light. Ayla tried not to gape like a tourist - and besides, she had to watch her step for the odd bone or toy on the floor.

Tonka, and Yummie, Fuzzie's daughter, with her little daughter Thonie, had come in with them. Tonka smiled at Ayla... and Jondalar. "You will be staying for the night, I hope? You are welcome to my hearth, there's plenty of extra space for visitors." "Erm," Jondalar began, "I guess so... thank you. We can't stay any longer than that, though. We have a very important appointment with a glacier."

"Wonderful!" Tonka exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "We will have such a nice feast tonight!" His eyes twinkled.

Fuzzie bustled about getting hot rocks for tea and ducking into a cold-storage area for a half-frozen Megaceros loin, which she hung almost over a hearth so that it would thaw out quickly. Yummie busied herself with baskets of seeds and nuts, chatting with Ayla as she worked. Little Thonie sniffed noses with Wolf, after which they curled up together like old friends.

Suddenly Wolf leaped to his feet, hackles raised, snarling at another animal that had unexpectedly appeared out of the shadows. An eerie yowl came from the creature, whose eyes glowed like coals. Its striped coat was standing on end, its back arched, and its ears were flat against its round head. Its tail looked bigger than Wolf's. Thonie, who had been dumped to one side and a bit behind the protective Wolf, cried out "Mouser! BAD kitty! Don' scare nice wuffie!"

"Oh-oh," Yummie said, and grabbed the nearest waterskin, just in case.

That's what I smelled, Ayla thought. Cat. She and Yummie cautiously circled the two animals, who cautiously circled each other. The yowling, snarling, hissing, and spitting were gradually quieting down. Finally, after a last exchange of epithets, they sniffed noses. Then Mouser whacked Wolf a good one on the nose and leaped to a shelf well out of Wolf's reach. Here he calmly settled himself and began to bathe with his raspy pink tongue. Wolf glared at the smug creature for a long moment, then snuggled up with Thonie again. But he kept half an eye on the shelf.

"He is a little shy with strangers," Yummie said. "But he does a very good job of keeping mice out of stored food, and Thonie loves him."

"Oh, that's so nice," Ayla said. "When I was young, I used to bring small animals to the cave if they were hurt, so my mother, Iza, could heal them. But they wouldn't let me keep any. I was living all alone when I got Whinney." She noticed that Jondalar was getting tense already. He'll be holding his breath next, she thought. Tonka, on the other hand, was looking at her very interestedly, like birds did when she held out seeds.

Jondalar relaxed somewhat while they had tea and some stew that Fuzzie warmed for them. Ayla ate thoughtfully, analyzing the seasonings. She was about to ask Fuzzie about an interesting flavor variation that she had noticed, when her attention was accidentally drawn to the shelves again (Mouser was making his way around the lodge without touching the floor). Something about the shapes of some of the carved objects disturbed her... suddenly she nearly dropped her utensils.

"Jondalar!" Ayla gasped, "those thingies on the shelves - Great Mother! Did I ever tell you about that time I was high on all those drugs and went into the cave where the mog-urs were... um... having their ceremony?" She clutched at his arm like a 'possum on a thin branch in a storm.

"Erm, no, I don't think so..." Jondalar responded, startled by her sudden reaction. She was shivering. Oh well, any excuse to get his arms around her.

"Ah... remind me to tell you some time," she whispered in his ear as he did his best under the circumstances to distract her.

Just then there was a loud whoop from outside. "They're back! Yay! looka all the 'possums!" Everyone went outside to greet the returning hunters.

Bigmac, the son of Mactruc's hearth, led the group by virtue of his longer legs. Anyone could see whose spirit started him, right down to the weird orange hair color. He had half-a-dozen 'possums slung over his back. Freluv, Rednec, and Wrynec each held several as well. Fuzzie made a quick count of the 'possums, and nodded. Good thing she'd got the roast out too.

Mactruc saw to introducing his guests to the hunting party. They, too, all kept straight faces while "meeting" Jondalar, and refrained from drooling on Ayla, although Freluv was heard to slurp a bit.

The hunters went in for tea while Fuzzie oversaw the preparations for the feast. Ayla wondered where Skuzzie and Wormie had gone. Then she noticed a strange sight in the low meadow where the horses were grazing. There seemed to be a third horse. But it had short, fat, human legs. Skuzzie and Wormie had donned a horsehide, and, holding a stuffed head up on a stick and switching a tail high behind, were prancing in front of Racer. She watched them for a time, a little concerned, but Racer seemed to be enjoying the game. She shrugged and went to see if she could help Fuzzie with the cooking.

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