Auel, Jean M. - Earth's Children 01 by The Clan of the Cave Bear

Author:The Clan of the Cave Bear [Bear, The Clan of the Cave]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-10-19T07:59:42+00:00

Creb was lying awake when Iza silently appeared with a cup of hot tea.

“I knew you were awake, Creb. I thought you might like something hot before you got up. The storm broke last night.”

“I know, I can see blue sky around the wall.”

They sat together sipping tea. They often sat quietly together lately. The hearth felt empty without Ayla. It was hard to believe one girl could leave so large a void. Creb and Iza tried to fill it with closeness, deriving comfort from contact with each other, but it was small comfort. Uba moped and whined. No one could convince the child Ayla was dead; she kept asking for her. She would toy with her food, wasting half by spilling or dropping it. Then she’d get cranky and want more, driving Iza to distraction until she lost her temper and scolded, and was immediately sorry. The woman’s cough had returned, keeping her awake half the night.

Creb had aged more than it seemed possible in so short a time. He had not gone near the small cave since the day he set the white bones of the cave bear in two parallel rows, the last one on the left poking into the base of a bear skull and out its left eye socket, and spoke aloud the names of the evil spirits in clipped, gruff syllables, giving them recognition and power. He could not bring himself to look upon those bones again and had no desire to use the beautiful flowing movements used to commune with more beneficent spirits. He had been giving serious consideration to stepping down and turning the function of mog-ur over to Goov. Brun tried to convince him to reconsider when the old magician brought it up.

“What will you do, Mog-ur?”

“What does any man do when he retires? I’m getting too old to sit for long times in that cold cave. My rheumatism is getting worse.”

“Don’t be hasty, Creb,” the leader motioned gently. “Think about it for a while.”

Creb thought about it and had just about decided to announce it that day.

“I think I’ll let Goov become the mog-ur, Iza,” Creb motioned to the woman sitting beside him.

“That can only be your decision, Creb,” she replied. She didn’t try to talk him out of it. She knew he had no heart for it anymore, since the day he laid the death curse on Ayla, though it had been his entire life.

“It’s past the time, isn’t it, Creb?” Iza asked.

“Yes, it’s past the time, Iza.”

“How would she know it’s past the time? No one could see the moon with that storm.”

Creb thought about the time he showed a small girl how to count the years until she could have a baby, and about the older one who counted the days of the moon’s cycle herself. “If she were alive, she’d know, Iza.”

“But the storm was so bad. No one could go out in it.”

“Don’t think about it. Ayla is dead.”

“I know it, Creb,” Iza said with hopeless gestures.

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