Chapter 8 Summary

Iza's baby is a girl. This news is normally a source of sorrow in the Clan, but Iza is happy, and so is Brun. Had the child been a boy, Iza would have had to move to another man's hearth, because Creb couldn't teach a young boy to hunt.

One day, Ayla is out collecting cooking stones for Iza, when she finds a hurt rabbit. Instinctively, she picks it up and brings it back to Iza for healing. Although live animals are not normally allowed in the cave, Iza tends to it. When Creb comes back to his hearth, he sees Iza nursing her baby and Ayla cuddling her rabbit. When Creb questions Iza, she talks to Creb about her idea of training Ayla as a medicine woman. Iza recognizes that Ayla has a healer's instinct. Although Ayla does not share Iza's memories...