Chapter 26 Summary

The entire Clan mourns Iza's death, but no one more than Ayla. Not only does she mourn her loss, but also she feels responsible, having left Iza to go to the Clan Gathering, when she knew how sick Iza was. She is senseless in her grief, unable to hear even her own son's hungry cries, and Creb takes the squalling baby to other women to nurse, time and again.

After the burial rites for Iza, Ayla runs senseless into the woods. When Brun finds her later that night, she is unconscious from fever, and has lost her milk.

Since Ayla is unable to feed her baby, Durc must go to someone else's hearth. Oga is the only woman with milk, but Broud refuses the young boy. Oga is no longer a young girl, and she's still grateful to Ayla for saving her son's...