Nagar sought out the pregnant Wilki who was equally anxious to get to know Nagar. Communication was difficult at first but both women were motivated to understand each other before Wilki's labor began which would be soon. Saba supported Nagar and Wilki however she could. The three women eagerly planned for the birth of the baby.

Nagar told Wilki, "I want you to eat a little of the antelope meat each day as long as the smoked pieces last. It will help make you strong. Let us hope we can kill more. I'll do everything I can to help you when the baby starts to come and in the days after."

Wilki said, "Will the baby be all right? Will I have a lot of pain?"

"You are a strong young woman but the long walk was hard on you. Zura has tea that will help you and the baby inside you to sleep better in the days ahead. I think the baby will come soon. I can feel that it is moving into position with its head pointing to the ground. This is good."

Wilki was grateful to be in the hands of these two women. Nagar had seen many babies into the world. Wilki was a little intimidated by her and also worried about Nagar's health. But with Saba also there, who was such a kind and caring woman, Wilki felt she had made the right choice taking the long walk. Still, she was determined to go back to her old bode after the baby came.

Nagar said, "Why don't you think about staying with us? We all will be safer if there are more of us. We have good shelter and water here, and some of the animals are returning."

"Yes, but it's better to go back to my own bode," Wilki murmured.

Nagar was puzzled by Wilki's reluctance to stay as she seemed eager to learn the ways of Flat Rocks and enjoyed spending time with Saba and, recently, Esri.

One day Esri asked Nagar if she could speak with her alone, "Zura told me to come talk to you. Wilki is afraid of Piram. That's why she wants to go back after the baby comes. Piram told her that because he found her, she had to be with him as his mate and she doesn't want to be with him. She doesn't want to create trouble and thinks it best to return to her bode. Others would go with her."

"Does Barsa know?" Nagar asked.

"He knows that some want to go back but thinks it has more to do with Nat and that they are missing their bode. Wilki has not talked to Barsa about Piram. She cares for Barsa and is afraid he would fight Piram and get hurt or even killed."

"Too often Piram acts in ways that only serve him and no one else. He was not always kind to my sister," Nagar said.

"Did he hurt your sister? And what about Riga? Her daughter?"

"My sister and Riga were with Saba and me much of the time. Piram knew that Tars and I were watching him so he was careful not to go too far, but I worried and wondered how he might be if we weren't around. Before the Ash Rain and so many died, there were more who were like Piram. They used their strength to make others afraid and sometimes forced them to do things they didn't want to do."

"Did anyone try to stop them from doing bad things?" asked Esri.

"The Elders would try. We would speak with the person and tell them to stop hurting others. Some we sent away from the bode for a while, and sometimes we never saw them again."

Esri nodded, "It was like that in our bode. Zura was an Elder like you who tried to stop those who hurt others. What happened at Flat Rocks if an Elder did something bad?"

"Sometimes nothing happened." Nagar sighed, "I would speak about it, but nothing happened."

Esri spoke vehemently, "That is something we can change. Wilki should not be forced to be with Piram if she doesn't want to be with him."

"I agree, Esri, and we should begin now. In these times, with so many who have died, we're starting again and that's hard, but maybe some things we can do differently and better."

Esri smiled. "I think that you and Zura are like sisters, the way you both talk."

Nagar laughed, "Yes, she often says exactly what I am thinking. She helps me feel stronger. What we need to do is form an Elders Council and decide about Piram."

"What about Barsa? What will happen?"

"First, I'll speak with Zura about how we can do this so that Wilki feels safe and Piram doesn't end up fighting someone," said Nagar.

"And what about getting Piram to change?"

"Yes, that's the hardest. It won't be easy but maybe there is some way we can start. One thing, in these uncertain times, Piram would know how risky it would be for him if he was told to leave Flat Rocks even for one Moon-Woman journey."

"And that might make him change? I hope so."

Nagar put her hand on Esri, "You have a gift, Esri. People feel comfortable speaking to you. They trust you. Take care of that gift."

"Sometimes I don't know what to do, how to help them," said Esri.

"You will learn. What is important is that you want to help. As you get older, you'll understand more. Keep listening to the good people around you."

That evening, Nagar had a proposal for the bode. Earlier, she and Zura discussed what to do and they, in turn, spoke with Tars and Barsa to help shape their proposal and inform the two men about what was going on between Piram and Wilki. Barsa understood then, that besides Nat's longing to return to his mate's grave, Piram's claim on Wilki was another reason his group wanted to return to their bode. He found Piram to be gruff and forceful and could understand why Wilki would not want to be Piram's mate.

Nagar said to the Flat Rocks group, "We are now more people at Flat Rocks and want to grow bigger. We hope to find more who survived the Ash Rain and look forward to having the babies come again." She nodded at Wilki. "We need to be able to decide things as a group so that we can live well together. And, we need to have a way to fix things so that we don't fight and hurt each other."

Kai said, "But things are good now. Why change?"

Tars spoke, "It may not always be that way. Now that the animals might be back, what if everyone wants to hunt and no one is gathering roots and plants? Or what if Others join our group and they decide to take over your sleeping place? How would we fix these things?"

Kai looked at Tars and Nagar, "What are you saying? We go back to how everything used to be at Flat Rocks? Elders Council, and only a few learning the ways of Skywatchers and the rest?"

"And what if our ways are different?" asked Nat.

Nagar said, "No, I don't think everything should be as before. And, yes, I think we should look at different ways of doing things." She looked at each of the faces circling the bodefire. "Let me tell you what I think. Listen to everything I say and then we will talk. And we'll talk again tomorrow night. And again, if people want to talk more."

She continued. "I think we should begin by talking about what is done and not done in our bodes. It will be easier if we know how we are the same and how we are different. We know a lot of this already, but there is much still to learn about each other.

"In some of the ways we are different it doesn't matter: how we make spear points, prepare antelope meat, sing our Moon-Woman songs. Many things we can each keep doing as we want or have always done.

"In other things, how we decide on mates, who goes on hunts, who learns the ways of Skywatching, it does matter and we need to agree. For those, we will decide as a bode, what is the best way. We want to hear from everyone, even the youngest if they want to speak. I ask each of you to think about what is the best way, which may not be your old way. This will be hard for many. We may not be able to agree on some things. When this happens, we'll have the Elders Council decide. And if you disagree with their decision, and do not want to live by their decision, then you should not live in the Flat Rocks bode."

Piram asked, "Who will be on the Elders Council?"

Nagar said, "We'll begin with the older members of our group: Zura, Tars, Barsa, me, and you, Piram." He looked surprised, but pleased.

Nat said, "Because people are old does not mean they're wise."

"That's true, Nat, but often they know more than someone young because they have lived longer," said Esri. Nat looked unconvinced. Esri knew that he was worried that giving Piram more power could make things more difficult for Wilki. Esri trusted all of the others on the Council and saw that including Piram might be a way to influence him to change his ways.

"What if we also have a young person on the Council?" asked Esri.

"I think that's a good idea," said Barsa.

"Let's talk about all of this," said Zura.

The discussion went long into the night and for many nights after. They found that their bodes did have many similar traditions around sharing food, hunting, gathering plants, forbidding people to hurt or harm each other, respecting family units. They agreed on how work would be divided, arranging it so that people might specialize in tasks if they wished, while some tasks would be shared by all or nearly all depending on someone's age or health.

In the end, they agreed that the Elders Council would also include Saba as someone younger. She would want to come anyway, to help Nagar if needed, and her calm, thoughtful demeanor made her a comfortable choice.

Saba knew she could not say no to the honor but sitting on the Elders Council made her nervous and a little afraid to be given such a role in the bode. She took Esri aside. "It should be you, Esri. You're not afraid to speak to the Elders."

"I think you're the right person, Saba."

Saba said, "Soon Nagar will want to talk about how we decide on mates. She wants to stop Piram from bothering Wilki. I'm worried what he might do. We cannot let him have his way. I'm afraid there will be a big fight, and Wilki and the other new people will leave. I want them to stay with us."

"I want them to stay too. Why don't we talk about what you will say at the Council. I'll pretend to be Piram."

Saba laughed, "You will have to be twice as big and stop making me laugh."