Raised From The Wild-Chapter 115: The Cave
Amaya actually felt cold, but she was used to bathing in cold water, so it was not a big deal for her. Marx, on the other hand, felt hot when he teased Amaya and shampooed her hair, so he needed to cool down to tame his little beast that had awakened.
Back at the campsite, Enrico had finished grilling the fish, which he put on top of a rock with a flat surface. Earlier, Marx brought with him three pieces of banana leaves. Enrico passed those leaves over the fire to kill germs and other invisible harmful organisms. He laid the leaves on top of the rock, and viola, they had leaves as tablecloths.
His mouth watered when he saw the food spread on the table and the fruits that Marx found.
When Marx and Amaya arrived, Enrico had already finished eating and had tidied his tent. Dave stood at the stream intently watching the water and animatedly pierced the water with his spear.
Amaya laughed. "Dave, you eat first, so you’ll have the energy to catch the fish."
Dave reluctantly left the stream. He took a few granola bars from his backpack and handed some to Marx and Amaya.
The three women arrived and joined them. They took the granola bars and started eating them. Phoebe wanted to eat the fish. She took a foldable spoon and fork set from her backpack and started cutting the fish with the spoon and fork. Amaya, on the other hand, used her hand to pick the fish meat and put it in her mouth. Marx and Dave followed suit. They did not show any awkwardness at all.
’When did Marx and Dave learn how to eat with their bare hands? Am I a bad influence on them?’ Amaya wondered. Looking at them eating easily, Amaya took her cell phone and captured the moment.
Margaret was a seasoned mountain climber, and she quickly adapted to what the situation called for. She also used her hands to eat the fish.
Liza and Phoebe, however, were different. They looked at Amaya with disdain. Was it proper for a princess to use her hands when eating? She secretly took pictures.
The men, Amaya and Margaret, were done eating and had even disassembled their tents and tidied up. Phoebe and Liza were still eating.
While waiting, Marx and Amaya updated their maps and reviewed their route for their descent. When they plotted their route the previous day, Marx drew a two-dimensional rendition of the smaller mountain, which Amaya called Mount Daya. They ascended the mountain using the northern slope. For their descent, they followed the southern slope, traversed the mountain’s base from the east, and circled back to where they started.
Dave urged Phoebe and Liza to hurry. He felt embarrassed because he had invited the two of them. This wasn’t the first time that Phoebe had gone mountain climbing. He didn’t expect that she would create a lot of fuss and cause them to be delayed a few times.
"What is the hurry, brother-in-law? Aren’t we here to relax and have fun?" Phoebe spoke with a displeased tone. She was annoyed when Dave continued to pester her. Dave can only agree with her. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
They continued their trip down the mountain. They did not find any trace of the wolves. Vasquez and Drake were very attentive, looking for a way to lure the wolves, but they did not see any.
When they were a kilometer from the foot of the mountain, they discovered a cave.
"Look, there is a cave over there!" Enrico was excited. He ran toward the cave with the others trailing behind.
Enrico was about to enter when Amaya held his hand and stopped him.
"What’s the matter?" he asked politely, but his eyes flickered as he looked at the hand that held his wrist.
Marx frowned, and his burning gaze landed on the man standing at the front of the cave. Enrico pulled his hand away from the Amaya. The fire from the two orbs of ocean blue suffocated him.
"Let’s get out of here. The cave is the wolves’ lair that attacked us last night." Amaya furrowed her brows. She started to hear the low growl from inside.
"Isn’t it better to kill those wolves, Princess? This is too near the foot of the mountain. Those wild animals will be a threat to the inhabitants of the island." Vasquez interjected. If they can kill the wolves, they will have more wolf skin and fangs.
Amaya pondered for a moment.
"Let us think about that another day. For now, let us hurry and leave first!" Amaya’s voice was filled with worry. She did not want to provoke the wolves, especially after last night’s encounter.
The group listened to Amaya. They left the cave in a hurry.
Vasquez and Drake looked back at the cave regretfully.
Soon, they arrived at the foot of the mountain, and trekking was much easier. The distance they needed to traverse to return to where they started was about ten kilometers.
Phoebe was whining. She said she was tired and wanted to go back to her hotel.
"Don’t worry, we are almost finished." Dave coaxed Phoebe.
They were walking slowly because the vegetation was dense. Vasquez and Drake, with the additional help of Enrico and Ricardo, cleared a path using a machete.
It was past lunchtime when they arrived at where they had first started.
Phoebe had many scratches on her arms, and Liza also had the same because they were wearing sleeveless shirts.
As construction was ongoing, there was a canteen where the workers had their meals. The mountaineers headed to the canteen and ordered. They could finally have soup and rice for lunch and a cold drink.
The moment she got a cellular signal, Liza posted a photo of Amaya eating fish using her bare hands and without makeup. The caption of the photo was: Princess Without Etiquette. The Internet was in uproar again.
’Look at her; she is really a wild princess!’
’Of course, she was raised in the jungle, so she is wild.’
’Doesn’t she look cute? I like her. She is not pretentious.’
’The fish must taste good. Looks like she really like it.’
’Something is wrong with this post. What does etiquette have to do with you being in a forest?’
’Yes. You are right. Her backdrop is the lush vegetation, so she must be in the forest.’
’I think the one who posted this photo would like to dishonor our princess. Shame on her.’
’Damn, I agree with you. Moon Li would like to hurt our princess.’
’Where is this place? I want to go there.’
Liza was furious when she read that most people praised Amaya and scolded her. The alias Moon Li was hers.
She uploaded the photo to ruin Amaya’s reputation, but the effect was the opposite. She helped boost her popularity.
She was scared of the other things she read in the comments section, so she deleted her post. It was better not to invite trouble.
Amaya visited the zoo that afternoon. She discussed it with Marx, and they both agreed that it would be best to bring the animals to the mountain after the construction was finished to avoid accidents.
"When do you think the construction will be completed, Marx?" Amaya asked while patting Khalil’s neck.
"Maybe in two or three months. I’ll ask the foreman if we can still add more people so they can finish early."
"Did Grandpa Earl not check the mountains even during his younger days?" Amaya asked.
"He said he has explored some areas but not the deeper part of the mountain."
"How come? What if there is a treasure?"
"Then the treasure is yours."
"No, the treasure belongs to us," Amaya said decisively.
Marx smiled. He liked it when Amaya treated him well.
"Aya, when your house is done, will you stay there?" Marx looked at her in the fading afternoon sun.
"I am thinking of moving to the island every weekend while still studying. During school break, I will stay on the island."
Marx was satisfied with her reply, "Then, have you told your father and grandfather about you moving out?"
Amaya sighed. "Not yet. I will tell them during dinner today. By the way, do you think that Phoebe is weird? I do not know why she is so hostile to me when I didn’t do anything that would affect her."
’This naive woman! How do I make her understand? She needed to grow up; otherwise, people would always bully her.’ Marx thought.
"Oh, I think she is just jealous of you."
"Jealous of me?"
***
Author’s Note:
"Thank you so much for your support! Please consider casting your vote for this book with your PS or Golden Ticket. Your support means a lot to me :).
