THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART FIFTY ONE )

Before the three set off, they started a small fire
and Arvid went down to the river, he didn't find it
to hard to catch a couple of fish, ready for them
to cook. Bella managed to find some watercress and
some wild blackberries, there seemed to be an
abundance of them.

They never realised how hungry they were, till they
tucked into the fish, the blackberries finished it
off nicely.

When they had finished eating, Arvid put the fire
out and made sure all the blood was washed away.
You would never have known they had been there.

Bess led the way through the forest, it was getting
quite near to dusk, she knew they would need to
reach the cave, before nightfall.

They had been walking quite a distance, Bella had
managed to find some mushrooms as she walked, they
were really tasty. They found a little stream and
stopped for a drink.

"So," said Arvid, "how long have you been Wintering
in caves?"

"As far back as I can remember?" said Bess. "What
about you, where do you shelter from the Winter
snows?"

"Oh, we just make shelters from skins and hunt,
that's all I've ever known." said Arvid. "What about you Bella?"

"My Father is a hunter too, we do exactly the same,
except we also use the wood from the forest to make
shelters from the snow and wind."

*******

When they had finished drinking, they set off once again. It wasn't long till they came to an opening,
there was a winding path, which they made their way
along.

Arvid could not see any caves and wondered if Bess
had imagined it. "So!" said Arvid, "where's this
cave then Bess?"

She could see the doubt in Arvids face and smiled.
"So! you don't believe there's a cave...do you?"

"Well," said Arvid, "I cannot see one, can you Bella?"

Bella agreed that she couldn't either.

Bess smiled again, "that's because it's so well
hidden." She told Arvid to remove what looked like
undergrowth.

Once he had removed all the hanging plant life,
there was a pile of rocks to remove. Arvid worked hard to remove the rocks, he found it quite hard on his own...as they were heavey, but as he moved another rock, he suddenly saw an opening.

"That's it!" called Bess, "keep going."

Arvid moved the rest of the rocks, he was amazed to
find an underground cave. It went down quite along
way.

This was a new experience for both him and Bella,
but Bella was not so sure she wanted to go into
a dark cave, she felt slightly apprehensive.

"Come on," said Bess, "it will be fine."

To be continued ............THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART FIFTY TWO ) | ABCtales