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CHAPTER EIGHT
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"We'll have to cross this river. You see those rocks? I know its kinda far to jump, especially in your condition, but it's the only way across. The river gets worse up ahead and it's too deep back downriver."
Caliko looked at Lynx in disbelief. Why hadn't she just tried and find her own way back to the city? Why did she agree to go out to the wilderness with this crazy? "You gotta be crazy. There's no way I can do that."
"Well, you're going to have to try. It's not too deep though, if you fall in, only two or three feet at its deepest. Come on," He grabbed her carefully by the arm and helped her down the steep slope towards the river. "Careful!" Lynx hurriedly grabbed Caliko under the arms as she started to slip on the loose earth.
"You know, this is insane! Here I am pregnant and trekking through the wilderness." Caliko complained, slip/sliding her way down.
Lynx ignored her protests, shaking his head. Why hadn't he just left her and let her fend for herself. Any other city-dweller would have found themselves pinned to a tree and left for bear food if they had pulled a knife out on him. But yet, here he still was, guiding this rude and bitchy woman to his home. 'I just want to see the child be safe.' He told him self. 'It's better she has the child here than in the city.'
"Well, ferryman, are you going to just stand there looking like an idiot or show me how to get across?"
'I wonder how much is hormones and how much is her real self?' Lynx thought, jumping to the first rock and putting his hand out to help Caliko. She grabbed his hand and held it as she jumped. She landed on the rock, swaying a little. "Good, now this next one --" he jumped, "is a little further away. You'll have to really jump now." He turned and held his arms out to catch her.
Caliko took a moment to judge the distance. 'If I didn't have this beachball attached to me, I'd beat him across." She thought, starting to jump. She stopped herself, she hadn't quite worked up the nerve yet. "So how much further after we get over this mess, do we have to go?" She jumped and landed in Lynx's out-stretched arms.
Lynx made sure she was steadied before letting her go and skipping to the next one. "About an hour or so, and we better hurry, it's going to be cold tonight and I don't think you'd like another camp-out."
Caliko skipped the easy distance between the rocks and landed beside Lynx. "Why not? It was so fun last night." She moved around him and jumped for the next rock. She landed, but her feet slipped on the slick moss and she fell, splashing, into the river.
"Shit!" Lynx jumped into the river after her, pulling her up. The water was icy-cold and up to his waist and almost Caliko's chest. "Are you alright?"
Caliko was shivering. "Yes, damn you and your 'Let's skip over the river' idea!" She turned and angerly waded through the water to the other side. She climbed out of the river and out onto the bank. Lynx followed her.
"You're bleeding." He pointed out, stepping onto dry land.
"Huh?" Caliko looked down and saw her pants were torn and both knees bloody. "Damn." She bent over and looked at them. "I don't have any other clothes either."
"Don't worry about that now." Lynx took his knapsack off and set it down. He opened it and pulled out a blanket. "Here, wrap yourself up in this. I'm going to make us a fire, you need to dry off and warm up. Let me help you to the top."
Caliko took the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "I can get it myself I think, besides, you did a fine job keeping me dry." She trudged up the hill. Lynx could hear her mumbling to herself as he climbed behind her, ready to catch if she fell.
When they reached the top, Caliko threw herself down, red-faced and puffing. Lynx saw she was still shivering though. The day was turning cold and the sun was already beginning to set, ushering in an even colder night. "Stay here, I'll only be a minute and we'll have ourselves a fire. Oh, and uh, there's another blanket in here." He handed her the bag. "You should get out of those wet clothes.We'll hang them by the fire and let them dry." He felt himself start to turn red. "Just don't wrap yourself back up in that wet blanket." He hurried away to look for wood.
Caliko sat and debated. He was right. She should get out of these clothes. She looked around then pulled the blanket from the bag. 'Damn.' She thought as she pulled her shirt over her head. 'It's cold, and that creep is probably peeping through the branches.' Quickly, she wrapped herself in the dry blanket. She reached down and akwardly pulled off her wet boots and socks. Then she stood up, the rocks digging into her bare feet, and pulled off her pants. She made sure the blanket covered everything and folded the wet blanket to sit on.
In a few minutes, Lynx was back and soon had a fire going. This time, Caliko sat very near the fire. So close, her skin tingled from the heat of it. Lynx had constructed a tee-pee of branches and Caliko's wet clothes near the fire. Every so often he would switch her shirt or pants to facing the fire. "I hate to say it, but I think we're going to have to stay another night. These clothes won't be dry for awhile and I don't think you want to show up to the camp in nothing but a blanket." Lynx had opted to keep his wet clothes on and he was shivering in the cool air.
Caliko groaned at his suggestion, but he was right, she did want to be wearing something other than a blanket.
"I suppose, since I'm already wet, I'll hop back in and see if I can't catch us some fish." Lynx stood up.
"Fish, great." Caliko mumbled as Lynx disapeared down over the hill. She edged herself closer to the fire and yawned. She was so tired. Uncomfortable, she stood up, spreading the wet blanket down on the clearest looking ground near the fire and laid down, still keeping the blanket wrapped firmly around her. She closed her eyes, determined to only rest for a minute. She wasn't comfortable with falling asleep naked with just Lynx around.
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Lynx returned empty-handed back up the hill. The moon had risen and the fire died down. He walked towards it and tossed on another log. "Sorry, no luck." He turned to Caliko. She was sleeping, her right arm across her face and her right breast exposed, the blanket folded over. Lynx's face reddened and he looked away. He busied himself with seeing how dry her clothes were and on drying himself out. He sat by the fire, his back to Caliko. 'I should cover her up.' He thought, stirring the fire with a stick. 'But what if she wakes up and sees me? Shit.' He ran his hand over his face. 'Okay, I'll just go over there and flip the blanket over her and come back.' He stood up and remained there a moment before slowly walking towards Caliko, quickly he reached down and replaced the blanket. Caliko stirred in her sleep, grabbing the blanket and pulling it around her. Lynx returned to the fire. "I'll be glad when this is over." He said to himself as he laid down and fell asleep.
