Chapter 26.
During the night, Diego slept in peace without any other nightmares disturbing him. He knew that Shira was right in him being over-protective of Flora, but he didn't do it in fear of Sam trying "funny business" on her. Once Diego discovered Sam and Flora, he could sense the closeness they were starting to share. He had a feeling that sooner or later their friendship would turn into something much, much stronger and more romantic. If that were to happen, then where would the unbreakable father-daughter bond be? If Flora were to have a boyfriend, she would rather be spending time with him than her dad. That's what Diego worried about.
"Wakey wakey." Shira nudged Diego awake. "We gotta eat first, then it's time to get going." she pushed some freshly caught fish in front of Diego.
"Thanks." Diego smiled in gratitude. He looked around to see Cash, Bobby and Sandy gone.
"Where are the boys and Sandy?" asked Diego. His voice started trembling a little, worried that they have disappeared mysteriously too.
"They're just out on a walk. Don't worry." Shira reassured him.
"Good. They're not too far from here are they?"
"Diego. They'll be fine. They should be coming back in a few minutes."
"Hey Mom, hey Dad," Cash greeted his parents as he was coming back with Bobby and Sandy.
"Speak of the devil."
"You guys ready?" asked Diego. "Time to start day 2 of The Search for Flora."
"Yeah we're ready." replied Bobby. "But before we go, Cash, Sandy, you guys said you saw something last night right?"
"We did." replied Sandy. "Cash and I were just hanging out when we saw a shadow in the bushes."
"A shadow?" echoed Diego.
"Yeah." Cash continued for Sandy. "We weren't exactly sure what it was, but when it saw us, it panicked and ran away. Sandy and I were trying to catch up to it to ask it some questions, but it caused a mini-avalanche and the rocks blocked our way."
"Are you guys okay?" asked Shira making sure Cash and Sandy didn't get hurt from the rockfall.
"We're fine Shira. We didn't get hurt." Sandy appreciated how her best friend's mother cared about them.
"Dad, do you think it had something to do with Flora' disappearance?" asked Bobby. The way Cash described the shadow that ran away from them made them suspect it had something to do with their sister.
"I don't know. What I do know is we need to tell the rest of the herd and to keep a lookout for anything suspicious." declared Diego.
After the five sabers ate, the rest of the herd woke up and reminded Diego that it's time to search again with Diego telling his friend what Cash and Sandy him and Shira.
"Like Diego said, he need to watch out for stuff that seem that they have a connection to Flora's disappearance. The more clues we find, the better."
Everyone agreed with Manny and Diego and set off to find Flora hoping to find her, or at least something that will show them where she is.
...
Sam tip-toed to the underground cave to Flora's prison to give it another shot to give her breakfast and to get her to talk to him. He was doing his best to stay quiet and not to get caught by Soto, Zeke, Lenny or Oscar. He knew that if they would find out that he's been feeding the prisoner, he would get severely punished. And something worse. Sam knew well that if he would do something Soto wouldn't like at all, the leader would not only take is anger out on him, but out on Flora as well.
As Sam finally went down to the cave, he slowly and quietly tip-toed to where Flora was. He looked through the hole in the bark door to see that she was still sleeping.
I shouldn't wake her up. Sam thought to himself. But that didn't mean he should let Flora starve from hunger either. As soundlessly as he could, Sam slid the fish that he caught underneath the door for Flora to eat when she woke up. After doing so, he exited the same way he entered. Quietly.
Just a few minutes after Sam left, Flora awoke to the aroma of freshly caught fish. At first, she dismissed it as her dream, but then she saw the fish was right next to her face. Flora scoffed at how that fish got here.
Is this guy for real? She thought to herself. How could Sam have the nerve to lie to her and still be so kind, friendly and generous to her by giving her food and fixing leaks for her? She'd think a person would have more backbone.
Flora glared at the fish. She was torn at what to do with it. She would rather eat rotten meat than something freshly caught by the guy who she thought was her friend. But on the other hand, she shouldn't let perfectly good food go to waste and her stomach was grumbling louder than yesterday.
Sighing miserably, Flora took a bite from the fish so reluctantly. She was so uncomfortable with eating that she had to force herself to swallow. She scolded herself for taking something from Sam, the one person who thought truly understood her, but what else could she do?
After swallowing that one mouthful, Flora suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She didn't know if it was from the fish or her discomfort in eating it. Either way, she is not taking a another bite. She dug a small hole, dropped the fish in it and buried it, hoping that the smell would not pop up.
Flora knew that what she did was pretty stupid, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to get out of here, back to the comfort of her family. Especially her father. But she was stuck with the reality that she isn't coming back to them for a while. All Flora could do now is just sit and hope that she will be reunited with them soon.
...
"Sam, where have you been?" Sam ran into that question from Soto when he was walking back to the rest of the pack.
Sam gulped. He hoped that Soto would not notice that he was gone.
"Well, I was just. Uhh. Out for a walk." answered Sam hoping that Soto would be convinced with his lie. He was relieved to see Soto just changing the subject right away.
"Whatever. Anyway, the others too lazy to actually catch something decent for us to eat. Again, so make yourself useful and catch something tender and juicy.
"Okay. I'm on it." Sam replied walking off to do the hunt.
"And when you're back, don't forget to clean that muck these oxes leave behind in our territory after we scare them away. I hate stepping in it."
"Yes sir." Sam this time had a twitch and shuttered while replying.
"Good. Now go." Soto dismissed him.
It has always been like for Sam ever since he joined the pack. All he ever was to them was an errand boy or a servant. Sam hated being bossed around and commanded constantly by them. He mostly hated how he was forced to lure Flora to them. He really did like the charming, young female and it pained him to see the betrayed gleam in her eyes. It truly did. But what else can he do? He was forced into this tough pack life and there was no way out for him.
Now we know why Diego was being so protective of Flora! But will he tell the herd his reason? And I know I'm repeating this for like the zillionth time, but POOR FLORA! And Sam too! He's totally forced into it and he can never escape! :( What will happen next? Keep a look-out! ;)
