THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART THIRTY )

It was early afternoon, the rain was still pouring
down. Ivan had managed to catch a rabbit, while they were on their travels. As they wandered they
discovered a small opening in the rocks, it wasn't
quite a cave, yet it was big enough for them to
camp down for the night and build a fire inside.

Ivan climbed down off his horse, then helped Joshua
down. "I'll bet you're hungry?" said Ivan.
"Starved," said Joshua.

Ivan found some kindling and then started a fire,
while Joshua skinned the rabbit, this did not take
long, soon they were tucking into a hearty meal,
the first in quite a while.

"It's so good to be out of the rain," said Ivan.
Joshua was freezing, he shivered, "would you mind
if I took these wet clothes off, and borrowed your
bear skin, to put round me?"

"Ofcourse not," said Ivan, "here get closer to the
fire."

Shadow seemed quite happy in the rain, grazing on
whatever he could find to eat. "Stay close Shadow,"
said Ivan to his horse.

As the two sat and ate, a strange feeling came over
Ivan, it was a sudden overwhelming feeling to go
back to his family, he didn't have a clue why,
but his gut feeling was, that something was wrong.

Joshua looked at Ivan, "what's wrong?"

"Oh I don't know, I was just thinking of my family."

"Ah!" said Joshua, "so you are homesick?"

"No," said Ivan, "it's not that...I just feel worried that something is wrong."

Joshua pulled his bear skin closer around himself.
He looked at his new found friend, then said, "I
had a family once, but who knows where they are now? cause I don't know."

Ivan looked at Joshua, thinking that he himself
had never been away from his family this long before, then he asked Joshua, "what happened to your family then?"

"I really don't know," said Joshua, he started to
recall the past. "It was the middle of Winter, my
wife and I had been travelling for days. My wife
Alena was pregnant, it seemed our baby was ready
to be born.

I managed to find us a small cave, to keep out the
wind and the snow. I did not want to leave Alena,
but I knew we would starve, if I didn't at least
try to hunt.

I stayed while Alena gave birth, I held my daughter, she was so beautiful, I almost cried, but
I knew this was not the time to get sentimental,
except that there and then, we decided to name our
daughter Winter, it seemed an appropriate name.

It was such a wild wintery day, that as I left our
shelter, I could hardly see. Alena pleaded with me
not to go, but I said we would starve if I didn't
at least try to hunt.

The snow was blowing into my face, I tried to
shelter my face with my hands, but the snow just
got into every nook.

The wind howled, I could hear a wolf cry, I wondered then, if I had made the right choice to
leave Alena and our baby.

In the end I gave up the search for food and headed
back to the cave. As I approached the cave, I called out, "Alena!...Alena!" but she never came to
meet me, always she would come to meet me, after a
hunt. I supposed it was because of the weather.

When I entered the shelter of the cave, Alena and
our baby were not there. I couldn't understand it,
I had only been gone a while. I went outside, I
shouted for her, but with the driving blizzard and
the wind howling, my voice was drowned. I searched
and searched, but never found Alena or Winter."

Ivan looked at Joshua, "that is awful, so you have
no idea if they are dead or alive?"

"No," said Joshua, "my only hope is, that they are
both alive somewhere."

This made Ivan even more determined to return back
to his family.

To be continued ........THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART THIRTY ONE ) | ABCtales