THE CHOSEN ONES ( PART THIRTEEN )

Dawn was just approaching when Ivan awoke. This was
the morning he would be leaving his family, he felt
sad, but knew he had to find Nathen. The others were still asleep, so he decided he would check out
the cave again.

He crept silently along the path towards the cave,
it seemed quiet enough, there didn't seem to be any
danger, but then you never could tell. As he approached the cave entrance, he stopped and listened, all seemed fine, so he crept very carefully inside, stopping every few steps to look
around and listen, still there didn't seem to be any danger, finally he realised the cave was still
empty, it seemed to him, that this would be a safe
place for his family to hide out.

When he got back to the camp, he woke Meradith and
told her about the cave, so before the others
awoke, he took Meradith to the cave and told her it
would be big enough for all of them, including the
animals, then he said, "as soon as I'm gone, unload
the wagons, then cover them with branches, until
they become invisible, then take the animals and
all our belongings to the cave."
Meradith agreed this was a good idea.

They made their way back to the camp and woke the
others, then Ivan explained about the cave and how
they should keep the entrance covered, so it no
longer looked like a cave.

Meradith wrapped some food up from the night before, so that Ivan would at least have something
to keep him going on his journey. Bella decided to
give him her lucky rabbit's foot, to keep him safe.

Ivan kissed his daughter, then untied Shadow, then
he kissed Meradith saying, "don't worry, I'll be
back here as quickly as I can."
"I hope so," said Meradith, "I don't feel so brave
at the moment, and we need a man here and ... I'll
miss you so much." She started to cry, tears
welling up in her eyes.
"Hush now!" said Ivan, "you will upset the others
if they see you crying, be brave my love."
Meradith quickly wiped her eyes and cheeks, agreeing that she must be stronger. Ivan mounted
Shadow and rode off, Meradith waved till she lost
sight of him, then turned to the others and said,
"we must work fast, we have a lot to do this day."

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