Cave Dwellers (14 page)

   “Yes, I remember you mentioning that you were planning for a girl’s night that day.”

   “My other two friends are Jessica and Sarah. They were coming over that night, too. I have Spanish class with Sarah. Jessica and I share Sociology class together. She’s planning on going to the local community college to become a Registered Nurse.”

   “That’s a good field to go into. It seems there are always job openings for nurses.”

   “Yes it is. There are also so many different areas that you can work if you want. She likes working with geriatric patients. I really hate what happened to her when she started her teenage years.”

   “What happened?” Zaac asked.

   “Her father was killed when she was thirteen.” Ramira tried to explain. “He was a plumper working underneath a house in the crawl space. A wire being exposed went unnoticed as he was working on a leaky pipe. The accident was a tragedy that devastated the whole family. Her mother was a housewife with no particular employment skills. She got a job as a waitress at Mildred’s Diner. She does the best she can, trying to make ends meet.”

   “Wow! That would be pretty rough losing one of your parents at that age,” Zaac added, thinking about it. “Remember Matt? I mentioned he’s the friend I usually go mountain biking and climbing with? We’ve been friends since elementary school. I’m so glad that he wasn’t with me the day the earthquake hit.”

   “It all happened so fast,” Ramira said. “I remember trying to grab a hold of anything that I could to try and stop my fall. But there wasn’t anything.” Ramira shuddered.

   “You want me to tell you a funny story that happened at our school?” Zaac asked.

   “Sure.”

    Some students sneak into the woods behind the maintenance building to smoke. Not just cigarettes, either. Last year, one freshman was so preoccupied lighting up that he failed to see or hear a snake slithering toward him.
A rattle snake, rattling. Maybe he thought it was all in his head. He ended up being bitten. I think that got through to him. He had to make an emergency trip to the hospital. He survived, luckily. The teachers and everyone asked what he was doing back there, and he said something about being able to absorb his teachers’ knowledge better when he was surrounded by nature. Hah!”

   “I bet that will make him think twice about going back there to smoke.”

   “Maybe! Maybe not! I’ve noticed that thinking isn’t at the top of a lot of these people’s agenda.”

   Finishing their conversation, Zaac got his pack and plate and left the cave while Ramira collected the jagged rock and knelt down at the entrance.

   She scooped out small circular holes about four inches in diameter next to the wall. They resembled little bowls in the ground. She planned to put individual seeds into each hole. She scooped out eight places and labeled them for the seeds she would be planting: C for carrots, O for onions, T for tomatoes, CC for cucumbers, R for radishes, TP for turnips, L for lettuce and CB for cabbages.

   She would set some potatoes to the side and hope that they sprouted so she could use them for seed. If they didn’t, she would put them some in water. That always seemed to make them sprout.

   Once the holes were dug and labelled, she got a couple of bowls and headed to the vegetables. First she gathered all the pods from the carrots, then she found all the pods on the turnips and cut them off.

   When Ramira turned to take them to the storage holes she had dug, she noticed that Zaac had already dropped off one load of coal and was starting back for his second. She smiled and waved. He squatted with his knees pointed outward, placed one hand on top of his head and the other under his arm, mimicking scratching like a monkey. She doubled over laughing while he continued on as though nothing had happened. Zaac made her smile. He was wonderful company.

   Ramira planted her pods into their holes. Then she took the bowls and collected the lettuce seeds from the flower clusters that had started to die and dry up. She cut the pods off the onions and the radishes and planted them. That left only the cucumbers and tomatoes. For those, she would have to save some of the seeds from inside the vegetables.

   She saw that Zaac had brought a second load of coal. She had one more gardening chore to do. She
went to the rock pile and tried to find eight rocks that would cover the planting holes. This would seal off the seeds, making the holes airtight. It took several minutes to find ones that would work. She was placing them over the holes just as Zaac returned with his third load.

   “Are you ready to take a break and eat?” she asked.

   “I’ve definitely worked up an appetite.” He set his heavy pack down.

   Ramira grabbed some vegetables, a couple of bottles of water and bowls. She took them out by the boulder where they sat and ate.

   Afterward, Ramira said wistfully, “I would love to take a bath. It seems like forever since I’ve had one.”

   Zaac sat for a minute, thinking. “I think we can arrange that,” he said. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

   He chose several rocks from the rock pile and took them to the tunnel under the falls. It took three trips to carry all of them. Then he returned and grabbed the pack with the coal and his fire starter kit.

   “Give me about ten minutes and you can
come see.”

   Ramira waited for what seemed like ten minutes—it was really only seven— and followed Zaac. When
she rounded the turn in the tunnel under the falls, he was just stepping away from the fire he had just made. Against the wall was a circle of rocks, inside which the coal he had brought from the tunnel was burning brightly. As she stepped closer, she could feel the heat.

   “Wow! This is nice.”

   “You like it?”

   “Yes. This is so cool.” She stepped closer holding out her hands.

   “You can take a bath and come back here to dry off when you’re done. This tunnel ought to provide all the privacy you need. I’ll get another load of coal so you won’t have to worry about me invading your privacy. Would you like to wash your clothes while you’re taking a bath? I know we don’t have any soap but you can at least wash a little of the dirt off of them if you want.”

   “That would be great but these are the only clothes that I have. How would I dry them and what would I wear until they’re dry?”

   “I have an idea.” He started off toward the other side of the lake. He turned around before he left and added, “and don’t laugh.”

   He went to the other side—as he passed the primitive cemetery he reminded himself to block that tunnel soon—and headed for the pile of bones.

   There, he started sorting, tossing to the side anything unsuitable. Finally he selected three bones that might work and carried them back to Ramira. He chose the saw blade from his knife and notched the joint end of the bone on two of the pieces. He stuck the uncut end into the ground next to the fire. He then laid his third piece across the other two, fitting it into the notches, and stood back to admire his handiwork.

   “A clothes rack!” Ramira laughed.

   “My best shot under the circumstances,” Zaac said a little shyly.

   “I don’t know whether I can hang my clothes over some dead animal’s bones to dry.” Zaac didn’t realize that she was teasing him.

   “Well, if you insist, I’ll take it down. Maybe I can use the bones for something else.” He reached for the one laying on top.

   “Zaac, I was only joking. Thank you for thinking of it. I’m proud of you for coming up with the idea. But there is one thing ...” She took the top bone off and went to the edge near the falls. Sticking it out under the water, she washed it off and replaced it on top.

   “Now we can have a clean bone to hang our clothes.”

   Zaac was glad she liked it. It
gave him a good feeling to make her happy, even in the little things. “After you dry off you can wear my jacket until your clothes are ready. I’ll go get another load of coal while you take a bath.”

   He was back in a jiffy with the jacket and then left her alone. She took off her clothes, leaving on her bra and panties. She laid the clothes across a rock and walked to the lake. When she got to the edge, she removed her underwear and laid the bra and panties on a plant for easy access. She placed one foot in the water hesitantly and then the other. It was pretty cold. Slowly she walked out as far as her knees and stopped, hoping to adjust to the temperature. She went a little further, until she was groin deep and stopped. It wasn’t getting any better. Taking a deep breath, she dove under.

  Now that she had gotten past the worst part, the water began to feel pretty good. She swam, occasionally diving under. Finally, she went back to where she could stand. Dipping her head under the water, she began to rub her hands through her hair, washing it as best she could. She rubbed her body equally vigorously. She felt much better, rejuvenated.

   Ramira retrieved her underwear and washed it. Then she got out, swiping off drops of water with her hand as she walked back toward the tunnel. At the fire, she hung her undergarments over the makeshift clothes rack. She stood by the fire and its heat slowly dried the last droplets on her skin.

   Once she was dry, she donned the jacket, got her clothes and went back to the edge of the falls. She took her jeans first and held them out so the water could thoroughly soak them. Then she scrubbed them and hung them over the bone. She repeated the process with her sweater.

   Her work done, she added more coal to the fire and squatted with her back to the wall to enjoy it. As she gazed into the flames, her mind strayed to Zaac. A smile lit up her face briefly,
then suddenly disappeared. Her hair! She used her fingers to comb through it. Where is a brush and a little gel when you need them?

   The heat from the fire dried her bra and panties first. She put those on along with the jacket and waited for her clothes to dry. She occasionally turned them to expose the other side to the heat. Just as the coals were about gone, her clothes were finally wearable. It was so refreshing to be clean, wearing newly washed clothes. She went back to the cave and waited for Zaac.

   He had filled up his pack with a fourth load, taking the last of the loose coal in the tunnel. He decided to try his hand at mining. Picking up an old chisel and grasping the hammer rock, he started banging away at the wall. It took him a few minutes to get the hang of it, but soon he was able to knock out good size chunks of coal. The effort was nothing compared with the results. He was a little surprised how little strength was required. He had no idea how strong he had become.

   After working for more than an hour, he headed back to check on Ramira. When he arrived at the cave, she was waiting for him. She looked beautiful. His heart seemed to skip a couple of beats.

   “You look radiant. Did you have a nice bath?”

   “Yes, thank you.” She blushed. “It looks like you could use one yourself. You have black smudges all over.”

   “Oops. I must have rubbed my face while I was working.” He set down the pack by the fire pit. “I’ll go and wash.”

   He headed down toward the lake while Ramira prepared a salad. She peeled a potato to go with it. She had them ready when he returned. Sitting down by the boulder, they enjoyed their evening meal.

   They sat quietly, each caught up in private thoughts that were completely about the other. Ramira figured that now was the right time.

   “Would you like to take a walk around the cavern?” she asked.

   Zaac stood and held out his hand to help her up. As she was standing, her leg supposedly gave way and she fell against his chest.

   “My leg must have fallen asleep.” She looked into his eyes with her lips parted slightly. She stayed in that position, making no effort to walk away.

   Zaac was mesmerized by her beauty, by having the girl of his dreams in his arms. They gazed into each other’s eyes as they drew closer together. Ramira’s lips looked so irresistible as her head tilted back. Zaac bent his head and their lips met in a lingering kiss. As their lips parted, they knew that they were meant for each other. She tilted her head up and they kissed again holding each other close. Then she laid her head against his chest.

   Zaac knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Ramira realized that Zaac was the guy for her. In their brief time together, she had fallen deeply in love. He was a part of her and she could no longer imagine life without him.

   Forgetting their walk, they decided to turn in for the night. They said their goodnights and went off to sleep dreaming of each other.

15

   Zaac woke before Ramira the next morning. He stood watching Ramira sleep, a slight smile on her lips. She must be having a nice dream, he thought. He hoped it was about him.

   Deciding to pick some vegetables, he got the platter and headed down. He collected cucumbers, tomatoes, a cabbage and some radishes. As he was coming out of the tunnel to this side, he saw Ramira step from the cave glancing around for him. He waved at her. While he finished gathering the supplies, she went down to the water to wash her face and join him.

   “Good morning,” he said.

   “Good morning.” She smiled. She glanced at the loaded platter. “You’ve been busy.”

   “I thought I’d go ahead and gather what we might need for a couple of days. I was just getting ready to dig up some potatoes.”

   They got what they would need and washed the vegetables. Returning to the cave they had their breakfast and discussed their plans for the day. Neither of them mentioned the closeness that they shared the night before, but both could tell their relationship had changed.

   “I was thinking about working on that pottery oven today,” Zaac said. “If we can rebuild it, I might be able to make a few things. I’m going to need a large bowl to carry the coal— about this big.” Zaac hel
d up his hands showing the size he wanted to make. “I’m not sure how long my pack will hold up if it has to carry coal.”

   “Maybe we can make a few other things as well. My grandmother used handmade pottery for a casserole dish. She said you couldn’t use it to cook a single item like a chicken because it would crack the pottery. But if the ingredients in the dish were spread out, the heat would be distributed evenly and the pottery wouldn’t crack.”

   “This will be a new experience. I’ve never built a pottery oven before, or any other oven for that matter.”

   “Well, we have one thing going for us.”

   “What’s that?”

   “We have the rocks they used for the previous one. All we have to do is figure out which one goes where.”

   “Like putting a puzzle together and already having the pieces, except we’ll be using mud with this puzzle.”

   “I guess we’ll need one of the large bowls to mix the mud and a pot for the water. Is there anything else?”

   “That should about do it. Do you think it matters which dirt we use?”

   “They probably got the dirt from in here. We might be able to tell which kind by the color that’s between the rocks now.”

   She filled the water pot and went to the pottery oven, where Zaac was examining the dirt between the rocks. The dirt crumbled in Zaac’s fingers as he rubbed them together. “Doesn’t that look like the dirt near the entrance to the tunnel that leads to the coal?”

   “I think it’s mixed with some of the clay. I’ll get the dirt if you want to grab a couple of bowls and
get the clay.” Ramira headed toward the spot in front of the tunnel.

   Zaac went back to the cave and filled a couple of bowls with clay. Once again, as he passed the cemetery, he pledged to seal it up.

   They mixed the clay and dirt with water. Since Zaac’s hands were already filthy, he was the first to stick them in and start mixing. Ramira watched for a few minutes and then joined in. They added water and kept mixing until they felt they had the right consistency.

   They started by mudding the cracks in the existing section of the oven, mudding both the inside and the outside. Then they selected the rocks they thought might go next. Placing a layer of mud on the top of the old section, they placed the rocks on top of the mud, slanting them slightly inward and mudding on either side and on top. They repeated the process with another layer of rocks and mud. After the last layer, they stepped back to admire their progress.

   “It looks like one more layer of rocks around the top and then another row down the center for a roof will make it complete,” Ramira said.

   “I think we need some means of support, though. The mud’s not dry and the top might cause a collapse.”

   Zaac stood starring at the oven. A solution came to him, “We need rocks to stack inside the oven to support the structure. Once everything is dry, we can take them out.”

  “Brilliant!”

   Her compliment made Zaac blush. He hadn’t thought to impress her, only to do a good job. But it would be nice to have her delighted with what he did.

   They stacked more rocks inside the oven and laid a couple of bones for a temporary support. They added the last layer and completed their work with the center that closed the oven in. They smeared the rest of the mud mixture around the outside of the oven hoping to better secure the whole structure. 

When they were finished, they checked to make sure no cracks were left. Satisfied, they stepped away.

   “Now all we need to do is let the mud dry,” Ramira stated.

   “Do you think it would help to build a small fire on either side so the heat can speed up the drying process?” he asked.

  
“As long as you make them small. I don’t think you want too much heat. If there are any cracks after its dry, we can always apply a little more mud to sure them up.”

   Zaac built a couple of small fires while Ramira went to the lake with the bowls to wash them, and to the cave to prepare a meal. When Zaac had both fires going, they sat down together by the boulder to eat.

   “That was a nice day’s work,” Zaac said as he glanced over at the oven.

   “Yes it was. It’ll be interesting to try making a few items and see how they turn out. I like crafts, although in this case, the stakes are a little higher than they are at your average pottery class.”

   While they were chatting, the megapetomeinon flew off their ledge to acquire their daily feast of fish. Zaac and Ramira watched as two of the adults went back to the ledge and two landed on Zaac and Ramira’s side along with their young. Both adults had seen Zaac and Ramira and were prepared for anything that might occur. The younger ones did their usual playing after eating. Finally they all flew back up to their ledge.

   Zaac and Ramira breathed a sigh of relief.

   “Do you think they will ever accept us as part of the norm down here?” Zaac asked looking up at the ledge with a wishful yearning.

   “I hope so. It would be nice to not feel threatened every time they come around.”

   Zaac stood up. “I think I’ll go check on the moss. If it lived, I might plant some more going up to the ledge where the lichen was growing. Would you like to help?”

   “Not this time.” Ramira had other plans. “I want to do some exercises.”

   Zaac went into tunnel number one while Ramira went down the incline to start her stretches and warm ups. The moss he had transplanted was still glowing. The plant looked as though it had taken root. The moss they had planted further down looked the same. Success, so far.

   Zaac decided to continue lighting the way to the ledge with moss. He went back to get supplies and noticed Ramira on the ground, doing splits with her nose on the ground. She must be pretty flexible, he thought. He gathered what he needed and returned to the tunnel.

   After he had finished planting and watering, Zaac headed back and as he got closer to home, he heard periodic shouts of what sounded like “key-eye.” He looked around to see where it was coming from and saw Ramira performing some type of maneuvers, striking and blocking an imaginary opponent, kicking and spinning. He watched until she finished her routine with a bow at the end. Her arms were extended downward with her fists clenched and her feet shoulder width apart.

   She relaxed for a moment when she was done, then assumed the same stance and started another
routine. Zaac returned to the boulder and sat down. He knew this was something to do with martial arts but this was his first encounter with the kata that was required for advancing to the next belt.

   Ramira knew he had seen her but it didn’t distract her from performing her Tekki Shodan kata, which she needed for her first-degree Dan black belt. When he first spied her, she had been doing the Heian Godan kata, required for her brown belt.

   When she was finished, she walked up and asked, “I take it your moss was still living? I saw you get some more to replant it.”

   “Yes it was doing fine. I planted three more sections.” 

   He wanted to discuss what she had been doing. “I didn’t know that you knew martial arts. What level are you?”

   “I have a black belt in Karate and Jujitju.”

   “A black belt! You mean all of this time I was trying to protect you and you could have kicked my tail?”

   “Well, the topic didn’t come up.”

   “What do you mean ‘the topic didn’t come up’? You don’t normally go up to every person you meet and ask them what level of karate they are.”

   Zaac knew that if you were advanced in the martial arts, you would not go around advertising it. Still, he felt at a disadvantage not knowing.

   “I’m sorry. I usually don’t tell people. I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I kind of figured that when you came out, I would be doing one of my katas.” She walked to his side.

   “It doesn’t make you feel
less masculine knowing that I can probably kick your tail does it?” She did a mild crescent kick to his butt and took off running.

   Zaac stood for a moment in disbelief. She might be a black belt and could probably beat him in a fight, he thought, but there was no way she was going to get away with that. He took off in quick pursuit even though she had a good lead.

   Ramira ran down the incline to tunnel number four with Zaac chasing her. As soon as she exited the tunnel on the other side, she climbed the wall heading back up and over the falls.

   Just as she reached midway, Zaac ran out of the tunnel but didn’t see her. There was no way she could have made it across the floor in that length of time, he thought. Tunnel number five was the first tunnel on this side. He didn’t think she would run into it, since it had the bones. Besides she didn’t have enough of a lead to cover that distance. Did she continue down one of the tunnels under the falls, he wondered? He looked out over the lake, although he was pretty sure she wouldn’t have gone for a swim.

   While Zaac was in deep concentration, Ramira had enough time to reach a point above the falls where she could climb over them. As she started, however, her foot dislodged a small rock. Its fall made enough noise that Zaac looked up and he saw her.

   “Hey big boy,” she hollered. “What are you doing down there? Want me to lend you a hand?”

   Not only had she kicked him and run. Now she was taunting him. She might have martial arts training, but he knew that she couldn’t out-climb him. He jumped up on the wall, scurrying after her. She had just reached the other side of the falls when he arrived at the point where she had hollered down at him.

   Little did they know that their sudden escapades and hollering had attracted the attention of the two fun loving younger
megapetomeinon. The birds were just getting ready to leap off their ledge when a sudden rebuke from their parents made them hold back. They restricted themselves to watching.

   Ramira made it to a ledge and turned to see where Zaac was. He was indeed a much faster climber and he had just about caught up with her. She shot down the remaining wall to the floor with him in hot pursuit. Before touching the floor, she paused to get her bearings and performed a perfect backward somersault off the wall, landing with her knees slightly bent. The pause was all that Zaac
needed to make up the distance between them. He jumped off a second after her and landed on his feet within arm’s reach.

   As she was standing erect from her crouch, their eyes met and she tried to take off running again. Zaac dived and grabbed her ankles. Tackling her to the ground, he quickly flipped her over and held her arms against the ground straddling her. She could easily have escaped, but what fun is it being chased if you don’t let yourself get caught?

   Without putting up any resistance, she smiled teasingly and asked, “Now that you’ve caught me, what are you going to do with me?”

   “Well for starters, I want you to know that my masculinity is not threatened by your abilities. As for what I’m going to do ... hmmmm!” He lowered his head and gave her a lingering kiss.

   When he straightened up, he looked lovingly into her eyes. He was unprepared for what happened next. Ramira scissored her legs up and over his head locking them and snapped him backwards until he was on the ground on his back and she quickly reversed positions putting her on top.

   “Just for the record, you should feel threatened,” she said as she bent and kissed him on the lips. As she tilted her head back up, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him for a much longer embrace. She did not resist.