Kate was thrilled to see the long stretched of the river.

"Wow! The water is crystal clear! Amazing!" she looked at him while beaming. "May I take a bath, now?" she asked his permission.

Ramza nods his head. "Yes, you can," he answered.

Kate sprinted towards the wagon and grabbed her bag with her clothes inside. She jumped onto the ground and sprinted towards the river bank. She put the bag down on the rock and slowly eased herself into the water.

The water is not cold, it's warm! So nice!

Ramza looked at her. "How's the water? Is it cold?" he asked while filling their water jug with drinking water nearby.

"Not really," she answered. "I love it! Why don't you take a bath with me?" she told him.

Ramza looked at her, debating whether it's a wise idea to take a bath with her. Well...there's nothing wrong if he will indulge in a little luxury of taking a bath with a beautiful girl in the river.

He gets off the water and deposited the water jug in the wagon. Then he went back outside and took off his shirt except for his pants, the only garments left covering his lower body. He doesn't want to get naked all the way or else he will scare her.

He waded into the water and went to her side.

The water was only waist deep high.

"I love the water, so nice!" she said gleefully.

He looked at her and winked. "I love it too," he responded.

"Do we still have rice left?" she asked. So foolish of her to not thinking of buying and stocking of foods first before she resumed their journey. She could have bought some foods in Thorn Spring Village. Dang! 'She was such an irresponsible traveler,' she scolded herself.

She was worried because until now she wasn't able to spot a house near the road that they could buy rice and foods from.

He nods his head. "Don't worry about the rice and the foods, we won't die of hunger because we are surrounded with plants everywhere. We can always harvest banana fruits growing in here somewhere or catch some fish in the river like this," he said waving his hand around the body of water.

"Really—?" she asked, her eyes sparkled. "Alright, let's catch some fish to cook for lunch," she said giddily.

"Okay, but let me do it alone. Just continue bathing here. Catching freshwater fish needs proper timing and total silence or else you will startle the fish and they will scamper away out of your reach before you can even catch them," he explained.

"Ah, okay. I get your point. Go on, you may now start catching fish while I continue bathing here," she told him.

Ramza went to the area where rocks were piled on one another, the water is calm, he saw a medium size catfish resting behind the rocks. He freezes the water with his hand and grinned, he picked up the catfish easily and showed it to Kate.

"I got a fish for you, Kate!" he said smiling triumphantly at her.

"Wow, nice!" she ran to his side.

"Here, hold this fish and put it in the river bank while I catch more for our lunch and dinner," he said.

Ramza placed the motionless fish in Kate's hands.

Kate holds the fish tightly in both hands and went to the river bank.

Ramza checked other piles of rock nearby and caught two more catfish with the same process.

Kate returned to his side and took the fish from his hands. She was smiling while watching the fish. She found the whole fish catching experience with Ramza exciting and fun.

"This is fun!" she said aloud.

"Fun indeed!" Ramza murmured to himself.

They stared at each other and grinned.

"I will start boiling rice," she offered.

"Can you do it, make a fire?" he asked her.

Kate shook her head.

"Okay, let me help you." Ramza went out of the water and ambled to the river bank. He handed the pot to her. "You may clean this pot first while I'm going to make a fire," he said.

Kate accepted the pot and bring it to the river to wash.

Ramza found three medium-size rocks nearby, he brought the rocks into the middle of the clearing, then he gathered dry woods and placed them in between the rocks. He looked at Kate first, after making sure that she was still in the river, he pointed his two fingers on the woods, a red light came out from his fingertips latching at one piece of wood and the fire has started.

Kate comes to his side bringing with her the pot already filled with water. "Wow, the fire is ready! You're awesome!" she praises him. "Where's the rice?" she asked.

"Over there," he pointed at the black bag near the horse.

Kate opened the black bag and put four handfuls of rice inside the clay pot and rinses the rice two times in the river. She gets out of the water, ambled towards the clearing, and finally placed the pot above the makeshift stone stove while the fire was already burning hot.

"You want to catch more fish?" she asked him.

"Yeah. How many you want?" he asked.

"How about ten?" she replied joking.

"Alright, I will catch seven more catfish for you," he winked at her.

Kate blushed crimson red all of a sudden... and then she erupted into a giggle...she can't understand why she's feeling this way. She found the whole experience with him, thrilling!

Ramza went back to the river to resume fishing with more zest than before. He loves to put a smile on her face, each time.

A few minutes later, he returned with seven fish which he already cleaned in the river.

"What kind of dish you want to do with this fish?" he asked.

"Can we make delicious fish soup out of the five fish? And then we will roast the rest for our diner later in the evening?" she suggested.

"No problem, I bought some salt with me," he replied and winked at her again.

Kate smiled, every time he winked at her, her heart somersaulted, she stared at her toes feeling shy all of a sudden. When she raised her eyes, he was no longer where he was standing, he was back in the river to clean the rest of the fish.

He's been a gentleman, friendly, and caring to her, somehow it strikes a chord deep inside her. She found those qualities in a guy endearing.

He never did anything to her that can make her repulsed him.

He had gained her full trust on day one. She hopes he continues to treat her nicely since she can only depend on him for her safety during the entire journey. Without him, she will be lost in these dense mountains and at the mercy of wild animals.

After the rice was cooked, she starts cooking the fish soup and sprinkled some salt to taste.

A few minutes later, they're done with all the cooking and began eating.

"The fish soup tastes nice! You are a superb cook!" he praised her cooking skill.

"And you are a superb fish catcher!" she grinned at him.

"We're a great team! We're perfect for each other!" he grinned boyishly.

Kate no longer replies because she was busy sipping the tasty soup with her spoon, but she awarded him a quick sweet smile, her heart was going mushy inside her rib cage.

They resumed eating in companionable silence.

After enjoying their meals, they resumed bathing in the river for a few minutes, then continue traveling until nighttime.

***

Auhtors Note:

Hello all.

Can you give this novel a review guys...please?

Thank you in advance.