CHAPTER 51

"WOULD YOU RELAX? IT'S ONLY ME....." Adam held onto me before I took the direction of the fire like a mad woman.

"You're drenched in sweat. Are you that scared? It's only a story...." He laughed and wrapped his hand around me pulling me close to him.

I whimpered resting my head on his shoulder. He patted me on the back and ran his hand up and down my back until I was calm.

I felt like a baby ready to sleep after its mom tucked it in.

"Do you wanna go somewhere??" He asked and I laughed.

"Where can we possibly go at such a place in the middle of the night...?"

"We'll find something am sure...." He rubbed his hands against my arms and chasing away all my goosebumps.

"Machu Picchu seems to demand silence, you know, like a love affair you can never talk about...." I bro-punched him and walked towards the campfire leaving him dazzled in pursuit of meaning to what I just said.

Adam resumed his seat next to me and having him next to me made me realise I could handle just about any horror story.

A while after, the rest of the night was spent telling a bunch of silly jokes after they agreed no more telling freakish folktales.

All the laughter and joy was a preferable antidote making me forget all the terror I went through listening to the legend of the weeping woman in white.

As Adam promised, we set off at dawn going down the Highlands back to the valley.

******

The day after the trek we all went white water rafting down the Urabamba river. It ran from the high Andean ranges down through the Sacred Valley of the Incas, past Machupicchu and into the jungle. Handling the terrible story last night, this was supposed to feel good.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?? It's risky you know..." Adam asked fastening my safety jacket for me.

"Haven't you heard? Dealing with risk is often a part of the experience...." I replied tying my hair up in a ponytail.

"Ha! Says the girl who was afraid of a simple folklore...." He laughed and the men behind him tried not to follow through his lead.

"Hey...." I pointed my finger at him and he raised his eyebrows in scorn.

"Arrgh...move!" I pushed him away and sat in the raft. I carried my cross body bag in which I packed my sunscreen and some waterproof bug spray.

"Will you even have time for those???" Adam gestured at my bag as he also got into the raft.

I span around to be sure he was listening attentively.

"This sort of career is not for the faint of heart my love. Beauty is pain, pretty hurts....no sweet without sweat..." I winked and clicked my tongue at him turning back around.

Three other men who I questioned earlier and seemingly had quiet an impressive skill level went along with us. They had a full mastery of rafting and gained some experience touring almost everyone who comes here throughout the same course. They sure had some sharp and precise manoeuvring. Adam and I were safe.

I held a paddle and before the began, asked one of them to take a few pictures for us which he did. I placed my camera in a waterproof bag and carefully put it in my cross body bag.

We started off with very tough areas allowing us to hold in our adrenaline before the good stuff.

The slow pace wasn't as bad as it combined various levels of difficulty, yes, but allowed us to admire the beautiful natural scenery, and even some hints of mystery related to ancient tribes.

"It's good you came now...." One of the rafters explained killing the silence that had dominated

"Towards the end of the rainy season, medium-high water levels in the river reach about 300 cm to 800cm which is too high and difficult to manoeuvre a raft through. We often don't come out for these activities in those times...."

"That's a shame. I guess Adam and I are lucky then...." I smiled and continued paddling.

"Are you too .... Together??" The man at the back asked and I got tongue-tied. What did he mean? Wasn't it obvious??

"Yeah. We are...." Adam replied and pecked the back of my hair.

"I don't see no ring on her finger...." the youngest among them teased and I felt my skin melt.

I decided not to talk to Adam about it because I didn't want to act like a desperate girlfriend. I wasn't going to push him to propose to me when he wasn't ready for it.

I wanted both of us to be more than ready to commit to one another after marriage and it was more like rocket science which we had to learn first.

I understood that occurrences of cheating never existed between us but that did not mean I couldn't keep my choices open no less than Adam kept his. We were people who's mindset often changes from pizza to a cupcake within the second of arrival at a restaurant hence needed to be of sound mind while deciding this marriage thing.

"Oh...." Adam laughed and I could tell he was embarrassed. "Working on it... we'll even invite you to our wedding...." he joked and I tensed how tensed he was revealing why I didn't want to talk about this in the first place.

I kept quiet for the rest of the journey and had my body sway side to side following the rhythm and course of the river.

It was soft and swift at first but then rocks began appearing out of nowhere and we stopped paddling letting the raft be guided by the waves.

We went out of the sacred Valley of the Incas, past Machupicchu and into the jungle.

It was full and oddly silent except from crocking of distant frogs. It was monstrously green with magnificently long trees making us seem like soldiers in amidst the Amazon rainforest. I got scared again, my thoughts travelling back to yesterday's folklore.

"Now you'd definitely catch a weeping woman over here...." one of the men laughed and they all joined in except from me of course.

"Don't stay that!" I threatened and they quieted down. The rapids had disappeared and the river was as silent. The waters were still and a few dragon flies hovered around some plants on the river banks.

The further up we got, the thicker the mist became. We turned left, and bumped into the fog! It became cold and colder by the minute that the little clothing we had wasn't enough to shield us from the sudden change of weather.

"Can we please go back???" I requested.

"Already?? It hasn't even been thirty minutes ...." Adam protested and I wish I gave him an eye. I looked left and the low-anchored cloud, was more than enough to cause me a shiver.

" You ain't seen anything yet maam..."

"He's rught. The deeper the blue becomes, the more strongly it calls man towards the infinite, awakening in him a desire for the pure and, finally, for the super ---"

"ENOUGH! Take us back, Now!!!" I ordered and I could feel their trembling within the raft.

"Dealing with the risk is often part of the experience...." murmured Adam reminding me of the very words I used to come along this trip.

"Shut Up!"