CHAPTER 27: START OF JOURNEY

Ray patiently listened to the details the chief described and noted them down mentally.

By the time they had discussed the details of the operation, Lily and Bella returned from the shopping.

They both have shopping bags in one hand and sugar candy in the other hand.

Bella skipped into the house, happily went directly to her father, and started showing the clothes and small items Lily had purchased for her.

Lily maintained her usual stiff expression, but the happiness was evident in her eyes. She had enjoyed shopping with Bella.

As lunchtime approached, the chief's wife entered the hall and extended an invitation to Ray, and Lily to join her for lunch.

The chief, realizing it was already afternoon, lamented that they had not observed the time while conversing.

Ray listened to the chief's words and laughed, then agreed to have lunch with them.

The Chief asked Bella to go outside and invite her brothers to have lunch.

While Bella went out to call her brothers, the chief took Ray and Lily to the backyard and gave them a bucket of water to clean their hands and legs.

Then he gave them towels to use and directed them to the dining room.

As the luggage was being packed, the dining table and chairs were not present in the room, so they sat cross-legged on the floor, and the chief's wife placed a plate in front of them.

While they got ready to eat, Thomas, Troy, and Ryan came to the room all freshened up, and sat beside them.

Two more ladies came from inside and handed plates to Thomas, Troy, and Ryan.

The chief introduced them as Thomas and Troy's wives. "The one who is slightly taller and has straight hair is Thomas's wife, while the one who is a bit shorter and has curly hair is Troy's wife." Chief introduced them while they were serving the food to all of them.

They all enjoyed their lunch and proceeded to the hall afterward. Then, Thomas and Troy began informing the chief about the work they had completed.

Subsequently, Ryan reported to the chief about the work at the pier and informed him that the boats intended for use had been properly repaired and were now positioned on the opposite side of the island.

When the chief heard boats, he looked at Ray who was listening to their conversation then asked him.

"Ray if you have any luggage with you, please give them to Ryan, he will keep them safe on the boats and arrange some free room for you to sleep on the boat"

"The last time I heard, you arrived on the island using a raft. However, we cannot employ the raft for our journey, as we will be traveling on the flowing river. Traveling on a raft is perilous." Chief advised seriously.

Thomas and Troy, who were listening to Chief, laughed at Ray when they heard Chief's words and began recalling Ray's struggle to paddle the raft during his previous journey to the island.

Ryan, listening to the conversation laughed along with his brothers and reminded them that Ray had arrived on a larger boat. He added that Ray would not need their assistance for travel and accommodation since Ray's boat was half the size of theirs.

"Brother, I have not seen any other crew members on the boat besides you. How did you manage to navigate it without sails or a paddler to propel it forward?"

To This question, Ray hung his head low in embarrassment, Ray coughed twice to cover the embarrassment and asked them.

"Do you guys still remember the monster fish living in the lake that used to overturn your fishing boats?"

Everyone recalls the presence of a fish monster in the lake, which had been forgotten after its sudden disappearance for a month.

They now believe it disappeared on the day Ray left the island after purchasing the supplies, but they did not understand why Ray inquired about it when they asked him about the boat's specifications.

"But brother I'm asking about how your boat can move without sails and paddles," Ryan asked again.

"What is the connection between the fish and your boat? If it is a secret, you do not have to disclose it, and I will refrain from asking again," Ryan said, feigning anger.

"Well, I caught the monster fish, and now it is pulling by boat," Ray confessed.

Everyone in the room doubted their ears and looked at each other face in doubt.

"You caught it?" Everyone asked loudly in doubt.

Ray nodded his head in response and began explaining the process of catching the monster fish.

"When I was returning home on the raft, my raft started drifting along the water flow and I couldn't control the direction of the raft which made me pull my hair."

"While I was thinking of returning to the island and asking your help by lending a fishing boat which I can row properly."

"Then I saw the monster fish swimming in the nearby area while diving up and down bored, I thought it might overturn my raft as it overturns your fishing boats, but it saw me and ignored and continued its antics."

"Then I thought of catching it and trying taming it to pull my raft and showed it a variety of items to attract its interest."

"it didn't even bat an eye and started leaving while playing in the lake, as a last resort I remember Chief giving me a jade bottle as a gift, and as soon I opened it to see if the items in it could attract the fish, the medicinal smell of the pill finally attracted the fish attention.

"It started revolving around my raft and lined its eye at the pill bottle, so I tried speaking to it and asked it to pull my raft to my home and I would give one pill as a reward for its work, and to my astonishment it worked, and the fish safely took me to my home, and I give a pill.to it as promised"

Then the fish became friends with my sister Lily and the current boat was customized to be pulled by the fish.