Chapter-VI.

                       We were trekking for an hour and a half in a fast pace, fast for me at least and I asked him to stop and have a rest.

              We'd better not stopped now, he suggested, the sun is on its highest, it's quite warm, the weather is good, so I say let's walk further.

               Okay, I agreed, and tried to keep up with his pace.

Unsuccesfully.

 Appearantly he was in better shape than me.

I started coughing heavily and grasped for breath, I wasn't exactly healthy, I was weak and hungry, maybe even dehidrated.

He turned back at an instant to my spasm of coughing. I was kneeling in the snow very unhappily. He ran to me, was down on  his half knee and asked worrily:

               Hey, what's up, can't you come further?

               Yes, I can, I answered him when I had a little air in my lungs. It is just hard sometimes.

                It would be wiser to have a rest here.

We were on a clearing, still relatively low as there were pines around us and not shrubs. It was so quiet, if we don't count my rattle. All around us were high trees with cones on the ground. I couldn't see any animal, not even birds.

               Stay here, I go a bit further to have a look around and get to know if we are following the right direction. I make a small fire, ok? You can melt some snow, so we can have a little warm water to keep us properly hydrated.

               Very tempting, indeed, I mumbled .  Man goes hunting, woman fix meal clishé. I know this already.

                Have you said something, hon?

                Nope, go ahead, but be quick returning to me, okay?

                I won't go far, stay here, will you?

                Yes, master, I answered.

He looked back and stared at me.- Don't tell me I am demanding and bossy again!

 I didn'tbut that was exactly in my mind.

So, he went away swiftly and I remained there with snow in my hands.

 I put on the so-called-kettle onto the fire and was studied the sky. Clouds were above me, but nice ones, big and white ones, they were sheperded by the heavy wind which persisted. It was a clear weather, I could see David climbing upwards.

So slender, still so impressively strong and persistent.

Some would say dare devil and stubborn.

It was good to see him. Let he be far or close, he made my heart sing. He is a kind of natural born hero. It doesn't matter if he is on the stage or in a remote wilderness he acts like a hero.

I was in a lyrical state of mind, so I qickly fixed a little poem to him.

" When you smile birds stop singing,

   When you sing angels stop flying,

   When you leave the stage I stop breathing."

I thought it would be nice to get a piece of paper and write it down, then put it into his pocket and let him find it.

To give him a little piece of me.

I noticed, he left his heavier jacket on our packs to avoid excessive sweating so it wasn't impossible to complete my mission.

When I put it in to his pocket I found the travel brossure, I started to study it with a rather bored face, but became more excited when reached the flora and fauna of New Zealand section.

 Flora and fauna, hmmm, yummies. Let's see what's on the menu.

As far as I was concerned this very tree above my head is a kauri, a native pine which seeds are eidable when taken out its cones. That would do, as a starter, there were plenty of cones laid around me. I only have to collect several hundred, that's all. But before vintage, I continued reading the menu.

There are 523 known moss species which could be used as dressings on wounds,  because they are highly absorbant and have mild antebacterial properties.

Also, you can make bread out of them, sounds promising. Greenies like New Zealand Spinach is avaliable , too everywhere in the island.. Okay, this would be the main course then.

Now, we can look for a dessert.  A kind of native grass grows around here called New Zealand flex. The Maori made honey from its flower, but it brings flower in November and this is the end of February. Its seeds are also eidable and sweet.

All right. Now I can have a look around and fetch some food.

Only, my " master" ordered me to stay here. On the other hand I know how grateful a hungry man can be after having a nice meal.

 Maybe, I am not that tame after all.

I went on my quest of exotic plants, felt like Robert Banks, the botanist on his major enterprise. Before I left I wrote a message into the snow and was hoping he wouldn't be mad at me for leaving.

               I was on my way with an empty backpack on my back, humming Landscape Is Changing.

 It wasn't a great effort to collect all I intended, the plants were abundant, even now, as most of them were evergreens. In about an hour I was ready, the pack draw my shoulders down, but I could manage walking.

I spotted a dead squirrel in front of me. Altough I was not sure if a dead squirrel  was counted  as a kind of yummy, I took collecting it into consideration.

I examined it, of course it was frozen and motionless, but what if it was infected with some nasty germs? I couldn't have been sure it hadn't died of some kind of infection. In Africa people catching Ebola by eating infected monkeys unproperly cooked. I was hesitating, but as it is said, hunger is a mighty lord who drives you, so I picked it up. David loves exotic food, sushi, sashimi , Malajan fish curry, but a dead squirrel, I don't know...

I headed back to our makeshift camp.

He was already there, sitting, forlorning on my abscence.

           Mau, I told ya to stay, didn't I, he started. I didn't know what to do, follow you  or waiting for you here, I was worried you'd lost your way.

I didn't make any comments just put the sack in front of him.

            Look at this plenty!

            What? Moss, pine cones and some dark seeds, some grass, are you kidding?

            And you haven't even seen my dead squirrel, I told him cheerfully.

            A dead squirrel? Oh, my god.....

            David, do you want to eat ? Then stand up and help me a bit!

            I won't eat the carcasses of dead, frozen animal, no way, he claimed.

            No prob, then it would be a veggie menu today.

And I threw the battered squirrel to the scrubs and let the poor animal  rest in peace.  I wasn't sorry it, it hadn't been looked delicious at all.

The two of us roasted the seeds of the flex and the pine seeds, made a kind of roll from the moss filled with the spinach and we ate it.

It was exotic, all right. Probably we would talk about this meal until we'd reach our nineties.

              What's next?- I asked him after we put the fire out and began to collect our stuff.

               We go further and cover as much road as we can, before the sun goes down we should find a place to stay for the night.  If everything would be fine we would reach that lodge by tomorow afternoon. Afterwards, we would see.

                Thanks for the lunch, sorry I'd been a bit moody today. I just can't comprehend where is the rescue team, almost five days passed and nothing. I know, this is our first day without blizzards, but still. The management of this National Park knows our whereabouts, we'd let them know beforehand. Altough, we went a bit further to the East because of the avalanche and when running maybe we had been lost a little.

                Still, I wanna know where they are.

                See, North is in that way, can we go?

                Sure, I answered and bent down to collect things from the sleeping bag.

One or two minutes passed as I was packing and I felt his hands on my shoulder.

 I looked up. There was my lame little poem in his hands, he obviously was moved. Pulled me up to stand o my feet and turned me to face him.

He caressed my cheek with a beautiful, but sad smile on his stunned face.

              I am not that good to deserve this kindness, you know. I got so much pleasure from you, sometimes it's almost feel like pain, my heart was missing a beat when I read it, it is so very kind of you, Mauka, so very kind.

            It's nothing, I just wanted to be sure you know it, you know how much you mean for us. Not only for me, for all of your fans around the world. It's you who give them hope when they are desperate, console them when they are sad, you take away their pain, let it be physical or mental when they are listening to your unique, exceptional voice, you help them overcome difficulties when you sing Nothing's Impossible, you showed them how it should be done.

 There is a Zen-Buddhist teaching: He who knows others, is clever, who knows himself, is wise, he who conquires others is strong, who conquires himself is a hero.

You are not simply my love, you are my hero, you are the wind under my wings, I love you so much.

And yes, love hurts, there is an aching in your heart which stays even when you are the happiest girl alive.

His eyes were shiny, too.

         I can't thank you as much as I would like to, I heard praises tons of times and mostly I didn't believe them or didn't care about them , but I do care yours.

There is a meaning in life and for a long time I wasn't aware of it, but I see it know. You already taught me a lot about myself, about relationships and about life in general.

I can't thank you it now properly but I will, I will find a way to let you know,  the same thing as you did to me.

He kissed me once, kissed me twice and when I wanted to get out of his arms, he didn't  let me do so, I was imprisoned into his arms.

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