Lara eventually took pity at Abel who stumbled a few times as he trodded down the difficult path. He almost slipped when he stepped on a rock covered with moss. He instinctively used both hands to steady himself and Darius almost fell from his back.
"I’ll carry him." Lara volunteered. She looked worriedly at the young boy whose face has become flushed, a symptom that he has developed fever.
She took a small bamboo tube from the side compartment of her bamboo backpack. The tube also has a lid made from bamboo that needs a twisting motion to open. Lara meticulously crafted ridges around the mouth of the tube so the lid can be tightly closed and easily opened. It contained turmeric in powdered form.
She took another bamboo tube the size of a 200-ml glass in modern times. She transferred an orange powder into it and added water from another bamboo tube that she carried. That tube contained boiled water and part of her emergency supplies.
She shook the tube until the powder was dissolved evenly.
"Let him drink this. This is an anti-inflammatory medicine. I think your brother is starting to have a fever. I don’t have honey so that the taste might be bad, but he has to endure it."
Abel gratefully took the container and assisted Darius in drinking the liquid. The boy frowned but finished the medicine obediently, not wanting to add to his brothers’ worries.
Lara took the rope coiled around her waist and after doing a few weaves and knots it transformed into a makeshift carrier.
She crouched down and Abel assisted his youngest brother to climb on Lara’s back. Lara asked him to secure the young boy with the makeshift carrier. She looped the two ends of the rope around her waist.
She slung her backpack at her left shoulder as Darius’ injured arm was on the right.
Abel looked at Lara with a complex expression. If he knew that the rope could be used to secure his brother earlier, then he might not have encountered much difficulty.
Lara just threw him an indifferent glance. "I need to free up both my hands. Your brother is to weak and I don’t think he can hold unto my back." Lara stood and started walking as if Darius weighed nothing.
Abel scratched his head. He prided himself as the strongest amongst his sibling but looking at how Lara carried his youngest brother and compared to how he did it earlier, he felt ashamed.
With Lara taking care of Darius and Abel leading his three brothers carrying the tiger, their progress was quicker.
They were nearing the river when Lara asked them to stop. She saw a patch of mushroom growing on a dead trunk, and beside that were a few ginseng plants that were more than a ruler tall.
She instructed the brothers to use their knives to harvest the mushroom. After that she also asked them to dig out the ginseng.
There were more than a dozen.
"Leave out a few plants so they continue to propagate." Lara was was a responsible person and never consumed by greed. When hunting or gathering medicinal plants, she always ensured to leave enough for the plant or the animals to thrive and not go into extinction. In the modern era, she identified a few fauna species of Mount Ourea that had become extinct.
They did not stay long in the area but continued their journey. Lara had gathered a few more herbs along the way and placed them inside her backpack. They also managed to catch some hares and a few more pheasants until they reached the Ford.
The river was wide probably the reason why the water was shallow. It was several kilometers from the area where she, Reya, and Sandoz escaped the human traffickers. Lara was not surprised to learn that crossing Mount Ourea could cut the distance by more than five times.
Lara bent down to roll up her trousers and take off the boots that her master made for her. It was from an alligator skin. It was waterproof but the water was knee deep and she did not want water to get into her boots.
While crossing, Lara saw a few carp. She pondered for a while before removing the small net from her waist, crouched, and placed them underwater.
Abel, who was ahead, felt something amiss. When he looked back, he saw Lara crouching down and was busy with something. When the man in camouflage clothes stood up, he saw some fish trapped inside the net.
"Brother, Sir Kane is so amazing." Cyrus blurted out.
Lara heard the boy’s admiration. She approached and dumped the fish in the basket he carried on his back.
"You continue and wait at me at the other side. I’ll try to catch some more fish."
Cyrus looked at his two brothers. He wanted to stay and help, but Barett was already panting and carrying the sled. If he left, he would not be able to carry the rear of the sled by himself.
"Cyrus, you can leave your basket so I have a place to transfer the fish, as my net is small."
"By the way, don’t people come here to fish?" Lara wondered.
"We do. But the other day, the villagers said they had sightings of a crocodile in this area and the village chief said that we cannot come here until it is safe."
Lara frowned. The area was shallow and rocky, not ideal for crocodiles to stay in the water.
She stayed a few more minutes in the water, and when the basket was half-filled, she decided it was enough.
The injured boy at her back must have fallen asleep as she could hear his even breathing. However, she could feel that her back was wet. He must have been sweating a lot.
She looked at the sky and noticed that the sun would soon emerge from the clouds that hid it. Lara hurriedly crossed the river and passed the basket back to Cyrus, but Abel took it and placed it on the sled.
The group trodded along until they left the riverbank and followed the narrow dirt road that led to the village. The sun had come out, and Lara was worried about Darius. She rummaged through her backpack, took out a blanket, and covered the injured boy.
Lara’s gentle action touched the three brothers. He was just like their mother.
They reached the village entrance, where a group of people were gathered, craning their necks at the upcoming four people, one being a stranger.
A hushed whisper rippled through the crowd. Then, a woman gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Is that Darius? Why is he so limp?" she asked, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
A man stepped forward from the back of the crowd, his eyes dark and hostile. "Why did you bring an outsider?" he demanded.
Lara froze. Something about his tone sent a chill down her spine.
What had she just walked into?