Pace My Heart (A sequel to *Happy To Meet You*)

Chapter - 74

Pace My Heart

Chapter – 74

Ava

The dark sky was showing the first sign of light, the familiar chorus sounds of the birds announcing dawn was coming.

Gathered around my cousin brother Soreiyo's vehicle, I was helping him and Nimrei *Achei load the things we were carrying onto the rear boot space whilst Daniel have a word with my parents before we started out.

As we pulled out of our driveway, Cherry and Stephen were bobbing their heads out of the side windows to wave their hands and I could see my parents standing at the driveway waving back with a smile, being this up early to see us off. The two's excitement for the trip ahead was hard to contain and all of us were caught in it too.

Since it was going to be a long road trip, we had chosen to take my brother's Toyata Innova so we could be comfortably seated. He was driving with Daniel sitting in the front with him. Stephen and Cherry were seated behind in the rear row, with Nimrei *Achei and me in the middle seats.

If we look outside, the passing landscapes were getting dripped in the early flush of light, the sky above breaking into a beautiful morning as we made our way to our first destination.

*

After almost half an hour drive, the village ground was visible ahead. We had come to Phangrei, a long flat hill range, well-known amongst the locals for its idyllic unspoiled views. We had parked the Innova as close as we could to where we were headed. From there on, it was going to be a short hike. Taking our things, we left the vehicle behind and began walking on foot.

Early winter mornings are foggy in the hills here and right now as we slowly made our way up, the white mist had surrounded us all around. Looking up, it felt like it was intermingling with the clouds above.

*

Nimrei *Achei wanted to take a breather.

We had been walking for nearly fifteen minutes and were almost half way through. Although it was a gradual incline and the path we took was an even stretch of ground, it turned out to be a slow walk.

Cherry and Stephen were not in sight and their father had to walk ahead to catch the mischievous two.

"Please allow me to carry it."

Daniel came up to where Nimrei *Achei and I stood for a minute to catch our breath.

He was offering to carry the wicker basket she had been holding. His hands were already full but he must have seen my sister in law getting tired.

"It's all right," she declined his help with a shy wave of her hand.

"It's okay, *Achei. Let him take it...He doesn't mind carrying them at all."

Giving a glance at Daniel, I assured her. She must have been wondering what I meant but he seemed to have caught on to what I was referring about. It was a gentle reminder of the time at the market when he & I had argued over who would carry mom's heavy shopping baskets.

Daniel was shaking his head realising I was actually pulling his leg over it. He bent down to pick up *Achei's basket along with the other things he had been carrying earlier and began walking but not before turning around to return me a knowing smile.

Earlier, Daniel was supposed to return back by today but everyone insisted he should stay a day or two more. Because attending the medical camp was the only thing he had done till now. He neither got the chance to explore our place nor did he do any sight-seeing. Any traveller wouldn't have missed out on those.