Keira held her breath when she heard people speaking in hushed tones as they stopped walking. If her estimation was right, it took them around an hour of walking to reach their destination.
Then they stopped, and Keira could hear murmur everywhere. The men removed the baskets from their heads, and she gasped to see more nude tribespeople around.
She looked around and saw that their dwellings were of primitive huts with no side walls and layers of palm leaves as on the floors. Each shelter could provide enough s.p.a.ce for a family of three, or maybe four, and their belongings.
The man beside her shouted something, to which a boy responded by running to him. He seemed to be instructing the boy to get something, and the boy quickly ran toward a specific direction.
The rest of the tribespeople were now staring at Zach and Keira with their curious eyes. Their distinctive appearance and features had obviously aroused great curiosity among the tribespeople. They had obviously never seen anyone with a complexion as fair as Keira"s. And even though Zach was more tanned than Keira, his skin tone was still lighter than theirs.
Their scrutinizing gaze made Zach and Keira feel like they were some kind of specimens being examined under a microscope. But fortunately, the tribespeople seemed quite friendly, as some of them were even smiling at them.
Keira noticed some of their women were wearing fiber strings tied around their waist, necks, and heads. Most of the tribesmen were also wearing necklaces and headbands, and a thicker belt for their knives. All the ornaments adorning their bodies seemed to be made from various forest products.
After a few minutes, the boy came back with a man and a woman. They seemed to be a couple from the way the man displayed his affection toward the woman. Keira estimated the pair to be around the same age as her parents based on their appearance.
"That"s probably their leader," Zach whispered as he tried to read their body language.
Then Keira noticed a young woman who kept on staring at her. She looked around her age, or probably a year or two younger than her. The young woman had a lighter complexion than the other members of the tribe. Her facial features were pretty too. Their eyes met, and she gave Keira a timid smile. "Oh, she"s cute!" Keira expressed loudly and smiled back at her.
The man they a.s.sumed to be the tribal chief spoke, and suddenly the ropes that had been tying their hands were cut loose. "Oh, thank you," Keira thanked and smiled at them. Zach slightly bowed his head at them as a courtesy.
The tribal chief was then talking to them. It looked like he was introducing himself, the woman beside him, and one of the young men who captured them. "I think he is saying that they are family? Probably he"s their son," Keira said to Zach as she kept smiling and nodding at the tribal chief.
"I think he wanted to show us around?" Keira mumbled when they were led to walk around the whole settlement.
As they were walking around, they noticed a few of the tribesmen guarding a dying ember. They kept blowing and putting branches on it to keep it burning. "Why are they doing that?" Keira asked.
"It looks like they don"t know how to make fire yet. These people probably waited for a lightning strike to make fire, and they"re now trying to keep it burning for as long as they could," Zach concluded.
The young woman from before timidly approached Keira to offer her some fruit. Keira accepted it and smiled, "Thank you."
But then one of the young men, whom they a.s.sumed to be the tribe leader"s son, abruptly came near them and spoke with a raised voice to the tribal chief. He looked angry as he kept on pointing his finger to Zach, Keira, and the young woman.
The young woman looked alarmed and moved closer to Keira, only to be abruptly yanked and shouted at by the young man. "What the heck!" Keira snarled and was about to move to get the young woman back. But Zach quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her. "No... Calm down. Just wait," Zach instructed her as he kept his composure.
Zach tried to communicate with the tribal chief by making gestures with his whole body and speaking slowly, "You haaave to let us gooo... We meantt no harmmm…"
Keira was trying her best to suppress her laughter because of how hilarious her husband looked right now.
"If youu want… I can teach youuuu how to make fireeee." Zach continued as he walked near the glowing coal, pointing at it as he gestured the movements of making a fire.
But the tribal chief and the rest of the tribespeople just stared back at Zach, totally confused.
Keira understood what her husband was trying to do. If they could teach them something that would benefit them, they would feel indebted and hopefully let them go. Keira looked around and saw tinder nests all over the area. "I need a softwood," she asked with a gesture, but they just stared at her with their mouth opened.
The timid young woman seemed to understand what she was asking and rushed to give Keira various sticks.
"I need a softwood…" Keira motioned a rectangular shape, and the young woman nodded as she ran somewhere and went back with various types of woods. Keira smiled.
However, she needed a knife to cut a groove in its base. They had a language barrier, so how could they get a knife without alarming them? She looked at Zach, who was now ma.s.saging his nape.
Keira let out a sigh and looked back to the young woman. She had a stone knife on her belt, so Keira showed her the wood and pointed her finger to the stone knife and said, "I need that." The woman creased her forehead but then nodded in agreement.
But the hostile young man from before suddenly shouted and some of the tribesmen aimed their weapons at Keira and Zach. The young woman blocked them with her body as she threw the stone knife to the ground next to Keira.
Keira moved quickly and showed them where she would use it. She promptly cut a groove on the softwood and returned the knife to its owner. Zach swiftly moved to make the fire as he was faster than Keira at it.
"Wowwww…" The tribespeople marveled. They shouted and danced as they eagerly looked at the fire. The men who had aimed their spears at them looked at Zach with respect and admiration, as though he was some kind of deity.
Keira let out a long deep sigh and felt a warm hand on hers. It was the young woman"s. She looked at her and whispered, "Mara…"
She pointed her finger at herself and repeated, "Mara…"
"Ohhh… Mara is your name? I"m Keira," Keira said, smiling. She repeated as she pointed her finger to herself and said, "Keira… Ke---iiii---raa."
Mara copied her and said, "Ke----iii---raaa."