A full day of fun at Longtan Reservoir and Tianshan Forest.
At dusk, Severo Laris and Rufio and their group found a nice and suitable place to camp in the Tien Shan forest.
Some of the boys began to set up their tents.
You will have to make your own fire to cook things for dinner.
Paula Rouco looked at Severo Laris and Engracia, not far away, and brushed her small lips.
Susana ran up to her, put a hand on her shoulder and said, “That wasn’t a bad surprise I gave you, eh?”
Paula Rouco gave her an expressionless look, “That’s not a surprise, that’s a shock!”.
“I’m taking great pains to create opportunities for you!”
Paula Rouco pulled Susana’s arm away and said, “I’ll help you get firewood!”.
Analeigh approached, “Paulita, I’m coming with you, it’s not safe for you to go alone this late.”
Some boys there were setting up their tent and didn’t notice the two girls going into the forest in search of firewood.
…
Half an hour later, Severo Laris swept with his gaze and saw no one of Paula Rouco.
Approaching Rufio, he asked, “Where is Paula Rouco?”.
Rufio didn’t notice either and got up to look around, “I don’t know, she was here.”
Susana said, “Paulita and Analeigh went to collect firewood, how strange, and they haven’t come back yet.”
Severo Laris strides over, eyes fierce and cold, looking at Susana, his voice cold as ice, “You sent two girls into the deep woods at night to gather firewood?”
Susana: “Why are you mean? I didn’t ask Paulita and Analeigh to go, and I didn’t think of it because we were busy.”
Rufio, seeing that they had become embroiled in an argument, ran and put his arm around Susanna’s shoulders and said to Severo Laris, “Well, Severo, what are you doing being mean to Susanna. ”
Susana whispered, “You’re being mean to me, why did you leave earlier? Paulita wouldn’t be upset if it weren’t for you. ”
A vague anger, rising in Severo Laris’ heart, was quickly and compulsively suppressed as he turned and headed for the woods.
Engracia called out to Severo Laris, “Severo, why are you leaving?”
“Find someone!”
“What if Paulita and the girls come back later and the signal in the forest is bad and they can’t reach you, won’t you run out of time?”
Severo Laris ignored what Engracia said behind his back.
Gaspar, also worried, stood up and said, “I’ll go with Severo to look for them.”
Rufio instructed, “Be careful, if you really can’t find him, come back and tell us and we’ll go together.”
“Right.”
…
In the woods, Paula Rouco and Analeigh had long since wandered off.
In the darkness of these woods, with firewood in her hands, she fell into the well with a careless step.
With a sprained ankle, she couldn’t climb, and the gusts of wind around her made her want to cry with fear.
I pulled out my cell phone and called, but try as I might, I couldn’t get through.
Broken signals.
“Help!”
Paula Rouco screamed in desperation and turned on the electric light on her cell phone to illuminate it; if they saw the light, they should be able to find her.
But would anyone come to her?
Severo Laris was having so much fun with Engracia that he couldn’t care less.
His heart, increasingly clogged and sour.
“Help! There’s no one there!”
On this side, Severo Laris and Gaspar split in two to find the men.
Severo Laris searched all the way with his flashlight, and although he was always calm and composed, he was anxious.
If the little boy had been lost in the forest or had encountered a wild animal … Severo Laris dared not think any more.
The forest, which is large, and the fact that it was night, were so obstructed that even Severo Laris, who has always had an excellent sense of direction, could not remember the way back well.
“Help, there’s no one there, help!”
Severo Laris faintly heard a young female voice calling for help.
Looking off into the distance again, there is a faint white glow wavering.
Severo Laris strides closer, “Iita!”
Paula Rouco hears an anxious, cold male voice and looks up to see Severo Laris.
“Severo…”
Severo Laris bent down and lowered his hand, “Give me your hand and I’ll pull you up.”
Paula Rouco raised her hand and Severo Laris grabbed her delicate hand and wrist tightly and pulled her out of the well.
Paula Rouco lunged into his arms and wrapped her arms around Severo Laris’ neck, the force of the onslaught was so strong that Severo Laris was unprepared and leaned back slightly, but he caught her.
His hands froze for a few seconds before he finally embraced the tender girl in his arms again, her nervous, panicked heartbeat finally calming down.
It’s a good thing she’s safe.
The little girl in her arms, she murmured in an upset voice, “I thought you weren’t coming to save me…”
She is vaguely sobbing.
Severo Laris reached out and touched the back of her neck, “It’s okay, don’t be afraid, I’m here.”
“You’re the one who’s not!” Paula Rouco shoved him away, glaring at him with red eyes like an angry, wounded beast.
The way she puffs out her cheeks in exasperation, her little white face still covered in dust, is comical and endearing.
Severo Laris reached up, wiped the dirt from her face, and her forehead, at last, tinged with a faint smile, “Why am I not there?”
The girl whined, “You don’t know how much fun you’re having with Engracia! You can’t even see me!”
Severo Laris looked at her with deep eyes, “Aren’t you having fun with that high school student too?”.
“You’re full of shit! Gaspar and I haven’t spoken more than five sentences today!”
Paula Rouco stretched out a clap, her dark, watery eyes looked round and wide, all aggravation and exasperation.
Severo Laris cackled, surprisingly a bit helpless for a moment, “I haven’t had much exchange with Engracia today. ”
“You said six words to Engracia, six words! Not a word to me.”
They wouldn’t even pay attention to her, wouldn’t even look at her, as if she were an ethereal presence.
The more I said, the more aggrieved I felt, and a gradual fog formed in my eyes.
Severo Laris’ dark eyes fixed on her small face, “Tell me, when did you and Gaspar become sweethearts?”
“Right about the time you became boyfriend and girlfriend with Engracia!”
Severo Laris should have been angry with her, but when he looked at her pitiful little face, he couldn’t be angry at all.
“When did Engracia and I, when did we become boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“Evidently you are, you just became sweethearts, not only did you become sweethearts, but you’re going to study together in America … Severo Laris, if you’re really thinking of going to America with Engracia, will you stop messing with me?”.
Paula Rouco wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, forgetting about her ankle injury, and got up to leave.
But the pain of her sprained ankle caused her to snap and she was pinned down by Severo Laris’ quick eyes and hands.
Paula Rouco shook off his hand, “I don’t need your help!”.
He’s someone else’s boyfriend now! What’s the point of getting involved with her?
Severo Laris grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into his arms, his dark eyes bore into her condescendingly, “I am not Engracia’s boyfriend and girlfriend and I never had any intention of going to America with Engracia to further my studies, Paula Rouco, you are putting so much junk on me and telling me not to provoke you. It has never been me who has been provoking and provoking, it has been you.”
Her voice was full of clear coldness and severity.