Cum For Bigfoot 12
my cheeks were icy to the touch and numb. Leonard
sat next to me, pulling me onto his lap. He was surprisingly warm,
and I snuggled into him, enjoying having something to lean on. We
waited for ten minutes, until rocks tumbled down several yards
away, which made Leonard tense. He sniffed and then relaxed; his
arms around me went slack. Archie must have been responsible. He
returned a moment later, wheezing and grinning. Puffs of vapor
emanated from his nostrils.
    “Cave. We go up.” He pointed. “Good
cave.”
    This motivated Leonard to his feet, and he
brought me along with him. He thrust my backpack at me. “Let’s go,
Lena. We rest soon.”
    “God, I hope so.”
    The trek up the mountain was a nightmare. I
lost my footing several times, the boots sliding out from
underneath me. The snow hid a thin sheen of ice. It had begun to
fall heavily; the snowflakes were round and fluffy looking. The
pack on my back felt ungainly, and, as it shifted, I seemed to sway
with it, which exacerbated my balance issue. I grasped at anything
to help steady me, but nothing presented itself, and I fell. Luck
prevented me from hitting my head on a rock. A furry foot appeared
before my face, and a tug on my back lifted the item that felt like
fifty pounds.
    “You okay, Lena?” It was Leonard.
    “Yeah. I-I’m sorry. I’m so tired.” I sounded
miserable. I felt miserable.
    He grasped me, hauling me to my feet. “Almost
there.”
    We walked together, although he dragged me
the final meters, leading me to the darkened opening in the side of
the mountain. Archie had disappeared within. As we neared, I felt
heat, which was shocking. Leonard held my hand, pulling me the
remaining distance, until I stood inside a jagged opening, the
warmth of humid air caressing my skin.
    “What is this?”
    Leonard shrugged. “Hot water somewhere. We
find good shelter.” He grinned, clearly relieved and more than a
little surprised by this turn of events.
    Archie had a flashlight, which shone from a
distance. He was searching every nook and cranny. The sheer size of
the cave was astounding, as it reached up hundreds of feet. Leonard
dug through his bag, pulling out two flashlights. He handed one to
me.
    “Thanks.”
    “Gggrrroooaarrr…” It was Archie. The growl
didn’t sound like a warning; it was more like an announcement, and,
a moment later, he disappeared through an opening in the wall.
    “Where’s he going?”
    Leonard took my hand. “We follow him.”
    My face tingled as it defrosted from having
been nearly frozen. We left the backpacks by the entrance, and I
assumed the apes would retrieve them later after we had explored
the cave. The room we found ourselves in was enormous, with
stalactites pointing downwards from the ceiling in thin,
cone-shaped formations. Columns of stalagmites grew upwards, some
reaching what looked like hundreds of feet into the air. The sound
of dripping water echoed, along with the howl of the wind
outside.
    The flashlight illuminated a good portion of
our surroundings, but the furthest reaches were plunged into
darkness. There were crevices and hollows and passageways to
unknown places.
    “This is pretty.”
    Leonard squeezed my hand, which was
reassuring. “New cave. Good cave.”
    A series of roars came from Archie; the
younger ape was calling to us. We hurried to find him, our feet
crunching over rocks. Leonard led me through a fissure, which
wasn’t much bigger than he was, and, as we emerged, light shone in
the distance. It cast a warm, yellowish glow around us.
    “What is that?”
    “We find out.”
    Water emerged on the left in a small river
that flowed gently to an unknown destination. We headed for the
light, hearing Archie grunting and shuffling in the next chamber.
The heat had made my skin moist with perspiration, and I longed to
remove my jacket. A flash of green shone up ahead, which was
astonishing. As we crossed the threshold, the gold tones of the
walls revealed more rock sculptures in

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