Chapter Ten
Ella
After checking the depth of the mud with a tree branch and finding submerged stairs leading into it, the guys are keen to take the plunge.
”Come on, girls!” Lex calls, about to jump in.
”You and Ade go ahead. You”ll probably want to float around in there, and there isn”t enough room for all of us. Besides, you two deserve a pre-wedding pampering, especially after leading us so capably to finding treasure in that cave,” Rhia replies sweetly.
Ade gives us a quizzical look, and we try our damnedest to appear innocent. Naturally, I can pull it off, but my devious friend?
He keeps looking between us, his brows furrowed, and I turn away and cheerily call over my shoulder. ”I”ll get the snacks. Just lay back and let us spoil you.”
Then I force myself not to rush to where we left the backpacks. I”m glad I”m facing away from them because I”m sure my cheeks are blazing.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as the guys get in and lean back. I collect the backpacks and take them back to the edge of the mud pool.
Ade and Lex float happily in the warm, gooey mud, their eyes closed, their faces relaxed.
”Good?” I ask.
”Amazing,” Ade sighs. ”It”s just above body temp. Being suspended in the warm mud is so relaxing.”
”Yeah, it”s like zero gravity in here,” Lex adds, his voice a little sleepy. ”And there”s that handy waterfall nearby to wash this gunk off. Tiero really had this place sorted.”
I giggle to myself. Yeah, Tiero did. But that walk to the waterfall will be uncomfortable covered in all that super sticky mud.
We fall into a comfortable silence as Rhia and I prepare the snacks. They lounge in the thermal mud pool, their bodies submerged in the warm, mineral-rich mud.
We hand-feed them, and I feel taken back a few centuries to Roman or Greek times when baths and feasts were enjoyed together. It”s as if we”re participating in an ancient ritual of relaxation and indulgence. The steam rising from the pool adds a timeless, ethereal quality.
After our mini feast, Rhia and I lie back on the rocks and enjoy the sun on our skin that”s filtering through the treetops.
A few times, we glance at each other, a mischievous grin spreading over Rhia”s face. She”s trying to hide it, but she”s starting to fidget, getting impatient to see the guys” reactions when they get out.
”Are you two joining us?” Lex asks, sitting up.
”We”re happy where we are,” I mumble.
Truth be told, I”d love to submerge myself in the warm mud too. It looks divine and so relaxing. But until I know for sure that mud is going to wash off easily, I”m not game. I”m not risking looking like a gray corpse in my wedding pictures.
Ade”s body will be mostly covered. So should there be any mud stains left, it will be okay.
But my dress? There”s a fair bit of skin on show.
Not happy with my answer, the guys look at each other and seem to come to some unspoken understanding. Then they slowly turn to where Rhia and I are sitting… too slowly.
They”re going to come for us.
”Rhia, run!” I yell, jumping up.
Ade and Lex leap from the mud pool. Rhia, ever the navigator, runs back toward the waterfall and, tearing off her shirt and shorts along the way, jumps into the plunge pool at the base of the falls.
Good thinking.
Following her lead, I quickly yank my shirt over my head and toss it onto a nearby bush. Undoing the button and zipper on my shorts while still running, I wiggle out of them on the water”s edge and, with a huge splash, jump in too.
Rhia and I swim to the middle of the pool where we deem it ”safe”.
Seeing us both in the water is like a red rag to two charging bulls and within a few seconds, we”re all in the pool together, laughing.
Our men catch up to us, no problem, and encase us in their arms, tickling and teasing.
Then they drag us to shore. Probably to throw us over their shoulders caveman-style and march into the mud with us.
But when we get out, they look down at their bodies. And so do we.
They”re still fully covered in mud.
The water and all the splashing did nothing to wash it off.
Hmm.
Not what I expected.
”Lex, this stuff hasn”t washed off,” Ade says, baffled, letting go of me.
”Yeah, I can see that,” Lex scoffs, heading back to the edge of the waterfall to give his body a scrub under the water.
”This shit is stuck fast. You can sort of get the crust off, but it leaves the color underneath. It”s like tattooed into my skin.”
Ade tries to remove the mud with his fingernails, but it”s terribly slow.
”Shit, now what? I”m getting married tomorrow. I don”t want to look like I”ve got full body camo for a mission on the moon.”
”Don”t worry guys, we”ll get it off,” Rhia says chirpily.
What does she base this on?
”There must be a way. I mean, Tiero obviously used this pool and there was never a trace of mud on him,” she jokes.
”That”s right,” I add, trying to mask my rising doubts. ”Tiero told me about it when I was here with him. He wasn”t gray, so it must come off.”
It”s been two hours, and we still haven”t gotten all the gray mud off our hunk-o”-spunk men, or had a proper lunch.
Two hours!
It”s insta karma.
The low point was when Lex noticed Rhia”s gray elbow underneath her towel. We tried to deny we knew the mud would stick, but there”s no fooling them. So we told them we thought it would wash off in water, but they just raised their eyebrows, not believing us.
Anyway, we found that scrubbing the mud with sand and water mostly works, but it leaves their skin raw and tender.
We work a tiny area at a time; the guys on their arms and legs, and Rhi and I on their backs. It”s very slow going and we”re all grumpy.
”El, my fingers are all red and irritated from all this scrubbing.”
”Mine too. They”re all dry and itchy.”
”We”re so sorry guys,” Rhia adds for the umpteenth time. ”If we had any idea…”
”We know you wouldn”t have tried to prank us if you were aware this would happen,” Ade says, tempering down his annoyance. ”Plus, Tiero used that mud bath, so there must be an easy way to get this stuff off. We”ll probably discover it as soon as we”re finished,” he jokes.
”It is what it is, so let”s just finish the job and then head back for some dinner,” Lex chimes in from beside us. ”Now it”s clear why Tiero called it ”The Pool of Eternity”,” he mutters.
”It is?”
”Yep, it takes an eternity to get this shit off.”
We all burst into laughter.
God, we needed that.
My arms are about to fall off as we keep scrubbing. This is a workout they”re not used to.
”I don”t think I can keep going. My fingers have had enough,” Rhia whines. ”I need something to moisturize them. That oil I found earlier might help. It might also soothe the boys” skin. It”s so red.”
I don”t reply. It was her idea. She shouldn”t be complaining. And nor should I… I agreed to it.
”El, are you listening?”
Nope.
This is not what I imagined myself doing the day before my wedding.
Rhia disappears to go back to the mud pool. I keep scrubbing at Ade”s back while he”s still busy rubbing his legs.
When Rhia returns, she”s strangely quiet, and not meeting my eyes.
”Rhia, why aren”t you talking?” Oh, that”s never a good sign.
More silence.
The guys now turn around too, studying her.
”Oh no, El,” is all she says.
”What?” I ask.
”What have you done, Trouble?” Lex looks at her quizzically.
More deafening silence.
Hmm.
My eyes fall onto the spray bottle she”s holding in her hand. It”s like a lightbulb turns on in my head.
My gaze shoots to hers.
”I think I”ve just worked it out, too.”
”I”m so sorry, guys,” Rhia squeaks.
”What”s going on?” Ade asks, looking between my best friend and me, puzzled, while Lex studies his girlfriend with a raised brow.
”Crap,” is all I have to say, staring at my swollen fingers and then Ade”s red back.
”Yep. I sprayed some of this oil on my hands and then rubbed the skin on my elbow because it felt dry, and…”
All our eyes go to Rhia”s elbow.
”Don”t tell me…” Lex huffs.
”Yep. The goop came right off.”
”You”re freaking kidding me, right?” I throw my hands up in the air in simultaneous disbelief and belief.
”Nope,” she replies, grimacing.
”L”olio essenziale” I read out loud from the label on the spray bottle. ”Essential… bloody… oil alright. So it”s ”essential” to use the oil. Dammit, Rhia!”
”Alright, Einstein. Well done for working this out.” Ade adds, digesting all the implications of Rhia”s discovery.
I”m not that gracious.
”Rhi, we just spent two hours scrubbing! Two hours!”
She winces again. ”Well, at least it will be a breeze to get the rest off… and it was a great exfoliation treatment.”
She walks to where we”re standing and begins generously applying the oil to Lex”s and then Ade”s skin. And within minutes, they”re sparkly clean, if somewhat blotchy.
Wow!
”Well, I don”t know about you, but after the horrid last two hours, I need to relax. My muscles are sore, and I”m tense all over. This is no way to get married. I”m going in the spa when we get back,” I declare.
”Fabulous idea, Sunshine. I”ll join you,” Ade says, pulling me close and kissing the top of my head.
”Now that we know how to get this gunk off, we could unwind in the warm mud,” Rhia suggests instead, and I think she”s actually serious.
Three sets of eyes land on her in disbelief.
”What?” she asks innocently.
”I”m not going near that mud ever again,” I reply.
Okay, ”ever again” might be an exaggeration. At least not on this trip. I”ve had enough of that mud to last me for a long, long time.