Chapter Seven

Part One

As Dom led Kate into the maloca, they entered a space filled with colour, movement, and three overlapping groups of joyous people. The tables were covered in bright fabrics and topped with baskets of ripe fruit.

Carrie was with the group closest to the cooking area, and talking animatedly with the three women who had been tending the food earlier, as well as a number of new faces. Kate watched as each of them took turns to smell and taste the different bundles of herbs passing between them. She smiled fondly, knowing that Carrie had obviously found some kindred culinary spirits.

Dee was naturally in the centre of the largest and noisiest group, along with Edison, Juanita and Juan-Carlos. Edison was singing a fast chanting song as everyone clapped in time whilst doing their best to make him lose track. Dee looked up at Kate and they shared a moment of deep bliss. Their reverie was broken when, with a start, Dee realised a decorated stick had been pushed into her hands…   >> MORE <<

Part Two

As her consciousness returned, Kate felt profoundly rested, relaxed and calm. Revelling in the feeling, she propped herself up with pillows to gaze out at the water in the distance as she snuggled under the warm covers for another half-hour. Finally, the insistent call of nature became too much and forced her to get up. This is pure heaven! she thought, donning a luxurious robe that was draped over the back of a chair near her bed.

Exploring the kitchenette, she found a fully automatic coffee machine with a generous mug already placed under its spout. Powering the machine on, multiple options lit up on its control panel. Kate selected a double-shot flat white and waited for her request to be completed.

She strolled the 200 metres from her back door to the water’s edge with her steaming mug. The water lapped gently around the boulders and stones of the rocky shore…   >> MORE <<

Part Three

They spent their afternoon immersed in engineering bliss in Kate’s bright living room. Kate was impressed with the ingenuity of the modifications that Rick had made to the design of the solar distillery. At one point, he summarised his intent. ‘With these working, people who have no power and no supply of clean water can have access to safe water. It should be able to process saltwater or even polluted fresh water. It’s close, but the energy budget is paradoxical past this point. If I can get it to work though…’

‘I love it,’ was Kate’s only possible response.

For the rest of the afternoon, Kate found herself distracted, almost willing Rick to make a move…   >> MORE <<