Chapter Seven: 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, almost three metres below where she was standing. A green and red dragonfly flashed in the sunlight as it danced over the shoreline, hunting.
A single-seat lounge swung on ropes beneath the branch of a large tree, perfect for enjoying the view in the dappled morning sunlight; it even had a foot swing and a cup holder. Kate sat back and gazed at the far side of the deep lagoon, watching the barge that had carried them to the island now working in the distance as a fishing vessel. As she sipped her coffee, the warming breeze pushed against the tree, rocking her gently.
A shrill birdcall roused her from her doze. Kate took a moment before shaking her head, not believing that she had fallen back to sleep again. She discarded the contents of her now stone-cold mug of coffee under a nearby bush, and giggled as she stretched before heading back to the cabin.
Emerging refreshed from her hot shower and wrapped in a towel, she found a rail full of clothes in her wardrobe. Pinned to the shoulder of one was a note that read, ‘Kate, welcome to Alegria. These are yours.’ She selected a pair of pants and a shirt with rolled up sleeves, unsurprised that they were a perfect fit and marvelling at the care and consideration she felt from everyone here.
Kate stopped to look back at her cabin from its ring road entrance. The cabins were hard to see from the road, or standing right in front of them for that matter. They just blended into the countryside. She had noted earlier that even the floor to ceiling windows facing the water were sloped outwards at the top so that they offered no reflections. The engineer in Kate appreciated their clever and unobtrusive design. As she strolled along the ring road, she heard a hawk whistling high in the sky. It was barely a dot against the blue when she located it after a minute of looking.
Kate found her friends’ cabin and knocked on the door. When Dee opened it moments later, the look on her face told Kate that she and Carrie were feeling the magic of the island as well. The only greeting that seemed appropriate was a silent hug, broken by eventual giggles. ‘Coffee?’ Dee asked softly.
‘Yes please. Is Carrie up?’
Dee pointed through the rear windows with a smile. ‘She’s asleep out there.’ Carrie was dozing in a chez lounge near the water’s edge.
Kate giggled. ‘That was me an hour ago. I was still in a dressing gown though. Did you make the tea as well?’
Dee nodded in response before saying, ‘Kate, I don’t think I’ve ever slept so long or so deeply.’
‘Can you believe this place? These people? It felt like we were back in time and in some far off jungle fantasy land.’
Dee stopped and thought for a while. ‘Yes, but they’re like no people I know of from around here. They’re almost psychic in the attention they pay one another. It is such a nice vibe. I like them. I think we were invited to stay with every single family last night.’
‘Me too.’
Dee started making some fresh coffees and a few minutes later, Carrie wandered into the cabin, still shaking off her slumber. She looked at Kate, brightened and said, ‘Katie-J, you’ve done it again! That young man was looking at you at every opportunity yesterday. Did he stay the night?’
‘Carrie!’ Kate shrieked. ‘He didn’t even kiss me goodnight.’
‘Did you want him to?’ Carrie asked, her eyes locking onto Kate's.
‘I have no idea,’ Kate said, suddenly serious and feeling in need of her friends’ input. They shared a few moments of contemplative silence until Dee passed Kate and Carrie steaming mugs of fresh coffee. Carrie looked at her and said, ‘The last one went cold out there.’ Kate laughed and told her that the same thing had happened to her as well. They walked back towards the water and sat on a large deep semi-circular lounge that was lined with cushions. It offered a beautiful view of the Shelf, and the waters of the lagoon beyond.
Without waiting, Carrie said, ‘Right, Katie-J, what’s going on in that over-heated brain of yours?’
‘I thought Dom was hypnotic, but Rick is completely…’
Her friends waited for her to finish her thought until Dee’s impatience got the better of her. ‘Perfect?’ she suggested.
‘Kate, First answer, here and now, what do you want?’ Carrie asked.
‘I feel like … He’s so nice, and…’
‘First answer, Katie!’ Carrie demanded.
‘I really like him. I don’t know what I want, but I really do like him. I think Dom is trying to set us up.’
‘Noooo! Really?’ Dee asked in her most playful and sarcastic voice. ‘You saved his family company, he’s an engineer who actually understands the stuff you talk about, you look like you were physically made as a matched set, and his folks are amazing. Katie-J, don’t you dare deny yourself one moment of pleasure with that gorgeous man. He is nothing like Silvio.’ Dee’s final proclamation laid the crux of the matter bare.
‘Katie, The Prick is not worth in totality what Rick would flush away on any given morning!’ The venom with which Carrie made her statement took them all by surprise, even Carrie, who blushed before smiling and saying, ‘Katie, I’m sorry that The Prick did such horrible things. Until last night, he would have been the one person in the world that I hated.’
‘Both of us,’ Dee added.
‘Last night, Grandmother and Uncle had a long talk with us. You know they’re shamans, right? She said that she’s had dreams of you, which is why she said that she recognised you. They told us to celebrate your trials and to be sure to offer gratitude to both your angels and your demons for leading you here. Actually, they kept saying, for leading you home.’
Dee said, ‘We talked about this last night. That old woman is one of the oddest contradictions either of us has ever met, but she’s right, and damned if she and Uncle didn’t make sense. You have gone from strength to strength since The Prick. We can both see it. Something wonderful is in motion and I have never felt more strongly about anything, except how much I love you and Carrie.
Carrie nodded to affirm the thought. ‘Katie-J, if you have half an interest, go with it. These people are different, and this place is different. I already trust them all almost as much as I trust you two. I have no idea why but I just do.’
‘We both do,’ Dee said.
‘Make that, we all do. I love you guys!’ Kate said, wrapping them both in an awkward, seated hug. She giggled as they broke apart. ‘He is pretty cute, isn’t he?’
‘Yeah, and the surface of the sun is a little warm too!’
The ringing of the bell in the distance caught their attention. Answering Kate’s questioning look, Carrie said, ‘Juanita and Maria told us that the kitchen was theirs for lunch. They’re cooking something special.’
‘Well, we better go and have a look then,’ Kate said.
Walking up the short southern path to the maloca, a delicious aroma met them as they drew near. It was familiar and slightly alien at the same time. They had already exchanged quiet greetings with those present by the time Dom walked in with the Myers. Mason and Madison stayed a pace back with Dom whilst Rick headed straight for Kate. When he asked how she’d slept, she complained that she’d slept too long and too well, and they all laughed.
‘Alegria,’ Dom and Rick’s parents chorused.
Still chuckling, Rick said, ‘Sleep happens here, real sleep, not those periods between waking we get in the city.’
‘Whatever it is, my God, if you could bottle it-’ Kate started to say.
Juanita’s modulated voice cut in from the other side of the space. ‘World peace would be a reality. I hope you’re all hungry.’ She was carrying a platter of toasted corn bread.
The aromas suddenly reminded them of their missed breakfasts. A young couple were setting out cups and filling them with water. Uncle, Maria, and her daughter, Paz, carried in a platter supporting a large, vine-secured package of charred leaves, setting it on one end of a long table. Without the people from the shore, the fifteen of them were the current population of the island, all sitting on the cushioned benches of one table.
Uncle stood in front of the package and everyone fell silent after joining hands. He spoke in a clear and heartfelt voice. ‘We recognise and value these blessings. We give our thanks. May the spirits of our food know the truth of our gratitude and be at peace as they join us.’ He paused for a moment longer before attacking the top of the package with a hooked knife, unwrapping more and more layers of leaves until he broke into the meal itself.
Dee asked about the unusual words of the meal’s blessing, and Maria answered. ‘If one thing can have spirit, then everything must have spirit. The earth and rain that become the plants and animals, the wood that burned and the fire that cooked our food all have spirit. Those who had a hand in harvesting, carrying or preparing the meal all added a part of their spirit to our food. We honour with gratitude and acceptance every part of the food that will become us and sustain us.’ Carrie was almost in tears when she said, ‘Maria, that’s beautiful. I love everything about what you just said.’
Uncle was carefully serving out their meals, and Maria smiled as she passed Carrie her meal. It looked a little like a cross between a Spanish paella and an Irish stew, depending on how you viewed each dish. Mostly rice and vegetable, the flavours were exotic, the sparse meat was tender, and it was all scrumptious. Something about the island encouraged everyone to eat slowly, appreciating each mouthful more than they did in the city. A few pleasant comments were made here and there, but mostly, they enjoyed their meal without the need for chatter. Alegria’s warm soothing breezes worked its relaxing magic as it washed around them.
Mopping up the last of his meal’s juices with a corner of bread, Dom said, ‘Nita, Maria, Paz, as it always is when you make it, that was brilliant, thank you.’
‘I’ve never tasted those flavours together and some I don’t recognise,’ Carrie commented, ‘but they worked so well together.’
‘I would be happy to share with you, Carrie,’ Paz said.
Kate blinked, realising how familiar these people felt already. It sounded so natural to hear Carina’s nickname, even from Maria’s teenage daughter.
Paz offered to prepare some small bowls of sweet rice and fruit for dessert, but her suggestion was declined. They had all eaten too much of the main meal.
Curiosity got the better of Dee and she asked, ‘Why is there an empty place with food at the head of the table? I noticed that yesterday too.’
Uncle answered, ‘The reason is twofold. That space is for gratitude. This is why we serve a little mouthful of food from everyone’s plate to that place, so we are connected to it. Kind spirits are welcome to visit and sit at that place in peace. The other reason is that all of us speak with the same rights. It is a concept similar to the legends of King Arthur, where he had a round table so there was no head. None of us will sit at the head of a table. The two concepts come together to form a guiding principle of Alegria, that we are led by gratitude.’
Uncle then smiled a wry grin. ‘You see, Dee, our people are also a passionate and stubborn lot, and disagreements happen in any family or society. You will often see arguments settled when people serve a little from their plates to that space at the same time, ending a conflict without loss of face. If the argument was significant, you will see each also serve their choicest bit to the other’s plate as well. It shows the rest of our people that those involved have set their differences aside.’
Their lunch finished naturally a short while later and everyone pitched in to clean up. Leaving Kate and Rick alone in the maloca, Dee and Carrie were already giggling in the cooking area with Maria and Paz. Everyone else was visiting the village with Uncle and the young couple who, the amigas had found out, were apprenticed to him.
Deliberately being cheeky, and leaving her question open to many interpretations, Kate asked Rick, ‘You mentioned something about plans?’
His responding smile heated her very being. ‘I find myself unable to think of anything else that would please me more, my lady.’ He paused before adding with flirtatious humour, ‘Your place or mine?’
~~~~~