Chapter Six: Part Two

As they walked across a cleared lawn towards the tree line, thirty metres away, Rick asked, ‘May I give you the rundown on our beautiful piece of paradise?’

‘Please,’ Kate said, enjoying the sound of his deep, clear voice.

‘Alegria is a peanut – or dumbbell – shaped island, running east-west. Overall, it’s just under two-and-a-half kilometres long and about three hundred metres narrow at its waist, that’s the Pinch. The northern side of the Pinch, where the barge lands, has deep water. Our beach is on the southern side of the Pinch, and it has beautiful shallow waters we call the Shelf. Those shallows are why the barge takes such a long course around. The eastern end, this end, is the Big End. There’s a ring road a bit less than two kilometres long that circles around the Big End; it follows the edge of the steeper slopes of the central dome, roughly a hundred-and-fifty to just over two-hundred metres back from the shoreline the whole way around.

‘The maloca is in the centre of that ring, and there are four paths running roughly north-south and east-west from the maloca to the ring road. Think spokes in a wheel, the western path is the one you would have come up on from the Pinch. We are on the eastern spoke, which is the longest path because it takes a bit of a detour around the high ground of the granite spire.’ Rick paused, checking that Kate was keeping up with his fast introduction.

He indicated with an outstretched arm that they should take a path running into the light woods ahead of them. ‘Big End is a touch over a thousand metres wide and around thirteen hundred metres long. The other end is officially Little End, but we normally just refer to both it, and its village, as the Village. It’s narrower, about seven hundred metres wide and nearly nine-hundred long. There is one east-west track to the Village from the Pinch. Uncle and Maria live there and are the spiritual and practical heads of Alegria. Their two households make up the five permanent residents of the island, but there is always a constant flux of visitors in the Village from the three villages on the shore.’

 ‘We have no dangerous snakes, spiders or mammals here on the island, though you will see a variety of lizards and a few small tree and ground snakes. All are totally harmless to anything other than rodents or an occasional little bird. We have small and large raptors that mostly hunt over the water or along the shorelines. We do have a native wasp that likes to nest under fallen timber, but it is pretty inoffensive, and will ‘buzz’ at you a few times in warning first if you’re getting too close. Just reverse course without flapping about and you’ll be fine. We are free of most biting insects except for a species of fly that comes out for a couple of weeks each year when the summer weather first kicks in. You will see a good variety of insect eating birds around, and they seem to keep the bugs in check.

‘The waters around the island are deep and cold within a few metres of the shore, and especially on the northern and eastern sides, the deep water is very deep. Depending on the wind and tide, we can get surprisingly strong currents.’ Rick paused, smiling when she nodded for him to continue.

‘The only safe area for swimming is the Shelf, where our beach is. We do see small brown stingrays in the shallows now and then, but they are very placid and nobody’s ever been hit. There are bull, whaler and dusky sharks in the lagoon all year ‘round, but we have never seen a shark over the Shelf. They never come over the rocks that circle the Shelf, but they love the transitional slopes between the shallow and deeper water. There have been some encounters over the years, none too serious until a fatal attack at the Race a few years ago when we lost Rocha, the ferryman’s son. We go out of our way to avoid encounters, as they are often quite large and can be very aggressive when the water is warm.

‘The Shelf itself is a circular, almost completely flat, submerged basalt plain more than nine hundred metres in diameter. The rim of the inner caldera forms a continuous ring of rock all the way around from shore to shore, making it a huge, natural swimming pool. The waters of the Shelf are warm, safe and all about my shoulder-depth at highest tide and waist depth at lowest tide. The rocks can be quite abrasive and sharp on bare feet, so be slow and careful if you set your feet down whilst swimming. We have all learned the hard way that it’s best to wear light shoes at all times on the island, even when you’re swimming. The volcanic rock can be surprisingly sharp, even just the gravel.’ Kate just nodded, listening.

They walked on silently, watching a pair of colourful dragonflies dancing an aerial ballet. Surrounded by light forest, the path brought them to a small clearing where Rick stopped and faced Kate, the serious look on his face almost one of pain. Taking a deep breath, he said, ‘Catherine, I really need to say much more than just thank you. The whole time, I never once thought that Ashinkata was not a competent engineer. When you exposed him, you saved my family’s reputation, and mine. As my parent’s son, a company director, and personally, I owe you a great debt of gratitude. That is a considerable debt, Catherine.’

Setting the pieces in place in her mind, Kate bypassed his declaration and focused her analytical attention to the crux of the matter. ‘He was very well-rehearsed and I think he’d had considerable coaching. He and Rissi were deliberately keeping your guys half-tanked, and he was ad-libbing when I caught him out. You probably never had the opportunity to hear him in that role.’

‘Nevertheless, Kate… Catherine, it was an astute and educated catch, and you have the thanks of my parents and myself. Please allow us our gratitude?’

Damn it! Kate’s face was itching badly and she knew she was blushing vividly. Rick was politely not noticing, and almost containing his infuriatingly satisfied grin.

‘Well, I think I can manage that burden, my good sir,’ Kate said in a theatrical upper-class tone, breaking into a giggle.

‘You have a beautiful laugh Kate, and thank you,’ he said with his own quiet chuckle. Offering her his arm again, they walked on.

Another one who walks like a big cat. Rick’s every movement was economical, athletic and fluid, his eyes slowly scanning ahead.

Breaking out of the scrub, they followed the unsealed ring road until they came to a break in the wild hedge. ‘Watch for those pegs, they will glow red at night,’ Rick said, pointing to a pair of low, light-green markers. They walked through the space between the bushes. ‘The tracks and paths are lit with motion sensing lights so you won’t need a flash-light if you give your eyes a few minutes to adjust.’

A log cabin almost magically appeared in front of them, its thatched roof hidden within the trees until they were almost under it. ‘Here is your abode, m’lady, Birch cabin. May I?’ he asked, indicating the door. Kate nodded, feeling a little overwhelmed and slightly light-headed. A wave of sensations like déjà vu washed over her, then another, this one bringing an almost nauseous dizziness.

His hands were at her shoulders in an instant, physically steadying her. Assessing her quickly, he looked hard at her before asking, ‘Kate, when did you last eat something?’

She shrugged and said, ‘Yesterday evening, I guess,’ feeling how nice his hands felt as he held her.

Rick led her inside, sat her on a stool and ripped open a banana from a fruit bowl. ‘Eat. Chew each mouthful as well as you can.’ Kate’s silent protests withered under his competent care. She started on her banana as instructed. It was delicious.

He quickly had a kettle boiling. After combining the ingredients for herbal tea and adding milk and honey, he poured the mixture through a strainer into another cup and handed it to her. ‘It’s lukewarm and has a taste never fully acquired, but will have you back in a minute or two. It’s best to get it down quickly.’ In four gulps, Kate drained her cup, hardly tasting it over the banana. The tea’s aftertaste was unusual but not unpleasant, although it was definitely foreign to her tongue.

After a couple of minutes and a few deep breaths, Kate felt herself re-energising. ‘What kind of tea was that?’

‘A few medicinal herbs, no major stimulants or anything like that. In Chinese medicine terms, it prevents the effects of city life’s hamster wheel from exhausting the kidney’s energy, as well as protecting the liver and spleen.’

He showed her a small range of jars with coloured lids in a pantry. ‘We have gifted herbalists on Alegria. We are often exhausted when we get back and this tea helps; it’s in the bottle with the green lid and white cross. Only one cup per day. It’s really good in the morning, especially if you wake up tired. Two heaped teaspoons of the dry mixture, half-fill with boiling water and wait two minutes. Fill with milk and two flat spoons of honey; stir, strain and gulp.’

‘Well, I feel alright again, thank you, doctor.’ Kate even threw in a little curtsy at the end, amused at the detail of his instructions. ‘Actually, I feel really clear and relaxed at the same time.’ Rick smiled, ‘It’s amazing what fuel can do for an engine, Kate.’ He led her back to her front porch. Pointing left, he said, ‘That’s south. I am in the next cabin, Teak, then my parents in Oak, Edison and Nita in Eucalypt, JC is in Ficus, and Dee and Carrie are in Mangrove cabin, at the head of the shortest, southern spoke path. To the right we have Redwood, Dom’s cabin, and Natalie in Willow. I think she is joining us late on Saturday. The last two on the northern side, Cypress and Yew, are unoccupied. In all, there are ten cabins on Big End.’

 ‘Who’s Natalie?’ Kate asked.

‘She, Dom, and all of us go way back, just over twenty-two years. You’ll love her. She is the closest thing I know of to a female version of Dom. May I show you around your cabin?’

Kate nodded. ‘Thank you, I’d like that.’

Rick gave Kate a tour of the open-plan cabin. Its exposed beams were all of locally harvested timber. Local stone lined an open fireplace that shared its heat with the whole cabin, including a spacious en suite bathroom. From the huge bed that comfortably occupied the open space of the bedroom, the view looking out over the water was magnificent. A private, scrubby waterline more than 300 metres wide lay far beyond the back door. The simple, solid furnishings of timber, leather and metal were all beautifully crafted.

Kate found herself completely distracted, lost in the distinctly masculine feel and smell of this man. Snapping back to reality, Kate realised he was asking a question. ‘… those plans? Maybe tomorrow, once you’ve settled in?’

Oh shit, plans? Plans… She shook her head slightly, her mind frantically trying to replay the conversation and coming up blank.

Seeing the look on Kate’s face and hoping that he might be the reason, Rick smiled. He said, ‘The solar distillery plans. The ones based on that stunt Ashinkata and company tried to pull?’

The smile Kate gave him was his reward. She said, ‘Sorry, I have no idea where I was, but it felt far away. I would love to, Rick. The functions are fun, but I love engineering.’ The look in Rick’s eyes stopped her. They had a passion in common, and for whatever reason, this was important to her.

Rick blinked first and they laughed, realising they had both stalled, lost in each other.

‘Lunch will be about another hour yet, Kate. You will hear when it is ready. Until then, I will get out of your hair and let you settle in. Your suitcase is in your bedroom. If there is anything you need, just yell.’ Pointing to a phone, he said, ‘#99 or the red button is for any emergency, it gets everyone on the island. The emergency alert is one constant ring; if you hear it, please pick up as soon as you’re capable. I am #16. This cabin is #15, Dom’s is #14. Your friends are on #20 and the maloca is #10. A directory card is under the phone.’

As he respectfully took his leave, Kate said, ‘Thank you, Rick. I will see you at lunch.’

Before her door closed fully, he turned and said, ‘I very much look forward to lunch for another reason now, Kate. Thank you.’ His reward was Kate’s face glowing bright red again, her smile crooked behind the closing door.

‘Oh shit, Katie-J, you just got hit by a bloody train!’ she said to the empty cabin, falling back against the now-closed door. I need to speak to Dee and Carrie. After lunch, she decided.

Damn it, woman, stop smelling after him! her rational mind chided. ‘Shower time,’ she announced aloud, ‘I need hot water.’