Chapter Twenty-Three: Part One
Those bound for Alegria awoke early, too excited by the thoughts of returning to the island and the New Day celebrations to sleep. Rick woke Kate in the pre-dawn twilight, kissing her all the way down her back and lightly biting her bottom. When she rolled over, still half asleep, he couldn’t help himself, and Kate started her day in the best way possible. They staggered to their shower some time later, still awash in the afterglow of their lovemaking. With their bags already packed and by the door, the couple shared coffee and croissants, chatting brightly, but with their feet jiggling until their anticipation overwhelmed them. Kate called the girls to see if they were awake as Rick grabbed his keys.
Twenty-five minutes later, Rick was rearranging and packing the last of Dee and Carrie’s luggage away as they piled excitedly into the rear seat of his car. They had been driving for less than a minute when Kate’s phone buzzed. She giggled before reading Juanita’s text message to her friends.
~
“Couldn’t sleep in and can’t wait, we’re off. See you there”
~
She typed out in reply, “Ha Ha! Us too! 4 on board and leaving now.” Juanita’s message a minute later had them laughing.
~
“Dom, Nat & M2 just called, departing in 10 mins. lol”
~
Everybody’s planned 9:30am departure time had advanced to 7:30.
During the drive, the four friends caught up on everything that had happened in the two weeks since they’d last been together. Kate took great pride in how well the girl’s business was going, delighting in each bit of news and success. Dee and Carrie felt exactly the same proprietary pride hearing about Kate and Rick’s business. The long drive passed quickly, filled with happy chatter, teasing, laughter and anticipation.
Rick slowed and left the asphalt before picking his way along a few very unremarkable tracks and passing through two sets of padlocked stock gates. The rocky woods ahead looked like advanced four-wheel-drive terrain, but their sedan handled the drive easily. Rick followed a well-concealed all-weather track that was virtually invisible from the last gate as it snaked through and looped around the many apparent barriers.
They broke through the trees to see the approaching barge only a few hundred metres from shore. Alegria sat picture-perfect in the middle of the lagoon, shimmering slightly in the warm mid-morning air. On the far side of the lagoon, a hazy plume of smoke rose above the trees in the direction of the Race, the site of the New Day celebration.
‘They’ll be lighting the oven fires now to start the earth drying and heating,’ Rick said, pointing. ‘They use one long fire-pit to cook everything. We’ll all head over before dawn. Remember, it’s a full 24 hours, so a two-piece swimming costume under lots of layers is good. The Race can get some savage breezes at times, especially in the early evenings.’
Rick started laughing. The girls turned, following his look in the rear-view mirror as Edison, Juanita and JC pulled up behind them. They all waved excitedly. Edison gave Rick a blast of his horn in faux-impatience when he had not driven for the barge as soon as the ramp had hit the gravel. As Rick turned his car to reverse onto the barge, he and Edison swapped some good-natured ribbing through their opened windows, to the general amusement of all.
Once they were underway, they exchanged cheerful greetings with Emilio, the captain. When his vessel was against the shore, he was serious and businesslike, but as soon as they were in deep water, Emilio reverted to his normal happy-go-lucky and smiling disposition. He’d decorated his barge with branches of flowering plants, and had strung brightly coloured flags around the railings.
When she saw the calm water of the Shelf, Kate squeezed Rick’s leg. ‘Anybody else feel like a swim?’ she asked. Turning to the girls to gauge their response, she smiled. Carrie was asleep on Dee’s shoulder and Dee’s eyes were drooping heavily as well.
Once on the island, Rick moved the oversize buggy out of the garage and parked their car. He drove the girls to the maloca before heading off to drop their luggage at their cabins. Uncle and his acolyte couple were inside the dining area, and met the girls with excitement and smiles. Maria and Paz soon joined them; they had the day’s feast in the oven pit and they quickly dragged the amigas out to see what was cooking.
When Rick returned, he dropped Edison and Juanita at the maloca, setting off another round of excited greetings. JC stayed with Rick to catch up and help with the luggage. Driving past the sweat lodge, Rick looked at Juan-Carlos and said, ‘We should do one if you can stay longer?’
JC smiled and said, ‘Ricardo, you’re on. I don’t have to be anywhere until Monday week. Are you guys staying after?’
‘Brother, we have two solid weeks of Alegria happening after New Day. Any fall-out from the job?’
‘No, none. One sick and twisted arsehole in exchange for more than eighty good people is a pretty easy sum, bro’. It was his decision at every step, and the cleanest job ever. He bought it, loaded it, and squeezed the trigger all by himself. I’ve done a couple of debriefs with Nat. All good.’
Rick smiled, his concerns for Juan-Carlos put to rest. ‘I still wish I could have seen Nita stick it to him.’
‘Oh man! Don’t go there, brother. It was a week before I could stand up straight just thinking about it. It was magnificent! You should have seen him walking the next day. It was baaaad! Anybody with a quarter of a working brain would have taken the hint and limped off into the sunset. We couldn’t have done any more than we did to warn him off… nothing.’
Dom was parking his car when Rick and JC came around the bend to collect them. After exchanging hugs, JC took the wheel, letting Rick catch up with his parents and fill them in on recent events with the firm. In the maloca, the warmth and enthusiasm of the greetings helped everyone leave their everyday world behind. JC and Edison headed off in the buggy to distribute the last of the luggage as Maria and Carrie brought out a large pot of herbal tea, followed by Paz carrying a platter of cut fruit. Happy conversation filled the air as everyone caught up.