"Those critters sure can scamper around down there," I said. "Are you sure we’ll be able to snare one of them with just a spear?"
"Watch and learn, city girl."
Te' escorted me to a spot waist deep about twenty feet from the shore.
"I'm going to wade a little closer to the shore," she said. "When I signal that I'm ready, I want you to pump the pole up and down on the surface of the water as you slowly walk toward me. The sound and motion of the spikes pointing underwater will scare the fish in my direction. As they begin accumulating in the shallow water, it will make it easier for me to catch one."
When she got into position, Te' nodded toward me and I began to churn the water as she had instructed. Sure enough, within seconds a group of fish began flapping in her direction as they twisted and turned, confused by the agitating water. Some of them slipped around the ends of the rake, but enough moved forward that they began to congregate in the shallower water. When I got to within five feet of Teuila, she pulled one of the spears high above the surface and paused for a moment, then thrust it rapidly down into the water. Seconds later, she pulled the pole out of the depths with a flapping striped fish impaled on the end of the spike.
"Holy crap!" I said, hardly believing my eyes. "Is it that easy?"
"It takes a bit of practice. But it's a whole lot easier when you've got them bunched up in a narrow space."
"Here," she said, holding out the other spear to me. "Do you want to give it a try?"
"Okay," I said, wincing momentarily at the idea of killing such a pretty fish. But I loved my seafood, and catching a fish this way looked a whole lot less messy than using a hook and bait.
"Make sure you wait until you see a bunch of fish swimming near your feet," Te' said. "You don't have to aim at a single fish necessarily. It's a bit hit and miss. It might take you a few attempts to hit one. Just be careful you don't spear your own foot."
"No," I said, peering down at my still bandaged feet. "I think I've had enough scratched up feet for a little while, thank you. Just don't laugh at me."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Te' said.
As we took up our respective positions and Te' began scaring the fish toward me, I could see them darting underwater closer and closer to me. When she got close enough, she looked up and nodded.
"Now, Jade!" she yelled, as she pumped the surface of the water into a foamy brine. "Get them before they escape around the sides of the rake."
I saw three or four striped fish darting about in front of me and I lurched back, flinging the pole into the water. It knifed into the surf and struck the sandy bottom. I pulled it out shaking my head, realizing this wasn't going to be as easy as Teuila made it look.
"Try again," she said. "You'll get it. But you have to act fast, before they escape."
I reared back and thrust the spear into the water a few more times, and on my third attempt it stopped half way underwater, shaking rapidly.
"Grab the stick!" Te' yelled. "Don't let it get away!"
The fish was twisting in a frenzy with the stick running through it, and I grabbed the pole as it slapped on top of the water, then lifted it above the surface to show my prized catch to Teuila.
"Not quite as big as yours," I said. "But not bad for a first time, what do you think?"
"You did great, Jade," Te' said, beaming at me. "Tomorrow, we'll build a retaining wall to funnel them toward us more easily. Then we'll have no trouble catching all the fish we can eat. Let's take a break to enjoy our catch."
As Teuila and I waded toward the shore, I looked around the lagoon and smiled. I knew I’d finally found my slice of paradise.
12
Teuila cleaned and filleted the fish we'd caught then we sat on the beach and enjoyed some fresh sushi marinated in pineapple juice and coconut cream. While we ate, she asked me about my life in the United States and I learned more about her culture on the island of Anuta. The more I listened to her, the more I began to envy her stress-free life in this tropical paradise. With each passing day, I was becoming less dependent on my Western comforts. For the first time in years, I didn't miss having my phone next to me.
When we finished eating, she examined our wounds and decided to keep the bandages on for one more day to let them fully heal. But there was no longer any need for me to wear my bra, and I happily threw it into the pit, symbolizing my liberation from the binds of Western civilization.
"So what's on our agenda for today?" I asked, bouncing up and down like a giddy schoolgirl. "Swimming in the crystalline waters of the lagoon and lounging on the beach?"
Te' ran her eyes over my pale breasts and smiled.
"As much as I'd like to rest and relax, I'm afraid we've got a fair amount of work to do. We don't know how long it will take for your friends to return. I want to build a more secure place for us to sleep, one that's better hidden from the lagoon and any foot patrols.
"Besides," she said, noticing the burn lines around my chest. "I think you need to be careful about getting too much sun too quickly. It's going to take a few more days for you to get a proper Anutian tan."
"Yes,” I said. “Especially since I left all my sunscreen in my purse at your village. What kind of shelter did you have in mind?"
"One higher off the ground, in the trees. It might take us a couple of days to finish it. The most important material will be twine to hold the support beams in place. And that takes a bit of time to produce. But two people can do it twice as fast. Let me show you how to make organic rope."
Te' led me a few hundred feet into the forest until we came upon a clump of short, spiky bushes.
"This is the pandanus plant," she said. "Our tribe normally makes ties using bark, but the fewer trees we have to strip the better in case someone comes snooping around. The leaves of this plant are very fibrous and will be a good substitute."
"You can hold up a house with just a few leaves?" I said, bending the skinny stalks in my hand.
"With the right braiding, yes. Plant cellulose is an incredibly strong material, especially when it's properly twined."
She snapped one of the leaves off near the base, then ran her fingernail along its length to separate the fibers. She pulled a few of the stringy strands apart and lay them in her hand.
"Now they look even flimsier than before," I said, shaking my head. "How can those skinny fibers hold much of anything together?"
"For such an enlightened culture," Te' smiled, "you Americans sure lead a sheltered existence. Watch what happens when we combine the strands and weave them together."
Teuila bunched the strands together in her palm and folded them into a long U-shape, then she bent one end down, forming a small loop at the joined end. As she pinched the loop with the fingers of her left hand, she twisted the horizontal band of strands away from her with her other hand while using her middle finger to lift the end pointing down and pulling it toward her, wrapping the two shoots around one another. She repeated this process for a minute or two, until she'd formed a six-inch-long line of interlaced strands that looked just like a braided rope.
"That's pretty cool," I said, nodding at how quickly she'd fashioned a rope out of natural materials. "But that doesn’t even look long enough to tie around my wrist. What do you do if we need to make a longer rope?"
"It's simple to join extra pieces together," she said. "Watch carefully."
Te' gathered another bunch of leaf strands and folded them in half, pinching them tightly together at the fold. Then she inserted the V-end of the folded shoots into the open end of the braided strands and repeated the wrapping sequence, twisting the two ends of the joined strands away from her while simultaneously pulling the other two loose ends toward her. Within seconds, the loose ends of the first set of strands disappeared into the lengthening braid until there were only the short ends of the new set of strands remaining at the end of the rope.
"Holy crap," I said, shaking my head at how easy it was to create any length of rope using just plant leaves. "Bu
t how strong is it? And how firmly connected are the two joined pieces?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Te' said, handing me the waxy twine. "Try to pull it apart."
I grasped the braid on each end and yanked it as hard as I could in opposite directions. Still not believing that a plant leaf could be so sturdy, I lifted my leg and wrapped the twine over my knee and pulled as hard as I could on each side. Still skeptical of its strength, I lifted it in front of me and bent it up and down a few times. When it began to splinter and crack, I looked up at Teuila triumphantly.
"Hold on, girl," she said, taking the leaf rope out of my hands.
"If you bend anything like that long enough, just about anything will break—even steel. But we're not going to use it that way. We're going to bend it around large poles and tie it in a fixed position. You saw how it's almost impossible to break with fixed tension. That's all we care about at this point. We're going to use it to hold things, not as a swing!"
"Okay," I sighed. "You've convinced me. How much of this stuff do we need to build our tree house?"
"A lot. A few hundred pieces of cord a couple of feet long should do it. If we separate the tasks and work together, it shouldn't take too long. Would you rather harvest the strands or braid them together?"
I held Te's bandaged hand and peered at the swelling around her finger.
"Which task will be easier on your hand? It looks like you still need a bit more rehabilitation time than me."
"The less twisting and bending, the better," she nodded, pinching her finger tenderly near the knuckle. "How about if I collect the leaves while you weave them together to start?"
"Sounds like a deal."
Teuila demonstrated one more time how to properly twist and join the shoots, then I sat down on a broken tree stump while she began to tear and separate the leaves. After a half hour or so, I'd assembled a decent pile of arms-length twine, and I shook my wrists trying to relieve the muscle cramps in my hands.
"That's a pretty impressive length of cordage," she said. "I think we're about halfway there. Would you like to switch positions for a while to rest your aching fingers?"
"If you think you're up for it," I nodded. "I'm not used to doing this amount of physical labor with my hands. I better pause for a while before I get repetitive stress syndrome."
"Repetitive what—?" Te' asked with a puzzled expression.
"It's another frailty of our Western culture. A lot of people sit around hammering away at computers all day long and develop sore wrists and hands. Something tells me this is not an affliction known to native Anutians."
"I've never seen anything like that," Te' said, shaking her head. "We tend to do most things around here in measured doses. There's plenty enough work to keep everybody busy doing different things at any one time. Between fishing, planting, cooking, swimming, and dancing, we keep our bodies fairly limber."
"I noticed," I said, watching Te's lean legs flexing as she stooped down to cut another bunch of leaves from the base of the plant. "I wouldn't mind switching positions for a while if you’re up for it. I'd like to learn how to do everything your culture does. You never know when I might be stranded on another deserted island."
13
Te' and I worked for another hour or so splitting and weaving the leaves until we had an impressive pile of shiny green twine.
"That's a lot of rope," I said, wiping my brow with my forearm. "What do we do now?"
"Now for the fun part," she smiled. "We begin building our house in the clouds. Grab a pile of rope and let's see if we can find a suitable location."
As we began walking deeper into the forest, Teuila swiveled her head from side to side, scanning the thicket of trees.
"What are we looking for exactly?" I asked.
"Ideally, a tree that's not too far from the lagoon, but still out of sight from the beach. One with high, sturdy branches and a thick canopy to provide cover from the elements and any search parties. We can build the rest."
While we continued foraging through the forest, my mind wandered to the story of The Swiss Family Robinson, who built such a beautiful and intricate treehouse on their deserted island. But something Teuila mentioned bothered me.
"If we're going to be out of sight from the beach, how will my charter boat crew know where to look for me when they return?"
"I have an idea about that," Te' said. "The trick will be to build a marker that they can find, but my father won't so easily see. We'll focus on that tomorrow. Our priority today is to build a safe hiding place."
I glanced around the forest and noticed a tall mushroom-shaped tree standing in a clearing a few hundred feet away. It had a thick golden trunk and long stringy vines hanging down from its domed canopy. Broad horizontal branches radiated out in every direction about fifteen feet off the ground.
"How about that tree?" I said, pointing to the unusual specimen. "It looks pretty sturdy and well camouflaged."
Teuila turned in the direction of the tree and nodded when she caught sight of it.
"That's a banyan tree," she said. "It's perfect. It's even got a built-in elevator."
"If you're referring to those vines hanging down from the branches, that's not exactly what I'd call an elevator."
"Yes, but they're a lot less obvious than a ladder. If my father comes around, nothing will look out of place. He won't have any reason to believe we're hiding in the trees."
Te' walked up to the tree and grabbed one of the hanging vines, pulling herself up hand over hand until she reached the bottom of a branch. Then she grabbed the limb and flung her body upward in one quick motion, placing her feet on the branch and standing up.
"Damn, girl," I said, shaking my head at how nimble she was. "You make that look like Tarzan. You really do know your way around this jungle, don't you?"
"It's easy, once you get the hang of it," she said. "Now you try it."
I grabbed the vine with two hands, then wrapped my legs tightly around the cord and pushed up. It took me a minute to shimmy to the top, and when I reached the branch, I couldn't pull my body over it like Teuila had, so I flung one of my legs over the bough and awkwardly rolled myself on top.
"Not quite as elegant as your technique," I said, standing precariously on the limb, holding an adjacent vine for support.
"You'll get the hang of it soon enough," she said, brushing some loose debris off my bare breasts. "You just need to learn how to climb the vine with less rubbing. Otherwise, it won't just be the bottom of your feet that get scraped up.”
I glanced above me and noticed some teardrop-shaped fruit dangling from the branches.
“Are those figs?” I said, widening my eyes in excitement.
“Yes,” Te’ nodded. “And they look nicely ripe. Have you ever tried one fresh off the tree?”
“If they’re half as good as your fresh pineapple and mango, I can’t wait.”
Tequila picked one of the purple pods off a nearby branch then pinched the skin with her fingernails and separated it in half, placing it under my nose. The pulpy seeds glistened in the crimson-colored syrup of the berry.
“It smells heavenly,” I said, closing my eyes as I savored the floral aroma. I cradled the dewy husk in my hands and bit into it softly.
“Mmm,” I hummed. “This is almost as good as sex. Sweet, juicy, and succulent. Just like you.”
Te’ plucked another fig off the branch and bit it in half, squeezing the moist nectar over her hand.
“I see what you mean,” she smiled. “This is definitely getting me in the mood. Let’s hurry up and finish building our nest so we can have some more fun.”
As I finished eating my fig, I looked up at the web of golden branches above us, marveling at how far the crown extended out in all directions.
“At least we've got pretty good protection from above. Will those leaves keep us dry when it rains?”
"Only during light showers. We'll have to build a thatch over our heads to channel heavier rainfalls away
."
"What about beneath us?" I said, wobbling on the thin limb. "What will keep us from falling between the branches?"
"We'll have to put some additional support beams in place. We'll use the twine to hold them together. Come on, it's time to go gather some more supplies."
Teuila led me back into the brush and we hacked down a handful of ten-foot-long poles about three inches in diameter. We carried the poles back to the banyan tree where she tied three crossbeams between two overhanging branches about fifteen feet off the ground. Then she placed the longer poles over the crossbeams, creating a webbed floor in the shape of a fan spanning between the radiating branches. After she taught me how to wrap and tie the twine so that each connection was tight and secure, it only took us a little over an hour to secure the floor. When we were done, she stood on top of the latticework and held out her hand.
"What do you think?" she said, inviting me to join her on our newly installed deck. "Does this look more comfortable than lying in a pit for the evening?"
I stepped gingerly onto the web of poles and flexed my knees to see if it would support my weight. The poles bent slightly, like a firm mattress.
Te' sat down on the web and smiled.
"Lie down beside me and see how comfortable it is."
I lowered my body onto the lattice, then lay on my back. The hard poles pressed into my flesh, especially where we'd lashed the ties around the connections.
"Not quite as comfortable as my mattress back home, but at least it's less lumpy than lying on the ground."
"We're not finished yet," Te' said. "We still haven't laid the carpet for our new home."
"Carpet?" I said, pinching my eyebrows imagining how the rough surface of our jerry-rigged deck could be converted into something as smooth and comfortable as the broadloomed floor of my house back home.
Teuila took my hand and we shimmied down a nearby vine, then she led me a little deeper into the forest where she hacked off some wide strips of bark from a mulberry tree. Then she climbed a coconut tree and passed down a handful of long palm fronds. When we returned to the banyan tree, we cut and lay the thick pieces of bark horizontally across the webbed floor until all the gaps between the poles were covered, then we sat down again.
Polynesian Pleasure Page 7