Part 26 (2/2)

With just the coconuts and bananas, Jonathan wasn't able to eat enough calories to get really big muscles, and Kevin could feel himself losing weight. His torn and ragged shorts were getting looser and looser. He'd already had to make a belt out of the plant rope just to keep them up. This would have bothered him more a month ago when rugby was his life. Now he didn't care so much. He looked down to admire his six-pack abs from time to time, which before had not been as sharp or defined because he'd had more body fat. And if the surrept.i.tious looks he kept catching from Candi were any indication, she was happy with what she saw, too.

The karate lessons Jonathan had been giving in the evening were helping all of them with their flexibility and balance. Kevin wondered why he hadn't thought of doing that kind of workout before. When and if he ever got back home, he was going to be unstoppable on the field.

Kevin stopped his musings when he heard a loud whooping coming from the direction of the beach. He could hear Candi cras.h.i.+ng through the trees on the path from the beach to the treehouse.

”That's right, b.i.t.c.hes, I caught us a fis.h.!.+ Whoot! Whoot!” Candi came skipping out of the trees, dangling a fish from its gills and grinning from ear to ear.

Sarah came from around the back of the tree where she had her weaving and building workshop.

”Awesome, I can't believe you did it! You totally rock. How'd you do it?”

Jonathan came down from the treehouse where he had been securing a wall Sarah had designed.

”Is that a fish I see there? Holy c.r.a.p, Candi, you did it!” He walked up and gave her a big hug. ”I'm so proud of you. You stuck with it, and you did it.”

”Yep, I finally did it. Man, I was ready to quit too, you know? But then I just said, no dammit, everyone else is pulling their weight I have to do this. And then I started working more on my technique. It's hard because the water kind of warps the position of the fish, so you think you're stabbing in the right place and then it misses the fish entirely. For the longest time, I thought the fish was moving and that's why I was missing, but I finally figured out that it was the distortion of the water. Duh.”

”Uh, yeah, I might have forgotten to mention that little issue of optical refraction to you.”

Candi brushed her brother's guilty comment aside. ”Doesn't matter, I figured it out. At least, I think I have.” She held the fish up in front of her face to look at it closer. ”I hope this guy is edible.”

”I think as long as it doesn't puff up, have a beaky mouth, or have really bright colors, we should be okay.”

Sarah frowned at the fish. ”I wish we had a monkey that we could make taste our food to see if it was poisonous. I saw some berry looking things in the trees that might be good, but I'd be afraid to try them.”

”You know, Sarah, that's not a bad idea,” said Jonathan.

”Uh, yeah, except that we are minus one monkey, which is kind of the key to the whole plan, unless you're volunteering yourself for the job?”

”Stop. No, I know that. But we could use another animal, like a rat maybe.”

”Ew! There are rats here?” asked Sarah, looking around her and moving closer to Kevin.

”I don't know, probably. They can swim and they used to stow away on boats all the time. I think at this point they're everywhere. We should try to set some traps, see if we can catch any.”

”Well, you're on your own with that one, Jonathan. I don't want anything to do with rats.” Sarah s.h.i.+vered.

”They're really not bad, Sarah. We had them as pets at home for lots of years. Jonathan used to do behavioral experiments with them for extra credit in psychology cla.s.s. They're very sweet and lovable. Smart too.”

Sarah just stared at Jonathan. ”That's just some weird s.h.i.+t, Jonathan. Why do you guys tell me this stuff?” She shook her head and walked away.

”What?” He followed behind her to her workshop. ”What?”

Kevin couldn't hear him anymore as he rounded the corner. ”Good work on the spear fis.h.i.+ng,” he said, quietly.

Candi smiled shyly. ”Thanks. Do you know if we have any open coconuts lying around?”

”No, but I can get you some. We have a pile of rugby b.a.l.l.s over there.” He gestured to the pile of coconuts they had gathered from some trees earlier. Jonathan, with his newfound fitness, had become quite adept at s.h.i.+mmying up the coconut palms and pulling the nuts down.

”Okay, I need one broken up coconut and a couple of banana palm leaves. Try to keep the coconut water if you can 'cause I want to use that too.”

Kevin was psyched to finally have something new on the menu. ”Okay, Chef, coconuts and banana leaves coming right up!”

A short while later he came back and found Candi stoking the fire she had made. He handed her the ingredients, and she set to work arranging them together. ”Oh, I also need some salt.w.a.ter, can you get me some?”

He came back a few minutes later with the water and was immediately impressed by what he saw. Candi had taken the fish and laid it in a double layer of banana leaves. Under the fish were broken pieces of coconut with the white meat still attached, facing up. She carefully poured the coconut water that Kevin had saved over the top, and it was resting in the coconut pieces that were slightly concave. She sprinkled a bit of the salt water over the top, then curled the banana leaves over the whole package, handling it very carefully.

”Hand me some of that rope stuff, would you?”

”Sure.”

He watched as she tied the package up in several spots, making what looked like a neat, fish-shaped, green birthday present.

”Won't the rope just burn off?”

”Probably, but by the time that happens, maybe the leaves will be dry enough that they'll stay put. Or the fish will be cooked by then. We'll see, this is just an experiment.”

Candi gingerly set the fish aside until the fire was going well and the coals were hot. She carefully set the fish over the top of the coals, using two high rocks on either end to suspend the fish above the heat.

”Now we wait about twenty minutes or so. I think.”

Kevin and Candi sat there staring at the green package over the fire.

”You're pretty amazing, you know that?” said Kevin, looking up at her.

”Yeah, I know, right?” Candi shot him a winning smile.

”And modest too.”

”Maybe not so much, at least not today.”

”Hey, you deserve to be proud of yourself. Do you have any idea how sick I am of bananas? I never thought I'd say that. I mean, I used to eat bananas like crazy back home.” He paused as he thought about memories that were not as sharp as they had been just a few weeks ago, then continued, ”Let's just say that I'm looking forward to eating the catch of the day.”

”Well, I hope it cooks okay, because I'm burned out on bananas too.”

About fifteen minutes later, Sarah and Jonathan came back around from the other side of the tree, laughing at something Jonathan had said.

Candi smiled and it made Kevin happy just to see it.

Sarah squatted down to admire Candi's handiwork. ”Wow, what do we have here? Emeril Laga.s.se in da' hizouse!”

”Hey, that looks really professional, Candi,” commended Jonathan. ”What's inside? Besides the fish I, mean.”

”Oh, a little of this, a little of that.”

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