Page 14 of The Beach Holiday

THEN

Avril came out of her hut dressed a few minutes later. A few women were mooching around camp, and I had stayed close by because I wanted to know exactly what was going on.

‘Avril.’ I reached her before she headed for the back of the camp where the stores were, a kitchen prep area under a canopy. There was also a large gong that had been rung for dinner last night.

‘Is everything okay?’ I asked tentatively, not wanting to show any sign of unease myself.

‘Nothing for you to worry about,’ she said calmly and continued on her way. I caught up with her.

‘I just hoped we could have a chat today, you know.’

She stopped and looked at me. Then her face broke into a sympathetic smile. ‘Of course, Sadie, I’m sorry, I have neglected you. Of course, we will talk today. Ask me anything you need to know. I just have to deal with one thing.’

She moved towards the gong, lifted the hammer and played out several beats, emitting a sound that carried across the camp.

It wasn’t the same simple double gong that had been sounded for dinner last night, it was a more complex sound, but short nonetheless.

She laid down the hammer and turned to me and smiled.

‘After breakfast okay?’ she asked and I nodded.

‘Sure, of course.’

I waited in camp and as I did I saw women arriving in droves.

The gong sound must have woken them from their beds and they were being drawn to the camp.

It was still early, not yet even 7a.m., and from the tired looks on the faces of those who were making their way to the campfire, they did not look as if they were ready to get up.

Was this usual practice, to be woken at a certain time?

Avril was now over at the prep area speaking with three other women dressed in similar beige and green combat shorts and vests and baseball caps. This was interesting, I thought. I approached a woman with the headscarf at the fire. She was putting water on to boil.

‘Morning,’ I said.

‘Oh, hi, Sadie, isn’t it?’ She grinned. I noticed she had two missing teeth. I tried not to flinch at the sight of them. As a result, she spoke with a slight lisp.

‘Yes, it is.’

‘I’m Ray.’

‘Hello, Ray.’ She was one of the older ladies in the camp but she had an easy look and way about her.

She arranged the kettle in place over the fire and wiped her hands on her skirt. ‘How are you settling in?’

‘Okay,’ I said, distracted by the three women and Avril talking.

Avril seemed to be giving them instructions now.

Her hands were making short sharp slices in the air in front of her then to her right.

She pointed to the left and then made the sign with two hands, one sliced over the other, as though indicating something final, or something was over.

‘I was just wondering what was going on this morning, why we’re all up so early. ’

‘Protocol. Avril does this once a month or so. Training. We all need to be in one place to be accounted for.’

‘Training?’

Ray waved her hand around. ‘It happens rarely. We’re on our own out here, so you know, we have to be prepared for any eventuality.’

It made sense and I was already imagining pirates. I supposed it was possible that anyone could just rock up. How did thirty-one females protect themselves in the middle of the South Pacific?

‘Don’t worry, you’ll get to see everything that goes on in time. Avril would like you to relax for the next few days, just acclimatise.’

I wondered if it was going to take me a little longer to acclimatise when there was so much going on around me and so many things I didn’t quite understand.

Like why was Ula living solitary, what was the woman trying to signal to Precious this morning, why did Avril wake everyone so early and what sort of training was going on?

I wanted to understand more about the island; I knew I was being impatient, and all this would come with time, and soon I would know why Avril had chosen to create an all-female commune.

I had been promised time with Avril this morning, but I was almost certain that whatever the woman was signalling to Precious earlier was why Avril had raised everyone early and was now prepping some of the women.

‘Would you like some porridge? Tea?’ Ray asked.

‘Yes, please.’ I didn’t want to turn down food, but I had lost my appetite. I watched as the three women and Avril disappeared through the other side of camp. The way they were headed could have been where Precious and I had arrived had the woman not stopped us in our tracks.

Ray began spooning porridge into a bowl.

‘I’m just ... would you excuse me for a second?’

Ray smiled. ‘We’ve been asked to stay within camp,’ she said quietly yet quite firmly, and with a grin still on her face. So that was what that gong had spelled out to all the campmates, except me, who was unfamiliar with any commands. I was unfamiliar with most things it seemed.

‘Oh, sure, I went to the beach early. I just need to freshen up before breakfast.’

I hurried across the camp until I passed the prep kitchen stores and all our cabins.

I could see where the forest set in again, but also a small clearing, a pathway that would lead into the trees.

Not a large one from what I had seen and worked out from seeing both sides of the island but big enough that you could get lost in, if you weren’t familiar with it, as I was not.

I was taking a bit of a risk here, but then I took a risk arriving alone in Fiji, coming here to Totini, and putting my faith in Avril.

I could sense that I was going in the right direction, although there were no sounds ahead of me, and all I could hear was the gentle swish of the foliage on either side of me as it brushed against my skin and clothes, and my breath, heavy and hard.

What was I expecting to discover that was making my heart race at such a pace?

I slowed down, never really knowing what I might come across or discover.

It was getting hotter by the second; once the sun was up in Fiji that was it, you were cooking.

I felt sweat around my neck and temple. I would probably get lost; that was the obvious outcome here.

And there would be a search party out for me.

Would there be a special gong for that? I thought of many things as I walked, and the image of Avril with the girl on the veranda of her hut this morning made me think about the relationships between other women here and in a place removed of all men, what their agendas were.

I wondered if many had taken up celibacy, that they were glad to be away from the constraints of a relationship where sex was always an expectation and not the antidote to a happy marriage.

I thought about Clara and how she was sweet with me last night, how I wanted to see her and thank her and how I was also looking forward to getting to know her more.

It had felt like such a long time since I had really felt a proper connection.

I stopped suddenly. The path had opened up into a clearing.

I didn’t know which way to go; I couldn’t see any more path.

But Avril and the other three women had to have gone somewhere.

I bent down and found a large stick and a heavy flat stone on the ground to my left.

I moved them in front of the way I had just come from, and I began to walk around the clearing, looking for a way to continue.

I heard a crack. The classic foot-on-stick sound and I swung around expecting to see Avril or one of the three women. But it wasn’t any of them.

Instead I found myself standing face to face with a man.

He was topless, wearing a pair of ripped shorts.

He was hunched over; his face was slick with grease, sweat and dirt.

Immediately I thought of pirates. The short gong sound.

Terror gripped every inch of my body and I couldn’t move or speak.

The side of his face was bleeding, but on the other side was a large cut, an older one that hadn’t healed properly.

He was probably tall, but he was carrying himself in a way that made him look as though he were injured and in pain.

His eyes were wide as he stared at me, and something in that stare told me he didn’t want to hurt me.

He looked as though he wanted to say something to me, but he just raised his finger to his lips.

‘Stay where you are, Sadie.’ Avril’s voice. I swung around to see her behind me pointing a rifle at the man. I whipped back around and two of the three women were behind the man. He turned to dash but two more rifles appeared in his face.

‘Turn around,’ one of the women spat and now I could see it was Precious, her long sleek hair tied up and wearing a baseball cap.

This was a different side to the woman than the one I had experienced on the beach earlier.

Then the man turned back to face me. I could see now for the first time that there was fear in his eyes, and something else, a look of hopelessness.

‘Take three steps back, Sadie,’ came Avril’s command and I did as she asked, so that we passed each other. She was now in front pointing that massive thing at the man, and I was behind her.

‘Get on the ground,’ Avril commanded and the man sunk to his knees. ‘Hands behind your back.’

The man obeyed. Someone moved forward and I saw it was Kali. She produced some rope and quickly tied his wrists. The man was dragged to his feet. Precious kept a rifle aimed at him. Avril gave a nod and they kicked him forward, the two women stayed behind him, and disappeared into the forest.

Avril kept her rifle aimed at the spot for a few more seconds, lowered it, and turned to look at me.

‘An unwanted guest,’ she said coolly.

‘Does that happen a lot?’ I asked. My voice came out a little shaky. I had been here less than twenty-four hours and already there was so much to take in. Should I be feeling more worried?