Page 54 of The Beach Holiday

THEN

I walked up the hill and joined Ula outside her hut.

‘Hey,’ I said to her, but she didn’t look at me straight away; she continued looking ahead towards the sea. From here, I could hear the chanting, which must have gotten louder since I had left the camp.

I listened to see if I could make out any words, but it was as inaudible as it had been when I had been standing right next to them.

‘How are you?’ I asked Ula but I wasn’t expecting a response. She and I had yet to converse in any way that made sense to me. I knew today wouldn’t be any different. But I needed to hear something from Ula; I needed her to help me.

After a few seconds’ silence I turned to her.

‘Ula, I think ... I’m feeling uncomfortable. Avril has asked me to tend to the men in the prison. It doesn’t feel right if I’m honest. What do you think? And these new men that have arrived. Avril has them in camp tonight. I have a really bad feeling.’

‘Listen.’ Ula’s voice punctured my ramblings. I looked up and beyond the sound of the swishing waves. I heard the constant thrum of the chanting.

I looked at Ula. ‘I hear it,’ I said. ‘What does it mean?’

Ula shook her head. ‘It is too late now. There is no time left. You must accept this.’ Then she glanced back at her hut. ‘The way I have.’

I felt my throat tighten and my guts suddenly felt loose. I swallowed but it felt painful and dry.

‘What do you mean, it’s too late. What does that mean, Ula?’

Damn this woman. Could she not just speak one coherent sentence? Just fucking one. I was half tempted to shake her, to see if that would bring her out of this permanent daze she seemed to be in. ‘Ula, what do you mean it is too late?’

She turned so she was looking at me full-on. ‘You must see for yourself.’

And then she was off with her torch in her hand.

I ran to catch up with her, and we were back on the beach.

She was striding off ahead towards the camp.

Christ, what was going on? I had just come from there and I had no desire to go back there again tonight.

Especially not with Ula in tow. What would the camp think?

I could be turned on; they could hurt Ula.

I ran to catch up with her, but she was tall and strong and her stride was twice as long as mine.

‘Ula, stop, please, I don’t want to go back there. Please, stop.’ I grabbed at her arm, but she just shook me off.

‘You must see for yourself. Then you will know.’

I carried on trotting next to her, trying to keep up with her pace.

‘Okay, but when we get there, please can we hide, can we not be seen? I don’t want them to see me or you?’

Ula glanced at me and then carried on looking ahead.

I had no choice, I could follow her and find out what the hell she was ranting on about or I could stay here on the beach alone, worrying about Ula and if she was safe.

I had done this walk a hundred or so times these last few weeks but today it felt particularly long and arduous as the ground rose and fell again.

Once we were on easier terrain I knew we weren’t far from the camp now, that and the fact that the chanting had increased in volume.

I could see the strain in Ula’s eyes, as she concentrated on walking at a pace.

Then suddenly she dropped to a steadier walk as I began to see the light from the camp in the distance. Ula took us to the right through the bushes and I knew what she was doing. We would be hidden here; we could observe whatever the hell was going on and no one would see us.

We moved stealthily through the bushes until we reached the very edge, not that we needed to. The noise from the camp was now more of a consistent roar and would have drowned out any sound from us scuttling around.

Ula crouched down in the long grass and then motioned for me to sidle up next to her, which I did.

I wanted to block my ears from all the noise but at the same time, I was trying to tune in to hearing anything they were saying; if I could maybe catch the odd word, it might make sense.

My heart thudded in my ears almost in time with the drum, which was now sounding out across the camp.

I looked across at the camp. We were well hidden in the grass and Ula had turned off her torch, so we were crouched in the dark.

Everyone was up and moving around. The sound of the drum was now echoing in my chest, and I wanted it to stop, for all of this to just stop, but somehow I knew it wouldn’t.

Somehow this suddenly felt much bigger than me and I knew it was unstoppable.

It felt as though whatever was happening had been brewing for some time.

I tried to focus on a few of the faces as the fire seemed to be growing in size as well, the light from it illuminating the crowd.

Everyone was there: the mothers, Kali, Mary and every other woman who made up the thirty-or-so-strong camp.

And standing at the head of the camp was Avril.

She was moving slightly but was focused on something to her left.

I hadn’t noticed it before with all the commotion, but there was now a chair where there had never been one before.

Someone was seated on the chair, but I couldn’t tell who.

I did another quick scan of the camp and saw the other man sitting on another chair close by.

‘That’s James sitting in that chair,’ I whispered to Ula, but she didn’t respond. She didn’t know who James was. ‘He arrived yesterday. His friend is there.’

Nothing from Ula.

‘What is going on?’ I hissed.

The chanting and drumming ended with one loud final thump. I was sure I had been heard. Ula looked at me. I thought she was about to tell me off, or shush me or something, but she just looked at me and her whole face had changed. A terrible sadness had washed over her.

Avril had mounted James. Precious was on top of the other man. Both men looked elated; this was what they had come here for. To be surrounded by goddesses on a tropical island, far away from society.

I shivered and wished I were somewhere else, not watching this, but this was what Ula wanted me to see.

‘Ula, is this usual? Do they do this often?’

She looked at me and nodded.

‘Look, as erotic as this is, I don’t feel happy watching from the bushes,’ I said.

I was sure Avril would have wanted me to have been a part of this evening, but I didn’t feel comfortable with that either.

The girls made quite a show for a few minutes, but it was all too much for poor James and his travelling pal, who climaxed and then began laughing hysterically.

Ula looked at me again. The energy had shifted in the air. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a glint of something against the light of the moon. By the time I had turned, I had just caught the end of a fast and vicious swipe as a blade came across each of the men’s necks.