Candi was gone every day, always down at the water trying to figure out how to spear fish. She had found a spot on the south side where there were some large rocks spread apart in the shallow water. The tides and water currents had created small pools where the fish loved to look for food. She’d stand on the rocks and try to spear the fish from above. She claimed that she got close once, but so far had come back each day empty handed. She was determined, though, and no one had the heart to give her a hard time about it or tell her to give up.
The morning exercises organized by Kevin now included a rugby scrimmage at the end. They used a coconut with the husk still on as their rugby ball. It was about the right size and weight. Kevin was determined not to forget his moves or lose his agility.
Unfortunately for him, his team was pretty lame – although he had to admit, they’d come a long way in three weeks. Now they could all run around and do what he told them without getting side cramps or collapsing on the beach, gasping for air. He’d even felt Jonathan’s strength improving as he tried to tackle Kevin to the ground.
Jonathan’s muscles had really started to noticeably develop with the combined work of morning exercise and treehouse building. The coconuts they were eating had natural fats and protein, which gave their bodies the fuel they needed to put on the muscle. Kevin told them that as soon as they had fish added to their diet, they could really amp up their improvements.
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 surreptitious 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 crashing through the trees on the path from the beach to the treehouse.
“That’s right, bitches, I caught us a fish! 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 crap, 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 shivered.
“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 class. They’re very sweet and lovable. Smart too.”
Sarah just stared at Jonathan. “That’s just some weird shit, 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 fishing,” 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 balls 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 shimmying 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 saltwater, 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 Lagasse 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.”
“Kevin?”
“Hey, my lips are sealed, man. I can’t give the cook’s secrets away, or she’ll kick me out of the kitchen.”
“Well, I think it’s probably done by now,” announced the chef. “We just have to get it off the fire.”
“Here,” said Jonathan. “Use these.”
He handed Kevin a couple of short bamboo poles with the ends cut off halfway, making a flat, scoop-like surface. Kevin used them like giant salad forks to grab the wrapped fish and drop it over to the side of the fire, where they could pull it out of the wrapping without being burned.
Candi carefully pulled on the strings, which gave way easily since they were completely dried out and burned most of the way through. She pulled the dried banana leaf to the side to see what the fish looked like inside.
A cloud of steam came up from the opening in the leaves. The smell was nice – very faintly coconutty.
“Mmm, that smells goooood,” said Kevin, enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together.
“I’m not sure what to do now,” confessed Candi.
“Just reach in there and pull a hunk off,” suggested Kevin.
Candi reached in and touched the fish but pulled her hand back quickly. “Too hot.”
“Here, let me try.”
Kevin took the edge of the leaves and pulled the fish towards himself. He gingerly touched the fish, and slowly teased a hunk of flesh away from the body. He popped it into his mouth after pulling the skin off.
The other three searched his face, looking for a sign.
Kevin closed his eyes, opening his mouth to let cool air in so his tongue wouldn’t burn. “Mmmm … heaven.”
They all dove towards the fish, completely forgetting any manners or concerns about temperature. They each got a chunk of fish and shoved it into their mouths, not caring whether they got all the skin off first.
“Holy shit, Candi, this is really good,” said Sarah, shock in her voice.
“Hey, don’t sound so surprised.”
Sarah tried to respond around a mouth full of fish. “I don’t mean that you’re normally a bad cook or anything, it’s just, I didn’t realize you were like a professional.” She smiled as fish juice ran down her chin.
Candi blushed with the compliment. “It’s pretty good, isn’t it?”
A couple minutes later, they all looked down at the carcass that was sitting on the remains of the banana leaves. “Um, I think next time you should take the guts out,” said Jonathan.
“Ew. Yeah, I second that idea,” agreed Sarah.
“Yeah, you’re right. I was just so excited to have you guys see it and eat it, I didn’t even think about that. Next time I’ll take the guts out.”
They were all satisfied, even full. The fish was flakey and light and had a nice coconut taste that went perfectly with the light salting Candi had added. Even the chunks of coconut had cooked through and easily separated from the nutshells.
Kevin patted her on the back as they walked toward the waterspout to wash off his face and hands. “You can cook for me any day of the week and twice on Sunday, Gumdrop. That was amazing.”
“Me too,” agreed Jonathan.
“Me three,” chimed in Sarah.
Candi smiled as she followed the others to the water. Success at last. “Maybe now I can teach you guys – now that I’ve finally figured it out.”
“Sounds good to me,” said Kevin.
That night they all went to bed content and satisfied. It was an especially good night after Kevin and Jonathan announced that the treehouse would be ready to live in by the next day. It wouldn’t be completely finished for another few weeks, but the floors and roof were in; it was solid enough for a trial run. All four of them fell asleep dreaming of the beds and the night breezes they were going to be enjoying very soon.
***
The next morning, Jonathan was the first one up. “Well, I think we can officially verify that we have rats on this island with us.”
Kevin walked up to join him. “What’s up?”
“Well, obviously something came and took what was left of the fish guts. Plus they left some pellets behind; and I know rat poop when I see it.”
“I’ll trust you on that one, buddy,” said Kevin as he walked to the water spout. He shouted over his shoulder, “I want to get a jump-start on the last bit of flooring we need to put in, so the treehouse could be ready for tonight.”
The girls walked over and stood by Jonathan.
“Candi, can you help me today with a few things?” asked Sarah.
“Sure, what’d ya have in mind?”
“Just a couple things for the treehouse. It’ll go faster if you help me, and I’d love to have it all done for our first night.”
“No problem, just tell me what to do. I’m going to go fishing first if that’s okay, but I don’t think it will take me as long this time.”
“Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll see you later then, after lunch.”
Candi begged to be excused from exercise for the day, and Kevin decided to let everyone off the hook. They were all excited about getting the treehouse ready to live in.
They worked hard the entire day, stopping only for five minutes to eat a lunch of bananas, coconut and water.
Candi came back from her fishing trip without any fish. “I think it was too early in the day or something. I usually go later when the sun is lower.”
“You can go again later. Come help me with my projects,” said Sarah, glad to have an assistant.