After a shower and some breakfast, Carla and I plotted out what we were going to do for the day. We hired some bicycles and took a bike tour of the little town. As we were riding around the pond in one of the parks, a duck flew in front of Carla. She didn’t have time to stop and hit the bird. I was riding behind her and all I saw were duck feathers and Carla’s butt as she went ass over the handlebar into the pond where she disturbed the ducks who took off in a flutter of angry quacking.
The poor duck she hit squawked its lungs out before flying off. It seemed more frightened than hurt. Carla, of course, was not happy. She rose up out of the pond like the lady of the lake holding her handlebars which had come loose from her bike when she was thrown clean off. Her clothes were soaked and her eyes were clouded with anger.
“Are you okay?” I jumped off my bike and ran to help her out of the pond.
Luckily, it was a nice hot July day.
“I’m fine,” Carla said through gritted teeth, “where is that damn bird because I’ve suddenly got a craving for kamikaze duck.”
I couldn’t help it. I knew she was probably going to smack me with the handlebars she still clutched in her hand but I burst out laughing. To my surprise, so did she. She wouldn’t be able to ride the bike back to the bike shop, so I let her push my bike while I carried hers.
Like me, the bike shop owner wondered how the handlebars had managed to come loose in the accident. That’s when they found the pin that held them on was missing. Carla and I got a free meal voucher at some fancy restaurant in town for them giving her a faulty bike. We found out it was nothing more than a grill house. But it was a fancy grill house though.
During dinner, Carla and I chatted about the vineyards we’d seen so far and what methods we’d employ for our vineyards. I wanted to bring up my plans for a joint venture between our vineyards, but before I could, she suddenly changed the subject.
“What happened to the duck?” Carla asked out of the blue.
“What duck?” I frowned.
“That one I knocked over today?” Carla’s eyes got big and watery. “Oh God, did I kill it?”
“No.” I was a bit taken aback by her sudden mood swing but I assured her it was an hardy bird that dusted itself off, glared at her, and had flown away. Which had earned me a laugh from her.
That was so weird, I thought. How Carla had just switched the conversation. She was usually so focused. Something weird was definitely going on with Carla.
CHAPTER 30
Carla
The days flew by and after the first few days of feeling sick of whatever bug I had, it cleared up, leaving me feeling a whole lot better. In fact, I felt wonderful. I was full of energy and I didn’t feel so emotional either anymore. I was back to my old self again and apart from a few arguments over wines, grapes, and processes, Damon and I were getting along fine. I would go as far as to say I was actually enjoying his company.
We avoided the big pink elephant that was following us around at all costs. Just like we avoided touching each other. A few times when we had come into body contact, we’d spring apart like two magnets pushing each other away. All in all, I was enjoying this bus tour. It was amazing. I could see why it was so popular and booked up so far in advance. This tour didn’t do all the mainstream large towns with their branded products, chain stores, and franchised restaurants. Instead, you got to see, enjoy, and support small industries and mom-and-pop type establishments.
Everywhere we went, people were so friendly and the service was basically five star all around. It was really nice to see kids playing in the streets and riding their bikes and not having a mobile device stuck in the palm of their hands. I couldn’t believe that we were on the last few days of the tour. The next stop was an hour away and was where we were going to be staying for the night before going to the last wine farm on the tour. We were just coming up on a small town that the bus was driving through when I started to feel sick and very dizzy. A cold feeling rose inside of me as my stomach started to churn. I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was about to get sick. I also had no motion sickness pills left.
“Please ask them to stop the bus,” I told Damon as I tried desperately to breathe through the nausea.