Te' paused as her eyes darted from side to side.
"We'll need to relieve ourselves eventually. My father isn't such a brute that he'd insist on our doing our business right here on the floor of the hut. You can ask to be escorted to the women's bathing lagoon, then ask the guard to let you take care of business behind a clump of palm trees. When his back is turned, do you think you could climb to the top of one of those trees like I showed you? He'll never expect you to do that, searching the trails and beach for your footprints, not looking up."
I closed my eyes, reflecting back on Te's technique climbing the pineapple tree. She'd made it look remarkably easy, and I was still in decent shape from my regular trips to the gym.
"I think so. But how long will I have to stay up there before it's safe to come down?"
"My guess is that if the guard can't find you within a few minutes, my father will tell everyone to forget about you. He'll be far more concerned about letting me out of his sight."
"And how will you manage that?"
"Let me worry about that," Te' smiled. "I'm very resourceful. Just make sure you find your way back to the waterfall. It's a big island, and it will be very difficult to find each other again if you get lost."
"I can't believe I'm considering this," I said, feeling my heart beginning to pound in my chest.
For the first time in many years, I'd never felt so alive. The idea of running away from an angry tribe on an isolated island with the girl of my dreams was beyond any fantasy I'd ever imagined. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins and the hairs on the sides of my arms standing on end.
"I'm in," I said.
Teuila turned to speak with her father for a few moments, then he paused as he appraised my demeanor. I tried to remain as calm as possible, but I could feel the veins in my neck pulsing like crazy as he glared at me. Eventually, he gave a single nod of his head, then rose to give instructions to one of the guards standing outside the front door.
"Alu," he said to me, jerking his head towards the open door. "Le maua manatu."
"What did he say?" I asked Teuila.
"Pretty much what we expected. He's going to send a guard with you who won't give you a lot of space to maneuver, so you'll have to choose your position carefully. Find one with enough cover to protect your modesty, but also close enough to a tree so that you can climb it without him noticing you. I'll come for you as soon as I can."
"Be careful," I said, standing to exit the cabin.
"You too."
I paused at the door of her hut and looked back at Teuila one last time. I didn't know if or when I'd see her again.
When I got to the base of the front steps, one of the guards looked sternly at me then motioned with his spear in the direction of the women's lagoon. As I walked down the same sandy path where all the tribespeople had welcomed me so warmly two nights ago, I noticed the women and children tracing my movement with vacant expressions.
It looks like I’m on my own again, I thought.
When we reached the edge of the lagoon, the guard motioned to a shallow depression at the edge of the brush.
"Oe alu ai," he ordered, pointing to the basin with his spear.
I glanced around the area, noticing there was little surrounding vegetation to provide privacy for someone taking care of such intimate business.
I shook my head as I pulled on my shorts, indicating that I needed more privacy. He looked around the edge of the lagoon and pointed to a more secluded spot about a hundred feet up the beach, next to a small clump of coconut trees. When we reached the spot, I climbed behind a small bush and began to squat, noticing the guard still watching me.
I motioned with my hand for him to look away, and he turned his back briefly. Knowing I'd only have a few seconds to act, I removed my hiking shoes and hid them in the brush. Then I crawled behind the sandy embankment toward the nearby palm trees. When I reached the furthest one, I stood and peered around the side of the trunk. The guard had turned around and was glancing curiously in the direction of the pit, tilting his head high in the air as he lifted his heels off the ground. He shouted something in his native language, and when I didn't respond, he rushed forward with a look of alarm, finding the pit empty.
He swiveled his head quickly from side to side, then peered at the stand of trees. As he began walking in my direction, I placed the soles of my feet against the side of the trunk as Teuila had shown me, then I grasped the crusty bark and pulled myself upward. As I heard the guard's footsteps nearing the stand, I began slowly shimming myself up the tree. With most of my weight borne by the inward pressure of my feet pressed against the trunk, it was easier than I expected to scale the thick stem. But as I pulled my knees inward, worrying he'd see them sticking out from the side of the tree, I ended up using more arm strength than I intended to move upward.
By the time I reached the crown of the tree and glanced down, I was sweating profusely. My feet were bleeding from the sharp crust pressing into my tender skin, but I was able to leverage my weight with tight handholds against the layered bark. As the guard peered frantically from side to side looking for me, I noticed the pod of coconuts under the palm fronds shaking precariously. Just as one of them snapped from its stem, I reached out and caught the husk as it fell into my open palm.
The guard cocked his head hearing the sound and started to look up. I threw the nut as far as I could in the direction of the bush, and when he heard it land in the dense thicket, he took chase into the forest. I sat in my cramped position breathing heavily as sweat poured down the front of my T-shirt, listening carefully for the sound of the guard's footsteps in the jungle. When the footfalls diminished into the distance, I quickly descended the tree, falling sharply to the ground. I looked around to make sure the way was clear, then I hobbled toward the far end of the beach and disappeared into the thick brush.
Half a mile away, Teuila sat patiently on the floor of her hut as her sisters finished decorating her hair with scented frangipani blossoms. She glanced toward her grandmother preparing the wedding ceremony dishes on the front veranda and asked her father if she could help. The chief nodded and followed Te' out onto the porch, taking a position in the rocking chair as he nodded toward the remaining guard.
Teuila sat next to her grandmother and Nona smiled, handing her a knife and a taro root to peel. Suddenly, the other guard came running up to the front of the hut, and when he told the chief that the white woman had escaped, her father summoned a group of young tribesmen and they ran off in the direction of the lagoon. Nona glanced at Teuila, pinching her eyebrows in suspicion, wondering what kind of trouble the girls were getting into now.
Te' picked up the taro root and smiled, remembering how Jade had teased her when she first bit into it. Suddenly, the vegetable slipped in her hand and the knife cut a deep diagonal gash along the side of her index finger. As her hand began spurting blood all over the white gourd, Nona dropped what she was doing and motioned for the guard to summon the village's medicine man. When the guard hesitated remembering the chief's orders to keep a clo