"Hold on, girl," she said, taking the leaf rope out of my hands.
"If you bend anything like that long enough, just about anything will break—even steel. But we're not going to use it that way. We're going to bend it around large poles and tie it in a fixed position. You saw how it's almost impossible to break with fixed tension. That's all we care about at this point. We're going to use it to hold things, not as a swing!"
"Okay," I sighed. "You've convinced me. How much of this stuff do we need to build our tree house?"
"A lot. A few hundred pieces of cord a couple of feet long should do it. If we separate the tasks and work together, it shouldn't take too long. Would you rather harvest the strands or braid them together?"
I held Te's bandaged hand and peered at the swelling around her finger.
"Which task will be easier on your hand? It looks like you still need a bit more rehabilitation time than me."
"The less twisting and bending, the better," she nodded, pinching her finger tenderly near the knuckle. "How about if I collect the leaves while you weave them together to start?"
"Sounds like a deal."
Teuila demonstrated one more time how to properly twist and join the shoots, then I sat down on a broken tree stump while she began to tear and separate the leaves. After a half hour or so, I'd assembled a decent pile of arms-length twine, and I shook my wrists trying to relieve the muscle cramps in my hands.
"That's a pretty impressive length of cordage," she said. "I think we're about halfway there. Would you like to switch positions for a while to rest your aching fingers?"
"If you think you're up for it," I nodded. "I'm not used to doing this amount of physical labor with my hands. I better pause for a while before I get repetitive stress syndrome."
"Repetitive what—?" Te' asked with a puzzled expression.
"It's another frailty of our Western culture. A lot of people sit around hammering away at computers all day long and develop sore wrists and hands. Something tells me this is not an affliction known to native Anutians."
"I've never seen anything like that," Te' said, shaking her head. "We tend to do most things around here in measured doses. There's plenty enough work to keep everybody busy doing different things at any one time. Between fishing, planting, cooking, swimming, and dancing, we keep our bodies fairly limber."
"I noticed," I said, watching Te's lean legs flexing as she stooped down to cut another bunch of leaves from the base of the plant. "I wouldn't mind switching positions for a while if you’re up for it. I'd like to learn how to do everything your culture does. You never know when I might be stranded on another deserted island."
13
Te' and I worked for another hour or so splitting and weaving the leaves until we had an impressive pile of shiny green twine.
"That's a lot of rope," I said, wiping my brow with my forearm. "What do we do now?"
"Now for the fun part," she smiled. "We begin building our house in the clouds. Grab a pile of rope and let's see if we can find a suitable location."
As we began walking deeper into the forest, Teuila swiveled her head from side to side, scanning the thicket of trees.
"What are we looking for exactly?" I asked.
"Ideally, a tree that's not too far from the lagoon, but still out of sight from the beach. One with high, sturdy branches and a thick canopy to provide cover from the elements and any search parties. We can build the rest."
While we continued foraging through the forest, my mind wandered to the story of The Swiss Family Robinson, who built such a beautiful and intricate treehouse on their deserted island. But something Teuila mentioned bothered me.
"If we're going to be out of sight from the beach, how will my charter boat crew know where to look for me when they return?"
"I have an idea about that," Te' said. "The trick will be to build a marker that they can find, but my father won't so easily see. We'll focus on that tomorrow. Our priority today is to build a safe hiding place."
I glanced around the forest and noticed a tall mushroom-shaped tree standing in a clearing a few hundred feet away. It had a thick golden trunk and long stringy vines hanging down from its domed canopy. Broad horizontal branches radiated out in every direction about fifteen feet off the ground.
"How about that tree?" I said, pointing to the unusual specimen. "It looks pretty sturdy and well camouflaged."
Teuila turned in the direction of the tree and nodded when she caught sight of it.
"That's a banyan tree," she said. "It's perfect. It's even got a built-in elevator."
"If you're referring to those vines hanging down from the branches, that's not exactly what I'd call an elevator."