"Yes, but they're a lot less obvious than a ladder. If my father comes around, nothing will look out of place. He won't have any reason to believe we're hiding in the trees."
Te' walked up to the tree and grabbed one of the hanging vines, pulling herself up hand over hand until she reached the bottom of a branch. Then she grabbed the limb and flung her body upward in one quick motion, placing her feet on the branch and standing up.
"Damn, girl," I said, shaking my head at how nimble she was. "You make that look like Tarzan. You really do know your way around this jungle, don't you?"
"It's easy, once you get the hang of it," she said. "Now you try it."
I grabbed the vine with two hands, then wrapped my legs tightly around the cord and pushed up. It took me a minute to shimmy to the top, and when I reached the branch, I couldn't pull my body over it like Teuila had, so I flung one of my legs over the bough and awkwardly rolled myself on top.
"Not quite as elegant as your technique," I said, standing precariously on the limb, holding an adjacent vine for support.
"You'll get the hang of it soon enough," she said, brushing some loose debris off my bare breasts. "You just need to learn how to climb the vine with less rubbing. Otherwise, it won't just be the bottom of your feet that get scraped up.”
I glanced above me and noticed some teardrop-shaped fruit dangling from the branches.
“Are those figs?” I said, widening my eyes in excitement.
“Yes,” Te’ nodded. “And they look nicely ripe. Have you ever tried one fresh off the tree?”
“If they’re half as good as your fresh pineapple and mango, I can’t wait.”
Tequila picked one of the purple pods off a nearby branch then pinched the skin with her fingernails and separated it in half, placing it under my nose. The pulpy seeds glistened in the crimson-colored syrup of the berry.
“It smells heavenly,” I said, closing my eyes as I savored the floral aroma. I cradled the dewy husk in my hands and bit into it softly.
“Mmm,” I hummed. “This is almost as good as sex. Sweet, juicy, and succulent. Just like you.”
Te’ plucked another fig off the branch and bit it in half, squeezing the moist nectar over her hand.
“I see what you mean,” she smiled. “This is definitely getting me in the mood. Let’s hurry up and finish building our nest so we can have some more fun.”
As I finished eating my fig, I looked up at the web of golden branches above us, marveling at how far the crown extended out in all directions.
“At least we've got pretty good protection from above. Will those leaves keep us dry when it rains?”
"Only during light showers. We'll have to build a thatch over our heads to channel heavier rainfalls away
."
"What about beneath us?" I said, wobbling on the thin limb. "What will keep us from falling between the branches?"
"We'll have to put some additional support beams in place. We'll use the twine to hold them together. Come on, it's time to go gather some more supplies."
Teuila led me back into the brush and we hacked down a handful of ten-foot-long poles about three inches in diameter. We carried the poles back to the banyan tree where she tied three crossbeams between two overhanging branches about fifteen feet off the ground. Then she placed the longer poles over the crossbeams, creating a webbed floor in the shape of a fan spanning between the radiating branches. After she taught me how to wrap and tie the twine so that each connection was tight and secure, it only took us a little over an hour to secure the floor. When we were done, she stood on top of the latticework and held out her hand.
"What do you think?" she said, inviting me to join her on our newly installed deck. "Does this look more comfortable than lying in a pit for the evening?"
I stepped gingerly onto the web of poles and flexed my knees to see if it would support my weight. The poles bent slightly, like a firm mattress.
Te' sat down on the web and smiled.
"Lie down beside me and see how comfortable it is."
I lowered my body onto the lattice, then lay on my back. The hard poles pressed into my flesh, especially where we'd lashed the ties around the connections.
"Not quite as comfortable as my mattress back home, but at least it's less lumpy than lying on the ground."
"We're not finished yet," Te' said. "We still haven't laid the carpet for our new home."