She nodded and then turned and pulled out another pamphlet. Like the previous one, she spread it out on the table. “Bane of this town’s existence.” She tapped her fingers on the counter again and I looked.
“The Willow’s Eco Estate,” I read out slowly.
“Bloody eco estate,” she shook her head. “About ten years ago, this uptight vegan family bought the land around the willow tree and turned it into a snobby eco-estate, where everyone drives Priuses and cycles and recycles and looks down on you for not being ‘off the grid.’ And God forbid you use a plastic straw around them.” She made some “crazy” gestures with her fingers around her temples. “Want my opinion, eating vegan just makes you angry.”
I looked at the picture of the estate and the first thing I noticed was the large fence around it. “The willow tree is in there?” I asked.
She nodded. “Deep inside enemy territory.”
“And how would I get to see it?” I asked casually. “If I wanted to,” I quickly added, “which I’m not saying I do, but . . .” Oh, shut up, Becca. I pursed my lips together tightly.
“You can’t. Unless you know someone on the inside. The security is as tight as my track on Spotify,” she said, and laughed now.
“Sorry, what?” I asked.
“I make music. I just uploaded my new track to Spotify.”
“Really?”
She nodded proudly. “Yeah. My name is Techno Tannie.”
“Techno Granny?” I asked, translating the Afrikaans word “Tannie” to English.
“It’s my nickname.”
“I see.” I looked her up and down. I liked her. She fascinated me. A part of me always wished I could be more like these people who clearly didn’t care what the world thought of them. The kind of person that stuck out and was unapologetically themselves, not trying to blend in. I envied that quality. “So, back to the eco estate.” I pointed at the pamphlet again. “This fence—is it electric?” I asked.
“God, NO! Not unless they have harnessed the power of all the elements to generate the electricity, so I doubt it,” she said mockingly. “Wouldn’t want to leave a big old fat footprint on the earth; they would rather leave a trail of judgement behind them.”
“Interesting,” I said, half mumbling to myself. I looked up at my host again. It was clear there was no love lost between the locals and these eco-warriors.
“It’s best to stay out of that place, darling. Trust me,” she said, shaking her head.
I nodded. “I’ll stay away.” But that was the last thing I was going to do. In fact, as soon as I’d checked in, I was heading straight for that eco estate. I needed to see what was engraved on that tree. But first, lunch. Or else I would probably eat the tree in question.
