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Then, I saw him turn away from Avery and begin to swim out to sea. Where was he going? He cut through the water with powerful strokes, getting further and further away until he was barely a dot on the horizon. Now, as I try to locate him with my eyes, I feel a prickle of unease. Is it safe? I broach the subject to Kirishar, who has joined us in our hunt for plo shells. “Kirishar, does your father usually swim out so far?”
He looks over his shoulder at the expanse of sea where Kirimor has disappeared from view and shrugs. “Sometimes. He says it helps him when he has things on his mind.” His tail twirls up and strokes me gently on the arm. “Do not worry, Melinda. He is a very strong swimmer.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Look at this one!” cries Kiritela, drawing my attention to her once more. She had dug out a large and unbroken pink shell.
“How beautiful! Definitely one to put into your bucket.” I glance over at it. “We seem to have collected quite a few. Perhaps we should be thinking about going back inside. It is very hot out here.”
A voice behind me says, “You are quite right. Let us all go back in.”
Kiristen is there, arm in arm with Troy, and Avery not far behind. I can’t resist asking her, “What did you say to the sicortar that had him swim away like that?”
“Me? All I did was praise this fabulous beach and thank him for inviting us to his amazing home.”
Kiristen scrunches his face, trying to spot his father on the horizon. “He has gone very far. I wonder why.” Then he too shrugs. “We should go back in and wash. Perhaps by then, he will have returned.”
So in we all go. When we get to the paved patio space where I left my things, Kiristen points us to a side door I had not noticed before. “We can all wash ourselves here,” he says. He opens the door and I see a large communal shower space, with overhead sprays and side nozzles built into the wall. He presses a switch, and warm water starts pelting us in all directions. It zings into my flesh, like a thousand acupuncture needles all at once. I squeal in shock, much to Kirishar’s amusement. He shows me a button to press on the wall for soap, which foams out into my hand. I step away from the water long enough to scrub my body clean, then get back under the stinging rain to rinse it away.
In less than five minutes, we’re all squeaky clean, and drying ourselves on the fluffy towels left on the lounge chairs earlier. I quickly put my bra and dress back on, and discreetly exchange my wet loin cloth for my panties. I keep casting glances out to the beach, hoping to catch sight of Kirimor. He still hasn’t made an appearance by the time we get back inside the house and take the elevator up to the main level. As we exit the shaft, I see a Krovatian female who looks vaguely familiar. It takes me a moment to pinpoint why I recognize her. She’s one of the two females who was with Kirimor on that first day we arrived on Krovatia.
She smiles easily at us but turns her attention to the children. “Kiritela, go quickly to your room and put on a fresh loin cloth as well as a new shirt. The one you are wearing is all wet. You will catch a chill soon. Go on, quick. You too, Kirishar.”
Kiritela holds up the bucket. “Look ma, we got lots of plo shells.”
“Indeed, but now you must go up and change.”
“Yes, ma.”
Kiristen hooks an arm through Troy’s. “Come with me, my love. We can change to dry loin cloths in my room, and I can get you a shirt to wear. Our house is more chilly than most.”
“I hope that’s all you will do,” I say dryly.
Troy huffs out a laugh. “No promises. Anyway, looks like lunch has been postponed until the sicortar makes it back.”
The Krovatian female, presumably Kiritela’s mother, looks up in surprise. “He is not with you? Oh dear, Dresolor will not be happy about that. I will go inform him now.”
With a swish of her tail, she flits off to do this.
Kiristen smiles at me and Avery. “We will not be long, I promise. Please help yourselves to somenariand we shall be back very soon.”
“No problem.”
I head under the archway to that wonderful sea view room, Avery with me, and we settle ourselves down on the bench seat.
“That is one heck of a view,” says Avery.
“Mmm,” I nod. “Want somenari?”
“Yes please.”
I pour us both a drink, and we sip it thirstily after all our exertions in the heat of the midday sun. “I don’t know about you,” I say, “but I’ve worked up quite an appetite. Hope the food is good.”
“If it’s anything like the spread we had at the banquet, it should be. Remember those delicious green balls? Now what were they called?”
“Mishu.”
“Ah yes,mishu. Those were good.”
