The Summer Island Swap

by Samantha Tonge

  Her words echoed through me – about how she felt I still treated her like a child. Was I really that bad?

  ‘Impressed? Honestly?’

  Resigning myself to four weeks in this hellhole, I nodded vigorously.

  9

  I didn’t enjoy lying – especially to Amy – about me actually being excited about staying. However now and then I honestly believed it was the kindest thing. I’d worked that out by the time I was eleven when Mum died and I promised my little sister that everything would be all right, that we would be okay.

  ‘This month will prove that I’m up for any challenge. I can already picture myself now, in an interview room, talking about the compost toilets. Rick described some of the tasks ahead of us – I can’t wait!’

  I didn’t want her to think I was pretending to want to stay. She’d only put herself last and insist we both went back to London immediately. Rick passed by at that moment, with the water bottle bag Jackie had been carrying. I swept the insect off my skirt.

  ‘Rick?’

  He stopped.

  ‘I was just telling my sister how I’ve changed my mind about leaving because that chat with you about the four weeks’ activities really inspired me.’ I gave him a hard stare.

  He paused and I held his gaze. Eventually a smile crossed his lips. ‘Sure… Amy… I’ve seen a lot of volunteers over the last three years and it’s clear to me Sarah is totally up for roughing it. Getting last-minute nerves after arriving is totally normal. I’ve seen it time after time. I think both of you are going to be great assets to the project. Thanks again for booking.’

  Amy stood more upright.

  ‘In fact,’ he said, warming to his subject, ‘Sarah insists on being the first to empty the compost toilet. Isn’t she a star? Anyone who genuinely wanted to go home would never do that.’ He gave the brightest white smile.

  ‘Oh, that’s a shame. I was going to volunteer,’ said Amy. ‘My dream, one day, is to own a house with a huge garden where I can have a compost toilet of my own – along with a bee hive, a hedgehog house, feeders for birds and a large house for the battery hens I’ll adopt…’

  ‘Sounds great,’ said Rick. ‘You’ll learn a lot here, such as how to choose plants to attract butterflies.’

  They chatted for a moment and I zoned out, wondering how bad the meals here would be.

  My eyes followed his tall frame when he headed off humming. Suddenly Rick spun around and fished two water bottles out of the bag.

  ‘I forgot to give you these,’ he called.

  ‘I’ll go,’ I said and hurried over to where he was standing. ‘There was no reason to go quite that far,’ I said in a low voice. ‘You heard my sister – she’d much prefer to clean out the toilets.’

  ‘I’m all for throwing people in at the deep end and there’s no avoiding any tasks here. We all muck in – literally.’ His eyes flickered with amusement. ‘I get it, you not wanting to lose face in front of Amy. And you might be thanking me by the end of this week. Doing this first will make the rest of the tasks seem easy in comparison.’

  I took the two bottles.

  ‘Although… it’s none of my business, but don’t you think it might be better just to be honest? Tell her that it’s not really your cup of tea but you’re prepared to give it a go? In my experience lying never ends well.’ His face darkened and he stared past my shoulder for a moment.

  ‘No. Amy mustn’t get a whiff of the fact I want to leave. She deserves to enjoy this month without worrying about me. It’s best this way.’

  ‘She may not think that. Being lied to always brings hurt.’ His face flushed. He gave a small bow and walked off.

  I made my way back to Amy. ‘Can we get on with our unpacking?’

  ‘Everything all right? Between you and Rick?’ she countered.

  ‘Of course. He… he seems like a great bloke.’ For some reason I blushed.

  Amy took my hand and pulled me into the forest. Birds called overhead. Tree canopies threw shade. Twigs snapped beneath our feet.

  ‘Amy? What are we doing? The toilets are the other way if you—’

  Finally she stopped and placed her hands on my arms. ‘Are you absolutely sure, Sarah? About not going home? Look… I can see how lots of women would find Rick attractive – I could understand if he managed to sway your opinion with some smooth talking.’

  ‘He hasn’t—’

  But we’re here for four weeks. I… I would understand if you wanted to book the first plane out of here. Granted, Rick’s charming…’

  Is he?

  ‘… and Jonas is funny. Jackie’s so nice. Helga is interesting. But the novelty of a new crowd might wear off after a few days. When reality sets in about the kind of holiday this is… the physical work… the lack of mod cons… I don’t want you to regret committing to it.’

  ‘You think my opinion has been swayed by Rick? That I find him good-looking? I think you’ve had too much sun.’

  She gave me a curious look. ‘You don’t think he’s fit? Remember, I’m the person who once worked out you had the hots – no pun intended – for candlestick Lumière from Beauty and the Beast.’

  ‘It was a long time ago. Please never repeat that to anyone.’

  ‘Rick’s not my type,’ she continued. ‘We’ve too much in common. Unlike you, I believe in opposites attracting. It’s more exciting…’

  ‘Hmm. I remember the butcher you briefly dated.’

  ‘Don’t remind me! But I totally get why you’d go for his humorous, whole Indiana Jones take-me-to-bed vibe. In fact, he’s nothing like the recent guys you’ve dated. Perhaps you are coming around to my point of view, about uncommon ground being sexy.’

  Amy was right about my previous boyfriends. They weren’t remotely flirtatious. In each case our relationship had started off as a friendship. They were sensible. Liked routine. Weren’t especially sociable. Trying to be funny wasn’t part of their agenda. But this was no accident. As an adult I’d eventually grown to avoid men of a certain type. Those who were deemed handsome. Who were charismatic. Who were difficult to ignore, like Rick.

  I had very good reason.

  I shuddered, glad she’d reminded me of this.

  ‘No. Honestly, Amy, I’m not looking for love. I’m here for adventure in terms of… of learning new skills and broadening my mind. Then back in England I’ll be focusing on pushing my career forwards so whilst this might be tough, it’ll also be a good break – a complete change of scenery.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ she said and her shoulders relaxed. ‘As long as you are staying for you.’

  No. I’m staying for you.

  ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Helga will be making all the shack rules without us.’

  She gave me the tightest hug. ‘I’m so glad we’re doing this together, sis. It’s going to be the best four weeks ever.’

  10

  I stared over at Rick, having reluctantly joined the tour of my home for the next month. My heart started to melt. I wanted to tickle him under the chin and behind those adorable ears. Chatty, that was – the Capuchin monkey, sitting on Rick’s shoulder, a lead around its neck, the other end of which had a handle and was wrapped around Rick’s wrist.

  The little creature kept pulling off his hat and throwing it onto the ground. Everyone chuckled. Rick encouraged people to take photos on their phones. I batted away thoughts suggesting that he looked even more attractive wearing his caring side for this adorable animal.

  ‘This is the star of our zoo – or so he thinks,’ said Rick. ‘Chatty came to us six months ago. I was getting in supplies, on Tortola island, and overheard a tourist describing a monkey she’d seen being used as street entertainment. It’s rare in the British Virgin Islands. Jackie gained a lot of experience in Colombia, working with animals that had been kept by circuses or caught up in the illegal exotic pet trade. She’d dealt with monkeys coming from similar circumstances and that’s why I thought we’d be able to give him a good home.’

&
nbsp; ‘Doesn’t he need to mix with his own kind?’ asked Benedikt. Chatty was talking in a series of whistles and squeaks. I admired the gloriously blond face and bib that contrasted the dark fur elsewhere.

  Rick turned to Chatty and tickled his cheek. The monkey swiped him and stuck out his tongue. Jonas and I caught each other’s eyes. Even we had to laugh. I’d changed into comfortable yet stylish shorts, spurning the long trousers Amy had secretly packed, despite an increasing number of mosquito bites. I was determined to enjoy as much of this stay as I could, and wearing my new, fashionable wardrobe was part of that. I compromised by wearing the only pair of trainers I’d brought, bearing rose gold stars.

  ‘It’s not going to be a straightforward rescue, rehabilitate and rehome story,’ he said. ‘Otherwise it would have been better for him to go somewhere where his species is indigenous. You see, this little fella’s blind. That’s one reason we think he’s particularly vocal – one sense making up for another. His lack of sight probably made him easy to catch in the first place. Funnily enough it might have been a blessing in disguise. He wouldn’t have lasted long at all, in the wild, with predators such as snakes or eagles, and finding food and defending himself against other monkeys would have proved nigh on impossible.’

  My heart melted further into a messy, emotional puddle.

  ‘For those reasons we can’t ever release him or house him with fellow monkeys.’

  ‘Why don’t you make him a real pet, then, and keep him in your living quarters?’ I asked. I bet Rick didn’t live in one of the shacks. No doubt his evenings and nights were luxurious, up at the house he’d spoken of.

  ‘Won’t he become sexually mature when he’s five?’ said Amy. ‘That could introduce a whole set of problems.’

  Rick looked surprised. ‘Yes… that’s it, Amy. Spot on.’

  Her cheeks glowed.

  ‘Chatty is currently about two years old. At five his behaviour could really change. He might become more aggressive. So we’ll see… but for now he seems happy enough with positive human contact during the day and his swinging ropes and trees at night. His confidence has grown since arriving here and now he’s a cheeky little guy.’ He smiled. ‘Someone give me their phone.’

  Benedikt darted forward. Rick switched the camera to selfie mode. He reached out, holding the phone.

  ‘Chatty. Selfieee,’ he said.

  The monkey wrapped his arms around Rick’s head. Everyone looked rapt as Rick took the photo.

  ‘Preparing the food for our animals is a messy but important daily task. It has to be fresh and healthy. Chatty was in a terrible state when he first arrived. He’d been fed nothing but junk food. Patches of his fur had fallen out with the stress.’

  ‘I hope his captor was flung in jail,’ said Amy and screwed up her face. I’d seen that expression before when she’d brought home an animal that needed twenty-four hour love and attention.

  ‘The authorities never caught him,’ said Rick. ‘By the time I got to his patch he’d done a runner and left a whimpering Chatty tied to a lamppost, right by the edge of a road. He could have been killed. It’s taken a lot of time day in, day out, and gentle care to get him to trust humans again. In fact…’ He laughed. ‘I think Jackie and I went too far. He has absolutely no respect for us now.’

  Everyone laughed.

  ‘Let me show you the rest of the animal quarters. There’s a large aviary.’

  ‘For parrots and parakeets?’ asked Amy. ‘Didn’t some need their wings amputating after the hurricane?’

  Rick smiled. ‘Nice to see someone has been reading the website.’

  Was that aimed at me?

  ‘Yes. And others are from the rescue centre south from here, in Colombia, where Jackie worked. They were overrun last year and couldn’t cope. Most of those had their wings clipped by poachers. Others were injured after being stuffed in lead pipes, to smuggle them out of the country on boats.’

  Clearly this work was Rick’s passion. His eyes shone and his hands moved in a lively fashion as he talked about the animals.

  ‘Some birds have been well enough to be released here,’ he said. ‘But most of these ones will be permanent residents. We also have an owl from Colombia. Over there they are associated with witchcraft.’ He pointed to a tawny speckled owl. ‘Wink is a screech owl. She was stoned. A passer-by intervened but not before her wing was irreversibly fractured. And across the Virgin Islands this species is now endangered due to deforestation. Funds allowing, it would be great to find her a partner and start a breeding programme to benefit the whole region.’

  There was a large flight cage for fruit bats covered in plywood sheets to keep the inside dark.

  ‘It’s not advisable to house different species of bat together – or even ones of the same species but from different roosts,’ said Rick. ‘In here we house the ones we found injured in the same area – it looked like they’d come from a single roost in one of the large trees that had been blown over. They’ve bred since we rescued them in 2017 and we’re hoping to release this lot soon. Then we’ll turn this cage into another aviary.’

  The next enclosure had a large pool and was home to seabirds that had been swept into trees and buildings during the hurricane and lost limbs. On from that was the lizards’ enclosure. Survivors of the hurricane had managed to cling to trees but numbers had been badly affected so Rick and Jackie were running a breeding programme, away from predators. They were doing the same with tree boas. Apparently they were endangered across the whole of the British Virgin Island region due to deforestation. We were also taken past a pair of iguanas who’d been permanently injured by the storm.

  This was an expensive break but I was beginning to see how the money was needed and would be used.

  ‘And lastly,’ said Rick, as Chatty threw his hat on the ground again, ‘here is the butterfly enclosure. Volunteers have almost finished building it. By this time next year, we’re hoping it will be buzzing with endangered species.’

  ‘I thought there would be more animals,’ said Benedikt.

  ‘You mean the furry kind?’ asked Rick. ‘It is something we are working on – but only from a financial point to raise funds to restore the whole island. We know cuter looking residents will make the place more attractive as a destination and give us a wider reach when it comes to attracting volunteers – and educating people about conservation. So we’re putting feelers out to other rescue centres in the Caribbean that are getting overcrowded. The most important thing is that any animal is suited to our specific habitat and that we can provide all the necessary nutrients from plants growing here.

  ‘Colombia has a real problem with sloth smuggling, for example, but they are incredibly sensitive animals. Jackie isn’t convinced they would thrive here. Their diet has to be one hundred per cent accurate and we aren’t like a national zoo – our money for importing animal feed and growing foreign species of plants is limited.’ He consulted his watch. ‘Right, we’ve been here longer than I planned. I’ll show you the beach and trail clearing areas tomorrow.’ He glanced at his shoulder. ‘How about we head straight to the canteen, Chatty? The other volunteers should be back and washed now, and ready for something to eat. Malik might even have one of your favourite hard-boiled eggs.’

  Chatty cocked his head and squeaked and whistled.

  ‘That means yes,’ said Rick with confidence. ‘It’s a great food for him as long as he doesn’t smell and try to swipe any mayonnaise.’

  Rick told everyone to go back along the path we’d come along, and then instead of going straight into our camp we were to veer right, past the shower block and the two other clusters of shacks. At a fast pace it should take about twenty minutes to reach the canteen. Helga and Amy strode off, in a deep conversation. Benedikt and Jonas followed.

  My shoelace was undone. I bent over to do it up, wishing I’d tied my long hair back in a ponytail. I started whistling ‘Daydream Believer’ by the Sixties pop group, the Monkees, inspired by Chatty. It had b
een Mum’s favourite song. When I straightened up Rick was waiting for me. He’d locked up Chatty’s cage to make sure snakes didn’t get in whilst the monkey was away. Chatty had stopped moving and squeaking.

  ‘Blimey. He must like that song. He’s so rarely quiet.’

  I stopped whistling and reached out to touch the animal’s back. He jumped.

  ‘Don’t ever forget that he’s blind,’ said Rick. ‘If you are going to touch him then talk first in a reassuring tone. If those false nails are detachable, I’d take them off – or he will. Same for your hair extensions.’

  ‘Excuse me… both are my own.’

  ‘Your long earrings will have to go too. They could get caught in foliage.’ He started walking. ‘There is intermittent Wi-Fi at the canteen. Perhaps you should try to download our website and read it. I did set all these things out in the guidelines. I assume you haven’t made time to study them, but you really ought to now.’

  ‘Clearly, you’ve got me sussed,’ I said in a tight voice.

  ‘I’m not very good at sussing people,’ he continued.

  Silence fell for a moment. I sensed a story that he didn’t want to tell.

  ‘Believe me, Sarah, I’m only trying to be helpful and get you up to speed with everyone else. There’s a lot of work to do this summer. One less team member is better than one who isn’t fully invested in our cause – for their sake and ours. Right. We’d better catch up with the rest.’

  I stopped and pretended to tie my hair, waiting for him and Chatty to disappear. Chatty was an utter delight but I’d rather walk back on my own than have to spend a single second more with that Rick.

  11

  I made my way along the path, with random stems growing across it. Sooner than I expected, it veered to the right. Rick had said that would happen when we reached our shacks but I wasn’t near them yet. However all the paths had to lead in the same direction. Perhaps this would even be a short cut and I’d beat Mr Know-It-All back.