Read The Tropical Sun - Belief, Love and Hate Page 19

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  Agung felt as if he was in another world - a world inhabited by two beautiful girls who he liked very much indeed, and who seemed to like him too. But the newness and delicate sensuality of his circumstances he found almost frightening.

  It had been so difficult saying goodbye to Ayu and Bandri knowing that they were short of men to defend Likupang. He felt guilty and worried about dear Suk and his parents. But how could he leave Pantai? If only this family wasn’t Javanese!?

  The sisters made up a bed for him in the second house. He was served first at the evening meal, despite his protestations. The women busied around him cooking and cleaning, while he was told to relax – which is just what he couldn’t do. The attention made him feel embarrassed. Still shy of being left on his own with Lyana and Lela, when Eko and Listeri retired for the night he too made the excuse of needing an early night.

  He lay on his bed wide awake, listening to the sound of the surf not far away and trying to adapt to this new world. He spent much of the night staring up at the bamboo rafters, unable to sleep. By the morning he had decided to focus on being busy.

  He volunteered to fix the leak in the house roof. First he and Raharjo made up the coconut leaf slats, and then he climbed up to pull the old ones off the roof.

  “You are letting light into our world,” commented Eko from his bed below.

  He balanced on a bamboo ladder while Lyana and Lela handed up the slats. At each handing up of a slat by a smiling sister, he became more used to smiling back. Looking down into their friendly faces for short periods of time from a safe distance seemed to make it easier.

  From the ladder, he tried not to look down below their faces, since their female shapes made him quiver with uncertainty. He did not want them to think he was looking at their bodies, although as they walked away he allowed himself to glance at their beguiling feminine figures. Beneath their loose sarongs, he appreciated the poise of their shoulders and fluid movement of their hips, and also the subtle differences between the sisters. Lyana’s body seemed stronger whereas Lela’s body was slimmer and moved with even more lightness, both kindling in him a scintillating excitement and hope for the future.

  Later in the afternoon he accompanied them to collect water from the very pond where they first met, crystal clear to the sandy bottom from where the water percolated in. At one angle, they discovered their reflections on the languid waters - his own body seeming so hulking behind the gracefulness of the smiling sisters.

  “Father tells us not to bathe in the pond.”

  Lyana’s voice glinted with secrecy, and her sister gave a suppressed giggle.

  “It would be dangerous if tribesmen found you here,” he told them, remembering how he had discovered this place.

  “Yes.. We should swim with our clothes on,” said Lyana airily.

  Lela dropped her empty bucket and immediately trotted back to the house. As the happy young man carried the full containers back with Lyana, his stimulated imagination prevented him from talking.

  The sisters lavished much time on feeding and petting the puppies, naming them Asu and Anjing. Agung found himself being guardian to the wriggling puppies as the sisters called out their names to give them treats when they obeyed. The three of them collected the long fruit from the tamarind tree that grew beside the house, savouring the sweet chewy flesh and then played silly games with the stones. Around them thrummed the wild noises of the forest, familiar and seductive. By the time of the evening meal, Agung had become more at ease in their company.

  He was also appreciating the subtle personality differences between the two sisters. It seemed that they were so assimilated in each other’s company, that somehow they were different parts of the same personality. They were not competing for his attention but willingly shared his company, sitting on each side of him in the evening, chatting about all the small important things that make up life.