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Into the Belly of the Beast 2 page

Kate was too afraid and tired to undress. She wrapped a sheet around her and drifted off to sleep just as the sun started to rise.

 

It was late on the morning before Kate woke. She showered quickly, changed into fresh clothes and went in search of Zenie. She was anxious to find out of there had been any word on the man who she had given First Aid to yesterday. She found Zenie standing by the front steps of the clinic talking to a beautiful little girl. The child would be about seven. She had red hair and big grey eyes.

“Ah, you are awake,” called Zenie seeing Kate at the door.

“I’m so sorry, Zenie. You should have called me. It was a busy night last night.”

“So I have heard. Kate, this is Marau.”

“Hello Marau. How are you this morning?”

“I am well thank you. You do not need to worry. The man who had the heart attack yesterday is doing well. The five girls though that drank too much are not feeling so good today,” the child smiled.

“Oh.” Kate was totally taken back by the information that the small child knew. She wasn’t sure what to say.

Zenie watched the exchange with interested eyes, then turned back to the small child.

“Now here is the medicine your mother wanted. You take it right to her now.”

“Yes, Zenie, I will. It was nice meeting you Kate. I will see you again soon.”

Kate smiled although she felt strangely unnerved by this small child. “It was nice meeting you Marau.”

Kate watched Marau run off with the bag of medicine that Zenie had given her.

“Who is that child?”

“The spirit of the shark and the woman became one. That is the shark child - her hair the colour of her mother’s blood and her eyes the colour of the shark’s skin. Peri’s daughter.”

“What? But, Zenie, that is not possible!”

“Yet there is no other father. Did you not see for yourself? A beautiful child. An intelligent child. One who sees into our souls and knows all. On the Cook Islands there are many, ancient stories of people who can talk to sharks and even change into a shark.”

Kate bit her lip and shivered despite the heat of the day. She didn’t know what to think about the wild stories that Zenie had told her but she meant to know the truth.

That night, Kate set her alarm for one in the morning. Each time she had heard the strange noise outside, it had been around two. This time she was going to be up and ready. She dressed in khaki jeans and a t-shirt and slipped out into the cool, early morning darkness. A bench in a small alcove of bushes made and excellent place to hide. Kate pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around them for warmth as she quietly waited. Some time later, she heard the soft sound off in the distance, thump, thump, thump, thump. Kate’s heart pounded with anticipation and her nerves tingled with excitement. She peered intently into the dark.

Something slivered over her foot and she leapt up and gave a sharp gasp. A lizard. Had she been heard? She listened. No sound. She relaxed back on the bench and waited. Then cold, icy fingers touched her arm. With a cry of freight, Kate leapt up and ran for the hut, slamming the door behind her. What the hell had that been? Calming herself, she looked out of the window. Between the trees, Kate could see a dark shadow moving with an uneven gait on the beach. Then the shape moved out into the lagoon and disappeared beneath the dark waters.



 

The days passed into weeks. Kate worked long hours. She opened the clinic at eight and closed it at midnight although she remained on call all night long. Officially, she was on duty from when Zenie left to the following morning but with nowhere to go and nothing to do, she got up and helped Zenie. Lying in bed only led to painful memories or worse horrible nightmares. She was better working. Zenie had become her one trusted friend and confident. She wasn’t sure how she could have gone on if it hadn’t been for Zenie’s practical wisdom and funny common sense.

When she got depressed or cried, Zenie was always there to drag her out of her doldrums. “Why are you crying? Your old man was no good. You be glad that he has gone. Here you are living in paradise with a roof over your head and good food. Now you stop your crying. Everything is going to be okay, Non? And Zenie would wrap a big arm around her and sing softly until Kate felt better.

Kate had to admit that if she had to be made a fool of and deserted by a no good husband, she’d couldn’t have been left in a more beautiful spot. The view was magnificent, the weather perfect and the guests generally polite and relaxed. Her job, over looking the one man who’d had a heart attack, had been well within her abilities. Her room was basic but clean and private and the food the hotel provided for the staff in their canteen was good. There was lots of fruit, rice and fish with any bread and desserts left over from the guests buffet from the day before.

But Kate found it hard to eat. She was stranded miles from home and deeply in debt to a stranger. She had little money and could only speak French hesitantly and with a limited vocabulary. And then there was the whole mystery of Peri Dubois and her shark child.

Not that she believed in Zenie’s wild stories. She didn’t. She now had a pretty good idea what the noise was. It was Peri Dubois walking the ground in the small hours of the morning when no one was around. He cane and metal brace making a rhythmic thump, thump as she walked. It was her who had slipped into the waters for a swim when no one was around to see her and it was her whose cold, fingers had touched her arm.

At least, that is what Kate had made herself believe. Kate had not ventured out again in the early hours. She was embarrassed at running away and wasn’t sure she could explain her actions to Peri Dubois. No, better to avoid the woman. Better not to know the secrets of the Dubois family. She was in enough trouble as it was. Still, she’d lay awake despite how tired she was until she heard the foot steps, the rattle of the doorknob and then silence.

Over the weeks, Kate grew gaunt and exhausted from grief and stress. Several times, when she had been heading over to the staff canteen for a meal, she’d noticed Peri Dubois on her balcony watching her. It was unnerving. Kate had taken to skipping meals or going at irregular hours. As she hurried along to the canteen, she would look up at the balcony. Sometimes, her eyes would met Peri’s and she would feel almost an electrifying jolt as their eyes met. Other times, the balcony would be empty and Kate would feel an irrational sense of disappointment despite her desire to avoid Peri Dubois.

Kate had been at her job for almost two months when Marie came running into the First Aid hut one evening looking panic stricken.

“Come quickly! Come quickly! Madame Peri needs you immediately. It is Marau. She was eating dinner and suddenly she could not breath. Hurry!”

Kate grabbed her medical kit and ran after the frightened assistant. They ran through the gardens and up a path that led to the Dubois house. The security gate was open and Marie led Kate through the lower hall of the house and up the stairs to the dining room.

Peri Dubois sat awkwardly on the floor. Her damaged leg out straight and her other curled up under the small frame of her daughter. Tears rolled silently down her face as she whispered softly to her daughter. Marau was grey and struggling to breath.

“She was eating dinner?”

“Oui.”

“Did she choke on something?”

“Non. She complained that she felt funny and that her throat was closing in. Then she started to gasp for breath and fell from her chair.”

Kate was grateful that despite Peri Dubois’s obvious distress she was able to respond clearly.

“Marie, have the desk send over the oxygen tank just in case.”

“Oui.”

“Does she have any food allergies?”

“I do not think so.”

“Did she eat anything different tonight?”

“Oui. I have hired an Indonesian chef and he prepared a special meal for us.”

Kate nodded and took out the snake bite kit form her medical bag.

“She has been bitten by a snake?”

“No. I think she is in anaphylaxis shock. A severe food reaction. Possibly peanuts. The adrenalin in the needle will help her recover if that is what has happened. It won’t do her any harm if I’m wrong other than giving her the shakes and a bad headache. Can I give her the needle?”

“Oui. Vite.”

Kate gave the small child the shot just as Marie arrived rolling in the oxygen tank. Kate adjusted the oxygen flow of the tank and put the mask on the small child’s face. Her head was right next to Peri Dubois’. She could smell the exotic woman’s perfume - spicy and sweet. Their hands touched and Kate nearly jumped with the impact. Peri Dubois didn’t seem to notice. Her focus was totally on her child.

Already, Marau was breathing easier and her colour was returning. Kate smiled reassuringly at the little girl.

“You are going to be okay now, Hon.”

Kate got up and went to smell the food. Peanut sauce as she had thought. It might not be the source of Marau’s attack but it a likely suspect. She turned back to her patient and removed the oxygen mask.

“You want to try and stand up now, Marau. Moving around a bit will help you feel a little better. Don’t worry if a leg or arm suddenly starts to shake. It’s just a side effect of the drug and will soon disappear. Marie, could you take Marau for a walk into the other room and back?”

“Oui Kate. Come on Marau. You’ll feel better soon.”

Once they had left, Kate turned her attentions to the woman on the floor.

“Let me help you up.”

She saw Peri Dubois’s jaw tighten in anger but after a second of hesitation she nodded and Kate helped the woman to her feet. Peri Dubois was remarkable fit despite her crippled leg. Kate could feel the warm muscle next to her own as she wrapped an arm around her employer and pulled her up. Once she was sure the woman had her balance, she picked up Peri Dubois’ cane and handed it to her just as Marie and Marau came back into the room. Marau ran to her mom and held on to her tightly. Peri Dubois bent and whispered something softly into her child’s ear. It brought a smile to the child’s face.

Peri Dubois looked up.

“Thank you Marie. You helped save Marau’s life. I am deeply grateful. There will be an extra something in your pay pack this week for your efforts on behalf of my daughter. You may go now.”

“Oui, Madame Peri.”

Kate knelt and started to pack up her medical kit.

“You will not go. I need you here to care for Marau. Tonight, you can sleep in Marau’s room. Tomorrow, you will move your things up here and I will have a room ready for you.”

Clearly, Kate was not going to be thanked only ordered. She controlled her annoyance with effort.

“That really isn’t necessary Madame Peri. Marau will be fine now. I suggest that you have her tested as soon as possible for food allergies. If she does have them, she should be taught to use and carry and epi-pen with her at all times.”

“I said you will stay. There will be no argument. You work for me.”

Kate swallowed hard and forced back the tears. She was in an impossible position. Until she could pay back her debt, Peri Dubois controlled her life. She was essentially indentured labour. Dubois could make any reasonable request and Kate would be obliged to accept. Although an over reaction, it was not an unreasonable request for Peri Dubois to ask her to be a personal nurse to her child and live in her house. It was a beautiful home and much better than the small room in the back of the First Aid Clinic. Yet, she had to admit that she was not comfortable being there so close to Peri Dubois and her child.

She had slept in Marau’s room on a cot that the resort had provided that night. She had been told, no ordered, to pack a night bag and to return to The House before eleven. Madame Peri had shown her to her daughter’s room and left.

Kate had quietly got ready for bed so as not to wake Marau. She’d laid awake for a very long time too wound-up to sleep. The strange noises started about 12:30 that night. Low voices came from Peri Dubois’s quarters. Then moans and groans and the occasional thump. Close to two, a door opened and down the hall came the steady thump, thump of Peri Dubois’ step. The bedroom knob turned. Kate pretended she was asleep. The door opened slowly. Then closed softly. Kate was asleep before the footsteps returned.

Breakfast was surprisingly fun. Marau had to tell Kate all about the book she was reading.

“So is there a door in the back of your closet that leads to another world?”

“No, I checked. Maman came with me just in case but we didn’t find anything did we Maman?

“I’m afraid not and I was so looking forward to talking to the lion.”

“Well, maybe next time,” Kate smiled.

Marie came to take Marau on the ferry to the school on the mainland and Kate followed them out saying good bye to Marau in the beach before she headed over to the clinic to join Zenie.

 

Chapter Two

Into the Belly of the Beast

“Where have you been?” called Zenie, when she saw Kate walking up the path.

“I stayed up at The House last night.”

“Non! I had heard this but I did not want to believe it. Are you okay? Did anything happen?”

Kate decided to keep some of the events of the night to herself. Instead, she related just the story of how Marau had gone into anaphylaxis shock.

“Madame Peri was very upset and insisted that I stay in Marau’s room last night. Marau slept soundly and I got some sleep although it’s always hard to sleep in a strange place. I had breakfast with Madame Peri and Marau on their balcony this morning. It was all very pleasant.”

“Madame Peri is very good to us all but she is so powerful and that child, Marau, has the eye like her great grandmother. Strange things happen. I fear for you.”

“Now Zenie, don’t let your imagination run wild. As you said, Madame Peri is very good to her people. I will still be able to help you down here at the clinic. I just have to have meals with Marau and spend nights up there. Everything will be fine.” Kate sound far more confident than she felt. She was worried and yes, a little scared about living up at The House.

The day wore on with all the usual first aid issues that occur at resorts when tourists leave their common sense at home. Most of their patients were suffering from sun burn or minor cuts and bruises. When it was time for Zenie to leave, she gave Kate a big hug.

“You are like one of my daughters. I will pray for you. Wear your cross and stay away from Madame Peri at night when the shark calls for her.”

Kate laughed. “I’ll be fine Zenie but I will follow everything you say as best I can so you don’t worry.”

Zenie left reluctantly and with many backward glaces. Kate knew that she would be telling the other workers quite a story as they travelled back to the mainland on the hotel ferry.

At six, Kate closed up the First Aid clinic and left a note on the door telling people they could contact the nurse at the main desk if they needed assistant. She had stocked her first aid bag well and felt prepared if someone needed her during the night. Then squaring her shoulders, she headed up to her new quarters in The House.

To her surprise, she found that Peri Dubois was not there. Instead the house keeper, Miranda was babysitting Marau.

“Bonjour Marau. Bonjour Miranda. How are you today?”

“Bonjour Kate. We are fine. Now that you are here. I will leave. Madame Peri is on the mainland and will not be back until after dinner. The kitchen staff will serve the meal in the dining room at eight. Madame Peri requests that you see that Marau does her homework.”

So now she was a babysitter too. “Oui. I’ll see that she does that. Au revoir, Miranda. Come on Marau, you’d better get started on that homework. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your mom.”

“It is so easy. I do not like having to do it. But Maman said I must.”

Kate got the small child organized and sat with her while she did her homework. Marau was reading several grades ahead of her age group and was doing well in math at her grade level. Kate could understand why the child found her school work less than challenging. When Marau was finished, they played a game of snakes and ladders until it was Marau’s bedtime. Marau was a good kid and talkative.

“Maman took me for allergy tests this morning. We flew to Tahiti and back. They put little needles in my back to see how I would react to things. I am allergic to peanuts just like you said I might be. Also a little bit to milk. I have never liked milk. Maman had to delay an important meeting to take me so she had to work tonight.”

“Well, I’m glad Madame Peri was so quick to get you tested. Did the doctor give you an epi-pen and show you how to use it?”

“Yes. We keep one in the dining room now, one at the front desk and both mom and I carry one. Maman is having all the senior staff trained in how to use one. See, here is mine in my pocket. Next time I have a problem, I want to give my own needle. Maman and I have practised on an orange.”

Kate smiled at Peri Dubois’s over reaction. She was a caring mother, if overly cautious, but then she’d had a very nasty scare.

Kate sent Marau off to get showered and into bed. Then she let the small child read her book for twenty minutes before she turned the light out. This was not turning out to be the job that she had planned on at all.

It was coming up to eleven when Kate heard the uneven gait of Peri Dubois coming up the walk. She went first to her daughter’s room and then came on to where Kate sat on the balcony.

“Marau does not usually go to bed so willingly.”

Kate smiled. “She must have been on her best behaviour.”

“I didn’t have time to personally let you know of my plans. I will hire a nanny to care for Marau when I am not around. In the past, I have relied on the hotel babysitting service. I’m not comfortable with doing so now.”

“Marau is in no real danger. She is smart and responsible for a little girl and I understand the hotel staff are being trained to use an epi-pen. That is an excellent idea to protect guests with allergies too.”

The response is sharp. “I know what is best for my daughter.”

“Oui, Madame Peri. I will leave you alone now. Bonne nuit.”

 

Peri watched her go seeing the hurt and bewilderment in her eyes. She did not enjoy being so abrupt with Kate Madison as she was now calling herself having gone back to her maiden name. Kate had saved her daughter’s life and for that she would always be grateful. Peri had tried to repay the pretty nurse by reducing Kate’s debt by half. She had not told Kate this. She needed to keep a wall of coldness between her and Kate to protect herself and her daughter. There was no other way.

She limped out on the balcony and looked over the garden to the sea. Once again she could hear Odette’s voice and see the aqua water around her turn red with her own blood. Once again she could smell the wet ashes of her father’s home and feel the bitterness of betrayal.

No one would ever again have her trust or her heart. She would see to that. Nor would anyone ever come between her and her love for Marau as Odette had come between her father and her. She was the shark woman. Always moving, never sleeping and always alone.

 

One in the morning and Kate was still awake. She lay stiff and frightened in her bed. Straining her ears to hear the noises that were coming from down the hall even though she didn’t want to. Voices. She couldn’t hear the words. Movement, bangs and rattles too. Worse still moans. Painful groans and gasps. What was going on in Dubois’s private chambers? Who else was in there?

Then the noise stopped as suddenly as it had started. Dubois’s door opened and closed and the soft thump, thump came down the hallway stopping first at Marau’s door and then coming past Kate’s. The shark woman was on her nightly hunt.

A sudden thought made Kate shivered in fear. What if Odette Bondy had not escaped? What if she was imprisoned in the shark woman’s quarters?

That thought haunted Kate all night. She made a plan and in the morning after breakfast with the Dubois family she walked as usual towards the clinic. Once she was out of sight she doubled back and took the garden path that led to the back entrance of The House. Nervously, she slipped in her pass card that had been given to her that first night she had stayed in Marau’s room and slipped through the gate.

I have a perfect right to be here, she reassured herself to calm her beating heart. She entered the house and listened intently then headed to the wing that housed her room and the suites of Marau and Peri Dubois.

She listened again, her eyes darting left and right for any sign of life. Then quietly, she passed her own door and that of Marau’s to reach the end of the corridor that led to Peri’s suite. She slowly tied the handle. It was locked. She listened at the door. Nothing. Looking around again, she knocked gently and whispered close to the door then listened again. No response. Once more she tried. Nothing.

Thump, thump. The telling sound came from somewhere in the house behind her. Kate darted for her door and was just in the process of opening it trembling with fear when Peri Dubois came around the corner.

“What are you doing here?”

“I forgot something and came back for it.”

Peri Dubois looked sceptical. Her eyes shifted down the hall then back to Kate. “What did you forget?”

“My medical bag. I pack it ready for any first aid call I might have to go to during the night. I don’t like to leave it in my room because it does contain drugs.”

Dubois nodded. “Tomorrow, is Saturday. I have promised to take Marau swimming. You will come. Meet us at the docks at ten and wear a swim suit.”

“Oui, Madam Peri.”

Their eyes met. Kate wondered if Dubois could hear the fear in her voice or see the sweat on her lip that would reveal her stress at lying.

“Aren’t you going to get your bag?”

“Yes, yes, I am.” Nervously, Kate entered her room and picked up the bag that she had left that morning on her bed as an excuse should she be caught back in the house. Thank God she had. She didn’t think she would want to face an angry Peri Dubois.

Her boss waited at the bedroom door for her, watching her every move and stood in the hall silently as Kate took her leave. What was behind that locked door? And why had Peri Dubois returned to the house?

 

Peri watched Kate walk quickly down the hall. Kate was lying. She had tried to get into Peri Dubois’s rooms. Peri had watched her on the security screens that monitored the house and grounds. At first, she had assumed that Kate was after pearls and was going to rob her quarters. Her desertion by her husband could have been an elaborate plot to get Kate on the inside. She was about to reach for the phone to call security when she heard Kate knock and whisper, Is there anyone in there? Do you need help? What was she doing? Why would she think someone was in her quarters and needing help? Who was Kate Madison and what was she up to?

Peri went out onto the balcony and watched Kate as she nearly ran through the garden heading for the pool and on to the clinic. At the moment, she needed Kate to protect her daughter. But she would advertize for a nurse to be with Marau and then Kate could go back to living in the clinic until she had worked off her debt. Peri turned and limped back into the house.

 

“Non! What are you saying to me? You can not spend another night up there. These bangs and moans, they are the work of the devil.”

Kate, shaken badly from her experience had told Zenie everything as the two of them brewed up a batch of Zenie’s famous sunburn treatment.

“No. It’s not the work of the devil. Peri isn’t evil. You should see her when she is alone with Marau. This morning she was pretending to be a character in a book that Marau is reading and was wearing the maid’s dust mop around her neck so she would look more like a lion. She can be - funny, creative, loving - just nice.”

“No one who works for Madam Peri would accuse her of not being good. But that does not change the fact that she is the shark woman. What you think those noises are if they are not the devil?”

“I’m not sure. Last night, I scared myself into believing she might be holding someone prisoner in there. I mean no one knows really what happened to Odette Bondy do they? That’s why I went back this morning to check. I listened at the door. Knocked. Called out. No one answered. But something weird was going on last night.”

Saturday found Kate waiting on the dock by nine thirty. She had not slept well. Again last night the moans, groans and voices had come from Peri Dubois’s quarters. At breakfast, Marau filled in the silence that would have existed between the two women with the excited talk of a child determined to show her new friend all her special spots.

“Maman? Can we show Kate the reef? I want her to swim with the sting rays and see the sharks and the wonderful coloured fish. Can we have a picnic? Will we go to the pearl farm?”

Peri smiled at her daughter. “All this in one day?”

“Please, Madman.”

“We shall see what the ocean is like and do as much as we can. Now I have some work to do and you have promised to clean your room this morning. I will walk Kate part of the way to her clinic.”

The message was clear. Kate was not to be left alone in the house. Meekly, she got her swim bag that she had prepared the night before and walked beside Madame Peri through the garden.

She thought it would be difficult to keep pace with Peri Dubois’s uneven gait but she found they walked well together. The path was narrow for two and their bodies were close. Peri stopped at one point and took Kate by the shoulders turning her around and pointing into the bush.

“Do you see the frog?”

“No.” Kate was acutely aware of Peri’s scent and the warmth of her body at her back. It was both disconcerting and appealing.

“Over there on the tree trunk just above the red of the Flame Plant.”

“Oh my! I didn’t see it at all. Its so perfectly camouflaged. It’s amazing.”

For a few seconds, they stood there looking at the tree frog. Later, Kate would realize with a shock that it hadn’t been about the frog at all. It had been about them. About being close. Was she attracted to a woman? No, she couldn’t be.

She thought about her relationship with Rick. He had been her first. He had been kind and attentive but had she really enjoyed their love making? No. It had relieved her physical need but not her emotional want. They’d had fun planning a wedding and having a marvellous honeymoon but what would have held their marriage together after all the excitement? Nothing. Over looking the fact that Rick had been a con man preying on women with money, the marriage would never have worked over the long run. There was no spark. No passion.

Rick had never been committed to her emotionally and she now realized that she had not been committed either. Rick seemed like a good catch. He’d been charming and fun and led everyone to believe he was wealthy too. Her friends had been envious of her good fortune and had encouraged the relationship. She had been dazed by her good luck. It was time to marry and Rick had seemed perfect. When she thought about it, she had simply followed the pattern that society had expected of her. She’d got an education, found a job and lived independently for a few years and then had married to start a family. It was the right thing to do. Wasn’t it?

Unwillingly, her thoughts returned to Peri Dubois. The feel of her surprisingly strong body as Kate had helped her to her feet the night Marau had been ill. The radiant warmth of her and the spicy scent of her perfume as Peri stood close pointing out the frog. With shock, she had to admit that she’d felt a powerful sexual charge from those brief encounters.

Was she a lesbian and had never realized it? She thought back. There had been a female teacher of whom she’d had a hero worship as a young teen. And there had been a fellow nursing student that she had wanted as a close friend. She had been very disappointed when she found out the woman was involved with another woman. The new understanding of her feelings left her feeling totally unnerved.

So preoccupied with her thoughts was she that Zenie asked her if anything was the matter.

“No nothing. I’m going with Madam Peri and her daughter out to the reef today. I guess I feel nervous about that.”

Zenie crossed herself. “I will pray for you. Be on your guard.”

Kate forced a laugh. “I’ll be fine.”

But would she? She had known women and men who were gay. She certainly sympathized with their fight to be accepted by society and to live normal lives. She had been proud when Canada took the step to allow gay marriages. It seemed the right thing to do. But was she a lesbian? That was a very hard idea to accept. Did she want to be different? Could she help not being? Was she able to suppress those feelings and live a so called normal life? Would she want to?


Date: 2015-12-18; view: 638


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