Heading laughter to his left, Kevin turned in the direction of the waterfront. There had been a tropical downpour for an hour that had just ended fifteen minutes previously. The cobblestones were steaming since they’d still been hot from the sun. Into this lighted mist walked the two women, arm in arm, laughing merrily.

“Hey, Kevin!” Melanie shouted, spying Kevin on his balcony. “How come you didn’t send a carriage?”

The women walked to a point directly beneath Kevin who was embarrassed by their revelry.

“What are you talking about?” Kevin asked.

“Well, you didn’t expect us to get soaked, did you?” Melanie joked. Candace giggled.

“Come on up,” Kevin encouraged. His eyes roamed around the small square, hoping that his neighbors weren’t being disturbed.

The women came up the stairs with great commotion. Kevin met them in the hall. Melanie insisted on giving Kevin a kiss on both cheeks. Candace did likewise.

“Sorry we’re late,” Melanie said. “But the rain forced us to take shelter at the Chickee Bar.”

“And a friendly group of men from the motor pool insisted on buying us piña coladas,” Candace said gaily.

“It’s okay,” Kevin said. “But dinner is ready.”

“Fantastic,” Candace said. “I’m famished.”

“Me too,” Melanie said. She reached down and slipped off her shoes. “I hope you don’t mind my going barefoot. My shoes got a little wet on the way up here.”

“Me too,” Candace said as she followed suit.

Kevin motioned toward the dining room and trailed the women in. Esmeralda had laid the table at one end since it was large enough for twelve. There was a small tablecloth just covering the area under the dishes. There were also candles burning in glass holders.

“How romantic,” Candace commented.

“I hope we’re having wine,” Melanie said as she took the seat closest to her.

Candace went around and sat opposite Melanie, leaving the head of the table for Kevin.

“White or red?” Kevin asked.

“Any color,” Melanie said. Then she laughed.

“What are we eating?” Candace asked.

“It’s a local fish,” Kevin said.

“A fish! How appropriate,” Melanie said, which caused both women to laugh to the point of tears.

“I don’t get it,” Kevin said. He had the distinct feeling that when he was around these two women, he wasn’t in control of anything and understood less than half the conversation.

“We’ll explain later,” Melanie managed. “Get the wine. That’s more important.”

“Let’s have white,” Candace said.

Kevin went into the kitchen and got the wine that he had earlier put into the refrigerator. He avoided looking at Esmeralda, worried what she must be thinking with these tipsy women as guests. Kevin didn’t know what to think himself.

As he opened the wine, he could hear them carrying on with lively conversation and laughter. The good side, he reminded himself, was that with Melanie and Candace there were never any uncomfortable silences.

“What kind of wine are we having?” Melanie asked when Kevin reappeared. Kevin showed her the bottle. “Oh, my,” she said with feigned condescension. “Montrachet! Aren’t we lucky tonight.”

Kevin had had no idea what he’d picked from his collection of wine bottles, but he was pleased Melanie was impressed. He poured the wine as Esmeralda appeared with the first course.

The dinner was an unqualified success. Even Kevin began to relax after attempting to keep up with the women as far as the wine was concerned. About halfway through the meal he was forced to return to the kitchen for another bottle.

“You can’t guess who else was at the chickee hut,” Melanie said as the entree dishes were being cleared. “Our fearless leader Siegfried.”

Kevin choked on his wine. He wiped his face with his napkin. “You didn’t talk to him, did you?”

“It would have been hard not to,” Melanie said. “He graciously asked if he could join us and even bought a round, not only for us but also for the guys from the motor pool.”

“He was actually quite charming,” Candace said.

Kevin felt a chill descend down his spine. The second ordeal of the afternoon which scared him almost as much as the first was a visit to Siegfried’s office. No sooner had they evaded the Equatoguinean soldiers then Melanie had insisted on driving there. It made no difference what Kevin said in an attempt to talk her out of it.

“I’m not going to stand for this kind of treatment,” Melanie had said as they mounted the stairs. She didn’t even bother to speak with Aurielo. She just sailed into Siegfried’s office and demanded that he personally see to it that her car was repaired.

Candace had gone in with Melanie, but Kevin had held back, watching from just beyond Aurielo’s desk.

“Last night I lost my sunglasses,” Melanie had said. “So we go out there just to see if we can find them, and we get shot at again!”

Kevin had expected Siegfried to explode. But he didn’t. Instead, he was immediately apologetic, said that the soldiers were only out there to keep people away from the island, and that they shouldn’t have fired their guns. He agreed not only to fix Melanie’s car but to make sure she got a loaner in the interim. He also offered to have the soldiers scour the area for the lost sunglasses.

Esmeralda appeared with the dessert. The women were pleased. It was made with locally grown cocoa.

“Did Siegfried mention anything about what happened today?” Kevin asked.

“He apologized again,” Candace said. “He said he spoke with the Moroccan guard and assured us that there won’t be any more shooting. He said that if anybody wanders out there by the bridge, they will just be spoken to and told that the area is off-limits.”

“Likely story,” Kevin said. “As trigger-happy as those kids they call soldiers are, it’s not going to happen.”

Melanie laughed. “Talk about the soldiers, Siegfried said that they spent hours searching for the nonexistent sunglasses. Serves them right!”

“He did ask us if we wanted to talk with some of the workers who’d been on the island and who’d been burning underbrush,” Candace said. “Can you believe it?”

“And how did you respond?” Kevin asked.

“We told him it wasn’t necessary,” Candace said. “I mean, we don’t want him to think we’re still concerned about the smoke, and we definitely don’t want him to think we’re planning on visiting the island.”

“But we’re not,” Kevin said. He eyed the women while they smiled at each other conspiratorially. “Are we?” As far as Kevin was concerned, getting shot at twice had been more than enough to convince him that visiting the island was out of the question.

“You wondered why we laughed when you told us we were having fish for dinner,” Melanie said. “Remember?”

“Yeah,” Kevin said with concern. He had the distinct feeling he wasn’t going to like what Melanie was about to say.

“We laughed because we spent a good deal of the late afternoon talking to fishermen who come to Cogo a couple of times a week,” Melanie said. “Probably the ones who caught the fish we just ate. They come from a town called Acalayong about ten to twelve miles east of here.”

“I know the town,” Kevin said. It was the jumping-off place for people going from Equatorial Guinea to Cocobeach, Gabon. The route was served by motorized canoes called pirogues.

“We rented one of their boats for two or three days,” Melanie said proudly. “So we don’t have to even go near the bridge. We can visit Isla Francesca by water.”

“Not me,” Kevin said emphatically. “I’ve had it. Frankly, I think we’re lucky to be alive. If you guys want to go, go! I know that nothing I could ever say would influence what you do.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Melanie said derisively. “You’re giving up already! If that’s the case, how do you intend to find out whether you and I have created a race of protohumans? I mean, you’re the one who’s raised this issue and got us all upset.”