Chapter 23-Touring Luxury

I emerged from the bathrooms feeling as though I had washed away layers of grime from me. The clean silk of my dress brushed against my skin lightly. Next to me, Kat was wearing an outfit similar to the costume she wore what had only been last night. This one was lined with dark purple while the billowing interiors were light lavender. Madeline had left us so we made our own way down the hall.

"What if we get lost?" asked Kat with a grin.

"In this place it honestly wouldn't surprise me," I commented as we made our way through the varied rooms.

"You look nice," she said.

"You too," I replied with a smile.

"I wonder how Kyle is going to look as an elf," Kat said and we both grinned.

Soon we managed to find our way to the room everyone else had assembled in. Kyle did, indeed, look like and elf and the guys seemed to be having a hard time keeping from laughing at him. He was wearing a pair of green shorts and a long green shirt with a leather belt wrapped around at the waist. Mitch was wearing a red bandanna on his neck, a plain white t, and some light jeans. A pair of cowboy boots were set nearby him but his feet were bare.

Joseph had on old-fashioned hiking clothes that were more for summer hiking than his winter setting, but no one questioned his reluctance to wear a thick parka and wool socks. Cerant had put on similar pants to what he had worn before but they were spotlessly white and he also had put on an open white shirt.

"Glad you girls could join us," he said. "You look ravishing."

"Ravishing!" whispered Kat to me excitedly. "How often do you hear that?"

I just chuckled and shook my head at her. "If you ladies are finished," Cerant continued. "We'll be on with the tour. If I may?" He had extended an arm to Kat and she linked hers with his and they walked toward the opposite end of the house we had been on. Joseph kisses my damp hair gently and also took my arm in his with a smile. Kyle and Mitch glanced at each other then Mitch walked up to him with a bow. "May I?" he said.

"Certainly haaandsome," replied Kyle and they linked arms. Joseph and I followed after them laughing in the direction Cerant and Kat had gone. The next room we stepped into had an assortment of paintings all over the walls. Kat and Cerant were already looking at some nearby. Cerant explained, briefly, the history behind each of them to us. My favorite was one of a royal British family in the style of the time. Some were very valuable but he

obviously disliked them, it seemed to be the modern art that he explained with the most distaste, and then some weren't as valuable but he kept them because he loved them.

We visited many rooms like that with assortments of art in all styles. Then we moved on to other areas. He had a huge indoor swimming pool decorated with beautiful, Arabic tiles. "Why do you have a swimming pool when there's so much water around you?" asked Kyle.

"Well," said Cerant. "I've never been the biggest fan of salt water and the island is too small to have natural freshwater. I built an artificial river that runs through the gardens, you'll see it later, but sometimes I just want to swim inside. Plus, I get guests who don't like the idea of swimming in an artificial river."

"An artificial river?" Joseph said in an amazed voice to me. "Wow, I have to see this."

"Can we see the gardens now?" asked Kat.

"Certainly," he said smiling down upon her.

We stepped out from the poolroom into a lush jungle. "Did you build this too?" asked Mitch.

"No, my parents did," replied Cerant. "They loved the jungle."

"So why didn't they live there?" asked Kyle.

Cerant shrugged at him. "They liked having the mix they could build here," he said.

"How do you keep it this way?" asked Joseph.

"Honestly," said Cerant with a grin. "I don't know. My botanist is with the others, wherever they are. When he returns, I'll have him explain it."

Joseph nodded and turned his eyes back to gaping at the foliage around us. We traveled along the well-kept path until we emerged into the open sun. Surrounding us bright flowers that beamed with the warmth of the sun. They appeared to be from all around the world. In front of us I could see the edge of a clear running river. I loved rivers and made my way past the others to see it. Kyle came up beside me and said, "This certainly doesn't look like

any Washington rivers." I nodded to him. It was clear as a crystal in a blue more like the ocean than a river. The bottom sand was like a coral beach, not the packed mud in our rivers. I tested the water by tasting it and it was fresh as something from a mountain stream. It sped by fairly quickly before disappearing behind a corner of flowers.

I returned over to Joseph and we followed Cerant down a path, admiring the flowers. We had traveled along the edge of the river for awhile until suddenly we stopped at the edge of a waterfall. It cascaded gently down sparkling rocks. It was much taller and clearer than the waterfall from St. Vincent. The pool on the bottom brushed onto a small shore that led into a thick glade. Suddenly Cerant's white shirt flew through the air and landed on Kyle's

head. Then Cerant stepped quickly toward the edge and dove down it into the pool. I blinked and looked over the edge to see him emerging from the water.

"Come on down!" he called.

"Is there any other way down?" asked Kat.

"Nope!" called Cerant with a wide grin. "The prettiest part of the entirely island is through those trees as well."

Mitch shrugged and dropped the boots he was carrying, took off his shirt and approached the edge slowly. "Geranimo!" he shouted and cannon balled into the pool. Kyle left his elven shirt on the top and jumped in, his arms flailing on the way down. Kat stepped forward and glanced back at me then screamed as she jumped down in the water. Joseph stripped down to his shorts and did a forward flip right into the pool. I took off the velvet vest and

approached the edge slowly. Everyone was laughing and splashing in the water and they urged me to come down. My head spun and my stomach did a flip-flop but I pushed myself and jumped off the edge. I jumped into the water of the fall (everyone else had avoided it) and it pushed me down beneath the water when we hit the bottom.

I pushed myself up to the surface to see everyone dragging themselves to shore. Though they had left me the last one in the water, I was happy to see them all enjoying the tour. Cerant stepped over to a rock near the waterfall and then fumbled with another nearby. Suddenly the rock began to rise until he was at the top of the waterfall.

"Hey!" called Mitch. "I thought there was no other way down?"

"At the moment there wasn't," returned Cerant with a sly grin. "The elevator was at the bottom."

We all threw pebbles at him as he gathered our dry clothing and brought them down to us. I noticed as we waited that the river didn't continue on after the waterfall, except for a tiny stream that ran into the glade. The water must have been carried back up to the start of the river. Cerant returned with the clothing and all of the guys had their shirts but all I had was a vest and Kat didn't have anything but her soaking costume. All four guys

quickly offered their shirts to us and I accepted Joseph's. Kat took Cerant's because it looked the most "comfortable." I think she just wanted him to remain shirtless but I didn't say anything. Cerant led us up to the glad, which had a curtain of vines covering it. He held us in a moment of anticipation before parting them and gesturing his hands inward. Joseph encircled my waist with an arm and held me close before we went in. Inside, it was truly

magical.

The stream lazily ran down a bed of moss and polished rocks that snaked through the small glade. The trees wove themselves in a tight ring around the area, letting barely any light in. The stones that winked on the soft, mossy ground looked like gems though they were far more beautiful in their curious simplicity. Animals roamed freely around the area. They seemed to be comfortable with our presence yet they didn't have the "given up" look of most

tame animals. Monkeys swung above in the trees with birds that squawked in vivid splendor. One landed on Mitch's head and mussed his hair before returning to the canopy above. A sloth hung lazily from one of the trees, sleeping peacefully. I almost screamed when a sleek, orange and black tiger approached me because his eyes still had the pride and fierceness of a free, wild animal, but when he reached me, all he did was stare at me. I loved tigers,

though I still had a healthy dose of respectful fear, but I slowly stretched my hand forward and touched my fingers to his soft forehead. We held each others' gazes until he bobbed his head, ever so slightly, and walked off into the trees. Even after I left I stared at my fingers until a ring-tailed lemur used my shoulder as a vault to get to a nearby tree.

"This was given to me when I was young," said Cerant, gazing at it with eyes like a child's. "I have always loved animals, nearly as much as art."

"Its beautiful," said Kat. "Truly."

He smiled down at her and they went, together, to sit on a billowy hammock and talk while the rest of looked around. At one point I climbed a tree so that I could peer into a group of baby monkeys. They stared at my intruding face with interest but no fear. Soon their mother shooed me away as gently as any human mother, gentler than most in fact, would. Joseph and I chased some butterflies around in a game of tag. Then they began chasing us when we

brushed into one. I felt like a little kid. After a time, we went out to explore the rest of the gardens. All too soon, night crept up on us.

"Madeline will no doubt have dinner ready soon," said Cerant. "She isn't my normal cook but she can fix things fairly well. Everyone get ready and we'll meet in the dining room in an hour."

We all traveled together as far as our rooms then we broke off into our two groups of the guys and the girls to inhabit our bathrooms. Kat and I talked excitedly, discussing what wonders awaited us at dinner.