Spice Plantation Ch. 02

The ship we had come on had loaded the cargo of processed spices and was scheduled to depart in another hour or so. As I left the clinic I met Nate heading down towards the dock to make sure everything was properly completed before its departure. I tagged along again to learn what I could. After he had talked with one of the native foremen and checked the paperwork we were just getting ready to start back to the main building again when I suddenly heard the sound of an engine getting louder. In a few seconds I realized it was an aircraft and I instinctively looked for somewhere to hide. Almost instantly I realized that this was not France and I didn't have to duck at the sound of aircraft. Instead I looked up and saw a small biplane passing by a little off shore.

"Looks like Dr. Hartley has returned," Nate remarked. The plane made a turn and began to line up with a cleared strip located on the beach above the high tide mark. "Come on and you can meet the good doctor.

We made our way about fifty yards to a tin roofed hanger near one end of the strip and waited while the plane floated to earth and taxied up to the hanger door. I could see the pilot was the only one aboard, but all I could see of him was a leather flying helmet and goggles. He shut down the engine and climbed out and I still couldn't see much beyond the leather flying jacket, boots and trousers. All I could tell was that he was slim and of medium to tall height, maybe five eight or so and he carried a doctor's black bag. Then as he approached us, he reached up and pulled off the helmet and goggles and I saw a long mane of shining auburn hair cascade down the jacket. The jacket quickly followed the helmet and there was no doubt that the pilot was a rather tall young woman instead of a medium height man. There was absolutely no doubt for she had on nothing under the jacket.

I stared as she walked up to us and said, "Nate! I see you're back. Have a good trip?" Then she gave him a kiss much as the other women had yesterday.

Then she looked at me and Nate said, "Susan, this is our new General Manager, Alex Robertson. Alex, Dr. Hartley."

"Susan," she said. "I'm only doctor when you're sick. I'm happy to meet you, Alex."

I was caught by two of the bluest eyes I have ever seen, set in an extraordinarily beautiful face. It must have been, because it drew my eyes upwards from two of the most perfect breasts I have ever seen - and in just the last day I've seen quite a few. I stared at a lovely smile, white, even teeth, lips red without the aid of any cosmetic. Finally I found my voice and said, "It's definitely a pleasure to meet you, Susan."

Two of the island men were pulling the plane around and back into the hanger and she suddenly said, "Just a second while I tell them a couple of things and get out of these flying clothes. I'll be right back."

I stared after her, watching the sway of taut buttocks inside the close fitting pants. I noticed that not only was she tall, but she had legs that even seemed long for her height. One of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. As she ducked into the hanger I turned to Nate and said, "You didn't mention that Dr. Hartley was a woman.

Nate half smiled and replied, "Oh, I didn't? Must have slipped my mind." Then he added a little more seriously, "She definitely is. She is also a really good doctor. She went through one of the medical schools in America - Harvard, I believe. However, I understand she has a rather wild streak and that combined with the prejudice against women in medicine made it fairly hard on her both in school and when she tried to find a position after she graduated. She's been here the last two years and, as I said, she's a wonderfully talented physician."

Susan reappeared carrying her black bag and wearing only a short sarong and I saw her legs were even better than I had imagined - and I had imagined them as quite good. She looked to be about twenty-five or six. This was later confirmed when she and Nate explained she had started college quite young and graduated from medical school four years ago at the age of twenty-two. She had spent two years working at hospitals and clinics in the Boston area before coming here. "Everyone told me I would love the challenge. I think a lot of people were just happy to see me go. I was kind of a troublemaker," she said. I can't imagine any one being happy to see her go - except that the view from behind is delightful.

The three of us walked back to the main building. Susan said she was going down to the processing sheds to check on some things and Nate had some accounting to finish. I was planning on going back to my office to begin reading over some of the materials there when Nate said, "Alex hasn't really seen the processing side of our enterprise yet. Why don't you take him with you, Susan."

"I'd love to," she replied. "Come along, Alex. I'm sure you'll love the sheds." Then a sly look came across her face and she added, "Almost all the workers are female." My face turned slightly red as I imagined sixty or seventy island women, all working stark naked. Susan must have read my mind as a lovely little laugh escaped her mouth.

Susan stepped into the clinic, telling me to meet her there in a quarter hour. When I came she was just emerging and we began to walk along a well worn path away from the main buildings. I tried not to stare, but my eyes kept coming back to this lovely woman. As I said she was tall with a slender build, but in no way does this make her appear mannish. She is definitely female! Her breasts are not as large as Joan's but are firm hemispheres topped with large nipples. I noticed these often appeared to be somewhat hard and erect and I wondered if the constant stimulation of the breeze caused this. (The last day I have seemed to frequently be semi erect myself, but that has nothing to do with the breeze!) She was all well toned muscle but this didn't hide her feminine curves.

After about a quarter mile or so we arrived at a series of open sided sheds. Inside were numerous arrangements of tables and benches where native women worked at esoteric tasks. The entire area was permeated with aroma of various spices. Besides the cloves, I recognized nutmeg and cinnamon, but there were several others I couldn't place. I followed Susan from one place to another while she asked some of the lead girls about dust and other conditions and if there were any problems. She pointed out areas where the clove flowers were drying and other spices were also lying open to the air. "The layout is actually pretty good," she said to me. "The sheds are designed so the breezes carry away most of the dust and pollen. Working conditions here are probably better than ninety-nine percent of the factories in Europe and America.

Once as she was talking with one of the women, I noticed a group of three other girls looking at me. I glanced around and they all looked quickly away but when I turned around again I heard one of them whisper, "kawi-kawi," and then all three of them were giggling.

On the way back to the clinic I decided I had to know the meaning of that word. Trying to sound casual I asked Susan, "By the way, do you know the meaning of 'kawi-kawi'? I keep hearing it."

It seemed Susan swallowed a laugh, but she replied, "It's sort of a number. Many of the islanders in this part of the world have never developed the need for counting beyond a few items. No real arithmetic. So they count 'one, two, three, many-many'. "Eeh, tec, waei, kawi-kawi."

I thought back to how Che and Mai-quan had used the term. It was something like "Both warm bed. Kawi-kawi." I saw then that "kawi-kawi" in this case must be a way of stating the score. I could feel red heat rapidly climbing to my face. I'm sure Susan suppressed a smile, but she didn't say anything.

We again had dinner in the main dining area and this time Susan as well as Jenny and Deborah joined all of us who were there last night. Che and a different girl whose name I didn't catch served us. Once more we talked for a while after dinner and then left for our own individual huts. I wasn't sure if Che and Mai-quan would be coming back with me again, but I'll admit I sort of hoped so.

A couple of minutes after I entered my place I heard Che call out from the door. "Che stay with you tonight? Mai-quan can not come tonight."

I won't say I was not a little disappointed, but Che was certainly a lively girl in her own right and at least, I thought, I might get a little more sleep. But when I called her in, Che stepped inside and said, "Mai-quan not come. I bring Ly-mei instead." Sure enough the lovely Ly-mei, now without her apron and dangling fountain pen, appeared beside Che. Suffice it to say that I did not get a lot of sleep after all but I also did not at all regret it.

February 23

I awoke much earlier this morning but the two women insisted on a slight delay before letting me get up. And once up they both again dragged be to the bath house completely naked. This time just as we had dried off and were leaving, the two nurses, Jenny and Deborah, entered (completely naked also) and headed towards the showers. I stood, completely engrossed, watching the view of them moving away from me for several seconds, completely forgetting my own nude condition, but when I saw them each wrap an arm around the other as they entered the spray, I quickly turned and accompanied my own two lovely girls back to my hut.

I arrived at breakfast with the last of the staff and joined everyone else at the table. The women were now all wearing sarongs, and I thought once again how much I'm coming to like the attire of this plantation. Susan passed out quinine and as she handed my dose to me she said, "Here's your medicine, Kawi-kawi." I seem to have picked up a nickname and I noticed smiles from all the other staff as she said it. The story must have spread widely. At least no one laughed at my bright red face.