PATRICIA GETS an ASSIGNMENT by Vik

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PATRICIA GETS AN ASSIGNMENT By Vik

Chapter 1 – A New Assignment Patty heard the phone ring and cursed. She had just laid out a print to dry on the fiberglass screen and her hands were still wet. She switched on the white light, pulled a paper towel from the roll holder on the wall, wiped her hands, opened the door and strode to the phone in the living room. “Yes?” she asked in a disgruntled tone. “Miss Brewster, this is Andrew Stelling at Adventure Travel. You don’t know me but we’ve had excellent references of you as a photographer. My agency has some original plans for some very special ecological tours. We’ll be having a special ad campaign and I thought that if we could come to a mutually agreeable arrangement perhaps you’d like to take the photographs for us.” Patty’s mind started racing. She remarked on the emphasis he had placed on “very.” As a free-lancer she needed any job she could get; on the other hand that bit about “…a mutually agreeable arrangement…” sounded like Mr. Stelling’s travel agency was not willing to pay too much. She decided to play hard to get. “Thank you very much, Mr. Stelling, but right now I was working in the darkroom. I only have five prints finished and I have to deliver those plus another twenty tomorrow morning at 8 AM. I can’t take the time now to discuss your project but if you’d be good enough to give me your phone number I’d be glad to call you back tomorrow afternoon.” “That’ll be fine, Miss Brewster, my number is 555-4936. I’ll be expecting your call. Bye.” “Goodbye, Mr. Stelling.” Patty hung up and went back to the darkroom. What she had said was true but it was only nine in the morning and she knew she could print the remaining negatives in not more than ten hours. She was glad that she had work to deliver and that it had given her a chance to put Mr. Stelling in his place. She went back to the darkroom and worked straight until she had finished. At seven in the evening she started cleaning up the lab wishing she could afford an assistant to do the job for her. An hour later she ordered a pizza by phone. When it arrived she ate half of it, had a glass of milk and putting the dishes in the kitchen sink she filled it with water and went to bed. “I’m too tired,” she thought. “The dishes can wait until tomorrow.” The following morning Patty ate breakfast, did the dishes and got dressed. Picking up the portfolio she had prepared the previous day she got into her car and drove to Nancy ’s office. She had always thought it odd that not only had Nancy lost her right hand but that her secretary was one-handed as well. Patty and Nancy had been good friends since high school. When they graduated they went their separate ways. Patty chose life as a photographer and one day they ran across each other in an elevator. Patty couldn’t help noticing Nancy’s stump but she did not think it proper to ask. Nancy told her that she was running a photographer’s agency and the two girls resumed their friendship. Patty was on her way to meet with a client at Nancy’s office. As Patty entered Nancy’s office Sylvia, her secretary, greeted her. “Good morning, Patty. You’re just in time. The client will be here in a couple of minutes. Nancy’s waiting for you.”

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Patty always did her business through Nancy; she had never met a client. As a rare conces- sion to Nancy she had agreed to meet this one. “What sort of a person is he? Nice? A grouch? One of those people who are willing to accept differences of opinion or one who wants to impose his will on everyone?” Sylvia smiled but said nothing. “Come on, at least you can tell me if he is young or old, handsome or ugly.” At that moment the doorbell buzzed. Sylvia pushed a button under her desk and the door behind Patty opened. “See for yourself,” Sylvia said with a grin. Patty turned around and gasped. Standing before her was a beautiful woman with long straight hair wearing a mid-thigh dress that showed her long, slim legs to great advantage. What really surprised Patty was that from the sleeves of the woman’s dress there protruded two orthopedic hooks. She had no hands. The woman smiled and said, “Hi, Sylvia. You ready to lose your other hand yet?” “Not yet, Anne. I like my stump very much but I’m not sure I want another one.” “You’ll come around some day. Just give it time.” “By the way, Anne, I’d like you to meet Patricia. She’s the photographer who did the job for you.” “How do you do, Patricia,” Anne said, extending her right hook. As she did so she shrugged her left shoulder and the inner half of the hook opened. “How do you do, Anne,” replied Patty whilst taking Anne’s hook in her own hand. It slid between the two halves and Anne relaxed her shoulder; the two halves closed clamping Patty’s hand between them. “Neat trick,” said Patty. “I remember once, before I lost my hands, that I had to shake hands with a girl that had a hook for her right hand. She simply stretched out her right arm and the hook just lay there in my hand. I couldn’t feel any pressure and that hook felt like a dead fish. I swore then that if I ever lost my right hand I wouldn’t shake hands, hooks or whatever the way she did; it felt dreadful.” Patty replied, “I shook hands once with a woman who had lost all four fingers above the knuckles – there was nothing but the palm of the hand and a thumb. It felt so odd not to feel the pressure of the fingers! “You seem to be quite at home with your hooks. Did you lose your hands a long time ago?” “Not too long. Actually I lost my right hand four and my left one two months ago.” “You’ve adapted remarkably well.” “Well, you know what they say, ‘Where there’s a will there’s a way.’” Patty couldn’t help noticing the sly smile on Anne’s face. She looked puzzled. “What I mean is that once I had lost my hands I didn’t have much choice, did I? Have you ever tried to do anything without using your hands? Like eating, or going to the toilet? I had to learn how to use these hooks; there was no choice.

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“Anyway, we’re wasting time. Let’s go into Nancy’s office and see your work. Nancy tells me you’re a great artist with the camera.” Sylvia talked into the intercom and pointed to Nancy’s door with her stump indicating they should enter. Patty picked up her portfolio and gestured for Anne to precede her. The two women entered Nancy’s office. She was seated at her desk. Unlike Sylvia she wore a hook on the stump of her right arm. Nancy said, “Hi, Patty! I see you and Anne have already met. Come in, both of you.” She got up and with her hook pushed a second chair to the front of the desk so that both of her visitors could sit down; then she sat down behind the desk. “All right, show us,” she said looking at Patty. Patty laid her portfolio on the desk and opened it. The prints were sixteen by twenties and of the highest quality. Patty took pride in her workmanship. Patty’s assignment had been to photograph a documentary on a bayou in Louisiana. She had done herself proud; everything was there. The Spanish moss on the trees emerging from the water, the fishermen’s pirogues, the trotlines with a rag tied to them to identify their owners, the wooden shacks on the shore with their weather beaten inhabitants, the sackcloth bags full of crawfish in the water by the shore. There were also pictures of the people dancing to zideco music and communal parties with huge pots of gumbo and jamba- laya in the village square. Patty’s sense of empathy with the Acadians and with nature was evident. Patty had taken abundant notes and she pulled the notebook out. Anne took it with her hooks and putting it on the desk she started perusing it. She noticed a description of a sunrise on the bayou and asked, “You were really impressed by this sunrise, weren’t you?” “It was unbelievable. It was like something out of a Disney movie only better - and this was for real. The mist was lifting gently from the water and the sunlight filtered through the Spanish moss and the leaves of the cypress trees. Everything was quiet except for the birds beginning to chirp. Alexander, the Acadian who was my guide, was gently punting the pirogue; he sensed my awe and kept quiet. “Then he meekly asked, ‘Aren’t you going to take a picture of this?’ “I was so overcome by the scene that I had forgotten that I had a camera slung from my neck. I picked it up and started shooting slowly, deliberately and hating the click of the shutter because it disturbed the silence. I had turned off the motor and wound the film manually. “I had the chance to shoot only one roll before the light changed and the mist had all risen into the atmosphere. It was still a beautiful bayou but the magic of the moment had gone. I don’t think I’ll ever see a sunrise like that ever again. “Here, let me show you two pictures I selected from the roll.” Patty took out two prints and showed them to Anne who gasped. “It’s darn difficult to capture the contrast of these scenes on paper,” she said. Patty blushed modestly. “It did take a bit of dodging and burning but I do think I captured the beauty of the moment.” “You certainly did that; I’m very impressed.” Patty, Nancy and Anne went through all the prints and Patty’s notes. Patty commented on the trotlines hanging between the trunks of the cypresses. What had most struck her were

C:\PATTY.doc 4/4 the rags tied to the lines. Each combination of color, shape of the knot and placing of the rag was unique to each fisherman. Everybody took the catfish only from his own lines and respected his neighbor’s. She had pictures of the men on their pirogues unhooking the catfish, re-baiting the lines and preparing the fish to be eaten. They would hold the fish by the tail and with a quick swipe of the knife they would filet each side. The head, spine and tail were thrown back into the water to serve as food for the other animals. Patty had summa- rized the Acadian environment and way of life masterfully. “Do you know that these people speak French at home and they learn English when they go to school?” Patty asked. Nancy said, “Yes, I’ve been there too. Actually their language is a strange mixture of French and English. Did you hear the one about the little boy who went to the country store? “The store was run by an Anglo and the little boy comes in and says, ‘Good morning, m’sieu, my mozzer, she haf sent me over to buy zees zing and I am sorry, I do not know how you say in English, but in French we call it ze flashlight!’” By the time they were through watching the pictures it was lunchtime. Nancy looked at Anne who nodded imperceptibly and reached for the phone. Holding the phone with one hook she punched in the numbers with the other. “Mission accomplished,” she muttered into the mouthpiece and hung up. Turning to Patty and Nancy, Anne said, “Well, would y’all like to go out for lunch? My treat.” “I can’t stay for very long. I have a phone call to make this afternoon. I may have another assignment.” “Don’t worry,” answered Nancy. “You’ll have plenty of time.” The four girls went to Delmonico. The maître d’ couldn’t quite hide his surprise at the sight of four women with three hooks and one stump showing. He quickly recovered his compo- sure and led them to a table. Patty felt like the odd woman out and tried to hide her hands so that he couldn’t see her body was complete. “We’re expecting a fifth person,” Anne said. The maître d’ bowed and led them to a slightly larger table. The girls ordered drinks while they were waiting for the other guest. Anne daintily raised her glass of Dry Sack by the stem and made a toast, “To the best photographer I know, and may she always remain the great artist she is, hands or no hands.” Patty was shocked but she kept her cool and retorted, “Thank you very much, Anne, but I don’t know how I could keep on taking photographs if I lost my hands.” “Believe me, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. All you have to do is use your auto- everything camera and there you are,” Anne said as she waved her hooks. “You don’t know very much about photography, do you? I use manual cameras because I want the camera to do what I want it to, not what it wants to do. Can you imagine me trying to shoot an animal in the wild and the camera keeps focusing on a branch in the fore- ground? “Let me tell you something else. I broke my right arm once and there was no way I could change the exposure or focus with only one hand. I did manage to load and unload the camera and to change lenses but when I wanted to take a picture there was no way I could do it. I confess I did buy me a little point and shoot to tide me by for that month and a half but I can’t tell you how glad I was when I could get back to my SLR.”

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Nancy was about to intervene before things got nasty when a tall, handsome man in his early forties approached the table. “Good day, ladies.” Nancy exclaimed, “Andrew!” “Hello, Nancy, hello Anne, hello Sylvia,” he said as he bowed to the three women. Patty began to put two and two together. “Mr. Stelling, I presume?” Andrew Stelling was a worldly man. He bowed to her and gave her a dazzling smile. “Your humble servant, ma’am. And you are Patricia Brewster I presume?” Patty smiled back and said, “Not humble but it looks like I am going to be your servant. Will somebody please explain what this is all about?” Anne started to talk but Stelling interrupted her. “Why don’t we order our meal and we can talk over it? After all, you don’t have to call me for an appointment this afternoon.” Patty liked his wry sense of humor. Stelling called the waiter and they all ordered. Over the caneton à l’orange Patty asked, “All right, now will somebody please explain what this is all about?” Sylvia, who had been silent except for ordering her meal, held up the stump of her arm and opened her mouth. Stelling very gently lowered it to the table and covering it with his hand caressed it gently. “Patty, everything that you have heard up to now is the truth and nothing but the truth. But we have not told you the complete truth. We are going to do so now. “Anne and I are partners in the Adventure Travel Agency. It’s a rather successful business and we even have a small fleet of planes to take our clients to exotic places. We show them odd (to us) people and odd ways of living. As you can imagine our clients are quite well to do. The problem is that when an unknown place is discovered it is no longer unknown and we are fast running out of new places to take our clients to. “Anne and I discovered a rather unusual place six months ago somewhere in Central Amer- ica, on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s an isolated place with a rather primitive population. Their religion is a syncretism of Catholicism, Voodoo and animism. They have a very peculiar custom that struck our attention and we think that it could bring us a very special kind of clientele.” “Tell me more.” “Well, this place is, as I said, on the shore of the Gulf but it is so isolated that supplies are brought in by boat when they’re brought in at all. It is surrounded by mangrove swamps and is practically inaccessible by land. The inhabitants are a mixture of Blacks, Amerindians and whites. They live off the land and the sea in one of the few subsistence economies this side of the Atlantic. “As part of their religion they regularly offer human sacrifices to their saints who are really nothing but transformations of their former gods.” Noticing the look of horror on Patty’s face he added, “Don’t get me wrong, they don’t kill the victims, at least not any more, but every fortnight a virgin has to lose a part of her right

C:\PATTY.doc 6/6 arm. They have developed a way of amputating the arm that is totally painless. The girl is placed in a hut with the witch doctor and in the morning her arm is gone. “You have no idea of the amount of women in our society who would just love to have an empty sleeve either above or below their elbow and lose their limb overnight with no pain or bleeding. The problem is that according to tradition it has to be a native girl.” “I see,” Patty said. “My mission is to get them to allow outsiders to have their arms amputated too.” Stelling smiled. “That’s only a part of it. It consists of several parts; you have already mentioned one. An- other is to see if it is possible to arrange for accommodations for our customers that will apparently be primitive but where they can have at least running water and some sort of artificial lighting. The third, of course, is to bring back photographs of the place and the people that we can show our customers. “Your job on the bayou was just a try-out. You came out with flying colors both as a photographer and as a sensitive human being capable of relating to the people around you.” Without giving Patty a chance to say anything Stelling continued, ”Anne and I estimate that the job will take about three months. We are willing to pay you four hundred and fifty thousand dollars plus travel expenses and materials.” Patty’s head swam. To a beginning photographer nearly half a million was a fortune. She thought of the equipment she could buy, of the way she could automate her darkroom to make her work easier. “Done! Just tell me something; did Anne, Nancy and Sylvia lose their hands over there?” “Anne lost her right hand there. She got so taken with her hook that she faked an accident two months ago in order to be able to have a hook at the end of each arm.” “I thought you said that only natives were allowed to lose their arms.” “Anne bribed the witch doctor. When the village found out they kicked us out and cut off both the witch doctor’s hands – not painlessly but with a machete. So you see, your mission won’t be easy; you’ll also have to undo the damage Anne did. You’ll get paid whether you succeed or not but if you do there’ll be a bonus as well.” “When do you want me to go?” “Would the day after tomorrow be OK?” “Yes, fine.” “Very good. I’ll pick you up at 9:00 A.M. Have all your gear ready and we’ll fly to Houston. From there we’ll take one of our own planes.”

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Chapter 2 – The Flight to the Village

Patty, Anne, Nancy, and Andrew landed at HIA. A car was waiting for them at the door to the terminal. The chauffeur picked up their luggage and put in the trunk. Without anybody saying a word he drove them to the Adventure Travel terminal. The four of them got out and Anne looked around her. The company terminal had a neat but not luxurious look to it. Parked near the terminal were several Catalina PBYs. In front of the terminal stood another. Patty was puzzled and asked. “Are all your planes amphibians?” Andrew replied, “Yes, we take our customers to many far-away places. Sometimes there’s no airstrip or even a flat field available. This way we can also use rivers, lakes and beaches.” Anne smiled and said, “You know, Andrew, we could refit all these planes as bombers and hire out as a private air force. With all the insurrections going on about the world the business might become much more lucrative.” Andrew pretended to grouch. ”Don’t you worry; if Patty can manage the assignment we’ll be millionaires within two years. You know there are many more people like you,” he said looking at her hooks. “Yes,” Anne laughed, “And like Nancy and Sylvia.” That was the first hint that Patty got that Nancy and Sylvia had not lost their hands by accident. She looked at Nancy and asked, “Do you mean to tell me that you wear that hook by design?” Nancy had not worn her hook for the trip. She raised the stump of her right arm and looked at it with a mixture of admiration and pleasure. “Yes, my dear girl. I had wanted to be an amputee ever since I was a child. I found a clinic in Mexico where the doctors were ready and willing so I took the opportunity. Don’t you know it’s the fashionable thing now for women to become amputees?” Nancy was flabbergasted. She had noticed an increase in the number of women she had seen on the street either walking on crutches or with an empty sleeves hanging from a shoulder but she attributed it to some sort of epidemic. Even the fact that she had seen legless women on skate carts and using push-blocks instead of the standard wheelchair had not struck her as unusual; she just thought they were beggars. Looking back she realized that some of them had been wearing expensive clothes and all the women with one or both legs amputated had been wearing hot pants or bikinis the better to show off their stumps. She had done a job at a country club for a fashion magazine and seen some beautiful amputee girls. One, in the pool, had only the tiniest stumps where her legs should have been. As she went to the area where she was to do the shooting session she wondered about the legless girl. She set up her gear and told the art director to call the first model. Much to her surprise a beautiful girl came out wearing a figure-hugging dress that left her shoulders bare. That’s where her body ended; there wasn’t the slightest sign of her arms or even the barest trace of scar. The girl looked as if she had been born without arms. The model was amused at the look of astonishment on Patty’s face. “Isn’t my surgeon really good?” she asked. Patty nodded, recovered and proceeded to take several shots of the girl; she was a pro and Patty was very satisfied with the girl’s poses.

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All the other models were either armless or legless and The last one had posed within the clubhouse. Patty had been busy moving her equipment from the outdoors and setting up the lighting. A musical voice behind her said, “Good morning.” Patty answered civilly and kept on with her business. “Where do you want me to sit?” asked the girl. “On the couch, please.” The floor was tiled and Patty didn’t hear the sound of heels clicking on it. Rather she heard a shuffling sound. She turned around and saw an elegant woman waddling towards the couch on kneepads. When she reached the couch she turned around and hoisted herself on it by using her right hand and the stump of her left arm. Then she used her right hand to take off the kneepads, hid them under the couch, and adopted a pose. Patty noticed to her horror that the model’s right hand had no fingers and only a stump was left of her thumb. The woman was a quadruple amputee and it didn’t seem to bother her. She was sitting on the couch and facing Patty so that all of her stumps were clearly visible. Her net stockings had been tailor fitted to the stumps of her legs. Patty went back to her studio wondering what it was all about. Now she knew; all those lovely crippled women she had seen were voluntary amputees. Dreading the answer she asked, “How about Sylvia?” “Sylvia’s father owns a printing press. She envied my stump so one day she went into the shop and found a guillotine that was cutting a bunch of sales pamphlets. She placed her arm under the blade and waited for it to come down.” “How ghastly! How could she ever do that?” “Well, first of all she saw me one-handed, then it was also getting fashionable to be an amputee. She didn’t have to think it over very long. This was on a Friday. Do you realize that on Monday morning, with her stump still bandaged, she got up from bed, prepared her breakfast, dressed herself and drove to the office? “She didn’t miss a minute’s work” Patty looked at her hands and wondered what it would be like to lose one, dreadful probably. It would be far worse to lose both but it didn’t seem to trouble Anne. She seemed to be quite happy with her hooks. Two more PBYs sat right in front of the terminal. Andrew came out of the office and pointed to one of them. “This is our regular airliner,” he said. You can see that it has been converted from a bomber to a quite comfortable passenger plane. Would you like to see what it’s like inside?” “I’d love to,” she answered. Andrew led her inside the plane. There were eight passenger seats in the cabin. “I doesn’t carry many people, does it?” she asked. He answered, “My dear girl, our tours are very exclusive. We have to ensure the comfort of our clientele. Andrew helped her up the stairs and into the passenger section of the plane. Pointing to one door he said, “That door leads to the cockpit, the one opposite leads to a dining room cum bar; behind that is the observation room. Did you notice the two bubbles on the sides?”

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“Yes.” “Well, this isn’t a train so we don’t have an observation car but those bubbles do just as well. They were originally meant for two gunners but when we reformed the planes we decided to replace them with new ones that didn’t have the gun slots. Our passengers get a splendid view from them.” “I see; you can leave your seat, go to the bar, get a drink and then take it to one of the bubbles and enjoy your drink and the landscape at the same time.” “Smart girl. Yes, we like to pamper our customers. That’s why we’re sending you on this mission.” “May I see a bubble?” “Surely.” Patty got inside the bubble and realized what a splendid place for taking aerial photographs it would be once the plane was in the air. She and Andrew left the plane. Just then four limos arrived, each carrying a couple. Patty noticed that two of the women were one-legged, one was legless and one-armed and the fourth was wearing a long- sleeved silk blouse. The sleeves hung empty from her shoulders and they flapped in the breeze. Andrew stepped up to meet them. He shook hands with seven of the people then very diplomatically took hold of the cuff of the sleeve of the armless woman and kissed it as if he were kissing her hand. They exchanged pleasantries and then the eight people boarded the plane. The pilot started the engines and taxied off to the runway. “They’re some of my best customers,” he said. “They take a tour four or five times a year.”

Walking over to the other plane he explained, “This is one of our supply planes. You see, we send our clients to some very remote places. There is only so much space in the passenger plane for all the equipment and food that are necessary. One week from today a plane like this one will fly to where they are and take food, batteries and whatever else they ask for.” “How can they ask for anything if they’re so far away?” “Each tour is supplied with a two-way satellite radio. When they need anything or if an emergency arises they can always call us. “This is the plane that’s going to take you to San Benito. You’ll be traveling in a supply plane because there’s a lot of gear to carry for a three-month mission; not just yours but ours.” “Yours?” “It’s for your benefit. We’re supplying you with a radio and batteries to last you the three months. We’re also sending one hundred two-gallon jars of drinking water and canned food for one month. There is also a camping stove and enough gas tanks to last you for the period. First aid supplies include splints, regular bandages, Ace bandages, gauze pads, mor- phine syrettes and antiseptics. “You’ll find plenty of analgesics and febrifuges. You’ll be so far out in the boondocks they have to pump daylight out there so we want to take very precaution to get you back safe and sound. We’d also like you to be as comfortable as possible so we’re also including a bed, a mattress, pillows and sheets.

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”If you run out of something or need anything else just call us on the radio. Remember, the plane will be there in a month’s time to renew your food supply so if there’s anything you need and it can wait that long we’d appreciate it.” “I’m impressed. Thank you.” The ground crew loaded all the gear and luggage on the plane. Two men in pilots’ uniforms appeared and Andrew introduced them. “Patty, I’d like you to meet Rick and Chuck. Rick’s the captain of your ship and Chuck is the co-pilot. They’ll get you safely to San Benito.” Patty shook hands with the men and jokingly said, “Andrew, with these two gorgeous hunks within reach of my claws I’m not sure I want to reach San Benito safely! Couldn’t we make an emergency landing on some deserted island on the way?” Everybody laughed and the two men blushed. Anne held up her hooks and said, “Now, if you had claws like these you’d really be sure to catch them.” They all laughed at Anne’s sally but Patty couldn’t help being a little annoyed. Anne seemed to be intent on talking her into losing her hands. She held them up and bending the fingers like claws she retorted, “Thanks very much but mine are much softer to caress with. What’s more, I can feel with them.”” Anne looked angry and was about to say something when Rick coughed and said, “Look, it’s not getting any earlier and we have a four-hour flight ahead of us. I think we should take off as soon as possible.” Rick and Chuck helped Patty up the stepladder on the side of the plane and then got in themselves. “Watch your head!” they both exclaimed at the same time just as Patty bumped her head against the ceiling. She was used to traveling in airliners with plenty of headroom and she had forgotten that she had to stoop when Andrew showed her the inside of the passenger plane. “Silly me,” she thought. Chuck went in after her and told her to go to the cockpit. “Why?” “This is a cargo plane. There are no seats for passengers.” “So where do I sit?” “You’ll be our radio man.” “But I don’t know the first thing about radio!” “That’s OK. Pilots handle the radio nowadays but the company kept the seat for emergen- cies such as this.” Patty breathed a sigh of relief. Rick went to the airport office and filed a flight plan. By the time he returned Chuck was at the right hand seat. They started the engines and went through the checkout procedure. Rick radioed the tower and got permission to take off. Once they were in the air Patty asked for permission to go back to the bubble. Rick said, “The coastline will be to port, so I suggest you go to the bubble on that side.”

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“Port?’ “The right-hand side to you landlubbers.” “Aye, aye, Sir” Patty went to the bubble and unslung the camera from her neck. Thinking that it was a good thing she had brought a plentiful supply of film she went wild taking photographs.

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Chapter 3 - San Benito – The Arrival

Patty heard Rick’s voice over the intercom, “Better come back to the front, Patty, and buckle up. We’re approaching our destination.” She crawled to the cockpit and sitting on the radio operator’s seat she fastened her seat belt. Chuck asked, “Ever see a landing from the cockpit of a plane?” “Nope. This is a new experience for me.” She was thrilled as the plane came down low over the water. “Hang on, landing on the water can be a bit bumpy,” said Rick. No sooner said than done. Patty felt a bump on the plane’s belly; then the plane rose again in the air and came down a second time, more gently. Finally it slowed down and Rick pointed it toward the beach. “We’re sailing now, not flying. That’s why they call them ‘flying boats.’” “Be careful!” Patty said. “You’re going to run the plane aground!” Rick smiled and kept the PBY going forward. Unbeknownst to Patty he had lowered the landing gear. The plane simply rolled on to the beach. Chuck smiled and said, “There you are, milady, you don’t have to get your dainty feet wet.” A bunch of people came running toward the plane, chattering excitedly in Spanish. Rick addressed an older man and asked for the mayor of the village. “Buenas tardes, señor. Por favor, ¿me puede dirigir a la oficina del Prefecto?” The man agreed willingly. “Como no. Sígame por favor.” Rick told Patty and Chuck to wait for him in the plane while he made arrangements to rent a house and hire people to unload the cargo. Patty looked out the windshield and saw that San Benito was on a spit of land. The mainland could be seen in the background and in between there was a mangrove swamp. On the outskirts of the village she could see some fields planted with maize and yucca, and others in which goats were grazing. The village itself was made of adobe huts with palm- thatch roofs; two or three houses were of better quality with concrete-block walls and slop- ing tile roofs. The streets were unpaved and there were no power lines. The main vegetation consisted of palms of diverse types among which she could discern many coconut palms and banana trees. To her surprise she also saw some date palms and mango trees. They had left Houston at noon and it was now four o’clock in the afternoon. It was a sultry day in San Benito and Patty was beginning to sweat. “Is the weather always like this?” she asked Chuck. “This is the rainy season which makes it hot and muggy. It’ll stop raining around the first or second week of November and then you’ll have a few months of cooler weather.” Patty made a fast mental calculation. It was the first week of September. With luck it would start cooling off in two months’ time. She’d enjoy a month of cool weather and then she’d fly back home. She had no plans as to how to behave except that she knew she had to respect the local customs. For the rest she was going to play it by ear and cross each bridge as she got to it.

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Rick hove in sight accompanied by a man in short-sleeved shirt and a Panama hat, and two tall, slim girls. Behind them came half a dozen villagers dressed in ragged blue denims. Patty and Chuck left the airplane and waited for the motley crew to arrive. Rick and the well-dressed man approached them with the girls not far behind. Rick, speaking in Spanish, introduced them to Señor Carlos González, the Prefect of the village, and Señoritas Njambo and Désirée González, his daughters. Sr. González shook hands with them but when his daughters did the same they extended the handless stumps of their right arms. Chuck took Njambo’s stump and started by shaking it. He finished by caressing it gently with both hands before releasing it. The look in Njambo’s eyes told Patty that she was not unhappy with Chuck’s attentions. She bent her arm at the elbow and gently caressed her stump while bending her head and looking at Chuck with a half-smile. The looks that Rick and Désirée were giving each other told her that the two young people had already hit it off. Sr. González spoke to the men and they started unloading the airplane. Apparently they already knew where to deposit the load because they headed straight for one of the concrete- block houses. Patty looked at Rick and was about to ask him what had happened while he was away in the village when he said, “Come along, let’s go to your new quarters and I’ll explain there.” When they reached the house Patty saw that it was a one-story structure that had apparently not been inhabited for quite some time. There was dust all over the place and the windowpanes were practically opaque for lack of cleaning. One of the men had climbed a palm tree and cut off a branch with a machete. He proceeded to sweep the cement floor before any of Patty’s gear was taken into the house. Njambo came with a bucket of water and two ragged cloths with which she proceeded to clean and dry the windows. Patty was amazed at how well organized everything seemed to be and she was amazed at the way Njambo handled things with her one good arm and her stump. A man who appeared to be the foreman asked Rick, “¿Donde quiere la señorita que le pon- gamos las cosas?” Rick turned to Patty and translated. “He wants to know where you want everything placed.” Patty hadn’t had a chance to explore the house. She went in and saw that there was a living cum dining room, a kitchen with a wood stove, a table next to it and a sink with no faucets, and two bedrooms. There was no bathroom but she had noticed an outhouse as she walked toward the house. She decided it was time to try her high-school Spanish. “La cama aquí, por favor,” she said, pointing to the main bedroom. Patty was pleasantly surprised when the men brought not only the bed and mattress but also a nightstand. Andrew knew the situation that he was putting her into and had also supplied her with abundant camping lights and batteries. One of the lamps went on the nightstand. The others went to the kitchen, living room and the other bedroom. In a large plastic bag she found sheets and in another were pillows and pillowcases. She asked for a large nail to be driven into the wall of her bedroom and from it she hung her garment bag.

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“That’ll be my closet for the next three months,” she thought. The two-burner camping stove and the twelve gas cylinders, the food stores and the water bottles went into the kitchen, as did two pots and a frying pan. A metal stand designed to hold a water bottle was placed in a corner and one of the men opened a bottle and placed it upside down. Patty now had drinking water – it would be at room temperature but it was certainly potable. The radio with its batteries and Patty’s photographic equipment went into the spare bedroom. Rick paid the foreman and the workers generously and thanked them. “Siempre a la orden, señor,” the foreman replied courteously as the men withdrew. Rick said, “It’s getting a bit late for us to leave so we’ll be spending the night here and we’ll leave tomorrow after we point your radio antenna to the satellite.” Patty was flustered, “You’ll spend the night here? In the house?” With a sly smile Rick answered, “No, my dear girl, we’ll rent a room for the night. They have very comfortable hammocks here.” Patty was thankful that she wouldn’t have to sleep in a hammock for the next three months. “But where are you going to eat?” “I’ve found out there’s a lady who cooks for sick people. She’s willing to cook for us tonight and whenever we come back. You’re invited to have dinner with us tonight. Of course, if you’d rather eat your canned Spam…” ‘No. No, I’d love to go eat out with you but I’d like to at least wash my face and my hands. There seems to be no running water here.” With a smile Rick took her hand and lead her to the kitchen. There was a back door that led to small fenced back yard. In one corner stood a hand pump. “That used to be an artesian well. The water level is a bit lower now. Fortunately you have both hands to work the handle with, it’s a bit stiff from lack of use.” “Rick, you’ve done wonders. How did you find this house? It seems to be the best one in the village.” ‘Don’t forget that Chuck and I have been here before. This house belongs to the Prefect. He built a larger one when Njambo, the second of his daughters reached the age of seven so that each girl could have her own room. That’s why this house was so dirty when I rented it. It hasn’t been inhabited for the past ten years. “You know, Anne did the company a lot of harm when she decided to lose her hand here. She could have had it amputated in any number of clinics in Mexico but no it had to be in San Benito. That’s going to be a big handicap for you. It may smooth things out a little that Chuck and Njambo are very keen on each other. The Prefect wants to marry off his daughters and Chuck is not such a bad catch.” “He’s white but his daughters are mixed-race, aren’t they?” “Yes. His wife is a mixture of Amerindian and Afro-American. You won’t find racial discrimination in this country. It’s a lesson that a lot of people back home ought to learn.” Patty nodded in agreement. She went to the back yard and washed her hands and face. “Chow time!” she said. “Mind if I borrow your bathroom?”

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“Make yourself at home.” Rick washed his hands and face as well. They walked down the street to the house of the lady who had agreed to cook their dinner. Señora Colmenares welcomed them graciously into her house. She was a petite woman of Asian origin and like ninety-nine percent of the women in San Benito her right hand had been amputated. She invited them into the house and led them to the dining room where Chuck, Njambo and Désirée were already seated at the table. Unlike Njambo, who was missing her hand two inches above the wrist, Désirée’s forearm was complete. The ends of her radius and ulna showed under the skin at the end of her stump. The hand had been disarticulated at the wrist. She stood up and put her arms around Rick. Patty couldn’t help thinking what she would feel if she had to put a handless arm around her boyfriend. Not that she had a boyfriend; she had been too busy advancing her career but she looked forward to having someone to share her life with in the future. Mrs. Colmenares told the five young people to sit down and eat before their meal got cold. The first dish was a bowl of soup made from maize flour with a local fish and some vegetables that Patty could not identify. Next came a plate of roast kid already cut into small pieces accompanied by fried banana and some more vegetables that were different from the ones in the soup but she still couldn’t identify them. Nevertheless they were quite tasty. Ripe dates were served for dessert. When they had finished eating Mrs. Colmenares said, “I know you Americans would love a cup of coffee but unfortunately it grows at altitudes above 1,000 meters above sea level, which is where we’re at right now. We’re so isolated here that it just simply isn’t available. There’s a supply boat that comes by when the owner feels like sending it over and then we can buy things like coffee, chocolate, sugar, wheat flour and oil. Otherwise we have to make do with what we get from the land – and the sea.” Patty understood that the vegetables she had eaten were marine algae that had been ex- quisitely cooked. She thought that she had seen some coffee cans among the supplies that Andrew and Anne had sent. She wondered how Anne would open a can with her hooks. No doubt she’d already found a way. “I think I have some coffee at home,” she said. “If you don’t mind waiting a few minutes I’ll go check.” Rick stood up and said, “I’ll go with you.” “No, you shan’t. You’re going to be here only until tomorrow and you want to spend as much time as possible with Désirée. Besides I feel perfectly safe walking alone in this town.” Both of them looked at her with gratefulness in their eyes and Rick sat down. Patty ran to her house and started looking among the food supplies. Everything was stacked on the table and the floor and she had trouble finding the coffee cans. “I’ll have to order some shelves for the kitchen and some furniture for the living room,” she thought. Picking up a coffee can she ran back to the dinner party. Mrs. Colmenares picked it up gratefully and said, ”Thank you so much, my dear, you’re very generous.” The lady of the house went into the kitchen. Patty was curious as to how she was going to prepare the coffee and followed her. Mrs. Colmenares smiled and said, “We don’t have electric coffee makers in this town but there are at least three other ways in which we can brew coffee. One is to make it the way the Arabs make it; you put some water to boil and then you toss in a fistful of the stuff. You

C:\PATTY.doc 16/16 have to be very careful not to swallow the grounds when you drink it. Two, you can use one of those Italian coffee pots with two compartments; you unscrew the top one, put water in the bottom one, coffee in a perforated container that rests on it, and you screw the top on. When the water boils it percolates through the coffee and winds up in the top container; problem: when the rubber gasket between the top and the bottom wears out it becomes a paperweight. Three, you can use this.” She pulled out an iron ring with three legs welded to it and another ring of aluminum wire with a built-in handle made by twisting the wire. Sewed to the ring was a gauze funnel. She put the iron contraption over a small pot and put some water to boil. When the water was boiling she held the aluminum ring by the handle between the stump of her arm and her body and with her good hand she placed some coffee in the funnel. She rested the funnel on the iron ring and poured some boiling water into it. She got some mugs from a shelf and put them on the table then poured some coffee into each. “There’s a pitcher of milk in the stream out in the backyard. We store it there to keep it cool. Could you get it for me, please?” Patty went out into Mrs. Colmenares’s back yard and brought the pitcher back. “Where do you get milk?” Patty asked. Her hostess read Patty’s mind. “It’s goat’s milk. The goatherd goes by every morning offering his milk. It’s the only milk available in this town. When somebody opens the door he stops and milks his goats into the container you supply. You can buy anything from a pint to a gallon.” Patty had seen the arrangement in several parts of Southern Europe but the herds were controlled by veterinarians there. “It’s all right. All our goats have been vaccinated against TB.” The woman was unbelievable. She read Patty’s mind and answered her questions before Patty could speak. She put the mugs full of coffee on a tray along with the pitcher of milk and a glass jar full of a slightly milky fluid. “We don’t have sugar here so we use home-made corn syrup.” Tucking her stump under the tray she held it with her hand and carried it to the dining room. Patty followed. “Anybody want milk and/or syrup with their coffee?” She poured goat’s milk and corn syrup to everyone’s taste. Patty decided to try the corn syrup but she declined the milk. “There’s no other milk here, my dear, I’m sorry.” Mrs. Colmenares sounded so distressed that Patty couldn’t help going to her and hugging her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s just that I’m so used to UHT cow’s milk.” Patty wondered if there was any UHT milk in her store of food. She wasn’t going to radio Andrew asking him to send some immediately so that meant a month of doing without or drinking goat’s milk. She decided to postpone the decision until the morrow. The coffee with corn syrup was not bad at all.

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It was getting late. Patty bade everybody a good night and walked home. She hadn’t made the bed but it had been a long day and she was exhausted. She stripped her clothes off and lay down on the mattress. A minute later she was fast asleep.

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Chapter 4 - San Benito – Getting Settled

Patty woke up the following morning after having spent a miserable night with the mosqui- toes buzzing around her ears and biting her in her most tender parts, especially her but- tocks. She stretched and walked to the pump in the back yard; she filled the bucket next to it with water and carried it to the sink in the kitchen. A cursory examination showed that there was a rubber stopper and the sink drained into the back yard. “All the comforts of home,” she thought with a touch of derision as she filled the sink with the water from the bucket. Going to one of her bags she picked up her toilet kit, a nailbrush and a washrag, and took them to the sink. She washed herself as best she could trying not to splash too much water on the kitchen floor and then dried herself with a towel. After she had finished washing she pulled a hairbrush from her bag. She looked for a mirror but there wasn’t a mirror to be found in the house. Before she did anything else she pulled out a notebook and a ballpoint pen. On the first page she wrote, “THINGS TO ASK FOR.” On the following lines she wrote, “1. Bathroom cabinet with mirror. 2. Waterworks for the village.” She went to her bag and pulled out a pocket mirror. Patty went to the bag that had her clothes and picked out something to wear. She had brought only blue denims and shorts but she decided that since this was going to be her first complete day in the village she would wear some pretty underwear. After that she put on a white shirt and a pair of khaki Swiss Army shorts. Still barefoot she emptied the sink and started to prepare her breakfast. She looked for milk among the food supplies but found only twelve half-pint tins of cream. Picking up the notebook she wrote, “3. 90 Qts. UHT milk good thru Dec 15.” At that moment she heard a voice in the street. “¡El lechero! ¡La leche fresca!! ¡La leche sabrosa!” The goatherd was doing his rounds. She could have cream with her coffee but if she wanted milk with her cereal this was her only choice. She picked up the smaller pot that held about a quart and opened the front door. “Buenos días, señorita. ¿Quiere usted un poquito de leche?” Patty was happy that she had learned some Spanish in high school. She held out the pot and said, “Si, por favor.” “¿Se lo lleno?” “Sí, por favor.” The goatherd pulled up one of his animals and sitting on a stool he milked the goat right into the pot Patty had handed him. Patty reached into her shorts pocket and pulled out a bill. Handing her the pot he smiled and said, “La leche vale un peso por litro, señorita Patty, pero como hoy es su primer día en el pueblo espero que usted me permita regalársela.” “How did you know my name?”

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“It’s a very small village, señorita, and everybody knows by now that you came yesterday and that you intend to stay for three months. We all want you to feel welcome.” “Muchas gracias, es usted muy amable.” “If you need any alterations done to the house or some more furniture just let me know. I am busy only early in the morning when I sell the milk. I do odd jobs the rest of the day and I’m not a bad carpenter.” “I have several things I would like you to do for me but I’m very busy this morning. Can I call on you tomorrow or the day after?” “Whenever you wish, señorita.” “Fine. May I know your name?” “Emeterio, a sus órdenes.” The goatherd bade Patty a good day and herded his goats down the street shouting out for all the world to hear the virtues of his milk. Patty noticed that the goats had curly, silky wool much like that of sheep. She said to herself, “Angora sheep. They use them here for milk and meat. We’ll have to do something about that.” Patty went in and set the table. She had to hunt for the dishes and the cutlery among all the boxes scattered around the kitchen. She decided she had to put this mess in order before sunset. She used the camping stove to warm the milk and filled the percolator with coffee. When the milk was warm she took a sip in order to taste it. She had just finished her cereal and coffee when Rick knocked at the door. He was carrying a rather large canvas bag. “Good morning, beautiful!” “Good morning, handsome! Are you ready for takeoff?” “Not quite. I still have to align your antenna with the satellite so that you can get in touch with us any time you wish.” “That’s right. I had forgotten.” Rick mumbled something about bird-brained women but Patty didn’t hear it very clearly and she decided to ignore the remark. “Where are you going to place it?” she asked. “The back yard looks like a good place. From there there’s a clear line of sight with a compass reading due South-West and an altitude of 30 degrees.” “I see. And how are you going to measure your bearing and your altitude?” “Simple,” answered Rick. From a leather case attached to his belt he pulled out a Brunton compass and showed it to Patty. “What on earth, may I ask, is that contraption?” “It’s a Brunton compass.” “And what, pray tell, might a Brunton compass be?” “Well, you know what a compass is. This thingamajig is a compass plus it has a few more gadgets to it. He opened the compass and showed Patty the mirror and the sights. Then he pointed out the clinometer.

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“You can actually perform an exploratory survey with this and a stick cut to the proper length,” he remarked. He went into the second bedroom and pulled out the satellite antenna and a length of antenna cable. Pulling a battery-operated drill from the canvas bag he drilled a hole through the wall. He pushed the cable through the hole and into the back yard and then he carried the antenna outside. Next he connected the antenna to the cable. With the Brunton compass he aligned the antenna so that it faced in the proper direction and it was at the proper angle to the horizontal. From the canvas bag he extracted some metal spikes and a small sledgehammer. He hammered the spikes into the ground through the holes in the antenna’s base so that it would stay fixed in place. He placed the radio to one side of the window and connected a splitter to the end of the cable that had remained in the room. After that he connected two cables to the splitter and the end of one of them to the radio. Patty asked, “What’s the second cable for?” Rick grinned, reached again into the canvas bag and pulled out a laptop that he placed on the radio. “For this; you’ll be connected to us by radio and by the Internet. You can E-mail us any time you wish. However the laptop’s batteries are good for only about three to four hours of use. You have several spare batteries and the radio is in case you run out of them so that you can contact us by radio.” He pulled out two car batteries and connected them in series. Then he connected them to the radio. Since he had started installing the antenna Rick had been explaining to Patty how everything was connected and the tools he was using. “The radio works on 24 volts and you have eight batteries; these two plus six spares. Each set should last at least a month and you have a spare set yet.” He connected the laptop to the other cable. Opening it he said, “Let’s see if I did a work- manlike job.” He booted the computer and entered the E-mail program. Logging in he E-mailed the home office. A minute later he had his answer. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s try out the radio.” He switched off the computer and switched on the radio. Pushing a button on the microphone he said, “Mother hen, mother hen. This is baby chick Do you read me? Over.” He released the button and waited for the answer. There was utter silence. Suddenly Rick struck his forehead. “How silly of me!” With the object of getting the best sound quality for Patty the radio had been bought with a separate speaker. Rick had forgotten to plug it in. Red-faced he plugged the speaker in and again spoke into the mike, “Mother hen, mother hen. This is baby chick Do you read me? Over.” The answer came immediately, “Hello, baby chick. This is mother hen. We read you loud and clear. How do you read me? Over.” “Loud and clear. Over.” “You called twice and we answered both times. What happened the first time? Over.”

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“I forgot to plug in the speaker. Everything’s fine now. Over.” “That good-looking chick got you flustered? Over.” “That good-looking chick is overhearing the conversation so watch your language Joe. Over.” “Just kidding. When are you flying back? Over.” “Take off at ten hundred hours. ETA fourteen hundred and thirty. Over.” “Have a good trip. Over.” “Thank you. Baby chick out.” Patty was struck by the conversation with its short, staccato sentences, always ending in “Over” except that the indication that the conversation had come to an end was the identifi- cation of the speaker followed by “Out.” “It’s a good thing I didn’t have to be the radio operator. All this ‘Over” and ‘Out” business and you sounded like you were barking at each other.” “Don’t forget to press the mike button when you want to speak, to say ‘Over’ when you’re finished and immediately release the mike button. Keep your sentences as short as possible, Usually the person who initiates the conversation is also the one to end it by identifying him/herself and saying ‘Out.’ And for Pete’s sake don’t turn off the radio after each conversation. It uses precious little juice when it’s not been used but we want to be in contact at all times. OK?” “Yes, boss.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be bossy. It’s just that leaving you here alone worries me.” Patty was touched. “Please don’t worry. The people here seem to be kind and generous. Emeterio gave me my first quart of goat milk for free because he said he wanted me to feel welcome. Sra. Col- menares was charming last night. I’m going to be all right.” “It’s nearly time for take off. Want to walk with me to the plane and see us leave?” “I’d love to.” Patty put on some sandals and they both walked to the plane. Chuck, Njambo and Désirée were already there along with a bunch of young people and kids who had got wind of the plane’s departure. Désirée was waiting impatiently and Chuck was holding Njambo’s stump while she caressed his face with her single hand. Désirée rushed to Rick’s side and kissed him fervently. She tucked the stump of her arm in the crook of his elbow and they walked together toward the plane. Rick and Chuck kissed their girlfriends goodbye and boarded the plane. They started the engines and went through the checkout routine. They both opened their windows and waved to the girls. The plane started rolling on the sand toward the sea. When the water was deep enough for the plane to float he retracted the landing gear and taxied out to sea. Rick gunned the engines and the plane gathered momentum. In two minutes it was up in the air. Patty saw the spray of water falling from the plane as it took off and then she noticed that it was banking and circling around. The floats were still down. Rick raised the floats, wagged the plane’s wings and headed north.

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Désirée and Njambo were consoling each other. Each one was holding the other by the waist with her good hand and wiping the tears from the other’s eyes with the stump of her arm. Patty asked, “You really do love those guys, don’t you?” The girls nodded in mute assertion. The spectacle over everybody returned home. Patty started sorting out the boxes in the kitchen and what she now called “the radio room.” She found sheets, pillows and pillowcases and made the bed. In this tropical climate there was no need for blankets but she would have appreciated a bedspread. In one of the boxes she found a mosquito net with a disassembled metal framework to hold it up. She went to the bed and looking closely she saw some iron rings embedded at the head and the foot. She fetched the frame and by trial and error managed to assemble it. Then she spread the gauze netting over it. There was a knock at the door and Patty went to open it. There was a handsome black woman waiting. “Good morning, Patty. My name is Leona and I’m the witch doctor here. May I come in?” “Yes, of course, please do.” Patty indicated that she should come in by gesturing with her right hand. “Now that’s something I can’t do,” Leona said raising the stump of her right arm. “I’ve come to welcome you officially in the name of the village. You’re new here and we have some customs that may seem a bit strange to you but that to us are nothing out of the ordinary, I would like to explain them to you if I may.” “I’ll gladly listen to you but I’m afraid I’ve just moved in and the only pieces of furniture I have are a bed and a nightstand. If you don’t mind we can sit on the edge of the bed.” “I don’t mind at all; show me the way.” Patty led Leona into the bedroom and pushed the mosquito netting to one side. Sitting down she patted the bed. “It’s not very good as a seat but it’s better than standing.” “There’s a handyman in the village. He works only with hand tools but he could make you some furniture.” “Do you mean Emeterio?” “Oh, so you’ve met him, have you?” “I wanted to buy a quart of goat milk from him this morning and he made me a present of it. He told me that he could remodel the house or make some furniture for me if I needed it. He looks like a very nice person.” “He is. He’s also very skillful. But let’s get down to brass tacks. I said before that I wanted to let you know about some of our habits that you might find a little… shall we say, strange?” “Yes, please go ahead.” “You may have noticed that most of the women here, myself included, are missing a part of our right arms.”

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Patty diplomatically said, “Yes. I thought that there had been some sort of epidemic.” “The only epidemic is in our minds, I’m afraid. We worship not only the Christian God but also our ancestral Gods. It was a custom back in our original homeland to sacrifice a virgin every month. Now we’re across the ocean in a very small place we simply can’t afford to lose a girl every month; the population would simply die off. So instead a girl has to offer a part of her right arm. Because the offering is much less the frequency has been increased to once a fortnight. “The participants in this sacrifice can only be village girls. I’m telling you this because a girl from outside asked the girl who was then the witch doctor to make her lose her right hand. The witch doctor complied and there was a tremendous uproar in the village. The girl who lost her hand was expelled from the village and the Council of Elders punished the witch doctor by removing her remaining hand. I needn’t tell you that there’s a tremendous difference between been one-handed and being handless. “The people here like you very much so I came to ask you, please, to respect our customs. I know they may shock you but that’s the way we are.” Patty knew of course about Anne but she pretended that the story was new to her. Not being quite sure of what to say she just nodded. “May I ask what brought you here?” “I’m a professional photographer and I have been employed to make a photographic study of the area. I would like to photograph your environment and your people.” “And for what purpose?” Patty decided to tell as much of the truth as she could. “You no doubt saw the plane that brought me here. It belongs to a very posh tourist agency. They’re looking for out of the way places in natural surroundings that are unknown to most people. I’m supposed to judge the possibility that San Benito could be such a place and if I do then find out if the village would agree.” Leona answered, “Tourism does have its advantages of course but it also has its disadvantages. Our standard of living would go up but what would happen to our mores? We would have to stop having our girls losing their arms and this has been the tradition for over three hundred years. And what would we do about the crowds? How could we lodge them and feed them?” “There won’t be any crowds, Leona. This is tourism for very rich people. A small lodge big enough to house only eight people at a time with running water and electricity is all that’s needed. “As for your one-handed girls, they would be the main attraction. How many places do you know where ninety-nine females out of one hundred are one-armed? Who knows? You might find it profitable to have outside women lose their hands for payment. The village would make money and you would have fewer crippled girls.” “We don’t consider ourselves crippled, Patty. We are proud of our stumps and we manage very well with one hand.” “I’m sorry, Leona. I didn’t intend to demean your girls but tell me honestly: wouldn’t you rather have both hands?” “No, I wouldn’t. I’m very happy being an amputee and so are all the other girls here.” Patty realized she had put her foot in her mouth. Taking Leona’s stump between her hands she said, “You have every right to be proud and happy. You all have very beautiful stumps.”

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She caressed Leona’s stump with both hands and felt a chill run up and down her spine as she did so. Leona smiled and said, “You see, having a stump instead of an arm can have its charms. Maybe someday you’ll be able to caress my stump with one of your own.” Taking Patty’s right hand with her left she folded it down and then placed her hand over Patty’s so that Patty’s arm seemed to end in a rounded stump at the wrist. “Wouldn’t you like to have an arm like that?” Patty became aroused looking at her seemingly handless arm and she thought that maybe Anne had a point but she would lose only one hand like Nancy. She decided to postpone thinking about it. Right now she had many other things to do. “Think it over. You can’t have it done here but maybe some place else.” Leona stood up and so did Patty. “I won’t take any more of your time. I know that you have many things to do before you can start your photographic essay. Like I said, welcome to San Benito. Bye for now.” Leona left the house and Patty went to her garment bag where she knew she had a web belt. She couldn’t pretend she had lost a hand but she certainly could pretend she had lost an arm, Taking her blouse off she bent her right arm at the elbow and wound the belt around her wrist and her upper arm. She tightened the buckle and put on her short-sleeved shirt. As she looked down at her bent elbow peeking out from the sleeve it looked for all the world like a stump. Using only her left arm she let down the mosquito netting that she had raised so that she and Leona could sit on the edge of the bed. She started sorting everything out using her left hand and helping herself with her “stump” whenever she couldn’t do anything with her left hand alone. At one time she tried to lift fairly large box with her left hand and finding she couldn’t she automatically helped the hand with the “stump” of her right arm. “This could be fun,” she thought.

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Chapter 5 - San Benito – Exploring the Village Patty prepared her lunch still pretending that her right arm was gone at the elbow. She didn’t have trouble opening the box and preparing her powdered eggs but opening the can of spinach was a dilly. She finally solved the problem by holding down the can with her “stump” and operating the can opener with her left hand. She carried a glass to the water bottle stand and holding it in her left hand she pushed the button with the tip of her thumb. This forced her to place her wrist in an unusual position but she managed to fill the glass. She took the glass to the table and ate standing up while making a mental note to get in touch with Emeterio. When she finished eating she put the pot she had used and her plate and cutlery in the sink. When she tried to clean the pot it started moving around in circles. She pushed the pot against a corner of the sink with her “stump” while she cleaned the inside. Then she put it upside down and cleaned the outside and the bottom. Cleaning the plate and cutlery offered similar problems but she managed to solve them all. Strangely enough she never felt frustrated, even at those times when she had to give up a task because she couldn’t perform it with one arm. To her it was a challenge to learn how to do things as a cripple. Actually she rather enjoyed the feeling of being one-armed Patty felt tired after sorting everything out, cooking and eating with only one arm She stripped and lay down on the bed. Looking at her right arm she could see it bent and strapped down by the belt; this destroyed the illusion of being one-armed. She pulled out her pajamas and put them on leaving the right sleeve of the jacket loose so that it flapped about whenever she moved her “stump.” Finally she fell fast asleep. She woke up at about three in the afternoon and tried to push herself upright; forgetting that she had only one useful arm she fell back on the bed. She smiled at the thought that she was actually enjoying playing at being one-armed. Her right arm had gone to sleep so she decided she had better release it. It had been tied up for over three hours and the rush of blood caused her a great deal of pain. She decided that next time she would bind up her arm for a shorter period and gradually increase the length of time that she would “amputate” it. Putting on her blouse and shorts she picked up a pencil and some sheets of paper and walked toward the only square in the village. There she asked a passer-by of the way to Emeterio’s plot of land. “¿El lechero? Por ahí, señorita.” He pointed in the direction of Emeterio’s plot and Patty followed the path. She found him busy repairing the fence around the goats. Patty greeted the goatherd who invited her into his house. “Emeterio. Is it true that you’re a good carpenter?” “I’m not bad, señorita,” he replied modestly. Patty said, “I need some furniture, like this.” She sketched out a sofa and two armchairs for the living room, three chairs, one for the kitchen, another for her bedroom and the last for the “radio room” as she had gotten to think of it. She also sketched out some shelves for the kitchen and a shower stall in the back yard. “Do you think you can make these for me?”

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“Sí, señorita.” “¿Cuánto tiempo tardará?” “Aproximadamente una semana.” Patty was relieved. She had expected Emeterio to say he needed a month and here was promising to make all her furniture in about a week. She chatted with Emeterio for a while, declined a glass of fresh goat meal and walked home, taking a detour by the beach. There was a pier and about a dozen fishing boats were moored to it, most of them powered by oars but two of them had masts so they should be sailboats. A few men were mending their nets. Patty sat down on a bollard and started talking to them. She found out that mostly they caught shrimp, red snapper and barracuda. “Aren’t barracudas related to sharks?” she asked. “Yes,” came the reply. “We also have sharks here but we’re not equipped to catch them.” “Shark liver oil is as good as cod liver oil for the children. You could extract it and sell it to a refinery that would then bottle it and sell it to the public.” “How are we going to sell it anywhere? We’re isolated in this place.” “Where is the nearest fairly large port?” “Puerto Ventura is about sixteen miles away.” “Is that too far to row?” “It’s a thirty-two mile round trip. Our boats are not very large. If the waves are high we would get swamped.” “What about the sailboats? They’re larger.” “The hulls are rotten. If they left the pier they would sink as soon as the first wave hit them.” Patty nodded and stood up. While she walked home she kept turning ideas in her head. She thought that these people were honest and hard working but their isolation from the mainstream had left them with a very low degree of education. They didn’t realize that with better boats they could introduce their own shuttle service to Puerto Ventura, that shrimp were very expensive in other parts of the world, that the mohair obtained from their Angora goats could sell for a fortune or that shark-liver oil was as nutritious as cod-liver oil and that they could sell it as well as feed it to their own children so that they would grow healthier; sharks were also prized for their fins from which a delicious soup could be made. Patty decided to investigate further the characteristics and possibilities of the village. She opened a can of vegetables and a can of meatballs and heated her meal. She cleaned up using only her left hand and went to bed under the mosquito netting. The following morning she walked about the village again, looking at the various activities of the people. She passed by a house where through a window she saw a woman cooking a meal. It struck her that she had gas to fuel her small kitchen range and she wondered what they used for fuel in the village. Walking through the front yard she knocked at the door and introduced herself. The young woman, almost a girl, opened the door and asked her to come in. “Buenos días, señora,” Patty said. “Buenos días, señorita Patty,” came the answer. “¿En qué puedo servirla?”

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Patty understood that by now she was known throughout the village and didn’t bother to introduce herself. She asked, “¿Puedo hacerle una pregunta?” The woman introduced herself as Petra and suggested they go to the garden in the back where it was cooler. Patty asked about the fuel and found out that there was a peat bog to the south of the mangrove swamp. Several men went there once a week on flat-bottomed boats very similar to the pirogues she had seen on the bayou in order to dig out the peat and lay it out to dry. Other men would pick up the peat that was already dry and take it to the village where it was sold at a very cheap price. The earnings were split among the members of the peat cooperative. Patty thanked Petra and went on to the edge of the swamp. She found a man from the peat cooperative who was about to leave for the bog and asked if she might go with him. The man, whose name was Ricardo, readily acquiesced. The trip through the mangrove swamp was so beautiful that Patty thought she was in a dream. The trees arched over the boat making a natural tunnel while sunlight filtered through the leaves. The boat glided smoothly and silently over the water as Ricardo gently punted toward the peat bog. She was astonished at the aerial roots that not only fed but also supported the trees and at the richness of the animal life. Shrimp, mussels, barnacles, clams, oysters, and striped mullet were to be found in abundance. Crabs of different sorts of which she recognized the fiddler species ran wherever there was a spot of land to be found. The birds chirped in the trees. She identified the musical whistle- like sound of a trupial and saw one flying from one tree to another. The intense yellow, white and black colors of the bird fascinated her. She tried to take a photograph but trupials are very timid and they fly very fast. A spoonbill was fishing in the water Ricardo pulled her out of her reverie by asking. “Would you like to go to Punta Brava?” “What is Punta Brava?” “It’s a lovely beach and there is a reef coral running parallel to both sides of the cape. If you like we could go there first and then pick up the peat on our way back.” “Where is Punta Brava?” “To the east of the swamp, about ten minutes away.” “But the peat bog is to the west; we’d be going in the opposite direction.” “I’d be glad to take you. If you don’t take too long looking at it we could go there and lose only about half an hour. I have all morning to do my work.” Patty was thankful for the hospitality and generosity of the people in the village. “Thank you, I’d like to very much.” Ricardo turned the boat and headed for the beach. After a few minutes they left the mangrove swamp and following its edge they arrived at a sort of wide sandy cape. Palm trees covered a wide strip of the area. For the first time Patty knew what aquamarine meant; she had heard of the color but had never seen it in such intensity. Through the water she could discern the top of the coral reef and a myriad fish darting to and fro. The sky above was in- digo and the palms swayed gently in the breeze. Patty was enchanted. As soon as she got home the first thing she did was to tie up her right arm again. Next she picked up another sheet of paper and started writing a second list. The writing came out a bit crooked at first because she was writing with her left hand and she was right-handed. Slowly, to her satisfaction, it straightened out. She decided that being one-armed was not so bad after all.

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“Of course now I can untie my arm any time I want. If I have it amputated that stump is definitive. My arm won’t grow back ever again,” she thought. PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAN BENITO 1) Convince population of San Benito of benefits of tourism. Essential. 2) Aquifer probably allows waterworks. a) Geological study. b) If a. successful bring engineers and equipment. 3) Mohair industry (home). a) Spinning wheels. b) Looms. 4) Shark liver oil industry. a) Improve boats. b) Refinery. 5) Shrimp fishing industry (distinct from shark liver oil). a) Modernization of boats. i) Engines. ii) Refrigeration. 6) Courier service to Puerto Ventura. g) Find owners of sailboats. h) Repair sailboats. i) Derrick on pier. 7) Training programs for all above. a) Management and accounting techniques. b) Industrial skills. She studied the list and modified it somewhat. Patty went to the laptop and sent a message by E-mail to Andrew. She pecked it out slowly as she had only her left hand to do it with. “Dear Andrew, “This is the third day of my stay in San Benito and the end of my second day of exploring the place and it’s environs. I wish to give you my first impressions. “You’ve been here so you know the geography but you don’t speak Spanish so I have the advantage over you in this respect. Let me tell you a bit about the society. “The people are not rich but they are kind and generous. Yesterday morning I drank goat milk for the first time in my life! The goatherd who does his rounds in the morning made me a present of my first quart. The night before last I had supper at the home of one of the local ladies and the food was strictly local but very tasty; it included roast kid and some vegetables that I could not identify but I found out later that they were marine algae. They also feed on fish, shrimp, bananas, plantains and mangoes. These people are used to doing with precious little and to take advantage of things that we would disdain in our modern, com- puterized society. It’s a lesson that should not be lost on us. “Their religion, as you said, is a syncretism of Christianity, voodoo and Amerindian rites. The witch doctor (a lovely one-handed woman) called on me yesterday morning. She was very gracious but reminded me of how Anne lost her hand and asked me to respect their customs, one of which is that only local girls can have their hands removed. This is going to be the main obstacle to your plans. I shall try to win their confidence in order to change their minds. BTW the previous witch doctor (who amputated Anne’s hand) was punished, as you know, by the loss of her other hand. I’m enclosing a photograph of her. As you can tell she is a beautiful woman and she looks as if being handless has no effect on her.

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“The local economy is based on fishing (red snapper, barracuda and shrimp) from rowboats. There are sharks but they do not catch them for lack of equipment. Food comes from that and from a very sparse agriculture. Other supplies come in by boat from the nearest de- cent-sized port, Puerto Ventura, some sixteen miles away – too far to row there and back so they have to wait until some boat or the other decides to drop by with whatever is on board. I can see why you said you’d send a plane every month with supplies. This place is so far out in the boondocks they have to pump daylight out here. “A local handyman (the goatherd) does repairs and makes things with whatever materials he has at hand. He’s going to make some furniture for me and he will also set up a shower stall. He’s a good man to have around. BTW the goats here are Angora goats. How they got here I have no idea. They use them for milk and meat but I don’t think they have the vagu- est idea of their value as providers of mohair. “The main obstacle to establishing your ‘special’ tourist camp here is that the people are very conservative and they do not want to amputate outsider’s hands. I am enclosing a sketch of a plan that I believe would improve the living standards of the people here and at the same time allow the establishment of a tourist camp with a minimum of our ‘civilized’ comforts. “In order not to hurt the local people’s feelings it might be possible to set up a tourist camp separate from the village at Punta Brava (see the sketch on the right). “Your sincerely, “Patricia.” She attached the photograph of the handless witch doctor and the modified version of her plan. PLAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SAN BENITO 1) Courier service to Puerto Ventura. b) Find owners of sailboats. c) Repair sailboats. d) Derrick on pier. 2) Training programs for courier service. a) Management and accounting skills. b) Industrial skills (packaging, storage) c) Once the availability of consumer goods is improved the people will want to live in greater comfort; for this they will need greater purchasing power. This can be done by: 3) Introducing mohair industry (home). a) Spinning wheels. b) Looms. 4) Introducing shark liver oil industry. a) Improve boats. b) Refinery. c) Bottling plant 5) Improving shrimp fishing industry (distinct from shark liver oil). a) Modernization of boats b) Engines c) Refrigeration

6) Training programs for all above. a) Management and accounting techniques.

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b) Industrial skills. All the industries will increase the need for water. All the houses in the village have wells with hand pumps. This indicates the presence of an aquifer. A river flows nearby but I am not sure what the discharge will be during the dry season. 7) Aquifer probably allows waterworks. a) Geological study. If a) successful b) Bring engineers and equipment. c) Install waterworks Electrical power will be needed for at least the shark liver oil refinery and the water works as well as the tourist camp. There is a peat bog on the other side of the mangrove swamp and this is where the villagers get their fuel for cooking. Between the peat and the goat dung there should be enough fuel to run a small generating plant. 8) Install generating plant and transmission lines Once this has been achieved it should be fairly easy to: 9) Convince population of San Benito of the benefits of tourism.

After sending the E-mail message she inserted a CD-ROM into the drive and loaded a photograph that she had taken of herself a few weeks ago into an image-editing program. Working carefully she did some ES on the photograph and saved it under another name. “Looking at myself in the mirror with my arm bent up doesn’t really give me a good idea of what I’d really look like as a one-armed girl,” she thought. “This picture ought to do the job. Besides I want to lose my arm below the elbow, not above” As she got into bed with her right arm still tied up she felt herself getting wet. She smiled and fell asleep. Her dreams were of herself with her right hand missing.

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Chapter 6 - San Benito – Finding Out How the Girls are Selected The following day Patty went out to photograph the village. Everywhere she went there were girls and women with their right hand missing. A very few were missing their arm above the elbow. As she reached the outskirts she followed the river’s bank for a while and she saw two beautiful girls with stumps above the elbow, one standing on the shore and the other bathing in the river. She looked at the girl on the shore and noticed that her stump, which was very short, was gently wiggling back and forth. Patty approached her and asked, “Excuse me but I noticed that some of the women in town are missing their arms above the elbow. You are one. Why?” The girl replied, “You must know by now that a different virgin has to lose her right hand once a fortnight. It’s a sacrifice to the gods and the chosen girl may not refuse. As a form of compensation the girl may chose the level at which the amputation may take place so long as the right hand is totally missing.” Patricia thought, “Some compensation!” but kept quiet. The girl had just explained why she had seen stumps ranging from wrist disarticulations to some that just protruded from the shoulder and even some shoulder disarticulations. The girl said, “That’s my older sister in the water. She chose to have her stump a little longer than mine but still above the elbow.” Patty looked at the girl’s older sister. She was very beautiful and she was caressing her stump with her remaining hand. It was obviously an extremely sensual experience and Patty though of the previous night when she had done the ES on a picture of hers and found her genitals were getting wet with desire. She turned around and saw a third girl, this one missing her arm from the shoulder. “And who is that girl?” “That’s my younger sister. She chose not to have a right arm at all.” The three girls had lovely figures and faces, and Patty understood that no woman in the village considered herself crippled by the loss of an arm. They learned to make do with one arm and a stump of whatever length or no stump at all. It was their fate and they accepted it willingly. As a matter of fact it seemed that they were glad to be one-armed. She decided to corroborate her hypothesis. “Are you happy living with only one arm?” “Oh, yes, very much so. There are a few unfortunate women who were not lucky enough to be chosen as a sacrifice to the gods and they are very sad. You see, symmetry in a woman is considered ugly in out village. The ones who have both arms have not been able to find husbands.” The girl in the water had seen Patty talking to her sister and she came out of the water. “Good morning, Miss Patty.” Patty noticed that the girl’s stump was also gently swaying back and forth. “Good morning,” Patty answered. “I’m afraid you have the advantage over me.” The girl understood and said, “My name is Iliana and these are my sisters Nyorongoro and Isabel. We’re Leona’s sisters.” Nyorongoro waved her tiny stump and Isabel saluted by shrugging her armless shoulder. “Do you mean to tell me that there are four girls in the family and you’re all one-armed?”

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“Actually we are five one-armed sisters but the youngest one, Ramona, lost her left arm in an accident. Off course if she is selected for the sacrifice she will have to lose her right arm as well.” Just then Ramona came walking up to her sisters. Iliana affectionately put her left arm around the younger girl’s shoulders and rubbed her stump gently. She introduced Ramona to Patsy. Patty was shocked and she was intrigued because Ramona had an Asian look to her while her older sisters were distinctly of Black origin but she had found an opening for a question that had been bothering her. “How are the girls selected for the sacrifice?” “Every time a girl is reaches the age of 15 her name is entered in a register and it stays there until she is 25. The sacrifices are held on the new moon and the full moon. One week before a girl’s name is chosen randomly from the list and published. Any other girl from the village may volunteer to replace her if the chosen girl agrees. Since being one-armed is considered to be an honor and to make you more desirable as a woman no one has accepted to be replaced by another person. “On the night of the appointed date the girl is taken to a special hut. The witch doctor asks her where she wants her stump to end and then gives her a potion that puts her to sleep. When she awakes the arm is gone and the stump is exactly the length that she wanted. Her name is removed from the roster of course.” “And Ramona’s name is on the roster? Even though she has already lost her left arm?” “Yes. You see, the gods were very displeased when an arm substituted the life of a girl. A hurricane came and destroyed the village and many lives were lost. To appease them the village Council of Elders increased the frequency of the sacrifices to one every fortnight and allowed no exceptions.” This was the first time that Patty had heard anything about the Council of Elders. “Who comprises the Council of Elders?” “The Prefect is the President and only permanent member. Then there are the three oldest persons in the village. Between the four they choose the witch doctor who also becomes a member but is subject to dismissal for good cause. The witch doctor is always a one-armed woman.” “Like the previous witch doctor?” “Yes.” “And does the council set the penalty for illegal behavior by the witch doctor?” “No. The punishment is customary. It is always that the witch doctor who misbehaves loses the other arm at the same level as she lost her right arm.” “So if Isabel were to become a witch doctor who misbehaved she would have her left arm disarticulated at the shoulder?” “Exactly.” “And she would be left absolutely helpless?” “Not quite. She would be assigned a care giver and she would learn how to use her feet and teeth instead of her hand.” “And was the previous witch doctor assigned a care giver?” “Yes, my cousin Romelia who is also missing both hands.”

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“How can a handless girl be a caregiver to another handless girl? And how do you find a double amputee with the same types of amputations?” “Sharks are abundant on this coast and many people get their limbs bitten off. In this case there was no other girl with both hands missing so the Council asked for volunteers. My cousin who was already missing her right hand volunteered and she had her other hand amputated at the next sacrifice. The caregiver’s role is more one of moral support than anything else. Then both girls were trained how to do things with no hands.” “And supposing there had been no volunteers?” “Then it’s mandatory that the next sacrifice have the same type of amputations. It was my turn to lose my arm but Romelia became envious of Ifigenia (that’s the previous witch doctor’s name) and she decided she wanted to be handless too so she volunteered. I had my right arm amputated they way I wanted it on the following sacrifice.” Patty was shocked at how easily the girls in the village took to their mutilations then she remembered that crippled women were more likely to find a husband in the village than women with both arms. Ramona walked up to Patty and shyly asked, “Miss Patty, do you need a housemaid?” Patty didn’t really need a maid but the look in Ramona’s eyes made her think it over. “Why do you want a job? Ramona held up her stump and said, “If I get chosen to be sacrificed they will cut off my arm exactly like this one and I shan’t be able to work. I’d like to save a little money first.” “Very well, Ramona. Come by my house tomorrow and I’ll show you what you have to do.” Patty had other things to do so she decided not to tarry any longer. Saying goodbye to the girls she went to the Prefect’s office. He was sitting at a porch in a central garden getting away from the heat of the house. When he saw her Señor González said, “Good morning Patty. Are you getting settled in the village?” “Yes sir. I love it; the people are so friendly. Emeterio gave me my first quart of goat milk for free and Leona came to visit. I have just met her sisters and all five are lovely girls. “I’ve come to see you because I have thought up an idea about the village and I would like to have your opinion about it.” Patty talked about how the sailboats could be repaired and used as a shuttle service between San Benito and Puerto Ventura. The Prefect thought it was a good idea but there were obstacles. “To begin with the boats don’t belong to the municipality, they belong to Pablo. He inherited them from his father but he is very lazy and has let them go to waste at the pier. Then there’s the matter of materials and tools which are not available here.” “If you’ll give me a list of the materials and tools you need I can get them for you. As for the property of the boats, couldn’t the municipality buy one of them? In their decrepit state they shouldn’t be too expensive. Emeterio could probably repair them if he had the means.” “Alas! We could afford to buy the boat but we would have no money to pay Emeterio and any assistant he might need, much less for the tools and materials.” “I’m prepared to donate the tools and materials. Emeterio and any assistant he needs could probably wait for their payment until the profits from the boat start coming in.” “I don’t know. Let me consult with Leona.”

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He sent a boy to fetch Leona who promptly appeared. She sat down beside Patty and facing the Prefect. Patty and the Prefect explained to Leona their plan for a municipal shuttle to run between San Benito and Puerto Ventura. “It’s a good idea,” she said, “provided that Pablo wants to sell. “Thank you for providing the materials and tools.” Señor González said, “I think I can talk Pablo into selling. Leave that to me. I’ll also talk to Emeterio about repairing the boat and have him give me a list of the materials and tools he needs.” “When can I have it?” “You’ll have it tomorrow.” “Which one, Pablo’s acquiescence or the list?” Señor González smiled. “Both,” he said. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Patty said. To Leona she asked, “Will you be here too?” Leona answered, “No. I’m afraid there’s going to be a sacrifice tomorrow and I have to prepare the plant extracts and the leaves.” “The plant extracts and the leaves? Do you use them to promote a quick healing of the stump?” “No. I mean that the plant extracts and the leaves replace the scalpel. We do not amputate the limbs in the classical sense of the word. We apply a poultice over the part of the limb that we want removed. In eight hours the limb is gone and the stump is perfectly closed. There is no bleeding and no phantom pain.” “How fascinating. May I take photographs?” “Sorry. Professional secret. However you may take a picture of the girl day after tomorrow in the morning when she leaves the hut. I start applying the poultice at eleven o’clock after giving her a sleeping draught and by seven in the morning she comes out with her new shape.” “I’ll be there.” Patty took her leave from the Prefect and Leona and continued with her business of taking photographs of the village. Just before sunset she went home and putting her ES photograph on the kitchen table she tied up her right arm and tucked it inside the sleeve of her blouse. By now she knew that she could do the ordinary housework with only one arm and her “stump” but it suddenly struck her that she hadn’t tried to handle her camera the same way. She put her camera on the kitchen table, opened it, unloaded the film and put in a fresh roll. She changed lenses. She could do both operations with not too much trouble. “I can do this at home because I have a table to rest the camera on,” she thought, “but in the field most of the time I have to use both hands.” She held the camera up to her eye and tried to press the shutter release. First she tried by twisting her left hand around the back of the lens and reaching up with her little finger. No

C:\PATTY.doc 35/35 good. Then she tried holding the camera on top of her “stump” and holding it on top with her left hand. The stump was too long and she couldn’t see through the viewfinder. “I would need a shorter stump,” she thought. She marked the spot on her arm with a felt marker. She put the camera down on the table. She remembered reading about a Czech photographer who had lost an arm in World War I. He returned to civilian life and continued taking photographs with his view camera. She wondered how he managed to mount the camera on his tripod. But she didn’t need a tripod. That was one of the advantages of a 35 mm camera. She remembered Anne’s words, “Believe me, it wouldn’t be much of a problem. All you have to do is use your auto-everything camera and there you are.” The camera would set the focus and exposure automatically and she could frame the image with one hand but she still had to press the shutter. “This is madness,” she thought. She sat down to mull things over. If she had her right arm amputated she wouldn’t be able to take photographs any more. When she had seen Nancy and Sylvia with one hand each she had thought there was something wrong with their minds. She had thought that Anne with her two hooks had been totally mad to have both hands amputated. Now she herself wanted to be an amputee! It didn’t make sense. She took off her sweater, untied her arm and put the sweater back on properly. “It must be the multitude of women with their right arms amputated that’s getting to me,” she thought. She decided not to pretend any more for the time being. “Maybe someday I’ll be one-armed but right now I’ve got a job to do.” She sorted out her exposed rolls of films and thought the images would go bad if they weren’t developed promptly. She decided to wait until she had definite news about Pablo’s boat and she would ask for a plane to come down with the necessary parts and tools and pick up the films. For the first time in many nights Patty went to sleep with both arms free. It was a relief to wake up in the morning without her right arm stiff and hurting.

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Chapter 7 - San Benito – Patty Gets a Maid – The Shuttle Stars Running

Patty took some time to walk around the town and talk to the people. She went to see the Prefect and Señor González met her with a wide smile. “Pablo has agreed to donate one of his boats to the Municipality. I have talked to Emeterio and he is now checking it. He will have the list of what he needs by this afternoon.” Patty went home and found Ramona waiting for her. “Hello Ramona. What can I do for you?” “Good morning, Miss Patty. Do you remember that you said yesterday that I could work for you as a maid? I’ve come to see if I can still have the job.” Patty looked at Ramona and saw a beautiful girl with a very sad face. Ramona knew that she was in the roster of eligible virgins and that the odds were very great that she would become armless. Patty decided to help Ramona as much as she could. “Come in Ramona and I’ll teach you as much about housekeeping as can be done here.” “Thank you, Miss Patty! I promise I’ll do my best to learn. I’ll be the best housemaid you ever had!” Patty, who had never had a maid, smiled and said, “Yes Ramona, I’m sure you will.” Patty put her left arm around Ramona’s shoulder and pushed her gently into the house. As she did so her hand slipped down accidentally and she touched Ramona’s stump. Realizing what she had done and that Ramona did not shirk she deliberately ran her arm down the rest of the stump and cupping her hand she gently caressed the tip. “Do you like my stump, Miss Patty?” “Yes, it’s a beautiful sump.” Ramona held up her stump and looking at Patty in the eyes said, “You may touch my stump whenever you wish. I like how your hand feels on it.” “Thank you, Ramona. That’s very kind of you.” Patty squeezed Ramona’s stump and let go. She spent the rest of the morning showing the one-armed girl how to go about the household chores and was astonished at the ease with which she learned how to use a can opener with only one hand. At noon Patty cooked lunch for both of them and while they were eating she told Ramona that she would pay her thirty dollars a week. Ramona caressed Patty’s cheek with her hand and said, “You’re very generous, Miss Patty.” Patty looked at her. “Would you please do that again, but this time with your stump?” Ramona lowered her hand and leaning forward she ran the tip of her stump over Patty’s cheek. Patty felt a chill run up and down her spine and she also felt herself flushing with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. Ramona read her face well. “You like it and at the same time you don’t. Is that it?” “It’s just that at home I would not have been so forthcoming with an amputee.” “But where you live amputees must be scarce. Over here it’s a rare woman who has both arms. It doesn’t bother me at all if you touch my stump or refer to it in your speech. My only regret is that I lost my left arm to the shark instead of my right one. I would have been

C:\PATTY.doc 37/37 struck off the roster. But if I am chosen and must lose my right arm I will come and caress you with both my stumps.” Patty was shaken by how naturally Ramona took the possibility, indeed the probability, that she would become armless. Her heart bled for the poor girl’s situation. She smiled brightly and said, “Come on, let’s do the dishes.” “No. It’s my job to do the dishes. You must have a siesta and afterwards you have to go to the Prefect to get the list of materials and tools for the boat.” Patty had said nothing to Ramona about the matter of the boat and she realized how effi- ciently the grapevine worked in a small place like this. She gratefully accepted Ramona’s offer and took a nap. She got up and walked towards the Prefect’s office. He had the deed to the boat and the list that Emeterio had given him. “It’s all set. As soon as we get the materials and Emeterio repairs the boat we’ll inaugurate the shuttle to Puerto Ventura. We have to decide how frequently the run is to be made. The people will be able to buy more things than just what they can find in the neighborhood. However I have a problem with that. They will have many things available to buy but very little money to buy them with.” Patty smiled a conspiratorial smile. “Let me worry about that. Later on we’ll discuss my plans for the village. There are more raw materials here than you realize and we shall take full advantage of them.” “Señorita Patty, I think your arrival here is a blessing. I’m so glad we have you here.” Patty took Emeterio’s list back home and turned on the computer. She sent an E-mail. “Dear Andrew, “Things are going according to plan. The municipality is now the proud owner of one sailboat. What we need now is to get it running as a shuttle between San Benito and Puerto Ventura. In order to do so we need to repair it. Here is a list of the tools and materials. “I need to have all this ASAP. You have not answered to my previous E-mail which makes me think that my plan is approved.” She added the list and added some lines. “I need the plane not only to send me this but to pick up the rolls of film that I have exposed and have them developed. Please scan the prints and send them to me so that I can see what I have done and what else I have to do or redo.” “Please also send 90 qts. of full UHT milk (NOT skim, please). “Sincerely, Patricia” She sent it off and waited for an answer. It came fifteen minutes later. “Dear Patty, “I am sorry I didn’t answer your previous E-mail but we have been discussing the costs of doing everything you suggested. Refitting the fishing boats and putting engines on some of them is not cheap and neither is an electric plant which we think would have to serve not only the camp and the shark oil refinery but also the whole population for they will be sure to want power in their homes when they see it’s available near at hand. The location of the camp at Punta Brava seems logical and we could even manufacture and sell small flippers that would fit on the arm stumps of the amputees in case they wanted to extend their vaca- tion and go swimming.

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“The list you sent us seems to us rather reasonable in cost and we shall send a plane within the next two or three days with what you asked for and your milk. It will also pick up your exposed films. “We’ll discuss the rest of your plan later. “Keep up the good work. “Sincerely yours, “Andrew” Patty immediately sent off another E-mail in reply. “Dear Andrew, “Thank you for your reply. I am not an economist but I thought with a small initial investment we could give the local economy a push and then it would grow without much help from us. Yes, a power generating plant would be expensive especially the larger one you envisage. However the first step is on its way. The people will have access to a much greater variety of goods and they will want money to buy them with. “Emeterio, the goatherd, is very good at taking care of the animals. I’m sure I could get him to teach other people how to keep their own herds. When I show them what the value of mohair articles is on the market I’m sure they’ll jump at the opportunity. What we need now is shears, spinning wheels, looms, vats and dyes. We would also need somebody to teach them how to shear the goats and spin, weave and dye the products. This in itself shouldn’t be too expensive. “I’ll be waiting for the wherewithal to repair the boat. “Sincerely, “Patricia” Three days later a PBY landed on the shores of San Benito at dawn. The crew was different and Désirée and Ngambo were very disappointed. Emeterio saw the plane coming and he gathered several men to help him unload the stuff. When the plane was on the beach he was surprised to find ninety quarts of U.H.T. milk with his tools. “This must be for Señorita Patty,” he told one of his helpers. “Go and fetch a cart. Load the milk and take it to her. And tell her that her furniture is ready and I’ll deliver it this afternoon.” Patty had also heard the plane and had walked down to the beach. Emeterio had been so excited at the arrival of the new tools and the materials to fix the boat that he had not noticed her. She came up behind him and covered his eyes. “Guess who?” Emeterio smiled and said. “Miss Patty.” “How did you guess?” “How many women do you know that could cover both my eyes at the same time with both hands?” Patty blushed; she was ashamed of having a complete set of arms in a place where all the young women were at least one-handed and some were entirely missing their right arm. She tried to cover her embarrassment by hiding her right arm behind her. “You look very nice like that.”

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“Would it make you or the people here feel better if I pretended to have one arm?” “Very definitely, Miss Patty. We are not used to seeing two-armed women.” Patty found a hiding place and took off her sweater. Hastily rolling up the right sleeve she put it on with her right arm tucked inside the sweater. Emeterio gasped. “Miss Patty, you look beautiful!” Patty decided that henceforth she would go out in the street pretending that she was missing an arm. Tucking her elbow into the sleeve made her look like she had a stump but pretending she had lost her arm at the shoulder was much more comfortable. “It’s not for me, it’s for the sake of the people in the town,” she rationalized. A stiff breeze was blowing and the empty sleeve of her sweater flapped about. She couldn’t help noticing the admiring looks of the men around her. It started raining and the men hadn’t finished unloading the PBY. “Go home, Miss Patty, we’ll take care of this,” Emeterio shouted. Patty went home to find Ramona hard at work cleaning the house. Ramona was surprised at seeing that her mistress was now one-armed. “Miss Patty, how did you manage to lose your arm so quickly?” “It’s not really gone, Ramona, although sometimes I wish it were. I was just pretending and the people in the village liked it so I’m going to pretend some more.” “I’ll be glad to teach you how to do things with only one arm, although a stump would be useful.” “We can pretend either way. Since you have a stump I’ll pretend I have one too. And then. When I’m good at using just one hand I’ll learn how to do things with no stump at all.” “Miss Patty, I forgot to tell you something.” “What, Ramona? And please don’t call me Miss Patty all the time. You and I are friends so please call me just Patty.” With a gleam in her eyes Ramona answered. “Yes, ‘Just Patty. Thank you, Just Patty.’” Patty laughed and with her left hand she caressed Ramona’s stump. Ramona feeling her stump being caressed by a one-armed woman came close to Patty and kissed her in the mouth. Patty who felt almost as crippled as if she had really lost her arm responded and both girls passionately explored each other’s mouths with their tongues and each other’s bodies with their single arms. When they broke apart Ramona continued, “Patty, I forgot to tell you that two men brought a cart loaded with some cartons marked UHT milk and they also brought a message from Emeterio that he would bring the furniture this afternoon. “What is UHT milk, Patty?” “It’s milk that has been treated so that I can be stored without refrigeration for several months.” “What is refrigeration?” Patty realized how badly these people needed what the adds in the papers termed “mod cons” although electricity could hardly be termed a “modern convenience,” She decided that, although her brief was to take photographs of the area and try to convince the people that a tourist camp where outsiders could have their arms amputated not because it was

C:\PATTY.doc 40/40 required of them but because they wanted to, she would do her best to improve the local peoples’ lives. She explained what refrigeration was and the need for a power supply, be it kerosene, electricity or whatever. After she ended her explanation Patty asked, “Ramona, would you like to live here with me? When Emeterio comes this afternoon I can ask him to make another bed for you. You can sleep in my room or in the ‘radio room’ as I call it, whichever you please.” Ramona ran to Patty and embraced her. The feel of Ramona trying to embrace her with less than one-and-a-half arms filled her with joy. It had stopped raining and the two girls decided they’d walk back to the beach, deliver the films to be developed and see the plane take off. The beach was soggy and the plane’s wheels had got stuck in the mud. A group of people had tied a rope to it and they were trying to pull it back into the sea. Finally they succeeded, and the crew splashed through the water to the plane and boarded it. The plane took off and everybody went home. That afternoon Emeterio brought the furniture. There were two beds. “I thought that, since Ramona was working for you, you would want her to stay in. With all the furniture and the stuff you brought it’s going to take her quite some time to keep the house clean,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Patty thanked him, gave him a one-armed embrace and paid him. Emeterio blushed and went back to his shop to wok on the boat that Pablo had donated to the municipality. After two weeks the boat was ready and the whole of San Benito was there for the inauguration. Everybody brought something to eat or drink but the festivities started with a speech by the Prefect. “Fellow citizens. It is with great joy and thankfulness that today we inaugurate the shuttle between San Benito and Puerto Ventura. This means that we are no longer isolated and at the whim of a piratical captain who brings his steamship to our port whenever he has nothing else to do. “The shuttle will run once a week to begin with until we learn by experience how often it should be run. Pablo, who generously donated his boat to the municipality, will be in charge of sailing it back and forth. To compensate him for his time and work the Council of Elders has decided to pay him twenty-five percent of the net profits. The rest of the profits will go to the Municipality in order that we can improve our public services “From now on, if you want to buy or sell anything in Puerto Ventura you will be able to do so. Leona has designed some forms and you may come to the Prefectura with the merchan- dise you wish to sell or your purchasing orders any time before noon of the Thursday of each week so that we can organize everything by sailing time on Friday “I would be remiss if I did not mention Señorita Patty on this occasion. The shuttle was her idea and it could not have been put into effect without her help. In view of this the Council of Elders suggests that Señorita Patty be named an honorary citizen of San Benito. Although the Council has the authority to do this itself we have thought that the homage to Señorita Patty should be voted by the whole population in order to really express our love and grati- tude to her.” The whole population applauded and cheered. The Prefect continued. “I move therefore that Señorita Patty be unanimously named an honorary citizen of San Benito!”

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Everybody present raised their hands and Patty was unanimously named an honorary citizen of the village. With tears in her eyes Patty boarded the boat and faced the esplanade. She had changed her clothes that had gotten wet in the rain and had kept her right arm tucked inside her blouse. Se had bent her elbow so that a great part of her upper arm and all of her forearm were behind her. The effect, when she was seen from the front, was astounding and many people asked the person nearest to them. “When did she have her arm removed?” Patty, conscious of the effect her new way of dressing had on the population, addressed them. “First of all I want to thank you for the warm welcome with which you have received me ever since I came to your town three weeks ago. I have never met anybody as generous and open-minded as the people of San Benito. You have made me feel at home from the first moment I set foot here. I promise you that I shall do my best to see that you have as good a life as I can make it for you, not by giving you money but by giving you ideas. You have abundant raw materials but you have to learn how to exploit them within the concept of sustainable development. I have other plans that I shall discuss with the Council of Elders and it will be necessary to pay for other tools and materials. “As the Chinese proverb says, ‘If I give a man a fish he will eat today; if I can give him a fishing cane he will eat as long as he lives.’ Of course money is needed to make investments but I will not insult you by treating you as beggars. I am making a present to San Benito of everything that has been done to refurbish the boat but from now on I shall obtain for you loans at a modest interest rate so that you can have a more productive and comfortable life. “I have noticed since Emeterio started working on the boat that both the girls and the men like it better if they see me with an empty sleeve. I do not know how long I will stay with you but as long as I am here except when I’m taking photographs, for which I shall need both hands, I shall appear in public with my right sleeve empty. Sometimes I’ll have a ‘stump’ and sometimes my sleeve will be totally empty as it is now. This is my homage to you. And who knows? Perhaps someday it will really be empty. “Thank you.” The crowd went wild and carried Patty home on their shoulders. They named the boat after her. The following Friday “Patty” sailed for Puerto Ventura with Pablo at the helm.

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Chapter 8 - San Benito – Patsy Saves Ramona From A Fate Worse Than Death

Patty and Señor González were talking at the Prefectura. The Prefect said, “It’s been three weeks since the courier service started and we have two runs a week. The people are selling their mangoes and dates in Puerto Ventura and they’re buying lots of battery-operated gadgets. Señora Colmenares even bought a battery- operated TV. They are also buying many books and even furniture. With the income from the courier service we’re going to buy new books for the school. You had a brilliant idea and we could have never turned it into reality without your help. “You told me that you had further plans. May I know what they are?” “It’s very simple. Emeterio has a herd of goats and he sells the milk every day. Now these are not ordinary goats, they are Angora goats and their wool is prized the world over for it’s fine quality. To distinguish it from sheep’s wool it is called mohair. It is possible to shear the goats and spin the wool; then the wool is dyed and woven. We would need only a few spinning wheels and looms. We would need an expert at first to teach us how to do all this but I think he or she could do it in a couple of weeks. The wool could be woven into sweaters, scarves, gloves and caps. I realize that this is a tropical climate but we could export the finished articles to the United States, Canada and Europe where the winters are very cold.” “Miss Patty, you are a genius. It’s too bad you weren’t born here. This village would have advanced much more if you had.” “Possibly, and I’d really be one-armed instead of pretending,” she said showing her apparently armless right shoulder. Patty would now tuck her arm inside her shirt so that see seemed to have lost her right arm at the shoulder. Mrs. Colmenares had made a sort of cor- set for her so that her right arm was kept bent at the elbow and her forearm was strapped tightly to her waist behind her back. There was no chance of her arm moving and destroy- ing the illusion. Anybody who saw her and didn’t know would swear that she was one- armed. Patty enjoyed pretending she was an amputee and now that she could do it in public she was much relieved. Patty said, “I’ll discuss this with you later but now I must go home because Ramona is worried. There are not many girls left in the roster and she’s afraid her turn will come any time now. As she has already lost her left arm she’s afraid that she’ll be chosen and she’ll be absolutely helpless.” “Maybe a girl who has already been scratched off the roster will volunteer to lose her arm instead.” “There are no girls who have left the roster with both arms. There are only two grown women in the town and they are both over fifty-six years old. I don’t think they’ll volunteer; they’re used to having both arms and would feel badly crippled.” “All right, go and console Ramona. Goodbye and thank you again.” Patty walked home showing off her empty sleeve to all the men who passed by. They would smile and say, “Que bonita se ve usted, Señorita Patty!” When Patty got home she saw that Ramona had a visitor, a one-armed girl. She had seen the girl on the street the day before and she had both arms. “Patty, this is Tsivu. Yesterday there was a new moon and she was chosen. Doesn’t she look beautiful?” Patty extended her left hand and shook hands with the new arrival. “How do you do, Tsivu?”

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“I’m pleased to meet you, Patty. I’ve heard a lot about you. You aren’t really missing your right arm, are you?” “No, but since practically all the women in San Benito have lost an arm I decided I wanted to know what it feels like. Actually I have an idea that I’ll be one-armed before I leave San Benito.” “But you can’t lose an arm here; you’re a foreigner, you’re not a citizen of San Benito.” Ramona intervened, “Wrong, Tsivu, you forget that Patty was made an honorary citizen three weeks ago.” “Ramona, why don’t you get us three glasses of UHT milk? You have had it but Tsivu has never drunk cow’s milk. It tastes different from goat’s milk. We can have it in the living room.” “Not better or worse, but different,” she added in order not to hurt the girls’ sensibilities. Ramona went to the kitchen and entered the living room skillfully carrying a tray with three glasses full of milk with her only hand. The three girls drank their milk and Tsivu asked what UHT milk was and Patty had to explain again as she had with Ramona. After a while Tchivu thanked Patty for her hospitality and went back home wiggling her stump a little bit more than necessary so that the boys would notice that she had just had her arm amputated. After her friend left Ramona said with a worried look on her face, “That leaves three of us on the roster. The odds that I’ll have to lose my right arm are very high.” The following week the drawing was made and Ramona’s name was selected. Patty hugged her and tried to console her but the girl couldn’t stop crying. “There are two handless girl in town and I’m going to be the third! It’s not fair! The first one was punished for betraying her trust and the second one volunteered to accompany her. But I didn’t volunteer. I have to lose my right arm whether I want to or not and I’ll be helpless the rest of my life.” “Look, Ramona, any girl whether on or off the roster can volunteer to replace you. However it wouldn’t do you any good because you’d still be on the roster until you had your arm removed. I’m not on the roster and I can volunteer. I would lose my arm and you’d be safe. How’s that?” “But Patty, you don’t want to lose your right arm. We were educated to expect it but in your world being an amputee is looked at as undesirable. It would be frightful for you!” “You know something? Ever since I’ve been here seeing all these lovely one-armed girls I’ve wanted to lose an arm. This is a way to fulfill both our desires. You keep your only hand and I lose one of mine and everybody’s happy.” Ramona wiped her tears and smiled. “Yes, I’ve soon you with that empty sleeve and you look much happier than when you are at home free to use both arms. I’ve noticed that even at home you often keep your arm strapped until you go to sleep. I believe you, Patty. Thank you so much!” “It is I who should thank you. If I hadn’t met you I would have missed this wonderful opportunity!” Patty went over to speak to Leona. She explained the situation and her willingness to take Ramona’s place. Leona said, “Patty, I love you and I admire you very much but please think it over. As a photographer you need both hands to handle your camera.”

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“Look, I can tell you about three photographers who lost an arm. The first one was Jozeph Sudek, a Czech who lost his right arm in World War I. He went back to photography and somehow, I don’t really know how, he would mount his view camera on his tripod. He loaded his own film carriers and did his own developing and printing. ‘Hurry slowly’ was his motto. Of course he had to do things slowly. A view camera is a cumbersome thing to handle and with only one arm he couldn’t do it fast. “Mark Leighton worked for UPI. He used a Nikon FM (I use FM2s) and his colleagues tell of how he would reload his camera on the run. “Elliot Lumsen took photographs of Murray Harbor, Prince Edward Island and he was known as a great photographer. “So if these people could carry on with their careers after they had an arm amputated I can’t see why I shouldn’t be able to do the same.” “Very well, Patty. The other girls shouldn’t volunteer because the one who did would have both arms amputated: once for Ramona and a second time for herself. Just the same I’ll ask them nicely not to volunteer. Since you’re not in the roster you’ll lose only your right arm.” Leona stood up and caressed Patty on the cheek with her stump. Patty twisted her head and kissed Leona’s stump. “Thank you, Leona. You don’t know what this means to me.” “I can well imagine what it means to Ramona to know that she’s not going to be armless. The next full moon is in a week’s time. I’ll expect you at the hut at six o’clock in the evening.” Patty spent the next few days working on the details of the mohair project. On the appointed day she showed up at the hut were the removal of the girls’ arms was done. She expected a full-fledged operating room but when she entered the building she saw it was a primitive hut with a dirt floor and a sort of bed with an armrest sticking out on the right. In a corner were two bottles full of liquids of different colors and a large bucket full of a whitish paste. Leona was waiting for her. “Ready, Patty?” she asked. ‘Ready and willing.” “OK. Let me explain the procedure. First you tell me where you want you arm amputated. Then you lie on the bed with your arm on the armrest. I’ll give you a potion that will put you to sleep. While you’re asleep I’ll apply this poultice in the bucket so that it covers the part you want to lose. It absorbs all protoplasm in touch with it. When you wake up in the morning you will have exactly the stump that you wished. “It’s a shock to some girls to wake up with a part of their body missing so I will then give you another potion that will tranquilize you and you can walk home feeling for the first time how it feels to be really one-armed. “Did I make myself clear?” “Quite clear. When do we start?” “Right now if you wish. Where do you want your arm removed? Remember it has to be at least at the wrist.” Leona took out a cotton swab from a container, dipped it in iodine and gave it to Patty. She said, “Mark a circle around your arm where you want the stump to end.”

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Patty took the swab in her left hand and drew a circle around her right forearm approxi- mately the distal third between the wrist and the elbow. “Are you sure you don’t want it any longer or any shorter? You looked gorgeous when you looked like you were missing your arm from the shoulder.” “I would really like to lose the whole arm, Leona, but I’m afraid I’m going to need a stump if I want to handle my cameras.” “Very well, then please lie down on the bed with your arm extended to your right.” Patty lay down and Leona gave her a drink from a bottle. She held up Patty’s head with her stump while holding the bottle with her left hand. Patty felt fast asleep. When she woke up it was daylight. She looked up at Leona who had a wide smile on her face. “Is it done?” “Yes. Don’t look down yet, I’ll give you the tranquilizer now.” Leona grabbed Patty’s left hand and pulled her up to a sitting position. Picking up a second bottle she said, “All right. Drink this and then take a look.” Patty looked down and saw herself for the first time as a really one-armed girl. “It’s gone, my hand is gone forever,” she thought. “I’m crippled for life.” She bent her elbow and watched in fascination as the stump moved up and down. She kept her elbow bent and looked down at the front end of what remained of her forearm. “People with both hands can’t do this,” she thought. “It’s a lovely stump! Thank you, Leona!” “‘We aim to please’ is our motto. We can’t shake hands with our right arms but would you like to shake stumps?” The two girls laughed, placed their stumps tip to tip and pumped them up and down. Leona helped Patty up and said. “Off you go! Go home now and try to do everything you normally did with two hands.” “It shouldn’t be too difficult. Don’t forget I’ve been pretending to be one-armed for nearly a month now and a lot of the time I didn’t have a stump to help me. I was doing everything with strictly one arm.” The girls kissed each other on the cheek and Patty walked home. Remembering Tsivu she wiggled her stump at every step. The boys and men looked at her and said. “Señorita, es usted la manca más bella del mundo. ¡Y ahora si, de verdad!” Patty was flattered and waved at the fellows with her stump. She realized that the sun had just risen over the horizon. This was a new day, the first day of her new life. The effect of the tranquilizer was wearing off. Patty sat down at the kitchen table, laid the stump of her arm on it and looked at her incomplete arm. Resting her head on her remaining hand she pondered what she had just done. She looked at her stump and felt as if she were in a dream. Her hand was gone and she would be one-armed for the rest of her life. She said to herself. “I can see a part of the table under my hand, I shouldn’t be seeing it but it’s there.” The empty space beyond her stump frightened her. She had a sense of loss

C:\PATTY.doc 46/46 and dread at what the future might bring. How much would she be able to do for herself? How many things would she have to forego doing? “One the one hand,” she thought, “Ramona is now safe from losing both arms and I have managed to quiet that strange desire to be an amputee. On the other hand - what am I saying? There is no other hand! But if there were I wouldn’t find it very difficult to handle my cameras. But remember, Patty, what you said about Sudek and the others. You’ll just have to learn how to take photographs with one hand and a stump.” She reached for a camera with her right arm forgetting that it had no hand. “Silly me! I guess it’ll take me some time to get used to be an amputee.” She reached out with her left hand and put the strap around her neck. Holding the camera with her left hand she placed her stump under the lens and tried to focus it. She was clumsy and she overshot her focus. Trying again she managed to bring the image into focus. Mov- ing her stump to the top of the camera she tried to press the shutter button. After a few tries she succeeded in taking the picture but by then the camera had moved and she had taken a picture that was different from what she had seen in the viewfinder. She tried to wind the film forward to the next frame. The lever was flush with the back of the body. Try as she might she couldn’t pull it backwards with the stump. She looked in her gadget back and pulled out a motor winder. Putting both the winder and the camera on the table she attached the winder to the bottom of the camera and set the switch to “On.” The film advanced to the next frame. Patty realized that setting the aperture and the shutter speed were going to be very difficult, one hand had to hold the camera to her eye while she moved the aperture ring or the shutter speed dial with the other. There was no other. She thought that with a hook she might be able to do some of these things but she doubted it. Anne was right, she was going to need an automatic-everything camera: automatic focus, automatic exposure, automatic film advance. She knew right then that if she lost her other hand she wouldn’t be able to use any camera, no matter how automatic it might be. She shuddered at the thought of changing a roll of film with no hands as she remembered Anne with two hooks where her hands should have been. She went to the radio and switched it on. “Mother hen, mother hen, this baby chick calling. Come in mother hen. Over.” The answer came immediately, “Baby chick, this is mother hen. How are you, Patty? Over.” She recognized Andrew’s voice. “Not so good. I think I did something foolish and I need some help. Over.” “How foolish and how can we help? Over.” “To answer your second question first, can you send me a Nikon F-100 with a 24-200 mm zoom? Over.” “I thought you didn’t like automatic cameras and zooms. Over.” “Well, you see, I need them because I did this silly thing and now it’s very difficult for me to handle manual cameras. Over.” Andrew sounded shocked over the radio. “Patty, did you hurt one of your hands? Over.” Andrew already had an inkling of what was wrong but he refused to accept it. “A bit more than that, Andrew. I had my right hand amputated last night. I did it legally because I am now an honorary citizen of San Benito. I tried to handle my camera this morning and I couldn’t. Oh, Andrew, I’m so sorry! I did it to keep a one-armed girl from losing her

C:\PATTY.doc 47/47 other arm and it doesn’t jeopardize the project, it really doesn’t, but I’m crippled and I can’t handle my manual camera. Over” “Patty, I want you to sit tight. Don’t do anything but eat and sleep until I get there. I’ll be there tomorrow to pick you up. We’ll go back to the home office and discuss things there with Anne and Nancy. Now please don’t do anything sillier than what you have done. Don’t go around losing your other hand or a leg. Over.” “No Andrew, I shan’t. I’ll be expecting you tomorrow. This is baby chicken out.” Patty put down the microphone and went to the kitchen. She realized that she was hungry and she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the previous day. She decided to make some coffee and pulled out the percolator. Holding the bottom half between the stump of her arm and her body she unscrewed the top with her left hand. “How clever of me!” she thought. She felt happy that she was beginning to get used to her one-handed condition. At that point Ramona came in and saw Patty’s stump. She ran and embraced her. “Thank you, Patty, thank you so much! You have no idea of what it means to me!” Patty ran her stump over Ramona’s hair. “It’s alright, dear. I didn’t know what I was getting into but now that I’ve lost a hand I dread the thought of losing the other. I’m so glad I could help!” “I love you Patty. You’ve been like a big sister to me and you’ve taught me so much.” “I love you too, Ramona and I’ll be glad to help you whenever I can.” Just then Ramona noticed that Patty was about to put coffee in the percolator. “You shouldn’t be doing that! You need to rest. Sit down and I’ll prepare the coffee.” Patty admitted that she was still a bit under the weather due to the shock of finding herself one-armed and sat down in one of the kitchen chairs, thanking God for Emeterio and his skills. Ramona finished preparing the coffee, warmed some milk and brought two large breakfast cups to the table. She said, “I know I shouldn’t be drinking your precious UHT milk but right now I want to be a while with you. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” Talk they did and Patty learned a lot from Ramona on the psychology of the one-armed person and of the different emotional periods through which he or she went until they finally adjusted. She remembered a story by Kipling about an American couple that went to live in England where the woman’s ancestors came from. The family motto was “Wait awhile, wait awhile.” She would have to learn to wait until she adjusted to her new condition. After a while she told Ramona that she wanted to take a walk. “Do you want me to go with you?” “Thank you Ramona but no. You’ve taught me a lot today but now I want it to settle down. I need to be alone with my thoughts.” Ramona understood. She stood on tiptoe and kissed her on the cheek.

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Patty walked over to the edge of the mangrove swamp and asked Ricardo to take her to Punta Brava. The slow, gentle trip through the mangrove swamp with the dappled light fil- tering through the leaves and the musical sounds of the water rippling as the boat went by and of the songbirds up in the trees soothed her. She asked Ricardo to pick her up in a couple of hours and walked along the beach. After a while she sat down on the white sand and became immersed in her thoughts.

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Chapter 9 – Stranded in Punta Brava

Patty sat on the sand for a while, absentmindedly caressing her stump. “I’ve really got myself in a bind but I couldn’t let Ramona be armless. My arm for hers was a good trade because I would have never forgiven myself for letting her being helpless for life. But how am I going to take photographs now? I’ll have to read up on Sudek and the others. Oh, well. I’d better get back home and pack up. Andrew is picking me up tomorrow and I have to be ready.” She got up and walked to where Ricardo was going to pick up her with his boat. “Ricardo, did I do well in losing my arm?” “That’s for you to decide, Miss Patty. We’re all grateful that you saved Ramona from being armless. She’s a nice kid and it was such bad luck that a shark bit off her left arm. But will you be able to take photographs with only one arm?” “Other people have done it so I guess I too will have to learn how to handle my camera with one hand.” Patty remembered an article she had read in a photography magazine about a one-handed photographer who had made an attachment for his camera. It consisted of a wooden handle attached to a thin board the size of the base of his camera. A hole in the board allowed a long tripod screw to go through. The whole shebang was screwed into the camera’s tripod hole and he held the camera with his hook by the wooden handle. This meant that she had to use a hook and Patty would much rather do with her single hand aided by the stump whenever necessary. She decided to ask Andrew when he arrived. They reached the shore of the swamp. Patty thanked Ricardo and walked home. When she got there she started packing for the trip back to Adventure Travel’s headquarters. Ramona helped her fold the clothes so they would fit in the suitcase. Ramona asked, “Will you be gone for a long time?” “I don’t know. Maybe this will cost me my job. I might get paid for the month I’ve stayed here but my contract was for three months. Maybe Andrew and Anne will be angry with me because I can’t take photographs any more. At any rate, I’ll E-mail you as soon as I know something definite. You do remember how to operate the computer, don’t you?” “Yes, Patty. You are a very good teacher. When Andrew arrives I’ll be there with you so he can see that you didn’t make up the story about saving a one-armed girl from being armless. When he sees my stump he’ll be convinced and he’ll let you get on with what you came here to do. “Aren’t there any fixtures that could replace your hand, Patty?” “Yes, there are but they are uncomfortable and not very efficient. I’d rather do without them if I can.” “I hope you return soon Patty.” Patty put her stump around Ramona’s shoulders and caressed her cheek with it. “I hope to be back soon, too, Ramona. I love this place.” “If you get fired you could always come here. We’ll always have a place for you.” Tears came to Patty’s eyes at the thought of leaving San Benito. She felt at home here as she had never felt before. Yes, it was primitive. Yes, it was isolated. And yes, the people had made her more welcome here than anywhere else. They had taught her lessons in tol- erance and hospitality that she would have never learned anywhere else.

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The packing was done and the morning was not yet over. Ramona suggested, “Let’s go for a swim.” Patty thought it would take her mind off her troubles and agreed. They walked to the beach. Patty had put on a bikini but Ramona had gone in her street clothes. She simply stripped in the open air, waded in and shouted to Patty. “Come on in! The water’s fine! We don’t wear swimming suits in San Benito. Take yours off!” Patty was used to swimming topless but she didn’t really feel like skinny-dipping. She removed her top and waded in after Ramona. She thought better of removing her top and tried to put it on again. She couldn’t hold the right hand strap to pull it toward the left hand one. “Ramona, please come here and help me!” Ramona waded towards Patty and using her right arm and Patty’s left they managed to hook the ends of the straps together. “Prude!” said Ramona. Ramona splashed Patty with water and Patty responded. Both girls screamed at the touch of the cold water. Ramona said, “If you plunge right in the shock isn’t so great.” Both girls plunged in. Ramona was used to swimming with one arm but Patty wasn’t. She tried to do the crawl and found that she couldn’t swim in a straight line. The force of the stump of her right arm didn’t balance the force of her left hand and she found she was swimming in a broad circle to the right. Her course took her away from the shore and she got caught in a strong current. Patty was not used to swimming in the sea but she had swum in rivers, she knew that it was useless to struggle against the current. The technique was to enter the water upstream from your final destination across the river and then swim diagonally towards it. Ramona saw her being carried away by the undertow and screamed. Patty heard her but she was too busy to answer. She knew Ramona would call for help. She could see Punta Brava ahead of her and to her left and she headed in that direction just by kicking with her legs. She dared not use her left hand for fear it would pull her away from the land. After about half an hour Patty saw the sands of Punta Brava. She treaded water and felt the bottom under her feet. Exhausted she crawled on to the beach and lay down to rest. She said to herself, “Don’t stay here too long, or you’ll get sunstroke.” After a while she stood up and went under the shade of a palm tree. She had swallowed some salt water and she was thirsty. Suddenly she heard a thud behind her – a coconut had fallen from a tree. It struck her that is she could open the coconut the water within would quench her thirst. Patty picked up the coconut and tried to break it open by banging it against a stone. With only one arm to do it the effort was useless. She picked up a stone with a sharp edge and tried to cut it open. The coconut rolled away from her. She held the coconut with the stump of her arm and tried again. The incision was about one-sixteenth of an inch deep. “At this rate I’ll never get it open,” she thought. She heard the thud of another coconut falling and it gave her an idea. She placed both coconuts under the tree as close to under where the tree’s coconuts were placed and waited. Ten minutes later her patience was rewarded. A third coconut fell on one of the coconuts she had placed on the ground and both split apart. Patty picked one up and let the fresh

C:\PATTY.doc 51/51 water inside pour down her mouth. The juice had a rather sweetish taste to it but she felt a lot better. Now that she was no longer thirsty Patty started to think about returning to San Benito. Swimming back was out of the question. Even with both hands she would have been unable to swim against the current. She could try to walk back to San Benito but the mangrove swap was in the way. The third alternative was to wait. She had heard Ramona scream and was sure that search and rescue parties were on the way. She decided that waiting was the best alternative. Putting the two cracked coconuts at her feet she sat down in the shade of a palm tree that grew on a hummock so that she was a little bit above sea level and she had a better view of the horizon. It was lunchtime and she was hungry. Reaching for one of the coconuts and holding it against her body with her stump she scraped out some of the pulp with her left hand and ate it. Lifting the coconut she drank some more of the juice. She thought, “A coconut can be a meal in itself.” She felt sleepy after eating but she didn’t want to miss sighting one of the rowboats or Pablo’s sail so she decided to go into the ocean for a dip to wake her up. She had waded for a few yards when she looked up and there was a sail in sight. She recognized “Patty.” She ran back to the beach and took of the top of her Bikini to use as a flag. Although she knew it was useless because the wind would carry her voice away from them she shouted with all her might. The boat tacked and headed for the shore. It dropped anchor and two men got into the din- ghy. They were Pablo and Ricardo. Patty looked at the two men and with womanly wile compared them. She decided that she liked Pablo the better. His once flaccid body was now firm from his work as a sailor and his muscles bulged. His suntan combined with his original color gave him a bronze sheen that was most attractive. Moreover she had turned him from a lazy lout into a businessman who was active in the social work of the village. She ran toward the men and putting both her complete and her maimed arm around Pablo she raised her face and kissed him on the lips. Pablo was grateful to Patty because her ideas had given him a new lease in life and he admired her because she had lost her arm in order to save Ramona from a life of helplessness. Pablo responded and soon their tongues were exploring each other’s mouth while she clung tightly to him. Holding him by the waist with her good arm she caressed him with her stump. Pablo was only human as she could very well feel when their loins met under their clothes. “We were so worried about you, Patty. Ramona came and told us that the current had carried you away. All the fishing boats are out looking for you in the gulf between San Benito and Punta Brava and I came here because with a sailboat it’s easier to go back against the current.” Ricardo looked a little crestfallen but he realized that Pablo had the advantage over him and he was a good loser. Patty noticed. She let go of Pablo and put her good arm around Ri- cardo’s shoulders. “Thank you for coming to save me,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek. He blushed. “No hay de que, Señorita Patty,” he answered. “We were all very worried about you when Ramona came to tell us what had happened.”

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Pablo said, “Ricardo climbed up on the mast to be on the look-out for you while I handled the boat. It was he who saw you first and alerted me.” Patty kissed Ricardo on the cheek again and again he blushed. She said, “Well, are you guys going to keep me kidnapped on this beach or are you going to take me to San Benito?”

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Chapter 10 – Supper with Mrs. Colmenares

The whole population was out anxiously waiting to see if Patty had been rescued. When the sailboat arrived as many as could fit crowded on the pier. Pablo and Ricardo smiled proudly as the people cheered when they saw that Patty was on board. They helped her down and carried her to her house. Mrs. Colmenares fluttered around her like a mother hen around its chicks. “My poor girl, you must be exhausted. You lost your hand last night and now this! Now lie down for a while and I’ll prepare some supper for you. You’re in no shape to cook for yourself right now.” Ramona protested, “But I can cook for her, I know what she likes and besides she has American food in the larder.” Patty intervened. She liked the food Andrew had left for her but she also liked the Creole cooking and she knew Mrs. Colmenares was an excellent cook. She said, “Mrs. Colmenares, would it be all right if Ramona went to help you cook while I rest a while?” Ramona realized that Mrs. Colmenares was alto entitled to pamper Patty and willingly agreed. The two women went off with a common mission. Patty took a shower. Emeterio had installed a water tank on the roof of the house and while it was still necessary to pump the water up by hand it was a real luxury. Besides the tank Emeterio had built a real bathroom and Patty now had some of the ‘mod cons’ she had written about. It still felt odd to have one hand missing and she had an unreal sensation when she looked at her truncated arm. She placed her stump under the water expecting to feel the temperature with her hand. The water didn’t fall on it and she grinned. “Silly me,” she said to herself. Pushing her stump forward she felt that the water was at the proper temperature for taking a shower. Sometimes around noon the water was too hot because the tropical sun had fallen on it all morning long. She soaped herself using her left hand to wash her left armpit then she brushed herself all over her body. After she was fully lathered she stepped under the water again and rinsed her body. She didn’t find it as difficult as she expected and then she remembered that she had been practicing doing things with one arm for a month. After resting for a while Patty got dressed and walked over to Mrs. Colmenares’s home. She found that the lady and Ramona had cooked a delicious supper of chicken with rice pilaf and there was a glass of mango juice for each one of them. “You shouldn’t have troubled yourself so much, ma’am. I appreciate no end your pampering me but I hate to put you to so much trouble.” “Nonsense, Patty. You’re more than welcome. My home is always open to my favorite citizen of San Benito.” “Es usted muy amable, señora.” With that they sat down to eat. Ramona tore with gusto into the chicken and the two older women watched her with delight. Mrs. Colmenares said, “She’s going to grow into a big, husky girl.” “I hope she doesn’t lose her lovely figure,” Patty replied. Ramona smiled and said, “No chance of me getting fat. Patty keeps me working too hard.” “Now Ramona, you know that’s not true.” Mrs. Colmenares admonished.

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“It’s not just the physical work. She makes me study a lot. I can use her computer now!” Mrs. Colmenares looked at Patty inquiringly. “It’s true. Ramona is a very smart girl and apart from what she learns at school I’m teaching her other things.” “Such as?” “World geography, history, literature, mathematics.” Looking at Ramona she added, “And I’ll have to teach her table manners, I suppose.” Mrs. Colmenares said, “The curriculum at the school is not very complete. Now that the municipality has more money I hope the teaching will improve.” “Mr. González told me that they are going to buy some more books for the library but that’s not enough. The teachers are willing but they are short on knowledge. Actually the kids learn the 3 R’s and little more. I should like to bring some teachers and laboratory materials but that will have to wait until the economy improves. “I told the Prefect that I would donate the tools and materials to get Pablo’s sailing boat repaired because San Benito needed a push to its economy and the situation has improved indeed. From now on I’ll arrange for low-interest loans that will have to be repaid. I don’t believe in populist governments that drive their countries bankrupt because they try to satisfy all the people’s needs. I think that people should learn to be independent. The population of San Benito has demonstrated that they are self-reliant and I very much want them to stay that way. They just have to learn a little about economics, that’s all.” “Thank you Patty. You’re a kind and intelligent woman.” The meal over, Patty and Ramona thanked Mrs. Colmenares for her hospitality and went home with Ramona’s stump tucked under Patty’s. “Good night, Ramona, and thank you for cooking that lovely meal.” Ramona blushed with pleasure. “Did you like it Patty?” Patty pulled Ramona toward her and embraced her with her good arm. “It was delicious, Ramona. You’re an excellent cook.” “I try to do my best, especially for you. I love you, Patty.” Patty smiled and patted Ramona’s cheek with her hand. “Thank you. I love you too, Ramona. Good night. I have a long trip ahead of me tomorrow.” “Good night, Patty.” Both girls slept the sleep of the blessed. * * * Patty and Ramona woke up to the roar of the PBY as it circled the village prior to landing. “Jeepers, Ramona, we overslept!” “Yesterday was a long, hard day, Patty.” Both girls quickly showered and went to the beach just in time to see the plane lower its wheels and roll onto the sand.

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No sooner had the plain stopped than Andrew hit the ground. Behind him Nancy and Sylvia climbed down more slowly. Patty was shocked to see that both of them were wearing two hooks. Nancy came in with her passport in her hook. Patty laughed and said, “There’s no immigra- tion office here, Nancy. You can come and go as you please.” Nancy put her passport away and put her artificial arms around Patty saying, “We’re both more crippled than we were last time we saw each other.” “But why? You seemed so happy with one hook. Why do you have two now?” “Peer pressure, my dear. There are no women left back home with a complete body. If you’re simply missing a hand you’re nobody. Businesses have been requesting, nay, de- manding, that all their higher executive women be missing at least one complete limb or parts of two. “You have no idea of the amount of one-armed and one-legged or armless or legless women to be found. Voluntary amputations are now legal back home and all the women are taking the opportunity of getting themselves chopped up in pieces, myself included. Now I have no hands, just these lovely hooks. “My sister Marge had both legs amputated and she absolutely refuses to use a wheel chair, much less artificial legs. It’s quite a sight to see her swinging her body between her arms wherever she goes. She has the sexiest stumps and she’s proud to show them off wherever she goes. Sometimes I wish I had lost both legs instead of both hands.” “But what will that do to the project? I mean, if anyone can have their limbs amputated back home then our project is in trouble.” “Not in the least. Don’t forget we cater to very rich people. Amputations are still performed either by the classical method with scalpel and catgut or by laser ray. In either case they are painful and it takes about a month to recuperate. In San Benito the amputations are painless and you’re ready to go after one night. Besides it’s a romantic tropical setting. We have all the advantage over the surgeons and their ‘modern techniques.’” “And what about you, Sylvia? You’re not an executive.” “I am now. Nancy was so happy with the way I did things that she offered me a partnership in the agency. I decided to emulate her. People wouldn’t do business with me because I was only missing one hand, so here I am.” Patty shuddered. “I think I’ll stay in San Benito. I don’t want to be handless; I’d rather stay away from home.” “You don’t have to be handless, all you have to do is lose a leg or have your arm re- amputated at the shoulder or with a very short stump. I think you’d look beautiful with one leg and an ebony crutch. They’re very slim you know because the wood is very strong and the black would make a lovely contrast with your fair complexion.” Andrew said, “Look, leave Patty alone. She has just lost her hand (and a part of the forearm, I see), she’s in no shape now to discuss further amputations of her limbs. By the way, who is the young lady with you?” Patty introduced Ramona and told the whole story of how she had given up her hand in order to save Ramona from being armless. “It’s all true, señor, see how the shark bit off my left arm? And they were going to cut off my right arm and Patty said they could cut hers off instead and she saved me from being armless and I’m ever so grateful to her and please don’t be angry with her.”

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Ramona had said it all in one breath and there was no doubting her sincerity or her truth- fulness. Andrew drew her to him and placing his hand on her shoulders he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Ramona. I’m not angry with Patty and I shall definitely not scold her. She is a brave woman and I’m glad to see that you’re grateful to her. But the loss of Patty’s hand has changed things a bit and we must go and home and discuss things calmly. Patty will be back as soon as we get things back in order.” Ramona broke loose from Andrew and went to Patty’s side. “You will come back, won’t you?” “Of course, darling, as soon as I can. We have many things left to do here.” She hugged Ramona very tightly and released her. Tears were falling down Ramona’s cheeks. “I’ll miss you.” “I’ll miss you too.” Patty touched her lips with her fingertips and then placed them on Ramona’s cheek. She then kissed Mrs. Colmenares and embraced the Prefect. “Come back soon, Patty. We need you,” he said. Patty nodded and wiped a tear. Pablo and Ricardo stood off to one side. They were silent but the sorrow at her departure showed in their faces. Patty went to them. “Thank you for saving me.” Pablo said, “It was our duty, our pleasure, and our honor.” Ricardo added, “Just don’t scare us like that again, please.” Patty smiled and kissed each man on the cheek but Pablo’s kiss lasted just a second longer. The three women and Andrew boarded the plane. The pilot had kept the engines running and wasted no time. The three women waved goodbye from the windows as the plane took off. Patty wondered what lay in her future. She felt homesick as she watched the shores of San Benito disappear over the horizon.

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Chapter 11 – Back at the Home Office

The Catalina landed in Houston and they boarded a commercial airliner back to the city where the home office of Adventure Travel was located. Patty was surprised when the car did not head for downtown but instead was being driven to the outskirts. Andrew noticed the expression of puzzlement in her face and said, “We’re going to my home. Anne will be waiting for us there.” The car turned off the street and went up a long driveway. A luxurious house was to be seen. When they reached it they saw Anne waiting for them in the porch. She was wearing myoelectric hooks. The chauffeur opened the rear door and Andrew got off the jump seat. He stepped down and gallantly offered his hand to help the ladies down. Patty was nearest the door and she hesitated for a moment wondering whether she should offer her hand or her stump. Her stump was nearer Andrew and she proffered it. Andrew took it and with no change in his expression he helped her out of the car. Patty noticed that he held on to her stump just a bit more than was necessary to help her out. She gave Andrew a sweet smile and moved forward to make room for Anne and Sylvia to exit the car. Anne came forward and embraced her with her hooks. “I’m so sorry you lost your hand,” she said but the glint in her eyes told Patty that Anne was not really sorry, that in fact she was glad. Patty wondered how it had been possible to make amputations in women trendy. Still, if it was necessary for a woman to lose at least parts of two limbs or one complete limb she decided she would lose a leg. Her incomplete arm was as much as she could afford if she wanted to make a living in photography. Anne continued, “I heard that you lost your hand willingly. How did you manage it? They threw me out of San Benito for losing my right hand there.” “It wasn’t really a voluntary amputation. It was more a case of losing my hand or letting a girl become armless.” Patty proceeded to tell Anne about Ramona’s predicament. In the meantime the rest of the group had entered the house and Patty’s bags had been taken to a guest room. Anne excused herself while she went upstairs and changed into, “Something more comfortable.” When she came down she had removed her hooks and changed into a tight button-up dress with long sleeves that just barely showed the tips of her stumps. She ordered the butler to serve tea and made a show of pouring by holding the teapot’s handle with her bare stumps. “One lump or two?” she asked Patty. “Two, please.” Holding the tongs with her stumps Anne placed two lumps of sugar in Patty’s cup. “Lemon or cream?” Patty really preferred cream with her tea but she got bloody-minded. She wanted to see how Anne would handle the lemon. “Lemon, please.” There were slices of lemon on a plate by the teapot. Anne picked one up with her stumps, squeezed the juice into Patty’s tea and put the slice aside. After wiping her stumps on a napkin that had been placed there for the purpose she picked up a spoon and put it on the saucer. Then she picked up the cup and saucer holding the saucer by the edges between her stumps and passed it to Patty.

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“There you are, my dear.” Patty had to confess that Anne had managed her handless condition superbly. She picked up the cup and saucer with her left hand and laid it gently on the table. Anne served tea for everybody else. “I must congratulate you on the way you’ve learned to handle your stumps,” Patty said. “One must learn how, you know. I got lost in a rainstorm two weeks ago and fell into a puddle. My hooks got all dirty and one of them broke. I had to send them out for repair and I was without them for all of the two weeks. I just got them back this morning. You may have noticed that they’re not the body-powered hooks that I was using when we met. These are myoelectric which means that…” Patty interrupted, ”I know what myoelectric means.” She was getting a bit fed up with the way Anne was showing off her stumps. Anne was feeling superior because she had lost both hands while Patty had lost only one. Andrew discreetly broke in. “Patty, we have to discuss the future of the project. When we’re finished with tea I’d like to talk to you in my office.” “Yes, of course, Andrew.” Everybody complimented Anne on the quality of her tea, her scones and her strawberry preserve. “I prepared the scones and the strawberry preserve myself. Of course I did have my hooks at the time,” she said modestly. “I put them in the freezer for an occasion such as this.” Patty and Andrew went to his office. He asked, “How do you feel?” “Odd. I never thought I’d lose a part of my right arm. It doesn’t hurt at all you know, it’s just not there.” “How handicapped do you feel?” “Not very. To tell you the truth I had already been pretending for some time before it happened. Sometimes I pretended I had lost my arm at the elbow and at other times I pretended it was gone from the shoulder. The people loved it when I went out in the street with my right sleeve hanging empty from my shoulder. One of the ladies even made me a sort of strap that I could wear so my arm wouldn’t move and give away that I was not really one- armed.” “And you liked it?” “I liked it at the moment but even though I enjoyed it I knew that any moment I found it too inconvenient I could revert to my normal able-bodied condition.” Leaning forward on the desk so that Andrew could see her stump she added. “But this is ir- reversible. My hand and half of my forearm are gone and I’ll never have them back again. I’m not sure yet whether I like being an amputee; I’m not like Anne and Sylvia and all those women I saw before I left for San Benito who deliberately had their arms and legs amputated just for kicks.” “But all the women in San Benito have had their right arm amputated. You must have stuck out like a sore thumb.” “They accepted me as I was when my body was whole and they accept me now. Their women have to be one-armed by tradition but they don’t demand that outsiders lose an arm. As a matter of fact they resent it; witness Anne’s case.”

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“I don’t understand. You say they resent outside women having their arms amputated in San Benito but yet you had yours amputated there.” “I’m no longer an outsider; I’m an honorary citizen of San Benito and that is why I was allowed to volunteer to have my arm amputated in order to save Ramona from being armless.” Andrew whistled softly. “Your act was very noble and selfless. Actually you remind me of Sydney Carton and I admire you immeasurably. However I’d like to ask you a question: Whose side are you on? Ours or theirs?” “I don’t really know. I would like to set up the tourist facility but on the other hand I don’t want the people spoiled by our so-called ‘civilization.’ You have no idea how charming they are. If they become commercialized they will start thinking of themselves instead of other people but I would like to raise their standard of living.” “You sent a pretty detailed plan for the improvement of the fishing boats, the establishment of a shark liver oil industry, the introduction of looms so they could weave mohair products, the installation of an electric plant and I forget what else.” “Yes, and I’m rather sorry now that I sent it. I didn’t know the place so well when I did.” “Well, a plan comes to mind that might help the interests of both Adventure Travel and San Benito.” “And that is?” “You remember you sent us a plan of the area. If you could talk the people of San Benito into leasing Punta Brava to us we would leave them alone. We could build a runway extending out into the sea and a small maintenance facility for the Catalinas. It would be a very short trip to some rustic huts where our guests would be lodged. We could install a small electric plant because we need a stove and refrigeration at least for the kitchen. The huts will use kerosene lighting and we’ll install a very well designed latrine in each hut. The tourists will be isolated from the village that way.” “That’s fine for Adventure Travel but the village will not benefit except for the money they perceive for the lease. I want them to have something more.” “You drive a hard bargain. What more do you want?” ‘The shears, spinning wheels, looms and personnel to train the people in the village to breed the Angora goats and make mohair goods. I don’t want you or Adventure Travel to donate all this but there are no banks in San Benito so I will ask you to finance the purchase of the utensils and the payment of the personnel at a reasonable rate of interest. If they do lease Punta Brava to Adventure Travel they’ll be able to repay the loan in a very short time. Even if they don’t they’ll still have the proceeds from the mohair industry. They’re an honest people and they will repay you; of that I’m sure.” “So you want them to have a mohair cottage industry whether we succeed or not?” “Yes. I’m trying to be on both sides in solving this problem. I told you I don’t really know whose side I’m on but right now I tend to side with San Benito. Besides, you owe me a hand and this is the payment I want for being one-armed for the rest of my life.” Andrew thought that this was a truly selfless woman. She could have asked for millions in compensation for the loss of an arm on the job and here she was trading it for a few thousand dollars to benefit the people of a remote village on the Gulf of Mexico. He sighed.

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“Very well, you win. You shall establish your cottage mohair industry in San Benito. Now let’s change the subject and talk about you. You said you were doing fairly well without your arm and it doesn’t seem to bother you very much. Do I read the situation correctly?” “Not quite. I’m able to carry on everyday tasks like bathing, dressing, cooking and so on. However I’ve got problems taking photographs. Cameras were designed for two-handed people and I’m at a disadvantage there. I asked you to send me an auto-everything camera. I don’t like them but I may be forced to use them. “I prefer to use my old manual cameras for many reasons, not the least of which is that I have many old manual lenses that have no counterparts in the new electronic ones. Besides I know what I’m doing and I want the camera to do what I think is best, not what it thinks is best. The trouble is that with only one hand I can’t hold the camera and reach all the controls at the same time. My stump is next to useless when it comes to adjusting the controls. “I don’t want to use a prosthesis because I get on very well with my one hand and my stump otherwise but I did draw a sketch of a gadget that might help me overcome my handicap. Here, take a look. “The stump socket is made of carbon fiber and it’s padded inside. It goes on by friction. At- tached to the socket is a strong, lightweight rod made of either carbon fiber or titanium. On top are an aluminum plate and a rubber pad both the size and shape of the camera’s bottom with a slot in them. Through the slot goes a screw that enters the tripod socket and holds the camera to the contraption. “If I can hold the camera with my stump I can use my hand to move the controls. Setting the shutter off is a bit of a problem but I’ve managed to wrap my hand over the pentaprism and reach the shutter button with my left index finger.” “You’re very clever Patty. My only doubt is whether your stump will be strong enough to hold the camera and prosthesis upright. Cameras are not light and the leverage on the elbow is going to be pretty strong. I don’t want you to feel more frustrated than you already are by your inability to take photographs.” “Well, if this doesn’t work I can always go to an electronic camera and a zoom lens. They’re not my ideal equipment but they’re sure a lot better than nothing.” “Very well, Patty. I’ll have a prosthetist make your gadget. You realize of course that it will take at least two weeks. He’ll have to make a cast of your stump to use as a mold for the stump socket and then he’ll have to measure the distance from the tip of the socket to your eye. Did you bring one of your cameras with you so that he can fashion the base plate?” Patty laughed and said, “You may catch me without a hand but just try to catch me without a camera.” She continued, “By the way, since I’ll have to be here for at least two weeks could we gain some time and find those materials and instructors for the mohair industry?” “You don’t give up easily, do you?” “No sir, I don’t.” “I’m beginning to be very well aware of that,” Andrew sighed. “Come on, I’ll take you to your room. You can take a bath and rest for a while. Dinner is at seven thirty.” They left the office and Andrew took Patty one of the guest rooms. It was huge, with a king- size bed and a luggage rack in a corner held her suitcase. A rack hung by the wall next to the door. “What is that for? Pool cues?” With a smile Andrew gave her a one-word answer, “Crutches.”

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Patty understood how widespread the mania for amputations had spread among women. Andrew left her. Patty took a long, luxurious bath and went to sleep among the soft cotton silks. At seven o’clock she woke up and rummaged through her clothes. “This ought to be fitting for the occasion,” she said to herself. She put on a sexy dress and posed with it before the mirror before going down to the dining room. * * * The following days were dedicated to making Patty’s prosthesis, ordering catalogs of spinning wheels and looms and interviewing candidates who were experienced in the production of mohair products and were willing to travel to San Benito. “Wouldn’t it be nice if the instructors were one-armed as well? I mean, they would understand the problems of the women of San Benito much better.” “My dear girl, you’re right as usual.” The first people to show up as potential instructors were a mother and daughter. Both had their right arm disarticulated at the shoulder. The mother had a happy look on her face but the girl’s expression showed that she was at most resigned to the loss of her arm. As they entered the office of Adventure Travel the mother spoke up cheerily. “Good morning! Is this where they are asking for one-armed instructors on the production of mohair articles?” Looking at Anne she said, “My, but you really are crippled, aren’t you?” Anne, who was wearing a mid-sleeve sweater and had left her hooks at home looked up and smiled sweetly. “May I ask who you are to criticize?” “Sarah Jenkins, at your service, and who might you be?” “My name is Anne. I’m the owner of this outfit, and may I suggest that the pot calling the kettle black is not a good way to start applying for a job?” “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m trying to cheer up my daughter Samantha. We both had our arms amputated two months ago. I love to see this empty sleeve hanging by my side but Samantha just sulks. She’s very unhappy at having lost her arm. She wants it re-implanted but they cremate amputated limbs so there’s no way she can get it back.” “Why did you have your arm amputated?” “My husband was having an affair with his secretary who is legless. I discussed the matter with him and he told me that he loved me but that he would be much happier if I were to lose a limb. I considered the possibilities and decided to have my right arm removed. I am happier now than I have ever been in my life.” “I take it that your husband stopped his affair with the secretary?” “Not only that but when he saw my empty sleeve he took me on a second honeymoon around the world.” “And Samantha?” Samantha answered, “Actually I lost my arm a week after Mother. When my boy friend saw her he insisted that I do the same. I didn’t want to but I loved the fellow so I agreed. He left me two days later while I was still in hospital. It seems he found an armless girl in the room next to mine. I can’t understand why women have to be crippled to be loved.”

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“Serves you right for trusting a man. If he loved you he would have wanted you with both, one or no arms.” “Why did you lose you hands?” “To me it was a question of my own satisfaction. I didn’t fell well with a complete body so first I lost one hand and when that still didn’t satisfy me I had the other removed.” “I’m glad you’re happy. For myself I feel depressed with my arm gone.” Sarah said, “That’s why I want her to go with me to this place. You say you’re looking for instructors who can teach one-armed women how to spin and weave. Samantha and I are experts at making cloth; we have our own spinning wheels and looms at home and I would be glad to teach anybody how to use them. We lost our arms a short time ago but we’ve adapted our spinning wheels so we can manage them with our single arms and we’d be delighted to teach those people how to spin and weave with only one arm. “I also have a second reason. I would like Samantha to realize that the loss of an arm is not the end of the world. When she sees all those one-armed women who lost their arms not as a whim but as a duty I’m sure she’ll feel much better about her empty sleeve.” Sarah went on to say that since her husband was a rich man she and Samantha would volunteer for the work. They only wanted transportation to San Benito and back. Patty, who had just returned from having the cast of her stump made, heard the last few sentences. Her heart went out to these women who were far more crippled than she was and yet were willing to help some people unknown to them who lived in a strange, far-away place. Anne and Patty embraced Sarah and Samantha. “You’ll love it there,” Patty said to Samantha. Samantha took Patty’s stump in her hand and answered, “I’m sure I will.”

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Chapter 12 – More Instructors

The next person to apply for a job was a cute little girl named Elizabeth who had lost all five fingers of her right hand. Anne interviewed her. “Can you spin and weave?” “Oh yes, my mother taught me ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.” “How did you lose your fingers?” “I got caught in an avalanche and the glove on my right hand got swept off. I lost them to frostbite.” “And can you still spin and wave?” “Yes. I find it a bit more difficult now but I’ve found a few ways to get around my handicap.” At that moment Patty came into the room. She took a look at the forms the girl had filled and said straightforwardly, “Thank you for coming, Elizabeth but I’m afraid we can’t use you. It’s not that we don’t appreciate your offer to help but all the women we want to train have lost at least their hand above the wrist. Their problems are different than yours. You see, we need people like me, or women who have lost their right arm above the elbow. We have already enlisted two women with their right arm off at the shoulders.” Elizabeth’s eyes watered. She stood up and with lips trembling said, “I… I understand. I’m sorry I’m not crippled enough for your needs.” Anne took Elizabeth’s crippled hand between her hooks and said, “I’m sorry, darling. Maybe next time…” Elizabeth nodded and picking up her purse walked out. The following day a stunning girl walked in and announced that her name was Shirley. Her medium long auburn hair fell to a little below her lovely bare shoulders. Below the right shoulder there was not an arm but a beautifully rounded stump with not the trace of a scar on it. “I had it amputated by a top notch surgeon,” she said as she uninhibitedly waved her stump about for everyone to see. “And yes, I’m an expert at spinning and weaving with only one arm.” She was hired on the spot. Three days went by when nobody came applying for a job as a one-armed instructor for San Benito. On the fourth day Patty went to try out her new stump socket. It needed a few ad- justments before the titanium rod was attached to it. The prosthetist said, “Come back in a couple of days and it should be ready by then.” When Patty returned to the office she was surprised to see Elizabeth from the back. Trying not to sound too annoyed she said, “Elizabeth, I think I told you that we need people with their hand amputated at least above the wrist.” Elizabeth slowly turned around showing the bandaged stump of her forearm. “My hand was not much good to me without its fingers and I do so want to go to San Benito and teach those women how to better themselves. I went to a surgeon and asked him to re- amputate my arm above the wrist. My stump is a bit longer than yours but I am now full- fledged RBE. Please, may I have the job, Patty?”

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Patty was now the one who now had tears in her eyes. A hand, even without fingers, was much more useful than a stump ending above the wrist. Patty was sure that Elizabeth had been able to at least fold the palm of her hand and hold small objects with it – perhaps even a fork or spoon. She saw that Elizabeth had performed a sacrifice almost equal to her own in order to help somebody else. She gently took hold of Elizabeth’s stump just below the edge of the bandages and kissed the bandaged tip. “Welcome to the team.” Patty had already been back to the prosthetist and the stump socket fitted perfectly. “You may take it with you. I understand a shop is going to design the rest of the contraption for you. I hope it works.” The prosthetist was disgruntled because Andrew had chosen a shop to manufacture the upright and the camera base but Andrew had told Patty, “I’m sure he’s an excellent prosthetist but he’s never had to create what you designed. We have excellent machinists at our maintenance shops and I can assign the job to one of them.” Patty understood his reasoning and agreed. The day after a girl traipsed in wearing a long-sleeved sweater. She was raising and lower- ing the stump of her right arm so that the empty sleeve flapped all over the place. “Hello! I’m Terri and I’ve come for the job!” She got it.

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Chapter 13 – The Last of the Instructors is hired

Patty said to Anne, “We’ve got two RSDs, two RAEs and one RBE. We still need one more RBE instructor. I hope we can get one soon.” “It’s not easy to find one-armed people who are also proficient at spinning and weaving. Can’t you be the second RBE?” “Alas! I dedicated all my time to photography and never learned all those ‘homey’ activities. I know nothing about spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, patchwork quilting or anything else of the sort.” “Well, we’ll just have to wait until somebody shows up, I guess. Is your prosthesis ready?” “I’m supposed to pick it up this afternoon at the shop.” “I hope it works.” “No more than I do, I assure you. I’d love to be able to keep on using my old manual cameras.” Patty went to the machine shop and the chief told her that her prosthesis was ready but that he had also designed a different one on his own. He had made a prototype for her to try out. “That’s sweet of you,” Patty said. “May I try it on?” Eddie blushed, “Yes, of course, here it is. Actually it’s nothing more than a spring-actuated claw. The stump socket will keep your stump a bit cooler and it will be firmer. I was afraid the original socket would not hold on to the stump very well once you put the camera’s weight on it. “If the camera is not in the right position with respect to your face you can always rotate it by grabbing the top ring and turning it with your left hand. The rings that hold it around your stump are quite flexible and they will adapt to the changes in the shape of your stump.” Eddy handed the odd-looking prosthesis to Patty who slid her stump into it. “Fabulous!” She turned her left side towards Eddy, “It’s magic! See? Now I’m a woman…” Turning her right side towards Eddy she continued, “…and now I’m a lobster!” Eddy looked downcast, “I’m sorry you don’t like it.” “I’m sorry Eddy, I was only teasing.” She walked toward Eddy and raising her “lobster hand” she caressed his cheek with it. “See, I could never do that with that with the crazy gadget I designed. Can you imagine being caressed by an aluminum plate?” She took off her prosthesis and caressed him with her stump. “But this is much nicer than either, isn’t it?” Patty was enjoying teasing Eddy. She had felt unsure of herself ever since she had lost her hand. True, the men in Sam Benito liked her better with one arm but then they all liked their women to be one-armed. Even though she knew it was fashionable at home to be an amputee she hadn’t quite internalized it. To her a women with all her limbs was still more desirable than a woman with part of her body missing.

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Eddy didn’t agree with Patty. She got up close to him and felt his erection. It reassured Patty and she put both arms around his neck. He was a tall man and she had to stand on tiptoe to kiss him. Their tongues flickered out of each other’s mouths and then they started exploring each other. Patty clung to him and he responded by picking her up and taking her to an empty office. He put her down on the floor. Patty reached up to him but he said, “Wait a minute.” He reached for his trousers and pulled the belt lose. He said, “Bend your good arm.” Patty had done that stunt before but only when she had both hands. She did as she was bid and he strapped her arm so that she could not straighten it. In effect she was armless with her right arm amputated halfway up the forearm and her left arm useful only as far as the elbow. She felt uncertain about whether to go on with the game. She enjoyed the sense of helplessness and at the same time it scared her. He took off her clothes and laid her gently on the couch. He opened his trousers, stepped out of them and removed his shorts then his shirt, shoes and socks. He laid down on top of her and said, “Put your stumps about me. Caress me with your stumps.” Patty did as she was bid. He took her real stump and cupped it in his hand. Gently he caressed it, nibbled the tip with his teeth and bit it softly. Patty moaned as he handled her real stump. Then he started paying attention to her left elbow. “It would make such a lovely stump, don’t you think?” “Would you like me to be armless?” “You’d be the most beautiful woman in the world and I’d take care of you for the rest of my life.” The tone of his voice showed that he meant every word. Patty panicked at the thought of being armless. “Please let me up.” Eddy had let his desire for Patty carry him away but he was not unkind. Silently he got up. He untied Patty’s arm and both got dressed. They left the room without saying a word. Patty picked up both of her prostheses “Thank you. You did a great job on both of them. I’m sorry but I don’t even want to think about being armless. I feel crippled enough as it is.” “It was my fault. I got carried away.” “Don’t feel bad about it. Someday you’ll find the girl of your dreams.” He nodded and she left the machine shop. * * * Two days later a girl with a short stump below her elbow applied for the job as instructor in San Benito. She had an uncertain smile on her face and Patty had her doubts. “How long ago did you lose your arm?” she asked. “Six months ago.”

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Six months ago was at the time that Patty had taken the photographs of the armless and legless models. It had just started to become fashionable for women to become amputees. The girl’s stump had atrophied; obviously she had not used it and had made do with just her left hand. “Did you lose it in an accident?” “No. It’s just that one has to keep up with the fashion, you know.” “Do you know how to use a spinning wheel and a loom?” “No but I can learn.” Spinning and weaving were not easy to learn and besides Patty didn’t like the girl. She looked as if she were trying to prove something to herself and the instructors had to be people with a lot of self-confidence. Patty said, “I’m sorry but we’re leaving in a few days and there’s no time to teach you.” The girl started crying. “I haven’t used my stump since I had my arm amputated. Actually I’ve thought of having it re-amputated so that I’d be left with just a tiny stump hanging from my shoulder. My boy friend says he only likes women who do things with their stumps and mine is useless. He’s right of course because it shows that we’re trying to overcome our handicap. I thought that I would have to use this,” she said raising her stump, “if I learned to spin and weave.” “Look, if I may make a suggestion why don’t you have your stump re-amputated as you say and see what your boy friend says once he sees your stump is useless?” The girl smiled and said, “I’ll do just that. Thank you for the advice.” Patty patted her on the right shoulder and answered, “You’ll look just beautiful with a teeny- weeny stump coming out of there.” The girl nodded and left. Patty sighed and went back to waiting. She said to herself, “It’s harder to find RBE instructors than I thought.” The following day a girl appeared saying her name was Tanya. Tanya’s aspect did not belie her name. “Are you Russian, Tanya?” “I was born in this country but all my grandparents were Russian. They emigrated after World War II. My parents made sure that I spoke the language.” “Do you speak Spanish?” “No. I’m afraid not.” “Well, you’ll have a chance to learn it real quick. We want instructors for a place where it’s the main language.” “I’d love to learn a third language.” “How did you lose your arm?” “A car accident. The car rolled over and my forearm was crushed. Actually the doctors thought for a while that they would have to amputate above the elbow. I’m glad they didn’t, elbows can be very useful.” Patty looked at her own stump and agreed, “Yes, indeed they can.”

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Tanya and Patty each smiled wryly at each other. Andrew had found a Basque shepherd in Montana who was delighted to go to a place where he could speak in Castilian Spanish even if it wasn’t his native Basque language. He was a champion shearer and Andrew thought he was a great find. * * * Because they were so many and they had to take the looms and the spinning wheels there were two passenger planes and one cargo plane waiting for them at HIA. Rick and Chuck were in charge of the cargo plane and Patty decided to fly with them. As they were getting ready to board the planes Anne’s sister, Loraine, showed up. “May I join the party?” Patty and Andrew said simultaneously, “Please do.” They all boarded the planes and enjoyed the flight. Patty hugged both Rick and Chuck As the planes approached San Benito Patty felt the joy of coming home. She wondered whether her home was really Stateside or in the village she had come to love. She thought of the old saying, “Home is where the heart is.” The problem was she wasn’t sure where her heart was.

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Chapter 14 – The Return to San Benito

Sr. González, the Prefect, had tried to get the village ready. He had spoken of mohair and spinning and weaving but not being versed in the matter he hadn’t been able to explain very much. All the people knew was that something would happen that would improve the quality of their lives much more than the sailboat shuttle to Puerto Ventura had. The three planes circled the town and landed one after the other. Chuck and Rick talked to some of the onlookers and arranged to have the cargo unloaded. Desirée and Njambo were there to receive them. Desirée rushed toward Rick and they embraced each other hungrily while Njambo looked demurely at Chuck. Finally she too walked up to the man she loved and putting her good arm around his shoulders she caressed him with the stump of her other arm. Both men pressed their girlfriends against them. The men from the village started offloading the looms and spinning wheels. One of them said, “Estos son unos aparatos muy extraños. ¿Para qué sirven?”. Patty explained that they were used to spin threads and weave cloth. “¿Y para qué queremos tejer?” Patty decided that rather than explain why and what they were going to weave she would call a village meeting later and explain everything to everybody at once. She told the man what she was going to do. He nodded in acquiescence and held his peace. Everybody crowded around the looms and spinning wheels; nobody had seen anything like them before and they were curious. Njambo walked up to one of the spinning wheels and said, “Don’t you need two hands to operate this machine?” Patty said that generally yes, that was true but there were a lot of one-armed women who had come with her to teach the ladies of San Benito. The Prefect had come to greet Andrew when he knew that he had come had been surprised to see all the one-armed women stepping off the planes. He was even more astonished when he saw a man in the group. Andrew introduced the ladies and then he said with pride, “And may I introduce Iñaki who is a champion shearer?” Sr. González shook hands cordially with Iñaki. “Encantado de conocerle. Necesitamos a más gente como usted aquí.” Iñaki answered that he was delighted to be of service and mentioned how good-looking the people of the village were. The Prefect answered, “Yes, especially our women. We think they’re particularly beautiful because as you can see they’re all one-armed.” Iñaki nodded in agreement. He thought he had died and gone to paradise. By two o’clock in the afternoon all the stuff had been stored in the common and covered with tarpaulins. Patty decided to walk home when out of the corner of her eye she saw Leona. She had thought it strange that Leona had not come to receive the visitors from the plane but now she was even more puzzled. Leona was walking with a crutch. She was missing not only her right arm below the elbow but also her left leg below the knee. “Leona, what happened?” Leona looked distraught.

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“Oh, Patty, please come home with me! We have to talk.” Patty was tired from the trip but she couldn’t refuse her friend’s plea. When they reached Leona’s home she put her crutch off to a side and after changing into something more comfortable she sat down on her usual chair but this time instead of tucking her legs under her she tucked one leg and a stump. Patty sat down opposite her and asked, “Leona, what happened?” “Patty, you’ve been gone for a month. We had a full moon three days ago and the roster was empty, all the women over fifteen in the village had lost their right arms. There were no more arms to amputate. “The night before I went into the swamp to consult with the gods and ask them what I could do. This tremendous storm blew over the trees and I was terribly frightened. Then the storm blue over and I saw a lot of little lights, like blue flames, flickering over the tops of the trees.” Patty interrupted, “St. Thelmo’s fire.” “I don’t know what it was but gradually the flames extinguished themselves until there were only four left. They were distributed as if marking the four corners of a rectangle. Suddenly the bottom left one started flickering and gradually it died out. Then the top right one turned red. I took it to mean that the women who had their right arms amputated must also lose their left legs. After that both top lights turned blue again and the bottom ones went out. I understand this to mean that in the future all women may keep one arm and one leg or else they must be legless. I felt dreadful. All our women, myself included, are already crippled and now we must be even more so.” Patty asked, “How long will it be before there are fifteen-year-olds in the roster again?” “The oldest girl will be fifteen in two weeks and the second oldest is two weeks younger. There are quite a few girls who have just turned fourteen so for the next few months there will only be two girls to lose their arms and everybody else will have to take a chance on losing a leg as well as the arm they’re already missing. “I have to tell them that they have to become double amputees. I felt it behooved me to set the example so I initiated Iliana as a witch doctor and asked her to remove my leg. She did it and has volunteered to be the next one to be one-legged as well as one-armed.” “Didn’t you ask the gods for a respite?” “I did indeed and the answer was horrible. All the lights went out and then the top left flame flickered on again. It meant that if we didn’t do as they said all our women would be legless and one-armed. “You can’t fight the power of the gods. I’d rather be minus two limbs than minus three.” Leona extended the stump of her leg and gave it an admiring look. “Still, it is a rather nice stump, don’t you think? Having nothing but arm stumps was getting to be a bit of a bore.” Patty was flabbergasted at the story of Saint Thelmo’s fire. It was a well-known meteoro- logical phenomenon. Patty had seen it and had never deduced any religious implications from the little flames. Still, it was Leona who had seen them and it was Leona’s religion. She thanked her lucky stars that all the spinning wheels she had bought were single-treadled. Patty had an idea. “Look, there are a lot of people who arrived today. Iñaki is going to teach the men how to shear the sheep and wash and card the wool. As a male he is no good for your purpose but

C:\PATTY.doc 71/71 there are seven one-armed women. I’m sure that some, if not all, would volunteer to lose a leg. That would give at least some of the girls in the village the chance to keep three of their limbs.” Leona smiled with relief. Patty smiled back and holding up her stump she said, “Of course they would have to become honorary citizens of San Benito.” Leaving Leona’s home Patty went to speak with Señor Gonzalez and asked him to call a town meeting in the Main Square at six o’clock in the evening, and then she went home. She needed a bath and a rest, especially after Leona’s news. The day was going to be very long. After a cold lunch and a siesta she gathered all the instructors who had been properly lodged by the village’s inhabitants. Last she picked up Andrew and Loraine. As they walked toward the village square Leona joined them. Patty introduced her to the rest of the party and she couldn’t help the look of interest on the faces of many of the women. Samantha’s look interested her in particular. The girl who was unhappy because she had lost an arm at the shoulder now seemed interested in losing a leg as well. “Probably at the hip,” thought Patty. Leona’s gait was not graceful. She had been one-legged for only three days and hadn’t got the knack of walking with a crutch. She half-swung half-hopped to Patty and said, “Patty, I know you asked for this town meeting but I’ve been so afraid to tell the women that they have to lose another limb that I haven’t dared leave the house. I’ve lain in bed for three days when I should have been learning how to handle this damned crutch. Could I ask you for a favor?” “Sure, go ahead.” “I should have called a town meeting myself but frankly the idea of telling everybody scares me to death. Could you let me have a few minutes sometime during your meeting so that I could tell the women? Somehow I know I’ll feel more confident if you are there.” “Of course. Tell you what; we’ll take a gamble. You tell them first and then I’ll tell them about the spinning wheels and the looms and the mohair and all that. Maybe they’ll feel better about losing a leg when they hear how much money they’ll be earning?” “And can they handle the spinning wheels and the looms with only one arm and one leg?” “The spinning wheels are no problem. They have to sit down to operate them anyway and they only need one leg to operate the treadle. The looms might present a bit of a problem but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. “You’re not using that crutch very well. Look, when you use a single crutch you must make it a bit longer and pretend that the tip is your heel. You must place the tip where your heel would be if you had it. That means that the crutch has to lean a little inwards, not outwards like you’re doing. That’s OK for two crutches but not for one. Then you lean on the crutch with your armpit and slowly sway your body forward by pushing with your good leg. Try to do it slowly and you’ll find it’s an extremely elegant way of walking.” Patty told the other people in her entourage to walk slowly toward the town square. She told Leona to lean on her shoulder while she lengthened her crutch. Placing it under Leona’s left armpit she said, “Alright, now place the tip where the heel of your left foot would be if you had one.” Leona did as she was told. “Now lean on your crutch and bring your right foot forward; just a short step at first. Then bring the crutch even with your right foot.”

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Again Leona followed instructions. “Do it again. Take three or four steps – still short ones.” Leona did and smiled with delight. “Now try to make your steps a little longer but always move slowly. You have no idea how sexy you’ll look.” “I don’t know if I look sexy but I sure do feel all sexed up. Walking with a single crutch is fun!” “I don’t know. I’ve never tried it.” “So how did you know what to teach me?” “I’ve thought sometimes about being one-legged and then I would think of how I’d walk with a single crutch. I thought it was a lot sexier than using two crutches. Of course I had both arms then.” The people were all congregated when Patty and her entourage reached the center of the town. On a dais was a table with chairs behind it. To one side of the table was a spinning wheel and on the other a loom. A pair of brand new sheep shears was on the table along with a sharpening stone and a sheep card. The Prefect and the three older women were waiting for Leona and Patty to arrive. Patty offered Leona the crook of her arm to go up the steps to the dais. She was afraid that Leona, not having any experience with crutching up and down steps, would stumble and fall. Leona gratefully put her stump on Patty’s good arm There was a collective gasp from the public when they saw that their witch doctor was not only one-armed but also one-legged. Leona swung gracefully on her single leg and crutch to the seat that had been reserved for her and sat down. The Prefect gallantly took her crutch and leaned it against the table where Leona could reach it any time she needed it. One of the older women leaned toward Leona and holding up her stump whispered, “I thought we were meant to be only one-armed.” Leona whispered back, “Yes, but we’re out of virgins with both arms so now all the one- armed girls who are still virgins will have to lose a leg as well until we have a new cohort of fifteen-year-olds.” “And how long will that be?” “About a year.” “That means twenty-four girls are going to be badly crippled.” “A bit less. That’s why I had my leg amputated and Iliana is going to lose hers as well. There are a couple of girls about to turn fifteen so that leaves twenty girls who will be one- armed and one-legged.” “I’ll bet you ten to one that the guys will go crazy about them. The way you walk with that crutch is tremendously sexy.” “I don’t know. I had a hard time with my crutch until Patty taught me how to use it properly. Now I don’t feel so bad about being one-legged.” “Did you remove it yourself?” “No, I initiated Iliana and she performed the rites.” “You’re a brave girl.” “I wasn’t a question of bravery. I had to give the example.”

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“Spoken like a true leader.” “Thank you.” Patty called for silence and you could hear a pin drop in the square. “I had called on you initially to let you know about Señor Gonzalez’ and my project for San Benito. However some circumstances arose during my absence that require you attention first. As you saw when Leona and I climbed the steps to the dais Leona has now lost her left leg below the knee. She is now missing two limbs and she is going to have to ask some of you to make the same sacrifice. “Leona, will you please step forward and explain?” Leona stood up and grabbing her crutch she slunk sexily to the front of the dais. Some of the young fellows whistled in admiration. Leona held up her left hand to ask for silence. As she raised it her crutch slipped from under her armpit and fell to the floor. She tried to retrieve it before it fell and lost her balance. She fell down by the crutch. Patty and the Prefect rushed to her side but getting on her left knee and with her right foot on the floor she picked up the crutch. Placing it firmly in a vertical position she held it in place with the stump of her arm while with her good arm she reached as far up the crutch as she could and pulled herself up. The ovation was thunderous. When the noise subsided Leona spoke. She told of the lack of girls old enough to have their arms amputated, of her trip to the swamp and what she saw, and of her decision to be the first to obey the will of the gods. “As you have just seen, what I’m asking some of you to do is not easy. On the other hand you will feel a not unpleasant sensation. You will be more crippled but at the same time your sexual desire will be enhanced. “In the future you will have the choice of losing one arm, one arm and one leg or both legs. As usual the site or sites of the amputations will be of your choice. “In the meantime all those girls who are virgins and between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five will be included again in the roster. This measure will only be in effect until we have enough girls to become amputees without interruption.” With a sly grin she added, “And I’ll have to ask all you married couples to do your bit so that this situation does not arise again.” “In the meantime you can rest assured for the next month and a half because my sister Il- iana has volunteered to be the next double amputee. She is now a witch doctor and we’ll help each other with the amputations. I will need an assistant because it’s twice the work removing a limb with only one arm and one leg. After that there are two girls who will be fifteen and they will have their right arms removed. Once we’re out of stock of two-armed virgins the series of second amputations will begin. “I have taken enough of Patty’s time. I will be glad to answer any questions tomorrow. You all know where I live. “Thank you Patty. The stage is yours.” Patty proceeded to explain about the Angora goats and the whole process from shearing the wool to carding, washing, spinning, dyeing and weaving it. She made it clear that the rough parts of the job, taking care of the goats, shearing and washing the wool were for the men to do. The women would be in charge of the spinning, dyeing and weaving. She introduced the instructors one by one and explained that they had been chosen with different types of

C:\PATTY.doc 74/74 amputations to suit the different types of amputees in San Benito. She made a special effort to build up Iñaki, the only male instructor in the lot. Everybody gave the instructors a big hand and then Señor González invited everybody to a social gathering on the grounds of the Prefecture. The Prefect was absolutely mesmerized by Terri and the way she waved her stump. It didn’t show because Terri had calculated the length of her sleeve to perfection. There was just enough cloth left so that the sleeve would flap about a little every time she moved her stump. Terri knew how to get the most out of her stump and left Señor González goggle- eyed. Loraine enjoyed herself as she had never done before. She forewent the severe black sweater with the pinned-up sleeve and wore a white dress that showed to great advantage her lovely shoulders and the stump of her arm. She was the life of the party and all the village boys danced with her in turn. After the boys were through Andrew asked her for a dance. While they were swaying to the music he asked her, “Do you find a difference between the reason you had for losing an arm and the reason these people have?” “Yes, I do. I lost it because it was good for business and because it’s fashionable to be an amputee. These girls lose theirs because it’s for the common good. I’m not sure that it really is but at least that’s what their religion tells them. I don’t believe in any organized be- lief but I respect their opinion. “I can tell you this: I never got so much fun out of being one-armed as I did tonight. “I can also tell you something else: That I’ve found that life should be enjoyed for its own sake. That tonight I’m glad I lost my arm because it was fun, not because it was going to make me a dollar, or ten thousand, or a million dollars richer. People accepted me tonight for what I am: a pretty one-armed girl. They don’t know how much money I have and they don’t care.” The music and stopped and Andrew said, “Would you like to go to some secluded place where we can sit quietly and watch the stars?” “I’d love to.” Shirley had caught on to the spirit of the town as soon as she had cast a glance about her after landing. She hadn’t had her arm amputated because it would make her rich but because she had decided that being one-armed would be fun. As soon as she heard that there was going to be a party to honor the instructors she knew what she was going to wear. She pulled out some silk panty-wear and a leotard. Tying her hair in a bun she put on the clothes and donned a pair of ballet slippers. Taking a CD with a recording of Swan Lake and a portable CD with built in speakers she left for the Prefecture. She bided her time and during an intermission she asked if she might offer a performance. She had made sure that there were fresh batteries in the player and she performed splen- didly. The assurance with which she performed her fouetées, grand jetées and other figures left people wondering how she could keep her balance so well with only one arm. The final attitude made people believe that her right arm was really there even though obviously it was nothing but a stump. The audience applauded wildly and Shirley was immediately ask to teach to only spinning and weaving but also to open a ballet school. Shirley acceded graciously and the party went on.

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Elizabeth had tried several dresses on and finally settled on a kimono. She stretched her stump out and was delighted at the effect of the long flowing sleeve apparently floating in the air. The loss of her hand gave the illusion that it was supporting itself with no arm in it. She twirled around looking first at her left arm and then at the stump of her right arm. “It’s delightful,” she thought. She hadn’t danced since the loss of her fingers because she thought the boys would be re- pelled by her incomplete hand but she knew that tonight she would have no such fears. When the first local boy asked her to dance she put her left hand on his shoulder and offered the stump of her right hand as if everybody were one-handed. The boy took it gently and pressed his cheek against hers. Elizabeth was ecstatic. Sarah and Samantha were astonished at how the village boys danced with them taking the absolute lack of their right arms as the most natural thing in the world. If the dance called for it the boys would put their hands on their armless shoulders in order to lead them into turning around. Sometimes the boys wouldn’t just push on their shoulders one way or the other but would gently caress the root of the missing arm. That night, as Sarah and Samantha were going to bed, Samantha told her mother, “You know, mom? Being one-armed is not really so terrible. Actually, tonight I enjoyed it.” Sarah smiled. “Don’t tell that to your dad. Lord knows you made him miserable when that stupid boyfriend of yours left you. “’Oh, what did I lose my arm for? I’ll never go out with a boy again!’ and a lot more of crap like that. Look honey, I brought you here because I wanted you to see a lot of one-armed women and how they managed. Don’t you think they’re happy? Of course they are. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it when that local boy caressed your shoulder pretending he was leading you.” “Yes, mom, you’re absolutely right. Thanks for understanding me.” “You’re welcome darling, that’s what mothers are for.” “Good night mom.” “Good night, Samantha.”

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Chapter 15 – The Adventure Travel people take a look at Punta Brava The following day Andrew, Patty, Nancy, Sylvia and Loraine sat down in Patty’s house to discuss the situation. Andrew opened the discussion. “Patty, these people can’t afford the spinning wheels and the looms. Between them they could buy maybe the sheep shears and the sheep card.” “I’m fully aware of that, Andrew.” “So then, why did you get us into this mess?” Loraine asked. “Because it all fits in with my plan.” “Which is?” “Let me tell you about it. First, I love these people and I don’t wish to hurt them. I believe ‘The Mohair Project’ as I’ve come to think of it is a good idea. It will bring money to the town and raise their standard of living.” Andrew asked, “And is Adventure Travel supposed to make them a gift of all this equipment and the training? And are we to go on like this with your ideas about the shrimp boats and the shark liver oil plant?” Patty answered sharply, “Andrew, would you mind not interrupting? I’d like to explain my plan and then I’ll accept any criticism from anybody but in the meantime please let me speak.” “I’m sorry, Patty. Please go on.” “OK, this is my idea. I don’t really want tourists coming into San Benito and spoiling the place. A day trip is fine but these people are going to come for at least a week and maybe two. So we keep them in isolation. “Also I don’t want the people here to become beggars. They may not have much but what they do have they have earned by dint of hard work. They’re a proud lot and they are kind and hospitable and I intend to keep them that way. There’s a Chinese saying that if I give a man a fish he eats for the day but if I teach him to fish he can eat for all his life. So my idea is two-fold. First, I think that Adventure Travel could finance the purchase of the equipment at a modest interest. I’ve seen the accounting books and the company has a reserve of seventy-five million dollars in cash. Surely it can afford to finance a small sum in the order of not more than half a million. I know that these people would rather take a loan than a gift. They would feel beholden and their pride would be hurt. “Second,” and here Patty pulled out her sketch of the area, “We need a place to establish a lodge. As I said, I don’t want it in San Benito. We could either buy or lease land elsewhere.” Holding the paper in her left hand and pointing with her stump she continued, “This area is a cape known as ‘Punta Brava.’ It can only be reached from San Benito by a boat that takes you through a mangrove swamp or by sea. The beach there is beautiful and the cape has coral reefs on both sides. There is room enough for a lodge that can hold eight people, which is all one of the Cats can haul, in individual or double occupancy huts. “We want the tourists to think they’re roughing it but in reality they’re going to have all the comforts of home or nearly so. The land remaining would not be enough for an airstrip but there’s enough left over so that with a small spit built out into the sea the planes could come in and touch down near the end so they would have enough space to land. Take-offs would be in the opposite direction. I know that we could build a ramp and the planes could land on the water and just lower their landing gear and roll on up but the storms here can be quite sudden and quite severe. A landing strip would allow landings and takeoffs in

C:\PATTY.doc 77/77 nearly any situation the weather here can offer. It would also prevent the planes from getting bogged down in the sand if it rained while they were loading or unloading the people and the cargo. “The lodge of course would have to have permanent quarters for the personnel including the cook, the cook’s assistant, the housemaids and the planes’ crews. “Now Punta Brava although physically separated by the mangrove swamp is part of the municipality of San Benito. I imagine we would have to lease the land though we might be able to buy it. I think the Council of Elders would prefer to lease it because that would give the town a regular income. They’re anxious to improve their school and the whole town as you have seen is sorely in need of an upgrade. “As for the amputations, you heard Leona speaking last night. There are two witch doctors and they have to perform one amputation a fortnight. As long as they don’t have to work in San Benito proper I’m sure they would be delighted to make some extra money in their off time. “Now I’ll hear any suggestions or criticisms and then, Andrew, it’ll be your turn to figure out the economics of the situation: How much interest to charge for the looms, etc., the period of payment, how much it’ll cost to put up the installations in Punta Brava, how much to pay the personnel, your transportation and maintenance costs, and how much to charge the tourists. Of course you’ll have to speak to Leona and Iliana to find out how much they’ll charge for their services. “All right, I’m finished.” Nancy spoke up, “May I make a suggestion?” “Of course.” “Could we all go and see Punta Brava before we make a decision?” “I was about to suggest that.” Andrew said, “Let me get some stuff first. If we’re going to go to the beach I suggest the ladies change into swimming suits.” They went to their quarters and while the three of the women changed into bathing suits and sandals Lorena decided to go in denims and a tank top. The two handless women decided to leave their hooks at home. Patty hadn’t tried on either of her new prostheses and she decided to leave them at home. Andrew put some stuff into a duffel bag and said he was ready. When everybody was ready they went and spoke to Ricardo who arranged for a friend to accompany him in a second boat. “I’m sorry but there are five of you and I can’t fit you all into one boat. Please wait a few minutes while we clean them.” The boats, of course, were used to transport peat and they weren’t really fit to transport passengers. Everybody except the punter would have to sit on the flat bottoms because they had no seats. Ricardo and Eduardo promptly cleaned the boats and then Ricardo ran off to find some cushions for his passengers. “They’re not as good as seats but they’re better than sitting on a hard wooden floor,” he said. Patty had already been entranced by the trip through the mangrove swamp and she loved it this time as much she had when she visited Punta Brava for the first time. Nancy, Sylvia

C:\PATTY.doc 78/78 and Loraine were astonished at the beauty of the place and the richness of the flora and fauna. Since Patty had already been twice to Punta Brava she served as hostess. She pointed out the various palm trees and the coconut and mango trees. She said, “We’d have to collect the coconuts before they fall on somebody but all the hotels on the tropics do it. We could build shades around the trunks of the palm trees so people wouldn’t have to lie in the sun all day.” Leading the group to a bit of high ground with only a few palms on it she added, “This would be a good place for the lodge. We wouldn’t have to cut down too many trees and there’s space for eight rooms plus the facilities.” Putting his duffel bag down Andrew said, “Looks like a very nice place, Patty. Now I’m going to do a preliminary survey of the area and I need someone to hold a rod for me. The key word is ‘hold’ so that’ll have to be either you or Loraine.” Loraine volunteered. “Patty has done all the work around here so maybe it’s time somebody else helped. What is a rod and how do I hold it?” Andrew pulled out the two halves of a surveyor’s rod and connected them end to end. “This is a surveyors rod and we’re going to do what is known as a traverse. To do this you will have to stand at a certain number of points while I take a sighting on the rod and measure the bearing and the distance from the point where I’m standing to the point where you are standing. Then I move to the point where you are and you move someplace else and we repeat the procedure. “The idea is that we’re going to measure a straight line from East to West along the base of the peninsula and then we’ll make a rough sketch of the shape of Punta Brava along the high water mark. The tide is going down now but you can see clearly where it was about half an hour ago. You’ll place the rod at every point where there’s a significant change in direction and I’ll take the measurements from the previous point to that one.” “I remember from my geography classes in school what a bearing is but how are you going to measure them? And how are you going to measure the distances?” Andrew produced a Brunton compass from the duffel bag. He then pulled out a leather case with a surveyor’s notebook and several pencils in it. “I’ll measure the bearings with this compass and I’ll pace off the distances. For a preliminary survey that will be accurate enough. Of course if we decide to lease or buy this land we’ll need to have a regular transit survey done.” Patty looked on in admiration and said, “My, aren’t you the clever one!” Nancy wasn’t interested in all this technical business. She was a photographer’s agent and Adventure Travel was just another client. She addressed Patty, “Look, I’d like to go skinny-dipping. Would you please take of my bathing suit? I could do it myself but it’s a lot easier if you do it for me.” Patty had never seen Nancy’s stumps before. She had always seen her dressed and wearing first one and then two hooks. She had admired Nancy’s dexterity with her hooks but now she realized how helpless Nancy was with neither hands nor hooks. She did have to admit that the stumps of Nancy’s arms were beautiful. The tips were gently rounded and there wasn’t the slightest sign of a scar on them. She made a note to herself to ask Nancy if they had been amputated with a laser ray.

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“Sure, but don’t go near the southern tip. There’s a mean current there and it would probably take you all the way to Puerto Ventura.” “If you could stay afloat that long without your hands,” she thought. Sylvia came up and also asked to Patty to undress her. “I don’t want to go swimming,” she explained. “I just want to get a good suntan.” Nancy went into the water. After swimming a while on the surface she took a deep breath and dived among the corals. She saw shrimp, lobsters, squids, angel fish, parrot fish, star- fish, sea urchins, and all sorts of wonderful undersea creatures swimming among and over the corals. What amazed her most was that when she approached a school the fish would nonchalantly move away from one another and make room for her as if she were just another member of the group. She hadn’t swum since before she had her right hand amputated and the extra effort that swimming without hands required of her legs tired her. She swam back to the beach and lay down to sleep a while. In the meantime Andrew and Loraine had started doing the preliminary survey of Punta Brava. “Just hold the rod vertical in front of you and look at me. Please be careful not to sway it. It must stay vertical.” Andrew marked with a small mound of rocks the point where he would stand to take the first measurement. He pointed out to Loraine where she should stand. “Make a hole in the sand with the bottom of the rod. That will tell me where I shall have to stand in order to take the next sight.” Loraine dutifully went where she was told. She faced Andrew and punching a hole in the sand with the rod she held it perfectly vertical. Suddenly she had this irresistible urge to tease the fellow. Making sure that she held the rod straight she started scratching her tummy and wiggling her stump while looking straight-faced at him. Andrew loved the girl’s sense of humor and he couldn’t stop laughing. “Loraine, behave yourself!” “Yes, Massa!” She stopped scratching her belly but the stump kept on jiggling. “Loraine, could you please stop jiggling your stump?” Loraine looked scared as she said, “Andrew, I can’t stop it! It’s never happened before!” Andrew ran up to Loraine and started massaging her stump. Slowly the jiggling stopped and the stump eventually lay quiescent at her side. “I was just making fun of you and then suddenly my stump wouldn’t stop moving! Oh An- drew, do you think I’ll have my stump wiggling all the time? I was so proud of the control I had over it!” Andrew didn’t answer. The episode had caused him to have a tremendous erection. He cupped Loraine’s stump with his hand, lifted it slowly and kissed it. Loraine had never had her stump kissed and she felt something like a mild electric shock, a gentle tingling. It was a pleasant sensation and she attributed it to the sensitivity of the cut nerves. She hoped it wouldn’t go away with time. “Please massage it some more.”

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The look in Loraine’s eyes told Andrew that she wanted him. He wanted her too, badly, but they both knew that to satisfy their desires they would have to wait until they returned to San Benito. Andrew decided that under the circumstances he couldn’t ask Loraine to be her “rod man.” He turned to Patty. “Patty, would you… err…” Patty had seen the whole scene and she understood Andrew’s quandary. Reaching for the rod she said, “Yes, I’d be glad to help.” At that moment Sylvia broke in. “May I do it?” Andrew answered, “But you don’t have…” “Yes, I know I don’t have any hands but, pardon the expression, I’m quite ‘handy’ with my stumps.” She picked up the rod between the stumps of her arms and walking to where Loraine had stood she turned back facing Andrew. “All right. Take your measurements.” Sylvia was very good as a “rod man” and she automatically selected the proper points where she should stand so that Andrew could read the bearing from one point to another and then pace the distance between the two points. Every time he wrote down in his notebook the bearing and the distance, making a sketch as he went along. It took them two and a half hours to finish the preliminary survey. After Andrew had taken the first reading he stopped to rub some suntan lotion on Sylvia. “It’s OK to want a suntan but your skin is very fair and if you’re not careful you’ll get a horrible burn instead.” As he massaged Sylvia’s stumps he noticed the same “come hither” look in her eyes that he had noticed in Loraine’s when he had massaged her stump. He suddenly understood why women were having their limbs amputated – their stumps are erogenous zones. He wondered if men’s stumps behaved the same way. When Andrew and Nancy had finished Patty and Loraine helped Nancy and Sylvia put on their bikinis and they took the boats back to San Benito. As soon as they arrived Andrew invited them all to lunch at the restaurant that Señora Col- menares had opened. Rick was seated on a couch and Desirée was seated on a cushion at his feet. A side table held a plate, cutlery, and glasses. Rick was alternately feeding her and himself as she rested her arm and her stump on the cushion. “What on earth are you two love-birds doing?” Patty asked. Desirée answered, “I love the way Nancy looks with her hooks so we are practicing in case I decide to have my other hand amputated.” “Look,” Loraine said holding up her stump. “Why don’t you have your arm re-amputated like mine? I assure you having one hand and a short stump is much better than losing both hands at the wrists.” Desirée looked at Loraine’s stump and answered, “It looks very sexy. Thanks for the tip, I’ll think about it.”

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They all finished their lunch and then Patty and Andrew repaired to her house. Patty excused herself while she made herself more comfortable. When she came back Andrew decided that all amputee women were sex maniacs. Trying to keep a straight face he said, “I’d like to use your computer, if you don’t mind.” “It’s not mine, it’s yours or the company’s or whatever. Thank you for thinking of it. It has been very useful.” “Not al all. Have you enjoyed your stay here?” “The people are lovely but I do miss this,” she said looking at her stump. Andrew resisted the temptation to caress her stump as he had those of Loraine and Sylvia in the morning. However he couldn’t help making a somewhat snide comment. “It does have its advantages doesn’t it?” Patty blushed but said nothing. He switched on the computer and inserted a CD-ROM he had brought with him. “I’m going to install a mapping program. Once it’s running I’ll feed it the data we collected this morning and it will translate it all into coordinates. Then it will draw a sketch and calcu- late the area of Punta Brava.” The installation took ten minutes and in half an hour all told he had a print-out of the results. He said, “It’s roughly 400 meters wide by one kilometer long. Because the tip is rounded it’s not quite 40 hectares, more like 36. We could place the lodge a bit north of the two larger reefs and that would allow us to build an airstrip if we do some fill to the south like you said. “Knowing the size and shape will allow us to come to a fair arrangement with the village. We could try to either buy it outright or lease the terrain for say ten years. We’ll discuss it with the Council of Elders tomorrow after we discuss it among ourselves. I do hope they’ll be willing to sell or lease it.” Patty said, “We have a lot of good arguments in our favor. And I have several good arguments in my favor.” Patty had stood up and had placed herself behind Andrew. She ran the stump of her arm up and down his neck and across his shoulders. Andrew shivered with delight. “This is one. Couldn’t we discuss some other things right now?” Patty asked. “Of course, my darling girl.”

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Chapter 16 – Adventure Travel buys Punta Brava

In their passion Andrew and Patty had forgotten to draw the curtains and the brilliant light of a tropical sunrise awoke them. Patty ran her stump over his manhood and he said, “Are all amputee women sex maniacs?” “Only when we run into a hunk of man like you.” “Flattery will get you nowhere, young lady.” “It already did.” “You didn’t flatter me, you did it with that damned stump of yours.” “Know something? Last night was the first time that I really enjoyed being an amputee. I’d like to thank you for that. Would you like to make me feel happy again?” “Yes, I’d love to but no I wont. We’re here on business young lady and don’t you forget that. Come on, let’s have breakfast at Mrs. Colmenares’ place. All the instructors and Nancy and Sylvia will be there. Then we can come back here with Nancy and Sylvia and discuss the situation.” Patty pouted, “You don’t love me any more.” “Look, lady, who said anything about love? You seduced me last night, OK? So don’t go around giving me this ‘You don’t love me any more’ business.” She understood that she had rushed things. Andrew had always been a gentleman with her and she had behaved like a hussy last night. She felt she was falling in love with Andrew and she didn’t want to spoil things. Andrew saw the look of concern in her face and his tone softened. He caressed her stump and said, “Come on, let’s get dressed and have breakfast over at Mrs. Colmenares’ place. The whole crew will be there and we can return with Nancy and Sylvia.” When they got there, Mrs. Colmenares introduced them to a girl they hadn’t met before. “This is my daughter Laura, who lives in Puerto Ventura. She has come back to help me with my new restaurant.” Andrew offered his hand and Laura extended her stump. As an experiment Andrew held her stump just a bit longer than necessary and slowly slid his hand away so that at the final moment of contact his hand was cupping her stump. The look in Laura’s eyes was the same he had seen three times the previous day. Laura was about the same age as Iliana and Patty asked her, “You must be about Iliana’s age, did you have your arm amputated at the same time?”

“Yes, I lost my arm two weeks before she did. Leona performed the amputation during a new moon and Iliana had hers during the next full moon.” “Does it make any difference in the results?” “No, it’s just a way of scheduling the removal of our arms. Iliana is worse off than I am because she has a very short stump while mine reaches below the elbow but that was the way we chose to be. It has nothing to do with the phases of the moon.” ‘Thank God they’re not scheduled for the quarter-moons as well. Women would have to lose both arms!” “And we wouldn’t be able to serve you breakfast! Please have a seat.”

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Patty understood that the conversation about amputations was over. She and Andrew joined Nancy, Sylvia and Loraine at a table. They had already finished their breakfast and over one last cup of coffee they were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of two long arm stumps against the advantages of a single short stump. Nancy was saying, “Personally I find that using hooks instead of hands is a very sensual experience. When I make love I can ask my partner whether he prefers me to wear them or to show my bare stumps. Of course I’d rather do the latter because stumps are erogenous zones and now I have two more of them.” Loraine answered, “Yes but look at how helpless you are. Yesterday at the beach Patty and I had to help you and Sylvia take off and put on your bikinis. I may have only one stump but I am still independent.” “It’s precisely the sense of helplessness that I love. I am totally at the mercy of the person beside me. As a matter if fact I’m giving serious consideration to having my legs amputated. Can you imagine two leg stumps as erogenous zones?” “And what happens if you have no one with you?” “I’m quite capable of putting on my hooks by myself and then it’s almost as if I had my hands back. They key word is almost. I wouldn’t want to be fully able-bodied again, I like to feel dependent on a man.” Sarah and Samantha were sitting at a table next to the one at which Loraine, Nancy and Sylvia had been having breakfast. They overheard the discussion and they both walked over. Samantha said, “I lost my arm because my boy friend wanted me to be dependent on him but he turned out to be a jerk. I can tell you this, I admit I like the feeling of an arm gone forever but I don’t want to depend on anybody. I would have never had both hands amputated. “Perhaps Loraine was more sensible than I, she kept the stump of her right arm. At least she can tuck something under it which is something I can’t do, but I’ll pit my single hand against your two hooks any time.” Turning to Andrew she asked, “By the way, when are we going to start teaching these poor crippled girls how to spin and weave? We arrived two days ago and I’m raring to show that my armless shoulder is no handicap. You do have one armed girls with their arms gone at the shoulders, don’t you?” Patty intervened, “Yes, Samantha, we do have girls with their arm gone at the shoulder, and girls with their arm amputated above the elbow and girls with their arm amputated below the elbow. We even have a witch doctor who is missing her right arm below the elbow and her left leg below the knee. Her sister who is also a witch doctor has a very short stump for her right arm and in less than two week’s time she’s going to lose her left leg above the knee. “So, you see, there’s plenty of work for all the instructors we’ve brought down here. We have a few things to settle today and you’ll start working tomorrow.” “Why not today?” “Because we have to arrange a few things at the Prefecture. In the meantime you girls could walk about the village and meet the people, especially the women. You saw them at the party but you should get to know them really well.” “But we hardly speak Spanish enough to teach them!” “Well, then I think it’s time you started practicing the language. Some of the schoolgirls have a smattering of English. You might try talking to them.”

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“But aren’t they in school?” “It’s fiesta time because you people have arrived. Besides they’re all anxious to have you teach them.” Sarah said, “I’d like to put in my two bits if I may. I don’t care how anybody’s arm or arms have been amputated. I’m glad I’ve lost my right arm at the shoulder and that I’m forced to do everything with only one hand and no stump to help but it’s everybody’s privilege to decide what limbs they want amputated and where. For my part I love the feeling of an empty sleeve hanging from my shoulder. “I’m glad I’m here and I think that Patty’s right. We should go out and meet the people and establish a personal rapport with our future students. Patty said, “Thank you Sarah. You’re a woman of great common sense. However I would like to make a suggestion, if I may.” “Please do.” “When we first met you were wearing a short-sleeved blouse. The jacket you’re wearing today is long sleeved. In the interest of safety please wear short sleeved or sleeveless blouses while you’re using the spinning wheels or looms. You have lovely shoulders and we wouldn’t want one of them to be damaged by your empty sleeve getting caught in the machinery, 1do we?” “Thank you, Patty. I’ll bear that in mind.” The women, including Loraine, went out in a group while Iñaki set out for Emeterio’s farm to talk about the shearing of the sheep and the preparation of the wool. Patty asked Sarah to come with them. “I’d like to have a word with you in private, if I may.” Sarah complied and she and the entrepreneurs went to Sarah’s place where she changed into a short-sleeved blouse. “Might as well start setting a proper example right now,” she said. Flicking the empty sleeve with her fingers she added, ”Isn’t this delightful?” They all proceeded to Patty’s house. While Andrew sat at the computer Patty asked if anybody wanted coffee. They all did and Sarah, who had seen the percolator, volunteered to prepare it. Patty said, “There’s ’Half-and Half’ in the fridge and Barbados sugar in the cabinet. Let’s see what your coffee is like.” “I hope you all like it strong, but it depends on what you have.” “It’s a mixture of Brazilian and Jamaican Blue Mountain.” “Wow!” And with that Sarah proceeded to prepare the coffee. She found where the cups and sau- cers were and placed them on the table. Putting the sugar bowl and a creamer full of Half-and-Half on the table she cried out, ”Come and get it!” They all gathered around the table and Sarah poured the coffee according to each one’s wishes. She poured coffee into the last cup for herself and picked it up to go to a chair. “It takes a little longer to do things with one arm but they can be done.” Patty answered, “It would have taken me much longer and you don’t have even a stump!”

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“Ah, but I have much more experience than you do. How long ago did you lose your hand? “A little less than three months ago.” “You see, I lost my arm six months ago. No, I take that back, I didn’t lose it, I know perfectly well where it is, it was cremated and the ashes are buried in the family grave, but I had my arm amputated six months ago. However it was not an easy decision to make so I let my husband fool around with his legless secretary a little longer than I wanted and started practicing. He took her on a six-month trip to Europe so I fastened my right arm to my side and did everything with my left arm. I must admit that having it amputated was no great loss because after six months of not using it, it had completely withered and was of no use to me any more.” “Was your husband’s secretary a beautiful girl or was it just that she was legless?” Andrew asked. “She is a splendid physical specimen. Very athletic and she has the most beautiful muscular stumps you ever saw. She absolutely refuses to use a wheelchair and crawls about on all fours whenever she has to go from one place to another. Although she has a car with hand controls she uses it only if the place she has to go to is more than five hundred yards away. She says she has to keep her stumps in shape and that’s the only way to do it. Here’s a photograph of her that a mutual friend of my husband and me took on the coast of Corn- wall. He sent it to me by E-mail.” Andrew looked at the picture and whistled. “You certainly had some tough competition to meet. Those stumps are really gorgeous and she is a beautiful woman. Doesn’t she hurt her hands and stumps crawling like that?” “Actually she wears leather stump boots and gloves. My husband offered to have some short crutches made to order for her but she said she had rather crawl. She didn’t have her legs amputated because it was fashionable but because she wanted to be crippled and she isn’t about to lose one ounce of her happiness now that she is legless.” “You had some tough competition.” “Yes I did,” Sarah said while she caressed her armless shoulder, ”but my right arm won over her two legs. You see, all those months of practice paid off.” Andrew had finished his calculation while he spoke to Sarah. “OK, I’ve got It figured out. I estimate that we can build eight double huts with bath plus all the support facilities (water supply, electric power, kitchen, special hut for the amputations and a regular operating room for those who don’t trust the native system, lodgings for the personnel, landing strip with hangar and a maintenance shop, etc.) for ten million dollars. That means that we can have thirty-six time eight equals two hundred and eighty-eight groups or five hundred seventy-six persons per year. If we charge each group fifty thousand dollars for the stay that’s four million four hundred thousand dollars a year. The plane fare will be extra. That means that we can amortize the cost of construction in a little over two years. After that, except paying the personnel and maintenance, it’s all gravy. There’s only one thing: we don’t have the land to build on. Punta Brava is ideal so we have to make an offer that will tempt the village but will not raise our costs too much. Now here’s a question I want to discuss with all of you: Do we lease the land or buy it outright?” Nancy said, ”Let me ask a question. All the women in this room are amputees because we wanted to be or because we were forced by social mores. How much longer do you think this fad is going to last? We need it to last at least five years in order to make a good return on our investment.” Sylvia replied, ”I don’t think this is going to go away soon. Even the older women who have a good hold on their husbands are having their limbs amputated. They think it’s great fun. A

C:\PATTY.doc 86/86 couple of weeks ago I saw a one-legged and one-armed woman who must have been at least sixty-five. She was walking on one crutch and from the look on her face she was enjoying it tremendously. I asked her how long ago she had lost her leg and she said. ‘Two months ago.’” “’Was it due to an accident or disease?’ I asked. “’Neither.’ she answered. ’My grand-daughter went to summer camp to celebrate her graduation from high-school and when she returned she was minus her right leg. She swung around so elegantly on her crutch and told me that it was such fun that I decided to try it for myself. I liked being an amputee so much that I had my arm amputated two weeks ago.’” “’And are you happy?’” “’Deliriously so. My only regret is that I didn’t lose my limbs when I was young. I missed out on many years of happiness. Besides it helps me to keep my figure trim. Would you like to see a picture of my granddaughter just before she returned from summer camp?’ “I said yes, I’d like to and she pulled one out of her purse. The girl was barely eighteen and she had the tiniest stump you ever saw. The lady explained to me that she had such a short stump because she didn’t want the possibility of being fitted with a prosthesis. All she wanted was to use was a single crutch. She loved the feeling of emptiness below her stump and the feeling that there was only foot touching the ground. “These people were of lower middle class and God knows how the girl could afford to have her leg amputated but even more surprising is that even the poor are managing to lose a limb or two. “I’ve heard it said that they do it in order to inspire pity when they beg for alms. Whatever. The point I’m trying to make is that this is a phenomenon that is extending to all the age groups and to all economic levels. Granted that we’ll cater only to the well to do but I believe we can count on people from eighteen to seventy to come to us. I believe we’ll be doing well for the next ten to fifteen years.” Patty intervened, ”I agree with Sylvia that the poor are also losing their limbs. Not very long ago I saw a one-legged beggar as I got off the Interstate. But I would like to add that wan- nabe-ism is nothing new. “I have two great-aunts who decided to be one-legged when they were young. This was in the sixties. They went to the family doctor who at first told them they were crazy and he would have nothing to do with the idea. He wasn’t an old fuddy-duddy but he demurred at the idea of two young women becoming one-legged with no medical justification. The girls used their Southern Belle wiles on him until at last he relented. He told them that he couldn’t do the amputations in the hospital so they would have to be done at home with a local anesthetic and he warned them of the dangers of having an operation in an environment that was not sterile. The girls were so eager that they agreed to all his conditions and he set a date. “When the day arrived both girls were ready. The doctor came and amputated one leg after the other leaving the girls with lovely, well-rounded stumps. “The girls had bought crutches in advance and had spent three months practicing by tying their doubled-up legs and walking all over the house. They did the housework on one leg and their parents, who were very understanding and had acquiesced to their request, said they had never eaten such exquisite meals before. After they lost their legs their meals became even better. They started a restaurant and people from all over the world came and said the food was better than at the “Tour d’Argent. “They’re old now but they’ve never regretted having become one-legged.

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“So I agree with Sylvia that this phenomenon will last for quite some time and we’d be quite safe in investing heavily in Punta Brava.” Sarah said, “I know I’m just a temporary employee of this company but if I may I’d like to add my six-pence.” Andrew said, “Sure, go ahead.” “I have a collection of old magazines at home, from about the time when Patty said her great-aunts had their legs amputated and even farther back. In several issues I found ads that featured amputee women. I remember in particular an ad for a refrigerator that featured a beautiful one-legged woman. I also remember an ad for cigars in which a woman was preparing to smoke one and she was rolling it between the stump of her arm and her body. This reinforces Sylvia’s and Patty’s statements. People have been wanting to be amputees for ages and I don’t think this is likely to change in the near future.” Patty gave Sarah and Sylvia a grateful glance. She had been on tenterhooks since Nancy had asked the question because she very much wanted the project to go through. Suddenly a thought came to mind and she asked a question. “Andrew, I can understand Sarah intervening because she’s your employee and Anne’s but what about Nancy and Sylvia?” Andrew struck his forehead with his hand. “How thoughtless of me! I apologize Patty but I’ve been so absorbed in all this business plus being driven to distraction by the sight of all these beautiful limbless women that I forgot to tell you. Anne owned ten percent of the company and the rest is mine. She sold her part to Nancy’s company and now Nancy and Sylvia are co-owners with five percent each so their interest in Adventure Travel’s welfare is quite legitimate.” Patty apologized. “I’m sorry, both of you. I’m afraid I’ve put my foot in my mouth.” Nancy said, “Don’t worry, honey, you couldn’t know. But that’s not all. Tell her, Andrew.” “Nancy and Sylvia have agreed to a suggestion of mine. In view of the dedication you have shown to your job, to the extent of losing your right hand in the process, I’ve decided to give you twenty percent of the company. to be deducted from my part. Also you will be the CEO for the Punta Brava part of the business.” After a brief pause he added, “With the concomitant salary of course.” Patty was stunned. What she regretted most about losing her hand was that she had not being able to take photographs with her right hand gone but this more than compensated for the amputation. She rushed to her companions and with eyes full of tears she embraced them, first one by one and then all three at once. To hide his embarrassment Andrew harrumphed and said, “Let’s get on with the business at hand, shall we? ‘I take it that the opinion of the majority is that voluntary amputations will continue for a period of time long enough to make the Punta Brava project commercially viable. All who agree please raise their hands.” And looking at Nancy and Sylvia he added with a smile, “Or hooks as the case may be.” Andrew raised his right hand, Patty and Sarah raised their left hands, Sylvia raised her right hook and Nancy her left.” Patty asked. “Are you left-handed. Nancy?” “Yes.” “But you had your right hand amputated at first.”

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“Yes, I thought it would be easier for me if I did it that way but things were still too easy even when I removed the hook and did things with my hand and stump. So that’s why I had my other hand amputated. Now I’m really crippled and really happy.” Patty couldn’t understand Nancy’s idea of happiness but she held her tongue. Andrew continued, “OK. We all agree than that we want the land in Punta Brava. Question: Do we buy it or lease it?” Patty said, “If we lease it there’s always the chance they may want to break the lease. I doubt they will while we’re here but if the company should fall in other hands they might very well want to. I think we should buy.” What Patty really wanted was to inject a strong sum of money into the economy of Punta Brava. She knew it would be used wisely and not spent willy-nilly in crazy schemes. The others nodded in assent. “Well then,” continued Andrew. “What sort of an offer should we make them? Patty, do you know the price of property in this neck of the woods?” Patty nodded and said, “People don’t sell things here. It’s mostly a barter economy although the Council of Elders and the teacher do get a nominal salary. The teacher gets paid mostly in food and services. It’s beginning to change now that Pablo is running the courier service to Puerto Ventura but people still pass on their houses and land from generation to generation. Any attempt to put a price on Punta Brava would be nothing but a wild guess.” “You estimated the area to be between 36 and 40 hectares,” Sylvia said. “Would you say twelve thousand five hundred dollars a hectare would be fair price?” “That’s five thousand dollars an acre,” replied Patty. Where back home could you get land for that price?” “In the Mojave Desert,” replied Sylvia with an ironic smile. “Look, you all, even in the Mojave Desert there are places with access to roads and water. This place is completely undeveloped,” said Andrew. Patty was getting desperate. She had thought of paying a million dollars for the land and the initial offer had been for half that. They were all rich and waiting another year to amortize their initial expenses wasn’t going to hurt any of them. A million dollars meant a hundred thousand dollars a year in income if it was reasonably well invested. Then she thought that although she wanted the village to improve she also wanted the people to keep their independence from the almighty dollar. On the other hand she now also owed loyalty to Ad- venture Travel. “Sounds fair to me,” she said. The town of San Benito would have to do with an income of fifty thou a year she thought. Then she remembered that the people would get richer as the mohair industry got under way and heaved a sigh of relief. Andrew said, ”Fine, let’s go see the Prefect and ask him to arrange for a meeting of the Council of Elders tomorrow.” Patty said, ”Fine, but if you don’t mind I’d like to say behind a while with Sarah. You people go ahead and we’ll catch up with you in a little while.” Andrew and the two handless women left for the Prefecture. “Sarah, I asked you to come with me because I was disturbed by that incident at breakfast time. I don’t want any dissension in the group because of the presence or absence of stumps or how long they may be. We’re all amputees and we’re here to do a job. You and

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Samantha very generously waived your salary because you wanted to do good for a people you hadn’t even heard of before you read our ad. There aren’t many women here who have lost their arm from the shoulder so I am going to ask Samantha to teach them and I’m going to ask you, please, to coordinate the group and keep them in hand. Would you do that for me, please?” “Patty, I’m grateful I could come here. You’re a good woman and I noticed just now how you tried to balance the welfare of the company and of San Benito. You’re fair and hard- working and you work for what you believe in. I’ll be delighted to help you any way I can.” Patty thanked Sarah for her kind words and they both rushed on to the Prefecture. As they half walked half ran they saw a girl with her right arm amputated halfway between the shoulder and the elbow walking toward them. Patty was surprised because she had seen her the day before and she still had both arms. “Tambo, what happened to you?” “We had a full moon last night, Miss Patty, and I was one of the two girls still in the roster.” “I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy I forgot. Have you been practicing doing things with one arm?” “No, Miss Patty. I figured I might as well enjoy using both hands while I had them. There’ll be time enough to learn how to do things with my left hand now that my right arm is gone.” Sarah couldn’t help being touched by the resignation that showed in the girl’s face. There was no anger, just acceptance. She had known that she was going to lose her arm and she had faced the fact with equanimity. Embracing her with her only arm Sarah kissed her on the cheek and said, “You’re a lovely girl, Tambo, and I wish you all off the best.” “Thank you, ma’am, you’re very kind.” That said Tambo went on her way. She jiggled her stump in order to call the boys’ attention to it. She knew that it made her more attractive and she had been looking with feelings of both dread and anticipation for the moment when her arm would be amputated. Sarah and Patty hurried to the Prefecture. Andrew had already explained the matter to Señor González who had been very receptive to the idea. “I shall be glad to convoke the Council for tomorrow, Señor Andrew. I’m sure they’ll all think your idea is very good.” That part of the mission accomplished they all went to Señora Colmenares’ restaurant to have lunch. There the lady of the house introduced them to her niece who was a very pretty girl with her right hand and a part of the forearm missing. “This is my niece Tjimbo. She also lived in Puerto Ventura but has come here also to help me with the restaurant. She and Laura arrived together.” “How do you do Tjimbo,” asked Patty as she held out her stump. Tjimbo extended hers and the two women rubbed stumps. Tjimbo giggled; she had never done it before. Sarah said, “Tambo and Tjimbo are beautiful girls. It’s too bad they had to have their arms amputated against their will.” “It’s not really against their will. They are conditioned from the moment they are born so that they accept their amputations willingly. Boys prefer one-armed girls so the girls submit willingly because it increases their chances of marriage exponentially.” “Well, I lost my arm in order to save my marriage so I guess I can understand that.”

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Lunch over everybody went home to rest after a hectic morning. The following day Andrew and Patty went to the Prefecture. The Council Room was small. There was a dais at the far end and chairs for a small audience to sit on. On the dais was a table and behind it sat the Prefect. The two chairs on either side of him were empty and the two chairs at the end were already occupied by the two oldest women of the town. Since the town now had two witch doctors the two empty chairs were reserved for them. The Council of Elders was just calling to order and Patty saw Iliana dressed in an immaculately tailored dress. The right sleeve was neatly pinned up the front of her stump. She bowed in silence to the Prefect, turned around and bowed to the audience, and then took her seat to the Prefect’s left. “It seems we made it just in time,” Patty whispered to Andrew. “Yes, it wouldn’t have done to be late for a meeting of the Council,” Andrew whispered back. Nancy and Sylvia were overawed by the ceremony. The hall was neither large nor particularly sumptuous but it carried the dignity due to a place where the destiny of San Benito was going to be decided. Leona, the senior witch doctor, came in next swinging her body on her single crutch. She wore a very short black dress that showed to all both her stumps. She emphasized that she was a double amputee by swinging the stump of her arm and walking with the knee of her amputated leg bent around the front stave of the crutch. She performed the same bows that her sister had done and walked in total silence to the remaining empty chair. A murmur of approval and commiseration arose among the public. They were used to seeing one- armed girls and women but Leona was the first to lose both an arm and a leg and they knew why. The audience had filled the small hall to standing room only and people were standing with their backs to the walls along the aisles to the sides and the back. The Prefect spoke out in a loud and clear voice. “We are gathered here today in order to consider the request of Mr. Andrew Stelling on be- half of Adventure Travel Inc. to buy the municipal lands that constitute the locality of Punta Brava. “Adventure Travel means to establish a small lodge in Punta Brava in order to bring no more than sixteen tourists at a time in order that they may have their limbs amputated here. We infer that Mr. Stelling refers to female tourists. “Mr. Stelling wants to buy Punta Brava because he respects the customs of San Benito. Only local women may have their limbs amputated here and that is why he wishes to establish his lodge outside of the town’s limits. “In compensation Mr. Stelling offers the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Dollars and professional advice as to how best to invest the money so that the town of San Benito can have a regular income that it will spend for the benefit of its citizens. “The Council of Elders has the right to decide for itself whether to accept or not Mr. Stel- ling’s offer but as is usual in matters of great importance to the community we prefer to consult with you as well. “I will now let Mr. Stelling give us the details.” The Prefect sat down and motioned for Andrew to get on the dais. Andrew stood up and gave the details of the project. After that he emphasized the benefits to San Benito not only of a regular income but that the tourist lodge would also be a source of income for the village because it would buy food and employ people as housemaids and members of the maintenance department. He mentioned that once the mohair industry was

C:\PATTY.doc 91/91 up and running the tourists would be sure to come to San Benito and buy the local wares. In order to get to San Benito the tourists would have to be ferried over the swamp and this service would also increase San Benito’s wealth. He finished by praising the people of San Benito for their kindness and generosity toward his representative, Miss Patricia Brewster. Miss Brewster was his friend and was well known by the community. Surely they would understand that Miss Brewster would not recommend anything that would not be to the benefit of San Benito. The last words of his speech had their intended effect. If Patty was happy with the deal the so was San Benito. The papers were signed that very afternoon.

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Chapter 17 – The Lessons Begin – A Stranger Comes to Town

The next day Patty and Andrew went to have breakfast at Señora Colmenares’ restaurant. Over the coffee Andrew gently took hold of Patty’s stump between his two hands. Gently caressing it with his thumbs he spoke to her. “I must go back to the office now. I made some sketches for the lodge based on the drawing you sent me of Punta Brava but now I have a far better idea of the lay of the land. I must send a team of surveyors and when I have a full fledged map I’ll talk to a contractor about the buildings, the water supply and the electric power. We’ll also have to install a sewage treatment plant. “I would like you to come with me but I need you here. Someone must organize the groups assigned to each instructor and supervise them. If anything else is needed you can call me on the radio or send me an E-mail. You’ll just have to keep the home fires burning until I return. “You’re very sweet and I think the world of you. When things settle down and if you’re willing I’d like to carry our relationship further but in the meantime I’ll just have to wait. I’m asking you, please, to wait for me.” Patty pressed with her hand on Andrew’s hands making him squeeze harder on her stump. Looking into his eyes she said, “Andrew, I admire you very much. I admire you for your strength, your gentleness, your kindness, and so many things more. I could never fall in love with someone I didn’t admire and I must confess I believe I’m falling in love with you. “Yes, of course I’ll wait. When are you leaving?” “In an hour. Rick and Chuck are checking the airplane. They’re flying back with me.” “What about Nancy and Sylvia?” “They have to go back too and take care of the photographic agency. They have a very good manager but she’s still a little wet behind the ears as far as the business goes. She’s lost both arms above the elbow and she hasn’t quite got the hang of using her new hooks. Loraine just came along for the ride and she wants to stay for a while.” “I’ll be glad to have her here. I love these people but communicating in their Spanglish and my Anglospan gets a bit tiring at times. It’ll be good to have someone I can speak with in proper English all the time.” “Poor Patty. It’s been hard on you, hasn’t it?” “Not really. It was a bit difficult at first, especially when I volunteered to have my hand removed. I didn’t want to lose it but I felt I had to or else Ramona would have been left armless. Then came the time when I tried to take photographs with one hand and I couldn’t, not even with those prostheses: the one that I designed and the one that Eddie designed. I still hope to continue as a photographer some day.” “You don’t have to. You’re rich now.” “I know, thanks to your generosity. But I’d still like to be independent and photography is the only way I know how to make a living.” “We’d better go now. I have to get my bag and mosey on down to the plane.” “May I see you off?” “I’d be hurt if you didn’t.”

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She tucked her stump under his arm and he put his hand on it. She in turn placed her hand on his. They walked to his room and he picked up his valise and his duffel bag. They started to walk to where the plane was parked. “Will you be gone very long?” “I don’t know. A month at least, maybe more. There are a lot of financial and legal aspects that have to be taken care of. Fortunately the company has plenty of cash on hand.” They reached the plane and Andrew hand his luggage to Chuck who put it in the luggage bin. Andrew saw Patty trying to keep the tears from showing. He hugged her. “We’ll keep in touch by radio whenever I’m at the home office and we can always E-mail each other.” Patty nodded, her lips trembling. She left for home as soon as the Cat took of, not lingering to watch it disappear over the horizon. As soon as she got there she dived on her bed and cried. She wasn’t quite sure whether she was crying for joy or sadness but she cried her eyes out. Then she put on a pair of sunglasses to hide her red eyes and went out for a walk on the beach, She looked down at her stump and for the first time since she had lost her hand she realized that she was glad she was one-armed. The loss of her hand had given her sexual pleasure but more important she had saved a girl from being a helpless cripple the rest of her life and it had helped her catch a very desirable man. What she had said about him was true and she admired every inch of the person physically, intellectually, and morally. Patty raised her stump. “Hello, Shorty, you’re a good friend and I’m glad I have you with me.” The stump jiggled on its own as stumps are sometimes wont to do. It seemed that it was nodding its assent. She cheered up and remembered she still had to organize the groups of students. She went home again and changed into something more suitable for a town meeting. She went to the Prefecture and asked the clerk to send the town crier out to convene a meeting for that afternoon at five o’clock. “That will be close enough to sunset so the weather won’t be too warm,” she thought. Shortly before five people began coming to the square. Patty noticed two girls who were crawling on all fours. They had folded their legs and bound them so they couldn’t walk. Patty knew them. They were both just over fourteen years old. One of them had a pretty good command of English and Patty addressed her. “Marina, what are you two doing?” “Leona told us about the message the gods sent her. In less than a year we’ll be included in the roster. We decided we prefer to keep both our arms and be legless instead. So we decided we’d spend the time between now and then without the use of our legs.” “But by that time your legs will be useless.” “Below the knees, yes, but we’ll have very strong thighs because that’s all we’ll be using. It doesn’t matter that our lower legs will soon be useless because eventually we’ll lose them anyway. Our stumps will be the remnants of our thighs and we’ll be very proficient using them by the time are legs are cut off.”

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Patty remembered that the reason she was here was that all the women were amputees. She could see the logic in the girls’ way of thinking. Now that things had changed and the girls in the roster had to lose two limbs instead of one it was logical that some of them should chose to lose both legs instead of a leg and an arm. She nodded her assent. Pretty soon the square was full and Patty called for silence. She noticed that the two girls who wanted to be legless had managed to sit on the ground in the front row. With their eyes at the height of other people’s waists they wouldn’t have been able to see her if they sat anywhere else. They had managed to hide their lower legs and feet so that the knees that peeked beyond their skirts looked like perfect stumps. She tried to imagine herself legless and getting a crick in her neck from permanently looking up when she was talking to people of normal height. She would spend most of her time on the floor or on a skate cart because she was not willing to use a wheel chair or artificial legs. Then she remembered that she was already one-armed. Trying to picture herself as one-armed and legless was even more of a shock. She wouldn’t be able to swing her body between her arms and to crawl she would have to do it on her good hand and the stumps of her legs. “No thanks,” she thought. “If I lose another limb it will be just one – my left leg. I’m not about to lose both hands. Nancy and Sylvia are practically helpless without their hooks even though Sylvia did a creditable job helping Andrew run that preliminary survey. But still, there’s precious little she can do without her hooks.” Coming back to reality she started talking. “Will all the men please join Iñaki at Emeterio’s place? He’s waiting there for you.” The men left. Pointing to the corner to the right of the now half empty square she said, “Will the instructors who are missing their arms from the shoulder please go to this corner?” Sarah and Samantha went to the corner. “Will all the women from the village who are missing their right arms at the shoulder or intend to lose them like that join Sarah and Samantha?” Isabel and three other girls with armless shoulders joined Sarah and Samantha,. Pointing to corner on her left Patty said, “Terri and Shirley, will you please go there?” The two instructors went to the other corner. “Will all the women who have or intend to have stumps above the right elbow join their instructors?” About fifty women joined Shirley and Terri. Pointing to the far right corner Patty said this time, “Will Elizabeth and Tanya please go there?” “Alright, all the women with stumps below their right elbows please go to Elizabeth and Terri.” Some one hundred and twenty women went to the far corner. Left in the center of the square were Ramona, Marina, and Conchita. Patty’s stump started to twitch, which she had noticed lately was wont to happen when she was nervous. She looked at the three differently sized groups and thought. “My God, what have I done? The same number of instructors for each group and each group a different size!”

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To compound her confusion Ramona held up her stump and spoke out, “Patty, I’m not missing my right arm but my left. Does this mean that I can’t learn how to spin and weave? It’s not fair, Patty!” Patty rushed to Ramona and held her face between her hand and her stump. Holding Ramona by the waist with her hand and wiping Ramona’s tears with her stump Patty said, “I’m sorry, Ramona, I didn’t think. Your problems are exactly the opposite of the other’s. Look Ramona, you’re a smart girl and so are Shirley and Terri. I’m sure they’ll work out a way to teach you doing things with your right hand while they work with their left. Why don’t you go and join them? If you have problems later will discuss them. OK?” Ramona wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. Smiling happily she skipped toward the group of women with stumps above their elbows. “I’m going to learn with you! I’m going to learn with you!” she cried out waving her stump in the air. That left the two girls who still had all four limbs but wanted to be legless. Patty addressed one. “Conchita, you look perfectly legless when you’re sitting down. How do you do it?” “It’s very simple, Miss Patty. We have been pretending to be legless so long that our legs are very thin below the knee. We don’t feel them at all because we decided to do this three months ago. We spend all our time as if we had already lost our legs. You haven’t seen us because we stay at home all the time, we didn’t want to be seen in public.” Patty was exasperated and her stump started swaying up and now very fast. “You could have told me about it. You must have known we were about to bring some instructors to teach one-armed women how to spin and weave. But you have to have at least one leg to work the treadle of the spinning wheel. Your legs are useless now as it is. You might as well have them amputated right now. How are you going to spin?” Sarah had been watching the whole episode. She approached Patty and said., “Look, if these girls sit on a low stool and their stumps are long enough they can work the treadle with the stump of one leg while maintaining their balance with the other stump. Actually it will be easier for them to handle the wool and the thread because they’ll have both hands. As for the weaving, well, they’ll just have to sit on a normal stool. “Samantha has only four girls to teach. She can take care of these two as well. Not only that but I think you should redistribute the groups. It’s not fair that we should have so little work while the others have about a hundred and seventy.” So they redistributed the groups and all agreed that classes would start the following day. In the meantime Iñaki was teaching the men of the town all about shearing, carding and washing the wool. “Tienen que entregar la lana en perfectas condiciones para que las mujeres las puedan hilar y tejer. No se puede hacer nada bueno con materia prima mala.” With that admonition he proceeded to demonstrate how to shear, card and wash the wool. * * * Two weeks had gone by, the classes were going well, and the last girl on the roster had her arm amputated. She was a pretty little thing by the name of Tsumi. Iliana removed her arm and looked at what the girl’s loss meant in dread. Two weeks later she was going to lose her leg in addition to the arm she had already lost

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In the meantime Patty kept in touch with Andrew. Things were going well and the surveyors would be in shortly. When they turned in the map the final negotiations would start with the contractors. He missed Patty, he missed San Benito. Patty wrote back that all was going well with the lessons, for the men on procuring the wool and for the women on processing it. Two girls had decided they wanted to be legless instead of one-armed and one-legged. They too were learning how to spin and weave. She missed him too, Especially she missed the touch of his hands on her stump. The surveyors came and Patty led them to Punta Brava. Three days later they returned. They would draw the final map at the office but they had a preliminary sketch. They also had a copy of Andrew’s sketch, “Mr. Stelling’s sketch is remarkably accurate,” the head of the crew said. “Is he a civil engineer?” It struck Patty that she didn’t know Andrew’s profession. She had always thought of him as a businessman and that was enough. “Oddly enough, I don’t know,” she answered. The man shrugged and took his leave. Two days after the surveyors left Patty heard the sound of an airplane engine. She thought it was strange for several reasons. The sound was much higher pitched than the engines of the Cats, she didn’t expect anybody to arrive for some time, and the noise was of a single engine. She walked toward the beach and got there just in time to see a seaplane hit the water as it landed. It was like nothing she had ever seen. The rear end seemed chopped off and the tail was at the end of a boom that extended to the rear. “Funny little bugger,” she thought. “It looks like a chopper but without the rotors. I wonder who it can be.” The plane taxied up to the beach and Patty saw the landing gear come down just as it was about to reach the land. She had seen the Catalina pilots do the same maneuver many times so it did not surprise her. When the plane came to a halt the pilot jumped down. He rapidly turned around, picked a bag from the cabin and slung it over his shoulder with the long shoulder strap. The left shoulder, Patty noticed. The man approached Patty and she noticed several things. The first was that the bag was a camera bag. “The man’s a photographer,” Patty thought. “Andrew must have sent him since I can’t take photographs any more.” Then she noticed something else that really surprised her. The man’s right arm had been amputated below the elbow. He walked up to her and extended his left hand. “Hi! I’m Chris Larsen.” “Hi ! I’m Patty Brewster.” “Yes, I know. Andrew told me you’d be here.” “So you know Andrew, do you?” “Old buddy of mine. We went to the Colorado School of Mines together.” “So you’re both mining engineers then?” “Yes ma’am, and in case you’re curious I got this when a blasting cap went off in my hand.”

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“Hell of a way to lose an arm.” “I wouldn’t recommend it. Andrew tells me you lost yours the easy way.” “Yes. I went to sleep and when I woke up it was gone. I knew it was going to be gone in the morning but it was still a bit of a shock. “So, what brings you here?” “Andrew sent me. He knows you’re feeling lonely and a bit upset about the loss of your arm so he sent me over.” “To cheer me up?” “No. To teach you how to take photographs with one hand.” “Good. Let’s get you settled down and then you can teach me all about it.” They went to the Prefect who, as usual, had a small house to rent and Chris moved in. Then they went to Mrs. Colmenares’ place where they had lunch. Chris commented favorably on the local shrimp. “Best and largest to be found in the Gulf of Mexico,” Patty answered as she dipped one in sauce tartare and bit into it with great gusto. They finished their lunch and Chris suggested they walk to the beach so that he could check his plane. “It’s alright. Nobody’s going to touch it.” “Just the same, I’d like to go check.” “OK, if it’ll make you happy but I’d like to ask you a question just for your peace of mind.” “Shoot.” “Have you seen any policemen in the street?” “No. I guess it’s their lunch time. You know how these Hispanic people are.” “That’s racial profiling my friend. You haven’t seen any police because there aren’t any police. There’s no police department in this town. It’s not necessary.” “Maybe there’s something to living in a poor place.” “These people may be poor in terms of money but they’re richer than we in their scale of values. I’m trying to improve their standard of living and I hope to do so without impover- ishing them in other respects.” Patty went on to tell Chris about her plans for San Benito and how she had already started to implement them. Chris was complimenting her when he suddenly stopped talking and raised his camera to his eye. There were some sandpipers in front of them but Chris had pointed his camera in another direction. She looked and saw Iliana leaning against a palm tree. She looked very sad and Chris had captured her sadness very well in the look of her face and her body language. They walked over to where Iliana was standing and Patty introduced the two young people. Then she asked, “What’s the matter, Iliana?” “It’s only a few days until Leona will remove my leg. I will be forced to walk with a crutch for the rest of my life like she does. I had always expected to be one-armed because that’s the way things are here but Leona is now very badly crippled and I don’t want to be like her. Nobody told me when I lost my arm that I would have to lose a leg as well.” Patty tried to console her.

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“You’ll not be the only one. Leona is already like that and there will be other girls to come. You know the Spanish saying, ‘Mal de muchos consuelo de tontos.’” “I don’t consider myself a fool Patty.” “I’m sorry. It’s not that I consider you a fool. What I really meant was that there will be other people like you and Leona and just as everybody contributes ideas as to how to get along with one arm there’ll be more people who will have lost a leg as well as an arm and you will all get together and each one will contribute her idea as how to make life easier. For example, look at the sexy way Leona wraps her stump around her crutch. She says it helps her feel where the crutch tip is and thereby knows how to place it properly when it hits the ground.” “Leona asked me to remove her leg below the knee because the stump of her arm reaches below her elbow but my arm was removed above the elbow so I’m going to have my leg removed above the knee.” Patty couldn’t understand the reasoning but it was Iliana’s decision and she respected it. She decided not to argue with Iliana and changed the theme of the conversation. Addressing Chris she said, “You know, I’ve seen quite a few flying boats, Catalinas mostly, but I’ve never seen one like yours. It’s the oddest looking little thing.” He laughed. “It’s a Republic Sea Bee. They started manufacturing it just few years after the Cats so it too is very old. I found it abandoned in an old airport and bought it for a song. I spent more in refurbishing it than the original price.” “Did you refurbish it yourself?” “Yes. Mining engineers have to understand quite a bit about mechanical affairs so it wasn’t too difficult.” “Was this before you lost your hand?” “No, it was after.” “But you must have had trouble using tools with only one hand.” “I did at first and then I found a company that manufactures specialized prostheses. Once I learned how to use them it was a piece of cake. I have one in the plane. Would you like to see it?” “Yes please. And as you look for it you can check your plane’s integrity,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. They went to the plane and Chris just cast a cursory glance at it. He pulled a case from the cockpit and opened it. Inside was an artificial forearm but instead of the standard hook it had a socket. Inserted in the socket was a wrench. “See? I can use any size wrench with my stump while I’m holding something else with my good hand.” “I tried to have a prosthesis made so that I could use my camera. Two of them in fact but none of them worked.” “Yes, Andrew told me and that’s the main reason I’m here. To teach you how to take photographs with only one hand.” He put the prosthesis away and said, “Come. Let’s go to your place and you can pick up one of your cameras. Then I’ll show you how and you can practice.”

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Patty pulled out one of her cameras and they walked out in the street. They ran into Nyo- rongoro and Patty asked her to pose for them. The girl agreed willingly. Patty raised her camera with her left hand and tried to focus with the stump of her right arm. The image went into focus and then out on the other side of the scale. “Darn it!” she cried. “You’re doing it wrong. Here, let me have the camera and I’ll show you how.” He took the camera and after making sure the strap was around his neck he picked it up with his left hand and placed the stump of his right hand horizontally under it. Holding the camera with his stump he moved his left hand to the shutter speed dial and set the shutter to 1/125 second. He placed his left hand around the left side of the diaphragm ring and set it to f/11. Finally he placed his hand on the focusing ring and lifted the camera to eye level. Wrapping his hand over the prism once he had achieved focus he pressed with his left index finger on the shutter release. “It takes a little bit of practice but you can do it with time.” “You set the shutter speed and diaphragm before raising the camera to eye level. How did you know what exposure to set? You didn’t use the built in meter.” “Easy. I saw that your film speed dial was set to 100 ISO/ASA. It’s a bright sunny day so I used the ‘Sunny sixteen’ rule and opened up one stop because the sun was coming from Nyorongoro’s side.” “How silly of me. I should have known but I was so upset about not been able to take photographs that I just plumb forgot.” Patty practiced taking photographs of the town and its inhabitants until she finished the roll. “I’ll send it out to be developed when the next plane comes in.” “Good. In the meantime I’ll show you how to reload and switch lenses on the run.” When they returned to Patty’s house they found Loraine sitting on the couch waiting for them. “Patty, I’ve been waiting for you for hours! Where have you been?” Noticing Chris’s presence she added, “And who is that gorgeous hunk of man you have with you? Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Patty laughed. Loraine had always been very forward with men but she tended to push things a bit too fast and the men ran away before they could really appreciate her many good qualities. “Loraine, I’d like to introduce Chris Larsen. He’s a friend of Andrew’s, a mining engineer, a photographer, and as you can see he’s also one-armed.” Loraine extended her left hand. “How do you do. I’ve noticed that it’s Patty’s habit to rub stumps with other amputees when she greets them but mine is too short. You don’t mind, do you?” Chris was a gentleman and he answered, “I’d be delighted to shake your left hand with mine but I also hope that someday I’ll also be able to caress your stump with mine.” Unusually for her Loraine blushed and looked at Chris with half-closed eyes. Chris got the message. Patty prepared dinner for all three and afterwards Loraine and Chris left for his quarters.

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When they had left Patty went to the computer and checked her E-mail. A message from Andrew informed her that a construction crew was due to arrive shortly and begin work in Punta Brava. Two days later a ship appeared offshore. A motor launch bearing two men, a woman, and sailor in charge of the boat approached the pier. Climbing up the steps the two men, one dressed as a ship’s captain and the other in his shirtsleeves and wearing a Panama hat, asked for Miss Patricia Brewster and were led to her house. The woman accompanied them The man in civvies knocked on the door and Patty opened it. She saw the two men and asked, “Yes? What can I do for you.” The ship’s captain said, “Miss Patricia Brewster?” “Yes.” “I am captain Daffid Llewellyn-Jones and these are my first mate and daughter Fiona, and Mr. David Carter of Universal Constructions, Inc.” Patty looked puzzled until she heard a woman’s voice say, “The first mate is down here.” She looked down and saw a well-muscled woman sitting on the ground. Her arms were very strong – they obviously had to be because she “walked” with them. Her legs were reduced to two tiny stumps and she must have lost them quite some time ago to judge from the development of her musculature. Fiona reached up with her hand and said, “How do you do?” This time it was Fiona who was surprised when Patty extended the stump of her right arm. Quickly recovering she wrapped her hand around the stump and shook it. After shaking hand and stump with both men Patty said, “Please come in.” The men walked in after Fiona had entered swinging her legless body between her arms. “Please take a seat.” With great agility Fiona hoisted herself on a chair, leaning on the floor with one arm and on the edge of the chair with the other. The men sat down. The captain was a bit flustered and he started to repeat himself. “As I said my name is Daffid…” “Yes, yes, I know. You’re Daffid and he’s David. I presume you’re Welsh and he’s English. Am I right?” David Carter said, “Nearly right, Miss Brewster. My parents are English but I was born in South Africa.” Putting on her best English accent Patty asked, “Oh, would you like a nice cuppa?” Carter replied, “Thank you. It’s very kind of you but we don’t really have very much time. We came here with a double purpose: First, to report to you on our arrival. Mr. Stelling has no doubt informed you that we have a contract with him for the construction of the lodge in Punta Brava. Second, to ask you if there is a harbor pilot that can take us to Punta Brava.” “Yes, Mr. Stelling wrote to me. I’m afraid that this is a tiny port and apart from two ships, one based here and the other in Puerto Ventura, no other merchant ships use it. The waters are deep near the pier but they’re shallow around Punta Brava and there are reefs to the east and west of the peninsula. That’s what makes it so ideal for tourism.” The captain said, “That it well may but it poses a problem for unloading the cargo. We bring all the equipment and materials plus fuel for the bulldozer and the pavement roller. Another

C:\PATTY.doc 101/101 ship is arriving tomorrow with cement and gravel. There are two construction crews, one for the lodge and the other for the landing strip.” “Look, do you have underwater radar?” “Yes.” “May I suggest something?” “Please do.” “Use your radar to get as close as possible to the southern tip of Punta Brava. If you have a tender use it to carry the stuff to the shore. You could also hire some of the fishermen to help you unload the cargo with their boats.” “The tender is large enough to carry the heavy machinery and using the fishermen’s boats would certainly shorten our time for unloading the cargo. Thank you for your suggestions.” The visitors took their leave. Patty watched in admiration as Fiona swung her abbreviated body keeping up with the men and never asking for mercy. * * * Three months passed and the construction of the lodge was nearly finished. Patty had practiced taking photographs like Chris Larsen had taught her to and was getting more proficient every day. In the meantime Iliana had her leg amputated. Leona knew she was going to have problems doing the work while leaning on her crutch and she asked Patty for help. “I’ll initiate you as a witch doctor. I’m used to working with one arm but I’ve never done this before missing a leg as well. Please say you’ll do it Patty.” Patty agreed and Leona taught her all the secrets. How to go to the mangrove swamp and pick the proper leaves and roots, how to mix them in the proper proportions of each and how to mash them into the paste that would be applied to the limb that was to be removed. She also taught her how to prepare the sleeping potion so the girls would go to sleep with complete bodies and wake up minus a limb, and the tranquilizing potion they were to receive upon waking up. Iliana had seen Fiona and she thought that maybe losing an arm and a leg was better than being totally legless. Conchita on the other hand couldn’t wait till her time came. When the night came that Iliana was to lose her leg both Leona and Patty were at the witch doctor’s hut to take care of her. Patty had prepared the poultice and Iliana showed up with a crutch. “This is going to be my second leg. When I wake up tomorrow I’ll use it to get back home. It’s going to be my lifetime companion just like your crutch will be yours, Leona.” Patty asked her which leg she wanted to lose and at what height. Iliana pointed to the proximal third of her left thigh and Leona marked the spot with a marker. They gave her the sleeping potion and covered her leg with the poultice up to the point in her thigh that she had indicated. Iliana fell asleep, and Leona and Patty sat by and watched over her. Patty was fascinated watching the limb slowly disappear while it dissolved in the poultice. By day- break Iliana’s left leg had been reduced to a stump; a lovely, well rounded stump without the hint of a scar, like all the other stumps in San Benito. When Iliana woke up she asked, “Is it done?” Leona nodded and Patty held Iliana’s lone hand with hers for a moment. “Here, drink this.”

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Iliana drank the tranquilizing potion and then asked for her crutch. Patty handed it to her and Iliana got up. Tucking the crutch under her arm she slowly, sensually swung her body forward and took her first step as a one-legged woman. Slowly Iliana crossed the hut keeping the stump of her leg in close contact with the crutch. When the crutch moved forward the stump followed it and when the crutch went backward as her leg moved forward the stump followed in unison. The effect was extremely sensual and Patty couldn’t help saying, “Iliana, it’s the sexiest walk I can think of!” Iliana looked happily over her shoulder and waved good-by with the stump of her arm. With a happy look on her face she crutched back home. Patty asked Leona, “What do we do with the poultice and the remains of Iliana’s leg? Throw them away?” “Good heavens, no, girl! It’s all organic material. We use it for fertilizer. How do you think our mangoes get their distinctive taste?” “Do you mean to tell me that I’ve been eating people’s arms every time I ate a mango since I came here?” “In a sense, yes, but not really. The arms, and my leg, and Iliana’s, were transformed into ordinary organic matter. You saw Iliana’s leg dissolve into the poultice. The muscles, ten- dons, nerves, blood vessels, bone, skin, everything was transformed. The transformation went even further when the roots of the trees absorbed the poultice and turned it into nutri- tional substances, some of which went to the mangoes. So you’re not a cannibal if that’s what’s worrying you. Just think of it like a dead animal rotting and becoming a part of the earth. The difference is that this is much faster and the severed limb doesn’t just lie there and become putrefact and smelly, it closes nature’s cycle immediately.” Patty sighed with relief. Iliana’s departure had not failed to have an effect on Patty. Her walk had indeed been extremely sensual and Patty sensed something strange stirring inside her. When she left the hut she went straight to Emeterio and asked him to make a crutch for her. Emeterio asked what she wanted it for and she replied that it was good to have one handy in case she sprained an ankle or broke a leg. He didn’t believe her but nevertheless he promised she’d have it two days later. Two weeks later it was Nyorongoro’s turn. Nyorongoro had watched Iliana’s sexy walk and had envied her. She had asked Leona to amputate her leg ahead of time but Leona had refused. “It must be done as the gods ordered it, not at our will.” Nyorongoro grumbled and waited impatiently for the two weeks to go by. Leona had come down with the flu so Patty and Iliana did the operation. “May I stay awake and watch my leg disappear?” Patty looked at Iliana who shrugged. “I don’t suppose it matters very much. The idea is that a girl shouldn’t be shocked watching her limb disappear but if Nyorongoro wants to watch she’s welcome. She’s been looking forward to being a double amputee so let her enjoy watching how she becomes one- legged.”

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Nyorongoro stayed awake the whole night and watched with fascination as most of her leg slowly disappeared into the poultice. She had asked for a shorter stump than Iliana’s to match the tiny stump of her arm. A day later Patty asked her to pose in the same place where Chris had taken her picture when she had both legs. It was the same picture except for the leg stump and the crutch only the quality was noticeably better than that of Patty’s previous pictures since she had lost her arm. Watching Nyorongoro walking on her crutch made Patty’s strange feeling more intense. After another two weeks it was Ramona’s turn and Patty asked to be excused. She had saved the girl from being armless but there was no way she could save Ramona from being a double amputee. She didn’t want any feelings of guilt in the future. “It’s not your fault, Patty. It’s the will of the gods. There’s no reason for you to feel guilty.” Nevertheless Patty asked not be forced to do the amputation. Leona had recovered from her flu and she and Iliana amputated Ramona’s leg. When Ramona returned home to Patty the following morning she was as gay as a lark. “It’s marvelous, Patty!” Patty again had that strange feeling inside of her, this time more strongly than ever. She understood what it was. She went to talk to Leona and Iliana.

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Chapter 18 – Patty Becomes a Double Amputee – Andrew Surprises Her Leona said, “I’m sorry, Patty, but I can’t break the rules. I can bend them a little by making sure that you’re selected for the next amputation but I told Nyorongoro that she had to wait to lose her leg and you’re going to have to wait until your turn comes. “It’s only thirteen days. Ramona had her leg amputated yesterday. You’ll be one-armed and one-legged before you know it.” “But I’m afraid Andrew will come any time now and I want him to see me as a double amputee!” Leona placed the stump of her arm on Patty’s stump and said, “I’m sorry, darling, but that’s the best I can do for you.” Patty went home terribly disappointed. When she got there she checked her E-mail. There was a message from Andrew. “Dear Patty, The contractor tells me that both the lodge and the airstrip will be finished in a month’s time. “We have to start hiring and training personnel for the lodge. Apart from the maids we’ll need a manager, a hostess, a receptionist, and a cook. I know this sounds sexist but if you could find female amputees so much the better. “Since you are the CEO of the Punta Brava operation I’ll trust your judgment. “I’ll be going down a week after the construction is finished for the inauguration of the lodge. “I’ve missed seeing you all this time and I’m sorry I had to leave you in charge of supervising the construction but I’ve been very busy. “I miss you and can’t wait until we meet again. “Love, “Andrew” Patty was relieved. Andrew wouldn’t be coming to San Benito for another five weeks. That meant she would have three weeks to learn a sexy way to walk with one crutch. She knew who she wanted as manager of the lodge. She would ask Sarah to stay. Of course Sarah had lost her arm in order to save her marriage but maybe she could talk her husband into coming down to Punta Brava. Patty had been to Punta Brava often in order to supervise the construction. She knew that the lodgings for all the personnel were extremely comfortable from the manager’s suite to the rooms for the maids. The CEO’s cottage was something special. She immediately thought of the right person as a hostess. She went to see Li Chou, a beautiful girl of Chinese origin with her arm off at the shoulder. “Chou, the lodge is about to be finished and we’re going to open in five weeks. We need a hostess to take care of the social events. You’re a sophisticated girl. Would you like the job?” “I’d love to, Patty, but I’m totally missing my arm. Not even the vestige of a stump. With the lack of new girls it’s quite possible that I might be chosen again and then I would lose a leg. Can you imagine a one-armed, one-legged hostess at the lodge” “Chou, it wouldn’t matter. Our guests will come here to become amputees. You’re a lovely, charming girl. I want everybody who works at the lodge to be an amputee so that our

C:\PATTY.doc 105/105 guests will feel at home both before and after they lose their limbs. As a matter of fact if you do lose a leg there’ll be a greater degree of empathy between you and the guests.” Chou felt flattered that Patty had chosen her as a hostess for the lodge and she accepted Patty’s offer. For a receptionist Patty selected Ngo Hu Yen, a charming San Benitan of Korean descent. She had thought of Mrs. Colmenares as a cook but she realized that the restaurant was doing very well and Mrs. Colmenares wouldn’t be interested. Ngo Hu Yen said that she had a friend who was legless. “I know she’s not missing an arm but since your customers will have diverse amputations it shouldn’t matter.” “She doesn’t live in San Benito, does she?” “No. She lives in Puerto Ventura but the people there are jealous of the prosperity of this village. She’d be delighted to come.” “How did she lose her legs?” “She was out walking in the country by a swamp and this alligator came and bit her legs off.” Hu Yen read her thoughts. “Don’t worry, there aren’t any alligators in the mangrove swamp. She lost them in Vietnam, where our parents come from. She was visiting the country.” “What’s her name?” “Ngo Din Diem.” ‘Can you get in touch with her and ask her if she’ll come?” “Yes, of course. Now that we have phones in San Benito it’s easy to get in touch.” There were no phone lines in San Benito but with the new prosperity many people had bought cell phones and the phone company had installed a relay station. Patty went to speak to Sarah. “I’m very flattered that you should think of me as the manager of your lodge but I’m afraid I can’t accept your offer, my dear. You see, I lost my arm in order to regain my husband and I don’t want to lose him again.” “But couldn’t you talk him into coming here?” “My darling Patty, you don’t know my husband. He’s not a couch potato but he does like his creature comforts. Just imagine, he has a fishing camp with air conditioning, freezer, mi- crowave and the paper delivered to the door. He would never fit in here. “Thank you for the offer but you see why I must refuse.” Sarah kissed Patty on the cheek and said, “I’ll be sorry to go but I do miss my home.” Patty nodded in assent. “You are going to stay for the celebration, aren’t you?” “What celebration?” “Well, the courses on wool production, spinning, and weaving are coming to an end at just about the time the lodge will be inaugurated. We’ll be celebrating both things at once.” “My dear girl, I wouldn’t miss it for all the world.”

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Patty went to see Shirley and found her practicing her ballet dancing. After the preliminary greetings Patty asked, “Shirley, I’m looking for somebody to be the manager of the lodge. You’re footloose and fancy free. Would you like to settle down in San Benito?” “Come again?” “I’m looking for a manager for the lodge. You’re the best Spanish speaker of the bunch and you’re also the one in best physical shape. As far as I know you have no family attach- ments. You’d be ideal for the lodge. You could teach ballet to our guests and I’m sure you’ll come up with other physical activities that our guests can perform.” The idea of teaching ballet to a bunch of amputees seduced Shirley. “I’d love to do it.” “Good. We’ll discuss the financial arrangements later. In the meantime I want you to know that you’ll have a luxury apartment at the lodge. There’ll be two, of which the other one will be reserved for the big shots of the company whenever they’re here.” “And I suppose you are one of the big shots?” “How did you guess?” “My dear girl, one doesn’t go around hiring people without consulting the higher-ups first. So I presume you are one of the higher-ups.” “Good guess. I do own a small part of the company as a reward for my efforts here.” Shirley embraced Patty. “I’m so glad for you! You’ve done a wonderful job in this village and you deserve every reward for it! “This is the only time that I’ve wished I had both arms so that I could hug you real tight! This is the only time that I’ve thought being one-armed isn’t fun.” “But you are enjoying it, aren’t you” “Overall, yes. I was afraid at first when I was in hospital but after they took the bandages off and my stump was down to its normal size I’ve loved every minute. Finding this place where all the women are one-armed is like finding paradise.” “Good. It’s settled then.” For the next two weeks Patty was busy supervising the construction of the lodge and making arrangements for the celebration. Then she went to visit Leona and Iliana again. The following morning Patty crutched home. There was a sense of unreality as she noticed the empty space under her leg and the crutch under her arm. She stopped and put her hand on the stump of her leg. She slid the hand down until it went to the soft, rounded end of the stump. “Yes, it’s real, I have really lost my leg. I am now one-legged and one-armed. I won’t envy Iliana or Leona or Ramona any more. I’ll have a slinky, sexy way of walking with my single crutch and I’ll drive Andrew mad.” She felt herself getting wet and her nipples getting hard as she thought of Andrew and what his reaction would be when he saw her in her new state. She started walking again and thought, “I’ll call it ‘crutching’ from now on. ‘Walking’ is for people with two complete legs and I have only one now.”

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As she crutched she noticed that the stump of her right arm kept jiggling with each step. It was a not unpleasant feeling and the movement of the stump enhanced her sense of being a double amputee. When she got home she decided to check her E-mail before taking a rest. Losing a limb always left one tired even if there was no pain. Booting her computer she found a message from Andrew. “My darling Patty, “I’m sorry but I won’t be able to go San Benito until the day before the celebration. Some- thing urgent has come up that I must take care of. “I love you.” Patty was disappointed. She had hoped that Andrew would have come down to San Benito at least a week in advance. She had thought of a double celebration. One in the morning in San Benito for the end of the course and another one in the afternoon in Punta Brava for the official opening of the lodge. Everybody would be invited to both, of course. Now she had to do it all by herself. Patty was exhausted after having spent the night watching while her leg slowly dissolved into the poultice and hoping that the mangoes it fertilized would be really tasty. She had thought, “It’s as if I were eating my own leg only easier.” It had seemed funny and she giggled. Now Patty went to bed. It felt odd to have to find a place where she could leave her crutch and keep it handy for the time when she woke up. She finally decided to rest it against the wall between her bed and the nightstand. Patty slept the rest of the morning. She felt hungry at noon and tried to jump out of her bed. She promptly fell down; she had forgotten that she had just lost her leg. Getting up by leaning on the bed Patty picked up her crutch and went to the kitchen. Cook- ing was much more complicated because she had to use her only hand to do the everyday tasks and handle the crutch as well. She thought that handling the crutch was now also an everyday task. Not one to be bothered by minor problems she pulled out a drawer from under the kitchen counter and rested the stump of her leg on it thereby managing to keep her balance and freeing her remaining hand. She had to get the milk from the refrigerator. “Oh, drat!” She lovingly placed her crutch under her armpit, went to the refrigerator. and tried to open the door the stump of her arm but it wouldn’t fit between the handle and the door. Patty could find resources where apparently there were none. She placed the stump of her leg on the crossbar which left her single hand free. Opening the refrigerator she pulled out the bottle of milk, tucked it between the stump of her arm and her body, shut the door of the refrigerator, and went back to the counter. She had to repeat the operation several times to get all the ingredients for her meal. Even- tually the food was cooked and on a plate. The next problem was how to take the plate to the table. Patty repeated the stump-on-the-crossbar trick and picked up the plate. Manag- ing the crutch with the stump of her leg and her armpit she took the plate to the table. “Hardware. I need a knife and fork,” she reminded herself.

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Slowly, little by little, Patty assembled everything that was necessary for her to eat her meal. She had seen Leona, Ileana, and Ramona walking happily on their crutches but she hadn’t stopped to think how hard doing things with only one arm and leg would be. She said to her herself ruefully, “Next time, girl, look before you leap.” However she was happy that she had managed to prepare her meal by herself. She hadn’t needed anybody else’s help. After the meal she did the dishes and crutched out to talk to Señor Colmenares about the two celebrations. * * * Andrew regretted that he had not been able to go to San Benito as often as he had wanted to but he had other things to attend to and he knew that Patty was capable of handling things at her end. He had to send out invitations to the inauguration of the lodge and arrange for the transportation of the guests. He decided it would be easier and more fun if he sent them ahead of time in his yacht. He would plan the departure so the boat would arrive in San Benito just in time for the parties. They would spend the morning in San Benito enjoying the village’s celebration and then they would be taken on a tour through the mangrove swamp to Punta Brava. There they would spend the afternoon and evening. They would stay for three nights and be shown all the facilities. Then they would be flown home. Andrew was nothing if not a good salesman. The yacht would stay because Andrew had further use for it. Sitting down at his computer he E-mailed Patty telling her of his plans. He himself would be arriving by plane on the day previous to the celebrations. That done Andrew proceeded with the last bit of business he had to deal with. He had two weeks left and it would take him all of that time. * * * Andrew got on his own private Cat. Chuck and Rick as usual were driving. As the plane approached San Benito he kept getting more and more nervous. Would Patty agree with his decision? Would the people of San Benito accept him? He heard the thump of the landing gear coming down as Chuck moved the lever that lowered it. Looking out the window he saw nothing but sea. Suddenly his yacht flew by the window. Andrew screamed in terror, “Chuck! Chuck! Raise your landing gear. We’ll crash if you go down into the sea like this!” Chuck turned around with a grin. “Take it easy, boss. We’re approaching the new landing strip.” No sooner had Chuck spoken than a narrow strip of land appeared beneath the wings and the plane touched down immediately. “First time we land here,” said Rick. “We had to take the strip from the very beginning and we’ll have to until we get used to it.” He added in a reproachful voice, “It’s not very long, you know.” “Is it long enough to land a Cat on?” They still had two hundred yards of runway left and the plane had already slowed enough so that Rick could turn around and taxi toward the small terminal. “Yes, sir.” “Good.”

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Andrew heaved a sigh of relief. * * * Patty had moved to the house that had been built for her in Punta Brava. She crutched all over it admiring the beauty and luxury of the place. She was now using a crutch that Eme- terio had made for her. The staves were the slimmest that Emeterio could make. The wood was ebony in order that the slim crutch should also be strong. He knew that Patty would put it to heavy use. The rest for the armpit and the handgrip were upholstered with thick An- gora wool and Cordovan leather. She had neither sores in her armpit nor calluses on her hand and she loved the feeling of the crutch as she swayed on it wherever she went. On the morning of the day before the parties were to begin Patty heard a knock at the door. She opened it and there was Andrew. “Miss Patricia Brewster, I presume?” Patty gasped. Andrew was sporting a hook where his right hand had been and he was holding it so that it could be seen clearly. “That’s the last bit urgent of business that I had to attend to. I’m sorry I couldn’t come any sooner.” Andrew had been so engrossed in watching Patty’s expression worrying that she might not like him in his altered state that he hadn’t noticed Patty’s crutch. She leaned on it and slinked toward him. “I’ve changed, too. I hope you don’t mind.” It was Andrew’s turn to gasp. The woman he had left behind with one arm was now also missing a leg. He gazed in admiration as she approached him using her crutch to achieve a sexier walk than she could have ever achieved on both legs. “God, you’re beautiful!” “Thank you, kind sir. I’m glad you approve.” They fell into each other’s arms. Andrew was still not quite used to his hook and he held his arm stiffly with the hooked pointing downwards. She asked, “Can’t you hold me a little tighter?” “I’m sorry. It’s just that I don’t want to hurt you with this metal contraption.” “You know something? We don’t believe in prostheses in San Benito. Did you ever see a one-armed woman here wearing one?” He grinned. “Can’t say I have, Ma’am.” “Why don’t you come in and make yourself comfortable? And take off that gosh-awful thing, for Pete’s sake!” Andrew picked up his suitcase with his left hand and walked in. “Where are you going so stay?” “This is the boss’ den, isn’t it?” “So! I wondered why you had a guest room built in the CEO’s house. Aren’t you the sly one?” “Who? Me? I’m just a poor innocent little lamb who has fallen into the clutches of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

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“Yeah, sure, and I’m Dorothy.” She pushed him gently toward the guest room with the stump of her arm on his back while she glided on her crutch to his left side. Andrew felt his manhood calling him. “Down, boy,” he muttered. “Did you say something?” “Just talking to myself.” They went into the room and Andrew pulled off his sweater. She crutched up to him and holding her crutch steady with the stump of her leg she helped him remove the cumbersome prosthesis. Andrew stood there naked from the wait up and she looked at the stump of his arm. The amputation had been performed at the distal third of the forearm just like hers and there was only the thinnest pink line of a scar. She lowered her head and putting her hand and the stump of her arm on his chest she said, “Please don’t wear the hook any more. You can hold me real tight now.” Andrew put both his good and his maimed arm around her. He held her around the waist with his left arm while he ran the stump of his right arm up and down her back. Patty shivered with delight. She ran the stump of her arm up and down his neck. Raising the stump of her leg to place it between Andrew’s legs she felt his erection. “Your bed or mine?” she whispered. “Mine is closer,” he answered. * * * Andrew invited Patty to lunch at Mrs. Colmenares’ restaurant. Ricardo had started a ferry service between San Benito and Punta Brava. He had several employees and a pirogue for each one. He had asked the Council of Elders to allow him to install outboard motors but the Council with a very good sense of the value of ecological tourism told him to keep on punting. On Patty’s advice he had set fares for from just a one-way trip to excursions through the swamp by the hour. For once Mrs. Colmenares had no new amputee relatives to introduce but she did introduce Ngo Din Diem, Hu Yens’s friend. Ngo Din Diem was a beautiful woman who had the tiniest of leg stumps and she skittered about on a skateboard. Mrs. Colmenares said, “I know her chin barely reaches the edge of the counter but she’s very efficient and an excellent cook. Just wait till you try one of her meals.” Din Diem had pushed her skateboard to the foot of their table to see if her guests liked her meal. Andrew had ordered a steak Saint Jacques and he had trouble cutting it. Din Diem said, “May I help you?” “Yes please. I’m afraid I’m new to this business of being one-handed and there are many things I have to learn yet.” Din Diem cut Andrew’s meat into bite-size pieces and asked, “How long have you been missing your hand?” “Two weeks.” “You’re a brave man to travel so soon after an amputation.”

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Andrew looked at Patty tenderly and answered, “I think my destination was worth it.” Din Diem nodded in agreement and pushed off on her skate board. Andrew said, “She gets along very well but I think that skate board is too long. I’ve seen her bumping into a table and a couple of chairs. Do you suppose Emeterio could make her a shorter skate cart with a cushioned seat and a couple of push blocks? Besides with the cushion making the cart higher she’ll be able to reach things on the counter more easily.” “I’m sure he can.” Patty and Andrew enjoyed every forkful of Din Diem’s meal and she was hired right then and there which was what Mrs. Colmenares and Hu Yen had plotted from the beginning. When they got up to return to Punta Brava they asked the Vietnamese girl if she wanted to go with them. “I’d love to but I have a suitcase with me and I need someone to carry it for me. I was thinking of paying somebody to take it to Punta Brava with me this afternoon. You see, losing a hand has its disadvantages but being legless is no picnic either.” Andrew, always the gentleman, said that he’d be very happy to carry her suitcase for her. All three went back to the lodge in Ricardo’s boat and Ngo Din Diem was delighted to see her quarters and her brand new kitchen. She poked into all the cabinets and drawers, squealing with delight at every modern kitchen utensil and appliance that she found. “Just you see, I’ll make the best meals you have ever eaten. People will come here not just to lose their limbs but to eat some of the best food in the world!” After Din Diem had checked all the kitchen she asked to be excused. She went to her rooms and changed into work clothes. “I understand there are a lot of guests here. I must prepare supper.” While supper was being cooked Patty changed into a bikini and went to the pool. There were several people there including a legless girl with her boy friend who were obviously very much in love. It struck Patty that small though Din Diem’s stumps were this girl’s were even shorter. If three inches more of her legs had been removed she would have been a DHD. She seemed quite oblivious to her leglessness as did the man. The two were a few yards apart and the girl swung her body between her arms and went to sit by her boyfriend. “Do you like how your poor crippled little girl moves now that she has no legs?” she asked. “More than ever, my darling. I’m so glad you had them amputated.” “I’ve wanted to be legless for so long and when I found you and you asked me to that was the best reason to have them removed. You have no idea how happy you’ve made me.” “And you’ve made me very happy too.” So it seemed that they weren’t so oblivious of her leglessness after all. Another legless girl resting on a float was getting a complete suntan. Her stumps were much longer than the previous girl’s. She looked up at Patty and said, “Hi! Come on in! The water’s fine!”

Patty crutched to the steps that led down to the pool. There was a hand rail to help people go up and down but she didn’t have a hand to grasp it with. She had no idea of how to go down the steps with a crutch instead of a leg. A girl with both legs off at the hips saw her hesitating and spoke to her.

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“It’s not really that hard. Lower you crutch to the next step, make sure it’s vertical, lean on it with your armpit and bring your foot down. Just make sure you take it one step at a time.” “Thank you.” Patty tried what the girl said and faltered as she put her foot down. She had to hop a little bit and regained her balance. “You’re new at this, aren’t you?” “Yes. I lost my arm some time ago but I became one-legged only three weeks ago.” “That’s the best way to do it.” “To do what?” “To become a multiple amputee. You lose a bit of your body at a time and then there comes a moment when you decide you’ve had enough. If you try to lose at once everything you want to lose you might regret it later.” ”Is that how you did it?” “Yes. First I had my left leg amputated below the knee. That didn’t satisfy me so I had the other leg amputated and I waddled about on knee pads. I still didn’t feel crippled enough so I had both stumps re-amputated above the knee. Finally I told the doctor I wanted my body to end at the hips. And this is what I look like now.” The girl hoisted herself to the edge of the pool by where Patty was sitting. She extended her hand, “By the way, my name is Katherine but you may call me Kathy.” “Hi! I’m Patricia – just call me Patty. I’m the CEO of this joint. What brings you here?” “Curiosity for one thing. Andrew invited a bunch of his friends and I wanted to find out about these instantaneous, painless amputations.” “Are you interested in losing more of your body?” “Well, I had thought of having my right hand amputated. I see you’ve already done it. Maybe you could tell me something about the good and the bad points, although I imagine that your situation and mine are quite different what with you having one leg and a stump while my legs are totally gone.” Patty was worried. Kathy was a beautiful girl and if she didn’t change her line of thought she would wind up a perfect basket case. There were no rules at the lodge as to the number of limbs a person could have removed and Patty suddenly realized that this was a mistake. She improvised one and hoped that Andrew would approve later. “You know something? I’m afraid that the rules at the lodge allow for a maximum of three amputated limbs and a minimum of two stumps, no matter whether you had them removed here or elsewhere. If you lose one or two limbs you don’t have to have stumps. You’ve already lost both legs and you have no stumps left so I’m afraid I’ll have to tell you with great regret that we can’t accommodate you. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like and to make friends with all the amputees here and in San Benito but we won’t remove any more of your limbs. We think that the idea is to enjoy being a cripple without putting an unneces- sary burden on others.” “You aren’t PC, are you?” Kathy asked. “You should say ‘a disabled person’ not ‘a cripple.’” Look, let’s be frank about it, it makes no difference whether we are ‘disabled people’ or ‘cripples’. You and I are missing limbs and we had them amputated for our own enjoyment

C:\PATTY.doc 113/113 so it’s not fair that we should put a burden on others, be they family, friends or society in general.” “Hear! hear!” The words came from a girl who had overheard the conversation. She was preparing to sunbathe in the nude like the girl on the float. Dropping her T-shirt on the chaise longue beside her she thrust the stump of her leg between the staves of her crutch while she held it by the front stave. As she crutched toward them the stump followed the crutch while the stump of her arm tried to swing like a normal arm does when one is walking. Patty thought it was the sexiest one-legged way of walking she had ever seen and decided to try it the next time that she was alone. Andrew would love it. “Hello, I’m Marlene. I do hope you do re-amputa-tions.” Patty and Kathy introduced themselves and all three started discussing the relative merits of their stumps or lack thereof. Patty suspected that the celebrations the following day were going to be very interesting.

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Chapter 19 – The Parties At eight o’clock in the morning the population of San Benito gathered in the village square. Señor González, the Prefect gave a short speech. He thanked Adventure Travel and their representative, Señorita Brewster. He then announced a spinning and weaving competition that had been divided into three categories: SBEs, SAEs and SSDs. In deference to Ramona no specification was made of which arm was missing. For the men there were two different competitions: shearing and carding. The competition lasted all morning. The women spun and wove in their own homes while a commission went from one house to another. There was no need for the commission really because everybody who wasn’t in the spinning or weaving went from house to house cheer- ing the contestants on. Since time was short the women were given the option of either spinning or weaving. By the end of the morning the winners were announced. A lovely basketful of mohair clews was awarded the first prize. The yarn had been spun and dyed by Tambo. She was delighted and ran up the podium steps. First prize, a statue of a woman with her right arm missing, was presented by one of the guests of Punta Brava, who gave a very nice little speech. Tambo laughed and caressed the armless shoulder of the statute with her stump. Then suddenly she started to cry. “It’s too big, it won’t fit in my house. We don’t have the space!” Señor González came to the rescue. He knelt by Tambo’s side and wiped her tears away with a handkerchief. “Don’t worry, Tambo. We’ll put it in the entry hall of the Prefecture. We’ll make this contest an annual event and we’ll put all the prizes there for all the village and the tourists to see.” Tambo rubbed her red eyes with her left hand and nodded. She would still be able to keep the prize and it would be seen by everybody in the village and all the visitors. Tambo said thank you and hugged the one-armed girl who had given her the prize. Another prize was given for the best finished product, a pair of sweaters woven by… Ramona! Ramona was nowhere to be found. Everybody started looking for her until a little boy said he had seen her going to the beach. They all went there and started shouting her name until at last Ramona appeared. She had been skinny-dipping and appeared totally naked – the only piece of apparel she was wearing was her crutch! Many of the men among the visitors gazed in astonishment at the beauty of the double amputee. Her belly was flat and her breasts were erect as a result of her constant crutching. Her left leg was well-muscled but still slim and she had taken care to keep her stumps in shape. Ramona was not nonplused by the situation. She gaily crutched on to the beach and asked what all the fuss was about. Patty explained that she had won the prize for the best woven products. Ramona said, “I didn’t think I would win a prize because these sweaters are too warm to wear here. They would never sell.” One of the visitors, a male of course, said, “You are quite wrong, Ramona. People from all over the world will come here to buy the products of San Benito. They will come here to a warm climate but they’ll be delighted to take sweaters, gloves, caps, and scarves back home to wear in the winter when it’s cold.”

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“What is the ‘winter’?” Ramona had lived all her life in a tropical climate and didn’t know anything about the sea- sons. Andrew explained. The oversight was understandable but nobody had thought to explain to the people of San Benito that the warm clothes they were making were meant to be worn in cold climates. Ramona was delighted to know that she had not lost all her work and effort, and the visitor said, “I propose that apart from Ramona’s prize we have a public auction for Ramona’s sweaters!” The bidding went on and on. Since all the visitors were very well to do each sweater went for a thousand dollars. Ramona had never imagined she would have such a splendid sum in her hands. Her happiness was complete when the two buyers donated the sweaters to the exhibition at the Prefecture. The celebration ended with a barbecue for all where Sr. González was seen delightedly chat- ting with three lovely amputee ladies. The afternoon started with Li Chou receiving the guests at the Punta Brava lodge as they arrived in Ricardo’s pirogues. She curtsied gracefully to the ladies but to the men instead of offering her left hand she offered her armless right shoulder. Li Chou was an instant hit with the men who simply adored touching that lovely rounded shoulder that looked as if it had never had an arm protruding from it. Li Chou was a beautiful woman in her own right and the lack of her arm only enhanced her beauty. Many a bachelor had thoughts of abandoning his girl friend of the moment and trying to conquer the gorgeous Chinese girl. The men drooled and the women sniffed in disdain. Li Chou couldn’t care less. She knew that it was the men who were paying for the women’s amputations and if she found a boy friend in the process so much the better. Ngo Hu Yen was busy taking down the guests’ names and leading them to their places. Her gown was very beautiful but much more demure than Li Chou’s and she emphasized the total lack of her right arm by letting the empty sleeve hang empty and flap around gently in the breeze. The petite Vietnamese had a charming smile and a modest attitude that con- trasted with Li Chou’s behavior. Iliana was the first San Benitan to arrive. She paused at the door and posed for all the visitors to see what a well-dressed San Benitan girl could look like. True to her expectations a murmur of admiration buzzed around the room. She crutched into the room letting the stump of her arm wave about and when she was in front of Sr. González she rested the stump of her arm on his shoulder and soundly kissed him in the mouth. The Prefect, who was a widower, blushed. In a low voice he gently chided her. “Behave yourself, girl. We have to make a good impression in front of all these people.” Iliana apologized. “I’m sorry, sir. It’s just that this is the first time that I have the chance to wear a nice dress like this and I got carried away.” Leona, Iliana’s older sister, came in next. She had become reconciled to the loss of her leg and crutched in gently waving her stumps while she gracefully crossed to the other side of the room. Patty was the last person from the home crowd to arrive to arrive. As she made her way to the party she heard two girls talking. “Do you really want to go to this shindig?” one asked.

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“Not really. I mean, I have no legs so I can’t dance.” “And I have these stumps instead of arms so I can dance but I can’t put them around a guy.” “Well, we chose to be amputees, so I guess we’ll have to live with it. But right now I don’t feel like partying. Besides don’t forget that we weren’t invited.” Patty looked at where the voices were coming from and saw the two girls sitting on a bench. The armless girl had long, slim legs and the single complete thigh of the legless girl showed that she too had once had long legs. “Come along, it’s going to be fun.” Patty told them. The armless girl raised her stumps in mute protest and the legless girl did the same. “Look, I know I have one more arm than you do but I have one leg less. And as for you, I have one leg more than you do but one arm less. So don’t let it bother you, girls. You chose to be amputees so do as they say, ‘If you can’t avoid it, relax and enjoy it.’ You’re already limbless, what did you have your limbs amputated for?” The armless girl said, “I thought it would be nice to be dependent on my husband all the time. I didn’t tell him anything, just that I was going to be gone for some time on a business trip. “I went to a clinic and three weeks later I returned home like this. I explained that I wanted him to take care of me for the rest of my life. “He hit the roof. He divorced me and the judge told me that I was a gold-digger and wasn’t going to force a man to support me just because I’d been foolish enough to have my arms cut off, especially with the purpose of not having to do anything in the future.” Patty asked the legless girl, “And what’s your story?” ‘Well, Alice and I have been friends since we were knee-high to a grasshopper. When I learned to walk I didn’t like it and I preferred to crawl. Of course you have to walk sooner or later, you can’t go around crawling on the ground when you’re a grownup person. Then Al- ice had this idea of having her arms amputated and I thought that if I had my legs amputated that would be the perfect excuse for crawling all the time. So here I am.” “Are you married?” “No. And I have no visible means of support either. We are both broke and don’t know what to do.” “How did you get here?” “We heard on the grapevine that they were going to throw this party for amputee girls in some tropical paradise. We dug around a little, found out more and stowed away on Mr. Stelling’s yacht. And here we are and the truth is that we don’t dare show ourselves.” Patty laughed out loud. The reasons for the girls having had their limbs amputated were downright silly and Patty would have cried if she hadn’t laughed. She imagined that although the girls hadn’t said so peer pressure played a large part in how they made their de- cisions. “You must be starved.” Both girls nodded. “Come along with me and be my guests. There’s plenty to eat over there and later on we’ll figure out a way for you to work here or in San Benito.”

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At the invitation to eat Alice stood up immediately and started walking toward the building. Looking over her shoulder she said, “Come along, Beatrice!” Beatrice was having trouble climbing down from the bench. “Wait up for me, daddy long-legs, I’ve only got stumps to walk on!” “Crawl on, you mean,” said Patty, not being able to resist a mild joke at the legless girl’s expense. “You’re so right,” said Beatrice. The stump of her left leg ended five inches above the knee while the stump of her right leg ended below the knee. As a result Beatrice had to rest on the stump of her left leg while she swung the stump of her right leg off to a side and forward. Then she would rest on her right knee while she moved the rest of her body forward. Next she would rest on the stump of her left leg and repeat the whole procedure. Her hips and fanny swayed to and fro and went up and down with every “step” she took. It was a slow, painful way of moving about. “Why don’t you simply sway your body between your arms?” “Then it wouldn’t be crawling, would it?” Patty had to keep quiet given the irrefutable logic of Beatrice’s answer. When Li Chou saw the trio enter she immediately drew up a chair to a table for Beatrice to sit on. She had seen the girls and had guessed that it wasn’t proper for them to be at the party but if they were coming in with Patty then it was alright. Beatrice climbed on the chair and immediately started feeding Alice and eating herself. They ate smoked salmon, pâté de foi gras, Gruyere cheese sandwiches, chicken croquettes and everything else in sight. Patty went to the podium and explained why and how the girls had arrived in Punta Brava. She asked everybody to welcome Alice and Beatrice and to give them a big hand. “That’s what I need,” thought Alice, “but I’ll never have one again.” After Alice and Beatrice had calmed down their hunger the show began Patty went to a microphone and she began to sing. The song that Patty sang had been made famous by Edith Piaf, a world-class singer, back in the fifties. Patty had changed the lyrics to suit the circumstances of the women here. She thought they were especially appropriate for Alice and Beatrice. The song’s title was, «Rien, je ne regrette rien.» «Non! Je ne regrette rein! «Rien, je ne regrette rien! «Je ne regrette pas, «Que je manque un bras. «On me l’amputé «Car je l’ai désiré, «J’a perdu une jambe, «Ça fait bon pour mon áme… » Patty gestured gently with the stumps of her arm and leg at the appropriate moments. The audience listened in silence as they heard the lesson that Patty was giving them. Don’t look back. What’s done is done. Learn from your mistakes and try not to repeat them. Be proud of the good things that you’ve done. If you’ve done well, never be sorry.

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A left hip disarticulate with a hook for her right arm who was sitting on the floor removed her prosthesis and let her empty sleeve hang at her side. “I don’t really need this,” she said and she offered it to Alice. Alice shook her head. She was embarrassed by Patty’s song, by her own folly, by the understanding and generosity of the people around her. “I’ll learn to get along with my stumps, my feet and my mouth. Thank you very much. You’re very kind but I have to learn how to fend for myself.” The owner of the arm held it up high. “Does anybody want this?” Everybody nodded to express they didn’t want it. She stood up, picked up the hook and tried to put her crutch under her arm. The stump of her right arm was too short to hold the prosthesis between it and her body so she rested the crutch against the wall and holding the hook with her good hand she hopped over to the nearest waist basket. Holding the hook up she said, “Last chance! Anybody want it?” Nobody wanted it and she threw the hook into the wait basket. Hopping back to where she had left the crutch she put it under her armpit and with her empty sleeve flapping about she crutched to a chair and sat down. A girl sitting on a mantelpiece spoke up. When the others looked at her they saw that she was missing both legs below the knees. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am not like many of the people here, a voluntary amputee. Well, perhaps in a sense I am. I lost my feet in a traffic accident and that was not voluntary on my part. However the resulting stumps were so ugly that I asked the surgeon to revise them so now my stumps end where you can see. I wanted those revisions. ”I am the stage manager of the Icandoit Ballet Company. We do contemporary dance and it is our mission to integrate disabled and non-disabled dancers into our shows with the hope that we can show the world that disabled people are capable of leading perfectly normal lives. “Among us you will find ABs, paraplegics and amputees, each one performing his or her artistic task without asking for rest or mercy. “I think, nay, I know, that you will be amazed at the ease with which people who are wheel chair bound or are missing a limb or two can perform the same movements that an able- bodied dancer can perform. “And now, without further ado, I give you the Icandoit Contemporary Dance Company.” A curtain went up showing a stage where a legless man sat in a wheel chair. In front of him a girl stood bending over with her arms hanging down from her shoulders. As the music started the girl straightened up and it became apparent that her arms were paralyzed. She started twirling and the centrifugal force made her arms come up. She twisted and turned in such a manner that the arms took different positions making it appear that she was actually moving them. The man in the wheel chair was the focal point of her movements and he too twisted and turned accompanying her with such agility that it was hard not to compare him with a man with both legs whole. There was a tremendous round of applause when they finished. The dancers took center stage front and bowed to the audience, the girl’s arms again hanging helplessly in front of her.

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They exited and three dancers appeared. One, in a wheel chair, was a paraplegic. The other two were an able-bodied man and a one-legged girl. Although their steps and movements were inspired by Martha Graham’s style they introduced many new variations and movements. Everybody was impressed by the scene in which the paraplegic man held up the able-bodied man with one hand while he tried to console the one-legged girl with the other. They too were roundly applauded, The two men bowed and the girl curtsied holding the stump of her leg in front of her. Once the contemporary dance company had finished a gorgeous and extremely chic girl crutched to the front of the stage. She had the same limbs amputated as Patty but in a mirror image, her right leg was gone at the thigh and her left arm had been amputated below the elbow. She gracefully ascended the steps in front of the stage and introduced herself. “My name is Olga and I am a member of the Ballet de France. My company has existed for over half a century and at first it employed only able-bodied dancers. Then the prima ballerina had an accident. While dancing she got too close to a lit candle and her toutou caught on fire. It took years of rehabilitation before she could dance again and during her stay in hospitals and rehabilitation centers she met many amputees and paraplegics. One of them was a ballerina who had broken her neck; she was confined to a wheel chair as a quadriplegic and needed the constant company of a care giver. “It was this ballerina who inspired Jeanne to invite disabled people to her dance in her company. “I shall not dance for you tonight but I shall present five dancers. “The first two will dance the pas de deux from “Don Quixote. The third will dance ‘The Death of the Swan.’ “The last two will present the pas de deux from ‘Check Mate.’” She curtsied making the stump of her leg tent her skirt, went down the steps and sat down among the public. The public was charmed by the girl and a man cried out, “Will you marry me?” She smiled and answered, “I’m sorry, I’m already married to my art.” Arthur was a friend of Andrew’s. He leaned over and whispered, “Andrew, you must introduce me to this girl. I’ll never be happy again unless I get a chance to court her.” Andrew smiled and replied, “All in good time. Let’s just wait until the show is over, OK?” “But not a minute later.” Andrew smiled. He knew Arthur and he knew that Arthur was madly in love with Olga. Ar- thur was a firm believer in love at first sight The girl that danced “Don Quixote” was missing her left leg from the hip which impeded her from doing fouettées but it was impressive how she could go en pointe on one foot and once she did a grand jeté by pushing herself forward with her single foot and then bringing her leg forward to land on it. The audience gasped because they thought she was going to fall. She expected this and looking coquettishly over her shoulder she smiled and waved. The audience cheered. “The Death of the Swan” began with a lovely blonde girl sitting on the floor with the stage lights dimmed. As their intensity rose she tucked a leg under her and slowly, very slowly,

C:\PATTY.doc 120/120 stood up. It became apparent then that her right leg had been amputated at the proximal third of the thigh. She glided along the stage on her single leg with an unbelievable smoothness. Not a hop, not a brusque movement. The stump of her right leg was always under control and never moved anywhere she didn’t want it to. Andrew leaned toward Arthur and teased him, “Would you like to meet her too?” “Nope. You know double amputees are my bag.” “Perhaps you could ask her to lose her other leg.” “Don’t be cruel, Andrew.” “Just teasing. She wouldn’t be able to dance like that if she lost her other leg and you must admit she’s good.” “Good? She’s superb!” Near the end the girl slowly sank to the ground on her leg while the fluttering of her hands simulated the flapping of the wings. The fluttering of the hands and the spasmodic jerks of her stump kept getting progressively weaker and less coordinated. When she reached the floor she sat still with her left leg stretched in front of her and she bent over, her forehead resting on her knee and her hands wrapped around her ankle. The swan was dead. The audience was still for a few seconds and then gave her an ovation that lasted several minutes. The girl gracefully stood up and also curtsied. Her stump also moved forward like that of the girl who had performed in the contemporary dance. Patty asked, “Is this the customary way for one-legged dancers to curtsy?” “It’s not a question of custom,” Andrew answered. “They have to raise their stump in order to keep their balance while they curtsy. I must admit that it makes them far more attractive. It shows that in spite of their achievements they’re still amputees and have their limi- tations.” “You seem to know a lot about amputee dancers.” Andrew sensed a tinge of jealousy in Patty’s tone of voice and he mollified her. “It’s not that I know a lot about amputee dancers. You know that I’m an engineer and I’m interested in the mechanics of how amputees in general overcome their handicaps. After all, don’t forget that I’m an amputee myself.” Patty said to herself, “Keep cool, girl. The man has lost a hand to please you. Don’t go and spoil things now.” She and Andrew kept quiet because the third part of the presentation by the Ballet de France was about to begin. A man appeared carrying in his arms a legless girl. She played the role of the Red Queen and he that of the White King. When they had to dance together he would pick her up but at other times she remained on the floor and would only sway her body and move her arms in the most graceful manner. Now and then she would either sway her trunk between her arms or crawl on her hands and stumps. She gave the impression that she had been legless all of her life, so naturally did she move about without her legs. At one time she enticed the White King by pulling on her skirt and showing him her stumps. She did it so sensually that the audience let go a sigh of relief when the scene was over.

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At the end of the ballet it is the Red Queen who kills (i.e.: check mates) the White King and her expressions of sorrow at her sad duty while she sat at the dead man’s side moved the audience to tears. When the piece was over they moved as usual to front center stage in order to receive the audience’s applause. He bowed and she stood on the stumps of her legs and did as close to a curtsy as her condition allowed. Each artist or group of artists had tried to perform better than their predecessors but the general consensus was that they had all been unbelievably good and that nobody had really expected a dance performance of such high quality. When the curtain was about to be drawn two girls crutched to the stage and faced the audience. From the way their short skirts clung to their bodies it was obvious that each one was totally missing one leg all the way from the hip. They both wore black dresses that were designed to set off their outstanding bodies, their one-leggedness, the splendid leg that each one still had, and their crutches, The brunette addressed the audience. “Good evening. My name is Lois and my blonde friend here is Mercedes. “We didn’t know there was going to be a ballet performance today so we had prepared a little dance to entertain you. “If you’ll bear with us for a few minutes we would like to present you with a performance of the minuet from ‘Anna Magdalena Bach’s Little Exercise Book.’” Everybody said, “Yes, Yes!” and “Please do!” Just as Shirley had done on a previous occasion in San Benito Mercedes fetched a portable CD player and hooked it up to the sound system. She crutched over to Lois and then Lois turned and crutched away from her. Mercedes, surprised, stood still thinking that her partner had second thoughts about performing in public. Lois walked over to a corner and leaned her crutch there. Then she hopped over to where Mercedes was and put her hand on Mercedes’ shoulder. Mercedes feigned a great deal of relief by wiping the sweat from her forehead. The girls had prepared the little joke prior to their performance. Everyone laughed and the tension was broken. Lois leaned on Mercedes’ shoulder while Mercedes leaned on her crutch and Lois’ shoulder, and the two girls danced a very original version of a minuet. Their movements were fluid and so graceful that at times it seemed as if they both still had the normal number of nether limbs. They too were rewarded by resounding applause and the girls curtsied after a fashion. When the applause died down Mercedes said with a sly grin, “I hope everybody noticed that we didn’t stick out our stumps when we curtsied!” The audience laughed and after an intermission the band struck up and the dancing party started. Chris Larsen, who had also being invited, saw the beautiful one-legged ballet dancer standing shyly by a column. She was now leaning on her shiny ebony crutch. He hid the stump of his arm behind his body. “I saw you dance “’The Death of the Swan.’ It was a beautiful performance.” “Thank you, I’m so glad you liked it.” “May I have this dance, please?” “I’m afraid I’m not very good at social dancing.” “A ballerina who isn’t good at social dancing?”

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“Well, you see, I dedicated all my time since I was a child to the ballet. Then when I was sixteen a truck ran over me. The wheels ran over my leg and there was no recourse but to amputate it. All they could leave was this itty bitty little stump. “Boys don’t like girls with missing limbs so I never bothered with things like social dancing but I did keep on with the ballet.” “What’s your name?” “Inger.” “You’re Swedish, aren’t you? And this is your first trip out of Sweden, isn’t it?” “Yes to both questions.” “Let me tell you something, Inger. Sweden is a far distance from the United States. You’ve been out of touch with the rest of the world for a long time. Haven’t you seen the number of amputee women here? How do you think they lost their limbs?” ‘I don’t know. Maybe there was a war I didn’t hear about, or a huge epidemic.’ “Listen, Inger, ninety-nine percent of these women are amputees because they chose to be. Men consider them extremely desirable and you could have your pick of any man you wanted in this place.” Inger’s face brightened. “Do you like me?” “Yes indeed. Very much. Now will you please dance with me? All you have to do is let me hold you and we’ll just sway together to begin with.” The band was playing a slow boogie and Chris held out his handless arm. Inger looked at it, smiled, took it with her free hand, and crutched out to the dance floor by his side. Andrew walked up to Patty and said, “Aren’t you tired of all these people?” “Yes, a little.” He caressed her face with his stump and said, “Why don’t we go to our private quarters?” As Patty had suspected it turned out to be quite a party.

END OF CHAPTER 19

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Chapter 20 – Epilogue

Punta Brava - The Lodge Shirley had not only taken over the management of the lodge. She had put up a picture over her desk of a legless woman being tenderly taken care of by another woman “This is a symbol of what we will do here. We’ll amputate people’s limbs and then we’ll shower them with tender loving care,” she told Patty. Patty thought the picture was very appropriate. “Where did you find it?” she asked. “On the Internet, of course.” “Oh, of course.” Since Shirley was an active woman she decided to install a gym and a dive shop. Both enterprises were a great success. Two sisters who had their legs amputated were the first clients after the inauguration of the lodge. They made their way to the restaurant and were surprised to see that their waitress was also an amputee. When they expressed their astonishment Li Chou came out to explain to them that all the lodge’s employees were amputees. She showed them her armless shoulder and told them that the cooks, the maids, even the nurses at the infirmary were all missing at least one limb. Li Chou also suggested that they take the pirogue tour through the mangrove swamp and visit San Benito. “You’ll see more one-armed women there than anywhere else in the world,” she said. The beach was beautiful and the sisters loved to go swimming in the crystal clear waters. They stripped in their cabaña and crawled on their hands and stumps over the sand all the way into the water. They stayed for ten days trying out their new stumps both crawling on land and swimming in the water. That was when Shirley decided to set up a dive shop. The shop sold everything from masks and snorkel tubes to the most sophisticated dry and wet suits. A girl who had to wait to have her legs disarticulated after the sisters had their operations was the first to go down among the corals. She had brought her own mask, snorkel weighted belt and knife. In a fit of absent-mindedness she had also brought her flippers. The loss in her specific weight after she had her legs removed made her float like a cork and she was delighted to find a shop where she could buy some more weights. The girl was of a very athletic bent. Shirley found her one day doing handstands on the beach. They started a conversation. Eleanor said that she loved the lodge and the beach but that she missed a gym so that she could keep fit. Shirley saw the logic of what Eleanor said. Most of the women who came to Punta Brava were young or in their early middle age. The had their limbs amputated for either professional or personal reasons. In either case they needed to keep physically fit.

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She immediately asked Patty for permission to have the construction crew come over and put up an extension to the main building. Once it was built she ordered all the equipment. The gym was an immediate success. Legless women went there to strengthen their abdomi- nal muscles and their arms. Armless women went there to learn how to use their feet and their mouths. Among these was a girl who had her left hand amputated elsewhere. Susan was not happy with her stump and came to have it revised. She was so happy with the result that she decided to have her right hand amputated right then and there. She was quietly reading a magazine when they came to tell her that the amputation hut was ready. Iliana and Leona went to the table where she was sitting and offered her the sleeping potion. “It’s just a minor operation. All I want is to have the stump of my left arm revised.” Iliana answered, “You do realize that it will be about half an inch shorter, do you? You see, what we’re going to do is to eliminate the part of the stump that’s scarred. The scar is not very deep but just the same your stump will be a little shorter.” “That’s quite alright. I’m not using it because it gets dirty and I have to keep washing it all the time. Besides it’s downright ugly. Half an inch is a win-win trade-off for me. It won’t get so dirty and therefore I’ll use it a lot more. It’ll make life easier for me. Besides I won’t be ashamed when people see it.” Susan declined the sleeping potion. She sat there and watched as Iliana and Leona applied a small amount of poultice to the end of her arm. Since there was only a small amount of organic matter to remove it took only fifteen minutes to alter her stump. When she looked at it she was delighted. “It’s lovely! Please, may I have another one?” “You understand of course that the fee we charged you was only for the revision of your present stump, not for giving you a new one. It takes a lot more materials and more time to amputate a forearm.” Susan reached into her purse and pulled out a bunch of bills. “I think I’d better pay you now because I won’t be able to pay you after the operation.” Leona took the money. She didn’t bother to count it. From the thickness of the wad there was enough money there to leave Susan totally armless and legless. “Very well, we’ll see you again at sunset.” Susan appeared at the appointed time and again declined the sleeping potion. She stayed awake all night and watched her remaining forearm slowly disappear. It was a fascinating sight and oddly enough there was no sense of loss. After it was all over she returned to reading her magazine and turned the pages with her stumps. She had no hands and she was happy. When she finished reading the magazine she went to the gym for physical rehabilitation. One day a group from the horsy set arrived. They had their limbs amputated as they wished and as they were resting on the beach one of them said , “What a lovely beach! Pity we can’t ride horseback here!” “How would you ride a horse with no legs?”

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“Well, I admit a legless horse would be hard to ride but if I had a complete one I would hold on with the stumps of my legs.” “You’d fall off in thirty seconds.” “I’ll bet you my right arm against yours that I can ride the length of the beach and back again without falling.” “Done.” “You think you’ll win because there are no horses here, right?” “Right.” “Well, I’ll get a horse here and then we’ll see.” They went to Shirley’s office and she told them, “What a coincidence! I ordered three horses two weeks ago and they’re due here this afternoon. You’ll be able to ride them tomorrow.’ The following day the girls went to the stable and rented a horse. The one who could bet she could ride it mounted it with a little bit of help from the stable hand who was also an amputee. She rode from one end of the beach to the other and back again. “I win!” she said. “You sure did!” “When are you going to have your arm amputated?” “Tonight.” “Have you decided at which height?” ”I think I’ll just keep a short stump. Something that I can wave about to show how crippled I am. My boy friend will love it.” The following morning the girl was seen in the garden. She was crawling on the stumps of her legs and her left hand. There was only a very short stump left of her right arm. One day Patty looked out of her window. She saw two beautiful girls walking on the beach. Both had their right arms amputated with very short stumps just below the elbow. They seemed quite happy with their new-found asymmetry. Emeterio was walking by and he couldn’t help casting an admiring glance at the two samples of amputated pulchritude. He gave them a compliment and the two girls turned around, grinned, and wagged their stumps at him. She enjoyed the sight and she smiled. She also wondered whether the girls would stop there or would have further amputations.

The Guests at the Party Chris asked Inger to marry him. Inger said that she didn’t want to be tied down because she wanted to be free to dance where and whenever she wanted. They compromised by living together. One day Chris discovered Inger wearing an artificial leg. “What are you doing?” he asked. “I didn’t tell you but my leg is beginning to hurt after every performance. I went to the doctor. He examined my leg and told me that I had to give it a rest or else I would run the risk of losing it too. “So I decided to try this prosthesis and see if I could dance with it. But Oh, Chris, these things are so clumsy! I do love dancing on my single leg and for everyday use I’d much

C:\PATTY.doc 126/126 rather have my crutch. It feels so comfortable when I snuggle it under my arm and I simply love the feeling of my single leg swinging along alternating with ‘Peggy!’” Chris took her in his arms and answered, “I know how you feel. I’d much rather get along with my single hand and the stump of my arm than wear a hook. “Look, I love you just the same whether you dance or don’t. Why don’t you just give the leg away to somebody who wants it and simply quit dancing? There must be something else that you like to do that won’t put you in danger of becoming legless.” Inger did as Chris suggested but she was unhappy because she loved ballet and she had to remain inactive. Now and then she would perform but her leg kept hurting her. Then Inger discovered that she was an excellent swimmer. She gave up the ballet and par- ticipated in every competition she could go to. Since Chris was a keen swimmer himself he was delighted to accompany her. He had learned to swim quite competently in spite of the loss of his hand and joined a few competitions himself. Inger was not content to compete against other amputees. She entered swimming contests for able-bodied women and won two of out every three competitions she entered. True to what Chris had told her she was immensely popular with the men and many tried to take her away from Chris. However Inger was not only a loyal woman, she was in love with Chris. Only once she was tempted to leave him. A handsome fellow with all the money in the world asked her to go away with him. He had a charming personality and a sweet tongue in his mouth. When he thought he had convinced Inger he set a condition: that she had to have her other leg amputated. It wasn’t a request, it was a demand. Inger set him packing. The following day she was the one who asked Chris to marry her. He was only too delighted. He had noticed how the men flirted with Inger and he was afraid that he would lose her. Unfortunately she had gone to see the doctor too late. The stress of dancing on one leg plus the swimming races proved too much. To her distress Inger had to have her left leg amputated. She asked the surgeon to leave her new stump even with the old one. The doctor complied and Inger was left with the upper third of each thigh. She could no longer hop which proved to be a blessing because her back no longer hurt. Inger looked at her new body and rubbed her new stump. She was legless as the charming fellow had requested but she had married the man of her dreams. It was nobody’s choice that she had to lose her other leg, it was just that fate had so decreed. “How do I look?” Chris answered, “Gorgeous!” Inger took to swimming in long-distance competitions. With her specific weight greatly di- minished staying afloat for a long time was no problem. Chris set up a studio in Punta Brava and earned a pretty sum taking photographs of women who had come down to surprise their husbands or lovers and then had second thoughts about appearing minus one or more limbs without any previous warning. Some women were so scared that they asked him for help to write the letters. He was more than willing to help and being a nice guy he didn’t charge them extra. The first one was a woman who had her legs amputated a short distance above the knees. Her husband was very tall and so had she been. He had told her that one of the reasons he had married her was because it was so easy dancing with a woman close to his own height. Now she was much shorter and she couldn’t dance.

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Chris wrote a letter for the woman to send home with the picture. “Dearest ______, “I’m afraid I have some surprising news for you. Thinking that you would like me better if I had a slight body modification I came down for a holiday in San Benito. The women here are lovely and they’re all amputees. Mostly they’re missing their right arms but some are missing an arm and a leg and others are legless. I thought that you would like me as one of the latter so I had my legs amputated. I do so hope that you’ll like the new me. Enclosed is a photograph so that you can see how I look now. “I hope you won’t be too distressed. I know I shan’t be able to dance with you any longer but I have become a much more sensual woman now that I can’t walk. I’m sure you’ll find me a much more satisfactory partner in our sex games and I can’t wait to have you caress my beautiful, sexy stumps. ”Your ever-loving, “______”

Sometimes Chris had to strain his imagination to dream up an excuse. Once he managed to muddle through although it cost him a lot of time and effort to think what to say. It wasn’t too difficult to think of an explanation for the loss of an arm or a leg but this time it was a gorgeous blonde who had asked for both legs to be amputated just below the hips and her right arm at the shoulder. Iliana gave her a trans-deltoid amputation that left her with a lovely rounded shoulder. She had to be carried everywhere at first and after a while she learned how to get along on a skate cart with one push block. When she got home her husband had a fit. Then he saw her dragging herself on the floor with her single arm and had the greatest erection of his life. He swept her in his arms and they became the best of lovers. Arthur was not so lucky as Charles. He had a brief affair with the lovely Olga and then they decided they weren’t compatible. Olga crutched out of his life and he found himself a sexy legless girl who made him very happy. She absolutely refused to wear prostheses and always moved about by swinging her body between her arms. He remembered the lovely Beatrice crawling on her stumps and asked his new girlfriend to do the same. They both liked her new method of locomotion so much that she hardly ever moved in any other way afterwards. As it turned out she was a former ballerina. Unlike Inger she had chosen the time and the place where her legs were to be amputated. She had taken a marker and drawn a circle around each one of her thighs. Then she had gone to a surgeon and told him, “Doctor, I want you to cut off my legs right here,” and she had pointed to the marks on her thighs. In the face of such determination the surgeon did not even try to dissuade her, which he was bound to do in case the would-be amputee was passing through a psychological crisis. He amputated her legs that very afternoon.

San Benito Conchita had her legs amputated the way she wanted them. Pablo had seen Fiona on her way back to the boat He had made inquiries and found out that she was not only Daffid’s daughter but also his First Mate. His business had gone well. He had refurbished his second boat and was taking the Punta Brava tourists out on tours to the nearby islands. He talked to Conchita and asked her if she would be the skipper of his second boat. Conchita demurred so Pablo took her out on a trial run. He was amazed at the speed with which she climbed the lanyards. She was able to hoist and lower the sails by herself working the winches while sitting on the deck.

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Pablo gave her a course on navigation and another on handling the boat, how to steer, what to do when the boat was yawing, how to tack and so on. Conchita was smart and she learned quickly. When Pablo took her to the Coast Guard station at Puerto Ventura to take her examination for the license the officer in charge looked at Conchita crawling on her hands and the stumps of her legs and said she’d never pass the exam. Conchita crawled right up to him and looking up at him with a sultry expression in her eyes she asked him to give her a chance. The man couldn’t resist and Conchita passed with flying colors. Pablo and Conchita started two societies. One was commercial and the other was conjugal. They got married. Marina also had her legs amputated. She and Conchita raced on the beach either swinging their bodies between their arms or crawling on hands and stumps. Conchita and Pablo often had her over for lunch and dinner. On such formal occasions Ma- rina appeared on her skate cart using her push blocks. Ricardo was also doing well with his fleet of pirogues transporting the tourists back and forth between Punta Brava and San Benito. Once he had the baroque idea of dressing them as Venetian gondoliers. Iliana promptly called him to account and told him not to be a fool. She said that it was silly to have gondoliers in a mangrove swamp and anyway gondoliers didn’t sing Neapolitan songs such as O Sole Mio and Torna a Sorrento. Naples was in the mezzogiorno and Venice was at the north of Italy on the Adriatic. And anyway, what did he think his boatmen were, reincarnations of Luciano Pavarotti? The following Mardi Gras all the men in town were disguised as Venetian gondoliers. Ricardo walked Marina home one day after they had lunch at Conchita and Pablo’s home. He noticed how gracefully she handled her skate cart while she looked up at him as they talked. “Marina, doesn’t your neck hurt from having to look up at people all the time?” “Yes it does but that’s the price I have to pay for being legless. I could have had an arm amputated like most of the other girls in the village but no, I had to be different. Conchita and I had both wanted to lose our legs ever since we were children and when Leona had her vision we jumped at the chance.” “Would you marry me? If you do I’ll have my legs amputated too and then we shall always look at each other at eye-level and your neck won’t hurt, at least not while you’re talking to me.” Marina’s eyes glistened. Ricardo thought that she was about to refuse him. “You know, ever since Iñaki and the Prefect protested against the rule that only women could become amputees in San Benito saying it was a sexist chauvinistic measure it is easy for men to lose their limbs too.” “Yes, I’ve seen Iñaki and the Prefect with their right sleeves empty. I think that they look very sexy. You’d be simply adorable without any legs. Do you think you could have your stumps about the length of mine?” Two weeks later Ricardo and Marina left the Prefect’s office each one on a brand new skate cart, courtesy of Emeterio. Emeterio himself continued to do the rounds of the village selling his fresh goat milk. He didn’t have to because his crutches made of ebony, mahogany or rosewood became famous the world over for their lightness and their workmanship and they made him a small fortune.

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Iñaki retired after having made a small fortune himself teaching the men how to shear and card the Angora wool plus what he got from his own sales of the wool. He talked to Leona and asked her to leave him a short stump so that he could wiggle his empty shirt sleeve with it. Eventually he found a very pretty girl, one of the more recent amputees, and they became live-in friends. Doris was a great admirer of Patty and she asked that her stump be just like that of her role model. Leona and Iliana did their best. She was delighted with her brand new stump and immediately ran to show it to Patty. Then she went to Iñaki and pushed her stump up his empty sleeve. He embraced her with his single arm, kissed her, and took her to bed. The village prospered. The sales from the mohair products, the fruits and the shrimp made the people rich. The ones who had bought spinning wheels and/or looms paid their debts to Adventure Travel on time. With Patty’s advice the people bought solar panels for their homes. A suitable place was found for the installation of windmills to generate additional electricity to satisfy the needs of the local industries. The fishing boats were upgraded or traded in for better ones and the shark liver oil plant was installed thus generating a new source of income. San Benito still did not have a tax system. The village had never been incorporated and the people were asked for contribu- tions whenever the need arose. It was commonly agreed that apart from the revenue from the sale of Punta Brava every working person would contribute two percent of their income to the common funds for the improvement of the village. Soon San Benito had running water, a sewage system and a sewage disposal plant, and sidewalks with ramps at the intersections for the comfort of those people who either used skate carts or crawled on their stumps. All public bathrooms and most of the private ones were fitted with disabled facilities and round door knobs were replaced by levers. Patty had achieved her objective of improving the standard of living of San Benito while at the same time the people kept all of their good qualities. They were still kind, generous and hospitable. Patty and Andrew Patty was sitting on the floor at her quarters in Punta Brava. She was resting the stump of her arm on her knee but actually she was looking at the stump of her leg. What Patty was thinking was that her stump was too long for what she wanted to do. She thought, “I should have asked for a shorter stump. It was silly of me not to have thought of it when I had my leg amputated. I saw Ramona doing it but I didn’t stop to think that her stump is much shorter than mine.” What Patty wanted was to be able to place the stump of her leg on the hand bar while she walked. Ramona did it all the time but Patty couldn’t do it. Ramona gave the impression that she enjoyed tremendously her one-legged condition which in truth she did. Andrew walked in and noticed that something was wrong. “Hello, darling,” he said as he stooped over to kiss her. “Hi, love, how are you?” He rubbed the stump of her arm with his. “Just fine, thank you, but something seems to be worrying you.” “It is. Andrew, have you noticed how sexy the way Ramona crutches is?” “Yes, I’ve seen her around and she handles that crutch as if it were a part of her.” “That’s what’s worrying me. I’ve tried to handle my crutch like she does but my stump is too long. It just sort of sticks out to one side and I hit it against the door frame when I try to get through and I look so clumsy when I try to crutch like that.”

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“Look, I’ve just been at the coffee shop. There was a girl there who didn’t like the stump of her arm. She had it revised and now the ugly scar she had is gone. Naturally her stump is a little shorter. Maybe you could have yours revised. Why don’t you talk to Leona and Iliana?” “Oh, Andrew, I’m so glad I teamed up with a smart man. Not only smart but kind and generous. Than you for the idea. I’ll go talk to the girls immediately.” Patty reached for her crutch, got up, kissed Andrew, and left immediately. One morning three days later Patty crutched into her quarters with the stump of her leg resting on the hand bar and holding the crutch by the front stave. The stump just barely protruded a couple of inches beyond the crutch. She stripped and went to the mirror to admire her new figure. “What a beautiful stump it is,” she said to herself. Lifting the stump of her leg sideways and resting it on the hand bar she took a couple of steps forward looking at herself in the mirror. “Andrew is going to love watching me crutch like this when I’m naked!” Immersed in her thoughts she had spoken out loud. Suddenly she heard a voice behind her. “Wrong. He’ll love to see you crutch like this all the time.” She saw him in the mirror and turned around. “Andrew, you cad! You caught me by surprise!” He grinned and put his arms around her. Then he stepped back a little and holding her waist with his good arm he caressed her breasts with the stump of his right arm. She felt her nipples getting hard and they both said it at the same time, “Bed.” * * * Patty was happy. She lovingly caressed her beautiful ebony crutch, wiggled her stumps, and counted her blessings. She was young and beautiful, she was a millionaire, she had the love of a man who had given his right hand for her and whom she admired, she had improved the lot of the people of San Benito while at the same time working for the benefit of her employer, the people there loved her, and she had learned to enjoy meeting the challenge of being a double amputee. What more could a girl ask for?

END OF STORY

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Some notes on Patty, San Benito and the Story

First of all, many thanks to The Explorer for his help in making the Patty files downloadable and for proof-reading and converting the latest chapters to .PDF format. I also wish to thank all the ES artists who made this story possible. Among them are Boko- Boko, Bill-the-Cat, Blank, Ed Carlson, Meningo10, Razorblade, and Uteeman plus others too numerous to name; b77347 was kind enough to upload some pictures from his (her?) private collection to the Photos section, some of which I used. Without all these people I would have never had the inspiration to write the story. Syncretism in religion is very common. I’ll just mention three examples: Voodoo in Haiti, Candomblé in Brazil and the cult of María Lionza in Venezuela. However in their rites they sacrifice animals, not humans. I don’t know if there is a village called San Benito. If there is I’m sure they don’t follow the atavistic rite of amputating a girl’s arm every fortnight. I have observed however the kindness and generosity of many people in many rural places in both tropical and temperate climates and have greatly enjoyed their hospitality. I actually experienced the sunrise on the bayou that I described in Part I. It was one of the loveliest sights of the many that I have been fortunate enough to see. My description of the trotlines and the Acadians’ behavior is accurate. I have been among them often and admire them for their way of living and their sense of humor. As they say over there, ‘Laissez les bons temps rouler!” Punta Brava really exists and it really is approached through a mangrove swamp. The beach and the coral reefs with all the marine life that surrounds them are gorgeous. I’ll never forget the approach through the swamp. I was in a group that had hired a boat to take us there. Fortunately (for me at least) the outboard motor broke down and the boatman had to punt all the way. We traveled slowly and in silence enjoying the view and the sounds of the birds in the trees and the water rippling under the boat. Getting to Punta Brava was as delightful as swimming and skin diving among the schools of multicolored fish and the coral reefs in that beautiful beach. I have visited two islands in the Caribbean and found racial discrimination in neither. Lately I’ve been visiting one of them, Curação (“Kursow” in Papiamento), quite frequently and I delight in seeing the young mixed couples walking hand-in-hand while courting and the older, married couples going out to eat in a restaurant, each member of the couple of a different race, with their lovely mixed children. Incidentally, children and old people are loved, cared for and respected. I have seen an old man crossing the street without paying much attention to the oncoming traffic. A car came to a sudden stop and the driver, a young fellow, waved him on, and waited patiently while the old man got to the sidewalk on the other side. I have never been discriminated against because I am white although the majority of the population is black with some Chinese and Indians, and a few whites thrown in. I said it in the story and knowing I’m repeating myself I’ll say it again here: There are many lessons we can learn from these people and their gentleness, kindness, courtesy and generosity. The airport strip extending into the sea is real. I remember the plane I was in (a Connie so that will give you an idea of the date) landing at Montego Bay. The plane kept getting closer and closer to the sea until I could distinguish each individual whitecap and finally I saw a yacht from my window – at window level. As a passenger of course I couldn’t see forward, only to one side. I was about to scream in terror when a narrow strip of land appeared under the plane and it touched down immediately. The next time I flew that route I had my camera ready. I took a picture of the airport from the air and was lucky enough to have a view of yet another yacht from my window.

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Peat bogs are created in acid-rich environments. They are most abundant at the higher latitudes of North America and Europe although they can be found as far south as New South Wales and Tierra del Fuego that are roughly at the equivalent latitudes south of the equator. I do not know of the existence of any in tropical climates (where the environment tends to be of the reducing type) except in Malaysia so the one in San Benito is a product of artistic license. There are two dance companies that I know of where able-bodied and disabled dancers mix. One has appeared on Chinese TV but that’s all I know. The other is CanDoco (yes, that’s how they spell it). They have a web page at www.candoco.co.uk. I have exercised my artistic license to the utmost in describing the dances. I have never seen a performance by CanDoco, which I have called Icandoit in the story. All I know about the company is that it’s based in the UK. As for the Ballet de France it is really Les Ballets de Janine Charrat de France. Janine, the prima ballerina many years ago, did get severely burned onstage in the middle of a performance and I’m glad to say that she returned to dancing. I do not know if she ever met the quadriplegic ballerina but I did once when I was in hospital in England. It seemed logical to join them in the story. “Don Quixote,” “The Death of the Swan,” and “Check Mate” are well known ballet pieces. I have seen all three either live or on TV and I modified the choreography of each to fit the plot. My description of “Swan” is the closest to the real thing although Tamara Toumanova, who performed it often, has both legs. The minuet like the pavane was a group dance. It does not make sense to have two girls dancing it. However their posture seemed so courtly that I decided to let them perform it. Patty and her companions are of course a figment of my imagination which sometimes runs wild. I have written a few stories that Musk was kind enough to publish in his site. One was “A Dream Come True” and the other was published in three parts because it was too large to attach to an E-mail message in one piece. The three parts are “Sheila” (SHEI10F2.TXT), “Secret Desire.doc” and “More Arrivals.doc.” A third story was “The Anatomy Lesson.” The first one is the one I enjoyed writing the most because it reflects a lot of my real-life experi- ences. I also posted all three to amputee-story but I deleted them to make room for stories by other authors. I don’t know if I’ll write any more stories except for one or two that I have in progress. Real life demands more attention than I’ve been paying to it lately. Anyway, it was fun and I’ve enjoyed the interchange with y’all.

END OF NOTES

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