The road less travelled...

Chapter 13 – Tribal Politics


Kaunitoni
Annabelle-Marie
Candy
Hayden
Jarod
Louise
Michael
Peter
Rachael
Sarah


“So who wins reward?” murmured Candy to Hayden. These two were sitting close together at one side of the group and appeared to be deeply involved in carving faces from tree fern. Each piece of fern would have three faces carved into it, one on top of another in the manner of a totem pole.

Hayden cast an eye around the group, or to be more precise the numerous groups, as people had separated into twos and threes. Sarah and Michael were seated furthest from the baskets, but were clearly thinking about things other than the game. Louise and Peter were mixing up paints near the water. Annabelle-Marie and Rachael were sitting with Jarod closest to the baskets, working on their carvings.

“Best bet would be Peter. He’ll take Louise.”

Candy nodded. “I get it. That gives us a chance to make sure Sarah is tight with us. Oh, and Michael, too.”

Hayden glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “I thought you people weren’t keen on Sarah.”

His companion shrugged. “Personally I always got on well with her. At the start, we girls planned to vote off one of the guys right away – Bob, if I had any say in it – but Louise flipped to the guys right away. Then she worked hard to make sure they weren’t going to trust Sarah after that. She wants to get rid of Louise right away, and I agree with her.”

“Me, too, and I know Jarod and Rachael feel the same way.”

“Great.” Candy jumped up as the other trio came to join them and held up her carving. “What do you think, guys?”

Rachael giggled. “I can’t believe you carved out glasses!”

Candy adjusted the wire frames on her face with her free hand and grinned. “Hey, I had to look different from the rest of you somehow.”

The five people went over to join Louise and Peter. Sarah and Michael had vanished among the trees and numerous snide comments were made about them as the rest of the tribe relaxed on the beach, finishing off the last of the food they had been given.

“We still have to build a shelter and get a fire going,” said Peter sleepily.

The decision had been made to leave the wine for the evening, after the challenge, but even the unusual amount of food was having an affect on the contestants. All but one. Jarod was looking as normal.

“I suspect Jarod decided to limit the amount he consumed to ensure that he remained alert and focused,” suggested Sydney when this point was raised.

“Smart move,” Broots remarked. “I can’t remember a season where, when they get this kind of meal, at least one person hasn’t gotten crazy and felt bad after.”

“Or they drank too much,” added Sam with the dark grin of an experienced viewer.

“You’d think they would realize that after so many series.” Miss Parker fished a piece of chicken out of her recently delivered box of takeaway with her chopsticks.

“Yeah, but they don’t,” Broots told her. “You just wait.”

The commercial break ended at this point and the show came back to show the eight members of Kaunitoni standing at intervals, with a mass of knotted ropes of varying colors in front of them.

“Okay, guys, welcome to the real reward challenge,” Jeff laughed. “You’ve all made your Balabalas, so here’s the deal. First you have to untangle your rope from all the rest and thread your three Balabalas up the rope and on to the stands we have set up. The first person to do that will not have to answer a question, but can take out one of their opposition. The rest of you will have to answer questions about Fiji. If you get a question right, you can cut through a Balabala belonging to another of the survivors. The winner – want to know what the reward is?”

“Yes!” came the unanimous reply.

“Okay, the winner will leave camp and go to a secret location where you will spend the night. While there, you will have the opportunity of a hot shower,” there were gasps of delight from the competitors, “massage, a proper bed and, of course, a feast. Worth playing for?”

There was a chorus of agreement and then the next shot showed the survivors waiting on a red mat, the large mass of rope on the ground in front of them.

As the ropes were different colors, it was not long before the pile of rope was sorted out and the survivors threaded their personal Balabalas, tying a know below each. The machetes would cut through the knots and the Balabalas would fall. Each participant had three lives and, as Rachael managed to thread her three totems first, she was safe for the first round. Soon she was joined by Michael, Jarod, Sarah, Hayden and Candy, all of whom got their questions right.

Rachael cut Hayden’s first knot; Michael took out Sarah; Jarod cut Candy’s; Hayden was responsible for Louise’s; and Candy sliced through Annabelle-Marie’s. The second question, about the year Abel Tasman first sighted the Fijian islands, was easy enough that everyone had the chance to bring someone closer to elimination. Hayden cut Peter’s first knot; Louise returned Hayden’s insult by cutting his second knot; Jarod sawed through Sarah’s second knot; Annabelle-Marie brought Michael closer to losing all his lives; Peter eliminated Jarod’s first Balabala; Candy cut Rachael’s first knot; Michael took care of Hayden’s final knot and removed him from the game; Sarah cut Peter’s second knot; and Rachael went for Annabelle-Marie’s.

“Some great competition,” Jeff joked. “Hayden, you’re out. Michael, Sara and Annabelle-Marie have one life left and everyone else has two. Now to the next question.” He cleared his throat. “Name the God who brought the gift of fire-walking to the Fijian islands.”

“Man, that’s impossible,” Broots exclaimed, even as it was obvious that the survivor participants were struggling for answers.

Jarod cast a glance to those left and right after scribbling down the answer, but crossed it out. Sydney, at least, guessed that Jarod knew the answer, but didn’t want to get it right if everyone else was struggling. In the end, though, two people did get the answer right – Michael and Louise. Michael cut Jarod’s second knot and Peter took care of Rachael’s.

The next question was answered correctly by all but two people – Sarah and Rachael. However, Sarah was quickly out of the game thanks to Michael, and a glance that was shown to pass between Jarod and Rachael suggested that they, at least, were not taken in by Michael’s attempt to disguise his growing feelings for Sarah. Candy eliminated Annabelle-Marie; Peter took care of Jarod; Jarod himself took a swipe at Michael and cut down his second Balabala; Michael knocked Rachael out of the game; and Annabelle-Marie slashed through Candy’s second knot.

“So Jarod, Annabelle-Marie and Rachael are all out,” Jeff told them. “That leaves Candy, Peter, Louise and Michael in the game, all with only one life left. If anyone gets the next question wrong, it could knock them out of the game altogether. Okay, if everyone’s ready – what is the oldest craft in Fiji?”

Grins from two people suggested they knew, and Candy and Michael were quick to write down the answer – pottery making. Peter also wrote down something and was discovered to have the right answer. Only Louise’s sheet stayed blank, and she was the first eliminated, by Candy. Michael took his shot to remove Candy. It was then clear that Peter was the winner, as he would not eliminate himself.

“Nicely played by everyone else,” Sam remarked. “He’d have no idea that that was in any way deliberate. I bet he takes Louise, too.”

However they, and the survivors, were in for a surprise. Jeff turned to Peter.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be much fun if you were to go on your own. Even two of you could be a little lonely.” There were gasps and shocked looks exchanged between the survivors. “So Peter, choose two people to take with you. Who will they be?”

Peter’s eyes widened and he looked around at the group. “Geez, this tough. I guess almost everyone here deserves to go. I don’t know who to choose.”