Pendani cabin has become a special destination for the three sisters, Cathy, Julia, and Clara. Each trip to the cabin is marked with drama and enriching surprises. Julia and Cathy found love in The Cabin Chronicles Part 1: Finding Unexpected Love In The Bush and The Cabin Chronicles Part 2: An Altercation Ignites A Beautiful Love Story.
What does the charming cabin have in store for the sisters this time?
It had been four months since their mother passed away, and grief threatened to break apart the remaining fragments of their family. The sister bond between Cathy, Julia, and Clara, strengthened further by the loss of their family’s matriarch, was now hanging in the balance. Cathy buried herself in motherhood, pouring out all the love she could master into her child and sparing some for her work and Jeremy.
Julia welcomed every opportunity to enjoy aspects of life she hadn’t explored before. Her appetite for taking risks increased. She took her mother’s death as a sign that death can come at you like a malicious surprise, and she wanted to enjoy life before her time was up, too.
Clara was struggling with her grief. Unlike her elder sisters, she couldn’t find many avenues to channel her feelings. She was an artist and felt emotions intensely, which was one of the things that made her a great artist. However, this time, her grief took her to a deep place. Julia and Cathy were worried when they saw the pieces she had come up with.
Talking to her about their concerns made her shut them out. She felt like they were judging how she chose to mourn. Concerned that she was spiralling, they suggested taking a trip to Pendani cabin. Clara was in no mood to argue, so she begrudgingly accompanied them.
Unlike the other trips to the cabin, this journey was mostly filled with silence. They couldn’t even agree on the music. Cathy’s music was too sad, Julia’s was overly upbeat, and Clara’s was morbid. Silence won the bid.
They almost got to the cabin smoothly, but the heavy rain had done a number on the dirt road leading to the cabin. Their car got stuck in the mud. They got out to push it, but there was too much rain, so they decided to stay in the car and wait for the rain to subside before trying again and asking for help. They couldn’t stay silent for long, so Cathy decided to address the elephant in the room.
“Clara, you know you couldn’t have stopped mom from dying,” said Cathy.
“You don’t know that,” said Clara.
“I know she wouldn’t want to see you like this,” said Julia.
“Well, she isn’t here to say that, so again, we don’t know that,” Clara told them.
“Why are you so determined to punish yourself for something that’s not your fault?” Cathy asked Clara.
“It is my fault. If I hadn’t left her to go check on something silly on my phone, I would have caught her distress on time,” said Clara angrily.
“You left her because you thought she was fine. You wouldn’t have left if she’d shown the symptoms earlier,” Cathy told her.
“I was supposed to be looking after her after the surgery. I should have been by her side all through,” Clara said adamantly.
The conversation was cut short by a knock on the window. Julia had told Oliver, her boyfriend and owner of the property, that they were on the road. He had come with reinforcement to help them push the car. It was a welcome distraction. After settling in and having dinner, the three sisters joined another group at the property for card and board games.
Everyone in that room was competitive, and it took their minds off things. For the first time in a long time, Cathy, Julia, and Clara worked together towards a common goal: winning. Games had been an important activity in their household since childhood. They had played cards, scrabble, chess, draughts, Jenga, and Monopoly before they were ten years old. They picked up more games as they grew older and interacted with others.
Sadly, while the games were enjoyable at first, they also turned into a trigger for Clara. Playing cards, especially, made her think of their mom. She ran out of the room. She needed to be alone and couldn’t find a spot at the cabin, so she drove away in the middle of the night.
She had no idea where she was driving to and had even forgotten about the state of the road. Luckily for her, someone had poured murram on the dirt road, making it easier to use. She remembered there was a club somewhere on the way to the cabin. It was the only one in the area.
She went to the counter and asked for a double shot of tequila. Clara didn’t ordinarily enjoy alcohol, but she welcomed the thought of using it to numb her feelings. However, the face she made caught the attention of a stranger next to her.
“I think there are tastier options that could achieve the same goal as those shots,” said the stranger.
“Another person telling me what to do,” said Clara.
“My bad. I was trying to help,” said the stranger.
Clara asked for another double shot. It felt more lethal than the first one, so she turned to the stranger with her tail between her legs and said, “I think I’ll take that recommendation.”
He smiled at her and placed a cocktail order for her.
“I’m Nemie, by the way.”
“Clara. Nemie is quite unique. I like it. Is there an interesting story behind the name?”
“Try not to be disappointed, but it’s short for Nehemiah,” he said.
“As in the prophet of doom?” Clara asked as she burst out in laughter.
“That’s Jeremiah, but you’re on the right track. Like I said, try to hide your disappointment,” he said.
Clara, who was tipsy by then, was in tears from laughing.
“I don’t know whether to be offended that you find my name amusing or glad that I made you smile,” Nemie told her.
“My sisters would reward you for doing the impossible,” said Clara.
She spent the next hour opening up to him. They moved to the smoking zone where they could talk. Clara had been yearning to let it all out that the cigarette smoke that she detested didn’t seem to bother her.
“What do you think would have happened if you hadn’t left to get your phone?” Nemie asked Clara.
“I would have seen she needed urgent help and saved her,” said Clara.
“How long were you gone for?” Nemie asked her.
“About five to ten minutes,” said Clara.
“Are you a doctor or something along those lines?” Nemie asked.
“No,” said Clara.
“So you would still have needed to ask for help, and most likely using your phone? Then, factoring in that we live in a country where we struggle with getting fast responders, it would still have taken more than ten minutes to get help. Get where I’m going with this?” Nemie asked Clara.
Clara confessed that she had thought it through like that, but she still felt responsible for her mother’s death.
“Why do you think you’re fixated on blaming yourself?” Nemie asked her.
“Maybe because it’s the one thing I had control over?” Clara said. The question caught her by surprise.
“I’ve been there. It’s much easier to carry guilt than to accept we had no control over it. I lost my younger brother to addiction. I had shown up for him every time before that, but then I thought I should let him toughen up. He overdosed,” said Nemie. His face looked like he was in pain.
“I’m sorry. How did you deal with that?” Clara asked him.
“I started brewing coffee,” said Nemie.
“What?” Clara asked.
“Making the perfect cup of coffee requires the right balance between science and art. Get the right water, the right amount of it, work with the right temperature and grind your beans just right,” said Nemie.
“Does that guarantee a perfect cup of coffee?” Clara asked.
“No, you can control all these factors and not make the same cup of coffee twice. I think it’s much like life; you only have a certain amount of control. The rest is up to chance or fate. That, and my brother loved coffee. I imagine I’m carrying him with me with every cup I make,” said Nemie.
Meanwhile, as Clara talked to Nemie, her sisters were going crazy. She had left her phone at the cabin and didn’t even realize she didn’t have it. Since the incident, she hardly used her phone. Julia asked Oliver to drive them around looking for her. Oliver had guessed that she was most likely at the club since there was nowhere else to go in that area, but Julia and Cathy shut him down, claiming Clara hated alcohol and the club scene.
Despite their doubts, they went to look for her at the club. They found her inside the car drinking water to sober up before driving back to the cabin. Nemie had left after making sure she was sober enough. Clara insisted on waiting a bit longer alone before leaving.
Julia and Cathy were in tears when they saw her. They hugged her warmly, and to Clara’s surprise, they didn’t scold her. Cathy offered to drive her back while Julia left with Oliver. Clara and Cathy drove back in silence, except for Cathy asking her whether she felt better. Cathy nodded her head when Clara assured her that she was fine as though to let her know that she trusted her.
The following morning, Cathy and Julia found Clara awake. She was sketching something in her book. Julia, the nosey one, took a pique at it and smiled at Cathy. It wasn’t morbid.
“Julia, I know you’re making faces at Cathy,” Clara told them.
“You look lighter. Do you want to talk about yesterday?” Julia asked her.
“Not now, but I got what I needed to move forward,” said Clara.
“Okay. We’re just glad you’re better,” said Cathy.
“Can we go for breakfast? They have a coffee section. They are brewing the coffee from their plantation,” said Julia excitedly.
“Your man really went all in with this place, huh?” Cathy teased Julia.
“I get impressed each time he tells me about the latest developments,” said Julia.
They went for coffee, and Clara was surprised to see a familiar face. He smiled when he saw her. Julia and Cathy were quick to notice it. They teased Clara about it. She smiled. Nemie asked to meet Clara later after he was done working. She looked forward to talking to him again. She suggested taking a walk to the river. She loved listening to the sound of flowing water. After talking for a while, Nemie turned to her, “Can I kiss you?” She consented.
“I had been dying to do that since you sat next to me, but I think it holds more weight when we’re both sober,” he told her.
“I have also since learned that Nehemiah means to comfort. I think it’s quite befitting,” Clara told him.
Clara asked to stay a bit longer at the cabin as her sisters left. The cabin had once again worked its magic. Clara began her healing journey and made a special connection with Nemie. Meanwhile, Julia and Cathy headed back home.
“Do you think she’ll be fine?” Cathy asked Julia.
“I know we joke about the magic of this cabin, but I believe there’s something special about it. You and Jeremy are in a great relationship, and I am about to be Oliver’s wife, and we can trace that back to this place. Staying here a bit longer will do Clara wonders,” said Julia.
“Maybe something will happen with the coffee guy too,” said Cathy.
“An artist in love? We’re about to be treated to masterpieces,” joked Julia.
“She deserves all the peace and love she can get,” said Cathy.
Julia nodded in agreement, and they spent the rest of the journey reminiscing about the beautiful moments at Pendani cabin and imagining happy futures for all of them.
Eight months later, Clara had an announcement for Julia and Cathy. She had decided to move in with Nemie, somewhere around Pendani cabin.
The Cabin Chronicles Part 1: Finding Unexpected Love In The Bush
The Cabin Chronicles Part 2: An Altercation Ignites A Beautiful Love Story
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