The receptionist in the spa looked up from the appointment book and smiled as she spoke to Valerie and Chloe, "You've a private island villa reserved and a full staff standing by. What may we do for you?"

"I think a sauna first, and then a massage would be lovely."

"For the massage, might I recommend our African Journey Experience? It takes an hour and a half, and in addition to relaxing tired muscles, it also nourishes and revitalises the skin and provides total body glow and radiance."

Valerie nodded through the recitation, then she turned to Chloe. "What do you think, Sweetheart? That's the one I told you I so enjoyed the last time I was here."

"With the baobab oil and the herbs and the stick?"

"Exactly. It begins with a rooibos and salt exfoliation, and the masseuse uses hands and a Rangu stick."

"Let's do that, then."

A dozen minutes later, as they sat in the private sauna, Chloe asked, "Mummy?"

"Yes, Sweetheart?"

"You mentioned your mother a while ago, up in the room. First time ever. You always change the subject when I ask about our family."

"It's complex." Valerie shook her head. "No, we're beyond that now, aren't we? It's more like I didn't think you were ready to hear about it."

"I'm ready now, though, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if I am."

"It's sad, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is, Sweetheart. Very sad."

"Do you want to wait and tell me later?"

"No, best to do it now while it's on your mind." Valerie took the wooden dipper from the pail and splashed water onto the pine slats. "Let me lie down and relax." She laughed. "Pretend I'm on a therapist's couch."

She lay silent for a long while before she began, "Mum was a performer and an entertainer."

"A famous one?"

"No, only locally known." Where do I go from here?

"What kind of performing? Singing, dancing, acting?"

"Dancing and acrobatics. She was a great pole dancer."

"For exercise, like you?" 

"I suppose, but it was part of her act as a stripper."

"Oh! So, that's why you don't talk about her. Does she still do it?" 

"She died of a drug overdose when I was young."

"Oh." Chloe contorted her face. "That's really sad. So, your father raised you on his own from then."

Oh, God! "No, we never knew who he was."

"Oh." After a long pause, Chloe continued, "Why not?"

Spill it, girl. No sense dancing around it. "Mum's performing was as a stripper in the pubs, and her entertaining was as a prostitute. My father was anonymous among her thousands of clients."

"Oh!" Chloe bobbed her head as she thought. "Yeah, I see why you hadn't told me before. You okay? You want to talk about something else now?"

Oh, God, child. "You constantly amaze me with your concern."

"You've taught me that. To always look after each other."

"Yeah." Valerie sniffled and swallowed the lump in her throat as she thought. "Mum had run away from home in her early teens, and she never told me who her family was. All I know is her father raised her, and when he began abusing her, she left."

Chloe curled her lip. "Like sexual abuse?"

"That's what I figured. Mum never answered my questions about it." Valerie blew out a big breath. "It's good to finally share this with you. And with myself." She wiped the layer of perspiration off her belly with her hands. "We should take a cold plunge before we cook, then one more bake."

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, getting hot. So, what about the rest of the family?

"She always refused to answer."

"We can trace them, though. Like, you know your mother's name."

Valerie laughed as she sat up, then stood. "I tried to trace them when I gained access to the school computer – her name was Jenna Saypah."

"Je ne sais pas – that's I don't know in French, isn't it?"

"Yeah, and I didn't realise it until I had asked the teacher for help with the search. Mum had unofficially taken the name, and I grew up as Valerie Saypah, S-A-Y-P-A-H. You were christened Chloe Marie Saypah."

Chloe nodded as she opened the sauna door and led the way toward the small pool. "When did we become Redburn?"

"Ten years ago, now. You were only a few months old, and I didn't want you to be easily found."

"By him?"

"Yeah." Valerie nodded toward the pool and started running. "Last one immersed is a –" Her words were cut off as she plunged under.

Chloe surfaced and said, "Beat you in. So, you're a what?"

"No, you didn't. You have to tell me this time."

"Did too beat you. So, what are you?"

"The luckiest woman on the planet, because I have you as a daughter."

"You always say that."

"Because it's true."

Valerie and Chloe frolicked verbally and physically in the pool until their cores had cooled, then they returned to the sauna, Valerie laughing as she sat. "I searched my mother's stage name as well, Wanda Dewitt. I was too naïve to realise what it meant."

Chloe chuckled. "She was clever, and she had a sense of humour."

"Yeah, she did, and we had a lot of good times." Valerie reminisced for a long while, relating pleasant anecdotes and tales from her childhood in the rooms above the pubs. "She was intelligent, but she never finished school, and she forced me to study so I wouldn't have to do what she did."

"Like you're forcing me." Chloe flashed a toothy grin.

"You're driving yourself now, Sweetheart. You know it's necessary, and you enjoy the challenge."

"But I love learning things beyond the stuff we have to. Things like dassies and elephants being cousins." She paused a while and nodded. "I miss him. Do you miss him too?"

"Yes, Sweetheart, I do. More than I've ever imagined possible."

"It's strong stuff, love, isn't it?"

"Stronger than anything else we'll ever feel." Valerie looked down at her glistening body. "We've not much sweat left, We should cool again, then have our massage."

Their frolicking in the pool was less energetic this time, slowed by the effects of the sauna. When they had cooled, they climbed out and dried, then walked across to the two massage stations and the waiting staff, who assisted them onto the tables.

They lay facing each other and carrying on an intimate conversation, a lot of it silent through facial expressions and knowing nods while their entire bodies were scrubbed with rock salt and rooibos in preparation for the next step.

Partway through their Rangu massage, Chloe asked, "Is this something like the feelings of being made love to, Mummy?"

"Hmm. A bit. Physically, maybe. But spiritually, not even close to doing it with the one you love."