SUSAN SUENN

As the small private jet began to descend, describing a wide arc, Ruth Shepard leaned toward the porthole. Through the gaps in the clouds far below, I saw the ocean, the endless aquamarine surface.

Ruth straightened the skirt of a suit made by a famous fashion designer. A squint looked at the woman next to her in an eye mask covering the upper part of her face. Nancy Brougen, vice president of a well-known American design firm, quietly snuffled. She fell asleep shortly after takeoff. Ruth would gladly follow her example, but the conversation with Nancy did not come out of her head. When Ruth asked if she received the letter, Nancy replied: “Of course. Mine came to the address of the company. I thought that this is another course to improve my managerial talent. You cannot even imagine how many courses and seminars I have attended. ”Then Nancy rolled her eyes and shrugged. - I always do what the leadership tells me. This is the highest manifestation of the team spirit - she opened her purse from Gucci, took out a sheet of paper. - Here is the letter. I think every woman sitting in the cabin of this plane has the same. ”

Ruth glanced at the letter. All right, she got exactly that. Nancy was asked to collect things and come to the airport. All expenses will be paid. The trip will take five days. The question of whether or not to go was not even raised. She was holding not a letter, but an order.

“Since you are here, it means that you took the letter the same way I did,” Nancy said when Ruth returned the letter to her.

She nodded.

- Behind every woman who succeeds ...

- There is another woman or man, just waiting for a chance to shove you aside and sit at your table! - laughed Nancy.

“Exactly,” Ruth laughed. - That's why I took this challenge. Without a single question. I am ready for anything to get the better of competitors.

“Good girl,” Nancy smiled broadly. - Similar tests are now in fashion. And only God knows what awaits us in the future.

Truth be told, Ruth thought that some transnational corporation was after them. If so, it turned out that she went to the home stretch. The rest of the women were also highly qualified specialists in their chosen profession.

“We are landing,” Ruth did not take her eyes off the overgrown hills.

Nancy sat up, took off her mask, stretched.

- Where are we? God, is this a landing strip? More like a goat trail. Ladies, hold on tight.

As soon as Ruth got out of the plane, the heat seemed to throw a hot, damp blanket over her. Within seconds, she was soaked with sweat, there was no trace of her expensive hair, her hair stuck to the skull. A wave of irritation overwhelmed her. In this form, I did not want to appear to future employers. It only remained to hope that they would be given time to put themselves in order before the solemn meeting. Ruth carried with her a mountain of cosmetics everywhere.

Fortunately, air conditioners worked in the cars. Twenty minutes later, the SUV that Ruth was riding in stopped at a pseudo-Hawaiian village. Bungalows with bamboo walls and a roof of palm leaves stood in the middle of emerald lawns. Everywhere grew bright tropical flowers. Men in snow-white uniforms approached jeeps to greet arriving women and show them their rooms.

“Please come with me, ma'am,” a handsome young man said to Ruth.

“See you later, shark,” Nancy waved to her.

Ruth liked the room. On the bamboo table was a basket of fruit. Next lay a postcard. She was congratulated on her arrival and was recommended to change into comfortable clothes and arrive for instruction in the main building, which she could see through the window of the bungalow. Ruth pulled out of her suitcase shorts, a white cotton shirt and sandals, and then got into the shower.After dressing and drying thick brown hair, she repainted. In the room, thanks to the air conditioner, coolness reigned. Ruth did not feel the slightest desire to once again plunge into the tropical heat.

Ruth was born and raised in the city. She loved order and accuracy. And she was uncomfortable with the tumult of vegetation, iridescent with all the colors of the rainbow a few feet from the bungalow. But at the moment she could not change anything. At first it was necessary to find out what she would be asked to do. Looking again at the mirror, she stepped across the threshold. I saw another woman coming out of her bungalow. Sarah Reynolds, a senior employee of one of the leading London banks. Both women headed towards the main building together.

- What do you think is waiting for us? - asked Sarah, a petite brunette in the topic, short shorts and high-heeled shoes.

“I have no idea,” Ruth regretted putting on her sandals, preferring convenience over beauty. “But it seems to me that in ignorance we will not be kept for long.”

Ruth and Sarah entered the spacious hall. The rest of the women, with the exception of Nancy, were already sitting on the grass mats scattered carelessly over the drowned earthen floor. How ridiculous we look here, in fashionable shorts, in gorgeous cosmetics, which have already flowed from the heat.

“Hello girls,” Nancy fluttered through the door. - Am I the last one? There is no other way with me, - her friendly laughter answered. Nancy looked great: an emerald swimsuit plus a scarf from Hermes, tied with a waist in the manner of a sarong.

“Welcome to my house, dear ladies,” came the thick male baritone. “Please give me a few minutes.”

A tall man in a snow-white linen suit came out from behind a bamboo screen that stood in the back of the room. Ruth almost gasped when she saw this perfect male face and sun-bleached hair. She recognized him. The owner of the airline company and much, much more, a businessman who knows no mercy to competitors, always seeking his own. Rich, self-satisfied, elegant and outrageously beautiful.

“I will instruct,” continued JoelMatheson, “so listen carefully. I would not like to repeat. Having left this hall, you will be left to yourself, - Joel smiled dryly. - You will take part in the competition ... ancient ritual. For you, everything will be a wonder. The islanders who lived here in ancient times had a name for this ceremony. It was held every summer. Only the most beautiful women were allowed to visit her. They were selected as you were selected. The name of the ceremony is translated as “Female female draws strength from the sun.” The winner will be one. The one who is ahead of the rest will receive a check from me for ... - the amount captured the spirit.

Ruth tried not to show astonishment. The rest of the women did not take their eyes off of Mateson, and on the faces of one or two it was clear that for the sake of victory in this strange contest they were ready for anything.

- So we have to compete with each other? Nancy asked, throwing the blond strand from her forehead. - You gathered us here so that we overcome the local obstacle course?

Mateson smiled, his white teeth a bright band stood out on his tanned face.

- Of course no. Believe me, I offer you something more interesting. You will have to turn to your roots that connect you with nature. Fully reset the raid of civilization, return to a simpler, prehistoric life, when all people were savages.

When he fell silent, deathly silence hung in the hall. Violated her Ruth.

- And for what? I want to say ... what is the purpose?

His dark-blue eyes rested on her. And she fully felt his charisma. Look hypnotized, tied will. Then Mateson's lips slowly parted in a smile.

- In ancient times, was chosen ...