"Is this the first time you saw the peacock?" Carl asks.
"The second. I saw it yesterday morning before breakfast. I also heard it early this morning and yesterday."
Carl says nothing further, and it is clear that for now the subject is closed. At least he seems to accept it.
"Aaron's way ahead of us", he says
"How big is this place anyway?"
"About two square kilometres. The provincial government is after us to let them have most of it, for development. We want to keep it to protect the environment. And also for God's work."
"Aren't those one and the same?" I ask.
"I suppose so. But really, Melissa and I are both starting to waver. This place is a lot of work. The original deal with the brothers and sisters of the community here was that they would help with the work around the place in exchange for free housing. And it was all working okay, and really, no one has ever had to work more than four hours a day to keep this place going But there is one problem."
"Being?"
"Douglas. Their current leader. Ever since he arrived here two years ago, he's been problematic."
"How did he arrive?"
"Another one of Robert's charity projects gone awry, and of course he would dump this one on us, since he didn't want to handle the responsibility. Story of our lives here", says Carl, with a slightly bitter tone.
"How big is the house?"
"Sixty rooms. There is space for everyone and more." Aaron has stopped, waiting for us to catch up with him...
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