They appear and disappear through the "laugh-in" door at the end of the pool. I finally travelled through this door, to the other side, and discovered a refuge. The space beyond sits below our neighbour's infinity pool, a space that will become two bedrooms one day. I wonder who would want to sleep beneath a million litres of water? It would require a ridiculous leap of faith! Meanwhile, one of Nestor's brothers has created a workshop there. Apparently he refinishes furniture and doors. Several times each day, he appears through the door with a request for ice water from our refrigerator. It is, after all, hot work to sand and remake these things.

An old beach lounge chair has been hauled up 101 stairs for comfortable afternoon naps. It sits in the dust amidst his tools, equipment, lacquers and paints. An extension cord is connected to a single light bulb. Sometimes, later at night, we see the light shining and hear the sound of gentle sanding.

Another brother also uses the "underpool" space, coming and going through the door from 8am to 6pm. He seems to be a general handyman. Despite many attempted "fixings", we have never seen him effectively fix anything. He does clean the pool and smile a lot! He also asks permission to fill his cup with ice water and heat his lunch in our microwave oven.

There were more of them last year, nameless men who built walls, laid floors, tiled bathrooms and installed plumbing. They would all gather under the pool to share lunch and stories. Now there are just the two brothers.