Chapter 51 Just Another Day in the Jungle
…Eight Years Later – Early in 1914…
A handsome, full-body tanned, eight year old human boy with shoulder length auburn hair in dreadlocks, a lithe muscular build, and penetrating emerald-green eyes ran as fast as he could through the jungle on all fours with Jana and his other similarly aged young gorilla friends. He had is mother's upturned nose and his father's square jaw line. He was followed far behind by a cute little four year old girl with long, slightly wavy dark brown hair and blue eyes, but otherwise a twin of her mother's facial features at that age, with an unbroken tan from head to toe like the boy, with some gorilla youth her age or younger all struggling to keep up with her brother and his friends.
From some distance away, the boy's mother shouted in a very loud voice that could be heard echoing in the tongue of the gorillas, "Jack, slow down, you'll break a leg! We've been back here in the jungle only since this morning."
Jack rolled his eyes and replied with a typical child's condescending tone, but in perfect Mangani, "Yes, Motherrrr."
The two offspring of Tarzan and Jane had been stir crazy for weeks on the Destiny and simply wanted to move around now that they were back home at the family's nest with their friends they'd not seen in months. On the latest Destiny voyage to Africa, the children and their parents managed to get their color back, sunning themselves on their private family cabin deck to prepare for life back in the jungle so they wouldn't get sunburned, often doing it while playing cards. It was mid February 1914 in England and they'd stayed there since the prior September. They departed for Africa right after New Year's Day 1914, which was their usual departure schedule for being in the jungle during the harshest part of the English winter and spring.
Jack stopped in front of his mother, who was standing next to Tarzan, with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed under her bosom in a scolding manner, but the little boy was very was excited, "Mom! I am so glad to be back in the jungle. It's so nice to just run free with my friends. I've missed them so much. All my friends in England are so… well, so stuffy… I never have fun there. You and Dad like it here better too."
His parents grinned and exchanged glances. Jack was right – they savored the same freedom Jack and Lily felt. Jack had grown up around his parents, the Nigerian tribespeople, and the gorillas that all lived naturally in the jungle, and like all of them, he never gave it a second thought. It was the way things were supposed to be for all of them. His little sister was also well accustomed to the stark contrast between living with the Mangani and Nigerians versus being part of the proper, formal society back in England.
Jane's scowl melted into a mother's loving smile for her precocious first-born and enveloped him in a big hug, kissing his cheek, "Just be careful playing, dear."
He squirmed and responded in typical boy's manner, "Eww, Mom!" but quietly loved his mother's embrace as always. Not even his softest jungle nest or castle bed was as soft and comforting as his mother's hugs.
Tarzan just rolled his eyes at his son's 'discomfort', but remembered being a little boy too, and how he reacted when Kala made a 'fuss' over him.
But like all busy children, Jack sometimes got a little confused where he was and what the proper etiquettes were.
Jane shook her head at her firstborn after her hug, "And so that explains you running through our latest farewell party with nothing on but a smile. Remember, Jack, in the jungle we don't have to wear anything, but in proper English society we must."
Jack got that looking up in the air impatient look with the nodding head mannerism, "I know, I know, Mom. You've told me lots of times. I was just so anxious to get here. I got ahead of myself."
Jane continued her lecture, "Well young man, we are English. We behave like the English when we are there."
With extreme confidence, Jack assumed a prominent all fours position with an upwardly arched back like his alpha male father, growled, and announced proudly, "But not here in the jungle. Here we are Mangani!"
He reared in a squat, thumped his chest like a blackback juvenile male in the troop, and uttered his jungle yell like his father. It was a good attempt and although he needed more practice, it made Tarzan grin. Nonetheless, they were very proud of him, and his mother said, "Yes dear, we are."
Jack asserted further, "It is better to be Mangani than English. Money and things and castles aren't important. Simply having friends and family and fun are. We get what we need from the jungle."
"You are pretty smart for an eight year old," praised Tarzan, ruffling the boy's dreadlocks.
"Almost nine, Dad," Jack corrected his father confidently, "That's what Miss Elisabeth and Papa Porter tell me."
Finally the cute four-year old girl caught up with her brother, accompanied by three juvenile gorilla female friends, all younger siblings of Jack's friends. All of them were completely out of breath. She pouted, "Mommy! Daddy! Jack and the others ran away from us. We were afraid."
Jack snapped at his sister, "That's not true Lily. You just couldn't keep up!"
She started to cry, "You're bigger and stronger than me. I'm trying Jack. I'm not as fast as you."
Tarzan frowned and scolded his son, "You know you have to look out for your sister! This is not how to treat women. I've taught you better than this."
"Yes, Father. But Lily is so young. She's no fun. She can't keep up."
Tarzan was angry at his son, "Not everything in life is always just fun, Jack. Men have their responsibilities. The jungle is a dangerous place, Korak," calling him purposely by his gorilla name for emphasis on his tribal responsibilities, "You know what I told you. I protect your mother and our entire Mangani family all the time. That's what boys do for girls here. Every male animal does this. It's our place."
"Yes, Father," he answered, with a totally guilty and dejected look.
Tarzan had a sudden flashback moment to his childhood and Kerchak's admonishments to him, and he had a catch in his breath at the bittersweet memory.
To lighten the chastisement a little, Jane noted, stroking her bow, "Even though I am thoroughly capable of protecting myself."
"That's for sure!" Tarzan responded with a lighter tone.
"Me too, Mommy!" chimed in little Lily, who wielded a stray stick like a weapon, poking and annoying an unsuspecting snail. The snail wished it had six-inch fangs to defend itself, but recoiled into its shell.
Jane reflected that Lily's jungle survival training had barely begun. Trained from birth in the ways of the jungle like Tarzan and Jack, Lily would be formidable in ways her mother and father could only imagine now. Jane had only acquired her skills in the past decade as an adult. With Lily, her abilities would be almost genetic.
"I'm sorry Lily. And Mom and Dad…" Jack apologized with genuine contrition in his shaky voice.
Jack dug into a rotting stump next to them and extracted out some juicy termites for Lily as an apology, and she quickly consumed them with a happy smile. She smacked her lips in satisfaction at her big brother and pecked him on the cheek, which actually pleased him. Despite his frequent irritation with her, he did love his baby sister. At least most of the time.
Tarzan asked with his mouth watering, "Uh… son, are you gonna share any of those?"
He laughed and dug out enough termites for everyone for a snack, which the family enjoyed. Jack seemed to have a penchant for finding the juiciest ones.
With the normal family dynamic restored, Tarzan rested on his haunches and knuckles next to Jane, and admired his still beautiful wife. The children matched their poses, huddled close to their parents, and started to groom one another, hooting and grunting with their happiness together. European humans would be aghast at the proximity of their personal space and grooming, but this close-knit family savored being close. They made a perfect picture of a loving gorilla family unit – except they were all human. An expert anthropologist would have had to look twice to see their humanity. With their dark coloration from the intense jungle sun, the only thing missing was fur, but in fact Lily and Jane's long hair and Tarzan and Jack's dreds actually made it seem like they did have fur.
Lily and Jack were friends again, and ran off after the snack and grooming to join their waiting gorilla buddies to play elsewhere in the jungle. Jane leaned against Tarzan with a happy sigh as they both watched their children play with the other gorilla youth. Jane gasped at a sudden déjà vu moment, remembering her premonition of Jack running like this in the jungle years ago. But she had not envisioned having a daughter running along with him at that time. Lily's little bare bottom was so cute. It brought Jane a tender smile. She rubbed her slightly swelled belly in anticipation of their next child.
Surrounded by the Mangani going about their daily routines, Tarzan and Jane silently reflected on being back in the jungle again in the midst of the simple life they loved together. Both adults were very pleased they were freed from over six months of the restrictions of English society, and back here in the wild with Kala, Archimedes, Terk, and all their jungle family and friends. The pair thought about how much had changed in the ten years since they'd met and wed. Jane had turned 32 recently, had two children, and Tarzan and Jane knew she was carrying their third child this time in the jungle. She was broader in the hips and thicker through the middle and legs because of the first two, and her bosom was permanently larger, but Tarzan was very pleased with her more mature body. Her stretch marks and slight droopiness were all proud marks of her motherhood twice over. And they both knew her tummy would never be as flat and tight as it was when they were just a couple. Despite the ravages of childbirth on her physique, little Lily thought Jane was the prettiest mommy in the whole world, and wanted to look just like her when she grew up. It was a pretty good bet that she would, based on Archimedes' ancient family daguerreotypes of the family and Jane at Lily's age that he showed them when they gathered for the Christmas Day meal at the Porter estate.
Protected by a strong arm around her, Jane was very happy to be still so attractive to Tarzan, and his powerful mid-thirties physique still thrilled her, even though he was a little thicker through the middle also, due to a little too much good English and Scottish food and spirits and more from their world travels as a noble couple. Some laugh lines were starting to etch themselves into his face. Tarzan had been really upset on their latest voyage on the Destiny that Jane found and plucked the first gray hair from his head only a month ago and teased him about it. It was the same night and same bath together that they conceived for the third time, when he had to prove to her that he wasn't getting old after finding that gray hair. Jane had no objections to that particularly affectionate demonstration. The kids, still awake in the bunk beds in their cabin next door to the master cabin, overheard their parents' loveplay and snickered, but then seriously shared their dreams of having someone love them as much as their parents did each other.
…
While still on the Destiny a little over a week ago, leaning against the rail on the top deck less than a month after that torrid bath time, the two adults were chatting tenderly. They and the children were wearing their standard English merchant marine jumpsuits like the rest of the crew to help the sailors with the tasks during the journey. The pair glanced at their children getting night fishing lessons from Philippe off the stern of the ship. Jane nuzzled her husband to inform him that she was pregnant again after missing a period, "Darn those bath tubs, they always get me pregnant. See, Jonathan, you aren't that old…"
Excited for Jane to tell him the news they would have their third child, after kissing her enthusiastically he joked, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Unless you'd rather stop bathing with me, dear?
She laughed, "No of course not. That's not the problem, Jonathan. It's always a risk taking a bath with you, ape man. You need to watch where you point that thing."
Tarzan bit his lip to keep from erupting in laughter over her comment.
Jane continued, "…But I will never stop bathing with you, dear, no matter how many children we have," she said, kissing him affectionately for emphasis.
The kids were very curious about their parents' heightened emotions for each other on the deck, so the pair gathered their children together with them in their cabin, and happily told them the news. They all hugged. Little Lily was particularly excited to become a 'big sister'. They all shared a late night treat that Philippe created for them to celebrate the good news, prompting Jack to excitedly say innocently, "Gee Mom, you should get pregnant more often!"
That prompted a great laugh and a good bedtime storytelling session for all. Jack dreamed of a having a little brother so they could both terrorize their sister and mother. And Jana.
…
Jane and Tarzan held no secrets from their children. Both Jack and Lily were well aware of where animal and human babies came from and what caused babies to happen. While living in the Mangani nests, it was hard to miss their parents' intimacy in addition to the other animals in the jungle, even though the lovers were more discreet than in prior years. Jack had witnessed his sister's birth, Elisabeth's midwifery, and how his father had helped his mother bring Lily into this world while they were in England in the Castle's master bedroom four years ago. He'd held his tiny sister happily and proudly within seconds of her birth as Tarzan cut her umbilical cord, and he got to give Lily to his mother in a tender bonding moment between all four Clayton family members. As a result, human bodies and reproduction held no mystery to him or later for his sister as she grew older. It was all a part of what the circle of life was. Their children would need this no-nonsense understanding and skills needed in the wild if they were to be 'of the jungle' themselves for their own mates and families as adults. This very personal and up close knowledge of life was actually inspiring Jack to become a doctor.
…
The human part of the Mangani family spent weeks enjoying the simplicity and joys of life back in the jungle, even amidst a lot of hard work for the family's chores each day. Both children knew they were not like their English peers by living with the gorillas and having a father that was raised by the troop. Their friendship with the jungle animals and their ability to talk with them were something truly special that they alone could experience. They also understood that their connection with animals was a special privilege that they needed to protect.
Terk and Kirok's daughter Jana and Jack were inseparable friends and cousins, just as Tarzan and Terk had been, and just as feisty with each other, fulfilling the dream both older cousins had for their children. Little Lily was very close to Terk's second offspring Ugo, a female only a year younger than her, and the younger cousins were also best friends, though they were more quiet and thoughtful than their rough and tumble older siblings. Terk joked lovingly that she wondered how she could have had such a quiet child. In a perfect comeback line, Kirok had brought the entire troop gasping for air in laughter when he asserted, "Well, Terk, you and Jana and sucked up all the craziness in the family and left none of it for Ugo!"
…
Most days were uneventful for the Mangani and the Claytons. But one was not. Tarzan was unfortunately correct in his lecture to Jack. There were always dangers in the jungle.
Lily and Ugo were playing together, happily making mud pies, and were a completely brown mess from head to toe, and both were delighted to be so, with Jack and Jana nearby trying to outdo each other in some kind of 'I-dare-you-to-eat-the-grossest-looking insect' game. A long green and brown shape slithered unseen between the four children. And then it acted.
It towered above Lily, flared its hood for attack, and hissed, "Child of Tarzan, I have waited for this moment for over eight years."
Lily shrieked, and froze in place. With its powerful tail, the cobra shoved Ugo away, and focused on his single target, wrapping Lily in its coils and preventing her escape.
Jane and Tarzan heard the scream, and rushed to her. They stopped in horror of the snake hovering over Lily. Tarzan instantly had his knife drawn and was ready to attack, but he knew the snake would bite her before he could kill it. Jane was nowhere near her bow and arrow. Both knew there was no jungle remedy against cobra poison.
The huge cobra hissed as it stared at the helpless Lord of the Apes, "She's mine, Tarzan. This is my revenge."
What the snake did not see was Jack behind it. The boy pulled his knife noiselessly from its sheath. Tarzan had taught his son early every aspect of self-defense and use of a knife. With its back to Jack and Jana, the monstrous cobra never suspected a child capable of fighting. That was its undoing. Jane's heart was in her throat seeing her only son silently approach the deadly snake. In a blink of an eye the jungle couple could lose both their children.
But not today.
Jack lunged at the snake, and yelled in mid-air, "Don't touch Lily!"
Sensing only the vibrations and unable to hear Jack, the snake could only turn and see the glint of the steel blade, but far too late to do anything about it. Jack decapitated the cobra with one deft slice, and Jack and Lily were covered in its blood as it writhed and gushed while Jack struggled to hold the severed snake body. The lifeless head snapped involuntarily on the ground a few feet away from Tarzan, propelled away from Lily by the force of Jack's attack, but the fangs and venom were still deadly. Tarzan stabbed its severed head to the jungle floor with his own knife and it stilled.
Lily and her gorilla friends screamed at the horrible sight, but it was over as fast as it started.
Unseen above and around them, the snake's brethren knew it was over and disappeared into the jungle. The next generation of the Lord of the Apes was as dangerous as the first. Korak, as Jack was known to the jungle population, was to be respected and feared. More than once Jack clearly lived up to his name, and word traveled fast. There was to be no revenge. The long challenge of the serpents was over. They never expected the son of Tarzan to engage and end the challenge. Jack was truly Korak the Killer.
The family all huddled together, shaking.
"Big bruver, you saved me!" Lily exclaimed and hugged Jack with everything she had in her.
"Jack, we are so proud of you!' praised Tarzan.
Jack didn't let go of Lily and looked her directly in the eyes, "You're my sister. I had to. It would have killed you, Lily. Family protects family."
"You are so right, Jack," his mother complimented, "It's a good thing the snake was so focused on your father."
Jack let out a deep sigh of regret, "But I wish I didn't have to kill the snake, Mom. You and Dad taught me to respect life wherever we are."
Tarzan added, "That's right, Jack. I am sad any time I must take a life, but the snake was determined to take an innocent life for revenge. We only take life to sustain life, or to protect. We never take life needlessly or waste anything."
"I'll never forget that, Dad."
"You did well, Korak. You show how much you are 'of the jungle', announced Tarzan and hugged his son.
It was the highest praise his father could ever give him and he beamed at his father. Jack could barely get his arms around his father's chest, but felt every bit of his father's embrace. Jack squeezed Tarzan tightly, and knew how much he loved his amazing father, and how much he wanted to be like him. Tarzan had vowed long ago that his children would always know a father's love for them, and never be wanting, as he often did in his childhood. Jane's eyes moistened at the moment between father and son.
Jack said softly, "Thanks Dad. Animals are not so much different from humans. Fighting for revenge is so… wrong."
"I am afraid so, Jack. But because revenge does happen in the animal and human worlds, we must always be prepared. This family will never start a fight simply for anger or retribution."
Jack noted proudly, "But we will finish a fight, right Dad?"
Running his fingers through his son's auburn dreadlocks, Tarzan agreed, "When it is necessary, Korak, that we will do son, that we will."
Jane noted, "Now, let's get you two kids cleaned up in the pond."
Jack teased, "Aww Mom, a little snake blood never hurt anyone."
Lily actually giggled, so very proud of her big brother and his bravery that was just for her. She idolized him, now even more. Tarzan bit his lip.
"Jack!" Jane said in indignation.
"Kidding, Mom…" Jack grinned.
"I never know with you, son. You're just like your father," she said deliberately, shaking a finger at her firstborn.
"Where do think I learned it?" Korak said proudly, not realizing he just put his father in an awkward position.
"Oh… I see…" Jane drawled out her reply and glanced at her husband, who simply looked innocently up into the tree canopy and said, "Gee, Jane. Think it'll rain today?"
"Behold the palm from which the coconut fell…" Jane noted with a raised eyebrow staring at Tarzan with her hands firmly on her hips, in a mock accusatory stance, and tapping a bare foot.
They all snickered.
They all sauntered gorilla style over to a nearby pond, with Lily riding on Tarzan's back with a very happy smile. She had a very strong grip around his neck. Tarzan and Jane turned Jack and Lily's clean up rinse into a family swim and playtime, so their laughter could be heard throughout the tropical forest. Lily and Jack couldn't get enough of their father tossing them effortlessly every which way into the clear blue water. Lily's squeals of delight were so cute. Jane thought it was pretty amusing until Tarzan grabbed her and tossed her unceremoniously into the deep waters too, with her very long wet hair, deeply tanned legs and arms and body splayed everywhere. Jane's mid-air shrieks amused the entire family. They all couldn't stop laughing over Jane's wide-eyed, shocked expression, and especially how effortlessly Tarzan had grabbed and tossed her.
"No fair tossing a pregnant woman into the water!" Jane feigned anger in complaint.
"I especially love preying on helpless females!" Tarzan growled in jest, and proceeded to chase his wife all over the pond, with her yelping and laughing in response, with Jane splashing him to defend herself.
"Don't you touch me again, ape man!" she warned, but knew it was useless, and she soon went flying a second time. She managed to curl herself into a cannonball position before she hit the water again, drenching Tarzan for his 'unprovoked attack'. She came up out of the water and stuck her tongue out at him.
The kids were beside themselves in laughter, and begged to be thrown too, "Again, Daddy!"
A couple of startled lungfish climbed out of the violently churning pond water, settled into a mud bank for safety, and gave Tarzan a dirty look for disturbing their solitude, but the ape man just smiled sheepishly and gave them a shrug. And he promptly went right back to chasing and splashing and tossing Jane and the kids.
Later, Jane got her revenge by sneaking up from behind while he was distracted while playing with the kids, and dunked Tarzan under the water so long that he came up sputtering. When they briefly kissed, both kids went 'Ewww!' but internally admired their parents' deep love for each other.
Along the bank of the pond while resting after the swim to catch their breath, Jane let Lily touch her slightly showing baby bump for the first time, to the little girl's total delight. Lily had seen a lot of pregnant animals and births, but having her own mother pregnant was very exciting. Jack touched her too, though it wasn't quite as special for Jack the second time around, remembering when Lily was inside her, but he smiled and asked, "So Mom, are you going to have a boy or a girl?"
"God will just surprise us like He did with you two," Jane said softly.
"I want a brother!" he snickered.
Not to be outdone, Lily asserted smugly, "Well, I want her to have a little sister!"
Wanting to quell the budding argument quickly, Jane said, "Settle down, kids. We'll all find out soon enough."
Satisfied with that answer for now, Lily stretched and yawned, "I'm tired Mommy. That was a lot of swimming. But I loved it when you dunked Daddy!"
Jack added, "I'm tired too. My favorite part was watching Dad make you fly, Mom."
Tarzan raised an eyebrow at his son, "Jack, I never thought I would ever hear you admit that you're tired."
Jane recommended, "Fact is, I think we all should rest."
For once, they were all agreed on a topic.
The entire family curled up together in a shady grassy spot, nestled in Tarzan's protective arms, and all took a nap. Terk chanced by their impromptu nesting spot with her girls, foraging for the evening family meal, and couldn't help but smile at the attractive slumbering human family, with Jack under one of Tarzan's arms and Jane and Lily under the other. Lily was in Jane's arms between her and Tarzan, and Lily had one tiny arm across her father's chest. It was a very tender sight.
"Way to go, cousin, you really are home," she whispered as they tiptoed by.
The Lord of the Jungle and his family were back, and they were very content. The animals, especially the Mangani, felt more secure with the Lord of the Jungle back home.
...
Author's notes: So there's a one shot snapshot of life in the jungle for the expanding Clayton family. Hope I gave you all a nice surprise with the appearance of Lily, Jack's little sister, an Original Character of mine created within Tarzan's fictional universe, and that Jane is pregnant a third time. Here and in the future (given that Jane's pregnant again), I depart from ERB canon by allowing Tarzan and Jane to have more than one child, and being a very strong family unit that always does everything together. I believe that this is consistent with the Disney 'take' on Tarzan and Jane being a story about family, so I am being true to their theme by having Tarzan and Jane raise a large, cohesive family. Besides, having more children in a pre-contraceptive world is the natural consequence of Tarzan and Jane's…. umm… vigorous activity together. And why 'Lily'? Researching English names, I discovered that Lily is an older, turn-of-the-20th century name, and reminiscent of the flowers of the jungle. That's also why she doesn't have a jungle name yet. I hope you all like my 'strong/primitive/large' family interpretation built on the implications of Disney movie canon. That was fun, now on to something more serious that also happened in 1914, and it would affect them all, but especially Jack, forever.
