(Author's Note: I never took the monkey's in 1967's The Jungle Book to be villains. However that's the way they are portrayed in both the book and live-action version of the Jungle Book. So for this story, I included them in the Isle of the Lost (but I am still of the opinion that they are not real villains; more so confused party animals).)
The headless rider wouldn't stop laughing, which didn't make sense considering he didn't have a head. Nevertheless, a sudden and inexplicable panic set in the scene. Screaming and shouting abounded. "Run!" Jay shrilled at the top of his lungs to everyone. Harry didn't let go of my hand; once he took it, he clamped on. We all began running in the opposite direction as fast as possible, foolishly thinking we could outrun a dead horse. But that didn't stop us from trying. Our feet clambered for the other side of the woods, racing to get into the shelter of the trees. Unfortunately it was dark out and we couldn't see where we were running too well.
Our speed resulted me in tripping over a large root sticking out of the grass. It was so sudden and forceful that Harry's hand and mine were torn apart. His feet froze to a stop a couple of steps in front of me. He spun around with a terrified look on his face. "Mal!" He cried. There was no time for him to run back for me; Mr. Headless got there first. His horse bucked up again and, still laughing maniacally, his sword rose high up into the air. All I could think to do was cover my head with both arms.
But I didn't die. Instead, much to everyone's surprise, Shere Khan managed to swoop on in there like a shot. He caught me within a second's notice and the moment I was on his back he took off to the place where the Headless Horseman first appeared. It all happened so fast that no one knew what was going on, or at least not until I was a safe distance away from the horseman's blade. Shere Khan stopped a moment so we could survey the situation. Moments later from turning in the direction we'd disappeared, the headless guy's attention returned back to the boys. Harry began to scramble to re-join the others in the thicket, with the Headless Horseman quick on his tail. "Harry!" I shrieked in a whisper to myself. That's when I got another idea. Admittedly, it was stupid on my part but such was my determination to save Harry's life. I took the opportunity while Shere Khan was stationary to holler at the horseman as loudly as I could. "Hey, Headless! Why go after boys' heads when you can have a girl's head?!"
Well, that did it. The ghostly rider immediately halted and turned his scary horse right around. Shere Khan's back gave a little alarmed shiver. "Oh well done. Capital job," he scolded me viciously. But thankfully he didn't throw me off and make a run for it. He merely ran inside the forest, weaving as fast as possible through the tree trunks. I clung onto him for what felt like dear life, he was going that fast.
For the first few minutes- though it may have been much shorter- the Headless Horseman followed us; his laughter echoing through the pitch-black woods. I'm not sure when it died down but the tiger didn't stop until we were miles away from the clearing. His paws only slowed down when we were very far in. He panted a few times and I checked behind us. Not only was the horseman nowhere to be seen but it was suddenly quiet again. Despite putting my nerves at rest, I only got more afraid. "Where'd he go?" I asked no one in particular. Shere Khan didn't bother answering.
"Get off," he ordered. I obeyed and to my surprise, he started urging me up a tree. "What are you doing?" I asked. "You need to get up there." "What?" "Last I checked, horses don't climb trees." "Can tigers?" I inquired genuinely confused. "Of course we can climb trees- easily so! We just seldom do so, but tonight, it is warranted. Up you go," careful with his claws, Shere Khan pushed me up above him since I couldn't climb trees. Once I was able to grab onto a branch, he joined me. He only let his breath go when he was sure it wouldn't snap under both our weights. I was relieved to be up somewhere high but still incredibly fearful of what the Headless Horseman might do.
"What do we do now?" I asked the tiger, out of ideas myself. "What do we do? We're going to stay up in this tree until sunrise," Shere Khan gasped incredulously. "What?! I can't do that! The Headless Horseman is still out there!" "And you do propose to do about it? He's dead, Mal," he huffed. "I know, but we have to do something! He's still out there!" My arms threw up into the air.
A gaggle of laughter all around caught us both off guard. I blinked to see a sea of monkeys coming down from the branches, with their fun-loving leader landing on our specific branch. He laughed heartedly and looked at me. "Well, well, well, what have we here? It's the purple lady's girl," King Louis smiled. "Oh, good grief; just what we need," Shere Khan groaned, shaking his head. "What brings you to our neck of the woods, little girl?" Ignoring the tiger's comment, the orangutan kept his attention on me. I saw another chance present itself to me- the monkeys didn't seem afraid of well, anyone.
"Louis, I have to find the Headless Horseman! Can you help me?" "Who?" He asked, playing with his position with his very flexible limbs. "The Headless Horseman! The ghost that haunts this forest on Halloween night." "Ooooooh….. Never heard of him," the monkey king shrugged nonchalantly. "I need your help! Please, Louis- my friends are in danger!" I continued to beg. "What kind of danger? How dangerous can someone without a head be?" He stuck one of his toes into his ears. Oh my god; this was getting nowhere fast. My only hope was to turn to Shere Khan for sympathy- I did save his life before, after all. My hands clasped together in a desperate fashion.
"Please, I'm begging you, Shere Khan; I won't reach them in time alone. I need your help, please." "But there's no way to defeat him, Mal. You know that," his eyebrow raised. "There has to be something! There…. Wait," I thought for a hot minute. My lips parted in realization. "A bridge… We need to find a bridge! That'll stop the Headless Horseman!" "And where is there a bridge in the Isle of the Lost?" He questioned me. "There isn't….." I admitted in defeat. "There's no bridge in town?" King Louis asked in a detached way. "No…" My eyes lowered. "Mmmmmm, then why not make one?" He added, again casually. I then looked at him like he was the smartest animal I'd ever seen. "Make a bridge… We need to make a bridge!" I suddenly stood up on the branch.
"Out of what? It takes time and supplies to make any sort of bridge, Mal," Shere Khan remarked. "Maybe we don't need to make one. Maybe we need just need to find one." "Where? As you said so yourself, there are no bridges." I thought for a moment, resting my finger under my chin in a considerate manner. "Find a bridge, find a bridge….. What is a bridge? It's connects two things and it's made out of stone or wood or…" My mouth shot open as my eyes grew large. It felt like a title wave had instantly hit me. Wood…. Why make a bridge when we can use a plank?
I grabbed the closest monkey to me. He got as stiff as stone in my grip, ogling me with shocked and alarmed stare. "Go to town and take the plank off Captain Hook's ship! Put it over an area at the entrance of the forest!" I commanded in a frantic voice. "A plank? You honestly think that will work?" Shere Khan's eyebrow raised a second time. "It's all I can think of!" I fired back. Now all I have to do is lure the horseman to the town. And to do that, I need to find him again.
"Shere Khan….." I didn't have to finish my query. He rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you expect me to jeopardize my life for a bunch of no-account boys." "Please…. Please." He eyed me for a second until King Louis put his hand on my shoulder. "Oooooh, I don't wanna miss this. Come on, girl; let's party!"