Transition Plan Chapter 43: First Homecoming Part 30 - To Arms!
Quentin and Wallace returned shaken from their encounter with Lord Clayton, and told the men what happened in their unexpected confrontation with the new Count and Countess of Greystoke and their people. They answered all the questions from their men about the fundamental transformation of Clan Greystoke since they'd left England for the expedition. They got a very mixed reaction from their men. Most of the men supported their two leaders, but a surprisingly large number of them did not want to fight the new Count. These men were actually pleased that the rightful heir lived and had inherited famous English peerage. Those men wanted to serve the new Count, take down the equipment as they were directed, and go home for a new assignment.
One of the foreman announced to Wallace and Quentin, "We want to keep our jobs. The new Count seems like a reasonable man. Cedric is gone. We don't have any fear him any more."
A number of men vocally acknowledged their support of the foreman.
Quentin grew angry at the foreman and his loyal team members, and scowled, "If you are not with us, then you are against us. You lads should fear me as much as Cedric. He hired me."
The foremen responded firmly, "We are not against anyone, Quentin. We're tired. We want to go home. We want to keep our jobs. There is no oil here. I can feel oil. You know that. We gave it our best shot. Let's go to the House of Saud in Arabia where we hear the oil flows like rivers and get a piece of that action before the Americans take it all. Let the Count and his family keep these lands."
Wallace asserted, "No! There is oil here, and will find it. We'll be the first and we will be richer than all of the potentates in Arabia."
The foreman crossed his arms, and stated flatly, "I, for one, will not fight the Count of Greystoke. Who stands with me?"
Nearly twenty arms went up.
Quentin scowled, "So then, you traitorous louts, you will all pay for your disloyalty to Cedric."
The foreman was emboldened, "Cedric no longer lives. Your skullduggery has no place in the restored peerage, Quentin. Be done with this peacefully."
Quentin sneered at the foreman, turned to his guards, and said, "Take these men and make sure they do not leave for the ship. Bind them, and if necessary, kill them if they show any sign of helping the new whelp Count and his woman! You are now our bargaining chip, gents. Hmmpf! Loyalists to the Count. That man has a soft heart. It will be his undoing."
The men were tied up and led to a hot tin roof building where the room was locked and guarded, and ringed with explosives.
A little cape parrot watched all the proceedings from a nearby tree. This didn't look right to her. Seeing some of the men in some kind of restraint and the noises of their chains, the large group of angry men yelling at each other, and pointing those 'gun' things at their own kind startled her and she took off from her perch.
Quentin turned and aimed his gun at the fleeing parrot.
Wallace pushed the gun down, "No, don't shoot."
"Those feathers would fetch a good price."
"But parrot meat is stringy and bitter. You'd just be wasting a shot we might need later against Count Clayton and the sailors."
"Wallace, you're going soft on me."
"And shooting the bird it might start a fight we aren't ready for. D'Arnot and the Count could be out there right now and we don't know it, just waiting for an excuse to close in on us."
He relented, and the little bird had flown out of sight anyway, "I guess you're right. Now, we will get ready for a fight."
…
Tarzan and Jane, the two Captains, and officers of the ships were making last-minute plans walking on the trail toward the oil site as their combined crews followed them, armed and ready. The young pair was already in their jungle garments. Despite Jane's 'maternity loincloth', the amount of skin they were showing was a surprise to Captain McNally and his crew, but the Destiny crew were used to them.
Noni flew down from the trees and perched on Jane's shoulders. She started squawking urgently, "Friend Jane, I was watching the camp as you told me, and I saw some men arguing. A small group was led away in some kind of shiny, clanking vines wrapped around their hands and legs and they were locked in a big communal nest. The men leading them away I think had those guns you told us about. I don't think this was right."
Jane praised the bird, "Thank you very much, little Noni. This means a lot to us. When you go back, try not to be seen. Men hunt birds."
Jane fed Noni some soda crackers she'd taken from the Destiny's kitchen to keep her own energy up, and the tiny parrot promised, "I will be careful. My mate and our flock are ready. The big birds are ready too."
Jane reminded Noni, "When Tarzan gives the word, you need to do what you were told. We move just before sun down."
The parrot seemed jittery.
"Can you be brave, Noni?" encouraged Jane.
"Yes. We will not be afraid, Jane. We trust you and the good humans. We know some of us may die at the hands of the bad humans. We want to keep living in our nests in the tall trees. Keeping the trees alive is worth the sacrifice."
Jane ruffled her feathers tenderly and the little bird flew away.
The men had been standing throughout this exchange observing open-jawed in astonishment. Tarzan was very proud of the animated exchange between the two female friends of totally different species. McNally stuttered, "Lady Jane…all that chirping. You… you talked to the bird. And it understood you!"
Tarzan interjected, "Technically, with parrots, that was squawking."
She jabbed him in the ribs and grinned, "Hush!"
Jane answered Captain McNally, "Yes of course. I was talking to my friend Noni. The whole cape parrot flock jokes that I have a horrible accent, but Noni doesn't mind it that much. Her mother is a lot crankier about my pronunciation, but I'm working on it. She says I sound like a cockatoo with that accent."
They all laughed. Jane was so matter-of-fact about it all, like talking to one of her English socialites over tea.
"Just how many animals can you talk to, Lady Jane?" Bonheur asked.
"Me? Oh… I know about a dozen or so animal languages fluently, and another ten I understand a few words. But I am just the amateur of the family. Tar… I mean Jonathan… last time I took count, knows 53."
They were flabbergasted.
They made final plans, and then took off up the trail. At a point just out of sight and earshot of the oil men camp, they stopped.
Tarzan emphasized, "We need to go ahead of you now, to prepare your path. Remember to not shoot any animal, even if it looks like they will attack you. They are looking for the armband and they will turn away from you if you wear it. And try not to kill the oil men, unless you absolutely have to keep from being killed. We are not like Cedric and my cousin John Clayton. All their evil stops here today."
McNally and his crew were still having trouble understanding all this, "Are you sure it will be safe, Lord Clayton? The men trust you, but this is very hard. It goes against all our instincts about wild animals."
"The animals gave me their word, Captain McNally, and an animal's word is ten times more reliable than any man's."
"They what? They gave you their word?"
"You heard him correctly, McNally," emphasized d'Arnot.
"Except snakes. Never trust a snake, no matter what they tell you," Jane said with certainty.
An incredulous McNally said, knowing she was dead serious, "I will uh… remember that advice, Lady Jane."
Count Clayton gave further direction, "And gentlemen, here in the jungle, my name is Tarzan. The animals will not respond to any other name for me."
"Aye aye, sir… uh… Tarzan," noted McNally's first officer.
Tarzan smiled, knowing this was still a challenge for McNally's people to absorb, "Good fortune to us all gentleman; this is where it all comes together."
Jane gathered a bulky bag against her bosom, and checked her bow and quiver. She reconfirmed her husband had his knife.
Jane asked, "Gentlemen, One more thing. We need two lighters."
D'Arnot gave her his and a package of matches. Tarzan gathered Jane in one hand and arm, careful to not squeeze their baby, pecked her lips, grabbed a sturdy vine in his other hand and his legs, and disappeared into the tree canopy.
McNally's head was completely spinning, "D'Arnot? Have you ever seen anything like that before? Both of them. They're savages and animals and gentry all at the same time."
D'Arnot mused, "No, and you never will again, my dear friend."
"Incroyable…" noted Bonheur en francais, for the first time really getting to see his Count and Countess in action as people of the jungle first hand. He'd been on the Destiny during their encounter with the Nigerians.
And then, very seriously d'Arnot observed, "Just be glad the two of them are on our side. God help us now if they weren't. I pity Wallace's men. Thank God that Count Clayton is a merciful man like his father."
…
In a nearby mud pond, Tarzan and Jane removed their loin cloths, and quickly camouflaged themselves as before, and continued preparing undetected for the attack. High in the tree canopy with the fullest view of the camp, they alighted on a sturdy branch. They were completely unseen.
Tarzan shared his concerns, "Jane, I am concerned leaving you here alone."
"Alone like this I am virtually undetectable. At dusk and into the night I will be even better concealed. If I am chased, I can still branch surf to safety faster than any oil man can walk, pregnant or not."
They shared a long kiss and Tarzan departed with the bag and the lighter. She kept the matches.
Jane set herself up as protected as she could, strung her bow, made sure her mud covered arrows and wedding ring would not glint at the guards at sundown, checked her sight lines, and as she waited, she prayed for her husband and everyone allied with Clan Greystoke. They were so close to the conclusion.
…
Wallace was nervously wringing his hands, "This waiting is terrible, Quentin. Do you think they'll just leave?"
"No, that Clayton fellow seemed very determined to shut this operation down. It is just a matter of how and when. We've doubled the guards and there seems to be no sign of any conflict. I can't put everyone on alert all the time. We have to get our work done. The men will be worn out in no time if we overtax them. It's nearly dark. I can't see anything happening tonight. They can't see in the dark any better than we can."
Wallace cautioned, "But the legends say the ape man has special control over nature.
"I don't see any hurricane force winds or thundering herds of water buffalo. He'll certainly try guerilla warfare and sabotage, and would have the alliance with the Nigerians, but we're ready. And we have hostages."
"I wish I had your optimism, I still have a bad feeling about this, Quentin."
"Mr. Wallace, you need to get a better attitude or you may be among the first to die here today."
…
The sun was getting low. Tarzan knew he had to balance the abilities of the day time animals with the nocturnal ones for maximum effect.
Just outside the least-patrolled fence line, next to the exit of a smelly drain pipe, Tarzan was with Terk. He had opened his bag and had instructed the lemurs that met them at the pipe to take several long, red cylindrical tubes that were in the bag up the pipe into the center of the room of a particular building with all sort of warning signs on the outside doors and walls.
Terk questioned, very delicately handling one of the red tubes herself, "Just exactly what is 'dynamite', Tarzan?"
"The power of a lightning bolt that you can hold in your hand and control."
Terk hastily gave the stick of dynamite she was gingerly examining back to Tarzan.
"Not for me, Lord of the Jungle. You humans can have this for yourselves."
They laughed quietly. He talked gently to the tiny pygmy marmoset next to the pipe as the lemurs returned from their successful mission and said, "Little one, you have the biggest job here. You need to take this tiny object and place it in the exact middle of the pile of dynamite. Make sure the wires behind you never break."
The marmoset's cute little squeaky voice made a very big promise, "Yes Tarzan, I will do my job to save the jungle and my home, even if I may die. I am proud to be trusted to carry this 'blasting cap'."
The tiniest of God's jungle creatures scurried up the pipe, and the wire reel quickly rolled out behind it. Tarzan instructed the lemurs in their next task.
The little marmoset soon reemerged, "I have done as you asked, Tarzan. It was easy!"
Tarzan massaged the marmoset's tiny head and fed him his favorite treat, and praised, "In the legends that will come from today, my little friend, it will always be said that the pygmy marmoset saved us all from the guns."
It smiled and squeaked happily, and ran off to join the lemurs. There was more work to be done.
Tarzan attached the wires to the detonator and handed it to Terk, and charged her very serious face, "I trust you to do this on your own, cousin. I must be on the other side of camp to attract the bad humans' attention away from you."
She raised her thumb, winked, and stated confidently, "I got this, Tarzan."
They hugged and departed.
Tarzan positioned himself and hid behind some ferns on the forest floor. He knew where Jane was far above him. Abassi and d'Arnot's men were positioned correctly with the flashes from the signal mirrors they carried and only Tarzan could see. He knew from a grunt that Kirok and the other male Mangani were ready. A low howl signaled the baboons' readiness. He heard Tantor's screech of acknowledgement, too. The timing of their signals sounded like any other random jungle animal noises, and Tarzan could see that the guards didn't react to the animal sounds.
He said a prayer as Jane had taught him, took the deepest breath he could, and yelled his signature jungle yell as loudly as he ever had.
Every human and animal ally to Tarzan were ready to leap, crawl, gallop, hop, scurry, run, and flap into action, each in their own time as Tarzan showed them.
Quentin immediately whirled about and yelled, "What in bloody hell is that?"
He hefted his weapon to follow the sound and to silence whatever animal it was that called out. In all his experience he had never heard such a sound. It sounded unearthly. It seemed to come from everywhere, and he cursed his inability to track its source.
And then, seeing movements in the trees in the dim light of dusk, he realized what was happening, and yelled "To arms, everyone! Go to the armory and get every available weapon out. Shoot everything that moves – man or animal."
The guards and workers who were not already armed rushed to the armory to get a gun.
Below the ditch, Terk held her breath, turned the key on the detonator, and pushed the handle in quickly. It hesitated for only a moment, but suddenly, with a noise ten times greater than any thunder and a blinding flash, the gun armory disintegrated into a monstrous ball of flame and fire and smoke that billowed far into the jungle skies, and thousands of shards of metal, glass,, and wood flew like missiles in all directions. Terk cringed and cuddled into a fetal position as some of the blast went over her head. The real explosion was far more frightening than Tarzan had explained to her. Other buildings were set afire. Rounds of ammo cooked off, sending the men to fall their stomachs to escape being shot randomly. Nearly twenty men were knocked cold from the concussive explosive wave. Many more were injured from the flying debris.
On the ships, the crew left behind saw the roiling smoke, fire, and echoes of the explosion and worried, "I hope that wasn't any of us."
The oil men were so distracted and reeling from the concussive forces of the explosion that obliterated most of their arsenal of guns and ammo. They never saw what was coming behind their backs. Most were desperately trying to keep the fires from spreading.
With the explosion as a signal to advance, from the defilade of the woods came rushing heavily armored rhinos, ridden by the Mangani males, hunkered below the armor of the great beasts. Eight rhino and Mangani pairs galloped for the main barbed wire fence posts.
Using thick vines as lassoes, the Mangani roped the poles, and the rhinos backed up, ripping the posts from the ground. The entire barbed wire fence line was down in an instant. The oil men turned to see their own defenses torn to pieces. They were in shock, seeing that it was an organized band of animals doing the damage. Most were still ducking the ricochets of the rounds still cooking off in the fires.
Behind them Tantor led a charge of his elephant kinfolk, and pushed several large trees as bridges over the barbed wire now laying on the ground.
The stray bullets died down and Quentin got up, and screamed, "We're compromised! Get up, idiots. Shoot to kill!"
The apes and rhinos were far inside the perimeter of the camp, and this close the guns would kill them. The men tried to line up shots on their massive targets thundering rapidly toward them.
But as the men took aim, from lazy circles above the camp, a dozen species of birds dove head first, and defecated into the eyes and heads of the guards, blinding them, causing them to fire at random, some wounding the other men. The men screamed from the acidic bird excrement burning their eyes. Some got off shots but didn't hurt the invaders. Several of the most powerful eagles literally knocked the guns out of the men's hands, screeching in the men's frightened faces and scratching with their terrible sharp claws and beaks.
The apes jumped off the rhinos, slammed a number of the blinded gunmen to the ground, and smashed their guns into pieces, threatening the men with the barrels like clubs. They roared and bared their vicious teeth at the oil men and guards, causing them to cringe and protect themselves in terror.
Streaming from the jungle in a seemingly endless trail, the baboons growled and bared their teeth and streamed into one side of the camp using the logs to not hurt their feet on the wires, snapping and clawing at the men, with superior strength they were all pinned. Those with knives were disarmed by sheer numbers.
The Nigerians did the same together with the sailors, brandishing guns of their own, and stormed in from the remaining sides of the camp. The Nigerians threw their spears, pinning a number of the men to the walls of the buildings, forcing them to drop their guns. Femi launched her twin spears literally down the barrels of two guns, causing them to explode in the oil men's faces. The sailors took aim at the oil men, they dropped their guns where they stood, and raised their hands in surrender.
Rushing by the kennels, d'Arnot himself slammed an iron bar over the door to the kennel and clocked the kennel keeper unconscious using his gun stock with an ugly crack. The dogs would harm no one, and were terrorized on the outside of the cages by the caracals. The dogs wanted nothing to do with cats vastly bigger than they.
From a watch tower above, Quentin, Wallace and a handful of his best men saw the conditions in camp overwhelmingly deteriorating, but he was not bested yet. They conferred to develop a counter attack, even against terrible odds.
It was Jane's turn, now that most of the oil men and guards were captured or pinned down by the animals. It was past dusk, and she lit her first arrow soaked in lamp oil. She shot it and a rapid succession of more arrows into the oil drilling derricks, predominantly all made of wood. The preservative creosote in the timbers of the tower torched off quickly, and not only were the armory and several other buildings on fire, two of the three derricks were soon ablaze as well. Femi, standing next to her husband guarding a number of captured oil men, threw several burning spears into the base of the derricks that Jane had set ablaze from the top, and they were completely consumed in flames quickly.
Quentin could see the incoming arrow storm, and with his telescopic sight, he found Jane in the trees, despite her camouflage, and sneered with the eyeful of her beauty he got of her nude body covered only by her camouflage, and he cackled, "I have you now, Lady Jane. If you are going to fight like a jungle warrior, naked or not, you must also be prepared to die like a warrior."
He squeezed the trigger, concentrating only on the shot, knowing his henchmen would protect his flanks, but instead he felt an instantly searing pain in his hand, but still got the shot off. Quentin screamed. His hand was run through and pinned to the wooden gun stock with a huge knife. Tarzan stood over his foe in his crouched shooting position. He had stuck him with his blade. Five men laid unconscious around him, and three more fled, including that coward Wallace. Tarzan had attacked them all noiselessly with Kirok assisting. Quentin screamed again as he pulled the knife out of his hand, stood shakily and held it at Tarzan. The stabbed hand hung uselessly.
"Fortunately Lord Clayton, I am ambidextrous. And I never lose against an unarmed opponent. You have interfered with this operation long enough, man-spirit."
"So, Quentin, you know."
"It was too easy to figure out. You and Jane were the gorillas at the fence line that night. And now I am going to avenge Cedric's death by taking your life. You made me miss Jane. But once you are dead, I look forward to having my way with your little pregnant play toy before I take her life too. And your baby's."
Tarzan's eyes went ablaze with the threat against Jane and his child.
…
Jane felt the bullet graze her in the shoulder, and suppressed a scream so as to not give her position away any further. She couldn't stand the pain though, and moaned and grimaced hard, "Uhhh!"
She winced with the shot, but was very relieved that it was only a flesh wound to her shoulder. She quickly moved her firing location, using the massive tree trunks as cover, and moved in the trees, hiding as best she could against the next shot. She was surprised at being shot. It had to come from some kind of marksmen or sniper. No more shots came, and she quickly put the third and last drilling tower in flames, sat behind a large trunk fifty feet in the air, and tended her wound. It throbbed and she moaned in pain, but chewed on some pain killing bark she stripped from a tree.
…
Quentin counted on infuriating the Count into a rash move that he could lunge and kill his foe, but Tarzan remained focused.
They circled each other looking for weaknesses and openings. They were very evenly matched.
They chased each other. Quentin took broad swipes at Tarzan, who adeptly avoided the thrusts. They dodged and weaved over roof tops, ladders, walls, and equipment. Quentin pulled massive amounts of equipment down to crush Tarzan but he missed every time. Several times they grappled, and each nearly impaled the other on razor-sharp shards of the exploded building. Tarzan managed a few punches to Quentin, staggering him in pain, and both engaged in wrestling moves intended to render the other helpless, but Quentin and Tarzan kept getting up. Tarzan was still on the defensive, as Quentin continually jabbed his own knife back to him.
Tarzan tripped over some debris next to a building Quentin seemed to be guiding them relentlessly toward, and the ape man was suddenly on his back with Quentin's full weight on him, trying to drive the knife into his throat. It was strength on strength. In Quentin's heavily damaged hand was another dynamite detonator. It was poised to push the trigger.
Eye to eye in a deadly struggle, Quentin hissed through gritted teeth, "Tarzan, I have you. Surrender or die. You're not the only one that knows explosives. Inside this shack are all the men who wanted to be loyal to you. Weaklings. The world needs no more weaklings, surrender to me and they live and you can all go home. Continue to fight and they all die."
Struggling against the blade getting ever closer to his carotid artery, Tarzan gritted his teeth, "You're the one who needs to be surrendering, Quentin, or haven't you noticed what's been going on in this camp the past hour?"
"I know I can count on your weak soft heart to save these people."
"Then you really don't know much about the man spirit do you?"
"What?"
Tarzan flexed his powerful muscles, throwing Quentin off of him backwards, but each man quickly got their feet, leaped on top of the building, and the men were face to face on the roof of the shack with the hostages.
"Die, Tarzan, with all the other cowards," shouted Quentin. He pushed the detonator and leaped off the building.
Nothing happened.
Tarzan winked at the lemurs and marmoset scurrying into the woods who'd chewed through the wires of the explosives. He had asked them to look for other dynamite wires in camp.
"Tastes like chicken, Tarzan," scoffed one of the lemurs.
"Whatever you say, my friend," Tarzan laughed.
Tarzan leaped off the roof and was face to face once again with Quentin. Tarzan's belly got a grazing slice by a move by Quentin.
"Damn you, ape man. It takes a lot to get me riled up, Count Clayton. Now you've managed to really piss me off."
"I tend to do that to people like you I'm afraid, Quentin. It must be my lack of manners around evil Englishmen."
Quentin's eyes blazed, "Enough of your stupid humor, Clayton."
The security chief leaped and yelled at Tarzan stretching the blade straight at Tarzan. He wasn't prepared for this kind of attack.
At that very second a long brown shape with a flared head thrust out of a dark corner of the building.
A wide-open fanged mouth struck Quentin directly in his throat, and he tried to scream but only gurgled, convulsed a moment, and collapsed dead on the ground. His skin was a sickly purplish green.
The serpent, a seventeen foot long cobra, coiled itself up and reared up at about eye level with Tarzan. The ape man quickly retrieved his knife from Quentin's dead hand, watching the snake's every twitch. He knew cobras could spit venom, and protected his eyes.
The snake complained, "How totally disappointing, Tarzan. That bite was meant for you. It was a full dose. The fool got in the way at exactly the wrong time. What a waste… Now I have to recharge my venom."
"You'll be dead by the time you do, serpent. I am, after all, as you said, the Vanquisher of Snakes."
From the banter it was clear the snake had actually saved Tarzan intentionally.
The cobra rushed away, "Another time, Tarzan, another time. Gotta go. Just look what time it's getting to be."
"Snakes don't have wrists or watches."
"Details, Lord of the Apes, details…"
"And serpent?"
"Yes, Tarzan?"
"Thank you."
"Don't tell anyone. You get one reprieve from me, Vanquisher of Snakes. Next time; watch out. No mere human can have the joy of killing you. He nearly took away my right to kill you myself. I will get my revenge on you another time."
Tarzan watched the giant cobra slither off, and whispered, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," he remembered reading a history book of his father's.
Everywhere all over the camp, it was very clear it was over. Flames were everywhere consuming the derricks and a lot of other drilling equipment.
The allied humans and animals gathered all the oil men captives together, and bound them in the center of a huge circle of unlikely allies. The freed foreman and his group of oil men loyal to the Count stood in the circle of friends. They had no idea how the animals and men worked together, but they realized that the new Count had something to do with it.
A camouflaged Tarzan stood proudly with his friends, though some of it was worn off in the struggle with Quentin and he was bloody with several wounds from their battle.
Wallace had surrendered and turned everyone in. Everyone was accounted for. There was only one dead. Quentin. But there were many injured, each being tended by sailors with medical skills.
The acrid smell of the burning derricks and armory continued, but every other fire was contained. Some of the sailors watched carefully to make sure only the things needed to be on fire remained so.
The animals surrounded Tarzan and the captured men. Each in their own way, they were cheering, the men joined in with them.
Tarzan said to Wallace gravely, "This is over. You have been bested."
Wallace bowed his head in shame and apology, "I accept defeat at your hand, my Lord. In the morning, Count Clayton. We will begin dismantling this site and will go home willingly. I am most heartily sorry for causing this."
"I am glad you have come to your senses, Mr. Wallace. I might just let you keep your job. I would call this a lapse in judgment, especially by hanging around that Quentin fellow far too long."
"I would be grateful, my Lord. I would like to earn your trust," he stated genuinely grateful for another chance.
"You will have that chance, Mr. Wallace. But I must insist on you being confined with your people tonight. Your deeds and those of your people tomorrow will determine what happens next."
"I accept your decision, Count Clayton," and was led off with the others to a large dorm-like building.
Tarzan turned next to the animals in the giant circle, and thanked them profusely in their many tongues. The sailors were amazed at this, and how the animals responded to him. They could all see the respect and friendship between the Count and the animals. No man was prouder than Captain d'Arnot.
It was done, and the animals were no longer needed. Tarzan cut loose his bloodcurdling jungle call. Suddenly every animal who had helped defeat the oil men were completely gone from the camp, except for his closest friends. The humans also remained. Abassi pledged himself to help watch the oil men for any remaining sign of trouble despite Wallace's commitment, for as long as needed in the clean up.
Tarzan realized that Jane was nowhere to be seen, and started to panic. He was certain he prevented Quentin from shooting her. He called out again.
His call was answered by Jane's soprano matching call, as she strode across the camp, having climbed down carefully from her perch in the woods. She carried her bow in one hand, an arrow ready if needed. Noni was on her other arm and they were nuzzling each other as the friends they were. There were soda cracker crumbs all over the bird's front feathers.
Tarzan rushed from the gathering of allies and hugged Jane, kissed her deeply, and spun her over his head, much to the surprise of their suddenly dizzy baby, who nudged her internally.
Tarzan could see and feel the movement and kidded, "Is somebody in there spoiling all our fun, Jane dear?"
She gave him a fake frown, "Our baby must be a boy, because boys never know how to be nice at parties."
He laughed, "I will hold you to that prediction Jane."
Tarzan kissed her again and he scooped her up in his arms, much to her giggling delight, and he strode back carrying her proudly to be with all their friends. D'Arnot, McNally, Terk, Tantor, Naima, and some of the others greeted them. The animal and human leaders embraced.
With Jane standing arm in arm next to her husband, d'Arnot told Tarzan, "Count Clayton. Congratulations, after all these many months of planning and journeys, the great struggle is finally over, and you've won! Clan Greystoke is now fully restored here as it is in England, You and Lady Jane have done enough for one day. We can take it from here the rest of the night. We'll take care of the prisoners. And in the morning we'll all start tearing this place down with them. We'll see just how sincere Wallace is. My Lord, it appears that the fight is all out of them. I think you two can rest well in your cabin tonight."
"I like your suggestion, Captain," noted Tarzan, squeezing Jane just a little tighter, and started to depart.
"Oh, and sir?" d'Arnot added as an afterthought.
"Yes Captain."
"Great camouflage, sir. Simply masterful application. You can't really tell that you're both… uh,well… you know, M'Lord and Lady," he said without trying to stare.
They laughed and shook hands. They knew the state they were in, but it didn't really matter. They were too joyful in their victory to worry about such things.
As Tarzan and Jane departed, their camouflaged, but bare, buttocks were clearly exposed for all to see.
Captain McNally stammered, "D'Arnot, were the Count and Countess…. umm… ?"
D'Arnot chuckled, "Camouflaged? Yes they were, my friend."
His face blushed deeply, "No sir, I meant…"
"They were indeed, Captain McNally."
"Pretty interesting way to fight a war, Captain d'Arnot."
D'Arnot chuckled, "It might just catch on. Wouldn't you really rather make love than war?"
"Well, my dear friend, if I had the right woman, yes sir I would. But she's waiting back home for me."
…
Tarzan and Jane swung high in the trees far enough away from the oil site for some privacy. They were amidst the trees and vines they'd surfed long ago for their honeymoon reception. This was a very special place for them.
Tarzan fretted, "You're wounded, Jane."
"Just a scratch, my dear, not nearly like you got from your cousin. You just may have had something to do with Quentin missing me, so it appears," she mused knowingly.
"A little…" Tarzan snickered.
"Thank you. I guess we'll always be saving each other from one kind of danger or another in our life in the jungle. You have some injuries too, my dear," Jane fretted, noting his knife cuts. They were in each other's arms
"Just scratches, Jane. Not a bad way to live, always looking out for each other."
"Especially if it's with you all my life, dearest."
"Indeed."
"What next ape man? This is truly your jungle now," she said with a mischievous grin, "And I know this isn't the right way to our cabin on the Destiny."
With a wry grin and with a look upward, Tarzan suggested, "You know, Jane, I did promise you a little time in a soft mossy tree branch. We just so happen to have one here handy. It would be a shame to waste it on such a special night as this one."
"Hmmm. I suppose you are right, husband. But how are we going to celebrate like this, Jonathan? I can hardly see my favorite part of you still all covered in camouflage."
He teased, "Give me a little while with you, Jane dear, and I will make it disappear from view entirely."
They laughed hard, he winked at her, and she smothered him in an invitingly passionate kiss.
"An invitation I can't refuse, Jonathan. Now lie on your back and get ready to celebrate our final victory with me."
…
After departing the secured oil site, Terk and Kirok and the others made their way back to their nest, knowing everything was finally safe, Terk stopped and listened, and then they got knowing smiles, "Kirok. Do you hear someone… uh… gasping?"
In the moonlight, they could see Jane straddling Tarzan right above them thirty feet up them on a wide, mossy, flat branch, with her camouflaged legs dangling and swinging on each side of the branch. They were both rhythmically in motion together. Jane's back was arched, her eyes tightly closed, and her head was thrown back and mouth open in ecstasy. Tarzan matched her throes of delight. Terk snickered, noting that her camouflage was rubbed off in a number of places, with many of Tarzan's big hand prints marring its application on her face, around her breasts and her bottom.
What Terk couldn't see or know was that both Tarzan and Jane's pleasure was enhanced feeling their baby somersault in joy within Jane as they rocked. The undercut of her pregnant belly was draped gently and almost completely over his abs as she sat astride him.
Both gorillas both looked quickly away, letting them have their privacy, smiling broadly.
"Just like that when we get home, OK, Kirok?" Terk suggested.
"Sounds like fun, Terk," agreed Kirok, knowing they hadn't tried this method before.
Terk mused to her mate as they continued on in a whisper, "I remember that fairy tale book Jane was reading to Jana about a family of animals. It said: 'Don't look, dear. You know there are jagulars up there, and they'll make a noise. When you look up, they will drop on you'."
They laughed heartily and headed home, leaving their friends in their much needed private time of celebration.
...
Author's Notes: Well after a long hard journey we are there. All in one long chapter! I didn't want to subject you to a cliffhanger. The rest of this story will be epilogue as Tarzan and Jane settle into their jungle life and look forward to having their baby, hopefully in peace. I hope you liked Quentin's more adult version of Disney's "Atlantis" foe Rourke's line to Milo and Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" line by Terk.