Transition Plan Chapter 73: In His Majesty's Service Part 23

A few minutes later Jeanne regained consciousness. She discovered herself gratefully out of the puddle on some soft grass up against a trunk of a tree. The brown ooze was draining off her. The first face she saw was the smiling, supportive features of Jack, reassuringly close to her, but like her, was still mostly mud-covered. She took some sips of the refreshing taste of coconut water that Jack offered to help revive her. She really had acquired a fondness for that drink. Then she gasped as the ten Mangani were crouched behind him with looks of concern and kindliness.

She gripped her boyfriend by the shoulders, and exclaimed in French, "Jack… the gorillas! Behind you."

He said softly to keep her calm, "Yes, Jeanne. They're right here. They really want to meet you. And they are worried about you."

She got a look of determination and ordered, "Quick, Jack. I'm OK now. I have to meet them the right way. I don't want to embarrass you with your family. Help me up. Please."

Following her request, Jack helped her get into a four point gorilla knuckle stance. She didn't care that she was still completely muddy and struggled because she was still a bit groggy. Jana's smile toward her set her at ease.

Jack dropped into an all fours position next to Jeanne, and steadied her. She whispered in French, "Jack, are these your family? They are not as big as I imagined."

"Jana is a kid our age, Jeanne. She's my cousin. The rest are all boy and girl gorillas too. No grown ups."

Jana was patient, understanding that Jeanne had fainted because of the surprise meeting, and that Jack needed to tend to her, but prompted Jack in Mangani, "Don't be rude, cousin, introduce us to your human friend."

Jack stated proudly in the language of his gorilla troop, "Jana, I am going to let Jeanne do that herself."

Because of Jack's tutelage and Jeanne's dedicated interest in learning Mangani speech those many days alone at the pond, Jeanne understood almost every word the cousins were saying. It bolstered her confidence. She nodded her head at Jack and smiled a little. He knew immediately she could understand them, and winked at her in support. So many words were spoken between Jack and Jeanne without ever saying anything.

"Jack? She knows our words? This I gotta see," Jana observed with high expectation.

"Yep. And a lot more, Jana," he smirked.

"You son of a grub-eating warthog. You taught her Mangani ways?" Jana grinned at her cousin.

"Yes. Because she wants to, Jana."

With that as a prompt, Jeanne established the proper Mangani body language position for strangers wanting to meet. Jana's eyes grew wide, realizing how much this human knew. Jeanne spoke quietly to Jana and the others, with her arm partly outstretched and her palm facing down with slightly curled fingers like she should. She spoke in nearly perfect Mangani, and made eye contact with each of the ten, finally focusing on Jana as she said, "I am very pleased to meet you, Jana, cousin of Korak. And all of you. I'm Jeanne. Let's be friends."

It was exactly the correct greeting. Hoots and howls and grunts of satisfaction arose among the juvenile apes. And a lot of jumping around. It was very exciting for them to hear a brand new human – especially a child like them - speak their language fluently at their very first meeting. Only a handful could. Jane was the first, and she only knew one simple phrase. Jeanne was so pleased this was happening. Jack could see it on her face. She hooted and celebrated with them.

"Not too bad for a human, Jeanne. Even if you do have an accent," Jana retorted, feeling comfortable enough with Jeanne's understanding of Mangani to be able to trade verbal jabs right away.

"You can blame that on Jack, Jana," snickered Jeanne, immediately picking up on Jana's humor.

Jana's eyes got really big in pleasant surprise, and her friends hooted happily in laughter and gestured at both Jeanne and Jack. Jana laughed heartily, "I like you already, Jeanne. Better watch out, Korak son of Tarzan! This girl has you all figured out."

Jeanne blushed pleasantly, and groomed the side of Jack's face with the back of her palm, with a few happy grunts and a very human wink. He leaned into it and grunted back. All ten knew these two belonged to each other.

The caress was nice, but Jack was not quite ready for his girlfriend's snarky comment in Mangani, although he saw how much it pleased his cousin. He mused that perhaps he did the wrong thing introducing Jeanne and Jana. He was a little concerned that he'd set himself up for two of the most important females in his life to tease him relentlessly. He knew they could pick on him effectively each on their own. Combined, it might be a nightmare, he scoffed. He knew all too well his mother's behavior with Aunt Terk and the other Mangani females teasing his father. It was clear the two young inter-species females hit it off well already.

Jana and her buddies were very curious about this new human girl, and each overcame any reticence about an outlander who so clearly was trying to be 'of the jungle'. While the gorilla children knew other human youth - Ndiddi and several other Nigerian girls - they'd never encountered a European human girl the same age as Jack. They felt very comfortable that Jeanne was natural like them. Jana outstretched her arm too, and the two interspecies females groomed each other's cheeks with no hesitation or fear.

"Korak's Jeanne is someone very special," Jana thought.

Then Jana stated, "I am pleased to meet you too, Jeanne," and then she turned to the others, inviting with beckoning hand motions, "Korak, come join us. Let's all welcome Jeanne to the family."

All the gorilla juveniles and Jack surrounded Jeanne, grooming her gently. She matched all their touches, expressions, grunts and noises, and eye contact, and seeing how comfortable she was, the grooming became more personal. Jack had prepared her well for this, but since it was now grooming with real gorilla family members, not just Jack, the experience went far beyond Jeanne's imagination of this moment. The gentleness and private nature of the grooming touches, the feel of their soft fur against her, their happy expressions, the noises and smells of them, plus Jack's own gentle grooming touches were nearly overwhelming. She stole a quick human kiss of pure elation from him.

Jana noticed and gave them a happy hoot and grunt, but teased, "You're cheating by mixing Mangani and human customs. Human kisses are for later."

Jeanne was very concerned that she'd done a terrible social gaffe with them, but Jana winked and snickered, setting her mind at ease, "Kidding, Jeanne. Go right ahead. Uncle Tarzan does that all the time with Aunt Jane when the whole family grooms. And then my mom and dad and the other adult mates do it too. Our parents are so cute when they get all 'lovey-dovey' with each other!"

Jack snickered in agreement. The cross-cultural mixing of customs of humans and gorillas living together over a decade to make something special even more special was mind-blowing. Jeanne never considered those implications. Her mind raced with other possibilities.

Jeanne held back tears to not complicate their first meeting. Jack told her Mangani didn't actually understand happy tears. Jane's fairly frequent happy crying always baffled the others, but they accepted it as typical human behavior.

When the grooming was complete, Jana offered, pleasantly surprised that Jeanne had learned much of their cultural habits and language, "Jeanne… you're beautiful. Especially for a human. And even covered in mud."

She laughed, "Thank you Jana. You are too. And well… Jack and I kind of had an accident chasing each other."

"I can see that," Jana grinned but was direct as she sniffed Jeanne's face and hands, smelling Jack's scent all over those parts of her and a lot of other places, "Are you Jack's mate?"

Jeanne instantly blushed but her eyes met Jack's, stammered and got stuck explaining, "Umm… well... we're sort of very close friends…"

It took every effort to tear his eyes away from Jeanne, but Jack answered for both, "No, Jana. Like Jeanne says, we're more than friends but not mates. It's different with humans. Kids wait a long time to be mates. We're too young. We're 'promised' for now," and then he looked directly at Jeanne while giving Jana the answer, "It means we want to be mates some day."

She gave him a tender smile at his explanation which was really a commitment.

Jana more or less understood, but emphasized, "Well, when you can, Jack and Jeanne, you should be mates. You two are a match."

Jeanne blushed deeper and demurely smiled at Jack as she contemplated every word of two Mangani cousins' conversation. Jeanne wondered how all the animals could always sense what was in their hearts, no matter what species. And how candid animals were about sensitive matters of the heart.

"Does our friendship have a smell?" Jeanne wondered.

Jana suggested, "So… how about you two clean up and we can all play together?" and then she grinned, "Unless you like being muddy."

Jeanne was very excited about playing. The pair rinsed each other in nearby rushing stream and tried hard to get the brown slop out of their thick hair. They were mostly successful.

When they returned, Jana asked without hesitation, "Jeanne, wow, you're even prettier all cleaned up. But your color is different than the other humans we know."

"My grandparents and great grandparents were from countries called Greece and Italy. It's far away from Jack's home."

While Jana didn't really understand geography, she knew it was in a different place than Jack's home of England. Jack finally understood why Jeanne was so pretty. Some of the most beautiful women in the world were Greek or Italian. She was both. Jack never actually asked her, and he thought asking one's heritage was rude.

So began her first day of play with Jack and his Mangani kin. She met all the others. It was exhilarating, and was everything she'd hoped for and much more. They were all so attractive, and were as gentle as Jack had said. Likewise, the games were quite simple – tag and other chasing games, wrestling, keep away games, hiding and seeking, and others. It didn't matter. She loved playing with the gorillas. Their climbing abilities were remarkable, but they didn't vine swing like Jack and monkeys could. They were very clever. Jana was very funny, and teased Jack constantly, and he responded right back. The gorillas liked Jeanne as a new playmate. She learned very fast, was aggressive but kind and fair, was as athletic as them, though weaker like most humans, and kept up with everything they did. She ran on all fours perfectly and her stances mirrored theirs. That really impressed them and they really did think of her as one of their own quickly. To the Mangani youth, she was simply a furless 'naked ape' like the Claytons.

She couldn't grip things with her feet, but it was very entertaining to see her try and they all laughed with her. Jana suggested a few things Jeanne could do to help strengthen her grip, and Jeanne was grateful. While resting mid-afternoon with the gorillas all snuggled together in a big group, resting her head on Jack's chest, she did manage to surprise him by stretching her foot up to playfully pinch Jack's nose, eliciting a yelp from him and a huge round of amused howls by the others.

Jeanne would have loved to see the look on her teacher's face back home to realize that the Mangani were intelligent. All animals to her teacher were savage and mindless. She could hardly believe the truth herself.

It was starting to get late. Jack and Jeanne heard Jane's call to return to the treehouse. He answered for them.

Jana smiled and knew they had to go, so she invited Jeanne, really teasing Jack, "Please come back tomorrow, friend Jeanne. We want to play more with you. You play like a Mangani. All the girls and I want to show you a tree climbing and hiding game. And if you want, you can drag my dopey cousin with you. But we don't really need him! He's a boy. We just want you. Girls only games tomorrow!"

They all had a great laugh at Jack's expense. He just rolled his eyes, and retorted, "Well maybe we should make it 'girls vs. boys'. Jeanne and I are used to that!"

The other male gorilla juveniles whooped and grunted their support and hopped excitedly at the prospect.

"You're 'on' cousin. We have your Jeanne on our side though. You guys don't stand a chance," Jana taunted.

"We'll just see about that," Jack responded.

Jeanne gave Jack her best haughty, nose-in-the-air human 'I'm superior because I'm a girl' look at her boyfriend. He just rolled his eyes. From her ape stance, Jeanne reached out and hugged Jana tightly as any human hug she'd give Jack or her mother and father. Jana was surprised but returned the hug eagerly. Human hugs had long ago become normal among the Mangani since Jane had joined the family and had children who liked hugging too.

Soon the pair arrived back at the treehouse. Their smiles and hand hold said it all.

Jeanne's bare feet had hardly hit the main balcony floorboards where both women were in rocking chairs before she animatedly and rapidly described their day. It was so typical whenever she was this excited, "Omigosh, Mama! Countess Clayton. The Mangani. We saw them. We met them. I talked with them. We played with them!"

Jeanne was so wound up she hopped and clutched her hands together at her chest intermixing Mangani and human gestures and stances. She couldn't sit or stand still. Jack always loved her enthusiasm for everything that most jungle creatures took for granted. Or that 'civilized' humans criticized or ridiculed. It was refreshing.

Josephine attempted to hold her daughter still and hug her but she wasn't ready to settle down, so her mother just praised her, "I am so happy for you, honey."

Looking at all the leftover mud on them, Jane mused, "I know just the place you met them."

Josephine noticed the leftover mud also, "Oh dear. You two need a very good scrubbing. How on earth did you two get this dirty?"

Jeanne was gushing over her experience and her eyes were bright with emotion, "Never mind that now, Mama! I really, truly, actually got to meet them. They're beautiful and bright eyed and smart and gentle and loving. They groomed Jack and me, Mama. Their fur is so soft. They like me. I could speak to them. I understood them and they understood me. Oh my, oh my, there were ten of Jack's friends. They all have names. Jana is so funny! We played lots of games!"

Everything she experienced was coming out so rapidly that Josephine couldn't keep up, "Honey, slow down. Who's Jana?"

"Jack's cousin."

"And Jack's cousin is a…"

"Mangani."

All the adopted human family relationship terminology Jack and his parents used with the gorillas was difficult for Josephine, but she was trying. Talking with them was harder still to fathom, let alone comprehend how fast she'd learned their language even though Josephine knew Jack was teaching her in their days together alone.

Jeanne stopped momentarily and flashed a pleased grin at her boyfriend, "And all this was because of Jack."

She hugged her mother and would not let go, she squeezed so hard. Josephine closed her eyes with the joy her daughter was feeling. She could feel her breathing and heart race with excitement. Josephine also got a whiff of the Mangani's very strong musky smell all over her daughter, and although it was pleasant, it was strong. That was going to take some adjustment for Josephine but she didn't complain a bit. Jack smelled like the Mangani too.

Josephine reached and took Jack's hand and gathered him close into a three way hug with her and Jeanne. It was the first time he'd hugged Jeanne's mother, and Jane was very pleased. Jeanne was ecstatic her mother was hugging both of them together. Josephine said with deep appreciation, with her arm around him in gratitude, "Thank you Jack. This is a dream come true for Jeanne. It's still a little scary for me. Gorillas in zoos can attack humans."

Jack said politely, "You are welcome Madame Jacot. Today Jeanne learned the way my gorilla family really is. We are home now. We are not in a zoo. Gorillas in a zoo can hurt people because they are frightened."

The depth of Jack's insight impressed Josephine. He was right.

Jeanne was very anxious to learn more, "Mama, we have to go back every day. I want this so much."

Josephine agreed, "Yes dear. I know you do. You may. As long as we are here in the jungle you may. Unless we have trouble with the Germans."

Right there in her mother's arms. Jeanne shouted and kissed Jack, lapsing into Mangani speech instead of French, "We can? Oh, Korak, we can!"

That was a surprise. Both women took note that Jeanne used Jack's Mangani name and language, and Josephine realized that her little girl was taking the next steps to become part of Jack's world as they grew to be adults. Josephine hoped that as Jeanne's mother, she'd be ready for it all to happen as their relationship continued to develop. There were no warning signs that Josephine could foresee to forbid Jeanne from continuing. Thank goodness there were years of growing and adjustment ahead for the entire Jacot family as this young couple grew close. Josephine could barely keep up with her extraordinary daughter, with another one on the way. Who knew how this experience would affect the new baby.

…

Over the next few days, Jeanne met more and more of Jack's Mangani juvenile gorilla friends as word spread fast back to the nest, and they all met and liked her. During those days they all played together, and learned how to communicate even better. Jeanne introduced a new game of 'hiding the coconut' that everyone liked, especially when it was Jack's turn to go find the object blindfolded by a giant leaf, and everyone could order him around yelling 'you're getting hotter' or ' getting colder'.

At the end of the fourth day playing, Jana invited, "Jeanne, please come to our nest. Be a Mangani for a few days with us. My father Kirok and mother Terk want you too, especially since you are Korak's 'girlfriend'."

It was clear that Jana understood the concept of human boys and girls having special friendships and being 'steadies' before becoming full adult mates.

Swinging on the way home, Jeanne asked Jack nestled in his arms while they swung, "Do you think Mama will let me go to the nest? I want to."

Jack answered truthfully, "As soon as we get back we will ask your mother and mine. You wanted this all along. How can she say no? It's our ninth birthdays tomorrow. This could be your present. Mother will help us."

"This could be the best birthday present ever, Jack!" she exclaimed.

Jack silently disagreed with her. The best birthday present ever was Jeanne.

They couldn't get back to the treehouse fast enough.

…

Authors Notes: Well… I had fully intended Jeanne's encounter with the Mangani to be one chapter but all the characters demanded I spend more time on them having fun together. Who am I to argue with them? :)