Transition Plan Chapter 105 - Searching for Jeanne Part 23
Authors Note: If you haven't been reading my notes on an accelerated publication schedule and this is your regular 'Friday Fix of Tarzan' then please read Chapters 103 and 104 first that are already out for your enjoyment! Otherwise there is some serious 'spoiler alert' stuff here! LOL! Sorry to everyone about all the typos in Chapter 104. I think I got them all cleaned up. (hazard of being too eager to publish faster...)
...
Lily stayed at the Castle to help Elisabeth and Edward look after the twins, and only Jane and Tarzan went with Jack. As wonderful as their beautiful fireside nesting had been for them, the siblings' goodbye was still pretty tearful.
It took all day by limousine and train to make the cross-country trip to Stirling. They stayed overnight at an ancient Gaelic inn, noting that some of their oldest ancestors had signed the guest register, and parents and son had a rare, wonderful dinner together as just the three of them. They let Jack have some wine to celebrate. He couldn't sleep at first over his excitement over the long journey of 7500 miles entirely by air.
The next morning, they arrived at the Royal Air Force aerodrome that was alive with flying. The large number of planes in the air and their sounds made it resemble a hive of gigantic bees. He could see the plane he'd be using being serviced for the flight. The deHavilland DH4 was one of the most venerable fighters of World War One. It had long range and durability but it would still be a long hopscotch trek across Africa.
It was a sturdy looking plane and was actually a DH4 Sleeper – a three person conversion of the venerable jack-of-all-trades workhorse plane for the Royal Air Force in the Great War. Thousands were built for every purpose, but there were only a few Sleepers. There was room for a pilot and an observer in open cockpits and one observer inside or two inside. He was thinking there might be a snuggle or two for him and Jeanne on the way back. The Sleeper had a bigger engine than the standard RAF DH4. The pilot, Lloyd, had hundreds of hours of combat flight time on the aircraft in the Great War. He was an ace, having shot down 7 enemy aircraft.
The crew chief spent some time fitting Jack with a flying suit, leather cap, goggles and boots and gloves. And a new invention called a parachute. Most RAF pilots were not six foot four inches like Jack, so it took some adjustment.
Jane complimented her son, "Jack, you make that flight suit look good. If you wear it in front of Jeanne, she'll swoon for a 'fly boy'."
Jane and Tarzan took several pictures of him in his great looking flight suit next to the plane and the pilot took all three of them. This was a wonderful family 'first'. After one last tearful goodbye with his parents, he climbed aboard, and watched Tarzan and Jane cling to each other.
His gear was loaded, and the pilot started and revved the engine. The burnt oily stench of the exhaust and noise surprised them and the blast from the prop nearly blew Jane's bonnet completely away.
The DH4 rose steadily from the grass airstrip and headed unerringly into the skies over the Scottish coast. In a salute to the Clayton's the pilot buzzed the airfield, waggled the wings and rose into the clear blue sky with puffy clouds. Jack waved and his parents waved back.
Jane asked her husband fretfully, "Have you ever felt more helpless to do anything about helping our family, dear?"
"Yes dear. When we were locked in the hold of that freighter while my cousin was capturing my family."
She hugged him tightly, "Jack's all grown up now. All we can do is pray for both their safety."
Tarzan reflected, "That's our boy going to rescue his future."
…
Jack and Major Lloyd formed a good friendship over the next weeks of flying together, and they shared a lot of stories about their faith as they went. Jack shared the workload of traveling together by hunting live dinners for the men while Lloyd rested after a long day of flying instead of eating the awful rations they were issued. It gave them a reserve for when they couldn't hunt. Jack was amazed of the view of the world from above, and he was never bored of it. The view of the Dover Cliffs, the English Channel, the Pyrenees, the Rock of Gibraltar, the Med, and the vast desert wasteland and miles long dunes of the Sahara over which Lloyd was piloting the DH4 was breathtaking.
Lloyd was fascinated by Jack's story about saving Jeanne and did scold him for falling for two women, even though the story of Eleanor had ended in happiness and bittersweetness. As they went aerodrome by aerodrome across Africa, Jack learned of a whole new community of brave and talented men, most of whom had defended the homeland. He found out how highly respected Lloyd was among his fellows for his talents of flying, leadership, and camaraderie with the other pilots. He wanted to learn to fly as they went, and much of their time in the air Lloyd taught Jack. After awhile they shared flight duties. Jack was very good at navigation and maps. But landings were hardest. Lloyd thought Jack was very good at being a pilot, and had a great sense of three-dimensionality. Jack couldn't say that his dad taught that to him as defense in the jungle where any creature could attack from any direction stealthily, including overhead, if it wanted to.
Living with predators in the jungle had a lot in common with dogfighting in warplanes.
They maneuvered around storms and unexpected violent thermal updrafts. Some were unsettling to his stomach, but after awhile it became less nauseating.
And in less than three weeks, they found themselves on final for a landing in the new grass landing strip in Lagos, Nigeria that was built by the Royal Army garrison there. It had been only three weeks, compared six weeks in the Destiny with less actual distance traveled because of direct routes.
Once Lloyd had checked in with the garrison Commander, Jack made a beeline to the old Council of Chiefs village in appropriate attire.
"Chief Abassi," he bowed. The mid aged Chief was thoroughly impressed with the young man's warrior's physique that was honed by his rescue training regimen.
The big man gave Jack a huge smile, "Cut the formality, son of Tarzan. It is so good to see you, dear boy."
The men shared a warrior's bear hug,
"You look so handsome all grown up," Femi noted with a big hug, "I think someone has been waiting for you a long time, Jack."
Ndidi hung behind her parents, still a little embarrassed. Jack noted she was a fully-developed young woman now, and just simply gorgeous from head to toe. She had such amazing dark chocolate brown skin that was completely flawless. Her layers of bracelets, anklets, pierced earrings, and multiple necklaces accentuated the lines of her body, and she wore a very wide leather cord that drew his eyes to the prominent black curls nestled between her shapely, powerful legs. She smiled at his appreciation of her. She was pretty amazed with him, too, as his physical regimen added pounds of powerful muscles to him. It had been some time since they had seen each other.
After a good hearty meal and catching up on things about the family in England, and about Abassi's pending trip to London, they let Jack and Ndidi spend some alone time together.
At first she was very reserved, barely making eye contact with him, and he took her hand and kissed it like a proper English gentleman. That made her smile.
Jack spoke first to break the awkwardness, "Hello, dear friend. You're beautiful, Ndidi. As beautiful as I have ever seen you."
She noted, "Thank you Jack. You are as handsome as always. You've been working out."
"True Ndidi, because you know I'm headed to Dar es Salaam…"
She stuttered, "I… I know Jack. Umm… I hope you find Jeanne right away and that things are immediately perfect between you. I… um… didn't do a very good job of saying goodbye the last time you searched for Jeanne, Jack. I just made you more confused at a time that I should have helped you concentrate on Jeanne. I won't make that mistake this time. I'm sorry. I am not a good friend to either of you by complicating matters because of my selfishness about us."
She needed his touch, and could feel the warmth between them. Jack said kindly, "This time could be even more complicated, Ndidi. Because now we both know how you feel, and I've had some time to think about that myself."
"How so?" she actually asked hopefully.
He held both her hands in his and looked very seriously into the dark brown eyes of his long time childhood friend.
"Listen to me carefully, Ndidi. My dear friend, I care for you… care for you a lot. It took your sweet kiss to wake me up to that. But… This is going to sound like… well… you're my second choice."
She actually managed a smile, feeling enormously relieved at his words, and stroked his cheek, "Jack. I know I'm your second choice. Thank God that I am a choice at all, my dear friend, instead of some new pretty stranger. Just tell me Jack. I know how much you still love her. We've been best of friends since we were babies, Jack. I've known you as long as long as I've known my own parents. Why should I even think I am something more than a good friend to you?"
She smiled at him. It boosted his confidence for her to be candid. Now it was his turn. This should have happened early with Eleanor.
"Because I have to let you know exactly how I feel, Ndidi. Not saying has gotten me into trouble in the past. Ndidi, tell me exactly how you feel right now about us. No holding back. I can take it."
"OK. Umm... Here it goes... Jack, I feel like I am friends with you in a way that - if there was ever a chance - we could be much more," Ndidi admitted freely with an affectionate smile.
She couldn't bring herself to say just how much she had come to love him. This was not the time. Not on the verge of his departure to find the woman he really loved.
"I feel exactly the same way, Ndidi," which caused them a gentle 'still best friends' kind of hug. Ndidi was very pleasantly surprised by that.
Jack continued, "If Jeanne is dead, Ndidi. Or married already. Or completely turned bad with no hope of changing. Or just simply is done with me and just wants to come back home to her parents, that means then, Ndidi I… uhhh… oh dear… this sounds so harsh to say to you… we must talk about what could be next stage of our friendship if I come home alone."
Her eyes became bright and happy, and she put her hands around his shoulders and let him hold her hips. She interrupted him, and gave him a gentle smile, "No, that is not harsh, Jack. It shows you care about my grown up feelings, not just about our childhood friendship. We aren't children any more Jack. I know what coming home alone means Jack… another talk between us, maybe a new kind of talk. I am grateful you even considered talking to me about a different future between us. And I will be here to listen, if that time comes, Jack. I know it probably won't and, don't worry dear friend, I can handle that… we've been friends too long, and all this won't hurt my feelings. I'm not naïve. I know where I stand with you and with Jeanne, as long as she's in the picture. I am and always will be your friend. I wasn't going to bring it up today, so thank you for doing that for me. I truly feel much better now. I didn't want to mess things up between us again. Thank you for setting things right between you and me for now. I have hope and I have reality as well. I'm really truly happy that you did this. While you've been gone to England, I've thought over and over about all the things that would bring you and me toget…"
She couldn't finish her sentence and cried his arms against his shoulder. She was mad at herself for not being strong enough to get all the way through how she felt without falling apart.
He comforted her in their embrace by holding the back of her head, stroking her short-cropped crew-cut length intensely curly black hair, "It's OK, Ndidi."
She felt so wonderful in his arms. She looked like a hardened warrior but the softness of her dark feminine skin betrayed her. If Jeanne spurned him, they now both knew this could work. She was clearly one of 'three choices', recalling the words of wisdom about mates that came from the animal friend in Scotland.
He thought as he held her, perhaps the only time like this, "Why was adult life so hard? Things that were so simple as kids aren't any more. Even just being friends."
They broke their clutch, and he wiped dry her tears. She managed a weak smile and gave him just a gentle kiss on the cheek, and nothing deeper. She didn't dare or she would lose all control of her emotions for him.
But it was Jack that surprised her with a much deeper kiss on her large soft lips, and it shocked her in a pleasant way. It was a much more meaningful kiss than when they were 13, "Why Jack? It was nice. but…"
"Ndidi, now was the right time, maybe the only time, to let you know how I could feel if something does change. Like I said, I do care for you, my dear friend, and I could care more. Enough that if there is no future ahead with Jeanne, there could be a future for us, if you want to talk about it."
He left the same kind of candid open door of trust and opportunity for Ndidi that Eleanor did with him if things with Jeanne fell apart. If that day came, he'd have to tell her the tale of Eleanor. He learned so much about being more open and truly caring with women from Eleanor.
She promised him and kissed his forehead with a smile, "That was really sweet, Jack. My friend, rest assured that if that 'talk' happens between us, or I am simply celebrating a wedding between you and Jeanne, we will always be great friends Jack. Send her my love. And punch her in the arm for me. She won the ultimate prize – you!"
He snickered, "Of course, Ndidi. She'll punch back. I know first hand. It hurts worse than when she was little."
She laughed, "Do you think she'll be a good staff fighter still?"
"I bet you can find out for yourself."
They had a nice final hug and he waved goodbye to all of her family. He took Okpara aside for a moment and very seriously told him to respect his sister Lily when the whole family went to London while he was gone. The young man absolutely promised his future brother-in-law that he would.
Ndidi knew he was going next. Her parents' home.
Abassi and Femi stood further back in their longhouse. They saw the bittersweet exchange and farewell kisses and hugs between their daughter and Jack, oldest of friends. Jack didn't see Ndidi turn when he was gone and bury her face in her hands and drop to her knees in the dirt, wracked with heartrending sobs.
Femi was hurting inside for Ndidi, "Do you think… there's any possibility for them?"
Abassi could only speculate, "Only if Jeanne makes a different choice than Jack, dear. My guess is that he just promised her that. That was a very wise thing for both of them to do that – keeping the door open. He was brave to discuss that today. They both accept that, no matter how much it hurts. At least Jack knows how she really feels about him and he seems to have admitted the same. It was good to get that out. It appears that if everything goes wrong again this time, they are prepared to take a next step forward. She should be happy about that."
Both knew it would have killed Ndidi to keep holding her feelings in, and they were so grateful Jack brought up their relationship. Abassi knew of several tearful mother/daughter conversations recently.
Femi wryly smiled, "Forgive me if I say a little prayer for the wrong thing to happen in Dar es Salaam, your Chieftainship."
"I know, Femi. Me too."
She saw no real let up in Ndidi's tears so she noted, "Abassi, she's cried enough alone, I need to go to her now. She needs me."
…
Jack left the Village after dressing in some casual clothing and had dinner with the Jacot's. Michelle was very happy to see her 'big brother', and Josephine nearly smothered him with her hugs. He didn't say anything about Eleanor. It was still a family secret until he talked to Jeanne. He shivered with dread for that. He overnighted with them, and actually had a similar conversation with them as he had with his parents and Lily. They were all concerned about their first encounter and how their oldest girl had changed. They knew his promise to get her home, but they were realistic enough that their love affair may not last.
Josephine asked, "Do you think this time you'll be successful, Jack? You and your dad and Armand have worked so hard for so long."
"I pray so Madame Jacot. We have total surprise this time."
At the dinner table, they shared a prayer of thanks for his safety so far, and the long journey ahead. Technically Jack was half way there.
At bed time, Josephine and Armand tucked Michelle into her bed, but she surprised everyone by calling for Jack too.
"Will you read me a story, big brother?" her eyes twinkled for her surrogate brother.
He took a seat on the bed, "For you? Of course, little sister."
She loved him calling her that. After reading the story, which was a stall tactic for more time with him, she got very serious.
"Jack... Will you rescue her this time? Will I really get to meet my big sister?" asked the worried eight year old. Josephine got a catch in her throat and took Armand's hand.
"Yes sis, I will rescue her. Jeanne has really helped us find her this time. And yes you'll meet her."
Hesitantly she asked, "When you get back, Jack. Do… do you think I will get to call you 'big brother' all the rest of my life? Do you think she'll still loves you? Will you get married?"
Those were a lot of really serious questions but only one way to answer them so that the little girl would have faith, "Yes Michelle, I really think she does. And I do very much want to marry her. I don't think she'd help me find her or want me to so much if she really wasn't still Jeanne inside or didn't love me. In her message she does tell me that she loves me."
She had heard that sweet message and smiled, "I believe that too, Jack. Be safe big brother."
It was so strange they'd know each other since her birth and they thought of themselves fondly as brother and sister, yet she had never met the sister Jeanne she loved so much from afar.
She added sadly, "If she doesn't want to marry you, or... or she's... dead... can I still call you 'big brother'?"
Josephine nearly lost it.
Jack said with a choke in his own voice, soothing her long black hair and wiping the single tear that formed, "Michelle, dear, you can call me 'brother' for as long as you want."
They hugged and kissed and everyone went to bed.
In their bedroom, Josephine was restless and Armand put his good arm around her, "Is everything all right dear?"
Josephine sighed and observed, "It's amazing how much she loves Jack as a real brother."
"Well he's been around Michelle, babysat for her, and played with her since she's been an infant."
"If Jeanne doesn't still love Jack when he finds her, I will throttle her," Josephine said more than half-serious, echoing a thought that Michelle had too.
"Honey, I've listened to that recording a million times and our psychologists have analyzed every word and tone and timbre of her voice. Our daughter is head over heels still in love with that boy. She's not faking it just to get him there."
"I know. But still..."
They laughed, but Armand realized that his wife's fake threat was not far from the truth, and that he felt the same way. It made their prayers for reunion happiness that much more fervent.
Thousands of kilometers away, Jeanne felt something while trying to sleep after a long but productive work night at the dance hall. Something like Jack being with her parents and sister. Something good and reassuring. Something sort of sad and happy and poignant at the same time with her long lost friend Ndidi. She sat up bolt upright. That meant only one thing.
She turned with purpose and faced toward the west where the Council of Chiefs village was in relation to Dar es Salaam, and whispered aloud in the late night, "God speed your journey, Jonathan Robert Clayton IV."
She knew he was on his way and he was as close as Nigeria. And after that, he knew that she knew.
Jack's eyes flashed open in his own bed, having just laid down and thought,"Yes. I'm coming, dearest. Hold on."
…
The Jacot's gave him all sorts of snacks and a family letter and their latest family photo for Jeanne from them. They were all very excited, and they all thought how handsome he looked in a flight suit. The aircraft took off, circled the field and Jack waved at them from above.
"Jo, are we still looking at our future son-in-law?"
"I pray so, soldier boy. He's perfect for her."
"The 'her' we knew, honey."
"I know. I know…" Josephine worried.
…
Jack and Lloyd winged out of Nigeria and continued uneventful flight toward the next long leg of the journey over Kamerun, but as they neared Garua, the engine started giving them trouble. It sputtered and died. The DH4 was a poor glider. But with extraordinary skill the World War One veteran coaxed the DH4 to land in the new airfield in Garua. The rough landing bent the gear and broke the prop, but otherwise they were all right.
Lloyd waited anxiously by his bird like watching a sick family member with a doctor as a flight mechanic worked on it laboriously. After a lot of work and assistance by Lloyd, the mechanic just sat down and shook his head.
"Major, I hate to say this, but the engine seized. Everything inside is fused. Your oil pump failed catastrophically."
"Do you have a spare?"
"No, sir, not for the new big engine. Nothing I have here at the field has enough power to go to Dar es Salaam, especially over the mountains."
The three DH4's they had at the airfield were standard models. And the other two planes that were stationed here were much smaller and far shorter range. They were Nieuports, one seat pursuit fighters. Neither could make the mountains either, couldn't carry passengers, and were frankly really squirrelly to fly safely.
Lloyd walked over to the hangar where Jack was fidgeting and he announced, "Bad news, Jack."
"How bad?"
"The oil pump failed and the engine seized. We're stuck until the parts get here."
Jack was very disappointed, "How long?"
"Six months. Four if we're lucky."
"Ugh. That's far too long," Jack replied.
"We need a completely new engine. It has to come by freighter. These are very specialized engines for this bigger plane and the long range performance."
Jack was terribly disappointed, and when they radioed, the Jacot's were too, and he asked, "Can't you strip down the other DH4's?"
"We have bone weary planes here, Colonel. We kind of have the dregs of what everyone else doesn't want back home. What we have are only good enough for defense of Lagos. I don't want to endanger the Major and the Count's son. I can't authorize it in good conscience, sir."
"OK."
Everything in Jack's brilliant plan had come to a screeching halt.
All of them got on the Marconi that night and they included Jack's Mom and Dad too. While crashing was a big disappointment, they were happy for the safe landing. Like Jack, they were disappointed that plans suffered a major blow. Tarzan offered express delivery of a new engine as soon as one could be found. It would still at least 4 months. But there was good in the call, as Josephine and Jane were missing each other and got caught up a lot.
While the women chatted, Jack was thinking and he announced, "I'm going on foot and by vine from here. I can make it there in four months, maybe three months non-stop vine swinging and perhaps elephant riding."
All four parents were shocked, and Jane disciplined him, "No Jack, you cannot walk on your own in a new jungle. I won't have it. We talked about all the new dangers there. Didn't your father teach you anything about traveling safely alone in deep jungle?"
"Yes Mom. He has, but I just can't stand idly by for months. You are hardly in a position to stop me, dear parents. Please give me your blessings or I will go without them."
Colonel Jacot was angry, "I could have the platoon commander in Garua put you in chains with one word from your parents, Jack."
He was more than serious.
Jack was ready to bolt already and cautioned, "He'd have to shoot me first. Please don't stop me. Jeanne could be in trouble even as we speak. I have a bad feeling about Dar es Salaam. Somehow it is going to end here. We're adults now. They can force her to do worse bad things as an adult."
He was right.
Jane was still upset, "You can go but it doesn't mean I have to like this."
Jack explained his plan, "I'm sorry, but here's the deal, Mom and Dad. Let me go, and Jeanne and I will be home before you know it. We'll come home by Clayton Freighter out of Dar es Salaam after I find her. It will be a short ride home. And safer than flying. I will only take a one way trip through the dangers, I promise."
Tarzan and Jane weighed it all. Josephine and Armand just remained silent. Jack was taking all the risk for their daughter, and even if he had to stay until the airplane was fixed, they admired his desire to press on.
Tarzan and Jane were agreed, and Tarzan decided, "All right Jack, you can go on your own, but check in at the English consulate at Dar es Salaam so we know you're safe."
"They will keep your presence a secret. I will see to it. The British military attaché will keep the secret of the search. I will confirm it with him. I've known him for a decade ," noted Colonel Jacot.
"Thank you both Dad and Colonel Jacot."
"And Jack?"
"Yes, Colonel?"
"We will keep watching for her. If one of the military people there in country finds her before you do, we're going in. We are not going to let her rot any longer with those people than she has to."
"Yes Colonel. I agree. And I can do that, Mom and Dad. I love you guys. Thanks!"
"Take care son," Tarzan answered emotionally.
They signed off the air. Tarzan, Jane, Armand, and Josephine all had that helpless feeling again.
...
Outside the boundaries of Garua as it gave way to the jungle, he shed and dumped his civilian clothes, and didn't put on the loin cloth. He would travel as the true Mangani Korak. Being natural was a clear signal to any strange new animal who had encountered humans before that he was feral, not civilized, and hoped that outward sign, combined with his dreadlocks, the antithesis of a civilized man, would provide him safe passage through the central and eastern jungles. This way there was also no hiding that he had no gun. There were no known settlements of man this deep in the jungle, and the animals here just might not even know any prior human contact. He would appear to be just another simian animal in the jungle to them, though one they'd never seen before. He grabbed the first strong vine, and started the cross country trek.
Jack's first few days in the jungle were uneventful and he made great progress eastward. Being natural worked fine for most encounters with the animals, especially when he could communicate with them, until one elephant warned him along the way, "Beware of Leopard Territory, naked ape Korak. They hate humans no matter whether you are 'outlander' or 'of the jungle'."
"Where is it, friend?"
"You are already there, Korak."
He scratched the beginnings of a young adult's beard. Jack took after the Porter side of the family. Grandpa Porter was very hairy and his considerable overall white body and facial hair was greatly respected by the the gorilla family. They realized that human 'naked apes' weren't always that naked. Jack was much the same, but his body hair was all auburn colored now. He hoped to not go bald though like his Grandfather. Tarzan not only was much less hairy than Archimedes and his son, but he also shaved regularly. Jack had no time for that. He had to get to Dar es Salaam. It made him a little more intimidating too, as well as looking older. And it would make him harder to recognize by the kidnappers.
Four weeks into his journey he felt watched. Vines were few, even though the vegetation was lush, and he just had to work his way on foot through the tree canopies, branch surfing where he could, and trekking the jungle floor when necessary. He tried not to disturb the local arboreal animals or birds, but was not really that successful, as he was a strange new animal, and he knew that everything alive in the jungle was aware of him. Many he could not communicate with, even the monkeys and other primates, who were new species and therefore new languages to him, but he was able to make peace with through mannerisms, offerings of food, and sign language. The jungle was so dense that grassy nests for the evenings were just out of the question, and most of the time he spent sleeping uncomfortably in tree limbs overlooking the jungle floor. The nocturnal animals studied him while he slept. Most of them were herbivores, and those that weren't were intimidated by his size and look. To them he was some kind of gigantic hairless monkey with enormous muscles.
Insects and arachnids could not be reckoned with. He encountered some huge beetles with pincers and massive poisonous spiders that he steered well clear of. The worst were gigantic stinging and biting ants, that he had to flee, seeing the results of millions of them devouring down to the bones an unfortunate warthog mired in a swamp in mere minutes. He was glad no such ant colonies inhabited his world.
The feeling of being watched did not stop and got stronger as he went further east. And the smell of blood and death was near, and off to his right. He walked on all fours cautiously that direction. It could be a trap.
But he encountered before him a terrible sight. It was an injured female leopard, close to death. She was a nursing mother. That meant cubs were nearby, but he didn't hear, smell, or see them. He was further upset to find a dead male nearby. They smelled like mates. The male had not been dead long. It had been attacked by another big cat. This was not good at all and his senses went to overdrive.
It has been a long time since he'd spoken to a leopard, but he finally heard the mews of cubs somewhere above but could not locate them. They were very frightened.
"How did this happen to you?" he asked the female, who at least groaned in pain, and weakly eyed him.
Jack was hoping to keep her alive by keeping her alert, and prayed she was a leopard species who would understand his dialect of leopard speech. He took some medicinal leaves and got some fresh water, and started to tend to the injured female. He dripped water into her mouth with a leafy ladle. She sighed in relief with the poultice and water, and he tried to dress the wounds. He staunched the flow of blood. Color started to return to the animal's eyes, and they opened wider.
"Thank you naked ape," the cat whispered, "I will not kill you. You are helping me. But beware there is danger around us. My attacker is still here. Don't you smell her?"
He didn't but was wary as he asked, "Who did this to you honorable leopard mother?"
A huge shape dropped onto the ground before him.
"I did, human. Stand away and let me finish my work."
It was a very large female leopard. She was bigger than the injured female and the deceased male. She approached lioness size. The mews of the cubs ceased immediately.
Jack was very circumspect with the leopard, knowing he was at a great physical disadvantage, "Before I do anything, honorable leopardess, I must know what happened here, so I can sort out who to trust and who to see as my enemy."
The leopardess respected the human's shrewdness and his ability to speak with her with absolutely no fear. She was not sure if it was foolishness or confidence. This was no normal outlander human. She saw no clothing, no gun, and the metal claw humans carried was sheathed. He showed a sign of peace by not drawing the metal claw. She could strike and kill him instantly but chose not to. This almost-adult human intrigued her.
The beard that was forming on his face reminded her of a male lion's mane.
The huge leopardess explained, "Six full moons ago I sought to mate with the male over there. He spurned me and remained mated with this one. This inferior female. I am superior in every way. I am bigger, stronger, and faster. I am more fertile and will give him stronger cubs than she. I am the perfect mate for him. Or was. He was wrong to resist me. I… I didn't mean to kill him."
"Because he loved me, fool," the injured female rasped.
"Lay down and die. I have defeated you," the huge female started for her downed prey to finish her off.
Jack moved between the females, and distracted the huge leopardess, "Why did you attack a nursing female? Leopards have rules."
"Rules don't apply to me. I fought this female to replace her as his mate, and that is when the male foolishly intervened. It is my right to challenge her. Survival of the fittest. It is just bad timing that she has new offspring. I was going to kill the cubs and mate with him to give him the cubs he should have. They will be gone soon too, like her, unless you continue to interfere with a fight that is not yours."
"You miscalculated, honorable leopardess. The male is dead. He will sire no cubs with anyone. That is why there are rules."
"That is a pity. After I attacked his mate he turned on me. We fought. He would not give up his possession of his mate. I was angry. So I… I killed him."
"Leopard mates fight challenges to each other to the death. Pairs mate for life. You know that."
The huge leopardess responded, "I… I do know, human. Do not lecture me. You are confusing me with your many words as humans always do. Stand aside and let me finish this. And I will move on. There are other males. Better than this one. This is none of your business. Go back to your outlander world human. This is the jungle."
Jack asserted, "I am 'of the jungle', and this is my family's business. Protecting jungle families under duress is always my father's and my business, honorable leopardess. Stand down, leave this family alone, and go about your business. There will be other males for you whether or not these live or die. Leopards are few in number. This family matters as much as you. Inferior or not. If you kill them, you kill the future of your species."
The rogue leopard rationalized her attacks, "The female will talk. She will poison the minds of the other males who would mate with me. I would never be able to mate and I must. I am superior to all other leopards, I must bear better cubs to replace them all. My kind will flourish. The others will perish. It is better these die."
It occurred to Jack that this leopardess, too imbued with her own self importance as something better than a normal leopard, was like a black widow spider female, who once she mated, killed her male mate. She was creepy as well as dangerous.
"I cannot let you hurt fellow members of your species by your standards of who should survive and who should die. It is not the natural order."
"Turning my words against me are just more tricks to confuse me, human. I demand you get out of my way and let me finish this one and her litter. You are one of the few humans I have ever seen. You are certainly the most annoying to me. If you stop, I will let you go. If not, you will be the first human I will eat."
Korak stood in an offensive stance, "No, says Korak, heir to the Lord of the Apes."
Above and around them other animals watched this remarkable human and his challenge of the Evil One, the one who would change everything in their jungle for the worst.
He pulled his knife. It was enormous. American Bowie knives looked small in comparison to this.
The stricken leopardess had never seen a human act this way in defense of the helpless, and the cubs hidden high in the tree heard and watched everything silently. They never thought they'd root for a human to win a fight between human and another leopard.
"There are no apes here to help you. You stand alone, human ape. I tell you again. Flee or die."
"I will do neither, leopardess."
The other female, now recovering, but called weakly, "Thank you, human, but she's right - this is not your fight."
Jack stood his ground, "As long as I breathe, and you are still injured and cannot fight, and your cubs live, this is my fight."
"I will arrange your last breath," the monstrous leopardess growled and started to circle for an attack.
Jack growled like a leopard and warned, "I can fight like any male leopard. I assure you."
But she laughed, "You have one claw, human," she bared her sheathed claws, "I have many more and a mouth full of fangs."
"One metal claw like mine is enough. I advise you to not try to find out, if you value your life."
The leopardess bragged, "I am better than any leopard that has ever lived. Male or female."
Jack chided her, "Who are you to claim superiority over your fellow leopards? Your kind has no prides, no alphas. Who are you called, leopardess?"
"Sabat."
That had a familiar ring to it.
"Who is your father?" Jack asked curiously.
"Sabor the Great. I am daughter of Sabor, once the most powerful and fearless of all leopards. He would have been king of the leopards if there had been one. But he lived a time of little game to hunt and drought and disease. No one accepted his leadership. My mother and I lived in the jungle alone after my father went west in search of food to live in land in which we could live apart from the others as we wished. A land called 'Mangani' where only animals live."
"Oh my goodness," Jack thought. This was the other side of the Sabor story never told. And it was an equally sad story.
"When my father did not return and we were left on our own with a new brother cub, I vowed never again would I be hungry or dependent. I was big and strong and I took care of my mother and sibling."
"And where are your mother and brother?"
"My little brother was murdered by a hyena when he was very young when I was distracted on a hunt. My mother died a few years ago to an outlander's gun, you friend of outlanders. She never mated again. She was heartbroken when Sabor never returned."
Sabat's anger was escalating the situation was very dangerous now. She might as well know the truth. Her anger might make her do something careless, so that he could subdue her. Or she might snap him like a twig. He had to provoke her to action on his terms.
"I regret, Sabat, that it was through my father Tarzan's actions that Sabor met his end. Sabor threatened another family - my gorilla family. He killed what would have been my gorilla uncle as a baby, and almost killed my human father. My Mangani grandmother saved him. Years later my father killed Sabor to protect our family."
He prepared himself for a violent response. It came.
Korak's testimony infuriated her, "You! A Mangani ape? Your father killed my father? I will exact my revenge on you, Korak the Killer. For my father's death. Fate has delivered you to me so you will be killed instead. Life has come full circle. I am avenged through your death."
Jack thought that maybe provoking Sabat wasn't such a good idea after all.
Sabat instantly snapped and lunged at him. He rolled and dodged her. She thrust at him again and tried to disembowel him with a paw swipe and Jack sucked in his gut. Jack leaped and dove to avoid another attack. They moved all over the jungle from tree to boulder to rock to ground. It was dizzying. He was sizing up the range of her attacks before he tried a counterattack. She was enormous and was much stronger than him. Her paw swipes were longer than his legs, and one paw grazed his bare buttocks. It stung but no muscles were ripped. He had to get some leverage on her. The crossbow would be like pinpricks on this giant animal.
Jack's stamina was better. She stopped and sucked the wind hard, "Hold still and die Korak. Humans are only some kind of gorilla with no hair. Me and my kind love the taste of monkey and ape flesh. They are tender to eat. The taste of your ample meat will be delectable. I will enjoy ripping it from your body. I can smell it already. No scavenger will get a scrap. I will feast on your testicles to give me more male offspring when next I mate."
That threat actually made Jack wince, but he retorted, "I hear I'm stringy and tough. According to the caracals I would not be appetizing."
"Caracals are fools and pansies. They are fish-eaters," she insulted.
Jack leaped absolutely vertically straight up. She lost sight of him. He was high in the canopy, right next to the three frightened cubs. He shushed them.
"Coward! Show yourself. Fight and die like a leopard, human!"
He dropped out of the trees directly on to her neck and used a powerful arm to throttle her. She started to gasp.
He shouted through gritted teeth, "Yield or die, Sabat. I do not want to kill you but I will. I do not wish to waste your life."
He prepared to strike her through the base of her skull with his knife. It would be the only way to kill her. Her paws flailed unnervingly close to him. Any lucky swipe would take pounds of flesh off him. He would bleed to death or suffer massive infection or draw other predators to finish him off.
"Then I will die, human. My father's blood shed by your father demands no less."
She backed up suddenly and squashed him against one of the rocks, shedding him as the air was smashed out of his lungs. The back of his head hit hard too with a crack. There was instant pain from that.
"Ungghh!" he yelled in pain. He saw three Sabat's. Which was real? He nearly blacked out. If he did he was dead.
He crouched low and looked for an escape path. He was boxed in. This was the final confrontation.
They faced off and she leaped at him. He fell on his back, causing her to overshoot his torso and face. She sailed above him by inches. As she passed overhead, he ripped her bowels open from her momentum of the leap and sliced open her powerful pumping heart. He was drenched in buckets of blood. She roared in terrible pain, try to stand up but blood and her innards poured out of her, and with that her life faded. She dropped.
"You… Korak… You killed me with one claw. Me - the superior animal. I am undone, Father Sabor. I didn't avenge you, and I never passed my progeny on," in her own way, she was sobbing in anguish for her own wasted life.
Jack stood over her but not so close to be struck. She might yet attack one more time.
"I am sorry, Sabat. This didn't have to be. There didn't need to be confrontation. I gave you ample warning. You could be seeking a new mate even now and let your fellows live."
"And you, human, you could have left well enough alone. Do you see why your kind is so hated by animals? You killed again. You could have let four weak animals die to their betterment and let me go."
Sabat exhaled a final time and collapsed.
Jack was terribly saddened at this unnecessary death. Despite his injuries and exhaustion, the young man let out a bloodcurdling jungle cry in honor of the animal he vanquished. It was no victory cry, but it was an exhortation filled with regret and remorse for the kill.
No animal in the jungle who witnessed the call missed the nuance of his meaning. Every leopard knew the insane but invincible female Sabat was gone by a human's hand like no other in the jungle. All were universally grateful and perhaps their lives would return to normal due to the human Korak.
The other female leopard got tentatively to her feet, "I am grateful for you defending me, Korak, but I am still weak. I cannot care for my litter yet."
"Lay down, then rest. Your dressings need changing. I will get your cubs."
He quickly climbed and recovered the three fraternal cubs. Two girls and a boy. He picked up all by the scruffs of their necks like any adult leopard would with his hands. Even as young cubs, their claws were razor sharp.
"Hi little ones," he smiled, "Your mommy will be fine. I am sorry about the loss of your father. The other is dead. She will not hurt you again."
The male was very determined and he threatened Jack, "Let us go, Mr. Naked Ape. Or I will gut you."
He flailed his paws at the human, and he laughed, "Oh? Feisty, aren't we, little one?"
He placed the cubs before their mother and they ran to nurse and she scolded them, "Enough threats, young ones! This human saved all our lives. Be grateful and humble."
She turned to Jack gratefully, "We cannot stay long. When they have supped we must move or the scavengers will come for my mate and her soon. But I cannot move."
Jack stated, "I will carry you over my shoulders. And them."
The leopard mother said, "If you do, I could bite your neck and feed you to my children."
"Will you?" he asked.
She replied, "No. Will you kill me yourself for my fur as other humans do for their female mates to wear?"
Jack assured her, "No. Unless you give me reason to take your skin."
The mother admitted, "I will not. You are my savior and protector of my cubs."
Jack grinned, "Besides, do I look like I need a skin? I wear my own skin. I am just fine in it."
"You really are different. My son is right. You are a naked ape. With strange reddish brown light fur."
After the cubs had their fill of their mother's milk and were just annoying each other, he repositioned the cubs and lifted the mother leopard over his shoulders and started walking. They were incredibly heavy. The entire family weighed much more than the 200 pound bags he practiced with. She groaned in pain over her wounds, despite Jack redressing them. As he left, buzzards and hyenas quickly leaped on the carcasses.
The alpha of the pack of hyenas bowed to the human and stated, "No animal in the jungle has ever bested Sabat, Korak. We are eating well because of your kill. Your legend will spread as Sabat's victor. She was hated by every animal. She killed with no remorse simply to impose her ways, not to eat."
Jack corrected the hyena, "I would rather the legend spread of being the naked ape protector of these cubs, and the healer of this leopardess named… umm…"
"Tikara," she said respectfully.
The vulture agreed, "It is done Korak. The jungle will know. Farewell and safe journeys. And if you need some spoor cleaned up sometime, just call us."
That sincere offer Jack found rather unsettling.
From a safe distance away from the feeding frenzy of the scavengers, Tikara asked, "Can we stop a moment? I must to grieve for my mate. These three were our first litter. I knew we would have many more. But not now…"
She choked in sadness and he knelt with her in reverence.
After a brief remembrance they moved on, "Korak, I owe you my life. You did what a mate would do. Protect the family. You are misnamed. You do not kill viciously. You kill to protect. Are you mated? Could you serve as my surrogate mate for now, human?"
He was a little embarrassed. Being married to Eleanor before Jeanne was hard enough. A leopardess considering him for her 'mate' however symbolic was even more impossible to explain.
"I am promised but not yet mated. But I will stay to help you with your cubs if you will journey with me. Outlanders hold my promised mate against her will like a captured leopard in a cage. I am going beyond the mountains to the great waters where the sun reappears each day. If I have to kill them to rescue her I will. Them I would gladly kill viciously - the outlander humans Gunter and Karl-Heinz - with no remorse."
It was true. Tikara could smell his intense anger as he said their names.
"That is such an enormous distance. But my cubs and I will go with you. There is much danger ahead. You will need our help. There is strength in numbers. I will heal soon. You have given my body new strength with your medicines. Thank you."
"No. This fight is mine with the bad humans. They have guns. Those kill from long distances. Even the sharpest claws are useless against gun. You need to stay here in Leopard Territory and thrive, and find a new mate."
"I am not ready for a new mate yet. That season will come again. You are mate enough for me now. You, Korak, have given me new reason to live. You are inspirational human. I have purpose to serve even though my beloved mate is gone to help you find your mate. Is she an outlander?"
"She was born that way but she adopted my life and is of the jungle. She has been held captive so long she will need time to readjust."
"That is good. You will be a good teacher. She loves you?"
"Yes," he answered.
He sure hoped that was true and still would be after his talk with her about Eleanor.
"Will you have cubs with her?"
"As soon as she wants them, and only as mates. But not before. Are you sure you want to come? I told you that these bad humans have guns."
"I have a life debt to repay to you Korak."
"No Tikara, there is no debt. I only did the right thing for you and your litter."
"You have great honor, naked ape. Are there more like you?"
"In the jungle of the west, the land Sabat called 'Mangani'. My father Tarzan and mother Jane, with two sisters and a brother. My beliefs are their beliefs. And someday my rescued mate will believe as we do. I learned everything from my father and mother."
"That is quite a litter you are part of. I would like to see them with your mate and meet Tarzan and Jane. Tarzan is a jungle name. They are honorable humans. They taught you well. The animals in the west are lucky you are there protecting them."
"You're kind, Tikara," he replied and never though he'd say that about a ferocious leopard.
The eldest male cub dropped on his head from a low hanging branch, hissed and spit with threatening open claws toward Jack. The claws were tiny and could not scratch him through his thick dreadlocks. Jack reached up to his head, and reached behind the male cub's ears and rubbed them. He instantly started purring and closed his eyes. His paws made that kneading motion like when he was nursing his mother he was so content with the ear massage. It amused Tikara.
Jack looked up and asked his attacker, "Still want to rip me to shreds, young one?"
"Mmm... that feels good naked ape, but I still think I should gut you. My father would be unhappy. He would be jealous of you with my mommy."
Jack grinned and removed the little boy leopard from his head by his neck scruff and placed him next to his mother and patted him on his head, "Goodness me. Such an angry child. I would rethink that attitude, young leopard. Your mother claims me as her mate now. I am now your 'honorary' father. Leopard fathers sometimes eat their young who disobey their commands."
Tikara could barely contain herself with the humor Korak's dead-pan teasing.
The little boy cub got a look of abject horror on his face and was genuinely frightened. He questioned, "You wouldn't eat me, Father Korak, would you?"
"Of course not. As long as you don't try to gut me. Gutting is for our family's enemies. Deal?"
"Deal," the young leopard agreed and they shook paw and hand, "By the way, I am called Mykelti."
It was Bantu, by far the most prevalent human tribe of the region, meaning 'Who can be like God?'
"You are a gift from God, young leopard. They all laughed in their own way. The two little girl leopards were more timid and looked at Korak in awe. They had no idea what humans were supposed to be like, but this one was so much like their loving father before he was killed. This human was as leopard as any leopard. They loved him. They felt safe with him, and knew he loved them and their mother and would protect them during his journey with them.
…
Author's Notes: Hope you enjoyed this animal story about "Leopard Territory" that we've embarked upon as Jack makes his journey east. This is the only borrowed concept I've used from "The Legend of Tarzan" TV cartoon show, based on the great recommendation of avid reader and long time internet friend Sueanoi. I did have a leopard confrontation story that was quite different. Suenoi's idea was much better and more fun to write. I modified the TV story idea to have the leopards - other than Sabat - to become Jack's friends, not his enemies. In the TV show version, the leopard family becomes Tarzan and Jane's friends. The concept is mostly the same but the characters are different.
Befriending the leopards is not an interlude or a digression. Jack's friendship with the leopards is intrinsic to the upcoming plot. And yes the theme of 'family' pervades.
Something else I hope you see clearly - that Jack's affair with Eleanor casts a long shadow - both good and bad - over many things Jack and his family experience, but has made him much stronger, more confident, more caring and understanding, and more purposeful. We also see the spirit of Eleanor at work in small ways and small things Jack cannot even sense.