note: A slight edit. No content changes, just a missing author's note added.

Karin leaned against a fence post and gazed around her front yard. In the light of that late afternoon, she could see what caused the noise that she and tinker heard all those days ago. While he was there, Luca had straightened several of the leaning fence posts for her. Oh, Luca, you big sweetie, Karin grinned to herself. As she walked round the front yard, it was clear he had straightened all the fence posts in the yard, and her heart warmed with affection for the big silver-back.

Climbing the ramp, Karin eventually settled in the old swing on her front porch. But even after a few moments of gentle swaying back and forth, she did not want to go into the house, and could not say why. It felt unreal, being back home and alone. Never, except after she buried her child, had the place felt so lonely, so isolated, so quiet, so creepy. It was filled with old memories—not all of them good ones—around one corner and ghosts and shadows around the other. Was it possible that she Had grown used to having so many people around in such a short stretch of time?

Karin thought she wanted solitude, and a large part of her wanted nothing but that. The woman who once performed in front of packed venues on a regular basis had developed something akin to a phobia of large crowds over the last five years. But a large part of her wished that she had not left the Ape village. It was not only because of Maurice. It was mostly because of the big wise and gentle orangutan, but not entirely. Karin missed Sparrow, Cornelia, Tinker, and many of the other females. She missed precious little Mary far more than she should, only knowing the child for such a short time. She missed Lake and the other children she had gotten to know. She would never forget how touching it was for all those ape mothers to bring their infants for her to hold and fuss over.

It brought Karin back to her days as a babysitter. Between the ages of eleven and fifteen, she watched so many babies and toddlers that she had amassed a small fortune

And then came the families dark time; the night that Karin was assaulted in her own bed, and her dad went to prison for beating and killing the man Karin always called 'Uncle Dan', a family friend. After her Mother, Elizabeth, came back and forced Karin away from the house and her remaining brothers—the woman literally drug the girl of to live in the heart of the city—the family was torn apart for good. It would be years before they got back together again. By that time her dad's mind had started to fail, and two of her six brothers were already dead.

Don't get morbid, Karin. Stop dwelling on the damn past, she sternly told herself before she could remember her fifth brother's death. No, she would not let herself dwell on her brother Tommy's drunken suicide or on her hateful and bitter Mother, Elizabeth.

With a visible shudder, Karin forced her thoughts away from those awful times, and back to the present. A smile touched her lips as she wondered how Monica and little gorilla Lisa were doing?

And she knew that she would miss her late night, sometimes dramatic or traumatic, talks with Caesar. The Ape King, along with Luca, were quickly becoming like surrogate brothers. She hoped that she could include Tinker's husband Rocket in that group sometime soon. He had not interacted much with her yet, but when he did, he was quite kind, if a little distant and very aloof and cautious.

She even missed Mary's father Koba, a little bit. Especially after the precious irreplaceable items he went out of his way to return to her. Koba reminded her so much of her father before his illness, it was a little frightening.

In truth, Karin could say that about most of the apes she had met. Old Percy and his wife Phoebe, possibly the oldest orangutans in Caesar's village, were like an old couple from her childhood whom she used to call Grandma and Grandpa. Sparrow was like an overprotective nurse she had met once after her first meeting with buck. She and the nurse had become fast friends, with Karin even making the woman a personal medical consultant when she worked on a medical drama TV show. Tinker was so much like her main hairdresser, Maxine, it was uncanny. And dear kindhearted, regal and dignified Cornelia reminded her very much of the few real life human Queens she had met. Cornelia could have given many of them a run for their money, so to speak, in the being queenly department.

The Ape King was certainly not excluded either. He reminded her of her oldest brother in many ways. And big Luca was so much like her thoughtful stubborn brother Adam, the first of her brothers to die and in some Godforsaken war on the other side of the planet long before the plague broke out.

Her mind was all a whirl. The thought of the apes in general, and of Luca in particular, sent her mind hurtling back to big Buck once again. That darling gorilla, not that he had been far from her thoughts and memories ever since she had learned of his death. Karin did what she always did. She at once started inwardly torturing herself for past circumstances she had little to no control over. Did he really understand how much I was trying to help him? Or, did he really despise me like he did most humans? She knew that thinking about this was pointless, but the woman was unable to help herself.

Despite her inner turmoil, Karin held up reasonably well until she entered the house and unlocked the door to her daughter's room. She had not opened it since the morning of the child's burial. The first thing she saw was the bare mattress on the bed. Her eyes began to sting, her knees shook, her chest tightened up along with her throat. It was a stark and vivid reminder that her precious Lisa was gone forever. When she finally tore her eyes away from the bare mattress, the second thing she saw was the huge King Kong movie poster on the opposite wall. She remembered how much Lisa had loved that poster. She remembered how much Lisa loved to play dress up with all her old movie costumes, and how the little girl loved to hear her King Kong movie stories, all her movie stories, those suitable for the ears of a small child. Then, she remembered what Caesar had told her the night before about the fate of Buck, how the huge gorilla had died free, and a hero, giving his life to save Caesar and so many of the others. None of that had surprised her. Buck always had that in him.

Then she remembered seeing that scene played repeatedly on the TV so many times, distant and blurry, but all too clear what had happened.

And that did it. It was all too much to take. With a low cry, Karin collapsed onto the bare mattress in her daughter's room, glanced once more at the poster of herself as Ann Darrow sleeping so peacefully in King Kong's giant hand. Then, she covered her face with both hands and let out a wail as she began to weep. There was no need to try and restrain herself now. She was all alone. There was no one around to laugh at her or criticize her or slap her and scream that she would really have something to cry about if she did not shut up. There was no one around to mock her and tell her to stop being such a whiny little bitch. This was her mother, Elizabeth's, favorite way of interacting with her one and only daughter. So, Karin let herself weep, and she did not feel ashamed of it. Burying her face in her arms, she wept for buck, for her precious little Lisa, for her dad and her twin and all her brothers she assumed to be dead, for everyone and everything she had lost in the last few years. Some small part of her might have even shed a tear or two for the cold, cruel and uncaring Elizabeth, but that was more for the mother she always wanted, not the one she got.

Once the tears had had their way with her, Karin rose and pulled the thick curtains away from the window and opened it. That took some hard work as it was very stiff from long disuse. But the smell of fresh grass and other outdoor scents reminded Karin of what she was supposed to be doing. And there was not a lot of daylight left to do it. The woman straightened her back, dried her eyes, and carefully stowed away the precious package Koba had given her in the top drawer of Lisa's bureau. She tried to push the news of Buck's death and the fresh grief which it spawned to the back of her mind and occupied the time by throwing herself completely into work, running around outside and giving the fields a good look-see, something she had not bothered to do much of after Lisa died. In truth, she had only tended the garden patches nearest the house when Lisa was alive. And that was still more than the mother and daughter had needed.

With a pad of paper and stub of a pencil in hand, Karin began walking around, making various notes and lists, seeing what was growing, what might need tending, and what could be picked at once. Given that winter was definitely setting in, THERE WAS A surprising LOT of that still on the vines. She also took careful note of which patches of land were going bad and would need time and care to be rejuvenated. There really were very few of those.

Karin realized there was a ton of work that would need to be done, and, it needed doing quickly if she was to deliver a decent load of food to the apes in the time she had promised. For the first time, the woman began to admit to herself that she could not do it all on her own. She had forgotten, or never truly realized just how large the family farm really was, and how much one person, a man or woman, could not do by themselves. She hoped Caesar had meant what he said about the ape's willingness to help. Karin knew full well that some of the apes were far more willing than others.

She had only looked at half the property, but she was already exhausted. Going around to the back of the house, Karin collapsed into the shaded hammock that hung near the re-enforced play set, swings and slides, teeter-totter and jungle gym that her daughter had been too sick to play on. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a minute before opening them and gazed out over her overgrown backyard. Something else to put on the blasted to-do list, she thought wearily.

Karin heaved a long-drawn-out sigh. It also occurred to her that she had not been alone at night for days, more like weeks, and not even once since she had met Maurice. The nights were still bad for Karin. They brought vivid memories of cuddling up with her daughter, of reading books with her, playing music and games and singing songs, their evening meals, bathing the little girl before she got big enough to do it herself… of everything about Lisa. No, Karin was not looking forward to a night alone, but would she have one? Would he come tonight? She would understand if he did not. The poor ape could probably use some rest and solitude himself. Male orangutans were not normally such social creatures. Not that normal ape behaviors applied to most in Caesar's colony.

She drifted off again, and when she woke up a short time later, she saw that her worries were groundless. Of course Maurice came. He turned up just before sunset, and Karin woke up to the feel of his big gentle hand as he stroked the hair back from her face while she dozed. She was so happy to see the orangutan that she threw herself into his arms and clung to him as if they had been apart for weeks and not hours. She was a little ashamed of her behavior, but not enough to let him go.

They usually had some type of freshly-squeezed fruit juice to drink. It was a nightly ritual for them at Karin's house. Later that evening As they sat together on the front porch, Karin tried not to dwell on any of the farm troubles-well they were more like inconveniences than real troubles-to Maurice. Instead, she went on and on about how good the end of the harvest was looking, and how good the orchards were doing, and so on. Maurice did not interrupt her, but he watched her face, his expression growing more concerned by the minute. Putting a gentle hand on her arm as she finally stopped for a drink and a breath, Maurice asked, "What is wrong, Karin?".

"Wrong?" She gave a little laugh. "I just got back home, Maurice. What could be wrong?" Karin told him.

Maurice did not contradict her; he gave a low soft rumble of total disbelief, his kind eyes boring relentlessly into her brain.

"Oh, will you please stop looking at me like that? Don't worry, Maurice. Everything will be fine," Karin reassured him.

But he did not look reassured. He only continued to gaze at her with his soft kind eyes.

"You just wait, Maurice," Karin said bracingly. "You'll see. Next week, I'll bring in a good hall for you guys. Uh, well, there is one little thing ... You might want to tell Caesar and Cornelia I might need a wee bit more help bringing it in than I thought. So, if some of the apes could spare some time-"

The next day, a hot and tired Karin dragged her exhausted aching body from the inspection of the outermost fields. She headed down to the creek. She had stowed one of her father's old army duffle bags there with one homemade bars of soap, a washcloth, a huge beach towel, a hair brush, and a clean dry change of clothes. Peeling off her work clothes, she folded and hung them on a nearby branch before stepping into the cool refreshing water. She gasped as it caressed her skin. It was not exactly cold. Or maybe she was hotter than she thought. But it perked her up. Cool water felt wonderful on all her healing scratches and bruises from her marathon run to the ape village. It was Heaven on her old battle scars, too.

It was many days since she had a proper, old-fashioned, all-around soaking, and not just a quick wipe down. Much too soon, it would be too cold to do this in the great outdoors.

Ducking her head under water, she washed her hair, and tried unsuccessfully not to think longingly of luxurious long hot bubble baths, with a cup of strong tea or hot chocolate waiting on the side. Oh, what she would not give for one more of those! But it would have lulled her to sleep. Even the cool creek water was quite soothing now that she was accustomed to it.

Karin took her time washing her hair. Then she relaxed in the water a while, even singing a little. Only after she finished her third song did it occur to her. She was going through all of Lisa's favorites one by one; she was singing Lisa's top ten.

The woman lay back and floated in the creek and serenaded the surrounding wildlife until she started to shiver. DRAGGING herself out, her mistake became obvious. She should have brought two towels, one for her body and the other for her long hair. She had meant to bring two, and all too late she remembered where the other one was, up there, on the picnic table in the backyard. Fat lot of good it'll do me there, she scolded herself.

Hey! You two stop messin' around down there! Get your little butts back up that hill this minute and get in this house before you take the croup! Karin Elizabeth, Lee Davis, do you two hear me! Don't make me come down after you! Karin could still hear her father yelling from the backyard as she and her twin played together in the water, usually staying out way too long.

Karin! Karin! No, baby! Don't go down there! They'll find you there! They already got your brother! You stay up here with Daddy, okay? You stay up here, where it's safe!

those two very conflicting memories of her Father, the former when he was well and she was little, and the latter when her Dad's Alzheimer's disease had really taken hold and he needed to be watched and comforted like a child, were so vivid that she shivered again, and not from the outside temperature. Her fingers moved all unbidden to her forehead. The cut was still there, the thing that had started this whole new phase of her life with Maurice and the other apes was healing nicely. So, she had not slid back in time. Still, maybe she would listen to those uncannily vivid memories of her dad and go indoors. She needed to get the fire started before the teeth chattering began, anyway.

The thought of the long wet strands of hair dripping down her back did not thrill her, either. It was as unpleasant as pulling dry clothes over damp skin.

Making a decision, Karin wrapped the one towel around her head, it was her Queen of Sheba look, as her brothers used to tease her,. Collecting her things, she threw the big army duffle bag with her dry clothes over her shoulder and started up the hill. It was a long walk, but the slope was gentle enough, and long enough for her to get through even more songs. As she ambled upwards, Karin began to sing another of her daughter's favorite old songs, The Voice.

"I am the v ... Ahhh!" Karin was singing one minute, then with a startled cry, the song came to an abrupt end. "Oh! Maurice? I'm sorry. I-I wasn't expecting you so... How'd you get here so early?" Then her eyes widened as she remembered her naked condition. "You are alone, right?"

An embarrassed Karin dived behind the thick wall of brush so that only her towel-wrapped head stuck out of the gap.

"You are alone, aren't you?"

Koba was right, Maurice thought happily as he dropped down into Karin's front yard. That shortcut really worked, and it saved me half the traveling time. The big orangutan knocked and knocked on the front door, but there was no response, not a sound from inside.

Still, he was not worried, not really, not yet, anyway. It was very early. She would not be expecting him so soon, and not while there was still so much light in the sky. If she were somewhere in the far back corner of the property, she might not be able to hear him knocking.

Maurice opened his mouth to let out a long call, but he thought better of being so dramatic. With a sigh, the big orangutan ambled casually and with the growing ease of familiarity over the crack stone walkways winding around the house and stepped into the backyard. He realized that Luca's report had not been exaggerated, not that Luca was prone to exaggeration, but Maurice had never gotten a good look at the outside of Karin's home until now. It did need a lot of work, more than she could do by herself. She has plenty of help, Maurice thought. Luca, for example, would come on the run if he were able, and many other apes would follow him, including Caesar and perhaps even Rocket. Convincing Karin to accept the help was another matter.

When he came around the corner of the house and into the big and slightly over-grown backyard, Karin was not there. He had not expected her to be, but he found a clue. There was an extra-large fluffy pink and blue towel lying neatly folded on the huge round stone table—the picnic table, that is what Karin had called it.

Sighing, Maurice sat down on the bench surrounding the table to think. Should he stay here and wait for her to return? Or, should he give in to his worries and go search for her, and right now? He was leaning more towards the latter when a hint of a voice came to his ear, and he jumped up quickly, his ears pricked. The voice was too far off to make out any words yet, but it sounded sweet and musical, and he knew instantly that it was Karin's voice. And, it was getting louder, coming his way at a leisurely pace.

Maurice stood stock still, straining his ears as the wind gusted and brought the sound of the woman's voice even closer to its eager and enchanted audience of one. So, deciding to perhaps meet her halfway, Maurice began following the sound. It did not take him long to find a slim almost invisible gap in the back overgrown hedge, invisible at first to him, but he reckoned that Karin knew exactly where it was, and would use it. It was just about her size, too. The slim human female would have no trouble sidling through this gap, but Maurice knew that if he tried it, they would be picking thorns and bits of scrub out of his hair all night, and maybe half the next day as well.

Still, he was tempted to squeeze through and damn the consequences, and he might have done just that had the voice stopped singing. It did not stop, however, but kept coming closer and closer until he could say for certain that it was indeed Karin's voice. She timed it well, the orangutan thought. She was almost there, and the song seem to be winding down. It was an interesting song, too, something about being the voice of the future. It ended on a hopeful high note that rang out clear and strong, and even though it was a human song, Maurice felt uplifted by it.

Just as he wished she would start singing again, she did. The next song was a much slower one, quiet and sad, and with phrases that troubled Maurice. What hit him the hardest was when Karin sang part of the main phrase:

Maybe I'll just go away today.

And then,

Maybe I'll just go away, to stay.

The song ended on four repeats of that 'going away' phrase, and was that a choked sob that Karin quickly suppressed?

Maurice shivered and had to firmly fight down the urge to damn the thorns and plow straight ahead towards the sound of her approaching voice. He reminded himself that she was only singing. It was not as if she were standing in front of him, speaking those words. Humans sang about a lot of things, but he had never heard a human female who could evoke such emotion with her voice as Karin did.

I will die if she leaves, the big orangutan caught himself thinking. He inwardly scolded himself for being so selfish. If, eventually, Karin wanted to leave this lonely deserted place and go find out what happened to her large family of brothers, what right did he have to stop her. He told himself he should encourage such things, but deep down, he knew he would never encourage her in that pursuit. He would strongly encourage her to stay with him. Or, he might think seriously of going with her to find her missing brothers, but he would never encourage her to go alone. It just wasn't safe.

And then all his deep thoughts and worries came to a literal screeching halt. Karin squeezed through her hedge and gave a cry. She demanded to know if he was alone—she asked this for painfully obvious reasons. She was completely undressed except for the towel on her head. Before Maurice could think how to respond, she dived back behind the wall of scrub. Poor astonished Maurice stood frozen in place for a long moment, one hand pressed to his cheek, not knowing what to do. He knew he had seen things that were forbidden for him to see, things that had gotten him in deep trouble in his distant past with female humans.

And, worst of all, things that Karin had obviously not intended for him or anyone else to see this evening.

At least Koba or the others were not here, was all Maurice could think. It was very small comfort.

"Maurice? You are still there, aren't you?" Karin called to him. "Hey, just hang on. I'll be out in a sec." And she did not sound angry, not like she would take a whip to him, like the last circus owner had done. In fact, she sounded far more anxious than enraged and furious. He would go as far to think that she sounded worried but about what, him?

There was something else that lurked at the back of Maurice's mind, but he utterly refused to let it come in to the foreground. This was not hard to do with everything else flooding his mind just then.

The orangutan struggled to regain his usual composure as he remembered he had never answered her question. "I. Am. Alone," he manage to grind out at last.

"Well, thank God," Came Karin's muffled voice from just behind the brush.

When she re-appeared, she was tying the large towel back around her head. She was also completely dressed, though it was obvious to Maurice that she had pulled on her clothes in a hurry. Everything looked more than a little twisted and very rumpled, and the material was also stuck to her body in places it did not usually stick.

Once the big ape found his voice again, he dared a smile. "Turban?" Maurice asked, gently touching the top of her head and thinking that he much preferred the soft feel of her hair without that towel covering it, and hoping he did not sound as relieved as he felt. At least, he was mostly relieved.

"Yep, that's what it is. But how'd you know that?" Karin asked as she beamed at him.

"Circus women," Maurice explained as they moved towards the house. "Wet hair?" he inquired.

"Dripping wet," Karin confirmed. The wind gusted again

and she shivered. Maurice moved automatically to put an arm round her, but stopped himself midway, much to his human companion's obvious surprise. And was she also hurt by his sudden hesitation?

The truth was that he did not know how to react, and was afraid of reacting the wrong way, and not just because he had been severely hurt the last time something like this happened, so many years ago.

"Well, let's go in. that winds getting fierce, and I don't fancy catching pneumonia," Karin said as she easily draped her arm around Maurice and started for the back door.

Karin could not help but notice Maurice's distress. They had not spent such an uncomfortable evening together since they first met. On the one hand, it was disheartening. She had hardly expected him to be overcome with sudden and unbridled lust, not at the sight of her scrawny wet human body, but she had never traumatized anyone with her nakedness before now. The big orangutan's reactions seemed overblown and far too exaggerated for the innocent little accident that had occurred.

And had it been fear she had seen flicker in Maurice's eyes? Maybe I'm wrong, Karin tried to tell herself. The expression was only visible for a moment, and it was gone almost before she could register it, but why? Surely, he was not afraid of her?

We'll look back on this and laugh someday, Karin told herself. But obviously not tonight.

When it became obvious that Maurice was not going to volunteer anything helpful or even look at her directly, Karin could not stand it any longer. She took matters in her own hands. She sighed and sat down next to him on the old sofa and moved deliberately close to him. It was something that, until that moment, she had done without really thinking about it, but when she reached to touch his cheek, like she had also done a million times before, he flinched. And that she could not mistake.

"Hey, Maurice? What's up with you tonight?" Karin asked him as gently as she could. He started to turn aside, but she caught both his big hands in her own and prevented him from doing that. "Oh, come on, big guy. I'm sorry you had to see that. It wasn't my intention, you know, but I am dressed now. You can look at me again. Was that really so terrible?"

"No," Maurice said at once, but then his cheek pads turned very red, and he re-doubled his efforts to turn away from her.

She would not let him go, though. "Maurice, stop that. Everything's okay, really. I'm sorry you had to see that. If I'd known there was someone waiting for me up here, I'd have dressed down by the creek. But it's not that serious, is it? The way you're acting, it's like you think I'm gonna get a whip and beat you or some—"

Karin broke off in mid-word. She did drop his hands then, her eyes going very wide as she clapped a hand to her open mouth as she stared at her friend with a mixture of horror, sympathy, and terrible realization.

"Oh my God!" she gasped from behind her hand. "That isn't what you were thinking was it? It was, wasn't it? Oh, Maurice? Don't you know me better than that by now? Why I-?"

She interrupted herself yet again as even more realization flooded her face, and great tears sprang into her eyes as she began answering her own questions. "Oh my god! Something did happen, didn't it? And they beat you for it, didn't they, the sons of …"

Karin swallowed hard, the hand not covering her mouth was now clenched into a hard little fist, and went on, "Circus?" she asked. "Or sanctuary." She all but spat out the word, sanctuary. If the word had been venom, she could have easily poisoned someone with it.

Strangely enough, her infuriated tone had a positive effect on Maurice. He made a low soft sound, something between a long-drawn-out sigh and a light chuckle. For the first time that evening, he was the one who reached out to her. He tugged her hand away from her face so He could begin wiping away her furious tears with one hand even as he grasped her other hand and began trying to sooth away the tight fist she had made.

"Thanks, Maurice." Karin favored him with one of her lovely smiles before adding, "You didn't answer my question."

"Circus," he said, and waited for her response.

She was silent for a while as she fixed him with her sad and sympathetic blue-eyed gaze. Maurice knew she wanted him to continue, and he was tempted to tell her everything.

"And that's all your gonna say on the subject, right?" Karin broke in to his thoughts.

Maurice nodded. Although her fist had relaxed, he still stroked her hand, and this soothed them both. So why should he spoil that mood by bringing up unpleasant ancient events.

"Maurice, have you ever heard the human saying, 'what's good for the goose is good for the gander?'" Karin asked.

Maurice frowned. That did sound familiar. One of the old circus women who used to talk to him, Queen Marie maybe, had said that a lot, but he still did not understand its meaning.

"It means what's good enough for you is good enough for me," Karin said as if she were reading his mind, sensing his incomprehension. "You just remember that when the time comes, and it will come sooner than later, when you want me to talk about my painful past and I refuse, okay?"

This seemed like a fair deal to Maurice. "Okay," he carefully repeated her last word.

Karin laughed and hugged him. He returned her embrace, and they stayed that way for a long time.

When they finally drew apart a little, Karin asked, "Not to change the subject or anything, but how'd you get here so early, anyway?"

"Koba's shortcut," Maurice told her, looking into her eyes with a smile.

Karin blinked. "Excuse me? Did I hear you right? Koba ... he knows a shortcut to my house?" She hesitated for a moment, then added thoughtfully, "Well, uh, that's, uh, well, a little … unnerving."

As much as she wanted to, Karin was still a little uncertain about Mary's father. Then, remembering the precious package that Koba had given her, the woman felt ashamed of herself.

"I shouldn't feel that way. Koba gave me a present," Karin remarked. "He met me when I was about halfway home and handed me a package? Did you know he was going to do that? Never mind, I can see by your face you had no idea.," she finished with a small grin at Maurice's astonished expression.

"Good package?" he asked hopefully.

"Oh, you won't believe how good," Karin hastened to reassure him. "I'll go get it and show you. Don't move." And with that, she sprang up from the sofa and rushed to Lisa's room to retrieve her precious package.

When she sat down beside him, she opened the tattered cloth that held the items and laid them out between them.

"This," she began to explain, "Is my brother Adam's sacrifice medal. It's given to a soldier who gives his life in an ultimate act of bravery and valor. On the night he was killed, he saved many little girl's lives. He wanted this medal presented to me, his only sister." She bit her lip, but gently. "I used to not be able to look at this without crying my eyes out. When everyone else was dead, and I had my own little girl, I started to wear it; I wore it for her and for Adam, too. I might have buried it with Lisa, but I thought it was gone for good."

She paused then added, "I was wearing it when that ape attacked me. I don't know when it got ripped from my neck, but I never expected to see it again."

Seeing Maurice looking at the pitiful remnants of the chain, Karin sighed. "Yeah, that chain is a lost cause. But there is worse."

Karin drew out the most precious parcel from Koba's package; the large ornamental locket that held pictures of her brothers and a lock of her daughter's hair. The bails, the piece where the chain used to connect, was sheared off.

The woman sighed as she gazed on her broken treasure. "My brother Adam's hobby was making jewelry. This was a twenty-fifth birthday present from him and my twin brother, Lee."

Reverently, she handed the jewelry to Maurice, and watched as he examined it. It was an abnormally large locket, but it looked tiny in the orangutan's big hands. He held it and touched it as if it was the most fragile thing in all the world. He examined every inch of its ruby and diamond-edged surface, constantly turning it so it caught the light of the fire and glimmered in his palm. He gazed in fascination at every tiny picture of one of her brothers, touching each in turn and Karin spoke their names. But when he stopped turning the locket and fixated on one compartment, she knew what he had found.

Her eyes brimming, Karin swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "Yes, Maurice. That's Lisa's hair," she said. "She had a full head of dark hair when she was born. I trimmed that lock off when she was less than twelve hours old."

"Do all humans do this?" Maurice asked, touching the lock of hair with one large finger.

"No, but it's not unheard of, especially in my family," Karin told him. "My dad had a huge dragon pendant that has pieces of all our hair made into it. He never took it off, so I buried that with him."

"Your Mother? What did she wear?"

"Nothing," Karin answered flatly. "She said she wouldn't waste her precious jewelry space on any of us."

Maurice blinked. First his eyes went wide with surprise, then they narrowed, then his natural sympathy burst through that gentle gaze.

Karin patted his hand. "Don't worry about it, Maurice," she said. "Elizabeth was an all-around nasty and hateful person."

"To her only girl?"

"Especially to her only girl." Karin said, her face expressionless, but she guessed that Maurice would see the hurt in her eyes. "I held a special place of unconditional hatred in my mother's heart."

"But ... after six boys…" The poor orangutan was clearly astounded

"Yeah, I know. Most women would have been over the moon to finally have a girl after six boys, but not Big Betty. She was jealous. She didn't want any other females in her immediate family."

Karin was surprised how badly Maurice was taking all this, but given his gentle loving nature, perhaps she should not have been surprised. With a low grunt, he turned his head away for a moment, long enough that Karin wondered which emotions he was trying to hide from her. Then, the big orangutan placed her family locket back into her hand. He reached out and wrapped her in one of his marvelous warm embraces.

"I'll never turn down any excuse for a hug, Maurice," Karin laughed against his shoulder. "But don't waste your time thinking about Elizabeth. I spent the first fifteen years of my life being bullied and terrorized off and on by that woman whenever Dad wasn't around, and the next 9 or so years hating her for dragging me away from my brothers and Uncle after Dad went to prison. When I turned twenty-five, I cut all contact with her. I decided I was done with her crap. Might not have been the happiest point in my life, but it was a turning point for the better, believe me."

"Still sad," Maurice murmured.

"You wouldn't say that if you ever met Elizabeth," Karin said. "Well, maybe you would. Trust me Maurice, everything was so much better after that. I guess it should have been kinda sad, but I never had a mother to begin with, and I was dead tired of wasting my tears longing for one who never existed. Do you remember your Mother, Maurice? Do you even know her name?"

"Lorah," Maurice said.

"Lorah?" Karin repeated the name carefully. Maurice nodded.

"Lorah. That's a lovely name. She was a good Mother to you?"

The big ape smiled and nodded.

"Don't know if she'd have cared for me, but I'm jealous," Karin admitted. "I'm also glad that one of us had a decent Mom. I'll never have more children, but if I did have another daughter, I'd love to name her Lorah."

The orangutan made a startled sound from deep in his throat. "Why no more children?" he asked.

"Why?" Karin gaped at him. She thought the answer to that was painfully obvious. "Uh, one big reason. Have you seen any men near here? Do you hear any pounding on my door? The only human men I ever want to see again are some of my brothers."

Grumbling and looking more than a little sheepish, the big ape bowed his head.

"It's okay, Maurice," Karin snuggled even closer to him and gently ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck, trying to comfort him. "Of course, I'd love to have more children, lots more. Before the human world went to hell, I had planned to have a big house full of kids, if I could find just one decent man who'd be willing to do that with me, but it's not going to happen. I've made my peace with that. No point in getting upset about something I can't change."

"Must be. Other humans? Still alive?" Maurice suggested.

"Trying to pawn me off on someone else already, huh," Karin teased her friend. "Afraid you'll get stuck with me?" When Maurice looked a little confused, Karin hastened to explain. "I'm just teasing you, Maurice. It means that you would try to get rid of me by passing the responsibility onto another," she grinned, patted his cheek, and gave him the very loose translation of the word 'pawn' in that context. No need to tell him it also meant trading something for money or other personal gains.

When Maurice's strong arm tightened just a little around her waist, Karin beamed at him. "Never," the big ape rumbled from deep in his chest. The sound of his voice, what he said and how he said it, made a warm glow spread throughout Karin's entire body. She pressed herself even closer, nestling her cheek against one of his cheek pads. Maurice wrapped his other arm around her, and they fell into a warm cozy silence that turned into a long deep refreshing sleep for them both.

A/N:

Hello gentle patient readers!

It's great to be back with you all again.

As always, huge hugs to all my returning readers. And, big welcome hugs to all my new ones. Glad you chose to come on in and read. I hope you keep reading and enjoying yourself.

Kudos, comments/reviews, ETC, are all still very much appreciated.

Now, just a little guessing game for you folks. The locket mentioned in this chapter will hold some significants later on, how much later I won't say. But extra credit points, and a special mention in the next chapter's author's notes, to whoever guesses what that significants might be.

I hope to see you all again very soon.