Chapter 16 – Trip to the Port Continued

Tarzan entered the general store, which smelt of a mixture of pipe tobacco and polished wood. Luckily Archimedes was over in the far corner, looking at some books whilst the storeowner attended to another customer. Tarzan walked over quietly and quickly whispered the situation and their new identity in Archimedes' ear.

"Ah Jeremiah," Archimedes' bushy eyebrow rose in amusement, "I have almost finished choosing what to purchase here. Why don't you help me pick out some books?" They spent ages pouring over them, Archimedes deciding to buy textbooks and non-fiction books whilst Tarzan chose the novels 'The Count of Monte Cristo', 'Frankenstein', 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame.'

As they approached the counter, Tarzan saw that through the glass top was full of exquisite jewellery. Bracelets, necklaces, timepieces, hat pins, brooches sparkled in their trays lined with royal blue velvet, but it were the rings that caught Tarzan's eye.

"I see that the wedding and engagement rings interest you sir," the storeowner noted as he took the books from Archimedes, "let me get them out for you." The storeowner unlocked part of the counter and placed the ring tray on the countertop for them to peruse. "Ahh an excellent choice sir," he beamed as Tarzan picked one up, "the band is made of gold with an oval cut emerald and the smaller diamonds surrounding it are from the Cape Colony. They are of the finest cut and quality! And of course the emerald it is the stone of successful love, of unconditional love!"

Tarzan was taken by the dazzling diamonds and the vivid greenness of the emerald, just like the jungle. It was perfect. "I'll take it!" he said with a bold confidence. He remembered how Jane told him that back in England that if a man married a woman, he would give her a bejewelled ring. Even though Jane loved the heart rock necklaces that they exchanged at their wedding, Tarzan felt guilty that he couldn't fulfil the English custom and now was his chance to do so.

"I'm sorry Jeremiah my boy," Archimedes said sadly as he saw the price tag, "but that ring is too expensive, it costs more than most men earn in a year. I'm afraid we don't have that sort of money to spend."

"If you like we do have some less costly rings, and we also have some costume jewellery that looks just as real." the store owner suggested, hoping still to make a good sale.

"Tarzan," Archimedes said quietly as he took his son-in-law aside, "you don't need to buy Jane some grand ring to prove your love. Jane knows that you love her more than anything, she doesn't need a ring to see that." Archimedes saw Tarzan's shoulders droop in disappointment and tried to quickly think of a solution. "Jane is a very practical girl," he added kindly, "why don't you get her something that she can use and enjoy… like a water-colouring set?"

"We do have those," the storeowner piped up, "and we have some excellent pastel sets too."

As they looked at the selection of art materials, Tarzan saw one of the walls was lined with weapons, guns, machetes and knives. "What's that?" he pointed at a strange weapon, a curved piece of wood joined at both ends with a taut piece of string.

"Why that's a bow sir," the storeowner explained somewhat bemused as he took it down to show them, "you fire arrows from it, people use it for hunting and sport. This is a finely crafted one, the best."

"Ah Jane was fabulous at archery back in England," Archimedes chuckled, "she was the star archer of the Knightsbridge Ladies' Archery Club! Oh she won countless competitions. People used to call her 'Diana the Huntress' you know, after the Ancient Greek goddess of moonlight and hunting."

Tarzan looked at it and pondered. Jane always carried a small knife, tucked into the waistband of her skirt in case of potential predators. Even though Tarzan taught her basic self-defence skills, Jane was still rather new to the jungle and very vulnerable. Having a bow would provide Jane with greater protection and if she was good at using it back in England, then so much the better!

"I'll take it!" Tarzan grinned and Archimedes managed to haggle with the storeowner to include a quiver and two sets of arrows in the price.

Jane walked around the market and stores, trying hard not to go overboard. She went into the haberdashers and bought new clothes and shoes for herself and her father as well as some fabric to sew with later. She also got some new bedding and blankets as well as some baby clothes and equipment that she secretly had wrapped up in the fabric.

In the market she bought all the seeds and tools that she needed and chose which chickens and goats she wanted. She wrote down in her sketchbook all the advice that the traders gave her on growing crops, animal husbandry and how to make cheese and butter. As she headed towards to the general store to tell Tarzan and her father that she had finished, Jane noticed a stall that she had not seen before. It was a small stall selling traditional African pottery, woven baskets, statues, fabric and jewellery, mostly aimed at passing tourists. Jane looked longingly at the beautifully coloured necklaces and bracelets lying in neat displays on the sheet lining the ground. "Want to buy a necklace?" a voice said in broken English.

Jane turned to see a local woman sitting cross-legged on the ground next to her wares. She was old enough to be her grandmother, the reddish brown skin of her face filled with wrinkles of wisdom and understanding. Her body was wrapped in a brightly patterned toga like garment; her neck was festooned with countless vibrantly beaded necklaces and her head sporting a traditional headband of her tribe. She looked as beautiful as the ladies of high society back in England. The woman held out a wide beaded collar necklace for Jane to try on.

"Oh no thank you," Jane declined politely. As pretty as the necklace was it was impractical to wear back in her jungle home. But the woman did not give up, leaning over her wares and picking up something hidden beside a woven basket.

"For your daughter," she said, holding it out to her. It was a little traditional African doll, about the size of Jane's handspan. It wore a little dress made out of multi-coloured African fabric with rows of necklaces and a headdress sewn on using little coloured beads.

"Oh that's very kind of you," Jane replied, looking at the doll's face, simply outlined with beads, "but I don't have a daughter." As she handed the doll back, the woman shook her head.

"No for the daughter you will have," the woman looked at Jane's belly and gave a knowing smile, "for the daughter that is now growing in your belly."

Jane's eyes widened. How did the woman know? She was less than 3 months gone and she had no signs of showing! "Here!" she said excitedly and shoved some coins into the old woman's hand, not even thinking to ask how much it cost.

"You ready to go?" Tarzan asked Jane as she stood at the end of the dock watching the boats sail away, holding the doll in her hands.

"Yes, yes I am," she said, tucking the doll out of sight, "I'll help you and Daddy load Tantor."

"You are sure you want to stay? There will be a boat somewhere here going to England." Tarzan tried to keep a brave face and Jane's heart melted at seeing her husband's distress. She regarded him as the most courageous man she had ever met. She always thought that he was completely devoid of fear; no animal no matter how deadly seemed to scare him. It was only now that she realised that there were two things Tarzan feared: the safety of his family and the fear that one day she would want to leave him and the jungle.

"And why would I do that?" she smiled tenderly, "When all I got and love is right here." Tarzan felt his worries melt away and held out his elbow for Jane to take as they walked back arm in arm to Archimedes and Tantor.

"I hope it's not too heavy for you Tantor," Tarzan said when he finished securing the goods onto his back. Even though they did try to not go overboard, it did look like Tantor was literally being swallowed whole by all their cargo!

"Oh it's fine," Tantor shrugged nonchalantly, "feels light as a feather, just make sure these whatchamacallits don't get under my feet!" The goats pulled at their leads as they stared at the strange nosed creature towering above them and began to bleat loudly. Jane made a soft hushing sound and told them that Tantor was a friend and they need not fear him.

"I'll take the goats Jane," Tarzan offered, "You and the Professor can ride on Tantor. You two must be pretty exhausted."

"Yes that would be nice, if it is alright with you Tantor?"

"Oh you two weigh virtually nothing!" Tantor laughed, "I believe I can add you on no problem Mrs Tarzan!"

Tantor picked Jane and Archimedes up with his trunk and carefully lowered them onto his back. Luckily the parcels on top were nice and soft and made very comfortable cushions for them to sit on.

"I suppose you will be looking forward to taking off your suit Tarzan!" Archimedes teased as they headed home.

"Yes as soon as we are back in the jungle," Tarzan nodded. Even he enjoyed wearing the suit for he knew it pleased Jane; he was glad that it was only for one day. He still found humans and their incessant need to wear layers and layers of clothing incredibly odd.

"Miss! Miss!" a deep voice called out and they all turned round to see a man running towards them. It was the same man that Tarzan saw in the market, the man with the strange dark skin.

"You dropped this Miss," the man panted as he caught up to them, holding out a cream coloured parasol trimmed with lace.

"Oh thank you so much Sir!" Jane exclaimed as she leant down to take it from him, "it must have fallen off Tantor. I had just bought this today and I would have been so upset if I lost it! Thank you!"

"Oh no thank you," the man shook his head when Jane went to give him a coin, "the pleasure is all mine." He smiled; his teeth were so white that they virtually shone out of his mouth. Tarzan stared wide eyed as the man walked away before realising that Tantor, Jane and Archimedes had set off again.

"Jane," Tarzan stuttered as he and the goats caught up with them, "that man back there, he was -"

"Yes. Humans come in all shapes, sizes and colours Tarzan. That man is probably a native to this land. He is just the same as you and I…even though a lot of people think differently."

"What you mean Jane?"

"For a long time, people, white people stole African natives from their homeland and forced them to work in lands far away for no money as slaves. They treated them with barbarity and horrific cruelty. They believed that they were superior, that the Africans were 'worthless' and not 'human'. Many still do."

Tarzan could feel a rage build inside him. He knew that some humans like Clayton were cruel to animals but he had no idea that humans were that cruel to each other. "Humans are evil creatures. It seems as if they are born to hate," he said firmly as they entered the jungle.

"No, not all people," Archimedes shook his head, "there are lots of people who hate slavery and because of them it is now illegal. You see Tarzan, you cannot be born to hate. Fear and ignorance causes hate. Once people realise that we are all not so different from each other then there would be no reason to fear, no reason to hate."

Tarzan thought hard about this. "I suppose it's like with me and Kerchak. He was at first threatened by me because I was different and rejected me. When he realised that I wanted to protect the family just as much as he did, he accepted me as his son."

"Yes," Jane nodded, awed by her husband's insight, "exactly like that." As they wondered through the jungle, a sense of calm and relief fell upon them. Jane couldn't believe at how easily she had adapted to her new life, that she was happy to leave the hustle and bustle of the port and fellow humans for the serenity of the jungle and its animal inhabitants. To anyone else it would seem utterly insane but she believed that the jungle was truly the perfect place for her father, her husband and herself to live their lives, the perfect home for her unborn child.