Chapter 20 - A Bridge Too Far:

Jane and Tarzan spent the next few days in the treehouse whilst Jane rested and recovered from the birth. They spent every waking moment with their daughter, watching with delight and wonder as she slept and moved about in her cot made from an old wooden crate. When it was time to feed, Jane carefully placed Annabelle to her breast and they both gasped in amazement as their daughter instinctively suckled on her mother's milk before falling asleep contently in Jane's arms. Jane showed Tarzan how to change the baby's nappies and take care of the umbilical cord stump, which he performed with little aversion. She sang to her constantly and read her stories whilst Tarzan played with her, shaking a wooden rattle that he whittled for her. Archimedes was the perfect hands-on grandfather, always happy to cook and babysit whilst Jane and Tarzan caught up on much needed sleep from waking several times a night to feed and rock Annabelle.

The gorillas came to visit in small groups, all fussing and cooing when the young couple introduced their daughter to them. "She's just gorgeous!" Terk gushed as Jane placed Annabelle in her arms, "Look at her cheeks! I could just eat them! Oh I could eat you right up! Yes I could! Yes I could! Sorry T but Annabelle is way cuter than you ever were as an infant!"

"Of course she is," Tarzan grinned, putting his arm lovingly around his wife's waist, "she's all Jane!" Tarzan barley stayed with the gorillas in the first few weeks after Annabelle's birth. He appointed Gobu as temporary leader again which was agreed by a large majority at a family meeting. Gobu was more than happy to help; the two of them had become very good friends, as close as brothers.

"I understand how you feel friend," he said to Tarzan after the meeting. "I wanted to spend as much time as I could with Keke when she was first born. The first few weeks are just magical, you definitely don't want to miss them!"

A few weeks later, Jane now fully healed from the birth decided to go out and tend to her crops and animals. She grew an array of vegetables and fruits on her plot that Tarzan had never encountered in the jungle. Potatoes, carrots, leeks, cabbages, onions, beans, peas, tomatoes, marrows, root vegetables and fruits like strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, gooseberries, blackcurrants and so much more. She would let the younger gorillas act as scarecrows and feed the chickens in return for fruit 'pocket money'. She also had Tarzan dig out a small cellar under the roots of the tree where it was nice and cool so she could safely store the butter and cheese that she made from the goats' milk.

Jane hummed a music hall song as she picked some pea pods which she planned to turn into a soup for lunch. Annabelle was strapped to her front in a makeshift sling, fast asleep but it allowed her to feed easily if she so chose. Tarzan was up in the treehouse washing nappies whilst Archimedes was at the old campsite working on various experiments.

"There all done," she let out a contented sigh, "time to teach you how to make pea soup Annabelle my dear. Yes we are!" Suddenly a wild distressed squawking sound came from the chicken enclosure! Jane put down the basket of pea pods and grabbed a garden hoe, walking over to see what on earth was going on. As she opened the door to the enclosure the chickens flapped their wings in a panic, running around in dizzying circles.

"What's all the hullaballoo about!" she demanded as the birds flocked to her.

"Cat!" the rooster crowed, his proud red cockscomb flailing wildly, "Big cat in coop!" Jane looked up and saw a leopard come out from behind the chicken hut, its yellow eyes glaring at her, its razor sharp fangs bared!

"Get, get out of my coop you, you beast!" Jane stammered as she held out the hoe towards it.

"Not as fearsome as the others had said," the leopard hissed, "where is your bow Tarzan's mate?"

"I said get out of my coop!" Jane gave out a low growl and the chickens hid behind her. Annabelle woke up with the noise, emitting out a small cry causing the leopard's ears to prick up!

"I came here for the birds, but I think I have found something more delectable!" Jane eyes' widened and with no hesitation swiped the blade of the hoe at the leopard! The leopard yowled and leapt at her, Jane using the long wooden handle to block the leopard's swipes and bites!

"TARZAN!" Jane screamed as the leopard wrestled her to the ground, "HHHEEELLLPPP!" As he placed another soiled nappy in the washing tub, Tarzan's ears pricked up at the commotion happening outside and went out onto the balcony.

"JANE!" he yelled as he saw his wife desperately using her hand to hold the leopard's biting jaw away from her face. He grabbed a rope and swung down to the bottom of the treehouse!

"Aaaaahhhahhahhhhhhhaaa hahahahhhaaaaaaaaa!" he belted out his infamous yell as he charged into the chicken enclosure and jumped onto the leopard.

"Tarzan!" Jane cried as he and leopard wrestled around the coop, smashing into the hen house sending straw, grain, feathers and chickens everywhere!

"RUN!" Tarzan commanded as he tried to pin down the leopard, "RUN JANE RUN!" Jane fled the chicken enclosure, leaving Tarzan to deal with the leopard. Tarzan fought with the beast with all his might but it managed to bite his leg!

"AHHHHH!" he cried as he felt the leopard's teeth sink deep into his flesh and the immense pain ripped through him as the leopard clamped its jaws around his calf in a vice like grip. With his hands he struggled but managed to grab the hoe and hit the leopard hard on its back with the handle. The leopard roared and hissed loudly and quickly let go of Tarzan's leg but then it dashed out of the enclosure before he could stop it!

"Jane!" he cried in horror as he saw the leopard charging towards her!

Jane screamed in terror as she ran towards the treehouse but the leopard quickly cornered her! She turned around and ran for the rope bridge joining the rock that their home stood on and the jungle. As she ran across the bridge, two of the wooden slats broke from underneath her and Jane fell through! By sheer luck Jane managed to grab onto the slat in front of her with one hand in the nick of time, stopping her and Annabelle from tumbling the hundreds of feet down into the rock infested sea below!

"JANE!" Tarzan cried as he ran as fast as he could towards the bridge, blooding pouring out of his leg whilst his wife and daughter clung on for dear life as the leopard prowled towards them! Tarzan grabbed a handful of rocks and started throwing them furiously at the leopard as he approached the bridge. The leopard roared in pain as one hit its head, leaping over Jane before collapsing at the other end of the bridge.

"Jane! Hold on!" Tarzan yelled as he limped to them, "I'm coming!"

"Take Annabelle!" Jane cried as she felt her fingers begin to loosen their grip, "Save our daughter!"

Tarzan reached down and took Annabelle out of the sling. Her little face was scarlet and sobbing madly in fear as he tucked her under his armpit.

"Jane grab my hand!" he shouted as he reached down for her, Jane's fingers loosening their grip even more on the wooden slat! Jane went to hold out her other hand but as Tarzan leaned down to grab her, she saw Annabelle wriggling and sliding dangerously out of his arm towards the hole in the bridge! The blood was oozing out of his leg and she could see that he would not have the strength to hold their daughter and pull her up at the same time!

"Tell Annabelle that I will always love her!" Jane sobbed, taking one last look at her daughter. Jane the loving mother that she was, who waited so long for her beloved baby was fully prepared to sacrifice her own life for her daughter and husband. She dropped her outstretched hand, her other hand letting go of the slat and started to fall down to the sea below! But Tarzan managed to grab her hand, his grip tight as she dangled in mid-air above the raging waves!

"I will never let you go Jane!" Tarzan shouted defiantly and with all his strength pulled her back up onto the bridge despite the burning, agonising pain in his leg. In fact it made him all the more determined to save his family!

"Oh Annabelle!" Jane cried as she took her daughter from Tarzan and held to her tightly to her chest. Tears flooded down her cheeks in relief at seeing her daughter alive and safe. Suddenly they heard a blood-curdling roar and they spun round to see that the leopard had got back up and was heading back onto the bridge!

"RUN!" Tarzan bellowed as they raced across the bridge back towards the treehouse, Jane clinging onto Annabelle for dear life! But as they alighted at the other side, Tarzan stopped Jane from running and made them face the bridge!

"Tarzan what are you doing!" Jane demanded as the leopard charged across the bridge, leaping over the gap with ease towards them! When the leopard was only a few feet away from them, Tarzan whipped out the rock knife concealed in his loincloth. With four swift movements, he cut the ropes at the posts holding the bridge up. The leopard screamed as the bridge collapsed from underneath it and plummeted to its doom, down into the sea far below!

Jane burst into hysterical sobs, burying her face into Tarzan's chest whilst Annabelle bawled her little lungs out, all of them traumatised by how close they all were to death! Tarzan held them close, amazed at how noble and unselfish Jane was, how willing she was to die for their baby girl.

Word soon got round the jungle about Tarzan and Jane's near fatal run in with the leopard. All the gorillas were utterly astounded when they were told at how Jane was ready to die in order to save her child. But as they rejoiced their survival, they did not notice that one gorilla was missing from the group.

Moyo stormed through the jungle, letting out a frustrated roar as he smashed a rotting log with his fists. After a long trek he approached some caves and emitted a long roar whilst pounding his chest. Out of the shadows of the caves thirty leopards slinked out, all growling and roaring in anger. "What is a pathetic gorilla doing in our lands?" a female growled as she circled him, "Oh it's you Moyo!"

"We should kill him anyway," a male roared from a rock above, "Adjo is dead because of him!" The leopards roared in agreement and one leapt onto Moyo! Moyo grabbed the leopard off him and chucked it hard against a large boulder.

"Listen you mangy flea bags!" he bellowed, "Adjo was an inexperienced male, and you sent him instead of one of your battle hard fighters! It's you to blame not me!" The leopards growled at being insulted, all preparing to leap upon him when an adult female leopard faced them all.

"Stop!" she roared at them before turning to face Moyo, "You promised us to help us get revenge on Tarzan and his family, now we have another dead family member! Allying with you, a gorilla was a big mistake!"

"And I can still help you!" Moyo snapped, "I want rid of Tarzan just as much as you do! I can help you exact the leopards' revenge Sheera!"

"Then I will do it! It is I who wants to see them dead the most! Tarzan killed my father Sabor and that mate of his murdered my mother Shabeel!"

"I knew you would agree with me Sheera," Moyo smirked, "and I have a plan!"

"Which is?"

"We wait, it's too risky to attack again so soon. We'll wait a long time, a few years."

"A few years! I am not waiting that long Moyo!"

"Think about it Sheera. Tarzan is young and strong now. In a few years' time he will be old and less agile as will Jane and her father. They will then be easy prey for you!"

"And their cub?" Sheera growled.

"Still small enough not to outrun you," Moyo reasoned, his voice possessing a cruel tone, "a light snack to accompany the bigger meal if you will. So you will get your revenge and the family will all be mine! Everyone is a winner!"

"Except Tarzan!" Sheera added maliciously. All the leopards laughed and Moyo joined in, their maliciously sounding howls echoing through the canopy of the jungle as they revelled in their long awaited evil plan. After all revenge is a dish best served cold!