The next morning, Darwin, Eliza and Cherry were given sleeping bags and had camped out with Bree and Sloan under the stars. Cherry and Darwin were still asleep, but Eliza sat up in her position and looked all around, anxiously.
"Cherry! Darwin!" she called. "Donnie's gone, we need to find him! The eclipse is in a few hours!"
"But I'm not finished with my dream..." Cherry groaned, burying her face in her pillow.
"Donnie's always missing," Darwin said. "And I was dreaming about shepherd's pie!"
Eliza then knocked on Bree and Sloan's door while Darwin and Cherry slowly and unwillingly got up.
"Bree? Sloan? Have you seen Donnie?" Eliza knocked and the door opened. "He's..." Eliza looked to see Donnie at the door. "Donnie!"
Donnie jabbered and wandered inside the trailer.
"Donnie, I believe Sloan told you to stay out of there." Cherry waved a finger. "I ought to tell your parents about this!"
"Bree! Sloan!" Eliza called, as she and Cherry wandered in further together.
"This is like those science fiction movies..." Cherry felt creeped out. The room was all dark and a luminighting blue color. There were monitors sending out all over the jungle like some sort of surveillance.
"What is all of this?" Eliza wondered as she tripped over something.
"Eliza, you okay?" Cherry asked.
"I don't like this place," Darwin walked over, pulling on the wild child's arm. "We got Donnie, now let's go."
"What's that?" Eliza gasped, noticing a door.
"You don't think Bree and Sloan are aliens, do you?" Cherry asked, worriedly.
"Don't be silly, Cherry." Eliza grabbed the ends of the door and pulled it back. There was a smaller door revealed with a tiny window with bars against it like a tiny jail cell. Eliza looked into it after both girls heard faint whimpering and crying. Eliza's eyes then widened as a small cheetah cub came into their vision. "Tally!?"
"Oh, that must be Tally." Cherry moaned. "Don't worry, little guy, Eliza will get you out of there."
"Who are you?" the cub looked up at Cherry.
"I'm Cherry, I can talk to animals too." Cherry explained. "Eliza should be the one to save you after the stories I've heard about you and your adventures with her."
Eliza then found some bolts on the door, undid them and opened the door, thus freeing the cheetah cub. The cub happily and playfully pounced onto the red-headed girl.
"Eliza!" Tally cried.
"Oh, Tally!" Eliza happily took the cub, hugged him and spun him around in a little circle. "I knew we'd find you!"
"Eliza, we have to get out of here." Tally warned.
"What do you mean?" Cherry asked.
"Hello girls..." a dark voice crept up behind them, making shivers run up and down their spines.
"Sloan..." Eliza murmured.
"You were the poachers, weren't you!" Cherry hissed as she noticed Sloan and lost all faith, trust and respect she possibly had for him when they were all acquainted.
"Where did you get him?" Eliza asked, still shook up.
"I picked him up," Sloan replied. "On the savannah."
"You... bought him?"
"No," Sloan shook his head. "I picked him up...right off the ground."
"YOU SELFISH JERK! YOU SEPERATED THIS POOR ANIMAL FROM HIS FAMILY!" Cherry roared.
"I told Sloan he shouldn't cut the rope ladder." Bree added.
"It WAS you!" Eliza was angry now too.
"Yes," Sloan walked over as Tally growled and hissed. "Thank you so much for returning my knife to me."
"Ooh, kitten, you didn't drink all your milk," Bree picked Tally up out of Eliza's arms. "How are you ever going to grow big enough to make me a coat?"
Tally hissed and tried to bare claws on the couple.
"Oh, I'm afraid you'll both have to miss the solar eclipse," Sloan ruffled up Cherry's hair. "You can catch it on the Poaching Channel."
"You built the fence!" Eliza sneered.
"Of course," Sloan chuckled. He then approached the red-headed girl. "Now, here's a question for your famous father: how many volts of electricity does it take to kill a thousand elephants?"
Eliza and Cherry just looked angry, but then Sloan picked them both up, put them in corners and tied their wrists behind their backs.
"Oh, you poor little girls," Sloan smirked. "You are little troublemakers. First, Eliza shows up on my cheetah hunt, then you both jump from a train to save my rhino..."
"He's not your rhino." Cherry glared.
"Oh, really?" Sloan got in her face with a sneer, then walked over to Eliza. "And then somehow, you knew the poachers had shot him at the river. Yet, you were both on a train at the time."
"We guessed." Eliza answered quickly.
"Perhaps," Sloan continued. "And now you arrive in the jungle, knowing about a fence. A fence which no one witnessed being built. So, my little troublemakers, who told you?"
"No one." Cherry replied.
"Are your parents working with that Jomo person?" Sloan asked.
"They don't even know we're here." Eliza replied.
"Then who is the source of your information?"
"There's no one!" Cherry defended.
"You both know too much for little girls," Sloan growled. "I have too much invested on this operation to let anyone get in my way. If you don't tell me who they are, neither of you will see your families again!"
"Sloan, I hear someone coming." Bree said.
Sloan groaned and walked over to his wife.
"We got to get out of here!" Eliza cried.
"But how? No one knows we're here!" Cherry sighed.
"I'll help." Tally said and jumped to bite on the tough ropes tying everyone including Darwin and Donnie down.
"Go Tally go!" Eliza smiled.
"That's a good girl." Cherry smiled.
"I'm a boy." Tally corrected.
"Oh, sorry." Cherry chuckled.
"Yes, that's it," Darwin groaned. "Get the cheetah involved again. If we hadn't gone looking for him that night we wouldn't be in this mess."
"Don't blame Tally, you butt monkey," Cherry hissed.
"Oh, I'm not..." Darwin said to her.
"Tally didn't sneak out without permission," Eliza said. "Tally didn't run away from boarding school. Tally didn't trust those awful people who clearly don't like animals. I thought they were like me."
"When are you going to see that no one, besides Cherry, is like you?" Darwin huffed. "What more do you need? The shaman gave you a gift. Use it!"
"Darwin please!" Eliza sounded hurt.
"You don't know what to do with your powers!" Darwin added.
"Darwin, for once in your life, just be quiet!" Eliza growled.
"Eliza..." Cherry whimpered as Darwin looked hurt.
"Hi," there was a voice heard on the monitors. Eliza, Cherry, Darwin and Donnie looked up to see it was Debbie!
"Can we help you?" Bree asked with a friendly smile.
"Oh, yes," Debbie replied. "I'm looking for my sister, Eliza Thornberry." Debbie was then grabbed by Sloan. "Hey!"
"Debbie!" Cherry and Eliza gasped.
Soon enough, Cherry and Eliza were free as Tally finished cutting the ropes with his fangs. Both girls rushed out of their prison as Debbie was held dangerously by Bree and Sloan.
"Let her go!" Eliza demanded.
"Certinately," Sloan grinned. "If you tell me who is the source of your information."
"We told you there's no one!" Eliza cried, but then broke down in stammers. "W-We just guessed all of that stuff... the fence and the explosives and..."
Cherry facepalmed then.
"I never mentioned explosives!" Sloan walked off with Debbie to drop her into the ravine beneath the ledge they were all one. "You're both lying!"
"What's he talking about?" Debbie squirmed.
"Tell me or she goes over the edge!" Sloan hissed.
"Just get rid of her, Sloan!" Bree snarled, as she grabbed both Eliza and Cherry to prevent them from escaping.
"Please!" Eliza begged. "She doesn't know anything about this!"
"I can't tell you." Eliza moaned.
"Eliza!" Debbie cried as she was closer to death.
"Stop! Wait! I'll tell you!" Eliza gave him.
"Eliza, no!" Cherry cried.
"I know these things because," Eliza swallowed hard. "Cherry and I can talk to animals."
It grew dark and stormy right then and the wind was breezing heavily around everyone. Their hair and clothes were nearly flying off!
"What has she done?" Sloan growled.
"Sloan, let's get out of here!" Bree cried.
Enjoy the cliffhanger mwahahahahaha!