Part 1: The Journey to Africa

Chapter 11

"Torn Between Two Worlds"

It had been a few days since Tarzan and Jane's magical nighttime swing through the trees of the jungle. Each time that they had been together, whether it was for lessons or just to have some quiet time, Tarzan was beginning to feel for Jane and on the day that they were supposed to leave for England, he had gathered some flowers for Jane and thinking that she was going to stay forever, began to make plans with how to propose to her for marriage. But, upon returning to the camp, he could see that they were taking it down and neither Jane nor Archimedes were impressed with that, as they wanted to come what they came all the way to Africa for.

"I've waited thirty years for this, and I won't leave until I see a gorilla!" demanded Archimedes as he was joined by Tarzan. "Oh, it's dreadful, Tarzan."

"You're the captain!" added Clayton. "Just tell them you had engine trouble and give us two more days!"

"And be late at every port from here to London?" cried Captain Gerard. "That is out of the question!"

"We'll have come all this way for nothing!" cried Jane.

"I'm sorry, Miss Porter, but I simply can't do it!" said Captain Gerard, firmly standing his ground as he went to oversee the downing of the camp.

Clayton knew that his plans had been affected and angrily turned towards Jane, thinking that she was responsible and that he was looking for someone to dump his frustrations on.

"This is your fault!" he said. "I should've followed my instincts and set traps for the beasts!"

Jane was taken aback by this and wasn't going to take this lightly.

"Don't you think I'm disappointed about the gorillas?" Jane shot back at Clayton. "You are absolutely impossible-." But Tarzan came in her face with the flowers that he had picked out for her.

"Tarzan!" she cried. "I was so afraid that you wouldn't come in time. The boat's arrived, the boat that's come to take us home, to England. And Daddy and I were wonder-well, I was wondering...well, we really hoped that you'll come with us, won't you?"

Tarzan wasn't sure as if he were to leave, he would be leaving his jungle family behind for a civilized world and thought of compromising with Jane so that he would never leave his home forever.

"Go see England today," he said. "Come home tomorrow."

But, as much as Tarzan wanted to have her and her father stay, Jane knew that she had a life to return to back in England and was now becoming torn.

"Oh no, well, you see," stuttered Jane. "It would be very difficult to come back...ever."

"Not come back?" Tarzan asked sadly.

"Oh no, no, no," said Jane, trying to hide her emotions. "I know it sounds awful, but you belong with us, with people."

Tarzan tried once again to ask his new love to stay with him in the jungle and once again, Jane tried to reason with him.

"Stay here?" she asked as the suitcase containing some of her laundry opened up and clothes fell on the on the dirty ground.

"Oh, my laundry!" she cried, trying to pick her laundry up. "No I can't stay. Look, I've got-I'm with my father and..."

Now, Tarzan was becoming desperate to having Jane stay.

"Jane, stay," he begged, holding her hands and dropping the flowers.

"But," she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Please," begged Tarzan again.

"But I can't," she said and Jane ran off crying to a nearby secluded part of the camp that was not that far. Archimedes had been helping the crew carry some items to the ship and saw that his daughter was crying.

"Jane," he said and ran over towards his daughter. "Jane, what is the matter?"

"Oh, Daddy," she said as she cried into the red skirt she had on. "Tarzan wants me to stay here in Africa and I know we can't stay here forever. We have a life to return too, but I want to come here to see the gorillas and I know you do too."

"Yes, Jane," comforted Archimedes. "But, sometimes the things we work ourselves towards to cannot be fulfilled and this is something we have to cut short unfortunately."

"Can we come back to Africa?" asked Jane. "I am sure we can see Tarzan again."

Archimedes placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder and sat down next to her.

"Jane, dear," he sighed. "You may come back here to Africa one day. But, I may not be able too. I am old and by the time we decide to come back, I may already be gone to be with your mother. But what matters is that we came here to Africa together and that is something that I am proud of accomplishing."

Jane felt a little better knowing that what her father had said to her was true. She was young and had her entire life ahead of her and she knew that Tarzan was still going to be alive.

"All right, daddy," she said smiling. "If you say so, then I think that makes me a little bit better."

So, the father and daughter hugged one another and were just about to return to unpacking when Clayton came forward.

"Change of plans, professor," he said smiling. "The ape man has convinced me to have us stay an extra day to find his gorillas. He tells me that he is one of them."

"Did you tell the captain?" asked Jane. "I know he was not happy about having us stay longer."

"He will only give us one day," said Clayton. "That is plenty of time for us to find the beasts that you so have been looking for all these years."

Jane and Archimedes did not take kindly to the beasts comment, but at least that they now had an extra day to find what they were looking for. Unbeknownst to them however, Clayton had also wanted to stay an extra day.

"Once I find where those gorillas are," he thought evilly to himself. "They will be mine for the taking."