Part 3: The Journey to Africa
Chapter 39
"A Very Pleasant Surprise"
The day after her father had become a knight and became a professor at the same time, Jane and Tarzan arrived back at the docks in Southampton to prepare for the return trip to Africa. To Jane, it was already very bittersweet for her to leave her civilized life in England behind. But for Tarzan, as much as he enjoyed seeing England up close and personal, it was good for him to be heading back home to his gorilla family. Arriving at the docks in her favorite yellow dress, Jane grabbed her suitcase and handed it to the ship's porter before turning to see her old life that she would be leaving behind again. However, she noticed that her father was not there to say goodbye to them, but in a sense, neither she nor Tarzan was prepared for what they were about to see next.
"Ahoy, Jane and Tarzan!" called a voice and they looked up to see Archimedes in his explorer clothes. "You are not sailing back to Africa without me, are you?"
Filled with joy and happiness, Jane hiked up her dress and ran up the gangplank to hug her father tightly as she sobbed quietly in his arms with Tarzan following behind.
"Daddy," she cried. "Are you really coming back with us?"
"Jane," he said. "I was doing some thinking and I really don't need to be a teacher at a prestigious University to be a great scientist. It's like I always have said, people get lost in the jungle every day, don't they?"
All Jane did was nod and a little while later, just like they did the first time, Jane and Archimedes once again set sail from England and were now destined back for Africa. For the next few days, Tarzan and Jane reflected on the short time that they had been together and what their future was going to be like once they returned to Africa.
To celebrate their trip back to England, Tarzan and Jane once again dressed in the clothes they wore on their dinner and dancing night of their honeymoon and made their way down to the dining area of the steamship. As it turned out, Archimedes had arranged for Tarzan and Jane to have some alone time before they were to return to their lives in Africa.
"Looks like the cook made the dishes exactly the way we like it," said Jane. "I feel we are living the last night of our honeymoon again. Don't you agree, Tarzan?"
"I actually do, Jane," he said. "Maybe that is a good thing, isn't it?"
Both of them shared a chuckle and after they finished with their food, the sounds of an English Waltz were being heard and Tarzan stood up and took his wife by the hand.
"May I have this dance?" he asked and Jane curtseyed as Tarzan bowed before they made their way to the middle of the dance floor and began to waltz to the music that surrounded them.
From a distance, Captain Gerard was watching their dance with Archimedes and had now realized what Jane and Archimedes had chosen to follow for the rest of their lives.
"I must say, Professor," he said as he watched. "I am beginning to sense that your daughter must really love that savage wild man."
"Well, that savage wild man," replied Archimedes. "Is the man who wants to spend the rest of his life with Jane as much as Jane does. He makes a very good son in law to me, you know."
All Captain Gerard could do was shrug his shoulders in confusion and sigh lightly, as a way of saying "I give up," as Archimedes laughed.
"Do you think the White Star Line will say anything about this?" asked Archimedes.
"Professor," he said. "They never believe anything I say and they certain won't believe anything I say now. But, after we get back to Africa, you are on your own."
"Oh, believe me, Captain," said Archimedes. "We certainly will be."
So, the two men looked on as they began to notice Tarzan and Jane do something rather improper in English standards as they saw them take off their ties.
"Professor," gasped Captain Gerard. "What is your daughter doing?"
"Why they are mating," answered Archimedes. "It's the gorilla way. Besides, it's a private game they invented on their honeymoon."
Captain Gerard couldn't believe what he was seeing as Archimedes led him away from the private moment that Tarzan and Jane were having as they slowly undressed in front of each other. However, they only stripped down to their undergarments and then gathered the rest of their clothes, left the dining hall and went back to their rooms. As Tarzan stripped off his long johns and Jane removed her corset and bloomers, they quickly glanced at each other in their nakedness with a certain lust in their eyes.
"Jane," said Tarzan softly. "I'm so lucky to have you as my mate."
"Tarzan," replied Jane softly. "I'm so lucky to have you as my husband."
They dimmed down the lights and shut the drapes to their stateroom and then crawled into bed with each other as they fell asleep, relieved to be returning to the life that they had always known.
The next day, the ship arrived back at Dumont's Trading Post and Tarzan and Jane got on their jungle clothes and leaving the sailors to carry their items back to the tree house, raced into the jungles and began to swing through the trees, happy to be back home where they belong.
"I've said it once and I will say it again," sighed Archimedes, as he watched them swing away. "People get lost in the jungle every day and maybe that is a good thing."
As Jane swung through the trees, she could not feel more alive than what she was experiencing at that very moment. Everything that she and Tarzan had been through together was a learning experience for both of them, from the day they met in the baboon chase to the battles with Clayton and all the way to the knighting of Archimedes and now they were ready to face their future together and whatever adventures that were over the horizon waiting for them would be taken on by them being together.
Finally, their adventures through the trees ended with Tarzan doing his famous yell as Jane looked on happily and realizing now that her life with her husband, Tarzan and her father, Archimedes was going to be much better for many days and years to come.
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THE END
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