Chapter 48: Distant
The week was almost over, and the ship looked more advanced every day, therefore, it was a sign that Diddy and Dixie could soon be back on DK Island, although... they didn't feel that way; they weren't even excited as they should be. There was something that might not seem coherent to them: their four friends had told them both at first that the ship would be to take them back to DK Island as a gratitude, but with the distant attitudes they now had with the two, that didn't seem exciting, not to mention that they would go with another bunch of kong children with whom they no longer wanted to sympathize.
The group of Diddy and Dixie's friends was on the deck of the ship, guiding several of the kong children to adjust the sails and hold them. Then, Diddy and Dixie arrived on the scene, who had been doing nothing for quite some time, so they headed toward their friends.
"Hey, can we help you with the sails?" Diddy asked the four of them.
"Don't worry, they're already doing it," Mandy pointed up to where some of the kongs were standing on the masts adjusting the sails.
"Oh, we want to do something," Dixie insisted. "We've been doing nothing almost all day."
"But there's nothing you can do for now," Ricky replied with the same indifference, but then tried to apologize. "Oh, don't get it wrong, it's that there are already almost no things to do."
"Uhh... I got it!" Mandy added, being determined, while Diddy and Dixie were waiting for some meaningful tasks. "Why don't you clean up the debris in the cabins?"
"Isn't there... anything else to do?" Dixie asked, disappointed with the answer. "Is there nothing else to do about building this ship?"
"Yes, but don't worry, the other kids will," Ricky replied with a shrug before leaving.
The four of them continued to help the rest of the kongs, while Diddy and Dixie just watched and felt more and more that they were both left over in that place. Then, with no other alternative, they decided to do what they had been told.
"Well, which of the two do you choose?" Diddy asked Dixie, referring to the cabins all over the ship.
"If you want, I'll take charge of the one up here," Dixie replied. "You go to the bottom one, okay?"
Both, albeit reluctantly, headed to the different cabins on the ship. Dixie went to the one at deck level of the ship, where inside it, there was some debris and pieces that had been left, which she had to take out.
Meanwhile, Diddy walked down the internal stairs of the ship. He took charge of the cabin that was at the bottom of the ship, below deck. This was also full of leftover pieces, which he had to take out through the windows; it was a task that was very easy, so it became boring.
The place was large enough for everyone who would be the crew to enter, and Diddy just imagined what that trip would be like... even though he didn't have much excitement. It came to cross his mind that waiting for Mr. Pinky to take them to DK Island would be a better option, no matter if they would have to wait longer.
Diddy was finishing removing all the debris, when suddenly, he saw someone coming down the stairs. He began to tense up as he realized who it was: no one but Jenny... but this time, she just looked and greeted him from afar as if nothing, to which Diddy returned the gesture and was calm to remember that at least she hadn't spoken to them so much during that week. Jenny went on and started looking for something in the remaining rubble.
Those debris that Jenny was handling were the last ones Diddy needed to pick up, but even so, he had some distrust in being near her, so he only walked stealthily towards them. Diddy picked up some of the debris and got up toward the window. When suddenly, he felt that he was taken by the arm.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Jenny said, holding his arm. At that, Diddy was tense and tried to let go of her. "Oh, I'm not going to do anything to you, forget that," she added, rolling her eyes. "It's that I think that among those debris that you have there, there's a piece that we need right now."
Diddy looked at her suspiciously at first, but agreed to show them to her without saying anything. He placed the pieces on the floor, and then she came over to examine them. Diddy continued where he was, when suddenly... he noticed that Jenny was looking at him and began to smile at him a little, so he decided to sneak away.
"Hey, don't go, Diddy," Jenny said, taking him by the arm again. "Aren't you going to keep picking up debris?"
"No, no, no, I already was leaving," Diddy replied, letting go as he saw where the matter was going.
Diddy continued on his way, but suddenly, she grabbed his arm and pushed him against one of the walls.
"Hey!"
"I've got you, little monkey!" exclaimed Jenny with a little laugh.
Diddy immediately pushed her away and tried to flee. But instantly, Jenny cornered him again with force.
"Hey, let go of me!" Diddy exclaimed as he struggled to get out. "What's wrong with you now?!"
"Wait, wait, Diddy," Jenny said, speaking calmly and holding his arms, while looking at him smiling. "I just wanted to tell you-"
"No, no, no, Jenny!" interrupted Diddy again to struggle to push her away, but so did she. "Let go of me, please!"
"Hey, but just-"
"I don't want anything with you if that's what you think!"
Diddy was going to push her away, but Jenny held him tighter.
"Wait, Diddy!" she said, holding and smiling at him at the same time. "Don't you want to-"
"No! Why are you like this?!" Diddy interrupted her, pulling her away, before she held him tightly again.
"Because I love you, Diddy," she replied with a playful look, before getting closer. "So... wouldn't you want us to give ourselves a chance?"
"Hey, no, wait a minute, Jenny!" interrupted Diddy, gathering strength to let go and speak firmly to her. "I was already very clear with you, and you were supposed to have already apologized!"
"Oh, and what does that matter!" Jenny contradicted before holding him back down. "Come on, Diddy... give me a chance; Dixie won't find out," she added with a playful smile. "I would be better than her for you."
"Do you really not pity Dixie at least?" asked Diddy seriously.
"Ugh, stop telling me that!"Jenny replied, annoyed and cornered him harder. "Now... just kiss me."
Jenny forcibly approached to try to kiss him. But Diddy made a quick move and went under her arms to start running away. Instantly, Jenny also tried to go toward him. Diddy ran as far as he could towards the stairs and was about to go up.
"DIX-"
Diddy was on the third step, when suddenly, Jenny stepped on his tail and held him down. Diddy tried to get up, but instantly, Jenny cornered him against the steps.
"Let me!"Diddy exclaimed, trying to free himself.
"Urgh, don't be a coward!" Jenny exclaimed, trying to immobilize him. "Now you'll kiss me, monkey," she whispered as she approached him.
Jenny was going to try to kiss him again. When suddenly, Diddy pushed her away abruptly backwards, getting up.
"Stop it, Jenny! I don't love you that way!" Diddy shouted firmly.
Jenny grumbled furiously and gave Diddy a hard slap, before pushing him sharply against the stairs, causing him to fall again. Then, she lunged at him again.
"JENNY!"interrupted someone else who had arrived.
Suddenly, Dixie appeared coming down the stairs and immediately heading to the scene. Jenny changed her face instantly and showed herself not knowing what to do. Meanwhile, Diddy from the floor, rubbed his face because of the slap he received.
"What are you doing to Diddy?!" Dixie exclaimed, shocked to see the last thing Jenny did.
"Uhh… Hi, Dixie! I'm sorry!" Jenny said quickly, before pulling Diddy and then Dixie out of her way to go upstairs, but Dixie stopped her by pulling her arm.
"Wait a minute, Jenny!" exclaimed Dixie, holding her tightly by the shoulders and with a warning look. "Listen to me! I can tolerate you throwing all the flowers you want at Diddy, but never hurting him, much less hitting him!"
Jenny just gave Dixie a look of annoyance and pushed her too, to the point of making her fall down a couple of steps. Then, she went upstairs and left as fast as she could.
Dixie barely had time to get up and try to catch up with her, and just stared at her indignantly as she walked away; she had arrived just in time when she saw her last moves. She walked towards Diddy, who was standing up again and was still rubbing his face.
"Diddy... Are you okay?" Dixie asked worriedly.
"Jenny... is really... crazy," Diddy replied slowly and with some indignation.
Then, Dixie hugged him while she was still upset by what she had just witnessed. She looked up the stairs again where Jenny left and immediately remembered everything she had talked to her, how she treated her the best she could, and how she had promised them not to do something like that again, and now... it had been repeated. They both sat on the staircase, and Diddy told Dixie everything that had happened; she was now very disappointed with Jenny.
"... and then, she slapped me and pushed me against the stairs and that's where you came," Diddy finished telling her.
"I did see that. I thought I heard you call me and then I came to see what was going on... Ugh, Jenny really is crazy, that's already being insane!"
"I thought she wasn't going to be like that anymore, that is, yes at first, but since she didn't even talk to us so much anymore, I thought she had already given up. But no! She's insistent," Diddy complained. "It's as if she already does it on purpose."
"No, but this time she's already crossing the line," Dixie added earnestly. "She's crazy."
"Too much, she wasn't like that," Diddy replied with a shrug. "She has gone insane. Good thing you showed up, Dixie."
"Don't worry, you just stand by me if she sees us," Dixie replied earnestly. "I think we don't have to be near her anymore."
Minutes later, Diddy finished picking up the debris left, with Dixie's help as well. Then, they both went back up onto the deck. Almost everything was finished with respect to the sails and masts of the ship. Literally, everyone was doing something except for the two of them, they could even leave there and their four friends wouldn't even notice.
They both stayed close to the gunwale of the ship, just watching all the work. Between moments, one of their four friends passed near and greeted them, but then they continued along. When it came to Jenny, she only looked at them with apparent disgust, and at the same time, they both returned the same look, plus Diddy hugged Dixie and she also clung to him when they saw her. Dixie, for her part, was able to confirm that the apology she thought she received from Jenny had all been in vain and she didn't even bother to talk to her again.
A moment later, a group of the other kong children approached them. Diddy and Dixie looked at them strangely and, at the same time, begged that they not come to ask them reckless questions as they had done all week.
"Hey, do you want me to tell you a secret?" one of them said quietly to Diddy and Dixie. "The day you two didn't come, Ricky, Melvyn, Jenny and Mandy said that you two are ridiculous ones in love."
"Oh, please!" Diddy replied, annoyed, quietly too. "Could you stop telling us things like that?"
"No, no, no! Wait!" Dixie interposed firmly before asking those children. "How did they say?... What else have they said about us?"
"Hmm! You mean, what haven't they said about you two," another of the children replied in an ironic tone.
Diddy and Dixie were curious about that. At first, Diddy didn't like the comments that all those children were telling them during those days, but now it seems that he also wanted to know, since they were news that they hadn't known.
"You don't even know everything they said that day that you weren't here," continued another of the kong kids. "They said that you looked like a couple of dumbs in love and that hopefully one day you'll break up and stop being that ridiculous."
"Yeah, and that Dixie should stop being so dumb for believing that Diddy will always love her. Oh, yes, and also that Diddy is a 'cowardly butterfly' who only walks behind Dixie and everything is with Dixie and his world is only Dixie and he doesn't know another no Dixie girl."
"And they said that a couple of weeks ago, Diddy had given Dixie a gift, but everything went wrong… You don't know how they laughed when they told us that."
Diddy and Dixie were shocked for a few seconds. They didn't want to believe them much, since maybe they didn't know if such comments were fake and suddenly those children made them up because of the scandal they had had the week before.
"Are you saying all that seriously?" asked Dixie, crossing her arms. "But... they said all that only the day we didn't come, right?"
"Well, actually... yesterday they also said some things like that, but less than that day," the kids replied as if they were not sure about answering them. Well, that was all we had to tell you. Don't tell them what we told you, by the way," they whispered at the end.
The kong children left, while Diddy and Dixie had been left with certain doubts... But at the same time, they thought they wouldn't be so wrong; with the attitude of indifference that their four friends had had with them in those days, maybe... could be true what they had just been told.
Within dark, Diddy and Dixie were home again, having returned a little earlier than normal. Among some novelties, Mr. Pinky had already left in the morning to the other island where he had said he would go; he had gone to do some paperwork at the school where he would give classes the next school cycle, which was not so far to start.
Both little kongs were sitting on the last terrace of the house; they needed a moment to think things through with respect to... their four friends.
"I don't think it's true," Diddy said, trying to reason. "That is, about the day we didn't go I could believe that they have spoken like that about us, but... about yesterday?"
"You know, Diddy... I suppose you were a little right," Dixie added with a low look. "I think we forgive them too easily; I mean, friends forgive each other and everything, but... those attitudes they have had with us give me a lot to think about."
"I know... And these days they have ignored us most of the time we have been there. And if it were true that they made fun of the failed gift I made for you, so... were they already like that with us before?"
"But I still don't understand why they behave like that; we never did anything wrong to them. In addition, last week's scandal was started by them, first because of a few simple games and then because of Jenny."
"Or maybe it's because of her that they want to see us bad. And not to mention Jenny today; she behaved worse than ever with me."
"Ugh, and about Jenny is another case, too," Dixie said rather disappointed. "I see that her apology wasn't serious... I tried to understand her, I didn't even turn against her, I talked to her and treated her well, and the last thing I wanted was for us to stop being friends, but... I see she doesn't care at all."
"Yeah, I noticed, Dixie... and she doesn't really care; at that moment she told me in a blatant way," Diddy replied with pity and placing a hand on her shoulder. "But at least you did the best you could with her. In fact, with the four of us we tried to do the right thing, but it doesn't seem that they have really apologized... I no longer know if we can call that 'friends' as Mr. Pinky had told us."
"If so... we could get away from them, but what would we do with the ship?" Dixie questioned. "I mean, they're making it for us supposedly."
"That's what I'm thinking too, but I don't want to have done all that work in vain either. Anyway... when we get to DK Island, we won't see them anymore."
"Well, I hope so, because I really don't want to see them," Dixie said earnestly before entering a moment of silence. "By the way, what time is it? Shouldn't Master Pinky have called us?"
"That's right. I haven't heard him," Diddy replied in confusion. "Let's see if he's there."
Diddy and Dixie got up, and then went down to Mr. Pinky's house, as they hadn't seen a trace of him since they returned. But looking through the windows, it was all dark and there was no sign that he was inside.
"How strange," Diddy said, looking out the window. "Now that I remember, he had said he would come back after noon, and it's practically night."
"Maybe he'll take even longer at the school where he went... But it's strange; he never takes so long."
"Or could it be that... something happened to him?" Diddy asked worriedly.
"I don't think so, he went to another island, but the hurricane doesn't go that way," Dixie replied before thinking of a known place. "Why don't we go to the shelter to see if he's not there? He sometimes passes by."
Diddy and Dixie immediately headed to the animal shelter; Mr. Pinky also used to frequent that place to greet his friends there.
Upon entering the shelter, there were the known animals present in that place. Those who had been from the circus were already seen with a much-improved countenance and with their wounds already almost healing, something that pleased Diddy and Dixie and made them smile...
Although this time, and not only those from the circus, they were all seen with a few expressions of concern, in fact, there were some groups of animals crowded and talking as if something had happened recently, which activated curiosity in Diddy and Dixie.
"Hey, little monkeys!" an elephant greeted them along with some of the circuses, and they both returned the greeting. "How long without seeing you, what brings you around here? How have you been?"
"We're fine as far as can be said," Dixie replied, smiling, before being serious. "Well, although we did come for something."
"We wanted to ask you if Mr. Pinky hasn't been here," Diddy added.
"Mr. Pinky? Well, no, we haven't seen it," the animals replied, looking confused. When suddenly, they began to be shocked. "Don't tell me! He also disappeared?!"
"What?" Dixie exclaimed with a look of surprise. "No, that is... he left this morning, he should have returned at noon but he hasn't arrived, and we thought he was around here. But we wouldn't say he 'disappeared' yet."
"By the way, is there anything happening?" asked Diddy as he noticed the tense atmosphere of the place. "And what do you mean about'also'?"
"Oh, you don't even know the last news," the animals said, looking too worried. "For a couple of days about ten apes have been coming here to ask about their children or their siblings. They say they have been missing for more than a month, or even two months!"
"What are you saying?" Diddy exclaimed, in surprise along with Dixie.
"But on this same island?" Dixie asked, looking at them strangely.
"Yes, they say they went out to play, and one day they didn't come back," replied one of the animals. "And that they knew nothing more about them."
"And what were those missing apes like?" Dixie asked.
"Everyone said they were similar like the two of you," the animals commented. "By the way, haven't you met more friends who are like you and who are lost?"
"Well... we've met a few more," Diddy replied with some confusion. "But none have said they're lost or anything. In fact, they're all old friends of our friends who we introduced here a couple of weeks ago."
"Or could it be that... Mr. Pinky has a hand in this?" the animals wondered, beginning to be alarmed.
"Hey, I don't think so," Dixie replied earnestly. "He's no thief. In addition, this morning he went to a school on another island where he'll teach."
"Oh... So, he's not to be responsible for this," the animals said. "But no, little monkeys, we haven't seen Mr. Pinky. Oh, and another thing, please be careful, we wouldn't want you to disappear like that too."
Diddy and Dixie looked at each other with quite confusion from what they had just heard from the animals. Although anyway, they didn't want to think about bad situations while they had doubts about the whereabouts of Mr. Pinky.
Both thanked the animals for responding to them and said goodbye. Then, they returned home to see if Mr. Pinky was back.
When they arrived, they looked out of the teacher's window again, but... everything was still dark and the door was still secured; in short, there was no trace of him... That was getting too strange.
"This is very weird," Diddy said after looking out the window. "It's already night and Mr. Pinky hasn't arrived."
"Maybe he's traveling toward here," Dixie added. "What if he arrives in the early morning?"
"We'll have to wait," Diddy added, starting to look more worried. "Geez, what may have happened?"
"Or maybe he had some difficulty," Dixie said in the same way.
Then, both returned to their room, but not before picking a few fruits to be able to have dinner, as Mr. Pinky had indicated... who for some reason, still didn't give signs when for several hours he should have already done so. However, both wanted to think that he had only had a few inconveniences that had caused him to delay.