Koba sometime said that Maurice thought too much.
The Orangutan normally ignored that comment, but maybe Koba had a small point. While waiting until he could safely get away from the village, Maurice sat deep in thought. This usually comforted him a great deal. But, now it made him feel a lot more uneasy. Less than one day in to his trying to care for the human female, and already Caesar thought her food gifts might be tainted. And even Cornelia was now looking at him worriedly, too. Also, Koba's young Mary was treating him like a doddering old Ape whom might need her help at any moment.
How had things gotten so out of hand so quickly? But, it was some small comfort that Koba did not seem to be acting any different around him. The volatile Ape did not seem to be suspicious or even to care much what he did. And, sadly,
Maurice knew it was Koba who could cause the most trouble for the recovering human female. For her and for Caesar.
But as much as this concerned him, Maurice could not let it stop him. Later that night, there he was again, standing at the woman's house. Knowing his exact destination this time, and being able to travel freely through the trees without having to carry the injured human, he made the trip much faster than before.
Tapping on the woman's front door, Maurice was overjoyed. He could hear sounds of movement coming from inside the house. So, she was finally awake and moving around on her own!
But, should she be up and moving around so soon, he wondered. But at least she was able to move at all.
The old Orangutan made soft happy rumbling noises almost to himself as he waited while the sounds drew closer and closer. Maybe, very soon, he'd be able to communicate with her. It would be nice to at least know her name.
Then, the door was violently hauled open. Dim light spilled from inside the house, and Maurice took an instinctive couple of steps back.
There she stood framed in her doorway, her faced flushed, her clothing even more rumpled and more ragged then he remembered, her tangled black hair blowing in the wind, one small drop of blood sliding down her forehead, and a knife gripped in her hand and raised high over her head.
Their eyes locked. Maurice watched in fascination as her eyes slowly widened and the conflicting emotions played over her haggard face.
She was expecting someone else. She was expecting trouble, was his first thought.
And, she confirmed this a few seconds later
"You're … not … him?," were her first hesitant words ever to Maurice. "You are not him!"
Maurice nodded to her in agreement. She still had the knife, so Maurice hoped that by not being this obviously unwelcome him that that was a good thing.
"Are … are you … alone," the female asked. Her jerky hesitant speech reminded Maurice of many Apes who were still struggling to talk.
He nodded once again, then stepped aside so she could see past him in to the night.
He watched as the female scanned her little clearing, another one of those small lights in the hand that was not holding the knife. Something about the site of that device troubled him, but he could not put his finger on why just yet.
He saw that she was focusing more and more on the trees, and he could easily guessed what was troubling her.
Maurice also looked at the trees, then back at the frightened female. Slowly, he shook his head at her.
Maurice watched as the color slowly faded from her face, and with it all the ferocity and strength seem to seep out of her as well. He was desperately trying to think of anything he could do to make her feel more at ease as she began to tremble.
He watched helplessly as she lowered the knife to her side, and locked eyes with him yet again.
As terrified as she was, she was still determined to look him in the eye. The old Orangutan was very impressed by this, and even more intrigued by this human.
"What … what do you want?" she asked in a small voice. Shoving her tiny light in to her clothing, she clutched her door frame for support, and Maurice had to resist the desire to reach out and physically help her.
"Do you … do you even understand me?"
Maurice nodded yet again.
I should've just stayed in bed, was Karin's first thought as she stared in to the green eyes of her visitor.
A part of Karin wondered if this was not some kind of weird concussion dream? She was not really leaning in the doorway of her home just past the edge of night staring at an intelligent Ape, was she?
But even as her head throbbed yet again, the vision did not shift or fade away.
The Ape slowly raised his, hers, its hands, and began to move its fingers.
"Wait."
Karin held up one hand, and the Ape stopped moving its fingers.
"Is that sign language?"
Again, the Ape nodded at her.
She sighed heavily. Great, I find an Ape who seems to want to talk, and I won't be able to understand a word he says … signs! Just your luck, ain't it, Karin old girl!
"I … I don't know sign," she said simply.
If she did not know better, Karin would swear that the Ape looked crestfallen. It was how she felt, too.
"but … but you do understand my speech, some anyway, right?" Karin added hopefully. She did not want to leave him looking that way. She decided for now to think of it as him because it just seemed more polite. Plus, there was definitely a male air about him.
The Ape nodded, but more slowly.
"You don't understand?" Karin asked. It was going to be a long night if they had to keep playing twenty questions.
The Ape shook his head.
"Uh, you understand, some?"
It was her turn to look hopeful.
The Ape nodded vigorously
"Okay, you understand some. That's, uh, good … I guess."
Karin smiled at him. It was a little shaky around the edges, but she was sincere.
And was he smiling back … or just baring his teeth at her? Since he was making no other threatening gestures, she chose to take it as a smile. Please dear God let it be a smile, she thought.
"Uh, I'm Karin," she said slowly.
Leaning heavily on her doorway, she lifted one hand and pointed to herself.
"Karin," she repeated. "I am Karin."
"Now, I bet you have a name, too," she went on determinedly. "But ow are you going to tell me what it is, though?"
"Maurice."
It was the lowest softest of a rumble she had ever heard, but was it also …
Feeling very faint, Karin took a slow deep calming breath.
"Did … did you just say—" she began faintly.
"Maurice," the Ape repeated, pointing at himself the way she had just done.
Karin was even more visibly trembling now, her world threatening to go tilt on her any moment.
"Okay, Maurice," Karin murmured. "It's real nice to meet you and all that, but I'm going to, uh, to have to sit down now."
Karin heard herself speaking. But her voice sounded very far away to her own ears as she managed a barely controlled slide down to her doorstep.
As she struggled not to lose both consciousness and her partial supper, she was aware that Maurice had come closer, and was now patting her back very gently.
"I'm … I'm okay," she gasped. But, seeing as how her voice was coming from the vicinity of her knees, and shook like that of a woman many times older, no surprise the Ape did not seem convinced.
Karin slowly lifted her head, and he really was right there, one long arm extended over her shoulder, marvelous green eyes looking at her with deep concern. She reached out very slowly, and touched his arm, feeling the long thick hair beneath her fingers.
"Magic carpet," she murmured with a little laugh.
Maurice rumbled and looked confused.
"It's okay," Karin said. "Sometimes, I don't understand me, either."
Karin tried to stand up, but her legs were still made of soft rubber. The arm Maurice had been using to pat her back quickly moved to encircle her waist.
"I don't need—" she began.
Maurice made another deep rumbling noise. It almost sounded to Karin as if he were saying, "Are you going to start that nonsense again?"
"Okay, I give up," she surrendered. "If you can maybe just help me over there?"
She pointed weakly back in to the house, and let Maurice half-lift her to her feet.
He settled her on her old ragged couch, putting a pillow firmly but gently behind her head. She thought about protesting that the wound was in the front of her head not the back, but decided to keep her mouth shut.
Karin stared at this marvelous and gentle ape with something close to awe. Then, he amazed her all over again by going through in to her small kitchen and bringing out the remains of her interrupted meal and putting it on a low table before her.
"Thank you," she murmured.
She was so touched by him that a few tears slid down her cheeks. Then, it was Maurice's turn to reach out and gently touch her face. He patted her cheek with those long fingers, which only threatened to make her cry even more.
Seeming to sense the oncoming flood, Maurice picked up her cup of water and held it out to her.
Taking the offered cup, she smiled at him again, and swallowed down her tears.
"I get it. Eat now and cry later," she said. "Very wise advice."
She ate and drank, offering him some of the dried fruit and her water. He sat on the floor before her and ate what she offered him. And so they passed their first meal together in very nice companionable silence. It was the first meal she had shared with another living being in a long time.
Maurice stayed with her most of that night. Not letting her get up from the couch, he put her dishes back in her kitchen. Then, they began the task of furthering communications. Karin almost laughed out loud in delight when she had handed Maurice a pad of worn but still very usable paper and some pencils, and the Ape made a half-hooting half-purring rumbling sound that even Karin could understand. He was also delighted.
With a combination of writing, some sign and some speech, they began to tell one another about their lives. Not that she had a whole lot to tell, but his story was so fascinating!
And, they nearly lost all track of time.
It was very late, or early depending on how you looked at it, when he left her.
Maurice tried to reassure her that he'd be fine, but as she watched him go from one of her windows, Karin heaved a sigh. He had not said it out right, but she knew he was taking some chances coming to help her. She knew, from painful experiences and from physical scars Maurice had not seen yet, what would happen to her if the other Apes found out.
Once the darling Orangutan had disappeared from her site in the trees, Karin slowly went to her bed, worrying. She was afraid for herself, of course, But for the first time in years, the first time since she'd lost her little Lisa, she was also afraid for another living being.
What would the Apes do to Maurice if their meetings were discovered?
Maurice was just settling down for his morning nap in his nest. Karin … he repeated the woman's name over and over in his head. He liked the sound of it for some reason. It was simple enough that even he could pronounce it, well almost, but it had something about it that was very complex, too. The old Orangutan started to drift in to sleep.
And, then, he jerked violently awake.
Her little light stick!
Maurice sat bolt upright in his nest bed, trying to remember. She had one with her when she left her gifts at the tree. But had he seen it when he carried her home? Had he seen one after, anywhere? The one she had brandished tonight could be the same one, but what if it was not? What if that little light stick was still lying out there by the Gifting Tree, just waiting for an Ape to find it … an ape like Koba, perhaps!
Well, I'm up for the morning, Maurice told himself. He rose from his nest, and tried to smooth down his rumpled hair. It would be so nice to have a female around to help with these little grooming tasks. He decided to go look in and see just how young Mary was getting along with his class. Maybe that would take his mind off of things. But he knew part of his mind was still going to be on his new friend, Karin, no matter what he did.
A/N:
Sorry for the long wait, folks. RL and internet conspiring to keep me from posting, I'm afraid. I hope everyone likes this chapter. And do stay tuned for much more.