WARNING!
The last section of this chapter contains some mild descriptions of past violence. So mild I don't even know if it warrants an alert, but I'm paranoid about ratings, so here's one anyway!
Maurice was almost positive that Karin had not slept through one night since her child was born, and not after the little girl died, either. He was absolutely certain that she had not slept through a single night since he had known her. So, after taking Sparrow's sleeping potion, when she did not wake up that night and the next morning or even that afternoon, he still was not overly concerned. But by the time the evening meal rolled around that day, and he had been up and walking about more than Karin had even stirred, slight concern changed into a gnawing and deep-seated worry, and he could not shake it. Sparrow's half-hearted reassurances next midday did little to comfort him. The big orangutan could see that their healer was worried as well.
So, when Karin finally began to move a little bit the next night, Maurice was instantly wide awake. If she hardly stirred for the last two days, she was making up for that now as she twisted and thrashed and moaned pitifully in her sleep.
He did not even have to think what to do. Maurice followed his second nature and did what he always did. He wrapped his long arms around the woman and pulled her tight against him. But it did not take him long to realize that this only made things ten times worse as she began to struggle against him. He reluctantly released her, and she wriggled a little away from him and lay panting and trembling on her stomach. Her clothes were now bunched up and terribly twisted around her body.
It broke his heart to lay there and watch. But after a little while, Karin grew still again. Maurice reached over and tentatively began to try and straighten her clothes for her. It just looked so restrictive and uncomfortable. His hand brushed her lower back as he pulled her shirt down, and the big orangutan froze. Feeling more than a little guilty, he slid his hand a little way under the back of her shirt, feeling the smooth softness of her skin there. Then his fingers traveled back down until they encountered the long deep rigids of the rough scars that marred her lower back and extended even lower beneath her clothing.
Very quickly, Maurice pulled her shirt back down, and settled her as best he could. But the gentle orangutan could not settle down, not now. The big ape was trembling inside with barely suppressed fury at the one who had done that to Karin.
But it was the deepest part of night. Everyone except the gorilla guard on duty were now sleeping, and none of them would have the answers he needed. Even Caesar did not seem to be up and about on one of his restless nighttime jaunts. The one time I wish he was up, Maurice fretted silently. So, there was no one he could speak to about this, not even Karin herself.
Taking several slow deep breaths, and forcing himself to be calm, Maurice slowly lay back down next to Karin, but he did not reach for her. Not doing this was harder for the orangutan than he ever expected. It had become almost an automatic thing to do. He wanted to hold her close, to keep her warm and protect her in his embrace, but his fear of somehow sparking those buried memories of her gruesome ape attack helped to suppress that longing, but only a little.
Maurice got no sleep for the rest of that terrible long night.
Sparrow was ready to send him back to his own hut the next day. She issued some very strict orders about not over stretching himself, no unnecessary lifting or climbing, etc. But Maurice had other questions for their Healer.
"Karin has scars," he told the female chimpanzee.
Sparrow gave a start of surprise, then made a sad mournful sound. "Yes, I know about them. We've seen them, some of us females. Oh Maurice, she didn't want you to see them."
The big orangutan bowed his head, feeling guilty again, though he did not understand why.
"Sparrow, I've seen apes with less vulgar scars who died from their wounds. How did she survive all the damage, the blood loss?" Maurice wanted to know.
The healer shrugged. "Some of her own human medicines, I suppose, and sheer force of will."
Maurice looked confused.
"A mother's love for her child, Maurice. She had her little girl to care for, and no one else to step in if she died," was Sparrow's only response. "I guess even human mothers will do anything for their children. I would not have believed it until now, but-
"She could not survive another attack like this," Maurice mused almost to himself. "No child to keep her alive this time."
"Well, we will just have to make sure it never happens again, won't we?" the chimpanzee stated. It was said more like an order than a question. Then, the young healer grinned up at the big orangutan. "And who knows. Maybe she has found someone—" The little chimp cleared her throat, but she was grinning at Maurice. "I mean, she will find something else to live for," Sparrow suggested coyly.
Maurice gave a low grumble, feeling heat creeping into his cheek pads. He wished he had not started this subject.
For her part, Sparrow was kind enough to pretend not to notice his embarrassment.
"She comes too, doesn't she?" Maurice asked. He would not leave without her.
The healer first rested a hand on Karin's forehead, then lightly touched her cheek. She gave a deep sigh and agreed. "I'm not doing her much good here. She might as well go with you. Besides, if she wakes up without you, it might frighten her."
Automatically, Maurice moved to gather Karin into his arms, but Sparrow grabbed his arm to stop him. "No!" Sparrow shook her head firmly at him. "I said she could go. I did not say you could carry her!"
the chimp healer put her foot down and was adamant. She would not let Maurice carry the woman up to his home. And Maurice knew that if he complained too much, she might not let him go home, either.
Then, Luca very conveniently appeared, a little too conveniently, causing the orangutan to wonder if the young silver-back and the chimpanzee healer had not already worked all this out between themselves days ago.
Nobody tells me anything, Maurice grumbled to himself. He did not like it, but if he had to let someone else carry Karin, at least he trusted Luca completely.
Curious ape eyes followed the odd procession as they moved up to Maurice's home, but Cornelia, Tinker and little Mary all saw to it that they kept a respectful distance.
"Why does she sleep but you do not?" Luca asked as they entered Maurice's home. The big gorilla sat back, still cradling the human woman in one arm as Maurice set about making his own nest a bit larger. It was really only suited for one.
"How did you know I was not sleeping?" the orangutan asked his young friend once he was done constructing a nest fit for two.
Luca grinned. "My spies, Aunt Kira and Aunt Sonya, remember? They were your caretakers. They heard you pacing last night."
Maurice sighed. He had almost forgotten that Luca's elderly twin Aunts had given up their homes temporarily to stay next door while he and Karin were in the Healing hut.
"Thank the ladies for me, will you, Luca," Maurice straightened up long enough to sign. "She took Sparrow's sleeping medicine," he added, and suppressed a grin as the young silver-back gasped.
"The same medicine that put Koba on his back for three days straight! That's very strong medicine, even for apes! Is it safe for humans?" Luca signed, looking almost accusing
"Well, it wasn't my idea. I wasn't even consulted in the matter," Maurice complained. "But Sparrow says Karin only took a child's dose," Maurice signed.
Gazing down on Karin's sleeping face, Luca grunted. It was obvious that even a child dose was not mild enough for human beings. Or at least not mild enough for Karin Evans.
"She will wake up soon," Luca signed as he tried to make his friend feel better. "And when she does, she will be hungry."
"I know. That is not what concerns me?" Maurice frowned, low worried rumblings coming from deep in his throat and chest.
"You worry about her safety when she leaves here," Luca prompted.
Maurice nodded.
"A wall would help?" Luca suggested hopefully.
Maurice smiled patiently. "It might, but she's dead set against that, Luca," Maurice told his gorilla friend. "We cannot force her to have a wall. That is like ... like ..."
"Like humans putting us in cages?" Luca finished the thought for him. "But it would be for her own good."
"Yes. But isn't that what some humans used to say about us," Maurice countered, albeit reluctantly. He wanted Karin to have a wall, too, but did not see any way of convincing her, not yet. And she did have one valid point against it. A wall would only be of limited usefulness without guards to manage it.
"That's different," Luca argued. "We're trying to help, and—"
Maurice gave a low chuckle, and the young silver-back broke off with a frustrated grunt. "I see what you mean," he gave in reluctantly.
Once Maurice was done, he gave his frustrated friend a pat on his shoulder and a sympathetic smile. Luca laid Karin down in the well-padded nest, then turned to go.
"Luca, if you see Tinker, will you ask her to come up when she has a moment?" Maurice signed.
Luca nodded. "I would be surprised if she and Cornelia and most of the other females did not show up at your door before too long, Maurice. But I will tell her. She might be busy, though. She told me that Monica is due soon, maybe today."
"Oh yes," Maurice smiled fondly. Monica was one of their older female gorillas. Everyone, including Monica herself, thought that her breeding time was well past until a few months ago.
Seeing that Luca was worried about the older female, who was something of a second mother to him, Maurice left his nest long enough to put a comforting arm over his friend's shoulders. "Don't worry, Luca. With Tinker, the midwives, and Sparrow looking after her, I'm sure she will be fine."
The big gorilla glanced back at the motionless Karin. "Yes. I'm sure she will be well, too," Luca signed. "It did wonders for Koba."
Luca started to leave but turned back at the last minute. "That's a phrase you'd better get used to telling yourself, Maurice."
"What is?" Maurice asked, confused.
"You'd better get used to telling yourself, 'I wasn't consulted in the matter'," Luca signed with a small grin before he left. "Because you will be saying it a lot."
Luca was only teasing him, but the orangutan felt that there was more than a hint of truth in the younger gorilla's jest.
Cornelia arrived a short time later. "I'm sorry, Maurice. Luca said you wanted to talk to Tinker, but she may be busy the rest of today."
"Monica?" Maurice signed.
The ape queen gave a long sigh, which was all the answer Maurice needed.
'How is blue Eyes?" Maurice asked of Cornelia and Caesar's son.
She grinned. "Mary got Ash to help her with the little one's classes today, and Ash volunteered Blue eyes."
Maurice gave a low chuckle, but his attention was really not on the matter.
"Luca says your troubled," Cornelia signed as she came to stand next to the fretting orangutan by the newly enlarged nest. Cornelia leaned over and lightly touched the top of Karin's head. "Is she sick? Should I fetch Sparrow?"
"We just left Sparrow," Maurice sighed. "And Tinker might need her today. But she won't wake, Cornelia," Maurice signed mournfully.
But Cornelia only smiled and motioned for Maurice to sit down and rest. "Maurice, that medicine of Sparrows could put our whole village to sleep for a week. It put—"
"I remember," Maurice interrupted, which he almost never did to anyone, especially not Cornelia. She was his Queen, but even more than that, she was his friend from as far back as the San Bruno days. "It put Koba to sleep for days. Poor little Mary was beside herself."
"A little like you are right now," Cornelia signed gently, touching Maurice's arm. If you remember that, then you remember what you told Mary?"
"Yes, Cornelia. I remember all too well. I'm not so ancient that my memory is fading yet," Maurice said. Then he sighed. "Forgive me, Cornelia. But now I know exactly how helpless Mary felt."
First, Cornelia warmly embraced Maurice, then she leaned over Karin. She Placed her ear first next to the human's lips, then briefly rested her head on Karin's chest before straightening up and smiling, passing a brief hand over Karin's forehead. "She breathes evenly, and her heartbeat is strong. But you must have checked all this for yourself, Maurice?"
"No, I have not," Maurice said sadly, and Cornelia gaped at him in surprise.
"No?"
"I—I am afraid to, Cornelia," the orangutan admitted. "I am afraid to get too close to her now."
If possible, Cornelia's eyes widened even more in surprise. "Maurice, what are you talking about?" the young Queen exclaimed. She was now far more worried about her orangutan friend than she was about Karin's health.
With a determined look on her face, the Queen took hold of Maurice's arm and tugged him away from his nest. She settled them both down at the huge wooden table situated in the middle of his home, taking much care to seat them both so they could still keep an eye on Karin.
"Now you tell me what this is all about, Maurice," Cornelia commanded. "Before I came up here, I thought we would all be prying poor Karin out of your arms." She started to grin but stopped seeing Maurice's expression. She laid a soft hand on Maurice's cheek. "What has happened, old friend? Please tell me"
So, Maurice explained everything that had happened about last night.
"Oh, my sweet Maurice," Cornelia signed before giving her friend a huge hug. "You know she wasn't truly fighting you, don't you? She was fighting against-"
"Pope," Maurice growled out loud.
'Yes," Cornelia signed slowly. "Him and everyone else who has ever hurt her in her life. As for her scars, Tinker and I do know about them. We saw them when we were taking care of her just after her arrival. They are gruesome, but Karin is exceptionally strong to have survived them. I expect that was because of her child," Cornelia added almost as an afterthought. "But Karin did not want you to see them."
"I know. And I also feel bad for violating her that way, but—"
Cornelia stiffened. "Oh, Maurice! I think 'violating' is too strong a word for what happened!" she objected quite sternly. "It isn't as if you mated with her in her sleep without her knowing."
The orangutan gave a gasp. "Cornelia, really!" Maurice signed, looking horrified. Who does such a terrible thing!"
"The one you and Rocket saved me from back at the Maggot hole," Cornelia said. That was what she called the San Bruno sanctuary most of the time. "It was the day that Rocket became our Alpha as I recall."
Then the Queen fondly touched Maurice's arm. ". "And I thought that would shock you out of it," she told him.
"As I recall," Maurice put in with a reluctant smile. "By the time Rocket and I got there, it was your assailant who needed saving, from you and Tinker and most of the other females."
"We didn't hurt him all that much. But what did you and Rocket do to him, anyway? He not only gave up his Alpha position to Rocket, but he was a completely changed ape from then on."
"I promised Rocket I'd would never tell," Maurice teased Cornelia.
Cornelia hooted out loud with laughter. "Oh, of course you did! And Tinker says that Rocket told her he promised you that he would never tell,"
Both apes went very still for a moment, but Karin did not stir.
"She will be fine, Maurice. This long rest may do her a world of good," Cornelia tried to reassure her friend. "In the meantime, you might want to look in on your classes, and see what an excellent job Mary has been doing with them." The Queen's face was beaming with pride over Koba's daughter. Mary was, almost, her daughter, too.
Maurice hesitated. "I don't want to leave her alone," he protested, but Cornelia was ready for him.
"Neither do I. She won't be alone Maurice. I promise I'll take care of all that. I'll sit with her for now. And if I have to leave before you get back, Luca's aunt Sonya will come. So will many of the Mother's whose younglings she sang to sleep. Karin will not lack for attendants. We females will tend to things. You have no excuse not to go for a little while, Maurice. So, get up, walk out the door and stretch your legs a bit."
Reluctantly, Maurice rose, but he turned back at the door. "Is this an order, oh mighty Queen?" he teased Cornelia.
Cornelia pulled a face at him, and he started down his walkway. But soon he heard Cornelia calling him back.
"If you want to know more about Karin's attack, why don't you ask Koba," Cornelia suggested.
"Koba?" Maurice questioned. "Why would I question Koba."
"He was the one who interrupted the attack, if I'm understanding things right," Cornelia said. "So, he may be able to tell you more about it than even Karin, herself."
"Koba?" Maurice was flabbergasted.
"You didn't know?" Cornelia responded. It was her turn to be surprised. "Karin told Caesar that Koba saved her life. I just assumed you knew that, too."
"NO," the big orangutan grumbled. "I had no idea. She didn't tell me."
"Well, she asked Caesar to thank Koba for her, and that was the reasons she gave him. No more details than that," Cornelia said. "Now hurry up or you'll miss the class, and Mary will be so disappointed."
Pondering what all this meant, and how Koba fit into the picture, Maurice nodded to Cornelia then hastened to the school area.
Cornelia had been right. The little ones were thriving under Mary's teachings. She even managed to help the slower ones catch up. Maurice decided he would make her a permanent teaching aid, if she was willing, and her father would permit it.
After spending much time greeting his students, which he had missed terribly, and then praising Mary to the skies which thoroughly embarrassed the girl, Maurice took his leave and went to wait for Koba's hunting party to return.
"Maurice?" Koba exclaimed, surprised to see the orangutan there. "What is wrong?" The scarred apes face suddenly tightened with dread. "Mary?" he began. "Did something happen to Mary?"
"No, Koba, Mary is just fine," Maurice quickly reassured the worried father. "But may I speak with you though ... in private."
Koba nodded. He handed his kill off to a waiting gorilla, then led the orangutan back to his home. He knew that Mary would not be back anytime soon. In fact, Koba knew he would probably have to call to get his child to come home.
"Mary has a flair for decoration," Maurice commented, seeing the many growing plants situated around what had been a very sparse hut. The blooms not only brightened up the home, but they gave the place a very pleasant scent.
Koba grunted and gestured around the hut. "Those things are in the way most of the time," he complained to Maurice. "But Mary loves them so much I didn't have the heart to make her move them."
Maurice's gaze went deliberately to the big fur lined box in one corner where a Mother cat lounged with her brood of kittens.
"Yes, those too," Koba grunted. "My sweet silly daughter will bury us all in cats before the year is out." Koba looked hopefully. "You want a cat?" he asked Maurice.
"I may take one," Maurice surprised Koba by agreeing. "Karin likes cats. And their purr is so soothing."
Koba grunted. "Thank you. Now sit down and tell me what you need to see me about if it isn't Mary, Maurice."
Maurice was not offended by the other ape's gruff nature. It was just Koba. He liked to get straight to the matter.
"First, I wanted to ask if you will let me ask your Mary to be my permanent teacher's helper," Maurice told Koba.
Koba let out a sigh. "She will do it, whether I approve or not," he grumbled.
"This is true," Maurice agreed. " But I will not formally ask without your permission," Maurice signed sedately.
"Oh, go on. Do what you think is best, then. Just don't get too used to having her around your school room. My daughter is meant for better things than that, Maurice."
"She is still very young," Maurice gently reminded Koba. "And she also trains with Sparrow. She may grow tired of teaching. None of us know what the children will choose to do with their lives, Koba."
This was the orangutan's way of gently preparing Koba for possible disappointment in the next few years. Maurice agreed with Koba that Mary would make a fine Queen. But he also knew that she did not want that high position.
Koba shrugged, and Maurice knew his sage advice had, as usual, gone in one ear and out the other.
"Is that all, Maurice?" Koba asked a little curtly.
"No. It isn't even the true reason I wanted to speak with you, Koba," Maurice said even more gently.
"I have not been bothering your human, Maurice," Koba objected. "I have been watching her, it's true. But with Mary being with her so much—"
Maurice drew in a slow breath and called on all his considerable patience not to bristle under Koba's comments.
"You are being a good Father, Koba. I do not protest about that. I might do the same. But Karin is not my human, Koba. She is my friend. She is a friend to us all. And ... I would like to know what happened the day you saved her life. I thought you wanted all humans to die, Koba?"
Koba's eyes flew wide. "I didn't... Who ... who told you? Did that human ... did she tell you that?"
"No. She told Caesar, he told Cornelia, and Cornelia told me," Maurice explained. "I won't ask why it is that you never told us about Karin? I would truly like to know someday if you are willing to tell me, but for now, I need to know what happened when she was attacked."
"Why?" Koba demanded obstinately. "Attack is over long ago. Pope is dead, and human woman is alive and now safely tucked away in our own village with our own females and children. Isn't that enough?"
"Not anymore," Maurice insisted stubbornly. "Please Koba. Just tell me what happened? For my own peace of mind."
"Why not ask her yourself?" Koba wanted to know.
"Because she took Sparrow's sleeping potion."
Koba blinked, looking startled. "I'm surprised that you let her take such strong ape medicine?" he protested. "Might be dangerous for humans."
"I was not asked. And I do not control Karin any more than you control your own daughter, Koba," Maurice told him flatly. "All females only tease us by letting us sometimes believe they do what we say. I thought you would know that by now. Also, I suspect that you know much about her attack that she does not know. Or can't let herself know," Maurice added sorrowfully.
"Maurice," Koba began carefully, even gently. "It is not a pleasant story. Trust me. It will bring you no peace of mind. You won't like what you hear."
"I didn't expect to enjoy it, Koba," was all Maurice said before fixing his friend, his brother, with a pleading stare.
"You're wrong, anyway," Koba told him bluntly. "You are wrong and so is she. I did not save her life. I almost killed her."
Maurice leaned forward, with his eyes now blued to Koba's face. And Koba was horrified. He had never intended to admit that, not to Caesar, not to Maurice or anyone. But now that it was out, he knew Maurice would never let the matter rest. For the gentlest most patient ape in the village, sometimes Maurice was also the most stubborn, and he had a fierce streak of temper buried deep within his nature. Koba had only roused the quiet ape's anger once before, when they were running for their lives after the Awakening, and Koba had continually referred to the zoo gorillas as 'useless noisy caterpillars' and 'wild animals' just because they could not sign or communicate well. He remembered how Maurice had stood up fully erect and actually roared at him, every hair bristling, his throat pouch swelling, his arm muscles quivering, and his normally soft eyes turned hard and unrelenting as they bored into Koba. The orangutan's rage had been short-lived but frightening to watch. And once Koba understood what he had done wrong, Maurice forgave him.
Maurice was right about the zoo gorillas not being animals. Koba was careful to never make that mistake again. But what the big orangutan was asking him now was so much worse. And if he reacted the way he did about the zoo gorillas ...
With a discontented huff, Koba sat down and reluctantly began to tell his story. It was tough getting going, but once he started, he was horrified to find that he could not stop telling it. It was as if a wall or a dam had been broken inside of him.
He told how he found Pope chasing what at first Koba believed to be, from a great distance, a female ape. He even told Maurice how, when he discovered it was a human that Pope pursued, he was not in as much of a hurry to intervene, though he trailed behind and watched. He was impressed by the human female's bravery and her agility. She ran and jumped almost as well as most of their children did, and he thought she might have been able to evade Pope if her hair had not come undone and trailed so far out behind her.
Koba visibly winced as he told of watching the chimp reel the woman in by her hair. He had it in his mind to let Pope finish off this human intruder, and then he, Koba, would step in and deal with Pope while the chimp was all unaware.
Pope began to drag her away, but the human female still fought back. He told Maurice how Pope had first threatened and then beaten the female, but she would not be still. She raked her nails down his face than spat at him, defiant to the end. Pope smashed her head repeatedly into a nearby tree, and finally she was still at last.
Koba thought it was all over, and he felt guilty
For not intervening, even if it was only a human being. It was still a female in distress, and some small part of Koba had wanted to help her. But he had largely ignored it.
He expected Pope to leave the female's body, but when he did not, Koba dared to go closer. And when he saw Pope leaning over the human and inspecting her body more closely than the situation called for, too close for Koba's comfort, something long buried and almost forgotten in Koba's mind rose up and he reacted from total horror, and flung himself atop Pope, knocking him away from the prone female.
Once his struggles with Pope were good and done, Koba had been surprised to find the female had gone. But it was not hard to track her. He found her a short way away, bloodied, unconscious and curled up beneath a thick bush. He told of how he feared this would be the start of human retribution against the apes, and that he had started to walk away more than once. He had wanted to walk away and leave the human female to her fate, but something pulled him back, and before he realized what he was doing, he had bound her terrible wounds as best he could with leaves and vines and then trudged through the woods carrying the dying human woman over his shoulders.
He then told Maurice of finding her home after a long and exhausting search through almost invisible paths that twisted and turned in on themselves so much that Koba was almost dizzy by the time he arrived at the human dwelling. He told of how struck he was by it's abandoned-seeming nature, and how he was certain the woman was dead or would be dead soon from her terrible injuries. she had lost so much blood and had barely whimpered as he carried her. And if she did not die soon, this meant that she would suffer the slow and painful death from infections.
At this point, Koba had to stop and get himself a drink of water. He offered one to Maurice, but the orangutan shook his head, and waited patiently for Koba to finish his drink and the story.
Koba told how he had not known what to do then. He tried to open the front door of the house, but it was very secure with many locks. He said that he was still mulling over his options when a thin and shrill wail of a youngling came from inside the house, temporarily freezing him in his tracks. "It sounded so much like my Mary," he told Maurice in a near whisper. His hands shook so much by now that he could barely sign, but he was determined to finish the tale now that he had started it.
Koba said that upon hearing the wailing child, the woman came immediately back to life before his eyes. So, she wasn't mostly dead after all. And miraculously, she managed to keep hold of her house keys on the thick rope around her neck. Koba stood well back as she dragged herself upright, agony etched in to every line of her face and warned him to stay away, then with a terrible effort, halled herself back inside her home and locked the thick door behind her. Koba heard the woman blundering her way through the house, and eventually the child's wailing was silenced.
"I waited a while, but the child no longer cried, and the woman did not come to the front of the house again. I scrubbed all the blood I could off her door step so it would not attract predators, and I left them behind."
Koba slumped down, exhausted and trembling, his head practically buried in his hands, unable to deal with the mix of emotions he was feeling at that moment. He could no longer look at Maurice. He had told the orangutan what he wanted to hear, but he had not told Maurice everything about the ending of that dreadful misadventure. Or about what he did for many weeks after. The former knowledge Koba swore he would take with him to his grave, and the latter ... Well, he was still to confused about that and just did not have the strength to talk of it at that moment.
Getting slowly to his feet, Maurice moved to his brother's side and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Koba. This was hard for you to tell. But I appreciate it. Can I do anything for you."
"You can leave me now," Koba muttered darkly from behind his hands.
Maurice did not want to leave him in this state, but he knew from long sad experience it would do no good to linger.
"Call if you need anything, Koba. And thank you again. We were not wrong. You did save Karin's life."
But as he stepped to the door, Koba called him back.
"Don't let Mary come home too soon," he pleaded with Maurice. "Tell her ...I don't know. Tell her anything you like. I'll call her when ... when—"
"Yes Koba. I will take care of things," Maurice agreed. He knew the ape did not want his little girl to see him in that state. Maurice did not necessarily agree with that, but he was not Mary's father.
The orangutan left Koba's hut and made his way slowly through the village. But it felt almost as if he walked in a trance. Koba's dreadful tale still echoed in his mind, and he could not silence it. He ignored everyone around him, even the children, and this was not like Maurice at all.
He did not stop walking until he was through the village gates, He ignored the greetings of the gorilla guard and kept moving forward until he was a long way from the village. Maurice stopped then and slumped heavily against a tree. He now understood an old human saying, "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it."
Koba had been right. Knowing gave him no peace of mind at all. In fact, now he felt even worse about keeping Karin so close in his nest. He had begun to believe that she wanted the closeness as much as he did. But now, he could not shake the thought that she had only let him be so close to her because first she had been injured, and later ... Well, perhaps she was too frightened to say no? She had intended to make her bed on the floor next to that healing nest after all, and he had not permitted her to do it.
A large part of his mind was trying to drown out these horrible musings by reminding him of all the times, and there were many, when Karin had initiated closer contact, all on her own and of her own free will. But this did nothing to comfort the rising anxiety within the gentle orangutan. It swelled and festered within him until he could not stand it another moment.
Climbing up into the highest point he could reach from where he rested, which would have been a beautiful view under normal circumstances, the tormented orangutan
Drew as much air in to his lungs as he could. His throat pouch swelled until it was actually painful, and he let out that tortured breath in a long and mournful howl of confusion and despair.
A/N:
I want to note a small milestone. With the posting of this chapter, this is officially the longest thing I have ever written and/or posted anywhere! 😀
Many thanks to all my patient readers - to all the ones who are still here with me, and huge hugs to any newcomers.
And a special thanks goes to a guest reader who left one of the longest and nicest reviews I've gotten in a very long time.