Koba woke up sometime during the night. This was nothing unusual. If he slept through without any nightmares, that was unusual. But as he started to try and rise without waking his daughter, he froze.
Mary was not in the nest beside him.
The utter panic of every parent who finds his child was not in her bed hit Koba like a punch deep in his gut, and he all but leaped from the nest. The distressed parent was ready to go awaken every single ape and tear the village apart until his little girl was found. But before he could go on an all-out parental panic rampage, he was brought up short yet again.
Mary was not out. She was sitting in a back corner of their hut, an animal pelt drawn around her small body. Her knees were drawn up to her chin. And she was softly crying, her face buried in her arms.
"Mary?" Koba gasped as he rushed to his little girl's side. "Mary! What is wrong?"
Instead of answering him, she only cried harder.
Koba reached out and pried his daughter's arms away as gently as he could. He put one hand under her chin and made her look at him.
"Are you sick? Hurt?" The anxious father ran his hand over his daughter's head and neck. He could feel no fever.
Mary simply shook her head, but remained stubbornly silent
"Nightmares?" Koba asked again. Sometimes, when she was much younger, Mary had the most awful dreams, dreams Koba recognized as something to do with human labs from what Mary was able to tell him. But she had not had any of these dreams for a long time. Unless she had been hiding them from him.
"You want Cornelia? Or Maurice or Luca?" Koba asked, feeling totally helpless. He did not relish the thought of having to disturb Maurice and his human female all tucked cozily in to their nest, but he would if Mary needed the old orangutan. He would even drag Luca away from his guard duties and/or go wake up the Ape Queen. Cornelia was practically Mary's mother, anyway, and Koba knew neither she nor Caesar would mind.
Finally, Mary swallowed hard, scrubbed at her eyes with one little fist, then glared at her Father.
"She's leaving today," the child accused. "She's leaving today, and it's your fault!"
Koba blinked. He did not need to ask which she his daughter was talking about.
"No," he tried to protest. "It isn't my—"
"It is!" Mary insisted. "It's your fault, and Stone's fault, and Gray's, and Cedars and Urko's and Red's and all those others! It's all your faults! You can't wait for her to be gone, can you, Papa. No matter what she does for us. She trekked through the forest to bring us food in the winters that kept the orangutans from starving to death. She came running to us to save Maurice! She saved Monica's little baby yesterday. The midwives had given up until Karin came and did whatever she did. But does that change any of your minds? No! None of You will give her a chance! None of you! And... You're all acting like ...like a bunch of scared humans!" Mary paused for a breath, her normally gentle and kind eyes now looking accusingly at her father. "Uncle Caesar always says apes are better, but he's wrong. We're not, are we?""
Koba waited. He opened his mouth but was at a complete loss for words. He was quite taken aback by his normally gentle daughter's heated declarations. Now he knew what the boys, mostly Blue Eyes and Ash, went through sometimes. But he was even more ashamed to think that they were nothing but the truth, and he had trouble meeting his daughter's accusing stare.
"Papa?" Mary whispered. Her tears had stopped, and She seemed a little calmer as she took Koba's face in her little hands. "I'm sorry. I know that humans hurt you very badly. But did Karin ever hurt you? Did she ever hurt anyone, ape or human?"
Mutely, Koba shook his head.
"If you hate humans so much, why did you give me two human names?" Mary demanded. "You told me about Mary, but you've never told me about the other one, about Amanda. Who is she? Was she Mary's daughter?"
Koba shook his head and swallowed hard, feeling tears sting his good eye and blurring his limited vision. He could barely see his daughter now through the haze.
He felt Mary gently wiping away his tears, and he gathered the child in his arms and held her close, pressing his muzzle into her long hair.
"Oh, my little Mary Amanda," he whispered his child's beloved name as softly as he could in his gravelly voice. Slowly, he ran his hand through his beautiful child's long soft thick hair. It really was getting too long. But it reminded him so much of Amanda. It was her hair, in fact, in every way from its texture to its color to the way it grew, nonstop. He knew that Mary despised it because it made her stand out even more from the other ape females. But sometimes when he was grooming his child's hair, picking out the leaves and other debris she inevitably collected, it almost felt like he had never been torn away from Amanda's side. Although Amanda had never gotten quite so much debris in her hair.
Taking a deep breath, Koba tried to steady himself.
"She was a little girl. A human girl. Not much older than you. We were best friends. I was her eyes, her trusted guide," he told Mary finally when he was able to speak again through the huge lump in his throat. "Amanda was blind, and I was her guide. I hurt a human man who was trying to steal her. But the humans took Amanda away from me."
It was Mary's turn to gape in surprise.
"That was mean of them," she stated angrily.
Koba nodded. He could not have put it any better, himself.
"So, you did love some humans? She pressed on hopefully. "You did love them, once?"
Reluctantly, Koba nodded again.
"Can't you try again with one more? Karin wants to get to know you, Papa. I know she does. And if you can't do that, then just tell the others to leave her alone."
Koba sighed. Loving the human woman might be too much for even his daughter to ask of him, but privately he did admire the woman strength and determination, and her courage. And he felt for her over losing her child. Koba did not know what he would do if something ever happened to his Mary.
But back to Maurice's human, he had watched her and her child for so long that it was inevitable he would become a little concerned for her welfare.
And Koba supposed that, for Mary, he could talk to the more quarrelsome of the apes about the human female. Because Koba had the feeling that, while she might be going home, they had hardly seen or heard the last of her. Maurice would see to that. And neither Caesar nor Cornelia were likely to even try and stop him. Tinker and Rocket would, of course, back them up, and even Luca and many of the gorillas were now on her side, as were many of the females.
And Mary was right. Koba had no evidence that the human woman might be a danger to apes. In fact, he grudgingly conceited that all the evidence stacked up firmly on her side.
"I will talk to them," Koba promised his daughter. "I can't control them, though."
"Especially Cedar," Mary sniffed disdainfully. "but talking is good," Mary conceded a little
Koba groaned out loud. He could barely stand the company of Gray's simpering and insufferable wife, and often wondered why gray did not put her aside and choose another more suitable female.
"Papa, you still haven't told me much about Amanda," Mary insisted as Koba picked her up and moved back to their shared nest.
"Luca knew Amanda too," Koba said, hoping to deflect his daughter for a little while longer.
"He did?" Mary brightened visibly. "How? Was Uncle Luca a guide, too. Or a protector, like he is here at home?"
"I don't know," Koba admitted. He had always meant to have a long talk with Luca about the gorilla's exact relationship to his Amanda. There just never seemed the right time or place for that conversation. Koba did not want to open old wounds or old disputes, but now that the gorilla could communicate like a proper ape, they could talk about it in a civilized manner.
Or, perhaps Koba was just afraid to find out how and why Luca knew Amanda. Had Luca been Koba's replacement in the girl's life?
As he settled Mary back down with him in their family nest, the little girl sighed. "You're just telling me about Uncle Luca, so you don't need to tell me, yourself. Do the memories hurt that much?"
Again, Koba was taken aback by his daughter's insight. She was far too smart for her age and for his own good. All he could do was nod his head.
"Okay," Mary sighed. "I'll ask Uncle Luca, but I still want to hear about her from you someday? Please, Papa?"
Koba sighed. "someday," he said as they settled back down, Mary resting her head on his shoulder as they tried to go back to sleep.
Since Karin was practically unconscious for nearly three days, it was no surprise when she awoke in the middle of the night yet again. Slipping gently out of the nest she shared with Maurice, she went and sat on what she began to think of as the front porch, the large platform outside Maurice's front door. She had not sat there with her feet dangling off the edge for long before movement below got her attention. Glancing down, she half-expected to see Luca or one of the other gorillas. But it was Caesar.
Oh boy, here it comes, Karin thought. She remembered Mary's determination to get Caesar to make her, Karin, stay in the village. Wishing for a simple handrail, she made her careful way down the ramp to meet the Ape King, but her steps were more than a little hesitant.
"Mary got to you, did she?" Karin asked. "Caesar, you of all people aren't going to start laying out reasons why I should stay, are you?"
"I didn't talk to Mary," Caesar said. "Talked to her Father, instead. Now I know why you wanted me to thank Koba for you. He told me about the food he left for you."
"So, it was Koba who left all that fresh kill," Karin said with a faint smile. "I'm confused, Caesar. Doesn't he hate humans? Why would he go out of his way to help me?"
"He does hate humans," Caesar confirmed. "Maybe not as much as I thought. And I am confused too. Maybe because of your child?"
Karin gave a little laugh as they walked towards what the apes called there Law Stone, also Maurice's school area. "Well, at least I'm not alone in my confusion. Don't suppose you know what he said that got Maurice so upset?"
Caesar just shook his head.
"What else confuses you?" Caesar asked curiously.
"Pick something," Karin told him as they settled down on a large tree stump. "I mean, really, Caesar. This place, the people. You're all pretty amazing! You've gotten several different ape species to work and live together in the same place without killing each other. That's amazing!"
As another gorilla guard passed by in the distance, Karin suddenly stood up and peered intently at him for a few seconds. Then, she dropped back down beside Caesar again.
"Not big enough," she murmured distractedly. "It' can't be him."
"Are you looking for someone?" Caesar asked. It was not the first time he noticed Karin scrutinizing the gorilla guards as if looking for a long-lost familiar face.
"Yes, but I bet I missed him. I bet he came and went while I was passed out, didn't he?"
"Who?" Caesar was now afire with curiosity.
"King Kong's, uh, I mean Luca's Father. He's been here and gone and I missed him, didn't I?"
The Ape King gazed at her for a long moment in silence before shaking his head.
"Luca's father?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah, I know he escaped with you guys. So, where is he?"
Caesar was still gazing at her with undisguised puzzlement.
"Isn't Luca's father this gigantic gorilla named Buck?" Karin asked tentatively.
Caesar gasped out loud, and instantly, Karin wished she had said nothing.
"Buck? He is Luca's Father?" the Ape king was floored.
Karin opened her mouth, but before she could answer, Caesar stood up, and held out his hand to her. The woman rose and let Caesar take her hand. He led her to the village walls. The Ape King signed to one of the gorillas, and this gorilla in turn emitted a low barking grunt. It must have been some type of summons because before long, Luca came in to view. He was walking briskly, but not in a worlds coming to an end manner. Karin figured he had been patrolling the outside of the walls tonight.
She also wondered if this gorilla ever slept at all?
"Caesar," the silver-back greeted his King before he smiled aside at Karin.
"Luca, why didn't you tell me. Buck was your father?" Caesar asked. He signed but also spoke out loud, Karin assumed for her benefit.
Luca's jaw nearly hit the ground. When he was able to get it up where it belonged, he tried to speak, but was clearly unable so he signed to Caesar. "Buck is my Father? I never knew my Father, Caesar."
Karin only caught one sign out of that, the name Caesar. But the expressions on both apes' faces told her all she needed to know. Oh Karin Evans, what can of worms have you just opened up here, the human worried.
After exchanging a few more signs, Caesar turned back to her. "Why would you think buck was Luca's Father, Karin?" he asked.
With both ape's eyes on her, the woman had to swallow a few times before she could speak.
"Well, uh," Karin floundered. "Just looking at Luca and getting to know him a little and finding out that he was a zoo gorilla, I just assumed. I ... I really don't know for sure. But Buck's sperm was sold to the San Fran zoo. It was sold all over the world for the gorilla populations in many zoos."
"So, Buck could be Luca's father?" Caesar pressed on.
"Yes, he very well could be," Karin confirmed. "And Luca may not be the only one. Buck may have children scattered all over this planet, in fact."
Again, Karin could see that she had astonished the two apes.
"There are. Other apes?" Luca ground out.
Karin nodded. "Of course, there are. Or I assume that there still is. There were pockets of apes all over this country. All over the world, Luca. They were in various zoos, and of course, laboratories. Some people kept some apes as pets. What, did you guys think you were the only ones?"
"Yes," Caesar answered her. Luca nodded, too. He was clearly floored by all this, and Karin could not read his expression. But she could read Caesar's. What started out as excited curiosity was rapidly turning to deep concern as the chimp looked at her. It gave her a nasty cold feeling deep in her stomach.
"What's wrong? Doesn't Buck live near here?" Karin asked. "I figured he might not do well in all the crowds. He wasn't ever used to having so much company. But where is he, Caesar?"
And now even Luca was also staring at her with deeply concerned and very sorrowful eyes. He and Caesar exchanged a few signs that Caesar did not translate before the silver-back lightly laid one hand on Karin's shoulder. Then he reluctantly turned away to go back to his assigned tasks.
"Okay, I know that look. Big mouth Betty strikes again," Karin muttered. "What did I say wrong this time. And why are you looking at me like that?" Karin wanted to know. "Caesar, where's buck. I know he escaped from San Bruno with you. Did he go on to start his own colony or what? Does he live near here?"
Karin watched as Caesar took a moment to compose himself. "Come," Caesar said very softly. He took her arm and started to gently lead her back where they were in the beginning. "We will sit. I will tell you about buck. But how did you know him?"
"Oh, well, I first met him ... on a movie set," Karin said slowly. "Our jerk director wanted a real living breathing gorilla as a visual prop that day. They brought me in to meet buck, and things, well, things got a little out of hand for a while."
"buck. He did not. Hurt you?" Caesar asked.
Karin smiled fondly as she remembered. "No, of course not. No, not at all. Our loud mouth director, well, that's another story. I believe he left the entertainment business when he finally got off that set."
"I would love to hear the story, sometime," Caesar said. Then he peered at her more intently. "Karin Evans ... King Kong ... Anne. You are Anne." Caesar said so quietly that Karin was not sure at first if she heard him correctly.
"Uh, yeah. I was in that version of King Kong. And I did play Anne in the last version. Most fun I ever had on a set ... Well, for the most part. How in the world do you know about King Kong, Caesar?"
Surely, they did not let him watch King Kong, Karin told herself.
"Watched it. On TV. With a close friend," Caesar said.
It was Karin's turn to look utterly floored. Under other circumstances, she would have asked him what he thought of it, but there were more important questions that needed answering.
"Caesar, normally I'd ask for your opinion and happily tell you behind the scenes movie stories all night if you wanted me to. But if I didn't know better, I'd say you were stalling," Karin said. "Please, just tell me. Where is Buck? I swear I won't go and bother him."
Caesar swallowed hard and sat them both back down where they had started. Then, the Ape King took both the woman's hands in his. He gave a long drawn-out sigh, and Karin could see him steeling himself for something big. The knot in the pit of her stomach got heavier and colder.
Then, as gently as he could, he told her what happened to buck.
When Maurice woke up at the crack of dawn and Karin was not beside him, his first impulse was to go rushing out into the village to look for her. He sat up and stretched, feeling the bones in his arms, legs and back pop. But when he got out of his nest, the big orangutan discovered his human companion was much closer than he thought. She was sitting on the floor in the back corner of his home. She had re-packed her bag, and was slumped over, using it for a pillow.
Maurice stood gazing down at her in bewilderment for a long time. He wondered just what he had done wrong to make her abandoned the warm nest to sleep on the floor like this. Easing himself down next to her, the big ape reached out one huge hand and got an even worse surprise as he tenderly brushed some hair from her face. He saw that she had not only left their nest and already re-packed her belongings in preparation to leave, but she had apparently sat down after that and cried herself to sleep, too.
Bewilderment slowly gave way to anger in Maurice's normally placid and gentle soul. If he had not been the cause of this, and he was still not certain that it was not his fault, then what had happened? Had she gone out for a nighttime walk alone and someone took advantage of that? Had someone hurt her? Maurice was certain Luca would have given instructions to the nightshift of the gorilla guards, but what if ...
Urko!
Had Monica's irascible brother, Urko, done something else? The females would begin his punishment today on account of his striking Rocket's wife, tinker, and the gorilla was not too happy about that. So, did he think he would get away with harassing Karin just because she was not Maurice's wife? Just because she was a human? And on what was, likely, her last day in the village, too!
Why can't they just leave well enough alone, Maurice silently fumed.
Well, if that is what he thought, Maurice would show him just how wrong he was! Getting very slowly and deliberately to his feet, Maurice went to his nest and retrieved a thick pelt. He walked back to Karin's side and gently wrapped the animal pelt around her sleeping form. It covered her easily from head to toe. He started to pick her up and put her back in the nest but was afraid of waking her.
Deciding to go straight out and get some answers from someone, the flustered orangutan went to his door. He tore aside the animal skins with a ferocity that would have shocked anyone who saw it and stepped out with determination into the breaking dawn. But as he drew in a slow deep breath of the clean crisp morning air, he began to calm down and reconsider. To be fair, and in order not to make another village-wide spectacle of himself, Maurice supposed he really ought to investigate before blaming Urko or anyone else.
Glancing up towards Caesar's home, he saw a growing crowd of apes gathering just outside. Now what was going on there, he wondered as he made his way down his walkway and towards the group. On the farthest edge of the crowd, he met up with old Percy.
"Good morning, Maurice. Am I glad to see you!" the old orangutan signed with relief. "Phoebe was about to send me to fetch you and—" Percy broke off and looked about him. "Where's Karin?" he asked. But before Maurice could answer, the elder went on, "I suppose she's sleeping after what happened last night, the poor little thing."
Why does everyone in this village seem to know what's going on with Karin except me, Maurice thought exasperatedly.
"I haven't spoken to Karin yet. Percy, what did happen last night," Maurice signed, drawing the elder even further away from the crowd. But even as he did this, he could not help but notice that the crowd was mostly made up of the females and the elderly of the village.
Maybe Cornelia is having some sort of meeting this morning, Maurice thought. But it was very early. Also, it was highly unusual that she would not have let him know about such things.
"They are quite stirred up this morning, aren't they," Percy commented.
"Percy, can't you talk to Phoebe. I know she likes Karin. She could help calm things down, and—" Maurice began.
"Wait," Percy held up one hand. "You think most of those females are gathered to drive Karin away, is that it?" The older orangutan began to laugh, and he draped one long arm about Maurice's shoulders. "Well, oh wise young one, I don't get to say this often enough. But you are wrong. Well, perhaps not about that lot."
He pointed to a very small group of females, no more than five of them, leaving the much larger group in a huff. It was no big surprise that Cedar was among them.
"But as for the rest of them," Percy went on. "it is quite the opposite. They are all gathering to try and get Cornelia and/or Caesar to convince Karin to stay. Phoebe and Luca's aunt Sonya in particular are very concerned about her being all alone out there."
Maurice sighed. "They are wasting their time, then. She won't do it," Maurice stated. "She will never come and live with us without a very good reason. She will never leave her house ... her Father's land. More importantly, she will not leave her daughter's grave.""
The older orangutan dropped his eyes and gave a long sigh. That, at least, he could understand. Before joining Caesar's group, he and Phoebe had watched helplessly as their humans fell ill. And then they buried their human family. And, though they never talked about it to any other apes, it still bothered them somewhat that they left even though there was nothing more that could have been done.
"That is understandable," Percy sympathized. "I'd have thought however," he went on, "that you might be a good enough reason? I'd have thought that you could convince her to stay?"
"No one convinces Karin of anything she does not really want to do, oh wise elder," Maurice told Percy. His expression and the tilt of his hands said plainly that he did not like it, but it was an unalterable fact of life.
The older orangutan just shook his head very slowly. "Perhaps you just need to try harder to persuade her," Percy immediately suggested.
But the crowd was beginning to move at last. Caesar and Cornelia had finally emerged from their home. and everyone was now headed towards the Law Stone. Almost automatically, Maurice and Percy fell in with Caesar and various other ape council members as the apes began an impromptu gathering.
Karin woke up and immediately groaned in discomfort. She was so stiff that she could barely move. She had not intended to fall asleep on the hard unforgiving floor the way she had done. She had simply meant to collect herself a bit before going back to bed. But she had been desperate not to rouse Maurice either. It was bad enough that he was subjected to her nighttime miseries in her own home. She refused to put him through that in his own home. Well, she wanted to try and shield him from it, anyway.
Painfully unfolding herself, Karin got slowly to her feet, wincing all the while. The first thing she noticed was that Maurice was gone. When she stuck her head out of Maurice's door, the second thing she noticed was that she was not alone. Standing just outside the door were three little figures, signing quietly to one another and looking at her with anxious worried expressions.
"Good morning, girls," Karin yawned and stretched and groaned out loud this time.
The three ape children, Mary, Lake and little Ivy, immediately rushed to her side.
"It's okay, kids," Karin tried to reassure them as she stretched and various bones popped and cracked. "I'm fine. I'm just getting too old to sleep on a floor, that's all."
"I don't suppose one of you did this?" she added, indicating the thick luxurious-feeling pelt wrapped around her shoulders. Karin knew that she would find it a little easier to move if she took it off. It was very heavy, but it was so nice and warm.
All three shook their heads.
"Yeah, I was afraid of that," Karin sighed. "Well, I wonder where Maurice has gotten too?"
"He's probably at the meeting," Mary piped up as Lake and Ivy offered Karin some breakfast which the three girls had brought for her. "I saw him with most of the other council members."
"Meeting? Uh-oh! What did I do this time?" Karin remarked almost to herself. But trying not to frighten or offend the children, the woman forced herself to sit back down. Inviting the three young ape girls to join her, Karin ate a good bit of the breakfast they had brought even though she really didn't want it at all. She never cared much for breakfast. But the woman was honest enough with herself to admit that if she did not eat, not only would the girls feelings be hurt, but she would probably faint dead away before she made it halfway home.
Still, the children took notice of everything she left.
"don't worry. It won't go to waste. I'll pack it up and take it with me. I'll snack on the rest of this on the way home," Karin told them.
"So, you really are going?" Mary asked sadly.
"Well, of course I am, honey," Karin told Koba's daughter. "this is your home. It isn't mine. I'd have been out of here days ago if it weren't for sparrow's drugs knocking me out flat."
"But it could be. It could be your home, I mean," Mary insisted. Both Lake and Ivy nodded their heads and made gestures that were clear to Karin even if she could not read most sign. The other girls were letting Mary do all the talking, but they were definitely cheering her on.
"Mary," Karin began, pushing the remains of her breakfast away and turning to the slender ape girl. She put both arms around the child and hugged her close. "I promised Caesar and Cornelia I'd be out of here just as soon as Maurice was back on his feet. Since he isn't here, he's clearly back on his feet. So, it's time for me to stop disrupting the normal routines of this village and get my little human tale back to where I belong."
"Dis ... Dis," Mary was valiantly trying to pronounce one of the new words she had just heard.
"Disrupting," Karin repeated it for her. "That means changing, and probably not for the better."
"dis ... dis-rup-ting? Disrupting!" Mary finally managed the word. She grinned, and Ivy and Lake both clapped and hoot-panted happily for her. Karin gave her an encouraging grin, but the mood turned somber right away.
Little Ivy touched Karin's shoulder then signed something.
"She asks is buck really Luca's father?" Mary translated.
Lake touched Karin's cheek with one finger and also signed something.
"And Lake asks why you cried yourself to sleep," Mary added.
Karin blinked. "Oh man! News travels fast around here. To answer your questions in the right order, girls, I don't know, and I cried myself to sleep because I just learned—" Karin had to stop and collect herself. It was clearly a struggle for her, and her voice trembled with her next words. "I learned last night that a friend of mine died five years ago. I've been expecting ot see him any time and now well, I won't ever see him again."
Karin put her head down and tried valiantly to slow her tears. She did not want to frighten these children by the same outburst that Caesar had witnessed last night.
Lake and Ivy both pointed to Mary. Swallowing down her sobs and slapping tears away from her cheeks, Karin noticed for the first time that Koba's daughter looked like she had had a bad night, too. All three of the ape children made sad noises and put their arms around Karin. She hugged them back for a few seconds before squirming out of their embrace.
"Mary, what's wrong?"
Mary only shrugged. "You're leaving. That is what is wrong," she said implacably.
"Please girls, don't get me going again. It's very sweet of you to stay with me and to bring me this yummy breakfast But Tinker wants me for something this morning, then I really do have to get ready to go. I don't have time to fall apart this morning."
Lake and Ivy both looked unhappy, but it was Mary who burst out, "Why? Should not be alone now. Don't you want to stay with Uncle Maurice?"
"Oh Mary," Karin reached out and gently stroked the ape girl's blond head. "You don't mince words, do you. I wish it were that simple, honey. But it's not. We don't always get to do what we want to do. Not even when we're grown up."
"Then why grow up at all?" Mary demanded.
Karin gave a feeble little laugh and gently ruffled the girl's hair. "I've asked myself that question a thousand times. Now, do any of you know where I can find Tinker?"
"She's at the meeting," Mary replied, and pointed to the door.
"Meeting? Oh, right-"
Karin stepped outside, the little ape girls beside her. As she spotted the huge ape meeting at the Law-Stone, she frowned. "What's all that about?"
"It's about you, I think. Many of the females-" Mary began. But she got no farther.
"Oh, no," Karin groaned. Then, taking a deep breath, she ran down the wooden walkway, wincing with every step and still clutching the pelt that Maurice used to cover her tightly around her shoulders.
When ape meetings started to get too rowdy, it was normally Caesar who quieted them. This time, the Ape Queen was the one to stand up straight and give a loud bark which got everyone's attention. They all fell silent, mostly out of respect, but partly out of surprise as well.
Cornelia stepped to Maurice's side. "Please, go and ask her to join us, Maurice," she signed to the orangutan, and pointed to where Karin now stood many yards away. The human woman stood stock still, her puffy eyes wide with dismay, not daring to come any closer to the ape meeting but unable to take her eyes off of them either.
Maurice nodded and moved to Karin's side. It took a few moments and some serious persuading on Maurice's part, but eventually the orangutan led an obviously reluctant Karin through the large group of apes to stand before the Ape King and Queen and many of the council, not to mention the crowd.
Cornelia stepped forward and put a gentle hand on Karin shoulder. Then, she removed it and began to sign. Caesar translated this time.
"All these apes. Here," and he gestured to the crowd. "they want us. To make you stay," Caesar told Karin.
The woman straightened and drew in a sharp breath, ready for a fight. But Caesar went on quickly to allay her fears. "Told them. We cannot make you stay," the Ape King quickly reassured her. "Can only ask that you stay"
This time, Karin's eyes were wide with surprise. She looked first at Cornelia, who nodded. Then she looked over the crowd, many of whom also nodded vigorously. But a loud exclamation from outside the group caused everyone to freeze. Koba was approaching with a small group of apes, and they were all hooting and screeching and gesturing angrily amongst themselves. And more than one was glaring at Koba.
"well, here comes the leader of the opposition," Karin muttered aside to Maurice as Caesar motioned for Koba to join the Ape Council.
"Caesar, Cornelia, please, may I ... May I say something before this gets out of hand?" Karin requested.
The king and queen both nodded and parted to allow Karin and Maurice to stand between them.
"Please, everyone, there's no need for conflict here," Karin began. "Many of you have been so much more than kind to me, and I'm so touched by your offer." The human smiled gently at many of the females. "But I'm more than willing to go. I have a home, and I am not looking for a new one. But, I, uh, I also had an idea? If you all will permit it?"
Cornelia and Caesar both looked to Maurice, but it was obvious he had no idea what the woman was about to say.
Karin cleared her throat and began to speak again. "Even before my little girl died, we were throwing away too food every week. And now that I'm alone, well, I'm throwing away even more food. I don't eat much, as many of you have noticed, and I can only preserve so much, too."
There was a grumble from many, including Maurice. Karin smiled at them and patted Maurice's hand before going on. "Well, as some of you might have heard, I used to have a very big family, me and my six brothers and my Father, and sometimes Elizabeth when she bothered to come home. I also had an Uncle who lived nearby, too, my Dad's twin. the land fed all of us and most of our neighbors very well, and it still produces very well most of the time, better than it ever did, in fact. It produces way more than I can eat all by myself. What I was thinking, if you will allow it, was that I could possibly bring a load of food to the village every week or two? You have such a large group here, I know you can use it. Well, that's what I was thinking."
Maurice had been signing to the group as Karin spoke, and there was a general murmur going through the ape crowd now, Even one or two of the angry group that came with Koba seemed at least willing to consider the human's plan.
But not all of them.
An old chimp, the tip of his right ear missing, stepped forward with an angry roar. He glared briefly at Karin, then at Maurice, and finally turned his glare on Koba as he signed angrily to the other apes. Koba glared right back and signed something with obvious irritation, and the noise level slowly began to rise again.
"What did they say?" Karin demanded of Maurice as Caesar stood up straight to quiet the growing conflict.
But before Maurice could answer, the old chimp apparently had more to say. He signed something in furious gestures to Koba that made the scarred bonobo give a loud angry roar and lunge forward, only to be stopped, though rather half-heartedly, by Luca, who was also glaring at the older disrespectful chimp and grumbling rather loudly.
Maurice took a firmer hold of Karin and drew her protectively to his side as Caesar and Cornelia signed quickly to one another for a moment. Then, Cornelia laid a hand on Karin's shoulder before pointing up to her and Caesar's home.
"You want me to go wait up there while you guys talk this out?" Karin hazarded a guess as to the Queen's intentions.
Cornelia nodded.
"No problem," Karin agreed right away, more than happy to remove herself from the crowd that she had never intended to speak in front of in the first place.
And Percy's wife Phoebe went with her, along with Julius, one of Cornelia's gorilla guard.
Old Phoebe put a comforting hand on the human's shoulder, but Karin continued to fidget nervously in one of the lower parts of Caesar and Cornelia's home. Not that she did not enjoy or appreciate Phoebe's company and old Julius's protection, but Karin wished that Maurice could have come with her. She recognized however that his hopefully rational and calming influence was definitely needed, though she figured all apes knew what the orangutan's thoughts on the matter would be.
"I'm sorry," she apologized to the two apes with her. "I never wanted to say all that in front of most of the village. I meant to talk to Caesar and/or Cornelia about it in private. I didn't mean to start trouble all over again."
Phoebe made a dismissive sort of sound and gently stroked Karin's hair, trying to sooth her. It only helped a little bit.
It was not long before Caesar and Cornelia, along with Maurice, appeared. Maurice and Cornelia were both openly grinning as the orangutan moved swiftly to Karin's side.
"We accept your generous offer," Caesar told Karin. "What would you like in repayment?"
Karin blinked. "What? Repay, no, Caesar. this isn't a business arrangement. You don't have to repay me," she insisted. "I told you. The food will spoil if no one eats it. If I had help, I could bring in a lot more, but other than that-"
"apes will help," Caesar promised. "What about repairs?"
"Oh, I knew that was coming. I bet Luca brought that up, didn't he?" Karin guessed. Her expression was a mix of great affection and total exasperation for the big silver-back.
"He did," Caesar admitted.
"Okay. I will say again this is totally unnecessary. But there is a lot that needs to be done and I can't do most of it by myself. I suppose I can make a list of the things you guys could help me with outside the house," Karin reluctantly conceited. "there is one little thing ... Maybe you can talk Luca out of that wall nonsense?"
"We can try," Caesar agreed.
Karin laughed. "If he's even half as stubborn as big Buck, try is all you can do. But thank you anyway, Caesar. I'll love seeing more of this food put to some good use and not just being dumped out in the woods near the house. Now the morning's getting on, and I really need to get ready to head out—"
Cornelia raised her hands and signed something urgently.
"Tinker," Maurice began.
"Oh, Tinker and the midwives. I almost forgot."
But as she started to leave, she turned back to the ape King and Queen. "You guys aren't just making excuses to keep me here until it's too late to leave, are you?" the human woman asked suspiciously.
As Caesar only shrugged, both Cornelia and Maurice gave Karin identical exaggerated innocent looks that said as clear as any spoken words, 'Who, us? Would we do that?'
"Oh, okay. I don't have time to argue with either one of you about this. I'll go and see Tinker and the midwives, but then I have to get out of here if I want to make it home well before dark and not have to run most of the way home."
The business with the midwives took almost an hour. They wanted to talk about Karin's saving the baby gorilla, of course, and Karin told them all that she knew. She also took great pains to try and explain to them that the procedure might not always work on every baby ape. But they were all clearly excited.
Then, she was taken to see Monica and her new baby girl and was told that the new mother wanted to name her daughter Karin. The woman objected to this. She had never cared much for her own name. So, Monica said she would name the child after Karin's daughter, instead. Karin could not have objected to that even if she had wanted to. She was far to moved and choked up with emotion.
Monica insisted that Karin sit with her and her new baby for a time, and when the woman rose to try and leave, the little gorilla girl wrapped her strong baby fingers in Karin's hair and refused to let go. The child wailed pathetically after Monica and Tinker untangled her from Karin's long hair.
"Nothing wrong with little Lisa's lungs, is there," Karin sniffed as she walked away from Monica's hut.
She hugged Tinker, promised she would see her and the others in a few days, and headed straight for Maurice's home to collect her things.
It was no surprise to find the old orangutan waiting inside for her.
"Well, guess this is it," Karin said. She tried to make it sound light, but her voice caught on the last word.
Karin swallowed hard and bit her lip. She was not looking forward to this goodbye, even if it was only temporary.
"Don't you have classes this morning?" she asked him around the lump forming in her throat.
"Later," Maurice told her. "After breakfast is done."
He stepped past Karin, tied his animal-skin door closed, then he came back to her and wrapped both arms around her. As she put her arms around his neck, the woman's slender form all but vanished as she was drawn in and enfolded and held close in those long orangutan arms.
"You're not gonna make this any easier for me, are you, Maurice?" Karin said, her voice a little muffled by Maurice's thick coat.
"Never said I would," he rumbled quietly, and that at least made her smile a little.
"no, I guess you never did," she agreed. "but you don't have to make it so hard."
"Good idea you had. About bringing us more food," Maurice rumbled. "Very good excuse, too."
"What do you mean? It was not an excuse!" Karin objected. "You know I have more food at the house than I can eat, Maurice."
"True," Maurice almost purred. "Still good excuse to come and go. But what about the winter time?"
"I'll come up with another excuse. I mean, reason," Karin corrected herself as Maurice began to chuckle at her little slip of the tongue.
"Stop that! Oh, you are impossible," Karin cried as he easily lifted her up and carried her to sit with him for a few moments in the nest. As they looked deep into one another's eyes, Karin slowly combed her fingers through Maurice's long hair, and he did the same to her. Then, she reached out and drew the big orangutan's forehead tenderly to her own. He pulled the rest of her even closer to him, and they stayed that way for a long time. The fact that they could faintly hear the whole village up and moving around outside was the only thing that restrained their goodbye to such simple yet deeply meaningful gestures.
After a deliciously long time, Karin gave a long sigh, and she began to untangle herself. Maurice let her go, but very slowly.
Maurice walked with her out of the village gates and for a little while further before he very reluctantly turned back towards home.
Then, Luca seem to magically appear with a couple of his gorilla guard. They ambled along with her for a while longer before they turned back towards home.
She began to grow very suspicious when Caesar and a small hunting party also chose to move alongside her for a time, but eventually, even they left her to go and chase their pray.
And just when she thought she was finally going to get those moments to herself on her long walk home, an ape dropped down from the trees to stand in front of her.
Karin gave a start of surprise before she realized who it was. But that knowledge did not immediately bring her much comfort.
It was Mary's Father, Koba. He was alone, no other ape was in sight as far as Karin could tell.
"Excuse me, Koba," she said and tried to step around him.
But he moved easily to block her way.
"Koba, please. I have left the Ape village and I'll go home if you'll kindly get out of my way," Karin told him, more annoyed than frightened.
"but human will come back," Koba stated.
"Yes, I will, with as much food as I can manage. I'm sorry, Koba. I know you opposed that, but-"
Koba made a sound that was somewhere between a huff and a growl. "Human knows nothing," he interrupted her with a more obvious growl in his voice.
What?" Karin gasped. "You ... You didn't oppose my idea?
Koba stood directly in her path and stayed so stiff and silent for so long that the notion he might hold her their until it was dark came into Karin's head. She prayed the flashlight in her pack still worked.
I wonder if I screamed for help would any other apes hear me, she also thought.
"My Mary," Koba spoke at last. "She could not sleep. She cry last night."
"Oh," Karin said sadly. "I am sorry, Koba. What was wrong?"
"She was sad. Did not want human woman to leave ape Village. Did not want human woman to be all alone. Alone is bad. Mary knows this."
The scarred ape was silent again before he added for a second time as if needing more reassurance, "But you will come back. Like you promised?"
"Yes," Karin answered him. Of course, I will. Please tell Mary that. I'll probably see her in a few days. A week at most. And, Koba?"
He waited in silence, so she went on.
"Thank you for letting Mary help me so much. I don't know what I'd have done without that precious child. And, thank you, for what you did for me, all those years ago," she added meaningfully. "Leaving us that food like you did, you probably saved our lives. I know you saved my little girl's life. I couldn't have gone on nursing her if I had to only exist on those blasted ration bars. I know you hate humans Koba, and I don't know why you did it, but thank you, anyway."
After a moment, Koba seem to relax a little. He gave a low grunt. Karin figured that was as close as she would ever get to a 'you're welcome' from the scarred ape.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, Koba. I need to be moving on," Karin began. Koba let her pass this time, but as she went by, he pressed something wrapped in old tattered cloth in to her hands.
"This yours," was all he said before disappearing back up into the trees.
Well, what the ...
Karin stood still and gaped down at the unexpected package. Slowly, she unwrap the strange offering, and gave an involuntary cry as she clutched its contents to her chest. The package contained two things. One was a metal of Valor that was given posthumously to her brother, Adam. He died saving his platoon. That item by itself would have brought the cry from her lips, but the second item was what brought tears of actual joy and relief to her eyes.
It was a small heart-shaped locket, containing a lock of her hair and a lock of her daughter Lisa's fine newborn baby hair, clipped on the day she was born.
"I lost this in the struggle," Karin whispered. "He tore this off my neck either as he was chasing me or when we were fighting, I lost this, but—"
"Koba! Hey, KOBA!" Karin raised her face and called up into the trees. She got no response, but somehow, she felt the scarred bonobo was still nearby, watching her. Or at least he might still be within earshot.
"thank you, Koba," Karin stage whispered in to the trees.
Then, cradling her precious parcel against her chest as if it was actually her daughter and not just Lisa's hair, Karin turned her steps towards the lonely little house of stone in the middle of the twisting winding Grove.
A/N:
Hello again wonderful patient readers.
It's been way too long since I posted my last chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this little offering.
A bit welcome aboard to any new readers. And welcome back to all my long time readers.
And keep those comments/reviews/Kudos, favorites and follows, etc, coming folks. They are all so very appreciated.