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“Clayton!” Archimedes Porter was not sure about this new guard that his assistant had assured him would be the best choice, “Clayton!”
Especially when he kept charging ahead like this and leaving Jane and him behind.
“Oh, there you are!” He sighed in relief when he managed to push past the thick bamboo, seeing Clayton standing in a clearing, “What is it? What is it, Clayton? Are we in danger?”
“I thought I saw something.”
“Oh, is it a Hippopotamus Amphbious, or a Rhinoceros Bohornus, or- “
“- Professor, don’t move!”
Maybe it was a little petty to take the words literally, freezing in a goofy position… but quite frankly, he was fed up with being bossed about like this.
He only acted like a fool, that didn’t mean he was a fool.
“Daddy? Daddy, what’s all the hullabaloo abou- AH!”
He did tell her that that lovely dress of hers wasn’t suitable.
He watched as his daughter pushed through the bamboo and rushed over to him, “What is it, Daddy?”
“Mister Clayton asked me not to move. He saw something.”
A look flashed across his daughter’s face, an indignant scowl that reminded him so much of her mother.
Goodness knows how he missed her.
Lowering his arm, he muttered a quip about moving under his breath, before examining his surroundings, only vaguely hearing his daughter protesting the amount of shooting Clayton was doing.
It was then that he noticed the nests, a sharp gasp breaking free.
“Jane!” He called out, “Jane, do you realise what you’re standing in?!”
She looked down and let out a gasp of amazement, “A gorilla’s nest! Oh, Daddy!”
They both fell to the ground, examining the nests a little more closer, Clayton kneeling beside them.
“At last!” He hissed, “Our first sign in days!” He looked up “Do you think the beasts could be nearby?”
Beasts?
Archimedes didn’t like the use of that word in the slightest. “They could be.” He admitted, “The evidence is here, and if they are gone, then they’re not very far away at all.”
“Daddy, look!” Jane suddenly cried out, “Over there and there!”
“Where?” And then he saw exactly what she was pointing at, “Oh, yes! More nests! I see them!”
“Just as you predicated, whole family groups!”
He reached up, pulling her into a hug, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with emotions “Oh Jane, I love you.”
“Family groups?!” Clayton laughed, “Excuse me, but these are wild beasts that would sooner tear your head off than look at you.”
Archimedes watched as his daughter straightened up indignantly, “On the contrary…” She began, “… Daddy’s theory is that these are social creatures- “
She yelped in alarm, along with Archimedes as Clayton suddenly turned and fired two shots into a nearby tree, making birds squawk and fly away.
“Mister Clayton, please!” Jane snapped, “What if it’s a gorilla?”
“It’s no gorilla.”
His tone made Archimedes more than a little uncomfortable, as he looked around and quickly suggested that they moved on.
In hindsight, they might have been better staying where they were.
……………………………………………….
With Jane and Clayton bickering ahead of him, Archimedes found himself looking around at the scenery, taking in the way the sunlight dappled through the leaves of the tall trees.
Looking at some of the lower branches, he chuckled at the sight of a baby baboon munching on a piece of fruit.
“Are you what all the fuss was about, I wonder?” He looked ahead, seeing that Jane and Clayton were far ahead of him.
Jane would love to sketch this little one but calling out for her would probably scare the baboon away. Looking away, he searched the ground for some sort of fallen fruit that he could offer the baby.
Tripping over the vine wasn’t in the plan.
Nor was scaring the baboon with his cry of alarm.
He heard the growling as he lifted his head, pushing himself to his feet to see an entire troop of baboons staring down at him.
“I-I do apologise.” He tried, hoping that they could see that he was no threat to them, “My wife used to say I’d trip over air most days, and these vines are a darned sight thicker than vines…. Apologies for my language.”
The growling increased, and Archimedes knew an impossible situation when he saw it, turning and running as fast as he could, hearing them all giving chase.
He knew he’d taken the wrong turn when he saw the sheer drop ahead of him.
He wouldn’t make it, but he was going to try.
Closing his eyes, he jumped, only to feel something grab a hold of the back of his shirt. When the sinking sensation of falling didn’t come, he slowly opened his eyes, to see the ground flying underneath him.
“Goodness me.” He muttered, “Am I flying?”
He then looked up, over his shoulder, to see a young man, wearing nothing but a loincloth, gripping at his shirt with one hand and a vine with the other.
“Oh, that makes a lot more sense!”
They reached the other side, as Archimedes was tossed into the air and caught, as the man balanced on the end of a hollowed-out log, legs splitting to a length that made Archimedes wince in sympathy.
“Oh, you can put me down now.” He quickly stated, “I must say, there was quite the feat of acrobatics you- “
The screech of the baboons cut him off, as the young man lifted him back into his arms and they continued to flee.
What happened next, Archimedes had to admit that he was a little blurry on. He had vague memories of hitting a baboon off of him, but the rest was a blur of vines and trees, until they landed on a fairly large branch, the young man making sure he was right up against the trunk of it as another branch came crashing down.
Archimedes watched in amazement and curiosity as the man chittered to what seemed to be the leader baboon.
“Fascinating.” he muttered, “Yes, I've heard that many scientists believe our vocal chords are very similar to apes and monkeys.” He looked around, realising that there was no way he could get down on his own.
Thunder clapped overhead as rain suddenly soaked him straight to the bones.
Groaning he turned back to the young man, only to jump when he saw that other man’s face right up in front of him.
“My goodness, you- “He was cut off when the man lifted him up and transported them to a branch, that sheltered them from the rain. Resting his back against the trunk, Archimedes watched as the mostly naked man studied him intently, shuffling closer and closer, “- You don’t really have concept of boundaries, do you?”
He allowed the examination patiently, watching the man pat at his clothes in confusion and sniff at his hair.
“I’m like you.” Archimedes tried to explain, as gently as possible, not even knowing if the man spoke a lick of English.
Unlikely, really.
Not if he’d been raised in these jungles from a young age.
He held up his hand, trying to show the younger man that they both had four fingers and an opposable thumb, watching as the other man placed their palms together, almost in awe.
There was something very piercing about his eyes, Archimedes realised when said eyes focused on him, for a moment. Seconds later, the man’s ear was against Archimedes’ chest, listening to his heartbeat.
“Goodness me, you- “Archimedes was cut off when the man gently grabbed his head and pulled him closer, so that the older man’s ear was pressed against his chest, “Ah- I- lovely heartbeat. Very healthy sounding, which I suppose isn’t a surprise with all the vine swinging you do. Healthy exercise and all that!” Knowing that he was babbling, Archimedes cleared his throat, “It’s very nice.”
“… It’s very nice.”
Archimedes felt like he was going to explode with excitement.
“Mimicking the English language.” He whispered, “Is that just because you remember it from your past, or is it something that can actually be taught to greater apes?” He knew he was basically talking to himself, wishing that he had his notebook with him so that he could make notes for further exploration.
“Tarzan.” The man thumped at his chest, repeating himself, just a little bit slower, “Tar-zan.”
“Tarzan?”
The young man beamed, jumping up and down in glee and excitement until Archimedes finally got what he was trying to say.
That was his name.
“Oh, I see!”
“Oh, I see.” Tarzan repeated, pointing at Archimedes, “Oh, I see…” He pointed at himself, “… Tarzan.”
Archimedes chuckled at the misunderstanding, “No, no, no.” He cleared his throat, “I am Professor Archi- no, that’s a bit long, isn’t it. You can call me Porter.”
“No, no, no.” Tarzan mimicked the clearing throat sound, “I am Professor Archi- no, that’s a bit long, isn’t it? You can call me Porter.”
Archimedes chuckled, shaking his head, “No, no. Porter.” He pointed at himself, “Tarzan.” Then at Tarzan, before repeating the action. “Porter… Tarzan.”
“…Porter.”
“Exactly my boy!”
Suddenly, there was a rifle shot in the distance, making Archimedes jump a little as Tarzan spun around to face the direction the sound came from.
“Clayton.” Archimedes sighed, wearily, hearing another shot.
“Clayton!”
“Extraordinary.” Archimedes whispered, clearing his throat, and pointing towards where he believed the camp to be, “I don’t suppose you can take me back to the back. I believe it’s to the east somewhere? Over there.”
Tarzan didn’t seem to hear him, eyes still scanning the tree-lines, before he made a rifle shot sound, that made Porter jump before he clapped his hands together, “Yes! Clayton!”
He'd heard of birds that could mimic sounds like this, but to hear the sound of a gun coming so accurately from a human mouth.
It defied all expectations that he could have ever had about this trip.
“Wonderful!”
Tarzan reached out to carry him again, only for porter to take a step back.
“I don’t suppose I can travel on your back? It’s just a little more dignified, you know?”
“It’s just a little more dignified, you know.” Was all Tarzan said, before Tarzan was lifting him up and they were off.
………………………………………………………….
When they arrived back at the camp, Archimedes was stunned to find it a complete mess. Any protests he might have had though, disappeared when he saw the gorillas all rush over, Tarzan rushing to meet them as well.
He started to playfight with one of them, as Archimedes once again, longed for his notebook.
Such social behaviours!
Did they indulge in social grooming as well?
He continued to watch, practically shaking with excitement, waving shyly when he saw the gorillas all turned to him in curiosity. He frowned over when those expressions almost seemed to turn to alarm.
And then he felt the puff of hot air ruffle his hair.
Slowly, he turned to see a rather large gorilla, much larger than the others, standing right behind him.
“My goodness.” He muttered, eyes wide in shock and awe, “You must be the Alpha."
The Alpha bellowed as Porter quickly moved to a prone position, indicating his submissiveness as the gorilla sniffed at him, before grunting at the others and moving to head into the jungle once again.
He looked up to see Tarzan leaving with them.
He wasn’t sure how long he lay there for, but it was long enough to hear Clayton and Jane’s voice echo in the distance.
“Daddy! Daddy!”
“Professor!”
“Daddy, where are you?!”
They burst through the trees, with Jane spotting her father on the ground and racing over to him.
“Oh, thank goodness!” She cried out, as Clayton stared at the destruction that became of their camp.
“Good heavens, what happened?”
“Are you all right?” Jane asked, “We’ve been everywhere looking for you!”
“I- saw the gorillas.”
Silence.
“What?” Jane whispered, “Where?”
“Here, in the camp!” Archimedes stated, “After Tarzan brought me back here- “
“- Tarzan?” Jane gently interrupted, “Who’s Tarzan?”
Archimedes paused, looking back in the direction that the gorillas had gone in.
“The gorilla man.”