Angel Of Mercy

Chapter 20

This chapter has been slightly edited. No new content is inserted, just some formatting and technical issues ironed out. Probably not all of them, but most, I hope. :)

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That afternoon, a small group of children were returning to the village when they nearly dropped all of their foraging baskets at the sound of the dreadful noise just above them. Winter, out on his first official guarding duty without being supervised by an older gorilla, instinctively cowered then remembered what his job was, and he tried to pull the others away. But the children looked up and froze. At first, they did not recognize the ape in the tree, and they all nearly broke and ran away. They thought a strange orangutan had found his way to the edge of their village. It had happened once or twice before in the last few years, a straggler ape or two coming out of the forest. Or so they had all been told by their elders.

"It's Maurice!" Lake signed in astonishment as they were all cringing from the dreadful sound he was making. This was also Lake's first trip outside the village without being accompanied by an elder. And even though the chimpanzee girl was not the oldest youngster there, she automatically took charge of the situation.

"Winter. WINTER!" Lake went and gently shook the timid gorilla, yanking his hands away from his ears. "Run and fetch Luca. Now! Hurry!"

When Winter remained frozen, his eyes darting between Lake on the ground and the tree, Lake gave him a gentle shove, and the timid young gorilla loped off to do what he was told.

"Ivy, Orion," Lake rounded up the two smallest members of the group. "You both go and fetch Caesar or Cornelia or Rocket. Whichever you can find first."

The young chimp called Ivy, two years younger than Lake, who always trailed after Mary and Lake as if she was their little shadow, did not hesitate but ran off, almost dragging Orion by the hand as they ran. The noise was not only terrifying them both, but it was threatening to break their ears.

After shewing the others on towards the village, and making loud hoots and pant calls that Maurice either did not or could not hear, Lake began to make her slow and careful way up the tree towards their beloved teacher. When she got close enough, the young chimpanzee was horrified to see Maurice was trembling all over, and tears were streaming down the normally placid orangutan's face.

She stayed just below him on the large branch, and gently reached up to touched his arm.

"Maurice?" she signed hesitantly. "Teacher, what is wrong?"

When the slow drum began to sound, all other village activities except what was absolutely essential had ground to a halt. This meant that the birth of Monica's baby was almost at hand. So, as was tradition, Cornelia reluctantly went to attend the new Mother, leaving Luca's gentle aunt Sonya and Percy's wife Phoebe to take care of the sleeping Karin. The older orangutan lady lifted the slim human into a sitting position and propped her up against her shoulder while Sonya got the human to drink a little water and take several mouthfuls of soup. Once they had gotten their new human friend to take all they could, Phoebe began to lower her back to the padded nest. But the older ape ladies had barely straightened up when a terrible caterwauling tore through the peace and quiet of the village afternoon.

It was clearly the anguished call of an orangutan in great distress. And it had finally awakened Karin.

"Maurice!" She bolted upright with her own cry and all but tumbled out of Maurice's nest. But she picked herself up and was out the door before her two caretakers could even blink.