Cherry Meets the Wild Thornberrys

chapter 5

They went back to the Thornberrys' campsite to talk about this a little more.

"We can't just sit here!" Eliza started to protest like her friends. "Mom, we have to find those poachers!"

"You poor things were almost killed," Marianne said to the kids. "You have to let Jomo take care of them."

"We have to save them, especially Tally!" Estelle folded her arms slightly.

"Who?" Marianne questioned.

"That's what we called the cheetah cub." Eliza covered up.

"We also have to save Larvitar, Vulpix, and Misdreavus!" Akito told her.

"They name man-eating wild animals and a bunch of strange creatures?" Nigel's mother questioned.

"Names them, plays with them, talks in Monkey to them," Debbie droned as she read one of her magazines in the distance. "Pretty sure those weird kids do too."

"Debbie, enough." Marianne scolded.

"Could you kids identify this man?" Jomo asked them about the poacher.

"No, he shot a light in our eyes," Akito told him before remembering something. "But his knife the handle it was in the shape of the head of a falcon, that'll help you find him, won't it?"

"There are many knives..." Jomo said to them. "Many poachers..."

"But we have to find them!" Felicity urged the man.

"Children, leave this to us," Jomo coaxed. "Promise me that neither one of you will go off alone at night."

The kids looked to him and gave in. "We promise." they said together.

"Nigel, I will call if I hear anything." Jomo told his friend.

"Mind if I help you?" Atticus offered. "I am a detective after all."

"Thank you, Mr. Fudo, we shall need all the help we can get." Jomo said.

"Be careful..." Mo warned her husband.

"Aren't I always?" Atticus chuckled to her.

"Good night all." Jomo waved to the families.

"Thank you, Jomo." Nigel shook hands with his oldest friend.

"Children, we do not any of you wondering off alone at night." Marianne told them.

"Especially in the jungle..." Forte added as he looked all around their surroundings in the Savanna.

"Yeah, right," Debbie scoffed again. "Eliza and the monkey are always sneaking off."

This made the Thornberry adults look firmly to the younger girl, they had not known about that.

"Debbie!" Eliza whined to her sister.

"Hey, I've covered long enough," Debbie glared back. "Do you know she once fed one of my protein bars to a komodo dragon? And back in wherever that land was, she rode a Siberian tiger... Oh, oh, and ask her about the time that she was dancing with a bunch of crazy dingoes."

"Eliza!" Nigel said, shocked.

"And that's not the only crazy things she's done." Debbie said.

"Thanks a lot, Deb." Eliza glared back at her sister as she was in trouble now.

The others were surprised and amazed of what Eliza had been through however.

"Nigel, I... I don't know what to do..." Marianne sounded shocked and worried about Eliza's life with them now due to them traveling all over the world and this is what Eliza did with her free time.

"Well, I do," Nigel's mother spoke up. "It is perfectly obvious that Elizabeth has no regard for her own safety and that of others around her now. We have discussed this for years. She needs to be in a structured environment, one such as a boarding school back in London."

"And just how do you propose to do that, Lady Thornberry?" Cherry muttered as she swished her drink in her glass before taking a sip.

"Oh, hold on," Debbie interrupted and stormed over. "She messes up and she gets to go to a boarding school?"

"If Eliza is sent to boarding school, then I'm going with her." Estelle said, protecting her new friend.

"Me too also." Felicity volunteered herself.

"Oh, Mumsy, that's rather drastic..." Nigel said to his mother.

"Nigel, need I remind you that it was in the confines of boarding school that you received your education, not here in the wild?" Nigel's mother looked back to him. "Surely you don't think it's civilized for a girl to play with cheetahs, chimpanzees, and those Pocket Monster things?"

Debbie got onto a table and started to act like a monkey so she could go to boarding school as well. "What about me?" she asked her grandmother desparately. "Do I look civilized?"

"Sure, for an insane asylum..." Cherry dryly replied to her.

"Frankly no, but for you I'm afraid it's rather too late." Nigel's mother said, blankly.

Debbie groaned in defeat as her grandmother went back inside the Comvee.

"Mom, Dad, I can't leave," Eliza said to her parents sadly. "Tally never would've been out on the Plains if it wasn't for me... It's all my fault."

"Eliza, how could it be your fault?" Marianne asked, not understanding.

"But we have to go back out there!" Eliza cried.

"No! We make these rules for a reason, Eliza, and if I have to send you away to be safe, I will." Marianne said sadly.

"Dad..." Eliza looked sadly to her father, he was her last hope. "Please..."

Nigel looked sadly to her, he wanted to help her, but he couldn't. " Poppet, your intentions are noble, but you're just too young... Your friends are too and they could get hurt..." he said in the most gentle voice he could. He then gave her a firm and gentle hug. "I'm sorry."

"Are you guys really gonna go to boarding school?" Vincent asked his sister and female cousin.

"I am, but Felicity, you stay here with Aunt Cherry and the others, so then, you don't have to be away from her again." Estelle said.

"But I want to help too..." Felicity frowned.

Estelle frowned to her. "Well... Okay, if you think you can do it."

"Sil vous plait, let me..." Felicity put her hands together.

"Well, alright." Estelle said.

"If that's what you want, Flick, then you can *hic!* go for it..." Cherry nearly mumbled as she poured herself another glass.

"I think you've had enough..." Forte put his hands over her arms.

Cherry whined like a child, shaking him off and continued to pour a glass and gulped it down. Simon walked over to his sister.

"Um... Bonjour, Simon..." Felicity greeted nervously.

Simon actually looked sad that she was going to go to boarding school and gave her a hug around her legs.

"Oh, Simon..." Felicity was surprised at the hug.

"He will miss you while you're gone." Estelle said.

"Oh, I will be missing you too, Simon..." Felicity hugged him.

Simon was sincere about the hug and didn't even pull out a dagger to stab her in the back with.

Felicity then handed Simon back to Cherry and they shared a group hug.

"Mommy loves you both..." Cherry said slurry to her children as she drank another glass and let out another hiccup.