Cherry Meets the Wild Thornberrys

chapter 14

Cordelia and Colonel officially woke up. Forte left the tent Cherry was in and waved the air in front of him due to the smoke inside the tent. He then saw something that wasn't there, in fact, there was more than one not there.

Cordelia woke up and looked around. "Where are they?"

Forte saw a note and walked over to it, picking it up to read.

"Who left the note?" Colonel asked.

"It's from Monique..." Forte looked over the paper.

The radio went off and Marianne called for an approved signal.

"Oh, hello, Marianne..." Forte greeted casually.

"I'm afraid Elizabeth and Deborah aren't here right now." Cordelia told her daughter-in-law.

"Along with Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity." Forte added in.

"But the good news is that the chimpanzee turned up in England," Cordelia replied. "But never mind that... Monique left a note." she then put her reading glasses over her eyes to read the woman's handwriting.

"What does it say?" Marianne asked.

"Hang tight'," Cordelia read, then paused as it sounded out of character for her. "That's Monique talking, not I. 'Going after Debbie who took the Congo-Com to find Donnie, who followed Eliza and the others, they're headed for the valley. I'll be back as soon as I can. Kisses, Mo'."

"My children are in the jungle alone!?" Marianne grew devastated.

"Don't worry, luv, we'll find them," Nigel said before calling on the radio. "I say, Dad, are you there?"

"Right here, my boy." Colonel smiled once he heard Nigel's voice.

"You'll have to pick us up downriver," Nigel instructed. "I'll give you our coordinates. Can you triangulate a position?"

"They didn't call me 'Colonel' for my chicken recipe." Colonel chuckled to his son.

"You better help him..." Cordelia told the court composer.

Forte released a sharp exhale, feeling this was going to be quite a challenge.

Eliza and the others were now looking for Donnie, having to already lose him while having to be followed by a certain mother, following their footprints. Eliza called for Donnie as they walked along. Donnie was dangling from a tree top and babbling.

"Does this, uh, human belong to anyone?" a male gorilla asked, carrying Donnie by his shorts.

"Thanks," Eliza sounded relieved. "I hope he wasn't any trouble."

"Not really," the gorilla climbed down to them. "Gotta get used to little ones hanging around the jungle that are flesh. But you might wanna tell him that when a gorilla is sleeping, he doesn't want a dung beetle shoved up his nose... Just glad that he didn't wake up Terkina."

"Terkina?" Akito, Estelle, Vincent, and Felicity asked, knowing that name a little.

"My mate." the gorilla replied as he continued to carry Donnie.

"Well, we're sure that it's just a phase." Vincent said.

"That's what we're hoping for." Darwin chuckled.

"Did you say your mate's name was Terkina?" Felicity asked the gorilla.

"Do you know her?" the gorilla asked.

"Only from a story our parents told us once." Estelle explained.

"Yeah or as her friends call her, Terk." Vincent said.