Julie and the Monkey Witch

Chapter 11

Kainak's call caught Julie's attention first by a couple of milliseconds before the rest of Manti's search party. It was a common thingie, and she believed their relationship had something to do with it. In any case, she knew it was him, and that something had happened. So she watched him walk into the village ruins, carrying the person on his shoulder like a firefighter carrying someone out of a burning building. And even though she was too far away to see his face, she knew he had a shit-eating grin just by the way he waved, his tone of voice, and how he casually strolled on in.

She got up and ran up to him, leaping into his arms. She didn't know why she did that, but Unaki's frowning glare must've subconsciously changed her mind, and she rubbed it in with a smug look while Kainak still held onto her. She watched Unaki glaring at them while she walked over to everyone, carrying a basket.

"What happened?" Manti asked, walking up to Kainak and Julie. He saw P'li wasn't moving. And he felt his heart beating faster than it should have.

"He tried to attack me," Kainak replied, and told them about what else happened with P'li and the researchers. Disappointment without surprise crossed the Chief's features. It wasn't so much that P'li had joined up with Unaki that was bothering him, but why P'li had the gall to attack the outsider learners and even Kainak when it would have been smart to stay here.

"I just had to take care of some monkey business," said Kainak. "He really aped the apes."

"No puns, Kainak," Manti interrupted, although judging by the Jungle Dude's toothy, shit-eating grin, he didn't regret it one bit, and might have more ready to use. Still, Manti looked down at P'li's still form, completely knocked out by the haoles' tranquilizer darts. "When will he wake up?"

"I don't know," Kainak replied.

"Make sure he doesn't try to run when he does wake up," said Manti.

"Yes, sir," Kainak replied. He was and had been a loyal Teo for the past several years, no matter how much certain people within the tribe didn't like it or told him otherwise. That included taking direct orders from Manti. "But I'm not killing him."

"Fair enough," said Manti. "But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. Unaki!"

Unaki almost jumped 10 feet in the air. She came down, finding everyone awkwardly and unhappily staring at her, especially Huli and Kainak.

"Explain this right now," said Manti, as he was her biggest worry. "Do you know why he attacked the outside learners? Was he acting under your orders? Do you think he did this on his own?"

"May I answer one question at a time?" Unaki asked.

"You're already on... Kainak, what is the term? Thin..."

"Thin ice," Kainak answered, remembering the times he used to play hockey outdoors in The 'Peg before he gave it up like he wasn't a true Canadian.

"Thin ice," Manti said, "You are on thin ice, little cousin. We can still let you go if you agree to do so, but if you try anything, we'll be on you faster than a big cat on a weak deer."

Unaki gulped. She sensed they weren't kidding around. She didn't even have to guess; the warriors all had their weapons pointed at her, and Manti's tone was enough. Unfortunately, the tiny voice in her head that sounded like a mix between her and Oranta, that had been bothering her the entire time the Teo had been here, started up again. She tried to shoo it away, but it kept coming back, insisting that she make the situation worse, by, in its own words, "KILL MANTI!" Oranta had a history with him, but being power-hungry might have been the real reason she wanted to either kill him or turn him into one of her monkey slaves.