The Only One Left

by Pamela Beason

  “Please, Brittany, distract Neema,” Grace begged the young volunteer, who was overseeing her daughter Ivy as the three-year-old picked up toys from the sawdust floor.

  “Can I use F-O-O-D?” Brittany spelled the last word.

  Food, Neema signed. Give me eat. Then she tugged on Grace’s arm again, yanking the bottle away from Kanoni’s face. Not that it mattered. The baby gorilla was still refusing to suck from the rubber nipple.

  “Yes. Neema, you want some watermelon?” Grace’s hands were full, but the mother gorilla understood a lot of words even without the signs.

  Juice fruit, Neema signed, using the signs she’d combined to describe a watermelon. Me give hurry hurry.

  “Me too!” Ivy chirped, making the same juice fruit signs. “Watermelon!”

  “Back in a couple of minutes. Wait here for Mama, Ivy.” Brittany strode though the barn door and used the staff key to let herself out of the gate. Ivy turned to Grace, an uncertain expression on her baby face, and hooked a finger in her mouth.

  “Stay over there, Ivy,” Grace told her. “Kanoni has a bad cold, and I don’t want you to catch it.”

  The little girl, dragging a bedraggled stuffed cat, traced her mother’s path as far as the gate.

  Grace was grateful when Neema followed Ivy to the outside enclosure. “Kanoni,” she murmured. The baby gorilla looked up at Grace. The little ape’s eyes were red, inflamed. “You need to drink this, baby,” Grace told her. “It will make you feel better.”

  Kanoni’s body spasmed with several bark-like coughs. She licked the snot from her upper lip. Grace had never witnessed a cold this bad in any of her gorillas. She prayed it wouldn’t spread. So far Neema and Gumu had shown no symptoms.

  “Please, Kanoni, drink.” Grace rubbed the nipple over the gorilla’s lips. “It’s juice. Plus, if you don’t drink it, I’m afraid we’re going to have to sedate you and plug a couple of IVs into you. I guarantee you won’t like that. Your mama won’t, either.”

  When Kanoni finally accepted the nipple between her lips and took a couple of sucks, Grace wanted to sing. “Good gorilla, Kanoni. Drink it all.”

  Brittany came back into the barn, carrying pieces of cut-up watermelon in a plastic bin.

  “That was fast,” Grace remarked.

  “Robin already had it all cut up. I really like her. I understand what she’s going through.”

  Grace guessed the young woman would. Both Brittany and Robin had their daughters vanish. Thanks to Finn, Ivy had been recovered as an infant. Grace hoped Robin would be as lucky.

  Brittany doled out pieces of melon to Neema and to Gumu, who had followed the young woman into the barn, and then handed one to her daughter Ivy. Grace was dismayed when Kanoni didn’t seem to even register the presence of one of her favorite treats.

  “No babysitting Sophia today?” she asked Brittany.

  “No, just Ivy. Sophia was really sick last week, but now she’s finally well again.” Bending over her daughter, Brittany tugged playfully on her strawberry blond ponytail. “We went to see her yesterday, didn’t we, Ivy?”

  She’s finally well again? Alarm bells clanged in Grace’s head. “What was wrong with Sophia?”

  “Oh, I think it was measles. But she’s over it now.”

  Grace went cold with horror. “Measles?”

  Realizing what she’d just said, Brittany straightened and briefly clapped a hand over her mouth. When she slid her hand away, she said, “I didn’t know. Honestly. When I brought her, Sophia was fine.”

  “Measles.” Blood roared in Grace’s head. “Sophia wasn’t vaccinated?”

  “Uh, no. Kara doesn’t believe in vaccinations because of, you know, the autism thing.” Brittany’s eyes were huge. “But I do, of course,” she hastened to add, flattening a hand against her chest. “Ivy’s had all her vaccinations. Me too. Of course.”

  Grace studied the sick baby gorilla in her arms. Kanoni had released the nipple after drinking less than half the mixture and lay listlessly, staring up at Grace with dull eyes.

  How could she have let this happen? “Brittany, you do know measles can kill apes? Especially baby apes?”

  Brittany twisted her hands together. “Yes, you told us that. But I didn’t know about Sophia, really I didn’t.”

  Grace closed her eyes, tried to regain her equanimity. The damage was done; she needed her volunteers, and usually Britt was one of the better ones. Opening her eyes, she said, “Please, don’t bring anyone else here unless you know for sure they’ve been vaccinated, Brittany.”

  The girl nodded eagerly. “Of course, Grace. I’m so sorry.” She took a step forward. “Can I help with Kanoni?”

  A huge black hand closed around Grace’s elbow. Cry you Kanoni sad, Neema signed.

  “Yes, I’m sad because Kanoni is sick,” Grace said aloud, unable to sign with her arms full.

  Me sad give me. Neema tugged on Kanoni’s foot.

  Gumu had wandered close, and now sat to the side of Grace. She could feel the silverback’s warm breath on her knee as he leaned in to peer at his daughter. Grace had no idea what was going through his head or what he might do next. If the huge male grabbed Kanoni or Grace, he could easily injure them.

  Brittany stood a few yards away, a chastened expression on her pretty young face. “Britt, can you go play with Neema?”

  Neema perked up at the mention of her name.

  “Maybe a game of chase and tickle?” Grace suggested.

  Chase, Neema signed. Tickle tickle good gorilla me.

  Gumu thumped his chest once and signed chase.

  “Me too!” Ivy chirped. “Chase me! Tickle me!”

  Brittany raised her arms in a fake threatening gesture. “I’m going to get all of you! I’m going to tickle you to death!”

  Amid excited ape hoots and shrieks from Ivy, gorillas and human playmates rushed through the door to the outside area.

  . . . to death. An unfortunate choice of words. Grace hugged the baby gorilla close to her shoulder with one hand, wiping more snot across her shirt, as she pulled her cell phone from her pants pocket to call the vet. As she listened to the rings on the other end, she whispered to Kanoni, “Please don’t die.”

  The vet never answered. Grace left a voicemail message.

  Robin Valdez came through the barn door. “It’s pandemonium out there.” She pointed to the sunlight behind her. “I got everything you wanted from the grocery store and put it all away.” She laid a gentle hand on the crown of the baby gorilla’s head. “She’s not getting better?”

  Grace shook her head miserably. “I’m pretty sure she has measles. From Ivy’s unvaccinated little friend, about two weeks ago.”

  “Oh, no! I didn’t know that could happen. Poor baby.” She took the little gorilla’s foot in one hand.

  “You’ve been vaccinated, right?” Grace asked.

  “Of course.”

  “Me, too. And Neema and Gumu. But not Kanoni. I was waiting until she was a little older.”

  The baby gorilla barked her cough. Grace stroked her little black face, then lifted her up to her shoulder again and patted her back.

  Robin glanced at the door and then back to Grace. “I hate to add to your worries, but there are two men outside. Agricultural inspectors?”

  Grace’s heart sank. “Oh, please, not now.”

  Robin did a half turn, hesitating, her hands fluttering uncertainly in the air. “Should I tell them to leave?”

  Who knew what they’d write if she did that? Surprise inspections were designed to find out what happened on a daily basis. How Grace cared for her wildlife. Whether her gorillas were safely contained. They might suspect she was hiding something.

  “I’m coming.” She stood up and held out Kanoni. “Could you?”

  “Of course.” Robin took the baby gorilla. “I’ll go out the back, take her to the staff trailer?”

  “Thank you.”

  Collecting a handful of tree leaves from the floor, Grace used them to br
ush the snot from her clothes as best she could, and then let herself out of the gorilla enclosure to meet the two men. She introduced herself, but held up her hands instead of shaking. “My baby gorilla has a bad cold. I don’t want to share any germs.”

  “We appreciate that.” The older man sported a silver mustache and introduced himself as Jay Barder. She remembered him from last year. He tilted his head toward his younger companion. “And this is Trevor Vollmar, my new assistant. He’s learning the job.”

  After verifying that all the information on their county forms was still correct, Grace led them on a tour of the compound, showing them first her own trailer, computer, and filing system. She let them look around her office while she excused herself to wash her hands. Then she took them to the gorilla enclosure. Grace was glad that Brittany had the adult gorillas settled down by then. Gumu watched from the top of the rope net, a hulking presence sitting in the farthest corner.

  Grace explained to the men that the apes had both indoor and outdoor areas to enjoy, space to exercise, and a warm, heated barn to sleep in and get out of bad weather. She demonstrated the lock system on the exterior gate before she led them through it.

  “Is it safe?” Vollmar asked, nervously eyeing the silverback. “In here with him?”

  “As long as you’re with me,” Grace responded. She had never revealed her suspicion that Gumu had killed a man last year. Even gorillas had a right to self-defense. “Mr. Barder has survived the last two years,” she told the younger inspector.

  “No problem,” Barder told his colleague. “You’ll get used to going into pens with all sorts of stock, Vollmar.” He double-checked the keyed lock on the exterior of the enclosure, swung the gate closed, tested it.

  The gate held with a gentle pull on the handle, but when he depressed the latch, it easily swung open.

  “All staff members lock the gate as soon as we come through.” Grace demonstrated, pulling a key on a retractable steel cord from her belt and twisting it in the double-sided lock.

  “You use keys to get in and out?” Vollmar asked Grace. “Isn’t that dangerous? How would you get out in a hurry?”

  Grace returned the key to the ring attached to her belt. “If I couldn’t reach a key, I guess I wouldn’t get out. But better that I be locked in here than the gorillas escape, right?” She glanced toward the older inspector, who nodded in agreement. “There’s really no other system,” she told Vollmar. “Gorillas have opposable thumbs and can unlatch doors just like we can.”

  “Couldn’t you use a computerized lock?” he asked.

  “They’d learn the combination pretty fast.”

  “Really?” Vollmar eyed Gumu suspiciously.

  “Really,” Grace assured him and motioned them forward. They stepped inside the barn.

  “Whoa!” Barder remarked, stroking his mustache. “You’ve done a fair bit of remodeling in here since last year. And I see you’re bringing the outdoors in.” Picking up a twig from the sawdust floor, he twirled it in his fingers.

  “I try to provide a natural habitat, as much as possible, so it’s always evolving,” she told him.

  “Evolving,” Barder chuckled.

  “My two-year-old gorilla does a lot of remodeling for me,” Grace remarked. “And so do her parents. That was Gumu outside, and there’s Neema.” She pointed at the mother gorilla, who had climbed halfway up the “tree” to the third platform.

  On hearing her name, Neema leaned forward to study them. She signed baby give me. Grace signed back wait.

  Vollmar’s brow wrinkled in confusion, but he said nothing.

  Neema was often suspicious of men, for which Grace was now grateful. She was also thankful that Brittany had left with Ivy. Although Ivy had known these apes since she was an infant, Grace wasn’t sure what the inspectors would make of a three-year-old locked inside an enclosure with adult gorillas.

  Vollmar was drawn to the climbing pole with its spiraling platforms. Shielding his eyes, he studied the structure and the roof overhead. “Have you been up there?” He pointed to the peak.

  “Never.” Grace waved a hand at the stout pole from which the platforms radiated. “The gorillas can’t reach the roof, either. These support poles were part of the original structure. I just had workmen add the platforms to this one. The highest platform is about twelve feet below the peak. There was a hay loft on the second floor, but we took that down.”

  Barder strode to the back door and was inspecting the door and the lock there, but Vollmar stayed in the center of the building, seeming more interested in the structures overhead. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  “Did you find anything unusual during your remodel?” he asked.

  Grace was unprepared for that odd question. What was he concerned about? Sharp metal pieces? Animal corpses? Hantavirus? The three small bones abruptly bobbed to the surface of her thoughts, but she kept her face impassive. “We never found anything dangerous. Just pieces of old farm machinery, leather straps from harnesses, things like that. And all the debris was removed.”

  Vollmar continued to gaze upward.

  “I’ve been assured the framework is all very sound,” she told him.

  “I’m sure it is. They built barns to last in the old days.”

  A swallow flitted in through the louvered vent at the top of the building.

  “You have birds nesting up there,” Vollmar said.

  “Just swallows.” Was he a birder? “Bigger birds like owls can’t get in, and as you can see, the swallows can easily come in and go out.”

  A flash of white caught her eye. A tail? A cat tail? Snow?

  Of course. Snow. Up. Bird. A heavy gorilla might not be able to shimmy up the support post, but a cat could. If Vollmar was a birder, he probably wouldn’t take kindly to the idea of bird-hunting cats. She quickly diverted her gaze to Vollmar’s face. “I don’t think swallows are anything worth worrying about. Do you?”

  “No,” Vollmar said quickly, dropping his head. “No, not at all.” Finding his partner near the back door, he joined Barder to review the checklist on the man’s clipboard.

  “You still have three gorillas?” Barder asked.

  Of course they wanted to see Kanoni. Grace hesitated, but she couldn’t refuse. “The baby gorilla is sick,” she told them. “My volunteer is taking care of her.”

  “I understand,” Barder said. “I just need to see her, to account for her presence here.”

  Grace made a big show of double-checking all the locks as they left the enclosure and then reluctantly led the two men to the staff trailer. Opening the door, she was relieved to find that the interior was in order. When her college-age volunteers had been present, the waste bins had often been stuffed with old pizza boxes and the countertops lined with beer and soda bottles, but now the table and countertops were gleaming. Clearly, Robin Valdez had spent her spare time cleaning. Grace led the men toward the bunk room.

  Robin held up a finger in front of her lips when they entered, then pointed to the mass of blankets on the bed. “I made her a nest. She’s asleep.”

  Both men briefly leaned over the snuffling little gorilla curled into the covers, but then tiptoed out. Grace was grateful that Barder asked only if Kanoni had been seen by a veterinarian.

  “Of course,” she answered. “Dr. Black is keeping track of her condition.”

  After signing off on Barder’s form, she said goodbye to the inspectors, hoping their investigation of her apes would not extend to speaking with the veterinarian. She didn’t want to lie about Kanoni’s illness, but she worried that if she reported measles to the inspector, the county council might be bombarded with local protests over gorillas spreading communicable human diseases.

  Her cell buzzed as a text came in from Dr. Black. Will visit you 3 p.m. Grace walked back to the staff trailer to check on Robin and Kanoni.

  “While you were in your trailer, I told Brittany she could take off,” Robin told her.

  “Good thinking.”

/>   “Did the inspection go okay?”

  “I think so. The guy in training seemed worried about the locks and the platform structure, but I assured him everything could securely contain three gorillas. And the good news is that I’ve located Snow, our white cat. He’s bird hunting up in the rafters.” Grace sat down on the bunk beside the sleeping gorilla. “How is she?”

  Robin sighed. “No better.”

  Placing a gentle hand on Kanoni’s brow, Grace felt the fever burning through the little body. She’d read about measles devastating entire gorilla families in Africa. She told Robin about the vet coming. “Dr. Black will likely want to put Kanoni on an IV.”

  “Good idea,” Robin said. “She must be getting dehydrated. I’ll watch her. How are you?”

  Grace felt a lump forming in her throat. She swallowed before answering. “Okay, I guess.”

  The other woman lifted her chin, a question on her face. “Did you—?”

  Moving her focus back to the baby gorilla, Grace brushed her hand softly over Kanoni’s fuzzy head. “Yes, I did that test you brought. Peed on the stick. Thank you.”

  Robin waited.

  Grace inhaled a deep breath, blew it back out, then raised her face to meet Robin’s gaze. “It’s official now. I’m pregnant.”

  “Congratulations?” Robin said uncertainly.

  Grace burst into tears.

  Chapter 23

  Friday

  Finn discovered that Grace’s compound had been part of the original farm at 41 Old Forest Road. According to the online property records, Grace’s barn had been there at the time the Sutters were renting the place. The old farmhouse was on the other section of land that had been subdivided into two parcels. The address of the farmhouse was still on Old Forest Road, while Grace’s property had been assigned a new address on the county road that bordered it.

  Finn suddenly had a suspicion that the bones in Grace’s barn were not from some pioneer settler’s grave.

  Bird.

  Up.

  Fly.

  The gorillas might not be fabricating stories after all; they could be providing the only clues they had to offer.