Isle of the Ape

by Jason Halstead

  Chapter 11

  "Carson, where are we going?" Alto asked after the man had led them through the jungle for more than an hour. He'd kept them away from any clearings and barely even paused to let them drink when they cross two small streams.

  Carson looked back at him and frowned. "A safe place," he said.

  "We spent last night in the village; it seemed safe enough," Namitus ventured.

  "I know. I didn't expect you'd last the night," he said with a grin. "You got lucky."

  "There's more to us than you might think," Patrina said.

  Alto caught her eyes with a glare and shook his head. She bit her lip and said no more, reading his look, if not his mind.

  "We can handle ourselves," she finished.

  "Sure you can, that's why you were about to walk into a mess of crawlers and lions. Not to mention Bucky and his girls."

  "Who's Bucky?"

  "Remember that big ape? He's Bucky."

  "Why Bucky?"

  Carson shrugged and glanced away. "He seemed like a Bucky to me, so that's the name I gave him. Now come on, I've got a place where you should be safe. No more talking."

  "Wait, how much farther is it?"

  "Half an hour."

  Alto glanced at his friends. They met his gaze without a word. "Let's go," he said.

  Carson was off, slipping through the trees and moving like a ghost. Alto watched whenever the man stopped and studied tracks in the ground. At times Alto had to search for the prints to be sure they were there. The woodsman glanced up at him once and saw his interest and confusion. With a grin, Carson traced a track with his finger. It popped out in Alto's eyes as though it had been painted red against a sea of green. He shook his head and acknowledged that Carson was a far better tracker than he was.

  Carson turned away from the large-clawed footprint he'd traced and led them around a section of the jungle filled with undergrowth. If possible, even more insects buzzed about them. Alto found that his armor might be good for blocking swords and axes but it did little against the sucking bite of a mosquito.

  They emerged into the sun and felt the wind from the sea on their face. Alto heard his friends gasp at the relief from the humid heat of the jungle. The sun was behind them, confirming his belief that they'd made it to the north side of the island. The angle of the sun in the sky made him realize more time had passed than he'd realized. It was almost evening.

  "Come on," Carson urged them. "It's nearly time for the nighttime hunters to rouse."

  "We've wasted the day," Alto muttered. "Our ship won't wait much longer."

  Carson stared at him and then turned to look at the ocean through the tropical flowers and bushes at the jungle's edge. "You can head back if you want but you won't make it," he said after he turned to look at them again.

  "Doesn't seem so dangerous to me," Alto said. "We've seen nothing but those apes and a boar that I startled."

  "You saw the print of the panther," Carson reminded him.

  Alto shrugged. It looked about the size of a large wolf's paw and he'd dealt with his share of wolves. "I doubt a panther could stop us."

  "One, maybe, but they hunt in packs here. They know how to take down bigger game. Dangerous game. The crawlers come out at night, too. By day, they stick to the fields full of grass; at night they hunt the jungles, too."

  "What, you're not going to try to frighten us with Bucky again?" Patrina asked.

  "They settle down at night, so you don't need to worry about them," Carson admitted. He sighed. "Look, I haven't seen or talked to another living person in years. Stay tonight and I'll guide you back to your boat in the morning."

  Alto frowned but before he could respond, Namitus spoke up and said, "I'll stay."

  Alto scowled at his friend and received a weak smile in return. "All right, we'll stay."

  Carson grinned. "Right this way then, my new friends. Pray tell, do any of you know any games of chance?"

  Alto closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he followed after the tracker. Carson didn't take them much farther, only nearer to the cliff and then he stopped at the edge of it. Alto peered over and saw the jagged cliffs ended in frothing water as the waves pounded against the rocks nearly a hundred feet below.

  Alto stepped back and groaned.

  "What, afraid of heights?" Carson asked.

  "I had a bad fall once," Alto offered. Patrina smirked beside him and reached over to brush her hand against his.

  "No falling here," Carson said. "Just an easy climb to a cave."

  "You live in a cave?" the princess asked.

  Carson shrugged. "It's my home away from home."

  "How many homes do you have?"

  "Never know where you'll end up when the sun goes down," the hunter said. "I've got six or seven safe places set up around the isle. This is the best for you guys, what with the stink and all."

  "We do not stink," Patrina snapped at him.

  Carson's brow lifted. "To civilized folk you don't, but to the beasts here you smell like fresh blood in the water to a shark."

  "Is that bad?" Alto asked.

  Namitus chuckled and shook his head. "Yes," the rogue said. "It's very bad."

  "How do we fix our 'stink'? " Alto asked.

  "Take time. It'll wear eventually. You eat the food the island provides and that'll help. Leave the armor behind and maybe rub yourself in some local plants to mask the soaps and oils you've used."

  Namitus was the first to scowl. "Want us to roll around on a dead animal while we're at it?" the rogue asked.

  Carson looked thoughtful for a moment. "Might work, until something thought you smelled tasty that way." The tracker chuckled and shook his head. "No matter. If you're leaving, I'll do my best to keep you safe. Come on, though. Let's hurry before something comes looking for us."

  "Where is this cave?" Alto asked as he edged closer to the cliff.

  "Just over the edge and down maybe ten feet. Plenty of hand and footholds, even a ledge at the edge of it. Watch me. I'll show you and then come back up to cover our tracks."

  "I'll go first," Namitus offered. "Save you the trouble."

  Carson eyed the slender man up and down. "You sure?"

  Namitus chuckled. "I think I'll manage."

  "He can do it," Patrina confirmed. "He led us down a few hundred feet of wall under a mountain once."

  "Under a mountain?"

  "Long story," Alto said.

  Carson snorted. "I bet it is. I look forward to hearing it. Go ahead, Namitus, and lead the way."

  Namitus walked up to Alto and flashed him a smile before he turned and put his back fully to the ocean, crouched down and slipped his leg over the edge of the cliff, and then his other one. A moment later, he lowered himself smoothly beyond view.

  Alto and Patrina leaned out, holding onto each other's hand and shoving their bodies inland as far as they could while still seeing over the edge.

  "Another long story?" Carson asked as he stared at the two nervous people.

  Patrina offered him a thin smile. "You have no idea."

  He grunted and shook his head. "Hurry up. Or do I need to give you a push?"

  "I'm down!" Namitus called up to them. "It's not bad."

  Alto pulled Patrina back and then slipped his pack off his back. He pulled out a rope before putting it back on, and then he handed one end to Patrina.

  "A rope?" Carson blurted. "It's like twelve feet!"

  "Have you ever been lashed to a timber hanging over the edge of a cliff into the lair of a dragon for days on end?" Patrina snapped at him.

  Carson's mouth opened and closed a few times before he shook his head and waved his hand. "After you, good lady," he said.

  "Thank you." Patrina tied the rope tightly around her waist and then turned to put her back to the ocean. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, they found Alto's.

  "You'll be fine," he reassured her.

  "I know," she said. The white in her cheeks to
ld a different story.

  Patrina knelt at the edge and backed over slowly. She jerked her foot about rapidly until she found a nook to wedge it in, and then she did the same with the other. Alto had to force his hand to loosen when she finally lowered herself over the edge so the rope would pull through it. Each passing minute left him aching to rush to the edge and look over it to see if she was okay. When he could take no more, he felt her pull on the line.

  Alto clamped his grip down on the rope, earning a strangled grunt from below. It was followed quickly by Patrina calling up, "Alto, I'm down. Let go."

  He relaxed his grip and grinned, ignoring the sudden heat in his cheeks. His heart slowed in his chest, leaving him light-headed with the sudden relief of tension. Then he realized it was his turn. Alto nodded to himself and glanced at Carson. The tracker had a grin on his face.

  Alto's cheeks burned hotter. He turned away and started towards the cliff's edge when Patrina called up to him again. "Tie the other end around your waist. Namitus and I will hold on."

  Alto started to tie it when he realized he'd be dooming them all if he fell. "Me in my armor? I'd kill us all."

  "We can hold you!" Patrina insisted.

  Alto shook his head and dropped the rope on the ground. He'd let them think it was on him for a little bit. He turned and squatted down, focusing on the ground and on what he could see and feel. He knew better than to look beneath him as he slipped one leg and then the other over the edge.

  "Are you coming?" Patrina asked.

  "Just a minute," he said. It bought him some time before she checked on him. That meant he was committed. He narrowed his focus and moved as quickly as he dared, reaching for one foothold and handhold after another until he felt a narrow ledge beneath him. He looked to his left and saw the cave, and then shuffled along the ledge until he looked in the dark cave and saw Patrina and Namitus leaning back and holding the rope.

  "What—where's the rope?" Patrina asked as she relaxed.

  Alto reached down and grabbed onto it, and then pulled it until the other end fell past them. He hauled it up, coiling it as it went. "I couldn't bear knowing I pulled you both in with me if I fell."

  Patrina stepped up to him and glared at him. She lifted her fist, making Alto flinch, and then pointed her finger under his chin. "I will never, ever strike you," she hissed at him. "But you should know that I want to do so very badly right now."

  "Why?" Alto asked. "Because I don't want you getting hurt because of me?"

  "Because you dare to think I could live my life without you in it!" she answered. "The saints put us together for a reason, Alto. I'll stand at your side in life or in death, it doesn't matter which. So don't you dare ever think to spare me by putting yourself in danger in my place. We face it together or not at all."

  Alto opened his mouth but Patrina raised her finger and pushed it against his lips. "All I want to hear you say is, 'Yes, my lady.'"

  Alto grinned and kissed her finger. "Yes, my lady."

  She smiled and nodded once in satisfaction.

  Namitus cleared his throat and asked, "So, um, what about me? Does that mean—"

  "No!"

  Alto and Patrina looked at each other, surprised at their simultaneous response, and then burst out laughing.

  A scuffle at the entrance had them turn to see Carson slipping around the edge of the entrance and into the small cave. He pulled up short and stared at them. "I missed something, didn't I?"

  Alto and Patrina locked gazes again before smiling and turning back to the ranger. "It's going to be a long night of telling stories," Patrina said.

  Carson grinned and walked past them into the back of the cave. "I've got some fresh coconuts and a few oranges that should still be good back here. We can eat and talk."

  "No meat?" Alto walked back to see what he'd stashed away behind the rocks he was moving.

  "It doesn't keep. Making a fire is a pain. Even when I can start one, the smoke draws interest. Sometimes I risk it, but usually I eat it raw."

  Alto felt his stomach twist at the thought. From the look on Patrina's face, he saw she felt the same way.

  Namitus moved to the entrance of the cave and looked over the edge. "Too far to do any fishing from up here, even if you had a line."

  "I've shot a few fish with an arrow before," Carson said. "Not from here, mind you. All in all, it's just easier to eat what the jungle provides. The trees don't fight back much."

  "Much?" Namitus asked with a chuckle.

  Carson turned and nodded. "Well, there was—watch out!"

  Namitus spun in time to hear a roar that made him flinch. A black hand wrapped around him and yanked him out of the entrance, and then disappeared. Alto grabbed his sword but stopped after a couple of steps. Namitus was gone.