Forest of the Pygmies(34)

"If our friend has brought us here, it's because we're welcome."

"What do we do now? I don't know what the protocol is between humans and gorillas in a situation like this," Alexander joked nervously.

They waited, motionless, beneath the huge tree. Gradually the grunting stopped. Exhausted, they sat down among the roots of the enormous tree, with Borobá clinging to Nadia and trembling with fear.

"We can sleep in peace; we're protected here. The gorilla wants to repay us for the favor we did her," Nadia assured Alexander.

"Do you believe that animals have those kinds of emotions, Eagle?" Alexander was doubtful.

"Why not? Animals talk among themselves, they form families, they love their young, they band into societies, they have memories. Borobá is smarter than most of the people I know," Nadia replied.

"On the other hand, my dog, Poncho, is pretty stupid."

"Not everyone has Einstein's brain, Jaguar."

"Poncho definitely doesn't." Alexander smiled.

"But Poncho is one of your best friends. There's friendship among animals, too."

These friends slept as deeply as if they were in a featherbed. The proximity of the great apes gave them a sense of complete safety; they couldn't be better protected.

A few hours later, they awakened with no idea of where they were. Alexander looked at his watch and realized that they'd slept longer than they'd intended; it was after seven. The heat of the sun was drawing moisture from the ground, and the jungle, wrapped in warm fog, felt like a Turkish bath. The two friends jumped up and looked around them. The tree of the gorillas had been vacated, and for a minute they had doubts about what had happened the night before. Maybe it was just a dream, but no: There were the nests among the branches, and some tender bamboo tips, the gorillas' favorite food, had been left by their sides as gifts. And if that weren't enough, they realized that several pairs of black eyes were observing them from the thick undergrowth around them. The presence of the gorillas was so close and so palpable that they didn't have to see them to know they were watching.

"Tempo kachi," Alexander said as goodbye.

"Thank you," said Nadia in the language of Borobá.

A long, hoarse roar answered them from the impenetrable green of the forest.

"I think we can take that as a sign of friendship," Nadia said, laughing.





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In the village of Ngoubé, dawn announced itself with a mist as thick as smoke, which drifted in through the uncovered door and windows. Despite all the discomforts of the hut, Kate, Angie, and Brother Fernando had slept deeply, with no idea that there had been a fire scare in one of the royal huts. Kosongo had had little to complain about, however, since the flames were doused immediately. When the smoke cleared, it was discovered that the fire had begun in the royal mantle—which was interpreted as a very bad omen—and spread to the leopard skins, which flared up like dry tinder, causing the dense smoke. The prisoners knew nothing of this until several hours later because their hut was at the far end of the village

The first rays of the sun sifted through the straw roof, and in the light of dawn the friends were able to examine their surroundings: a long, narrow hut with thick walls of dark mud. On one of the walls, apparently scratched with the tip of a knife, was the calendar of the preceding year. On another wall they saw verses from the New Testament and a crude wooden cross.

"This is the mission, I'm sure of it," said Brother Fernando emotionally.

"How do you know?" asked Kate.

"I have no doubt. Look at this," he said.

From his knapsack he took a paper that had been folded several times and smoothed it out carefully. It was a pencil drawing sent by the missionaries who had disappeared. Prominent were the central square of the village, the Tree of Words and Kosongo's throne, huts, animal pens, a larger building marked as the king's quarters, and another used as barracks for the soldiers. The drawing showed the mission at the exact spot where they were being held.

"See, this is where they had the school and looked after the sick. There should be a garden nearby, which they planted, and a well."

"Why would they want a well when it rains here every two minutes?" Kate wondered. "There's water to spare all around us."

"They didn't dig it; it was already here. They put quotation marks around the word, as if it were something special. I always thought that was very strange."

"I wonder what happened to them?" Kate said.

"I'm not leaving here until I find out. I have to see Commandant Mbembelé," Brother Fernando said with determination.

For breakfast the guards brought them a stalk of bananas and a pitcher of milk swimming with flies, then returned to their posts at the entrance, in that way notifying the foreigners that they still were not to go outside. Kate pulled off a banana and turned to give it to Borobá. That was when she realized that Alexander, Nadia, and the little monkey were not with them.





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Kate became frantic when she found that her grandson and Nadia were not in the hut with the rest of the group, and even more alarmed that no one had seen them since the night before.

"Maybe the young people went for a walk…" Brother Fernando suggested without much conviction.