“It’s hotter than blazes here in the sun,” Melanie said. “And it’s not even nine o’clock, so it’ll only get worse. When we decide to sit and observe, I vote we do it in the shade. I’d also like to have the food chest.”
“I agree,” Candace said.
“Of course, you agree,” Kevin said mockingly. “I’d be surprised if you didn’t.” Kevin was becoming tired of Melanie making a suggestion only to have Candace eagerly support it. It had already gotten him into trouble.
“That’s not very nice,” Candace said indignantly.
“I’m sorry,” Kevin said. He’d not meant to hurt her feelings.
“Well, I’m going closer,” Melanie announced. “Jane Goodall was able to get right up next to her chimps.”
“True,” Kevin said. “But that was after months of acclimatization.”
“I’m still going to try,” Melanie said.
Kevin and Candace let Melanie get ten feet in front of them before they looked at each other, shrugged, and joined her.
“You don’t have to do this for me,” Melanie whispered.
“Actually, I want to get close enough to see if my double has any facial expression,” Kevin whispered. “And I want to look into his eyes.”
With no more talk and by moving slowly and deliberately, the three were able to come within twenty feet of the bonobo. Then they stopped again.
“This is incredible,” Melanie whispered without taking her eyes from the animal’s face. The only way it was apparent the bonobo was alive was an occasional blink, movements of his eyes, and a flaring of his nostrils with each respiration.
“Look at those pectorals,” Candace said. “It looks like he’s spent most of his life in a gym.”
“How do you think he got that scar?” Melanie asked.
The bonobo had a thick scar that ran down the left side of his face almost to his mouth.
Kevin leaned forward and stared into the animal’s eyes. They were brown just like his own. Since the sun was in the bonobo’s face, his pupils were pinpoint. Kevin strained to detect intelligence, but it was difficult to tell.
Without the slightest warning the bonobo suddenly clapped his hands with such force that an echo reverberated between the leafy walls of the cul de sac. At the same time he yelled: “Atah!”
Kevin, Melanie, and Candace leaped from fright. Having worried from the start that the bonobo was about to flee at any moment, they’d not considered the possibility of him acting aggressively. The violent clap and yell panicked them, and made them fear the animal was about to attack. But he didn’t. He reverted back to his stonelike state.
After a moment’s confusion they recovered a semblance of their previous poise. They eyed the bonobo nervously.
“What was that all about?” Melanie asked.
“I don’t think he’s as scared of us as we’d thought,” Candace said. “Maybe we should just back away.”
“I agree,” Kevin said uneasily. “But let’s go slowly. Don’t panic.” Following his own advice, he took a few careful steps backward and motioned for the women to do likewise.
The bonobo responded by reaching around behind his back and grabbing a tool he had suspended by the vine around his waist. He held the tool aloft over his head and cried “Atah” again.
The three froze, wide-eyed with terror.
“What can ‘Atah’ mean?” Melanie whined after a few moments when nothing happened. “Can it be a word? Could he be talking?”
“I don’t have any idea,” Kevin sputtered. “But at least he hasn’t come toward us.”
“What is he holding?” Candace asked apprehensively. “It looks like a hammer.”
“It is,” Kevin managed. “It’s a regular carpenter’s clawhammer. It must be one of the tools the bonobos stole when the bridge was being built.”
“Look at the way he is grasping it. Just the way you or I would,” Melanie said. “There’s no question he has an opposable thumb.”
“We got to get away from here!” Candace half cried. “You two promised me these creatures were timid. This guy is anything but!”
“Don’t run!” Kevin said, keeping his eyes glued to the bonobo’s.
“You can stay if you want, but I’m going back to the boat,” Candace said desperately.
“We’ll all go, but slowly,” Kevin said.
Despite warnings not to do so, Candace turned on her heels and started to run. But she only went a few steps before she froze and let out a scream.
Kevin and Melanie turned in her direction. Both of them caught their breaths when they saw what had shocked her: Twenty more bonobos had silently emerged from the surrounding forest and had arrayed themselves in an arc, effectively blocking the exit from the cul de sac.
Candace slowly backed up until she bumped against Melanie.
For a full minute no one spoke or moved, not even any of the bonobos. Then bonobo number one repeated his cry: “Atah!” Instantly, the animals began to circle around the humans.
Candace moaned as she, Kevin, and Melanie backed into each other, forming a tight triangle. The ring the animals formed around them began to close like a noose. The bonobos came closer a step at a time. The humans could now distinctly smell them. Their odor was strong and feral. The animals’ faces were expressionless but intent. Their eyes flashed.
The animals stopped advancing when they were an arm’s length from the three friends. Their eyes ran up and down the humans’ bodies. Some of them were holding stone wedges similar to the one that had killed bonobo number sixty.
Kevin, Melanie, and Candace did not move. They were paralyzed with fear. All the animals looked as powerful as bonobo number one.
Bonobo number one remained outside the tight ring. He was still clutching the clawhammer but no longer had it raised over his head. He advanced and made a full circuit of the group, staring at the humans between the heads of his compatriots. Then he let out a string of sounds accompanied by hand gestures.
Several of the other animals answered him. Then one of them reached out his hand toward Candace. Candace moaned.
“Don’t move,” Kevin managed to say. “I think the fact that they haven’t harmed us is a good sign.”
Candace swallowed with difficulty as the bonobo’s hand caressed her hair. He seemed enthralled by its blond color. It took all the resolve she could muster not to scream or duck away.
Another animal began to speak and gesture. He then pointed to his side. Kevin saw a long healing surgical scar. “It’s the animal whose kidney went to the Dallas businessman,” Kevin said fearfully. “See how he’s pointing at us. I think he’s connecting us to the retrieval process.”
“That can’t be good,” Melanie whispered.
Another animal reached out tentatively and touched Kevin’s comparatively hairless forearm. Then he touched the directional beacon Kevin was holding in his hand. Kevin was surprised when he didn’t try to take it away from him.
The bonobo standing directly in front of Melanie reached out and pinched the fabric of her blouse between his thumb and forefinger as if feeling its texture. Then he gently touched the locator she was holding with just the tip of his index finger.
“They seem mystified by us,” Kevin said hesitantly. “And strangely respectful. I don’t think they are going to hurt us. Maybe they think we are gods.”
“How can we encourage that belief?” Melanie asked.
“I’ll try to give them something,” Kevin said. Kevin considered the objects he had on his person and immediately settled on his wristwatch. Moving slowly, he put the directional beacon under his arm and slipped the watch from his wrist. Holding it by its bracelet, he extended it toward the animal in front of him.
The animal tilted his head, eyeing the watch, then reached for it. No sooner had he had it in his hand than bonobo number one vocalized the sound: “Ot.” The animal with the watch responded by quickly giving it up. Bonobo number one examined the watch, then slipped it onto his forearm.