Shirley and Christie stood frozen in fear as they watched the giant gorilla, with Lizzie Jane in its grasp, make threatening noises and gestures. The question uppermost in their minds was the same that was frightening to Lizzie Jane -- Did a giant 18-foot gorilla eat humans?

 
Chapter 6
 

Shirley and Christie stood frozen in fear as they watched the giant gorilla, with Lizzie Jane in its grasp, make threatening noises and gestures. The question uppermost in their minds was the same that was frightening to Lizzie Jane -- Did a giant 18-foot gorilla eat humans?

George, the baby gorilla, saw what was happening and it began to jump up and down, making sounds and motions as if it were talking to his mother. Was it telling how Lizzie Jane had saved its life?

Whatever George said, it must have been good. The giant gorilla listened to George a few moments and very carefully placed Lizzie Jane down on her feet. George jumped up and down again, this time with glee, ran and hugged Lizzie Jane.

“Well, I’ll be,” Shirley, remarked. “Monkeys do have a language after all.”

“Wonder what he told her”, questioned Christie.

“Probably that Lizzie Jane saved his life during the earthquake,” answered Shirley. “Anyway, it is certain. Lizzie Jane has a new friend.”

Lizzie Jane was so weak, she had to sit down. She was still trembling when the girls went over to try to console her. No doubt she had suffered a terrifying experience — one that is not gotten over easily.

“I --- I ---“, Lizzie Jane tried to speak, but with trembling lips, the words had a problem coming out. “I — never — have been so — scared in my — life.” With those few words, she fainted.

Darkness of night began to creep over the young girls and George, who was standing next to Lizzie Jane, observed what was going on. The girls were looking around for a place to bed down for the night. Since Lizzie Jane had fainted, a place had to be found for her close-by. Since the roof of the cave had fallen in, there wasn’t another place except the beach.

George seemed to sense the problem, so he made some kind of gorilla noise and motions to his mother. In response, she picked up Lizzie Jane and, with the girls following, went into the jungle.

Although the girls were afraid of the jungle, they followed anyway. They had become very close friends the last couple of days and thought they should watch out for each other. Also, the fear of the jungle was not so prominent now that they were with the huge gorilla and her son, George. The girls felt secure in their presence.

The unusual party climbed up to a high ledge on the side of the mountain where there was a larger cave that had not been affected by the earthquake. The giant gorilla entered and prepared a bed for Lizzie Jane out of some kind of bush that made a soft pallet, laid the young girl down and motioned for the other girls to lie down, too. She went to the entrance and made herself a place to lie down, along with George, to guard the girls against danger.

The girls, seeing what was done and looking at Lizzie Jane, in a deep sleep, lay next to her and cuddled up together and went to sleep. George, looking at the girls, seemed very pleased.

Lizzie Jane’s deceased mother came to her in a dream again. “Honey, I know you had a terrifying experience, but remember I am always with you. You will soon wake up and I want you to be calm. You are protected. Remember, God can work through animals, much more than he can through man, who often is not responsive to God. Beware of men. Keep that in mind, dear. But, remember — no matter what happens, God is still in control.”

Shortly after daylight entered the cave, Lizzie Jane slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed her eyes to remove the blur and looked around. She saw where she was, although she could not understand exactly where and how she got there. Shirley and Christie were still cuddled up to her as if she had two young guardians at her side. She saw George, still asleep, lying by his mother.

The giant gorilla saw that she was awake and presented her with some strange looking fruits, berries, and bananas, making a gesture by moving her hand to her mouth, to indicate that Lizzie Jane should eat. Lizzie Jane shook the other two girls, and said, “It is breakfast time.”

Shirley and Christie stirred, rubbed their blurry eyes, and sat up. The first thing they noticed was how calm Lizzie Jane appeared, and then they saw the fruit. Being hungry, they each sampled the fruit.

“I don’t know where this came from, but it is good,” remarked Shirley.

“Guess--” said Lizzie Jane. “Momma gorilla brought it.”

“I meant some kind of plant, silly. It looks different from anything I have seen,” replied Shirley.

They glanced at the huge gorilla, sitting there watching the girls and it seemed that she was pleased that the girls were eating and were enjoying the food.

“I think she has adopted us,” Christie stated, “and it is all due to the kind heart of Lizzie Jane. If it wasn’t for her, we would still be on the beach, trying to decide what to do — where to get our food and find a place to sleep — or worse yet — dead.”

“Our knapsack is under the rocks when the cave roof fell in, isn’t it?” asked Lizzie Jane.

“Yes,” replied Christie as she began on the berries.

Finishing breakfast, followed by fresh water, the girls ventured out to the ledge of the mountain under the watchful eye of Momma Gorilla. Sitting there, they could see a small portion of the jungle and the ocean, seemingly without end, lying beyond.

“Have you noticed that there isn’t any large animals like we saw when we crashed?” questioned Shirley, quickly adding, “except Momma Gorilla, of course.’

“I have been sitting here thinking. We are on the opposite side of the mountain and the large creatures seem to be on the other side. I think the reason they may not have crossed over was because the valley we came through was too narrow for them, so the mountain keeps them over there.”

“That suits me just fine,” remarked Christie.

“But, Momma Gorilla is on this side,” replied Lizzie Jane.

“But remember, Momma Gorilla can climb. That must be how she selected a cave on this ledge,” replied Shirley. She continued, “and another strange thing. Where is Poppa Gorilla? There can’t be a baby gorilla without a poppa.”

Shirley seem to be a thinker and evidently the most learned and intelligent of the three.

“I have not thought about a poppa,” replied Lizzie Jane, “but I can see what you mean about Momma Gorilla being able to climb. She was able to come across the mountain — maybe to protect her child?”

“That is what I was thinking,” Shirley stated. “I wonder if Poppa Gorilla was killed by other giant animals on the other side of the mountain and that is why she thought about protecting her baby.”

“What do we do, now?” asked Christie.

“Well, like you said, Christie, we seem to have been adopted thanks to Lizzie Jane, so I suggest we stay here. From this ledge, we have a good view of the ocean and, if there are any ships or anything spotted, we can see them miles away,” replied Shirley.

George, being a young gorilla, wanted to play, so he began pulling Lizzie Jane to go down into the jungle with him. She was reluctant, because of fear.

Guessing what George wanted, Shirley spoke up. “It will probably be okay to go with him. The jungle is his playground and he has managed to survive this long. I would think that Momma Gorilla would be watching him from this lofty perch. Besides now, I would think that Momma Gorilla is the queen around here and the other animals know it.”

With that, Lizzie Jane made her way down the slope into the dreaded jungle. The first wild animal she saw was a lion, which turned away when seeing her with George. Maybe Shirley was right. Maybe Momma Gorilla had bluffed the other animals.

Also, it seemed strange that the lion was a normal size — not like the monsters on the other side of the mountain. That caused her to think that the mountain range circled the island and kept the large creatures imprisoned in the center.

The possibility of savages, as mentioned in the diary found on the yacht, crossed Lizzie Jane’s mind. But, there wasn’t any sign of them. She began to wonder if they lived on the other side of the mountain and, if they did, were they giant people?

George became busy doing antics, common to monkeys and possibly gorillas, too. He liked to climb trees and swing on vines. He finally got Lizzie Jane in a tree, put a vine in her hand and pushed her off the tree. She grasped the vine with all her might, closing her eyes, but did not hit another tree, but a clump of bushes, instead. George jumped up and down, seemingly with a gorilla laugh.

“T’aint funny,” said Lizzie Jane, followed by a smile, thinking about her name — Jane — remembering Tarzan and Jane. Yep, she had the right name.

Amazingly, with a lot of practice and a few bruises and scratches, she learned to swing on vines — from shorter trees that were closer to the ground. She was proud of herself that she was beginning to be a jungle girl and she was beginning to enjoy it.

She found some rocks, which she thought, might be useful because of the type she thought they were, but not sure. She put a few in the pockets of her shorts to carry back with her. If they were what she thought, it would be a welcome addition to their new home.

The day ended much too soon, so as the sun began to set, the “jungle couple” made their way up the mountain to the ledge. Shirley and Christie had made some brooms and placed rocks in such a manner as to create a table and stools. They carved out some shelves where the walls were more dirt than rock and made it more like home.

Although they kept an eye on the ocean from their high location, looking for a ship or something to rescue them, they thought that this might be the home for quite some time.

Supper was as delicious as breakfast. Lizzie Jane gathered a few stick and put them together as if she were going to build a fire. The other two girls stood there, wondering what she was doing. The matches were in the knapsack covered with rocks from the earthquake, so how could she start a fire? Lizzie Jane pulled out a couple of rocks from her pocket and struck them together over a small pile of straw. Sparks flew out and eventually a little fire was started. She had been correct — they were flint rocks.

The fire was a welcomed blessing because it gave light during the darkness of night. At first, Momma Gorilla seemed to be concerned, but watching how it brought pleasure to the girls, she accepted it. Also, she saw that George liked it, too.

Bedtime rolled around and the girls cuddled up together and went to sleep, all of them peacefully for the first time since the crash. Tomorrow was another day and no one could foresee what it would hold.

--- To be continued

Copyright 2007 by Starla Anne Lowry
Under the pen name of Billie Sue