Chapter 6

She had fleetingly seen them rocking among the branches from tree to tree, looking at her through the foliage when they thought they were safe from her eyes, but it was evident that although they were curious about the activities of humans they did not dare to make a clear appearance. Meiling in turn was fascinated by the contortions of the little monkeys and wanted to be able to contemplate them from closer; so that despite mutual interest a natural fence of mistrust stretched between the two primate species. Otherwise the girl knew that Aylen was watching them with a bit of disgust and feared that Jean Luc was only interested in them as a source of protein; this way the fence was actually a wall and Meiling didn't know how to climb it.

That afternoon the kid was wandering in the woods doing her usual gathering of roots and tubers and from the noises and shaking of the branches she knew she was being followed by the monkeys from the tall trees. At one point she heard a dry noise behind him followed by a shriek. Altered she turned and contemplated what had happened behind her back; a small monkey was on the ground crawling on one of its legs while showing bloodstains on one side. The girl quickly realized that the animal had fallen from some branch and was wounded. From the neighboring branches a great uproar of screams of alarm arose and Meiling interpreted that they were partly directed to drive her away from the site in order to help the little wounded creature. The girl was not influenced by these hostile cries and approached the fallen, who was trying painfully to crawl towards the neighboring bushes. Meiling took the monkey in her arms as the ape stared at her in horror and the pack of primates thundered the sky with their screams. She gently stroked the little monkey´s head, allowing her action to be visible from the branches of the trees, and then held him, managing to calm him down. The cries of the wounded beast became an imperceptible hum as the noise in the forest ceased. The girl walked with the injured primate in her arms in the expectation that something would happen. Finally she heard behind her a slight noise denoting a body that had fallen gently to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye she looked back and saw that one of the monkeys was approaching her with great caution. The wounded also sensed it and started chattering with the newcomer. Meiling faced the new participant and realized from the breasts that she was a female. Tying ends, she concluded that the newcomer was the mother of the fallen child. With great caution the girl bent down and spread her arms offering to deliver her son to the mother; the monkey approached and finally took him in her own arms, hung him around her neck and immediately climbed the low branches of the trees. A new hubbub informed Meiling that the monkeys were debating all the action. Then a moment of stillness followed, and the girl saw with surprise that a slightly larger jumpsuit had unhooked from the lianas and moved toward her. She noticed that this time it was a male and that he was holding something in his hands. Both primates observed each other at a short distance looking into each other's eyes as if wondering about the attitude and intentions, and finally the monkey extended his hand, giving the girl an object that he had in it. Meiling saw that it was a fruit, albeit of a type unfamiliar to her, and took it in her own hands. The monkey then exhibited another similar fruit and brought it to its mouth and began to eat it. The purpose of all this performance was evident; the fruit was a gift from the monkey gang and the one in front of the girl, possibly the boss, was showing her what to do with it. Meiling took the fruit and imitated the action of her interlocutor, beginning to chew it.

Xiang was disturbed at not seeing his sister in the camp and asked a question.

“Does any of you know where Meiling is?”

“I saw her a while ago go to the forest in that direction.” Aylen answered pointing to a kind of path.

“I'm going to go get her. I don't want her to be alone at sunset.”

“We accompany you.”

After a walk they thought they heard murmurs coming from a group of tall trees. Xiang began to call his sister with loud voices and the others joined in his action.

“Meiling! Where are you?”…

Suddenly a human voice was heard amid the background sounds of the forest.

“Here! I'm here.”

The three walkers looked at each other puzzled, unable to pinpoint the origin of the voice.

"I'm up here." Meiling reiterated.

Everyone looked up and saw their partner sitting on a high branch of a tree. Xiang exclaimed.

“Meiling! How could you get there? Get down immediately and come with us please.”

As usual, after dinner and after Meiling went to bed, the other three expeditionary met to discuss the day's alternatives. That night nobody dared to break the silence since it was inescapable to talk about something very strange. Finally Aylen was encouraged to face the issue.

“Xiang, what do you think about how and why your sister was in an almost inaccessible branch surrounded by monkeys?”

"I know the same as you." Replied the aforementioned.

“She hasn't told you anything?”

“No. I have tried to talk to her about it but she systematically avoids the subject and I don't want to force her to break her silence. I think that in time she will share with us what happened.”

"Was she scared by the company of the apes?" The woman insisted.

“Absolutely not. What's more, she seemed to enjoy it.”

Jean Luc decided to intervene in the conversation.

“I think the girl still doesn't understand what happened, she is still processing it. If so, she will share it with us when she is able to explain it.”

And so, in a leisurely way, the forest began to unfold its mysteries before its new inhabitants.

The helicopter landed gently in the middle of the forest clearing where the expedition camp organized by Conrad was located. The latter was waiting for the landing and when the blades stopped turning, he approached the cabin door that was already opening; a large man with reddish mustaches dressed in the Park Ranger uniform descended first.

“Mr. Conrad? I'm Kovacs.” The newcomer said extending his big hand.

“Welcome. Come, enter the tent with your people, we are having breakfast and we are counting on you.”

The talk first dealt to the conditions of the flight from the base and the weather contingencies. Then the different participants shared the news about the lost youngsters, news that in reality were very few and only allowed to exclude large areas that had already been searched without success.

“Tomorrow the relatives of the lost boys are arriving and I would like to have something to tell them.” Conrad expressed.

“We are deploying all the troops we have to cover the thousands of hectares of the Park. “Answered the Park Ranger.

“It is indeed a huge place.”

"Immense and full of mysteries." Kovacs agreed with an intriguing gesture.

“What do you mean?”

The man in uniform shifted in the chair visibly uncomfortable.

“On one hand to the depths of the jungle, impenetrable in parts ... and also to a long history of myths and legends, which come from the first indigenous inhabitants of this area and have been fed by the few travelers who have crossed it later.”

“Can't you be more specific?”

“Unfortunately not really. Let me give you an example. Some time ago, when we were doing another search, I met an old indigenous shaman. The man told me about forces and influences to which he attributed a supernatural origin, and which he said would be the legacy of what he called the Ancient Ones.”

“Other previous indigenous people?”

“Impossible to know, but it seems to me that he was referring to other races, which he considered powerful.”

“Extinct breeds?

“I could not find out that either, but in any case it would be entities that even today deploy their power in the middle of the jungle.”