Billy from Borneo (3)
Billy didn´t wake up properly the next morning, he jumped up and whacked his head off a low lying branch. A band of monkeys nearby were screaming and howling. He could just about make out the dialect. He thought they were shouting, “berries nearby.” He didn´t get a chance to work on his theory, a big orange-red arm grabbed him and breathed, “move. Tiger.”
“Ah, that´s what they are howling about,” shouted Billy.
“Quieten down and stick with me and don´t climb down the tree, “whispered his mother. They swayed from tree to tree, never once touching the floor of the jungle. In time the howling of the monkeys went into another direction and turned into a frenzy. It was followed by a jungle silence. The birds´singing took over.
“Did the tiger get one of the monkeys?” asked Scaffold.
“Maybe so, maybe not, the main thing is not to stick around to find out,” explained the mother.
Billy´s brother, Oran, gestured to them to keep moving. He had got the message.
“Where are we going?” inquired Billy.
“We´re going to the territory of the apes who take everything,” replied his mother, “so be extremely careful, they are far better hunters than tigers and they hunt in packs. They used to leave us people of the forest alone but now they feel as if we are coming into their territory when really they leave us no choice as they have widened their territory by cutting away the trees. More and more creatures of the jungle are going to their settlements to find food, so other predators could be hanging around their territory. Be on the lookout at all times.”
Then she hunched over and suddenly flung herself from a tree. She practically flew into the next one, breaking leaves and branches as she went. The trees complained about her weight a bit but she didn´t stop to listen to them she just kept going. Oran, Scaffold and Billy caught up and overtook her. They ended up following Oran, he seemed to know the way better than their mother did.