

EISHA'S JOURNEY

BY KEITH PAUL

THIS EBOOK IS LICENSED FOR YOUR PERSONAL ENJOYMENT ONLY.

IT MAY NOT BE RE-SOLD OR EDITED IN ANY WAY.

CHAPTER ONE

It was a bright sunny morning. There was a slight breeze that made the leaves on the trees shiver. It was a typical morning in southern Zambia, everything was peaceful. Even at this early hour, the sun was burning down on the earth.

Lying on the muddy sand next to the river was Eisha. She was fast asleep. Eisha was an elephant, standing at four feet tall. Soil and mud covered her grey skin. A few feet away lay her parents. They all lived close to the river bed to cool down from the heat of the sun.

The sound of a jeep engine woke Eisha up. She slowly opened her eyes but it took a while to adjust to the brightness of the sun. The sound of the jeep seemed to get nearer and nearer but then all of a sudden it stopped. Eisha looked around but could not see the jeep. She decided to rise up to get a better look. The wind was still travelling through the trees which made a rustling sound. Eisha still couldn't see the jeep anywhere.

"I must be imagining things again" she said to herself. "It's a bit early in the morning for visitors anyway" she continued.

She looked back at her parents. They were still fast asleep.

"Well since I'm up, I may as well go for a quick bath before I head over to see Harry" she muttered to herself.

Harry was a hippopotamus, and Eisha's best friend. They knew each other since they were very young. They played together in the water, especially on a hot summer's day. They went on many adventures together along with the rest of their friends, Zoey the Zebra and Ruben the Rhinoceros, although they were always back in time before it got dark. They all lived in the middle of the safari, which attracts many tourists each day to catch a glimpse and take pictures of Eisha and all her friends.

Eisha was sure she heard a jeep. Presumably it would be the first visitors of the day to take pictures of her, but since she still couldn't see any people around, she proceeded to head further down the river so she could get in and soak herself in the cool water.

"Wow it's a really hot day. I wish the clouds could cover the sun for a little while" she said.

Unfortunately, there were no clouds to be seen in the sky.

"I guess I'll have to settle for splashing myself in the water!" she said with a smile on her face.

All of a sudden she heard loud screeching and the splash of water further down the river near the waterfall. She looked up and gazed in the direction of the loud noises. As she focused closely, she could see a three foot tall figure in the distance.

A grin appeared on Eisha's face. She could tell it was her best friend Harry the hippopotamus messing about in the water.

"He must have woke up early too!" she exclaimed.

Indeed Harry was up very early, and he was jumping about splashing in the river very close to the waterfall, his favourite part.

"Hey Harry, wait up, wait for me" shouted Eisha with excitement in her voice.

Harry did not hear her, so she began to trot slowly at first, then a little bit quicker in order to catch up in the morning fun.

"Hey Harry!" Eisha shouted as she came up close to her best friend.

He looked up suddenly as if he was a little bit startled.

"Oh, hey Eisha, I wasn't expecting company this early in the morning, I thought that you would be still asleep!"

"Yes I know, but I was woken up by a loud jeep noise but I couldn't see anything, so I decided to go for a quick morning bath!"

"It's great to see you, and now that we are here early, we can prepare for a fun filled day!

"Yaaaay, I can't wait to decide what we do, I bet it will be a real adventure!" exclaimed Eisha.

She started to splash about in the water. It was a great way to cool down as the sun's rays were beginning to get a lot warmer on her skin. Harry rose up his massive two front feet and then let them fall again with a massive plunge. Water splashed in Eisha's direction, some of which even got in her eyes. She did not mind, however, and instead paid Harry back by doing the same. They both laughed at each other.

Eisha was really happy to see her friend, and was even happier thinking about what they could do for fun with the rest of their friends. Perhaps they could play hide and seek in the high grass where their friend Lorenzo the lion lived. Or maybe do lots of poses and funny faces for the tourists taking pictures while visiting the safari. She got more excited the more she thought about it, but for Eisha, little did she know about the adventure that was about to happen that would involve her and all her friends taking off on a wild and wicked journey across the hot African safari.

CHAPTER TWO

Eisha was heading back to her parents. She decided to head back home through the high grass in order to dry the water from her skin. The grass was tickling her as she walked by slowly.

She promised Harry that she would catch up with him later after lunch along with their other friends. Her skin felt a lot cooler now after she had been splashing about in the water for the past hour.

As she drew closer to where her parents lay, she heard a slight rumble. The rumbling noise got louder and louder until there was one big screech. Eisha recognised who was making the noise; it was her mother, who sounded like she was in pain.

Eisha began to tread faster to where the noise was coming from. As she brushed against the very last of the high grass, she came to the opening of the sandy, muddy area where she and her parents had lived for the past couple of years. Standing in the middle of the mud was her mother. She raised her trunk and once again let out a loud screech. There was a strong smell that caught Eisha by surprise, perhaps that of diesel from a truck. Freshly made tyre tracks could be seen on the ground very close to her mother.

Eisha ran to her mother who was startled by her approach.

"Oh my, oh my Eisha, thank goodness you are safe, I thought they had taken you too" her mother managed to splutter out.

Eisha was spooked by what her mother had said, it was not like her to act in this way.

"Mom, what's wrong? Who has been taken?" she asked.

"Thank goodness you are here, I really thought they had taken my little baby too" her mother continued as she began to catch her breath, ignoring Eisha's question.

"Mum what's wrong, who has been taken?" she asked her mother again with a more worried tone in her voice.

Her mother began to sob, looking down at the ground. Eisha looked around where her mother was standing, then turned and looked behind her, then to her left, and to her right. She suddenly became aware that there was no sign of her father.

She looked back again at her mother with a worried expression on her face. She walked up close to her mother and stood by her side. There was now a tear beginning to swell under her eye.

"Where is father?" she asked in a low frightened voice as the tear began to fall down her face. Her mother looked up from the ground and slowly turned towards Eisha.

"Your father has been taken" she finally choked out. "He has been taken by hunting men on the back of a truck" she continued.

Eisha could not believe what she was hearing. Tears started to stream down her face a lot heavier now, and there were even more questions she had on her mind but she could not ask them. Her brain had become bundled up with emotion as nothing seemed to make sense.

"But why would they want to take father and where have they taken him?" she tearfully asked.

"I don't know" her mother replied. "They sped away in that direction" she continued as she pointed to the north east with her trunk.

Eisha took a step back and sat down. She was shocked by what her mother had said. So many questions were circling her mind, but most of all there was fear that trembled her entire body as she wondered what those men wanted with her father and where they had taken him.

A large figure poked up from behind the tall grass in the distance, followed by another, and then another. As Eisha finally focused her eyes, she could see that the tall figure was Jack, and behind him were his even taller parents. Jack was a giraffe and one of Eisha's good friends. Behind Jack and his parents, more animals emerged from the tall grass. Lorenzo the lion and Zoey the zebra and all their families came to aid Eisha and her mother after they had heard the loud noises.

Not too long after, Harry was on the scene along with his mother. He raced up to Eisha to comfort her. He could see the emotional pain in her eyes compared to the happier Eisha he had seen earlier in the morning when they were splashing about in the water.

"What has happened?" he asked as everyone had gathered.

Eisha's mother explained everything. She was still sobbing away. The heat of the sun was now blistering down upon them all but they didn't seem to notice. They all stood there in shock. Nothing like this had ever happened before. This was a nice area of the safari, with lots of nice tourists coming to visit every day. There was never any fear in the air. But today, everybody was in fear. Somehow, Eisha felt a little bit of comfort by the fact that her friends were with her.

"We should go after these bad people and get your father back" Harry suddenly blurted out.

Everybody looked at him, but they weren't sure what to say.

"A few of us should go. We can follow the tyre tracks that have been left by the truck to find your father" Harry continued.

"That would be too dangerous son" said Harry's father.

"Yes, much too dangerous Harry" added Eisha's mum. "Besides, the wind will eventually hide away the tyre tracks, and we don't know how far these men have taken him".

They were all too humbled to say anything else, there was nothing they could do.

But Harry was not willing to give up that easily. He knew that he was strong enough to carry out the mission at hand. And with a little help from his friends, he was determined he could bring Eisha's father back.

"But we should all pull together and search for him" Harry said eagerly. "Maybe the men have not gone far. Maybe they have only gone to the village. It's not that far away, and if a group of us go together, we can all help Eisha's father escape from the truck" Harry continued.

Harry's father stepped forward from the rest of the gang. He had a look on his face that he was not very impressed by what Harry was saying.

"Son, you must understand, Eisha's father could be anywhere by now. And these men that have taken him are not nice people. If we were to go and look for him, it certainly would not be the children that will go, it will be the adults" said Harry's father.

"But dad, we have gone on many adventures before, off into the wild" Harry blurted out. He suddenly stopped before he said anything else, realising that he had said too much. Harry, Eisha and their friends often went on adventures without their parents knowing. But now Harry had mistakenly blurted all this out in front of everyone's parents.

"You have done what?" asked Harry's father looking more annoyed now.

"Oops!" exclaimed Harry.

"Son I have told you many times, you are not to go into the wild without my permission. And this goes for everyone else as well".

He was now looking at all the others. Harry's father was a wise Hippopotamus, and he knew all of Harry and Eisha's friends.

"You guys should know better, I have told you all before about how dangerous the safari can be. There are tigers and lions that are always looking for new prey for their dinner".

"Hey!" shouted a voice from the middle of the group. Lorenzo the lion stepped forward with an angry look on his face.

"We may be lions, but that does not mean we are going to eat everybody!" exclaimed Lorenzo.

"Yeah, we don't go around nibbling at all you guys for our lunch!" added Lorenzo's father.

Harry's father turned around to face them with a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Oh, err, I did not mean you guys. I meant other lions and tigers out in the wild. I know you guys would never eat any of us! We are all friends!" exclaimed Harry's father.

Jack the giraffe stepped forward to where Lorenzo and his parents stood. He was nearly as tall as the tree that they stood beside. Everybody looked up at him as he spoke.

"I think we are all getting ahead of ourselves. We are not thinking straight. I have to agree with Harry. Our friends' father is taken away from us. We must go and get him back. And I believe that myself, Eisha, Harry, Lorenzo and Zoey should go and search for him. We have after all gone into the wild before and know it very well. And yes we should have got permission all those times, but we are asking you this time. All of us together make a great team, so we could all find him faster. Besides, the adults should stay here and look after Eisha's mum and make sure that no more hunter men come by to try and take someone else," said Jack with bravery in his voice.

All the parents looked at Jack with bemusement. Never before had Jack been as brave as to step forward and address everyone. But deep down they all knew he was right. And there was a sense of excitement amongst Harry, Lorenzo and Zoey as they thought about their big adventure.

Eisha, on the other hand, was still sobbing and trying to take in all the information. The thought of leaving her mother was something which did not please her; however she knew that all the other adult animals were there for her. Eventually she warmed to the idea of going in search of her father with her friends.

Harry's father looked at all the other parents. Nobody said anything. After a few seconds, Jack's father eventually spoke. He had a very long neck and was taller than Jack, in fact, he was the tallest of all the animals. He spoke in a strong confident voice.

"I think that my son is right. The children should go and search for Eisha's father. They are, after all, young and much fitter than any of us adults. I believe in them. We must trust our children" said Jack's father.

"I agree" said Lorenzo's father. "We can stay with Eisha's mum and make sure those hunter men don't come back".

Harry's father walked over to his son. He spoke in a very serious tone.

"Harry, I have never knowingly let you wander out into the wild safari before. But I trust you to look after your friends and make sure they are safe at all times. I have trained you everything you need to know to survive in this wonderful and yet dangerous land, and now the time has come for you to fend for yourself. So please be careful on your journey", said Harry's Father.

"I will dad, don't you worry about me or my friends", Harry replied. "We will look after one another, and we will bring Eisha's father back to where he belongs" he continued with a determined voice.

"I know you will" replied Harry's father with a smile on his face. "I know you will".

CHAPTER THREE

It was now the middle of the afternoon. The sun was beaming down. Eisha, Harry, Lorenzo, Jack and Zoey were all getting ready to take off on their big adventure.

"I'm going to be quicker than you" Zoey said as she teased Harry.

"Hey, just because I'm a lot bigger than you does not mean I'm going to be slow!" exclaimed Harry. "Besides, we all need to stick together" he continued.

"Yes, this is not like any adventure we've been on before you guys," added Eisha. "This is to save my father".

Zoey could see that Eisha was about to cry again.

"Don't worry Eisha, we will find him. They cannot have gone too far, and if we follow the tyre tracks, we will find him very soon" she said as she tried to comfort her friend.

"We should leave now, the sun will only be high in the sky for another few hours, and we must be back before it gets dark", said Harry.

They were ready to start their journey across the wild and beautiful safari. They said goodbye to their parents. Eisha looked back at her mother one last time. She was still crying, especially now that she saw Eisha was also leaving her. But she knew she would be back. Eisha gave her mother one last smile, then turned around and followed her friends.

CHAPTER FOUR

"One, two, three, four, I see tyre tracks on the floor. Five, six, seven, eight, oh this journey will be great!" sang Zoey as they travelled along.

Eisha, Harry, Jack and Lorenzo didn't seem to be paying attention to Zoey's singing. They were too busy concentrating on their mission.

"We are strong, we will not fail, don't you worry, we'll follow the trail!" Zoey continued singing.

She did not realise she was singing so loud, and now the others were beginning to notice.

"One, two, three, four, I see tyre tracks on the floor. Five, six, seven, eight, oh this journey will be great! We are strong, we will not fail, don't you worry we'll follow the trail!' Zoey sang once again.

"Hey Zoey, do you mind, we're trying to concentrate here!' exclaimed Harry. "Your singing is very loud and I'm beginning to lose focus!"

"Ooops I'm sorry, I didn't think I was singing that loud" Zoey replied.

"I kind of like it' said Eisha.

She began to sing the words along with Zoey, and soon Lorenzo and Jack were joining in too. Much to Harry's disappointment, the others were all singing together very loudly. He rolled his eyes and tried to get on with the journey.

"You should sing our songs, they're fun, and they will help you move faster" Zoey said to Harry.

"Are you saying I'm slow?!" he asked.

"No, I'm not saying that at all" replied Zoey, mockingly.

"I'm saying he's waaaay too slow" said Zoey in a quiet voice to Eisha so that Harry could not hear her.

Eisha giggled at her friend. They all sang happily along the sandy, muddy road in the middle of a wide open area of eastern Zambia. Mountains could be seen far off in front of them. A river was flowing a couple of hundred feet away to the east while the sun was burning down on the hot dry sand that surrounded the plain. They had been gone for about two hours now, and the heat of the sun was slowly beginning to make them feel exhausted.

Suddenly a rumbling noise was coming from behind them. They all looked behind to see what it was. It got louder and louder until finally they could see a jeep coming towards them.

"Looks like there are tourists on board this one" said Jack who was peering above all the rest with his long neck. The jeep got very close to them and slowed down as it saw all the animals on the road.

Eisha was starting to feel a bit nervous. Harry could see she was uneasy and tried his best to comfort her.

"They are only tourists Eisha, they will not harm us. They are only here to take pictures" said Harry.

Sure enough, the jeep came up close to the animals and there was a family on board the jeep. Two adults and two children looked in awe at each of the animals. They took out their cameras and started clicking.

Jack decided to play a little game with the tourists. He poked his long head into the jeep so that his nose was only a couple of inches away from one of the children. The child screeched as Jack's big face came up close on him. Jack got a little startled by this and quickly raised his head up away from the jeep. This made the children laugh.

Jack was puzzled by this, but he knew the children were having fun, so he decided to come in close again. This time he stuck his head towards the steering wheel of the jeep and accidently blew the horn. This made everyone jump including Eisha, Harry and Lorenzo. Jack stumbled back by the sound of the frightening noise and bumped into Zoey.

The adults and children started laughing again. They took pictures of the animals one more time. Finally they took off and rumbled down the road in front until they turned a corner and were no longer seen.

The gang took a few deep breaths and began to move again. They started to run slowly up the road to the corner in which the tourists had turned. The heat of the sun meant their bodies began to lose energy. The high grass to the sides of the road was starting to become more predominant. They could not see much either side except for creepy crawlies fluttering around.

"I can see a crossroads up ahead" Jack blurted out, as he could see a couple of hundred feet away in front of him.

A few minutes later they had reached the crossroads. Eisha and Harry's hearts were pumping very hard. All the running in the heat was beginning to catch up with them. Jack and Zoey were also huffing and puffing away as they tried to catch their breath. Lorenzo seemed to be fine because he was a lion, and lions were used to running at great lengths in the safari. He looked at the others as they tried to redeem themselves.

"Amateurs!" he teased as they all looked at him.

"That's not fair Lorenzo, just because you can run much faster than the rest of us don't mean you are better than us!" exclaimed Jack. "I for example can reach up very high and eat the leaves off this tree so I never have to be hungry" Jack continued as he rested against the trunk of a big tree.

The tree offered a sheltering spot for Eisha and Harry also as they tried to stay out of the direct sunlight for a little while.

Zoey was scratching her back against the tall grass. She peered over to see the rest of her friends under the shade. She walked out onto the middle of the crossroads. She looked left, then right and finally straight ahead. A look of concern suddenly appeared on her face.

"Eh guys, I think we have a problem" she said.

The others looked up at her.

"What is the matter Zoey?"

Zoey pointed her head in all directions.

"Look" she said. "There are fresh tyre tracks on all these roads. And the worst thing is that they all look the same. How are we supposed to know which way to go?" she asked.

They all looked up and down in all directions. Sure enough there were tyre tracks that dotted the roads and they all looked the same.

"Oh no, what are we going to do?" asked Eisha in a worried voice.

"I don't know" replied Jack. We will lose too much time if we go the wrong way and we must find your father as soon as possible" he added.

"Maybe we should split up, that way we could all go in a different direction?" asked Zoey.

"No" replied Harry. "We are all sticking together. The safari is too dangerous to be wandering off on your own. We have already gone too far, much more than we have ever gone before. We all stuck together before and we will stick together now. Besides, our parents would not be happy if they knew we had all split up" Harry added.

"Which way are we going to go?" asked Eisha in a sobbing voice. She was beginning to get very worried that they would never be able to find her father now that they had lost their tyre track which they depended on.

"Maybe I can help you" came a voice out of nowhere all of a sudden. The gang were startled by the sound of the dry voice which seemed to circle all around them.

"Who said that?" asked Lorenzo as he turned around and around the road to see if he could find where the voice came from.

"I'm up here" replied the voice. "Look, up here in the tree".

They all looked up.

Sitting high up on a branch of the old tree was a monkey. He was camouflaged by his brown fur against the very long branch that he sat on.

"Oh hello" said Eisha to the monkey.

"Hello to you too" he replied.

Jack stuck his head up very high so that he was face to face with the monkey. The monkey looked back at him with a cheeky grin on his face.

"You're a tall fellow aren't you" said the monkey who seemed to be making fun on his height. "I see a lot of you giraffes around here. You stop off for a meal eating my leaves on my tree without my permission and then you head off like nothing happened!" exclaimed the monkey.

Jack looked at him with a puzzled face.

"Oh, err, well, when you're hungry you got to eat" replied Jack.

"Not on my tree you don't!" said the monkey cheekily.

"What is your name?" asked Eisha.

The monkey took his attention away from Jack and looked down at Eisha.

"My name is Monty" he replied proudly. "Who are you lot, and why are you trespassing my area of the safari?" he asked as he looked at the rest of the group.

They all introduced themselves individually.

"We have been travelling all afternoon to look for our friend's father who was taken by evil hunters" Jack revealed to Monty. "And just to add, we are not trespassing, we were simply taking a rest before we moved on. I didn't intend to take your precious leaves" said Jack rather snarly.

This took Monty by surprise.

"You're crazy" he replied to Jack, with a big grin on his face. Then he hopped up from the branch and jumped off the tree onto Jack's head. He slid down the giraffe's long neck and then hopped off Jack's broad back and onto the ground. He looked so much smaller when he was on the ground compared to the rest of the animals who now all peered down on him.

"It appears from your conversation, which by the way I was listening to intently, that you seem to be in trouble of some sort regarding tyre tracks" said Monty. He seemed to be getting cheekier by the minute.

"Yes that is correct" said Harry. "We followed the tyre tracks of the jeep that has taken our friend but now we have no idea which one it is because there are so many on the ground. We do not know which way to go. Have you seen many jeeps go this way today?" Harry asked.

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't!" replied Monty folding his arms.

"So have you seen many jeeps pass here today or not?" asked Harry.

"As I said, maybe I have, maybe I haven't" said the grinning monkey.

"Oh boy, what is the matter with you?" asked Harry looking frustrated.

"You said you could help us" Eisha pleaded.

"No I didn't" replied Monty. "What I said was that maybe I could help you" he added in a mocking voice.

"Look here monkey, we have got to find Eisha's father and we are running out of time. The sun will only be up for another few hours and we have to be back before it's dark" said Harry, who was getting more frustrated by the minute.

Monty looked at him, and then looked at Eisha behind him. For the first time he began to feel sorry for Eisha as he could clearly see she was upset.

"Alright" he said. "There were only a few jeeps that have passed here today. Most of them had tourists travelling around. Some had local people from the nearest village going about their daily business. But one jeep certainly caught my eye" added Monty.

"What jeep was that?" asked Harry.

Monty paused a moment, then took a deep breath with his little body.

"Bananas" he finally blurted out laughing. "Lovely ripe yellow bananas, a whole jeep-full of them. That's what I saw!' Monty added while dancing around in a circle still laughing out loud.

The others did not find this amusing at all. An infuriated Harry smacked Monty on his head which sent him flying into the air and landing a few feet away in a muddy puddle. Everyone gasped.

Monty was not laughing anymore. Slowly he turned around on his belly and yanked himself back up on his feet again.

"Heeey, that wasn't very nice, what did you do that for?" he asked bewildered.

"I have had enough of your messing about" said Harry.

Monty just sat there and started to laugh again.

"Would you like me to hit you again?" Harry asked with an angry tone in his voice.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you what I really saw" the monkey said.

Monty dusted the dirt off him and looked at the gang.

"There was one jeep that really caught me by surprise a few hours ago. It was a long dark green jeep that made a rusty noise as it went along. There were two men in the front seats, and two more in the back. And at the back of the jeep there was an elephant' said Monty as he described the scene he saw earlier that day.

"That's my dad, that's my dad" cried Eisha.

"He was lying down on his side and his legs were tied up, but he seemed to be in good shape" added Monty.

Hearing this made Eisha weep a little as the image of her father being tied up and in danger was not a taught she wanted to imagine in her head.

"Which way did they go?" asked Jack.

Monty turned to Jack and had to bend his neck up vertically so he could see Jack's head. Instead of replying, Monty pointed straight ahead while still staring up at the giant creature in front of him.

"Isn't that the way to the village" asked Zoey?

They all looked in the direction that Monty had pointed. Lorenzo remembered going to the village one day with his father so he was familiar with the area.

"Yes that is the direction of the village" said Lorenzo. "As far as I can remember, it will take another hour of walking to get there".

"That's where they have taken my father" said Eisha. "Those men from the village have taken him and are going to use him for heavy work".

Eisha had heard about this type of thing before from her grandfather who was also taken on the back of a jeep. Her grandfather had managed to escape one very wet day when the men were not looking because they had taken shelter. He broke free and fled back to his family.

"We have to get to the village right away and distract these men from harming your father" said Harry.

"We will think of a plan to get him free once we get there" added Lorenzo. "Come on, let's go".

They were about to leave when suddenly a voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Ehem, excuse me" said Monty in a loud voice. "Are you not going to thank me for my help? And are you not going to ask me to come along with you?" Monty asked.

He was standing in the middle of the road with his arms folded and tapping his left foot on the ground.

Lorenzo looked at Harry. Harry looked back at Lorenzo with a blank face. Then he turned to face Monty.

"Err, yes sorry. Thank you for all your help Monty" said Harry to the monkey.

Monty was still standing tapping his left foot on the ground with his arms folded. "Aaaaaand.....?"

"Aaaaaand what?" asked Harry.

"I've helped you guys out big time, even though I have never met you before, and I've been nice the whole way through, and then it's a simple goodbye?" said Monty sarcastically.

The others looked at each other before Harry responded.

"Well, err, I don't think it would be a good idea if you were to come with us" said Harry.

Monty stopped tapping his foot on the ground. He unfolded his arms and put them on his hips. He moved his head forward a little before responding to Harry.

"And why not?" he asked.

Once again Harry was stuck for words. He wanted to let the monkey down nicely but was unsure if he would hurt his feelings.

"I'm waiting" added Monty in an impatient manner.

"Well, er, ehem, I don't know" Harry mumbled.

"Oh come on you guys, what's the worst that could happen?" Monty pleaded. "I need a break. Going on a journey with you guys will sort me out. Besides I haven't been to the village in a while and I bet that's where that jeep with the big juicy bananas was going which I cannot wait to get my claws on!" he added.

Harry looked at Eisha. She hadn't said anything in a while.

"I suppose it would be okay if you were to tag along" she finally said. "In fact you might be useful when it comes to rescuing my father when we get to the village".

"Great! No wait, hang on a minute" said Monty. "I said I was going to the village to get food, not help you guys out. I've already done my bit. If I have to help when we get to the village, then I might as well just stay here and relax in my tree" he added cheekily.

"Fine, suit yourself" replied Harry who was starting to get frustrated again.

"Fiiiine" replied Monty mockingly.

He folded his arms once again in a defiant manner.

"We've wasted enough time waiting around here talking to this little guy, let's get a move on" said Jack.

They all turned their backs on Monty and started heading in the direction that he had pointed them towards earlier. Eisha looked back at Monty who was still standing in the middle of the road looking proud. She turned her head again to face the others as they moved on. They were only a few feet away when a little voice cried out.

"Don't leave me".

They all stopped walking and looked back at Monty. Instead of looking proud and happy, he was now sulking.

"Don't leave me" he repeated. "Please take me with you, I promise I'll be on my best behaviour. And I'll help you" he added.

Harry was feeling very frustrated at this stage. He did not want the monkey to come with them at all, nor did Jack, but somehow Monty had persuaded Eisha and Zoey with his cry full plea. Lorenzo didn't seem to be bothered either way; he just wanted to get on with the journey as his skin was starting to feel the heat standing around.

"Fine then, you can come with us" said Eisha.

To the others disgruntlement, they all agreed and Monty was delighted with himself.

"Woohoo" he shouted as he caught up with the rest and they were on their journey once again. It wasn't long until Monty started asking all sorts of questions.

"Where are you guys from?" "How did you all become friends?" "What's your favourite time of the day?" "Have you ever snorted water through your nose?" "What's your favourite type of food?" "Are there snakes where you live?" I don't like snakes, they are real mean!"

The questions kept coming and coming, much to the annoyance of Harry.

"How about we sing our song" Harry asked everyone. "Anything to shut the monkey up for a while!"

CHAPTER FIVE

They were very close to the village. It was now well into the afternoon. They would need to reach Eisha's father soon and rescue him in time before it got too dark. The sun was at its highest point in the sky and the gang were beginning to feel sick with the heat. They were exposed to it for too long without any shade or drinking water. Eisha was beginning to feel tired.

"Guys I really need a drink of water, I cannot go much further" she said as she stopped in the middle of the road and bowed her head with exhaustion.

"Me too" added Harry.

"Me three!" Monty butted in.

"Look, over there" said Jack pointing to everyone's right.

Monty climbed up Jack's front leg and onto his back. Still not satisfied with the view, he continued climbing up the giraffe's neck and onto his head. Monty raised his hand over his face to block the view of the sun.

"Yes, I can confirm that my giant friend here is correct. There is a lake right over there beyond those trees" said Monty in an affirmative manner.

"Okay let's go get a drink of water before we carry on. Can you lead us to the lake?" Harry asked in a tired voice.

"Aigh, aigh captain" confirmed Monty.

They proceeded to move through the high grass and headed for the lake. Monty was still resting on the top of Jack's head.

"Hey, why are you still up there?" asked Jack looking up with his eyes towards the furry little animal on top of him.

"I like it up here, plus I can see all around me, the view is amazing" replied Monty.

Jack was not pleased by this at all. He shook his head from side to side in order to make the monkey jump off.

"Whoa, whooooaaaa" cried Monty who was struggling to hold on. But he had grasped his little hands very tightly around Jacks head. He was able to hold on despite the giraffe's best efforts to knock him off. Moving his head from side to side was beginning to make Jack dizzy so he decided to stop and give in to the defeat of Monty's stubbornness.

"Woohoo!" shouted Monty with his hands stretched out in a victory stance.

"I'm king of the safari!"

Jack rolled his eyes. He seemed to accept that the monkey would stay on his head for as long as he liked. That's just the way he was. But Jack had a plan!

They reached the lake which looked bigger as they got closer to it. There was mud around its banks which was a delight for Eisha and Harry. They loved to roll in the mud after being in the water to wash themselves. One by one they all entered the water. Jack stood behind in the mud at the edge of the lake. He looked up at Monty with a grin on his face.

"Why do you have that big grin on your face?" asked Monty.

Jack didn't answer him. Instead, he stopped facing Monty and looked straight into the lake. He moved his head back slowly and while Monty was loosely gripping onto Jack's head, he moved his head back forcefully, then threw his head forward in a flash which sent Monty flying in the air and heading towards the lake.

There was a big screech from Monty.

"I cannot swim!" he shouted out as he flew through the air.

And with that, he plunged into the water in a big splash. Jack started laughing to himself while kicking about in the mud. Then he looked into the area of the lake in each Monty had fallen into. The water was making little ripples. There was no sign of Monty at all. They all looked around waiting for him to surface, but by now a couple of seconds had passed.

"Wait a minute, did he say that he couldn't swim before he splashed into the water?" asked Jack to the others.

"I don't think I heard anything" said Harry.

"That's because your head was under the water!" exclaimed Lorenzo.

"Oh yeah, well then I definitely didn't hear anything" replied Harry. He shook his head vigorously in order to wipe the water from his ears.

Jack stepped forward a little closer to the edge of the water. He had a worried expression on his face. A couple of more seconds had passed and there was still no sign of Monty.

"Guys I'm beginning to get a little worried here" said Jack. "He definitely shouted something while he was in the air".

The rest of the gang looked around them waiting and waiting. The world seemed to have stopped moving for a few moments as they all listened and looked intently.

"Everyone get out of the way, I'm going to stick my head under and rescue him" said Jack frantically. He was now extremely worried.

As he was just about to plunge his head into the water, a few air bubbles were popping in front of him on the surface of the water. Just then, Monty emerged with a big gasp, before falling under again. A few more seconds passed when he once again emerged breathing heavily and splashing all the water around him.

"Ee ah ha ha aha ha ha ee haha ha" he screamed laughing as he splashed about in the water. Then he looked at Jack.

"I bet I had you worried didn't I?" he shouted as he was still laughing.

Jack's expression suddenly went from a worried one to a very angry one. Eisha and Harry blurted out laughing as they saw the look on Jack's face. This started off Lorenzo and Zoey as well as they got into a fit of giggles.

"Good one Monty, you really had Jack worried!" exclaimed Lorenzo.

"Well if you didn't drown already, I'm going to make sure you drown now" said an irritated Jack focusing his attention on Monty.

Jack started to kick his back legs preparing to pounce on Monty when he suddenly stopped. He stood frozen on the edge of the lake. He was looking straight behind all his friends in the water.

"What is it Jack?" asked Eisha.

"Yeah why are you staring at the water like that?"

"Get out of the water, quick, get out of the water now" screamed Jack.

"What? Why?" asked Lorenzo.

He turned his head around to see what Jack was staring at. Then he realised.

"Crocodile!" he cried out to the rest of the gang.

They all looked behind them and sure enough they saw a big nasty crocodile on the surface of the water heading straight towards them. Then all of a sudden another crocodile popped up, and then another, and then another. There were six of them getting very close on Eisha and her friends in the water.

"Get out quick!" shouted Jack once more.

They all started splashing and swimming as quickly as they could as they struggled to get out of the water in such a quick dash.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" exclaimed Monty as he attempted to move his little body as fast as he could, but he was finding it hard.

"Here you go" said Eisha as she grabbed him out of the water with her trunk and threw him on her back.

The crocodiles were catching up on them. They were only a few feet away. Harry was breathing heavily as he endeavoured the final few steps out of the water. He made it to the muddy edge and he was followed by Lorenzo. Zoey was next. Eisha, with Monty on her back, was last out of the water.

"Keep running" shouted Jack.

"I hadn't planned on stopping" shouted Zoey back.

The crocodiles were still chasing after Jack who was still a few feet away from the others. But his long legs were much too fast for the crocodiles as he splashed mud everywhere. Eventually the crocodiles gave into defeat as they realised their dinner plans had failed miserably.

Jack caught up with the rest of the gang. They were all trying to catch their breath. Harry plonked down on the ground in exhaustion. Eisha did the same with Monty still on her back. As she reached the ground, the monkey couldn't hold on any longer and fell off. He went face first into the grass.

"Boy that was close. I did not see that coming" said a breathless Zoey.

"Neither did I" added Eisha.

"I did" said Lorenzo.

They all looked at him.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"I've heard about this lake before. It's Lake Derisahoo. It's famous for its crocodiles. Rumour has it that many animals have gone into that lake to cool down but have never come out alive. Those crocodiles are always hungry" said Lorenzo.

"Well why didn't you say so before we went in?" asked Zoey.

"I wasn't sure if it was the right lake. It was only when we were chased by the crocodiles that I knew it was definitely Lake Derisahoo" he replied.

"Oh good, that's the perfect time to figure it out before you get ate alive!" replied Zoey sarcastically.

"I guess this shows us that we can never be too careful" said Harry. "We must be on the lookout at all times just to make sure we are safe. That includes you too Monty" he added.

Monty was still lying face down on the grass. He turned around and got up by the sound of his name being mentioned.

"Yes sir" he replied holding his arm up saluting in a soldier's stance.

"I mean it" he replied to the monkey. "We cannot be playing any more games, it's too risky".

"I think we should all walk in pairs from now on, just to be safe" said Zoey.

"That's a wonderful idea. That way we can all be on the lookout from both sides".

"Okay, who wants to go with who?" asked Zoey.

"I'll stick with Harry" replied Eisha.

"I'll go with Zoey" added Lorenzo.

"That just leaves Jack and Monty to go together" said Eisha.

Jack looked at Monty. Monty looked back up at him with a big smiley face. It was easy to tell by Jack's facial expression that he was not one bit pleased being left to pair up with the monkey.

"I demand we change" as he looked away from the monkey.

"No you don't" said Monty as he cheekily hopped onto Jack's leg and up onto his back. He then proceeded to head up the giraffe's long neck and once again on to his head like he had done so before. This seemed to be his favourite position to settle in whether Jack liked it or not.

"Let's get a move on" said Harry.

They followed the trail through the high grass back to the road they had been on before. They walked in pairs as they agreed. Eisha and Harry were up front followed by Zoey and Lorenzo behind them. Jack and Monty were at the end of the line although they could see more than anyone.

Time was against them. The sun was now in the east which meant it was getting late and it would be soon evening. This worried Eisha as she knew they needed time to rescue her father and make it back in time safely. If they had to sleep overnight somewhere it would be a huge risk especially in the middle of the safari. Besides she had promised her mother she would be back that same day.

"How long more until we get to the village?" asked Zoey.

"Not too long, we are getting close" replied Lorenzo.

Up ahead were tall trees that looked like they were hiding something behind them. Eisha could see smoke rising.

"Hey guys look, there's smoke coming from behind those trees" she shouted back to the rest.

"Looks like the village people are lighting a fire" replied Lorenzo. "Maybe they are having a big feast" he added delightfully.

The thought of fresh juicy meat being cooked on a fire suddenly entered his mind which made him hungry. He licked his lips in anticipation that he might get some food while at the village.

They reached the edge of the forest of trees. There was a sense of nervousness amongst them, even Monty, but he tried his best not to show it. The smell of the smoke was getting heavier as they got closer to it. Lorenzo's nostrils were flaring up by the smell of fresh meat being cooked. Eventually the others could smell it too.

They were now a few yards away from the edge of the village as they passed the last few trees. Harry whispered everyone to stop. They did not want to be seen by the village people until they could get a better view of the area. Zoey and Lorenzo came up beside Harry and Eisha. Hiding behind some bushes at the edge of the village, they had finally reached their destination.

CHAPTER SIX

"What's the plan?" whispered Zoey to the rest as she looked straight on.

"We have to stay quiet'" said Harry. "We need to focus and not let the village people see us. If they see us first then it will make our job a lot more difficult. Be on the lookout for anything unusual. Jack and Monty, you guys have the best view so let us know if you can see anything".

But Monty was not on Jack's head anymore. He had jumped onto a tree that was right beside him and climbed up its trunk so that he was near the top. The others looked up at him suspiciously.

"I climbed up to get a better view" he whispered to reassure the others he was not up to his usual games.

"What do you see?" asked Zoey.

Monty looked around the area carefully. He moved his head slowly so that he could observe everything.

"I see jeeps over there" he said as he pointed to everyone's left. "And there are about ten huts lined up beside each other in the middle" he added.

"How many jeeps are there?" asked Harry.

Monty looked over to the left again. "Three" he answered. "There's also a bunch of people jumping around a huge fire".

Men were throwing logs of wood into the fire which they were using to cook meat on. Children were jumping and laughing with one another. Over in the far corner were two women gathering water using jugs beside the small stream that ran close to the little village.

Eisha decided to get closer as quietly as she could so she would be able to get a better view. She peered around to see if there was any sign of her father and tried to focus closely on every area. She paid particular attention to the three jeeps. They looked similar to the ones her mother had described which took her father. But she knew that all the vehicles that the local people used for transport were all the same length and colour, even the ones that were used by tourists when going on their safari adventure.

However one particular thing got her attention about one of the jeeps. There was one jeep in front of the other two with a big blanket covering something up in the back of the jeep. Eisha was suspicious. She was worried that whatever was underneath the big blanket, it was not moving.

"Can you see anything?" Harry asked Eisha.

She pointed over towards the jeeps with her trunk.

"Look over at the first jeep, there is something underneath that blanket" she replied to Harry.

He looked over in the direction Eisha had pointed. He saw what had caught her eye.

"I bet that is your father underneath the blanket" he said to Eisha.

She looked at him very worryingly.

"I hope not. It's not moving which cannot be good".

Harry looked at the jeep again while pondering his answer. He did not want to worry Eisha any more than she already was.

"We need to go and check it out and see what's underneath it".

Suddenly they heard someone talking from inside the hut that was closest to them. A man appeared wearing a Dashiki and holding on to a stick. He exited the hut and was heading towards the jeeps.

He didn't notice Eisha and Harry or the rest of the gang hiding in the bushes. He was approaching the jeep which had the blanket.

"Oh know, what if he drives off with my father on the back of the jeep?" Eisha asked Harry.

But Harry did not say anything; instead he was focusing very closely on the man. He was hoping he would not drive away.

Zoey and Lorenzo moved up beside Harry and Eisha. Jack was still waiting on Monty to climb off the tree and onto his head. But Monty was refusing to do so; he was having a better view of things from high up.

Lorenzo's nostrils were really flaring up now as he could see the meat cooking over the fire. He was more focused on the food that he barely noticed what everyone else was looking at.

The man had now entered the jeep and closed the door behind him. He shouted over something to the adults standing around the fire. They waved back at him. A few moments passed when suddenly the rumble of the jeeps engine started. Eisha's worst fears had happened as he slowly began to drive the jeep slowly passed the huts and then off down a narrow road that was covered by trees on the other side. The jeep was out of sight after he had turned a corner. Eisha bowed her head in disappointment.

"That man has taken my father away" she mumbled as she started to cry.

"We can't be sure of that, we don't even know if he was on the back of that jeep" replied Harry. "Please don't cry, everything will be alright".

"But I don't see him anywhere else" she replied as she continued to cry.

Harry looked around to see if he could notice anything else that looked strange but there was nothing he could find.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Zoey.

They all stood silent for a moment.

"I think we should wait" said Harry eventually. "That man may come back soon and we should be here ready when he gets back. It's the only thing we can do right now".

"I agree" said Jack. "If only we were that little bit earlier getting here we would have been able to sneak up to that jeep and find out what was underneath the blanket".

He looked back at Monty who was now sitting on a branch of the tree looking very relaxed. It appeared that he was completely oblivious as to what the rest of the gang were doing or talking about. He had his arms folded behind the back of his head and his legs were crossed as if he was on a hammock.

"I'm getting really tired" said Zoey in a soft voice.

She was bowing her head down low as if she was about to fall asleep. Eisha was worn out emotionally after the day she was going through and especially after all their travelling. Harry was suffering also.

"Maybe we should take a nap while one of us stays awake and keeps on the lookout for the jeep when it comes back" said Harry.

"That's a great idea, but who will volunteer to stay awake?" asked Jack.

"Not I" answered Monty as he hopped back down onto Jack's back, uninvited.

"Okay I'll do it" said Lorenzo who appeared to be wide awake. In fact the meat cooking had kept him awake in the first place and he did not want to miss the smell of the burnt meat flaring up his nostrils.

"Thank you Lorenzo" said Harry. "And remember, if you hear or see anything suspicious wake us up instantly, especially if that man in the jeep comes back".

Eisha closed her eyes and was asleep within a matter of moments. The journey had clearly worn her out. The others fell asleep shortly afterwards. Lorenzo was sitting on his hind legs and staring straight ahead.

The village people were throwing logs of wood into the fire to keep it burning. The kids were still jumping around with little twigs in their hands.

Lorenzo sat and stared intently at the meat as it cooked, even though he was quite a distance from it.

All of a sudden the adults left the fire and walked over to one of the huts. One adult beckoned the children to follow him. They were still playing around and did not seem like they wanted to leave, but the adult called them again. They all went inside the hut and were out of sight.

The smoke was still rising into the air and the unattended cooked meat was beginning to drive Lorenzo crazy. He was at this point licking his lips ferociously. Now that there was no one guarding the meat, he saw an opportunity to go over and take it while no one was around. But at the same time, he knew he was meant to keep an eye out while his friends slept. He also knew he would get into really big trouble if he was caught trying to steal the food. But the smell was too tempting, especially for a lion.

He looked at his friends around him who were all fast asleep and then looked back at the meat again. There was still no one around. Lorenzo saw this as a big opportunity. The temptation was increasing far too high for him. He stood up on all fours to survey the area closer. He moved forward a little bit. Then a little bit more. Before he knew it he was out of the hiding spot and was in clear plain sight of the village. If any of the village people came out of their huts now and looked over in Lorenzo's direction, he would be seen instantly.

He thought about this for a moment as he pondered if he could make it to the meat in time and back without anyone seeing him. Then he thought about the fact that when the village people returned to the fire and noticed the meat was gone, what would they do? Would they search the area to find who had taken the meat? Would they find Lorenzo and all his friends hiding in the bushes? What would his friends do if they found out he had taken the meat and put them all in danger?

All these questions were going through Lorenzo's mind. He remembered back to when he was very young how his father had taught him to hunt for food. He taught him all the skills necessary. He told him to never fear, as the lion was the king of the safari. His father was very wise, and someone who Lorenzo looked up to with great respect.

Lorenzo decided to take another few steps forward. He was crawling along the dirt on the ground as quietly as he could. He stopped suddenly when he heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Where do you think you are going?" asked Harry. He was standing up just a few feet behind Lorenzo. Lorenzo was shocked to find his friend was awake.

"Em, nowhere. I'm going nowhere. I just came out here to stretch my legs for a bit" Lorenzo replied shyly.

Harry looked at him as if he knew his friend was telling a lie.

"Get back in here before you get caught" he whispered.

Lorenzo obeyed instantly and crawled back to where Harry was standing, hidden in the woods. He sat down beside Harry, and was once again hidden out of plain sight from the village. The rest of the gang didn't notice what had happened and were still fast asleep.

"I thought you were meant to be on the lookout" whispered Harry as he tried not to wake the rest of the gang up. There was nothing Lorenzo could do but only admit he had done wrong.

"Sorry" he said. "It won't happen again".

Harry turned his attention away from Lorenzo and turned towards the village instead.

"I'll take over and stay on the lookout" he replied to Lorenzo without looking at him. Lorenzo could see that his friend was annoyed with him but he could understand why. He had put all his friends in extreme danger. He rolled over on the muddy grass and fell asleep, forgetting all about the meat cooking away.

Harry was now the one who was awake and keeping an eye out. Over an hour had passed and nothing had happened. He opened his mouth and yawned as he was still very tired. Even though he was out of the way of the sun and hidden under the shade of the trees, the air was still very warm which made him tired. He yawned a few more times and closed his eyes as he did so. Eventually he was beginning to nod off but had to shake his head as he realised what he was doing. He was finding it very hard concentrating to stay awake. Even the smell of the meat cooking away did not affect him as it seemed he was not as hungry as Lorenzo was.

He was very close to falling completely asleep when he heard a noise that suddenly woke him up. He raised his head in excitement as he soon realised what the sound was. It was the jeep coming back that had left earlier. He could not see it yet but he recognised the sound of it from before. He nudged Eisha beside him to wake up, and then he nudged Lorenzo also. They slowly opened their eyes not knowing what was going on.

"Wake up, the jeep is coming back" said Harry to both of them.

They looked up straight away and listened to the rumbling noise of the jeep. Zoey, Jack and Monty woke up also after they heard all the commotion that was going on around them.

"What's going on?" asked Zoey in a tired voice.

The jeep suddenly came into view as it rounded the corner of the woods on the far side of the village. They could see the same man as before driving the jeep.

The truck was now pulling up to the same place it was in before it had left. The driver turned the last corner around one of the huts and pulled up beside the other jeeps. To everyone's relief, the blanket was still on the back of the jeep, covering up whatever that was underneath it. Eisha let out a sigh of relief as she saw the blanket, although it appeared that it had been tampered with somewhat. She thought to herself that maybe it was the wind that had moved it, but she couldn't be sure.

They all looked on intently, even Monty, who was on Jack's head once more holding on with his small hands slightly covering Jack's view. They stood silent as the jeep came to a stop and the driver turned off the engine. One of the other adults came out from one of the huts and shouted something over to the driver. He nodded in reply and walked over to the hut and they both went inside. Everything went silent again.

"Now is our chance to check out what is underneath that blanket" said Lorenzo.

He looked at Harry who was standing beside him. He was staring straight at the jeep as if he had his full attention on it.

"Yes, now is the time. Who should go and check it out?"

They all looked at Jack.

Jack had a look of puzzlement on his face.

"Why would you want to send me?" he asked. "I'm far too big and awkward to make it over to the jeep and back in time before anyone could see me".

But before he kept on complaining about the situation, he stopped. He suddenly knew who they were all looking at. It was Monty, who was still quietly perched on top of Jack's head.

He certainly was the smallest of them all, which would make him a lot less noticeable. It also meant that he could quickly dash behind something to hide if any of the village people were to come out of their huts.

"Monty we trust you to go over to the jeep and tell us if Eisha's father is underneath that blanket" Harry said to him.

Monty scratched his head, thinking. He then slid down off Jack and onto the ground. He walked over to Harry and looked right up at him.

"Aigh aigh captain" he replied to Harry, ready to accept the mission.

"You must be careful though" added Harry. "Whatever you do, do not get caught. Please don't mess things up as this is very serious".

Monty nodded in agreement and gave a soldier's salute to Harry. Then he turned and focused his attention on the route he would take in order to reach the jeep.

He proceeded to take a few steps forward towards the nearest hut until he was eventually at its side.

"I really hope he doesn't get caught" said Eisha.

She was hoping that her father would finally be found. Her anticipation was really high as she knew they were ever so close to getting to the jeep.

"We need to keep faith in him" replied Harry as they looked on in Monty's direction.

Monty was now lying against the hut. He could hear movement inside, but the door was on the other side. He moved around sneakily. He looked carefully so that no one was about. Satisfied, he ran right across to the next hut. Again, he could hear movement inside and children were laughing.

He was beginning to sweat really hard as the sun was pouring down on him. The first jeep was now just a few feet away. He looked at the jeep and was about to cross over to it when he suddenly stopped as someone had exited the hut beside him. He froze and kept silent.

It was one of the adults who stood outside for a moment as if he was listening out for something. The rest of the gang hidden in the bushes stood in shock. Monty was just a few feet away. Suddenly the man walked towards the fire that the meat was cooking on. He threw a log into the fire, then walked back again towards the hut and entered it without noticing Monty. Everyone blew a sigh of relief, most of all Monty.

He looked at the jeep once more that was nearest to him. He took a deep breath and ran to it. He crawled underneath it with his small body, and then popped out the other side. He looked back at the rest of the gang. He could barely see them hidden in the wooded area but he could still make out Jack. Jack smiled back at him to let him know he was doing a good job. Monty was now full of confidence as he edged closer to the final jeep.

He looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and with one big last leap, he made it to the wheel of the jeep with the blanket on it. He shoved himself up the back of the jeep until he was on the back of the trailer. The blanket was now right beside him. He grabbed the blanket with his little hands to lift it up. And he peered inside.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Monty squealed loudly in shock. He tried to cover his mouth to stop the noise. His heart was pounding so hard. He tried to stand up, but in the process of doing so, he accidently fell back and hit the horn on the steering wheel of the jeep, which made matters a lot worse. It made such a loud noise that Monty nearly jumped out of his skin. He jumped out the window of the jeep but tripped and fell to the ground with a thump.

He was panicking because he knew the noise of the horn would certainly be heard by the village people, and he knew it wouldn't be long before they were upon him.

The rest of the gang were still hiding in the woods but could see everything that was going on. They heard the noise of the horn.

"I knew he would mess it up" said Zoey.

"I can't believe we put our trust in the monkey, we should have known he was trouble" said a disgruntled Jack.

Just then, two adults emerged from one of the huts. They were carrying sticks with them. They looked over to where the jeeps were parked and saw Monty struggling around on the ground rubbing his bum. He was muttering to himself, but when he saw the men looking at him, he jumped up and ran in the direction of his friends.

"Run" he shouted to Eisha and the gang as he got to the edge of the bushes where they were hiding. He was in such a panic that he didn't realise he had exposed his friends to the two adults by running directly in their direction.

"Why did you run this way, now they can see us too" shouted Harry to him angrily.

The two adults started running towards the gang while shouting back to the others in the huts. A few more men emerged and followed. There was now a whole group of them running towards Eisha and her friends.

"We have got to get out of here" screamed Harry.

"I don't want to leave my father" said Eisha, panicking.

But it was too late, the rest of them had all started to run straight back into the thick forest of tree's. Jack and Monty were first, followed by Lorenzo and Zoey.

"We'll come back for your father" shouted Harry to Eisha as he urged her to turn her back and run away. She stopped for a moment, but when she realised the men were nearly upon her she turned and ran. She followed her friends through the thick dense wood.

It looked to be getting a lot darker as they went further but they didn't mind, at least they were getting away from the men. Harry stopped and looked back at one stage. The men were still following them but they were so far behind now. Harry did not hesitate any further though. He knew they would need to run until they were completely out of sight.

Another few minutes had passed and they were still running. They ran until they reached the end of the woods and were now out in the grassy plains again. Running on the grass made it a lot easier on their legs. However, Harry was beginning to feel pain.

He struggled to run the last few steps and came to a stop behind all the rest. Eisha looked back and noticed so she shouted to the others to slow down. They were well out of the wooded area now and it appeared they were safe from the hunter men.

"I can't run any further" said Harry who was breathing heavily and holding his head down.

The others had now stopped as well. They were also out of breath. Running through the rough ground was not easy for them as they were not used to it.

"I can't run any further either" said Eisha in a tired voice.

Jack and Lorenzo fell to the ground up ahead. They felt pretty sure they had escaped.

"Looks like we lost them" said Harry finally as he looked back around one more time in the direction of the woods.

Monty was beside Jack breathing heavily with his right arm covering his head in exhaustion. Eisha caught a glimpse of him with the corner of her eye. There was a look of anger on her face as she approached the monkey. She took a deep breath to control her anger before she asked Monty the question that had been on her mind all the way while she was running.

"What did you see under the blanket back there?" she asked Monty.

Monty was still breathing heavily as he looked at her, and then he looked down towards the ground again.

"Was it my father?" she asked him, seeing as though he had not answered her the first time.

It took Monty a few moments before he tried to sputter out what he had seen.

"Snaa..." he dribbled out as he still could not talk properly with all his heavy breathing.

"What did you say?" asked Eisha who was getting agitated the more she had to wait for her answer.

"Snakes" Monty finally blurted out. "I saw a bunch of dead snakes. All piled up on one another. All dead" he added as he was finally coming back to life again.

His answer took Eisha by surprise, as it did for the rest who were now gathered around the monkey.

"I don't like snakes...got a fright....jumped out of jeep...." Monty continued to fill them all in on what had happened to him at the jeep.

"There were snakes under there" Eisha repeated to herself as she did not know if this meant it was a good thing or bad thing. She kept repeating it in her head. On the one hand, her father was not underneath the blanket hurt, but on the other hand, if he wasn't there, where was he?

"Are you sure there was nothing else under the blanket?" asked Lorenzo.

"Yes I'm pretty sure, just snakes........aaaagh!" Monty replied, still thinking about his ordeal.

They all looked at each other. They seemed confident that Monty was telling the truth.

"At least now we know that it wasn't my father" said Eisha.

"And the rest of that village was so small, it doesn't look like your father was ever there" added Zoey.

"But where could he be?" asked Eisha in a whimpering voice.

"I don't know, but we won't stop until we do find him" said Jack trying to restore her confidence.

They were all still resting on the grass. The sun was now going down and it wouldn't be long until it was dark. Creepy crawlies were flying about looking very busy as if they knew it would soon be night time and they were doing their last minute chores before the end of the day.

"We should find a place to rest for the night" said Harry.

"I promised my mother I would be back before dark. We all did" said Eisha.

She lowered her head to the ground and began to cry.

"First I lose my father and now I cannot even make it back in time to comfort my mother" she said in a sobbing voice.

"It's not your fault" said Harry. "We've tried our best today and if we just hold on that little bit longer, we will find your father. Even if that means we have to stay out here in the safari overnight, then that is what we will do".

Nothing was going to stop Harry. He knew they had already come along way and he was more determined than ever to make everything right.

"Where are we going to sleep?" asked Jack.

They looked all around them. There was nothing but grass facing them to the front. Behind them was the wood in which they came from, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that they wouldn't go back in there again for fear of being caught. The village people may come out during the night looking for them again if they thought they were staying there. So it was better for them to move on a little bit further.

"We should keep moving for another while and see if we can find something before it gets totally dark" said Lorenzo.

"Woohoo" shouted Monty as he suddenly jumped back up into action again ready to move.

He started to stretch himself wildly and shake himself up so he was fit for another few hours walking. He was so busy stretching himself that it took him a few moments to notice that everyone was staring at him.

"Oh don't mind me, I'm just warming up" he said as he did a few more stretches.

"No, it's not the stretching" said Zoey who was staring blankly at Monty.

"When I said that we should all go find somewhere to stay, I did not mean you as well" added Lorenzo.

They all stood before him as if it looked like they had all ganged up on him. Monty stopped stretching immediately and hung his mouth wide open in shock. Harry stepped forward a little bit from the rest of the gang as he addressed the monkey.

"We feel that it is best you find your way home from here, you have come with us far enough" Harry said to him. "If you leave now, you should be able to find your way home before dark, and we can get on with the rest of our journey".

"But why, what have I done?" he managed to blurt out as if he was deeply offended by what they were saying to him.

"You nearly got us all killed back there" said Harry.

"Yeah I didn't appreciate that one bit!" added Zoey.

Monty looked confused.

"Is this because of those men running after us?" he asked.

"Yes, that and the fact you are too disruptive. You cannot travel with us any longer, you are going to have to go home" Harry answered him.

Monty stood and looked at him. Realising that he was no longer wanted, he bowed his head sulking as if he wanted to get some attention, but Harry or the rest of the gang were having none of it. Monty was a risk to their survival in the safari and they didn't want him to cause any further trouble, especially when they had a huge task on their hands.

Seeing as though they had no pity for him, Monty started to walk past them trudging his feet along the ground to express his sadness and disappointment. They all looked at him as he passed by them. Jack eventually seemed to show some pity for him. He bent his head down a little bit as if he were trying to saying goodbye to Monty. But he couldn't get the words out.

Monty was behind them all now. He stopped walking slowly and turned to face them all one last time. But they were not facing him. And with that, Monty turned his back and disappeared back into the direction of the woods in which they had come from. That was the last they seen of him.

"It's time we looked for a place to rest for the night" said Lorenzo.

They all moved forward in search of a safe area to stay. Jack looked back one more time to see if Monty was behind him, but he wasn't. He was used to the monkey lying on his head while he walked; it kept him company in a weird kind of way. But since there was no sign of him, he turned and joined the others.

CHAPTER EIGHT

They had been walking for over an hour. With each step they were getting a lot weaker. Harry was leading from the front. Eisha was slowing down behind him. It had been a tough day for her and she needed rest soon. Lorenzo was feeling very hungry. The fact that he didn't get his claws on the meat back in the village meant he could not stop thinking about it since then. This was making his tummy rumble like crazy as he was craving for some food.

Up ahead Harry noticed something. He wasn't sure at first because it was getting very dark now, but as he got closer he could see that there was a lake. It didn't look as big as the last one but there was quite a tall tree beside it that would be perfect for all of them as a place of shelter for the night.

"Look" Harry shouted back to the rest.

They all stopped and looked up ahead.

"Another lake!" said Eisha with some excitement in her voice.

"And a tree where we can sleep" added Lorenzo.

They started moving again that bit quicker because they knew it was just a matter of time before they could have a proper snooze. They finally came upon the tree and Harry and Eisha fell to the floor in exhaustion. Even at this late hour, the humidity in the air was unbearable, especially after walking all day. Jack and Zoey eventually made it to the tree as well. Jack scattered his long legs and also fell to the floor.

Lorenzo wandered over to the lake which was just a few feet away from the tree. He licked the water with his tongue. The journey had made him very thirsty and he kept drinking for a few minutes, splashing the water as if he didn't care.

"This place looks safe" said Zoey.

She looked all around her before sitting down with the others by the tree.

"For one thing I cannot see any crocodiles!" exclaimed Jack.

"Doesn't seem like there are crocodiles here but that doesn't mean that something else will jump out of the water and try and eat us" Eisha said to the rest.

"We'll be fine" said Harry. "Besides I'm not a heavy sleeper so if something is coming near us I'll be able to hear it and wake up" he reassured everybody.

Lorenzo was approaching them from the lake.

"That water is delicious!" he exclaimed as he sat down beside Zoey.

The others were too tired to respond. A few minutes had passed before anyone had said anything.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?' Zoey finally asked to break the silence.

"We keep moving on, looking for clues to find where Eisha's father has been taken. This place may be big but surely someone saw something" replied Harry.

"Sounds like a plan to me" Zoey responded.

It was now completely dark. Eisha looked up and saw the moon high up above in the sky.

"I bet my father is looking at the moon as well" she mumbled to herself.

She continued to stare upwards and looked at all the stars that outlined the sky.

"The sky is really pretty tonight" she said to Harry while still looking up.

"It sure is" he replied back.

Just then they heard snoring. Lorenzo was fast asleep and snoring heavily. Zoey and Jack were lying down on the ground with their eyes closed.

"We should try getting some sleep too" Harry said to Eisha.

She looked at him and nodded. Then she looked up at the moon one more time.

"Goodnight" she said while turning to her side to lie down.

"Goodnight my friend" Harry replied softly.

Everything went silent apart from Lorenzo snoring away. It had been a tough day for them all. They had all ventured to places they had never been before. And even though they had promised they would be back before nightfall, they had hoped their parents would not fear for them out in the wild.

Their determination had increased the more they travelled throughout the day. They would not give up until they got Eisha's father back safely. But most of all, the journey had brought their friendship closer together. Even if that did mean sending the monkey home.
CHAPTER NINE

The sun was shining very brightly in the sky the next day. Eisha was awoken by the sound of water splashing. She opened her eyes slowly and looked towards the lake. She tried to shake the tiredness off. After a couple of moments, she could see someone splashing in the lake. She looked to her side and noticed that Harry was no longer there. Her best friend was messing about in the water, getting his early morning bath in like he always did every morning.

"Harry, wait for me!"

The others were still sleeping beside her, but after hearing Eisha shouting, they woke up one by one. They also looked dazed and confused.

"What's going on?" Zoey asked as she saw Eisha heading towards the lake.

"Is it morning time already?" Jack asked as he slowly tilted his body up so he could get a better view.

Eisha had joined Harry to splash about in the water, just like she did the morning before. Together they cooled each other down by throwing water at one another. Eisha used her long trunk to snort water at Harry which he didn't mind. He in turn used his head to splash water back at Eisha. This was their favourite time of day.

"This looks like fun" said Zoey who was finally awake back under the shade of the tree.

"Let's join them".

They were now all in the lake splashing about.

"Watch out for the crocodile" shouted Harry.

Zoey got an instant fright and jumped up and down.

"Only kidding!" exclaimed Harry.

"Hey that's mean, I really believed you!" said Zoey. She stopped looking so frantic and settled down again standing in the water.

"That's not funny Harry" said Eisha who was still looking around her to make sure there were no crocodiles lurking about. They kept splashing away until they were completely cooled down.

Just then they heard the noise of a jeep coming along the road close to the edge of the lake. They all froze in the water as the jeep came closer. There were four or five people on board. It wasn't very clear at first whether these were the village people coming to get them, or if they were just tourists visiting the area.

They all sighed of relief as they realised the jeep was full of tourists. There were four adults on board the jeep, as well as the driver. They had cameras wrapped around their necks ready to take pictures. It was surely a surprise for the tourists to see one elephant, one lion, one hippopotamus, one giraffe and one zebra all bundled together in the water. It was something that was quite uncommon to see in the safari. But for these tourists, it was their lucky day.

The driver turned off the engine as they got up close to the gang. Then for a couple of minutes, the tourists started to click wildly with their cameras as if they had never seen animals before. Jack began to get bored of all the clicking, so he got out of the water and started to walk slowly towards the jeep. The driver, having seen this, started the engine again but he didn't move. Jack moved a little bit faster towards the jeep which seemed to scare the tourists a little bit. His plan was working so he started to run towards the jeep which made the driver nearly jump out of his seat. He immediately put his foot down on the pedal and they sped away.

The tourists were looking behind them all the way; one of them was still clicking with his camera as the jeep rumbled on. Jack stopped running and looked back to the others still in the water.

"Phew, I thought they would never leave!"

They slowly got out of the water and joined Jack.

"We should get a move on" said Lorenzo as he shook himself to get rid of the water on his back.

"Which way do we go from here?" asked Eisha.

Harry looked around him slowly. He couldn't see very far because he wasn't very tall and all the humps and bumps of the land were blocking his view. Instead he turned to his much taller friend Jack.

"What can you see in front of us?" he asked him.

Jack looked straight ahead. Then he turned his head and looked to his left and then right.

"This looks like the way we should go" he said to Harry. He started to move but suddenly realised that the rest were not following him.

"Is that a guess?" asked Harry sarcastically.

"Yes it is" said Jack with an honest answer. "But I reckon it is an educated guess" he added.

The others looked puzzled.

"Why do you say that?' asked Eisha.

Jack looked towards the direction in which he thought they should go before he answered.

"Because I see a rainforest ahead of us" he replied. "And we all know who lives in the rainforest" he added looking very proud of himself.

All of a sudden there was a smile on Harry's face. He knew exactly what his friend was saying.

"Ah ha, gorillas live there" Harry replied.

Harry knew the gorillas that lived in the rainforests were very wise, although at the same time they could be drastically stupid. But he knew if they were to have any chance of finding Eisha's father, the gorillas might know something. They were the best source for finding out information due to their consistent habit of being very nosey creatures in the wild. They knew what was going on out in the wild safari before anyone else did, although sometimes they could be too nosey and got caught by the village people who took them and never returned again to the rainforest.

"Let's get a move on" said Zoey.

"Yeah and I'm beginning to get very hungry" said Lorenzo, although no one seemed to be paying attention to him.

"Maybe I can pick up something along the way" he said to himself.

They were once again walking under the heat of the sun. As they climbed over the hills of rough terrain, they could see the rainforest straight ahead before it disappeared again slightly as they went down into the hollow. They knew they were getting closer and the trees were beginning to look taller the more they moved on.

Just then, something caught Lorenzo by the corner of his eye. He stopped to make sure his wasn't hallucinating. He looked carefully towards the object in which he was now paying so much attention to that the rest of the gang stopped and also gazed in the direction their friend was looking.

"What is it?" asked Zoey.

"Dinner time" replied Lorenzo, even though it was still early morning.

His eyesight served him correctly as he finally realised what the object was. It was a dead bird lying on the ground which looked like it had been there for days.

Lorenzo went over to the bird and grasped it with his giant mouth. He started to chew on it. Everyone could tell he was very hungry as he offered no food to his friends. Instead, he ate the whole thing within a matter of seconds. He licked his lips when he had it finally devoured.

"I'm fine for food" said Zoey in a sarcastic tone as she looked at her greedy friend.

"I'm sorry, but I was just too hungry. I'm sure you guys will find something when we get to the rainforest" replied Lorenzo.

"Now that you're fed, can we please keep on going" said Harry.

Lorenzo walked back to where his friends were, licked his lips one more time, and followed behind as they walked on.

"No more interruptions" shouted Harry back to the rest of them as he led the way.

It did not take them long to reach the edge of the rainforest. They stopped and gazed up at the tall trees.

"It looks so wonderful and peaceful" said Eisha as she looked in awe at all the colourful green leaves on the trees.

"It sure does. Boy, would I love to live here" Jack added as he also looked up at the juicy leaves.

A muddy path stood right in front of them which seemed to lead right through the rainforest.

"Let's go in that way" said Harry to the rest. "Make sure everyone sticks together, we don't want anyone wandering off and getting lost" he added.

They all nodded in assurance.

"I hope we can find these gorillas soon" said Eisha as they approached the muddy path.

"Everyone, keep a look out. They will probably see us before we see them" added Lorenzo.

Before they got to within a few feet into the rainforest, Eisha gave out a loud shriek.

"What's the matter?" asked Harry who was looking concerned.

Eisha had frozen in fright as she was staring at one of the trees. Harry looked in the direction her friend was looking and suddenly realised what had scared her. A long slithery snake lay wrapped around the bark of a giant red cheddar tree.

If there was one animal that Eisha was afraid of, it was a snake. She remembered one night as she lay asleep with her parents when she was awoken by a snake sliding along her body. Luckily for her, he moved off her body and slid away into the distance. It had given Eisha a big fright, as it did on this occasion.

The snake hissed as he towered above them holding onto the bark of the tree.

"Who are you and why must you enter this sacred rainforest" he asked as he finally broke the silence.

When he spoke, he gave the perception that no one was allowed enter the rainforest without his approval.

"Hi there, we are here to look for an elephant that has being taken unwillingly" replied Harry.

He looked at Harry as if he was trying to see if he was telling the truth or not. He moved his head away from the bark and hissed some more. He looked a lot scarier the closer he got. Harry could now see up close that the snake looked very mean and appeared to be as old as the rainforest itself.

"I have seen no elephant in these parts" replied the snake in a dry voice.

Harry gulped as the snake was now so close to his face that he could nearly smell his breath. Behind him, Eisha was beginning to shake as she became a lot more nervous at the sight of the snake up so close.

"Please, we come in peace. We are simply trying to pass through the rainforest so we can find our friend before it gets dark again. We mean no harm" Harry replied as he tried to recoup his confidence as he addressed the snake.

The snake seized Harry up and down, and then turned his attention to Lorenzo.

"What about him, I don't like to see lions in these parts" the snake replied.

Lorenzo stepped up beside Harry.

"Don't worry, I won't eat you. I've already had my fill back there. I had a big juicy bird!" Lorenzo said to the snake who seemed startled by the lions answer.

Everything fell silent for a moment. The snake stopped staring at Lorenzo and looked to the rest of the gang. He saw Eisha shaking.

"Why are you so nervous?" he asked Eisha.

Eisha looked at him but she didn't answer. She was too frozen with nerves to say anything.

"She is just worried about her father" Harry answered for her. "We really need to find him, and we just need to get by the rainforest as it's the only way we can move forward" Harry added.

The snake looked back at Harry. Satisfied by what he was hearing, he moved his head back towards the tree.

"You can enter" he finally said as he settled his long slithery body against the bark of the tree once more.

One by one, the gang moved past the snake. He slid back up into the leaves and was out of sight. Eisha's nerves began to come back to normal.

"I really don't like snakes" she whispered to Zoey.

"Does anyone really?" Zoey answered as they entered the rainforest.

CHAPTER TEN

They were now deep into the rainforest. Birds could be heard chirping above their heads. A small stream ran along beside the trail in which they walked. Jack went to the edge of the stream, bent his long neck down and stuck his head into the water. He emerged with a fish in his mouth. He threw the fish back to Zoey who gobbled it up very fast. Jack stuck his head back in the water and caught another fish for Eisha. Then another for Harry. He looked at Lorenzo, and despite having already ate a dead bird, he looked hungry again. Jack caught one more fish for him.

"Are you not going to eat anything?" asked Eisha.

"I have my eyes on those juicy leaves" Jack replied as he looked up at the trees on the far side of the trail.

He went over and chewed a big chunk of leaves from the nearest tree. He ate them slowly to absorb the nutrients.

"Where are all the gorillas?" asked Zoey impatiently.

They had walked for a good while deep into the forest but had seen no sign of any gorilla's lurking in the trees.

"They could be anywhere, just make sure you look up into the trees as you walk, because that's where you will find them" said Lorenzo.

They kept moving along the trail. The muddy ground seemed to be getting a lot drier as they went along which made it easier for them to walk. However it also seemed to be getting narrower as they entered a more densely populated area full of taller trees and big weeds that scattered the earth. Eventually the gang moved in a single line just so they could get past the wild terrain that surrounded them. Harry led the way as always. Jack was the last in line. He could see further ahead of Harry. He could move very fast with his long legs, but with everyone in front of him, this slowed him down.

Suddenly Harry stopped. Eisha bumped into him with her head hitting his bottom.

"Ow" they both cried out.

"At least tell me when you are going to stop so suddenly" Eisha said to Harry as she rubbed her head against some dead leaves on the ground.

Harry wasn't paying attention to her.

"Look up there" he beckoned to the others behind him.

Up high, settled between two branches, lay a gorilla. He was scratching his head with his left hand before he stood up on the branch and hung upside down from it, using only his right arm. He started to swing himself from side to side while still hanging from the branch. He gained enough momentum before he swung his whole body around the branch and hopped onto it. He peered over where the gang had stopped. Suddenly he climbed down the tree trunk and was out of sight hidden amongst the weeds and leaves that surrounded the tree.

"He was just a young fellow" said Eisha.

"Indeed he was, no older than four or five years-old by my estimate" replied Harry.

The rest of the gang could tell what Harry and Eisha were trying to say. The young gorilla they had just seen would be no use to them to provide them with information. They were looking for the oldest and wisest gorilla.

They moved forward along the trail until they were close to the tree in which they saw the gorilla. Just then, the gorilla hopped out from behind the weeds and plants. He stood looking at them.

Something caught Jack's eye to his left. He looked over to a bunch of high weeds on the ground that were moving vigorously. Suddenly another gorilla hopped out. He was followed by another. Then another. More were appearing from behind trees up ahead of them. Some more climbed out of trees high above and behind them. They were now surrounded by gorillas, all different in age and appearance. They all stood in a circle around the gang as if they had them trapped.

Just then, a huge and very old gorilla came forward towards Harry and settled himself down in front of him. He was followed by another gorilla that seemed to be of the same age. They settled down beside each other only a few feet away from Harry.

"What brings you here into the wild rainforest?" asked the gorilla.

He seized Harry up and down as he asked his question.

"We are looking for our friends' father, an elephant, who got taken without will from our homeland" Harry replied.

The gorilla looked satisfied with his answer. He looked at the rest of the gang before turning his attention to Eisha.

"Is it your father that you are looking for?" he asked Eisha.

"Yes it is. He was taken yesterday morning and we haven't found him yet" she replied.

"We were wondering if you could help us on our quest to find him, since you are king of the rainforest your highness" said Zoey.

"Why did you call me your highness?" the gorilla asked her.

Zoey looked at him with a puzzled face. It looked like she wasn't sure why she had said it either. Eventually she found enough courage to give him an answer.

"I said it because my friends here told me you were the wisest animal in this whole rainforest" she replied.

The gorilla leaned back and raised himself up a bit.

"Indeed I am the wisest of all, nice of you to mention it" the gorilla replied very proudly.

"My name is Keliah, and this is my wife, Idah" added the gorilla as he pointed back towards the other gorilla beside him.

"What is your name?" he asked as he turned his attention back to Eisha.

"My name is Eisha, and I come from the river plains in Zambia" she replied.

"I see. And your father was taken from you yesterday morning?" he asked.

Eisha nodded. She was eager for the gorilla to give her information on her father.

"Would he have been taken in a jeep?" asked Keliah.

Eisha felt a rush of excitement.

"Yes, yes he was!" she answered quickly.

She was now beginning to feel like she and her friends were getting the information they needed.

"I have seen him" Keliah replied. "He was on the back of a jeep heading towards the Kipengere Mountains to the south from here" he added.

"Woohoo" shouted Jack as he raised his front legs in excitement. For the first time it had seemed like their long journey had led them somewhere.

Eisha was ecstatic from the news she was hearing, although at the same time she was cautious.

"How can you be sure it was my father?" she asked.

"My friend, it is not often we see elephants on the back of a truck passing through the forest. This truck passed here yesterday, and it came from the direction in which you have travelled. I can guarantee it was your father" he replied.

Eisha instantly looked at Harry and he looked back at her as if they were mind reading. Harry knew exactly what she was thinking.

"I bet he was in that jeep in the village we saw yesterday before it drove off" Eisha said to him.

"Perhaps he was, but we don't know for sure" Harry replied, even though in his heart he knew she was probably right.

"We also know where they are taking him" Idah butted in.

She stepped forward so she was beside Keliah.

"They have taken him to another village, deep within the mountain range" she added.

"But why have they taken him there" asked Lorenzo, who had been quiet for a while.

"They have taken him there so that they can use him for work" replied Idah.

"What kind of work?" asked Harry.

"General chores that the people in the village find too hard to do, so they require big animals to do it for them" Idah replied.

Eisha gasped as the thought entered her mind of her poor old father being used to carry heavy things.

"He would not be able for that, he's too old" cried Eisha. She was beginning to get anxious the more she thought about her father.

"We are sorry to give you this news" said Keliah as he spoke once again. "It happened to some of our dearest friends here in this rainforest".

He proceeded to tell them of a similar situation that happened to them not so long ago.

"It was the middle of the night when we were all asleep" said Keliah. "We heard the sound of a jeep coming up the trail, and then all of a sudden its front lights lit up. Two men got out and grabbed five of our friends before they had a chance to run away. They put them in the back of the truck, closed it, and then drove off. It was all over within a matter of moments. Rumour has it they were taken to the mountain range and used to carry out work for the village people. We have never seen them since" said Keliah as he finished his story.

"We understand how you feel Eisha, we really do" added Idah as she showed sympathy towards her.

"Why didn't you go after your friends and rescue them?" asked Jack.

Keliah looked at him for a moment before he answered.

"Truth is, we are simply too powerless to fend for ourselves. We would need the help of cheetahs. Village people don't like the look of cheetahs' entering their homes, or lions for that matter" answered Keliah.

"Lions you say" said Lorenzo, listening intently. "I'm a lion" he added without realising he had just said a dumb remark.

"I can see that!" joked Keliah back. "But you are too young and too small, we are talking about bigger adult lions and cheetahs" replied Keliah.

Lorenzo looked offended by this, but then he suddenly remembered something his father had once told him.

"I know where we can find a whole bunch of cheetahs" replied Lorenzo. "Yeah, my father told me that our cousins live in the southern half of Tanzania" he added.

A shocked expression grew on Keliah's face.

"Are you sure your cousins live there? I know all about the place in which you are referring to but I have never heard of cheetahs that hang out in that area. And I'm meant to know everything!" exclaimed Keliah.

"Yes I'm positive they live there, they only moved to that place a couple of years ago in search of a better home to live in. Not many know about it" Lorenzo replied.

"My oh my, I can't believe this" replied Keliah as he scratched his head with his right arm.

"Maybe they would be able to help us" said Lorenzo. "Would you be able to take us there?" he asked.

"It's quite a long trip though" Idah butted in with concern on her face.

All the other gorillas were listening intently on the conversation that was taking place. Once they heard that they might have to leave to go on an adventure, they started to get excited. Some started to shout out loud with enthusiasm while others started to climb trees and jump from one to another to express their anticipation and excitement of finding their long lost friends. Keliah and Idah looked around at them all as they witnessed the support of the gorillas bonding together. They could see they were ready to take on the challenge.

"Maybe if we all pulled together, we could find our loved ones and bring them back" Idah said to Keliah.

He pondered at the thought of the plan at hand before turning to Lorenzo one more time.

"Are you sure your cousins live where you say they live?" he asked him again.

"I'm absolutely positive, in fact I'm nine hundred and ninety-nine per cent sure" Lorenzo replied. "If my father says they live there, then they live there" he added to reassure them all.

They all turned back to Keliah to seek his approval. He paused another few moments, looked at Idah, then looked at the gang one more time before he answered.

"Then we should do it, let's all join together and go and look for the cheetahs who can hopefully help us bring back our friends, and your father" he said.

All the gorillas around them were now jumping in excitement. Eisha and the gang were also happy that they had now established an even stronger force.

"Together we will make a brilliant team" said Harry to Keliah amidst the excitement.

"We will be even stronger if we get the cheetahs on board" he replied.

With that, they took off for the grasslands in Tanzania. A long journey awaited them, but they knew they must hurry as time was passing by very fast. They headed east through the rainforest. With the gorillas on board, their team had become much bigger and stronger.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The sun was beginning to go down as they were now entering the perimeter of Tanzania. Grey clouds were high up in the sky to their left. It was beginning to get very windy all of a sudden as the sun began to fade away completely, covered by dark storm clouds. It wasn't long until it was dark and dull all around them.

"Looks like it is going to rain" said Harry.

He was beginning to feel a lot colder now that the sun was hidden away and the wind got stronger.

"I don't think this is just a few droplets of rain, this looks like a thunderstorm to me" said Keliah.

He was looking over at the dark clouds to everyone's left. They were getting closer as the wind was circling very strongly around them.

"It's coming straight at us" cried Idah, who was travelling close beside Keliah.

She felt unprotected being out in the open air. There were no trees in which she could hide under or settle beside especially when it came to a thunderstorm passing.

Up ahead of them was a giant piece of rock that covered a mass area of the earth. There was an indent at the bottom of the rock that appeared to give it a cave-like structure. The cave part of the rock was facing in the opposite direction of the storm, so it was perfect to settle under and not get wet.

"Idah is correct, that storm is coming in our direction. We should run quick and find some shelter" Harry said.

Some of the gorillas were lingering behind slowly looking at the clouds as they darkened. They too were feeling insecure about what was happening as they were usually covered up under the dense weeds in the rainforest when a storm struck.

"Everyone, run to the cave up in front" Keliah shouted back to them.

They obeyed his orders and followed the rest of the gang as they ran for the cave.

The rain began to pelt down heavily. From a distance the cave seemed a lot bigger, but as they were just a few feet away, they realised it wasn't that big after all.

"We are going to have to pack in close together" said Zoey as she ran alongside Jack who was not impressed getting so wet. The heavy rain drops were getting in his eyes which did not help his visibility. He was bumping into Zoey as they ran along, but she didn't seem to take any notice as her only thought was to get some shelter.

Lorenzo was the first to get to the cave, followed by Harry and Eisha. Keliah and Idah arrived soon after. They beckoned all the gorillas to bundle in close so that everyone would have shelter. Zoey and Jack were the last ones to arrive.

"There's just about enough room" said Eisha.

All the running had once again made her tired so she slowly threw herself to the ground. Harry did the same. The gorillas were all sitting down, close to each other which kept them warm.

The rain was pelting down. The wind was making a lone tree in the distance shake from side to side as its leaves blew away. The desert sand around them was rising up from the ground and scattering away in the air.

"This storm is a lot worse than it first looked" said Idah as she tucked in beside Keliah.

Zoey was shivering as she sat down beside Jack.

"Please don't make thunder, please don't let it make thunder" she was muttering to herself.

However as she kept assuring herself that it wouldn't, a great big lightning bolt lit up the sky, followed a few seconds later by enormous bang of thunder. This gave Zoey an enormous fright, as it did with most of the gorillas. They made screeching noises after they heard the sound of the thunder, which made each and every one of them unsettled.

"Don't worry, it will soon pass" shouted Keliah as he tried to reassure everyone that it wasn't that bad. But the gorillas didn't seem to listen as they continued their screeching. Another bolt of lightning covered the whole sky followed by another big bang of thunder.

The storm was now very close. Harry knew this because the thunder bangs were getting very close together, one after the other. Each time the lightning struck, it lit the whole sky for a second in a big blue flash. The desert sand in front of them was now scattering all over the place as the wind got stronger and stronger. So much so, some of it blew straight at them.

"Close your eyes" Jack shouted as he bent his neck down onto the ground and shut his eyes closed so the sand wouldn't get into them. However it was hard to hear with the noise of the thunder and rain above them.

Twenty minutes had passed before it appeared things began to settle down. The thunder and lightning wasn't as frequent as it moved off into the distance. The wind was getting calmer as the storm seemed to have passed. However the grey clouds were still up above which kept the whole place dark. Harry got up and took a few feet forward out of the cave so he could see around him.

"Looks like it has gone, but it's still quite dark and windy" he implied back to the others.

"Perhaps it would be best if we stay here for the night in case it comes back and gets worse" said Zoey as she was doing her best to try and convince everyone to stay. She didn't want to walk any further as the grey clouds up ahead were still giving her the chills.

"Zoey is right. It's nearly night time anyway and it's better if we stay here and rest for the night" Eisha added as she was also scared to move any further.

"We've found ourselves a good home here to settle in for the night. We can move again in the morning" added Idah.

Keliah agreed with her. They were all huddled up together once again as Harry went back to sit down beside Eisha.

It was still raining but not as heavy as before. The sound of the gentle rain drops hitting the ground eased them to sleep. Some of the gorillas were snoring as they nodded off. Eisha looked at them as they were all snuggled up against each other, with each one falling asleep one by one. She rested her head against Harry's back and was soon slowly closing her eyes also.

It wasn't long before they were all sleep, except for Harry. He looked around him as everyone snored away. He was happy to keep a look out in case anything happened. But not too long after, he too slowly nodded off without realising it.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Eisha woke up to the sound of a bird chirping on the tree in the distance. It was the same tree that was right in the path of the storm the night before. Half of its leaves had blown away which seemed to have upset the bird that was settled on it.

She turned her attention back to everyone around her. They were all still asleep. The sun was once again hovering high in the sky even at this early time of the morning. Everything had settled down. The thunderstorm had passed and the wind was back to its usual calm.

"Harry, wake up" she whispered quietly to her friend. She shoved him a little in order to wake him.

He opened his eyes slowly. He turned to look at Eisha as he tried to focus his eyes. He looked dazzled and seemed to be very tired.

"Is everything okay?" he asked her in a tired voice. She nodded back to him.

"The thunderstorm has gone".

He looked out while at the same time adjusting his eyes as the sun was blinding his vision. He got up and walked out of the cave. He gave out a long yawn while shaking himself to wake up properly. The noise caused a few of the gorillas to wake up instantly. They were also dazzled by the suns light at first, but soon stood up and shook themselves. It wasn't long before they were all awake. They all exited from under the cave so they could stretch and yawn.

"Where is there a lake when you need one?" asked Harry, speaking to himself.

He missed the fact that he was not at home where he could easily wander off to the water for his morning bath to cool himself down. There was no sign of any water near them which didn't help the situation.

"Let's start moving again" said Keliah as he finished his stretching.

All the gorillas followed behind them. Some were playing as they went along, grabbing sand up out of the ground and throwing at one another. They didn't seem to realise the extent of the situation that was in front of them, nor did it seem to bother them. But Keliah knew that when he needed them the most, they would help out in whatever way they could. They were all friends and looked out for each other, the same way Eisha and her friends had tightly bonded together.

A few hours had passed before they finally could see water in the distance.

"I have been waiting for this moment all morning" said Harry as his mouth dried up looking at the small lake up ahead.

When they approached the edge of the water, Harry ran directly into it splashing his way as he entered deep into the lake. He drank very quickly to quench his thirst. A few of the gorillas lined up against the edge of the water and tasted it. Looking impressed, they too drank rapidly and beckoned the rest of the gorillas that it was safe to drink the water.

Eisha, Zoey, Lorenzo and Jack were splashing about with Harry. It caught the attention of the gorillas. They stared at the gang in the middle of the lake, and started laughing at this unusual sight. Harry was taken aback by this, but it didn't seem to bother him as he kept splashing about. The more they laughed at him, the more he splashed, until finally he splashed so heavily that the water was hitting the gorillas on the head, which they did not enjoy. They soon stopped laughing and backed away.

"Well that was fun" Harry said to Eisha as they got out of the lake.

They shook the last of the water off their backs and continued on with their journey.

"How long more until we get to my cousins?" asked Lorenzo.

Keliah was walking up ahead of him assessing the area in which they were in.

"Not too long, we will be there soon" he replied back.

Lorenzo looked over to Eisha. She noticed he was looking at her.

"I hope my cousin can help you" Lorenzo said to her in a soft faint voice.

"Me too" she replied back to him. "Me too".

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Their feet were tickling as they walked through the grasslands. They had finally reached their destination in Tanzania. Keliah was still up ahead with Idah at his side, followed by Harry and Eisha close behind. Keliah stopped when they were deep into the middle of the grasslands which prompted the others to stop as well.

"We are here" he said to Harry. "This is the area in which your friend Lorenzo claims his cousins are" he added.

Lorenzo stepped up beside them and searched the area. He pointed his nose in every direction while taking in the air through his nostrils.

"They are here somewhere, I can smell them" confirmed Lorenzo.

"I can't see or smell any cheetahs" replied Harry as he looked around.

Suddenly the grass beside them started shuffling. It was vigorously shaking and started to make Eisha nervous. Just then, a head popped up out of the grass. It was a cheetah. It slowly stood up to reveal its whole body which was still partly covered by the grass. The cheetah had a mean looking face on him and didn't look like it was very pleased by the sight of strangers.

All of a sudden there was more shuffling and a second cheetah revealed itself close by. One of the gorillas gasped from behind the gang. They all looked back to where the gorilla was focusing his attention. Three more cheetahs had popped up from behind them. There were more shooting up from the grass to their side until finally it appeared the gang had been circled and trapped.

The gorillas became somewhat scared as they knew they would be dinner for these cheetahs. They looked over to Keliah to say something, but he didn't. Instead he focused his attention on the first cheetah he saw, while keeping a cool manner, so as to not let the cheetah know he was frightened by the sight of him.

Lorenzo noticed Harry was looking at him. He wasn't sure why for a moment until he suddenly realised that he should be the one to speak to the cheetahs.

He faced the first cheetah that had risen from the grass. He still had an angry look on his face. He was crawling slowly towards Idah before Lorenzo spoke up just in time.

"Wait, please don't harm us. I am your cousin. It's me, Lorenzo" he blurted out in a panic as the cheetah got up close to Idah.

He suddenly stopped in his path and looked at Lorenzo. He focused his attention on him with his cold dark eyes which looked frightening. Lorenzo could see he was very angry. But his reflection soon eased off as he studied Lorenzo more and more.

"You are my cousin from the plains in Zambia, aren't you?" he asked as he took a step back from Idah and moved closer to Lorenzo.

"Yes! Yes that is me" Lorenzo blurted back. He was relieved that the cheetah knew who he was.

"Well why didn't you say so!"

There was now a sense of excitement in the cheetah's voice as he spoke.

"Yeah I know you. Your father visited us many times when we lived in Zambia. I remember you as a little cub when you were born" he added.

Lorenzo was now beaming with excitement at the fact the cheetah knew him from when he was younger.

"My name is Zach. Welcome to our home my dear cousin" he said with a smile. "Welcome all" he added as he looked around at everyone else.

He finally caught the attention of Idah who was still not impressed that only moments earlier he was going to eat her. Zach was blushing as he realised she was looking at him.

"Sorry about that, I wasn't going to really eat you" he said trying to reassure her, but she was still not convinced.

"It's good to see you at last, Cousin Zach" said Lorenzo to break the awkwardness.

The gorillas were beginning to settle back down after their close encounter. The cheetahs that circled them eased off a little bit and sat back on their hind legs.

"What brings you out here to Tanzania with all your friends?" asked Zach.

Lorenzo looked a bit wary as he knew he was about to ask his cousin for a very big favour. Zach could see this and prompted him to speak up.

"Tell me what the matter is?" he asked.

Lorenzo looked at Eisha before he spoke.

"My friend here, Eisha, well her father was taken a couple of days ago and we are going to the mountain range to bring him back" he said to Zach as he told his cousin the whole story.

"We need your help to get him back from the village people. So..."

He paused for a moment to look at his cousin in the eyes before he continued to ask his question.

"So, we were wondering if you guys could come and help us?" he finally asked.

Keliah grunted under his breath to signal to Lorenzo not to forget his friends also.

"Oh yeah, and there are more gorillas there as well which we also need to rescue" Lorenzo added.

Zach was deep in thought. He wasn't expecting such a big favour to be asked of him or his fellow cheetahs. At the most he was thinking that Lorenzo needed some food or a place to stay for a while.

"A favour you ask?" he said to Lorenzo.

"Yes. I'm terribly sorry but we really need your help. And I know you haven't seen me in years and this is an unexpected surprise, but please, we need you. I want to help my friend get her father back" Lorenzo pleaded.

"Ahem..." Keliah muttered beside him.

"And the gorillas too" Lorenzo added as once again he forgot.

Zach took a step back and sat down on the grass. He looked like he was taller sitting than he was standing. He was studying Lorenzo, who he could see was clearly asking him for much needed help.

"Please Zach, we know that if you came along with us and all your friends here, there would be so many of us that we could defeat the village people" Harry butted in.

"Why would you need us?" asked Zach.

"Everyone is afraid of cheetahs. With you on board, the people would not stand a chance, they would be too scared" Keliah said to him.

"What is in it for us?" asked another cheetah who was standing behind Zach.

This question took Harry by surprise, because he wasn't too sure of the answer. What could they give the cheetahs for their help he thought to himself?

"I know that these village people are fond of their deer meat, and I know you guys are also" said Keliah. "You can have all the deer food you want when we get there. That should keep you going for weeks" he added.

Suddenly Zach became very interested.

"How do you know there is deer meat in that village you refer to?" he asked.

Keliah stood in a proud stance as if he was delighted to be asked the question.

"My dear friend, I may be old, but with old age comes wisdom, and when you have wisdom, you know everything you need to know. I shall not tell you how I know, but just that I do" he replied back to Zach, still looking proud.

Zach was not completely convinced by his answer, but then he suddenly noticed that the rest of the gorillas were facing Keliah and seemed to be worshipping him. It was an unusual sight, but Keliah took it all in and enjoyed the moment.

"He seems to be speaking the truth" Zach said to his other cheetah friend.

He then turned his attention back to Lorenzo.

"Okay cousin, we will help you find your friends" he said to him.

The gang erupted in cheers. Lorenzo gave his cousin a big smile.

"Thank you, cousin" he replied back to him.

"We really appreciate you helping us" added Eisha.

"Yeah, with you guys by our side, those people in the village don't stand a chance" uttered Harry who was feeling very confident.

"Everyone gather around" as Zach called to the rest of the cheetahs. They left their positions and stood beside Zach.

"We are off to the mountain range. I hope you all remember what I have told you about protecting yourselves. We will be in contact with humans, so we must all look out for one another" he addressed them all.

He was taking command of the situation, which greatly impressed Harry and Eisha. They knew they had a strong force with the cheetahs by their side.

"Which way is it to the mountain range from here?" asked Harry.

"It's to the south, along the dirt trail over there past this high grass" answered Keliah.

"Let's go" shouted Zach to everyone.

It wasn't long before they were on their way. The cheetahs took to the front of the group. There were twelve of them which was enough to frighten even a small town. Eisha would have never anticipated that their group would have escalated so big, but she was grateful that it had.

She hoped that this one final push would reunite her with her father. The only thing that was troubling her mind was his safety, as she hoped they would not be too late. She was tired and very hungry at this stage, but she did not want to waste any more time. The last couple of days were exhausting, but she had her friends by her side that kept motivating her.

Harry looked at her as they walked. He gave her a big smile.

"This is it, we're nearly there" he said to her.

She gave him a smile back to show she was still feeling positive. Deep down all she wanted was to be back at home with both her parents by her side. She kept imagining that thought as they headed for the mountain range. If her father was there, would he still be okay? Only time would tell.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Follow the river" said Keliah as they approached their final part of the journey.

They were all walking along a riverbed that led to the mountain range. The air was very calm, while the sun was in front of them. Some of the gorillas hopped into the river every now and again, gulped some water, and hopped back out. They didn't want to waste any time so they did it quickly.

At one point, Jack got to the edge of the river, stuck his long neck in, and drank as much water as he could before catching up with the rest. The sun was making them all really tired and weak, especially for Eisha and her friends, since they hadn't eaten properly in a couple of days. They picked up scraps of dead meat along the way, but it wasn't fulfilling enough. However, they struggled on as best they could.

Suddenly there was excitement at the top of the group.

"I can see the mountains!" exclaimed Eisha.

She stopped for a moment as the mountain range came into view. One big mountain stood in front of them, while another stood to its side. There was a valley in between them in which the river ran through as it flowed right between the two mountains. They all stopped to take in the beautiful view ahead of them, but they knew on the other side lay danger.

"Look over there" shouted Zoey.

Something had caught her attention off in the distance. Sand and dust was gathering in the air as a vehicle was driving towards the opening between the mountains.

"It's one of those jeeps the people use" said Keliah.

"Yes probably the one that took your friends and Eisha's father" added Zach as he watched the jeep wearily.

The jeep took a sharp turn as it neared the river and followed a road that led straight through the mountains. It wasn't long before it disappeared as it turned another corner and was out of sight.

"Somewhere in between those mountains is the village we are looking for" said Keliah.

"We shouldn't approach the village at ground level, we should climb the mountain to the right to get a better view of things first" added Zach.

"I like your thinking" said Harry. "That way we can come up with a plan while we observe the place" he added.

Eisha looked at the mountain in front. It looked very steep, and there was no doubt they would be able to see things better if they reached the top. They were still a few hundred feet away from the foot of the mountain.

"Let's do this" said Eisha as she urged everyone to start moving again. Her anticipation was over-shadowing her nervousness.

They began to move away from the edge of the river as they got closer to the foot of the mountain. Soon enough they had reached it. They began the steep climb that would take them up high enough to see for miles around the whole area that surrounded them. The gorillas were climbing up in front as they used their long arms to pull them up. All the cheetahs smelt in between the rocks to see if they could find any food.

All of a sudden from behind them came a loud thud. Eisha looked around only to notice that her best friend was struggling behind everyone as they began to climb the mountain, and eventually had collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

"Harry!" she cried out as she turned to help her friend who was breathing heavily while he lay on all four legs on the ground.

"I'm okay" he replied back.

Zoey, Jack and Lorenzo also came to his aid.

"I just need to relax for a moment while I catch my breath again. This mountain is so steep, and I'm already exhausted from all the walking" he added.

"Are you sure you will be okay to continue?" asked Idah worriedly.

She knew the mountain was steep and was no place for a hippopotamus to be climbing, no matter how young they were.

"I'll be okay, just need to rest for a moment" Harry replied as his breathing began to come back to normal.

A few minutes passed before Harry made the effort to get back up on his legs once again. He got up slowly using his back legs first, and then his front legs.

"There you go, you seem to be all good again" Eisha said to him as he was finally standing.

"Yeah I'm perfect, just trembling a little from falling, but I'll be okay" he replied.

They were moving up the mountain again. There were many rocks they had to avoid by moving to the side to get by them. It made their upward climb all the more difficult.

"We're nearly at the summit!" shouted Zach back as he took to the front of everybody.

He was the first one to reach the top of the mountain, followed by some of his cheetah friends, while Keliah and Idah followed up next. Eventually they all reached the summit, taking in deep breaths after their steep climb.

"Wow, that was exhausting" said Jack as he bent his long neck down to the ground to rest.

"Just over there" said Keliah as he pointed to a big rock at the other side of the summit. "We should be able to view everything down in that valley from there" he added.

They all ran to the rock and peered down. Sure enough they saw the river again that they walked beside before they got to the mountain, except it was now narrower as it ran through the bottom of the valley.

Further up, they saw what they had been looking for. A village stood in the middle of the valley between the mountain range, with the river running by the side of it. It was a much bigger village than the one they had seen previously. There were many more huts to be seen. There were also enclosures that appeared to be for storage of some kind. There were six jeeps lined up beside each other, while another two were parked beside one of the huts.

A few of the people in the village were walking about from place to place. One woman was hanging clothes up on a tree. There were kids running about kicking a football around. A fire was burning in the middle of the village. Smoke was rising high up into the air.

All of a sudden one of the gorillas got excited. He started to jump up and down and point in the direction of the village. It didn't take long for everybody to notice what he had been looking at. He was looking straight at their missing friends.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Down below in one corner of the village were six gorillas working away. They were shifting logs from one section of the enclosures and carrying them through a big open gate to one of the bigger huts. Two of the village people stood beside them with sticks in their hands ordering the gorillas around.

"Those are our friends" said Keliah.

He did not look at anyone else while he spoke. He was still staring at the gorillas down below being forced to work away.

"We must rescue them" he added.

"They look tired and exhausted" added Idah in a humble voice.

The gorillas down in the village moved very slowly as they carried the heavy logs. One of them stopped for a moment while carrying a log with his out stretched arms, only to be shouted at by one of the village people while waving his stick. He moved on quickly towards the hut carrying the heavy load. Some of the gorillas were whimpering at the sight of their friends down below being pushed about.

"I still can't see my father" said Eisha.

Everyone was paying all their attention on the gorillas that they forgot to look for Eisha's father. She was searching vigorously through the whole village to see if she could catch a glimpse of him but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I can't see him either" added Harry.

Tears ran down Eisha's face as she began to cry.

"We will never find him" she uttered out as she hung her head with sadness.

They could all see how upset she was. Harry had wished he could say something that would make her feel better, but he knew Eisha was beginning to give up hope of ever finding her father again. The fact that there was no evidence to suggest that her father was in the village below did not help the situation, and Harry too was beginning to feel like there was nothing more they could do. He felt useless at this point, but he knew that he had promised he would find her father so he didn't want to give up all hope. Zoey came up beside Eisha and comforted her.

Beside them, one of the gorillas started to get excited again. Driving on the road beside the river that ran along the village was another jeep. The back of the jeep was covered over with a blanket. It stopped outside one of the bigger huts as it reached the village.

A man got out, went around to the back of the jeep and pulled over the blanket to one side to reveal a load of vegetables. The vegetables were stored within big baskets. The man asked some of the children to help him carry the baskets of food into the hut.

Up on the mountain, the cheetahs stood watching, and seemed to be disappointed that there was no meat, only vegetables.

"Plenty of green vegetables, I don't like the look of that!" Zach exclaimed.

"Where is all this meat you promised us?" he asked Keliah.

But Keliah didn't answer him. Instead he watched the children reappear again from the hut down below. They went off and started playing once more while the man was still inside the hut. Keliah was suspicious as to why all the vegetable food was being stored within that hut.

About ten minutes had passed before the man came out. He had an empty basket in his hand, which he threw up onto the back of the jeep. He grabbed a stick and walked back to the hut. He began to shout very loudly as if he was ordering someone from inside the hut. The shouting had caught the attention of Eisha and her friends. And then the moment they had been waiting for, finally arrived.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A huge shadow appeared at the entrance of the hut. And then slowly, Eisha's father walked out. His whole body could barely fit passed the open doorway, but he managed to squeeze out.

Eisha let out a big scream of excitement, but then realized she couldn't be too loud in case the people down below heard her. It was the first time she had seen her father in days. Harry, Zoey, Jack and Lorenzo were also excited. They had finally found what they had been looking for. Their long trek across the eastern safari had finally paid off.

Harry looked at Eisha, but she was still staring directly at her father. She had a big smile on her face, while tears still strode down her face. It was the first time he had seen her this happy in a long while.

"He's still alive" Eisha cried out.

Harry was still smiling at her, before he turned and looked back towards her father.

"He still looks like your same old dad to me!" he exclaimed. "Now we've just got to figure out a way of rescuing him".

Down below them, Eisha's father joined the six gorillas that were still busy at work. He was ordered to carry the heavier logs of wood with his trunk and put them in the caged enclosure. The gorillas got slower and slower as did Eisha's father as they moved the heavy logs. The men beside them stood and watched, until eventually they started to give orders for the gorillas to go back to their hut.

The man who was in charge of Eisha's father ordered him to finish up his work and head back to his hut. He put the last of the logs on top of the pile. They headed to the hut where Eisha's father was being kept. The man closed the large door after the elephant was completely hidden inside. Then he proceeded to follow the rest of the men back to their own smaller huts. The children also stopped playing and headed inside with their parents.

"It must be dinner time" said Harry as he watched everything that was going on down below.

The whole place went quiet.

"Now is our time to go down there and get my father back" said Eisha with a rush of excitement.

The others were agreeing with her.

"What is the best way to go about doing this?" asked Harry. "We've only got one shot at this and we've got to do it right".

No one spoke for a few moments as they pondered their rescue plan. Suddenly Zach spoke up as he thought of something that he felt would work. He turned to the others to inform them of his plan.

"We cheetahs should head down first, followed by Keliah, Idah and all the gorillas. Eisha, you and your friends should follow up behind us" he said as he addressed them.

"When all of us cheetahs are at the bottom of the mountain, we will stand by on guard at the edge of the village in case the village people come back out. You gorillas should go and rescue your friends from the small hut. Eisha, Harry and Zoey should go rescue Eisha's father from the big hut while Jack and Lorenzo stay with us on guard. Jack, we will need your height to see if any men exit the huts further down the village. When everyone is rescued, all we got to do then is....run. Run very fast until we find somewhere safe to hide in case they come after us" said Zach as he finally finished telling everyone his plan.

Eisha looked to Harry.

"What do you think? Can we do it?" she asked him.

"I don't see why not" he replied.

Satisfied with his answer, Eisha turned back to Zach.

"Let's do it".

Their plan of action was finally sorted, although they needed to hurry as the village people might not be inside for much longer. Zach beckoned for everyone to get in place. He had all the cheetahs lined up in front.

"Let's go" he said to them as they proceeded to make their way down to the bottom of the mountain.

The gorillas followed behind and were a few feet back from the cheetahs. Eisha and her friends were last. It was only a matter of moments before Eisha and her father were reunited, assuming their plan worked.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The cheetahs had reached the bottom of the mountain and were at the edge of the village hidden amongst high grass. They lined up a few feet apart so there was enough room for the other animals to pass them by. It wasn't long until the gorillas reached the spot in which the cheetahs were lying. Zach ordered them to keep moving forward and to rescue their friends, while issuing a warning signal to be quiet in case they would be seen.

Eisha and the gang were right behind them. Zach winked at Eisha as he also urged her to move to the big hut along with Zoey and Harry. Jack and Lorenzo stayed behind and gathered in line with the cheetahs.

"Good luck" Jack whispered to Eisha as they walked away slowly, but she didn't hear him, she was too focused on getting to her father.

"I wonder where all the meat is!" asked Zach as he raised his nose to see if he could smell some. But the only smell he got was that of the fire which was still burning away in the middle of the village.

"Hmmm perfect for a barbeque!" he muttered excitedly under his breath.

As he kept on smelling the air, from the corner of his eye he suddenly caught someone exiting from one of the huts in the middle of the village.

"Oh no, this is bad" he said to himself.

Sure enough it was one of the village people who exited the hut. It only took the man a second to notice all the animals walking through the village on the far side. He started to shout to the rest of the people inside the other huts.

Eisha and the rest of the gang hadn't noticed the man until they heard all of the shouting. They froze right where they were, as they knew they had been caught. The six gorillas within the enclosure noticed all the commotion and instantly saw their friends. They started to leap with excitement. They hadn't seen each other for quite a while.

"What now?" Zoey asked frantically, as she looked over at all the huts.

Men were coming out of them one by one in a hurry with sticks in their hands.

"Time for Zach and the rest of the cheetahs to spring into action" shouted Harry as he looked back in their direction.

As promised, Zach and the rest of the cheetahs jumped out from where they were hiding and ran to protect them. Jack and Lorenzo joined them.

The sight of the cheetahs did not seem to deter the village people though. The men ran to the burning fire and lit the end of the sticks they were holding so that they turned into a fireball, which was enough to scare off any animal. Zach and his friends growled as the men approached the gang, but it seemed helpless. The village people were not afraid. They were yelling for all the animals to enter the enclosure in which the gorillas were kept in. One man opened the big gate for them and waved his stick in the air in order to make the animals obey his rules. The other men were making sure they couldn't escape. Eventually, they were all locked up in the one enclosure, helpless and afraid.

Eisha was shaking as her nerves got the better of her. All the gorillas behind her were reconciling. They hadn't seen each other in a while and were happy to be with one another again, even if they were locked up within the enclosure. Eisha still hadn't got the chance to be with her father who was locked up in the bigger hut next to them.

The men were muttering to one another outside the enclosure. Perhaps they were thinking of what they could do with all the animals they had captured. It made Zach uneasy, as he did not like the fact that he and his friends had no chance of escape. He began to growl again at the men as he got angrier, but all they did was laugh back at him. The more they laughed, the angrier he got.

Suddenly over on the far side of the village, one of the jeeps engines roared into action. The engine revved up a few more times before reversing, only for it to crash into one of the other jeeps beside it, causing it to stop abruptly. The village people stopped laughing at Zach and the rest of the animals and turned their attention instead to what was happening behind them. They looked confused because they weren't sure who was driving the jeep in such an unimaginable fashion.

The jeep revved up again and sped directly towards the village people. It looked menacing as it drove up close to them picking up speed. Realizing the jeep was heading straight for them, the men got out of the way as quick as they could. The jeep crashed into the fence of the enclosure in which the animals were trapped, and the engine powered out. Nobody could see who was driving it. The village people were picking themselves up off the ground after they had jumped out of its way.

Just before one of the men tried to open the door of the jeep, the engine turned on again. It reversed out of the fence and sped back to where the other jeeps were. Once there, the jeep turned and lined up, except this time it was facing towards the huts. The engine revved up, before speeding forward again.

It crashed into a hut with full force, causing the wood materials to scatter all over the ground and into the fire. A huge fireball engulfed the area. The village people looked on in shock as one of their homes went up in fire. Logs of wood started rolling along the ground. They kept rolling and set another hut on fire. Even the animals could not believe what they were seeing.

The front of the jeep was completely smashed in, but it was still able to move. The jeep drove towards the village people one more time. They stood frozen in shock. Just before they were about to get hit with the vehicle, they managed to jump out of its way one more time. This time the jeep crashed straight into the gate which locked the animals. The force of the crash forced the gate to shoot open.

The village people ran back to their homes to gather water in order to put the fire out before it engulfed the whole village. The engine of the jeep revved up again but it didn't move. There was still no clue as to who was actually driving the jeep. Then the engine suddenly stopped and the driver opened the door. Out hopped someone that gave them all a surprise.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"Monty!" shouted Jack as he couldn't believe his eyes.

Eisha, Harry, Zoey and Lorenzo also let out a gasp of astonishment. They were shocked beyond belief. All the other animals were clueless as to who he was.

"No wonder we couldn't see who was driving the jeep, it was a small monkey!" exclaimed Zach.

Monty stood proud at the foot of the jeep.

"I bet you didn't expect to see me again folks now did you?" he asked.

No one answered him as they were still too startled by his appearance.

"Quick everyone, it's our chance to break free" shouted Keliah.

He saw the opportunity to make an escape. The gate was wide open since Monty had crashed into it with the jeep.

"Where do we go?" asked Idah as they began to run past Monty.

Zach was following them along with all the cheetahs.

"To the jeeps" he shouted to Idah in front.

There were five jeeps still lined up beside each other on the far side of the village. Everyone knew exactly what his plan was. It was their only chance of making a quick get-a-way if they could operate the vehicles, just like Monty did. They ran towards them as fast as they could.

The only ones who were left behind were Eisha and her friends.

"I'm not leaving without my father" Eisha cried out.

He was still trapped inside the big hut to their left. The village people were still distracted by their huts being on fire. They were desperately trying to get buckets of water from the river.

"Monty, we need you to drive the jeep into that gate over there" Harry said to the monkey.

"Aigh aigh captain" replied Monty as he hopped back into the jeep again.

He tried to start the engine but it wouldn't start. He tried over and over until one final push and the jeep kick started into action. He revved the jeep up, and sped towards the hut in which Eisha's father was trapped. He hit it with full force causing the door to smash inwards. It was enough for Eisha's father to break free.

He appeared from the hut looking dazzled and confused. He had no idea what was going on outside prior to this, all he could hear was the commotion and smell of burning wood.

"Father!" cried out Eisha as she ran up to him. He could not believe his eyes when he saw her running towards him.

"Eisha!" he exclaimed. "What on earth are you doing here?" he asked.

He was still confused as to what was going on.

"No time to answer now, let's get out of here" she said to him.

They began to run, followed by Harry, Lorenzo and Zoey. Jack waited for Monty to climb up onto his back before they could make a run for it.

"Just like old times!" he said to Monty as he finally got into position.

They caught up to the rest of the animals who were all waiting by in the jeeps.

"What should we do?" asked Eisha.

All the rest of the animals were sitting in the back of the jeeps, while some of the gorillas were in the drivers' seat, ready to take off.

"We're not going to have enough time to get us on the back of those jeeps" said Harry. "We will just have to make a dash for it and catch up with you guys somewhere past the mountain".

The village people could see what was going on, even though they were still occupied by the fire that was blazing rapidly. They started shouting at the animals when they saw them all taking over their jeeps.

"We are going to have to get out of here fast" shouted Zach.

"You guys better run, and stay safe" shouted Keliah.

With that, all the jeeps sped off with the gorillas and cheetahs on board. Dust rose from the ground, blinding Eisha and the rest of the gang still left behind. They looked back at the village people one more time who were preparing to come after them with sticks.

"Let's go!" exclaimed Eisha's father as they ran as quick as they could away from the village.

The village people gave chase to them. It looked like they would catch up and capture them once more, but the gang were too fast for them. The quicker they ran, the more the village people seemed far off into the distance behind them. With all their jeeps gone, they had no chance of catching the gang.

"We're free at last!" Eisha exclaimed as they kept on running.

With the village people too far behind, there was a feeling of triumph amongst them all. They were finally safe.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Half an hour had passed since their ordeal at the village. Up ahead, the gang could see the rest of their friends standing beside the jeeps.

"You made it!" exclaimed Zach as the gang finally caught up with them.

"I think we are safe now" said Harry as he looked back behind him to make sure they was no one still following them.

"Phew!" said an exhausted Zoey as she finally came to rest.

Jack, with Monty on his back, were the last ones to arrive. Monty jumped off his back and fell to the ground. He picked himself up and dusted off all the dirt off his body. He looked up and noticed everyone was looking at him.

"What?" he asked them as he was a little surprised that everyone was staring at him.

"Thank you" Eisha said with a big smile on her face. "You saved us. We owe you a big apology for letting you go".

"You do indeed!" exclaimed Monty with a cheeky grin.

"Just one question though, how did you find us?" asked Jack.

Monty paused for a moment before answering.

"When you guys left me, I waited a while. Then I followed you all the way. I kept a bit of a distance behind you so you wouldn't see me. I knew you would need my help one way or another eventually!" Monty replied in a boastful manner.

"Thank you for all your help Monty, we couldn't have done it without you" said Harry, looking very pleased with the monkey.

Eisha turned to her father. He looked weak and hungry. Tears started to roll down her face.

"I'm glad you're safe" she cried out.

Her father smiled back to her.

"I'm okay my princess, there is no need to worry any more" he replied to reassure her. "I can't believe you're mother let you wander off into the wild to find me!" he added.

The gang let out a laugh.

They rested for a while by the jeeps to observe the sun going down before nightfall set in. Soon they would be on their way back home again.

"It's a beautiful sunset this evening" said Eisha as she looked up and gazed at the sky with her father by her side.

"I bet your mother is looking at the sun as well, thinking of us" replied her father. Eisha smiled back at him.

"What an adventure this has been!" exclaimed Jack.

They all took a moment to think about the last few days. They met loads of wonderful new friends along the way who helped them. Together they achieved what no other group of animals in the safari had achieved before. They all knew that they would never forget their journey for as long as they lived. Eisha had found her father with the help of her friends, and for that, she would be forever grateful.

THE END

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