Rhonda Terry awoke with a start. She heard shouting and growls and
screams and roars that sounded very close indeed. She saw the shes of
Henry's harem moving about restlessly. Some of them uttered low growls
like nervous, half frightened beasts; but it was not these sounds
that had awakened her--they came through the unglazed windows of the
apartment, loud, menacing.
She rose and approached a window. Catherine of Aragon saw her and bared
her fangs in a vicious snarl.
"It is she they want," growled the old queen.
From the window Rhonda saw in the light of torches a mass of hairy
forms battling to the death. She gasped and pressed a hand to her
heart, for among them she saw Stanley Obroski fighting his way toward
an entrance to the palace.
At first it seemed to her that he was fighting alone against that
horde of beasts, but presently she realized that many of them were his
allies. She saw the gorilla god close to Obroski; she even saw the
grass rope about the creature's neck. Now her only thought was of the
safety of Obroski.
Vaguely she heard voices raised about her in anger; then she became
conscious of the words of the old queen. "She has caused all this
trouble," Catherine of Aragon was saying. "If she were dead we should
have peace."
"Kill her, then," said Anne of Cleves.
"Kill her!" screamed Anne Boleyn.
The girl turned from the window to see the savage beasts advancing upon
her--great hairy brutes that could tear her to pieces. The incongruity
of their human speech and their bestial appearance seemed suddenly more
shocking and monstrous than ever before.
One of them stepped forward from her side and stood in front of her,
facing the others. It was Catherine Parr. "Leave her alone," she said.
"It is not her fault that she is here."
"Kill them both! Kill Parr too!" screamed Catherine Howard.
The others took up the refrain. "Kill them both!" The Howard leaped
upon the Parr; and with hideous growls the two sought each other's
throat with great, yellow fangs. Then the others rushed upon Rhonda
Terry.
There was no escape. They were between her and the door; the windows
were barred. Her eyes searched vainly for something with which to beat
them off, but there was nothing. She backed away from them, but all the
time she knew that there was no hope.
Then the door was suddenly thrown open, and three great bulls stepped
into the apartment. "His Majesty, the King!" cried one of them, and
the shes quieted their tongues and fell away from Rhonda. Only the two
battling on the floor did not hear.
The great bull gorilla that was Henry the Eighth rolled into the room.
"Silence!" he bellowed, and crossing to the embattled pair he kicked
and cuffed them until they desisted. "Where is the fair, hairless one?"
he demanded, and then his eyes alighted upon Rhonda where she stood
almost hidden by the great bulks of his wives.
"Come here!" he commanded. "God has come for you, but he'll never get
you. You belong to me."
"Let him have her, Henry," cried Catherine of Aragon; "she has caused
nothing but trouble."
"Silence, woman!" screamed the king; "or you'll go to the Tower and the
block."
He stepped forward and seized Rhonda, throwing her across one shoulder
as though she had no weight whatever; then he crossed quickly to the
door. "Stand in the corridor here, Suffolk and Howard, and, if God's
men reach this floor, hold them off until I have time to get safely
away."
"Let us go with you, Sire," begged one of them.
"No; remain here until you have news for me; then follow me to the
north end of the valley, to the canyon where the east branch of the
Thames rises." He turned then and hurried down the corridor.
At the far end he turned into a small room, crossed to a closet, and
raised a trap door. "They'll never follow us here, my beauty," he said.
"I got this idea from God, but he doesn't know that I made use of it."
Like a huge monkey he descended a pole that led downward into darkness,
and after they reached the bottom Rhonda became aware that they were
traversing a subterranean corridor. It was very long and very dark. The
gorilla king moved slowly, feeling his way; but at last they came out
into the open.
He had set Rhonda down upon the floor of the corridor, and she had
been aware by the noises that she heard that he was moving some heavy
object. Then she had felt the soft night air and had seen stars above
them. A moment later they stood upon the bank of a river at the foot
of a low cliff while Henry replaced a large, flat stone over the dark
entrance to the tunnel they had just quitted.
Then commenced a trek of terror for Rhonda. Following the river, they
hurried along through the night toward the upper end of the valley. The
great brute no longer carried her but dragged her along by one wrist.
He seemed nervous and fearful, occasionally stopping to sniff the air
or listen. He moved almost silently, and once or twice he cautioned her
to silence.
After a while they crossed the river toward the east where the water,
though swift, was only up to their knees; then they continued in
a northeasterly direction. There was no sound of pursuit, yet the
gorilla's nervousness increased. Presently Rhonda guessed the reason
for it--from the north came the deep throated roar of a lion.
The gorilla king growled deep in his chest and quickened his pace.
A suggestion of dawn was tinging the eastern horizon. A cold mist
enveloped the valley. Rhonda was very tired. Every muscle in her
body ached and cried out for rest, but still her captor dragged her
relentlessly onward.
Now the voice of the lion sounded again, shattering the silence of the
night, making the earth tremble. It was much closer than before--it
seemed very near. The gorilla broke into a lumbering run. Dawn was
coming. Nearby objects became visible.
Rhonda saw a lion ahead of them and a little to their left. The gorilla
king saw it too, and changed his direction toward the east and a fringe
of trees that were visible now about a hundred yards ahead of them.
The lion was approaching them at an easy, swinging walk. Now he too
changed his direction and broke into a trot with the evident intention
of heading them off before they reached the trees.
Rhonda noticed how his flat belly swung from side to side to the
motion of his gait. It is strange how such trivialities often impress
one at critical moments of extreme danger. He looked lean and hungry.
He was roaring almost continuously now as though he were attempting to
lash himself into a rage. He commenced to gallop.
Now it became obvious that they could never reach the trees ahead of
him. The gorilla paused, growling. Instantly the lion changed its
course again and came straight for them. The gorilla hesitated; then
he lifted the girl in his powerful paws and hurled her into the path
of the lion, at the same time turning and running at full speed back
in the direction from which they had come. His prize had become the
offering which he hoped would save his life.
But he reckoned without sufficient knowledge of lion psychology. Rhonda
fell face downward. She knew that the lion was only a few yards away
and coming toward her, that she could not escape him; but she recalled
her other experience with a lion, and so she lay very still. After she
fell she did not move a muscle.
It is the running creature that attracts the beast of prey. You have
seen that exemplified by your own dog, which is a descendant of beasts
of prey. Whatever runs he must chase. He cannot help it. Provided it
is running away from him he has to chase it because he is the helpless
pawn of a natural law a million years older than the first dog.
If Henry the Eighth had ever known this he must have forgotten it;
otherwise he would have made the girl run while he lay down and
remained very quiet. But he did not, and the inevitable happened. The
lion ignored the still figure of the girl and pursued the fleeing
gorilla.
Rhonda felt the lion pass swiftly, close to her; then she raised her
head and looked. The gorilla was moving much more swiftly than she
had guessed possible but not swiftly enough. In a moment the lion
would overhaul it. They would be some distance from Rhonda when this
happened, and the lion would certainly be occupied for a few moments
with the killing of its prey. It seemed incredible that the huge ape,
armed as it was with powerful jaws and mighty fighting fangs, would
not fight savagely for self-preservation.
The girl leaped to her feet, and without a backward glance raced for
the trees. She had covered but a few yards when she heard terrific
roars and growls and screams that told her that the lion had overtaken
the gorilla and that the two beasts were already tearing at one
another. As long as these sounds lasted she knew that her flight would
not be noticed by the lion.
When, breathless, she reached the trees she stopped and looked back.
The lion was dragging the gorilla down, the great jaws closed upon its
head, there was a vicious shake; and the ape went limp. Thus died Henry
the Eighth.
The carnivore did not even look back in her direction but immediately
crouched upon the body of its kill and commenced to feed. He was very
hungry.
The girl slipped silently into the wood. A few steps brought her to the
bank of a river. It was the east fork of the Thames, the wood a fringe
of trees on either side. Thinking to throw the lion off her trail
should it decide to follow her, as well as to put the barrier of the
river between them, she entered it and swam to the opposite shore.
Now, for the first time in many a long day, she was inspired by hope.
She was free! Also, she knew where her friends were; and that by
following the river down to the escarpment that formed the Omwamwi
Falls she could find them. What dangers beset her path she did not
know, but it seemed that they must be trivial by comparison with those
she had already escaped. The trees that lined the river bank would give
her concealment and protection, and before the day was over she would
be at the escarpment. How she was to descend it she would leave until
faced by the necessity.
She was tired, but she did not stop to rest--there could be no rest
for her until she had found safety. Following the river, she moved
southward. The sun had risen above the mountains that hemmed the valley
on the east. Her body was grateful for the warmth that dispelled the
cold night mists.
Presently the river turned in a great loop toward the east, and
though she knew that following the meanderings of the river would
greatly increase the distance that she must travel there was no
alternative--she did not dare leave the comparative safety of the wood
nor abandon this unfailing guide that would lead her surely to her
destination.
On and on she plodded in what approximated a lethargy of fatigue,
dragging one foot painfully after another. Her physical exhaustion was
reflected in her reactions. They were dull and slow. Her senses were
less acute. She either failed to hear unusual sounds or to interpret
them as subjects worthy of careful investigation. It was this that
brought disaster.
When she became aware of danger it was too late. A hideous creature,
half man, half gorilla, dropped from a tree directly in her path. It
had the face of a man, the ears and body of an ape.
The girl turned to run toward the river, thinking to plunge in and
escape by swimming; but as she turned another fearsome thing dropped
from the trees to confront her; then, growling and snarling, the two
leaped forward and seized her. Each grasped her by an arm, and one
pulled in one direction while the other pulled in the opposite. They
screamed and gibbered at one another.
She thought that they must wrench her arms from their sockets. She
had given up hope when a naked white man dropped from an overhanging
branch. He carried a club in his hand, and with it he belabored first
one and then the other of her assailants until they relinquished their
holds upon her. But to her horror she saw that her rescuer gibbered and
roared just as the others had.
Now the man seized her and stood snarling like a wild beast as a score
of terrible beast-men swung from the trees and surrounded them. The man
who held her was handsome and well formed; his skin was tanned to a
rich bronze; a head of heavy blond hair fell about his shoulders like
the mane of a lion.
The creatures that surrounded them were hybrids of all degrees of
repulsiveness; yet he seemed one of them, for he made the same noises
that they made. Also, it was evident that he had been in the trees with
them. The others seemed to stand a little in awe of him or of his club;
for, while they evidently wanted to come and lay hands upon the girl,
they kept their distance, out of range of the man's weapon.
The man started to move away with his captive, to withdraw her from
the circle surrounding them; then, above the scolding of the others, a
savage scream sounded from the foliage overhead.
The man and the beasts glanced nervously aloft. Rhonda let her eyes
follow the direction in which they were looking. Involuntarily she
voiced a gasp of astonishment at what she beheld. Swinging downward
toward them with the speed and agility of a monkey was a naked white
girl, her golden hair streaming out behind her. From between her
perfect lips issued the horrid screams of a beast.
As she touched the ground she ran toward them. Her face, even though
reflecting savage rage, was beautiful; her youthful body was flawless
in its perfection. But her disposition was evidently something else.
As she approached, the beasts surrounding Rhonda and the man edged
away, making a path for her, though they growled and bared their teeth
at her. She paid no attention to them, but came straight for Rhonda.
The man screamed at her, backing away; then he whirled Rhonda to a
shoulder, turned, and bolted. Even burdened with the weight of his
captive he ran with great speed. Behind him, raging and screaming, the
beautiful she-devil pursued.