But...
I'll probably do a short summary of what happens next, though I don't plan on actually writing it... As it is, the story ends at exactly 50,000 words, at the word "But." XD
Chapter 15
Flying
In which everything is hunky-dory, for a while.
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They needed to get to Kenya. Instead of going for a straight route, the way the crow flies, they decided to take the scenic route, up to France, and across through Italy, Greece, and Turkey before heading down toward the Red Sea and from there down the coast of Africa. They projected that it would take them about a month to do, but they didn’t feel the need to rush. They had come to see the world, after all.
France was their first stop. They camped out in the Massif Centrale, and met some pilgrims riding donkeys. To Maurice’s surprise, the pilgrims didn’t seem to be at all in awe of Maurice’s strange-looking invention. When Susan asked them why (she had also taken French lessons at school), the responded that there had been hot air balloons all over the place for years now. Apparently, two Frenchmen had invented them in1784. Maurice was disappointed and sullen for the rest of the day. Susan tried to comfort him.
“Just think of that, Maurice! You thought of a completely original idea, which just happened to be the same idea that somebody else thought of three centuries ago! Wouldn’t it be neat to get our hands on the blueprints for another design, and see the differences and similarities between them?” This was something Maurice certainly wanted to do, and it cheered him up. In the next big-ish place they stopped, they went hunting for some blueprints. They found some old ones, in an antique shop. This would keep Maurice occupied for at least the rest of the week.
The next day, they reached Italy, and passed right through and down the coast of the Mediterranean, where they stopped for the night. The trip down to Africa went by quickly. They passed over the rest of Europe in a matter of days, and from there they flew over Egypt. They stopped at the Pyramids, and marveled there for a good while before continuing on. Three days later, and the journey was still going fine. On the fourth day, however, they ran into a little trouble...
They were high over the African savanna, on a sweltering hot day.
“I think we should find somewhere to stop. It would be a lot less hot if we slept during the day, and traveled at night,” Susan suggested.
“You might be right. But I’m worried about predators… maybe one person should keep watch.”
“Well, that’s exactly why we shouldn’t be stopped at night, because that’s when the lions come out, stupid.”
Maurice knew she was cranky and hot, so he let that last bit slide. “I do know. But there are other predators besides lions, right? It would be better to keep on the safe side. We can find a place to stop, and I’ll let you sleep first, since you seem to need it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Susan snapped.
“I just meant you’re cranky, and I’m getting sick of it. So just quit complaining, will you?”
Just then, there was a loud bang, and they started rapidly losing altitude.
“What happened!?” Susan cried.
“I don’t know!” Maurice was trying to figure that out. “I think our balloon just burst!”
There was nothing they could do but brace themselves for the crash. Maurice did everything he could, but in the end, a burst balloon is a burst balloon, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
When the balloon crashed, Maurice and Donald were thrown from the wreckage. A rope had gotten caught on Susan’s leg, so she was stuck there. They hit the ground hard, but Maurice got away with only having the air blown out of him. Susan, on the other hand…
Maurice lay there for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. He wheezed, and got himself rolled over onto his front and up onto his knees. He looked around to assess the damage. He could hear Susan whimpering. He didn’t see Donald anywhere. The balloon’s fire (for the hot air) was still burning, and Maurice quickly went to put it out, lest it caught the balloon on fire. He saw Susan lying there in the basket, and quickly put the fire out before tending to her.
“Susan? Are you all right?” he asked, panic in his voice.
“I think I’ve broken my leg…” she said, her voice shaky.
“It’s ok, I’ll get you out,” Maurice said, and began lifting off the bits of debris which had landed on her. Nothing too heavy, but the real problem was the rope wrapped around her leg. That was what had caused the damage. Maurice looked for his knife, and when he found it, he began to saw at the rope. It was the only way to get her foot untangled without wrenching her leg any more.
“What are we going to do? We’re in the middle of nowhere! There are no doctors, no hospitals! What if we die out here?” Susan was crying.
“It’s ok, Susie, we’ll be fine…” Maurice murmured, as he cut the rope. He was only saying this to comfort her, however. In truth, he was just as worried as she was. He got the rope free, and began to help her out of the basket. She began to pass out from the pain, clenching her teeth against it.
“Put me down,” she said loudly, through clenched teeth. Maurice leaned her against a tree. “You have to make a splint for my leg, and put it up so it doesn’t swell,” she ordered.
“How do I do that?” asked Maurice, bewildered that she would know all this.
“My mother broke her leg horseback riding once. I know what we have to do,” she said. She thought to herself, ‘But then, that time there were doctors taking care of everything. Who’s going to take care of me?’
Maurice went to find some sticks for the splint. Here, he ran across Donald, who was swinging from a tree branch.
“Donald, are you all right?” Maurice asked. Donald cheeped back cheerfully. ‘Well, that’s one good thing…’ Maurice thought. Donald came along and helped Maurice to find sticks of the most right straightness and length as possible.
They came back to where Susan was, at the edge of a copse of dry grey trees. It was boiling hot out, and Maurice thought the next thing they needed to do was create some shady shelter for themselves. The balloon would do that job nicely. First though, he did what Susan told him to do and put her leg in a splint.
“How do I tell if it’s a clean break? What if it needs to be put back in the right place?” he asked worriedly, feeling like he was going to throw up.
“Is it more or less straight?” she asked, her head propped back on a rolled up blanket.
“Yes…” Maurice said doubtfully.
“Then just put it in the splint, will you? I’m not the priority right now. You’ve got to get our balloon fixed so we can find a hospital.”
Maurice did what she said, though it wasn’t all that easy. He really didn’t want to look at her quickly swelling, red, right leg, but he had to force himself to so he could get the splint on all right. He did his best, and didn’t think it was too bad a job. He helped her prop it up so the swelling would stay down as much as possible.
“What about the lions, Maurice?” she asked. Maurice was beginning to think she might be in shock, but he didn’t mention it.
“I’m on it,” he replied. He began to try and make a fence of thorny bushes around their little crash site. He scoured the area for the bushes, and luckily there were enough to go around. As long as it was just big enough to keep them safely cut off from the lions for the night, it could be made bigger and more comfortable once they had the minimum. He built it around the balloon as well, and pulled the deflated cloth of the balloon over them, attaching it to the tree branches above, to make a shady area. It would serve as a mosquito net for later when evening fell, too.
All this work took Maurice the entire afternoon. He began to feel himself dehydrating, and went into the balloon to see what kinds of supplies they had to last them. A lot of their supplies had been thrown in the crash as well, and Donald was having fun going around picking them up, and putting them all in one big pile.
They had enough food and water for several days, and supplies for making a fire. They were well prepared to stay here for at least three days. If Maurice couldn’t get the balloon fixed by then, well… then they would have to see what would happen.
Susan slept most of the day. When she was awake, she would look at their maps, and try to figure out where they were now, and how far away the nearest town or village was.
When evening fell, Maurice made a fire. He felt dead tired, but couldn’t let himself go to sleep, not when lions might creep up on them in the dark and try to get through their fence… He was nodding, though. He couldn’t help it. Finally, Susan told him to go to bed, and that she would keep watch.
“But you won’t be able to scare away the lions in that state,” Maurice said.
“Don’t worry. If I see some lions, I’ll just poke you until you wake up. I’ve slept all day, anyway, and you need to be fresh and ready to start repairing the balloon tomorrow,” she said. “You’d better sleep near me so I can reach you if I need to wake you up,” she said. Maurice was grateful for her offer, and curled up in a blanket near her. Despite the situation, he was feeling pretty happy. He had a feeling that everything would be all right. First thing in the morning, he would start trying to fix the balloon.
↔
That night, Maurice awoke with Susan poking him in the side.
“Ow. What is it?” he grumbled. Then, he remembered where he was, and what had happened in the past little while. He sat up.
“Shh,” Susan put a finger to her lips, “look.”
Maurice looked. In the penetrating darkness, he saw two pairs of glowing eyes, staring through the brambles. Their fire was nothing but glowing coals now, so Maurice quietly went to try and flare it up again. The wood he had gathered was very dry, so the fire flared up almost immediately. He lit a branch to use as a makeshift torch, and held it high. He could dimly see their huge bodies, the bristling fur, the slavering jaws… he quickly put the branch back down again. It was really much better not to see that kind of thing.
“What’s the verdict?” Susan whispered.
“Two of them. Big. Slavering. We should probably stay inside,” he said shakily.
“Well I’m not going anywhere,” Susan said.
Maurice couldn’t go back to sleep now. He and Susan sat wide awake for the next few hours, waiting and watching the two beasts outside their little camp. Those brambles were starting to look pretty flimsy, compared to those lions.
(Author’s note: “Where can you see lions? Only in Kenya!” “But we’re not in Kenya yet.” “Oh, right.”)
The lions promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
They let out a sigh of relief. It seems the lions had given up, and gone back to wherever it was they had come from. Maurice felt safe enough to go back to sleep. Susan insisted that she wasn’t tired, and let Maurice take the rest of the night.
↔
In the morning, Maurice stretched and awoke. It was hot, hot, hot. He wondered how late he had slept. He looked over, and saw Donald and Susan were both fast asleep inside their makeshift tent. Maurice got up, and took a small drink of water from his bag. The fire was out again, so he revived it and began cooking breakfast. While that was cooking, he wandered over and took a look at the damage done to the balloon. It wasn’t quite as bad as he had expected. There had indeed been a puncture, caused by what, Maurice had no idea. He should be able to sew it together again, but it probably wouldn’t be as stable as it once was, unless he managed to get his hands on some better material… He went to examine the mechanics of the rest of the balloon, but it looked like they had a more serious problem here. There was a crucial piece that was all bent out of shape. He would have to try and bend it back, but it could be tough… He tried to do it with his hands, but it was too hard. Well, he would see about that later. For now he would repair the punctured balloon. He took out his repair kit, which he had put together before they had left. He would have to pull down the balloon from its current status of shelter, in order to reach the place which had been punctured. He began to climb up the tree to untie it.
Suddenly, Donald was scrambling up the tree next to him, screeching.
“What is it, Donald? What’s got you all in a state?” asked Maurice. Donald was pointing to somewhere in the distance. Maurice put a hand to shade his eyes from the sun, and saw that there were indeed some moving figures in the distance. He climbed down, got out his telescope, and climbed back up. He clung to the tree, holding on only with his legs, and sitting on a branch, and put the telescope to his eye.
“Susan!” he cried, “Susan, wake up!”
“Mhmm?” she mumbled.
“Susan, there are elephants! I can see elephants out there, and it looks like there are people riding them!” he cried. “I’m going to go out and flag them down. It looks like they’re coming this way,” he said. He got himself dressed, and everything was ready to go.
“Wait, Maurice!” Susan said, “How are you going to communicate with them? What if they only speak some obscure African dialect?”
“I have to take that chance. If I can’t fix the balloon, they’ll be our only ticket out of here,” he said.
“Well, all right…” said Susan worriedly, “but be back soon and tell me what’s going on,” she said.
“I will,” said Maurice, and he began to take out some of the brambly bushes so he could make a doorway. When he reached the other side, he put them back in place, so Susan and Donald would be protected.
Out here, in the open, he felt much more exposed to danger. The elephants and their riders were indeed getting closer, and soon they had spotted Maurice as well. He heard them shouting to each other in a foreign language. There were three smallish elephants, two with two riders, and one with one. They were all men, and all were black, except for one of the men riding in behind… Maurice wondered and hoped that they spoke English. He raised his hands as they grew closer, trying to show that he meant no harm.
One of them jumped down from their elephant, and approached Maurice on foot. Maurice waited for him to make the first move before he tried communicating with them. He didn’t know what kind of strange customs they might have here, and he didn’t want to offend them.
The man said something in his language, and Maurice had no clue what he meant.
“I’m sorry,” Maurice said, “I only speak English. English,” he said, hoping they would understand.
“English,” the man repeated, and signaled to one of the other men. He jumped down, and approached Maurice.
“Speak English?” the new man said.
“Yes,” Maurice smiled, relieved.
“What are you doing here?” the man asked.
“There’s been an accident. Our hot air balloon malfunctioned, and we crashed, right over there,” he pointed. “My friend is injured. Can you help us?”
“Take us there,” said the man, and climbed back onto his elephant. The other one climbed back up too, and helped Maurice onto the back of the elephant with only one man on it already. Maurice felt unsteady on the back of this huge beast, but it was an incredible experience to feel the sheer power of the muscles moving beneath him.
They reached the camp. Maurice was helped down, and he went to open the brambles so they could enter. He let them in, seeing as their only option at this point was to trust them. He hoped they weren’t robbers, or cannibals, or headhunters. If they were anybody other than those three options, he would be happy. Also, the fact that they spoke English told him that they had been able to live at least somewhat peacefully among colonists, so hopefully their goal was not to kill them.
“Susan, I’ve brought help,” he said. One of the men, the one Maurice had ridden behind, came over quickly to take a look at Susan’s leg. The others inspected the camp, looking curiously at the balloon.
The English-speaking one of them pulled Maurice aside to talk.
“Tell me how this happened, why are you here?” he asked. Maurice explained that they were ultimately on a search for his father, and that their balloon had punctured, leaving them stranded here. He brought the man over, and showed him the bent part.
“If we can’t either fix or replace that part, we’re stuck,” Maurice said. “In fact, I’m not even sure how we’ll get home if that happens. I’m afraid we’re running short on money, but we will find a way to pay you if you agree to help us, I promise,” he said.
The man held up his hand. “No, no payment,” he said, “we will help you. Come to our village, we have someone there who can heal your friend,” he said.
They packed everything up, but decided it was too late to venture out now. They stayed in Maurice and Susan’s encampment for the night, and with the help of the men, were able to build up a much more enforced barrier for the lions, and a bigger fire. Keeping watch was much simpler, as well.
That night, sitting next to the fire, the only white man of the group sat next to Maurice.
“So you’re name’s Maurice?” he struck up the conversation. Maurice could hear that his accent was not from England, but from America.
“Yes. You sound like you’re from America,” Maurice replied, “what part are you from, and how did you get all the way out here?”
“I’m from Colorado. And as to how I got here… well, that story will take a long time to tell,” he said.
“Colorado? That’s amazing, so am I!”
“Well, how about that!” the man exclaimed. “My name’s Milo.” He held out his hand, and Maurice shook it.
“So what brings you all the way out here? I heard something about that you were coming looking for your father?”
“That’s right,” Maurice said. He began to feel uncomfortable. It seemed like kind of an oddball thing to be doing. “I haven’t seen him since I was a baby… apparently he’s been traveling all over the world. He keeps sending us letters, and the last one was sent from Brazil. We went to Brazil, and the man at the post office gave us an address in Kenya. So that’s where we’re headed now.”
The man was silent. Then he said, “Well, what’s your father’s name, anyway?”
“Same as mine. Maurice Zeppelin,” he replied. Milo nodded.
“You know, I’ve been staying in Kenya for a little while now, and I think I might have met a guy named Maurice. Didn’t mention a son, though.”
“Was his last name Zeppelin?” Maurice asked, suddenly feeling hopeful.
“Didn’t say,” Milo grunted, “but I could introduce you to him, maybe, if he’s still in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. I can’t guarantee anything, though.”
“Thanks, I’d really appreciate it!”
“Don’t mention it. We’ll be heading back to Kenya in a few days, so I’m sure they won’t mind if we bring you along. You’ll have to pay for the elephant ride, though, since you’ve got such a big cargo. If you’re willing to leave your broken balloon behind, though, it won’t be too much of a bother, and we can transport you for free.”
Maurice thought of their dwindling funds, and then thought of his precious balloon. As low as their money was, he just didn’t have the heart to leave it behind. If he could find a proper workshop he could use somewhere, it was certain that he would be able to fix it in no time. He would have to ask Susan and see what she thought, but in his heart, Maurice had already made up his mind.
“I think we’ll take it with us,” he replied, “how much will it cost?”
The man told him. Maurice was a little more worried. Apparently, elephants were expensive.
“I’ll ask Susan,” he said. Really, he was just using it as an excuse to stop talking to Milo and to go have a long overdue visit with Susan.
“So,” he said as he went up to her, “how are you feeling?”
“A bit better,” she replied, “these men gave me some kind of painkilling herb, it has really done wonders.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Maurice smiled.
“So am I,” she said, “I’ve been in horrible pain, you know. I didn’t want to say anything before, I didn’t want to worry you, but that’s pretty much the reason I let you sleep the other night. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep with this pain keeping me awake anyway.”
Maurice smiled, but didn’t really mean it. It pained him to think of Susan suffering like that. He grabbed hold of her hand, a thing which seemed to have happened without his brain even having to think it. His hand just did it on his own, and he was just as surprised as anyone to look down and see her hand in his.
“What’s that for?” Susan asked, but she didn’t sound offended or upset that Maurice was touching her. This heartened Maurice.
“I just care about you is all,” he said. Susan smiled. They didn’t say anything more, just kept each other company in the darkness and flickering firelight.
They slept near each other that night, and in the morning, they were woken by the men, who were ready to move on.
“What were you doing this far from Kenya, anyway, if that’s where you’re living now?” Maurice asked Milo. They were sharing an elephant, and Susan was strapped to the back of one on a special contraption like a stretcher that the men had cooked up.
“I do live in Kenya, and I have for several years,” he replied, “but right now we’re out on a mission. We’re trying to catch poachers. There has been a great upsurge in the poaching trade these past few years, and they’ve been really hurting the wildlife, and selling the animals on the black market. Not only does this detract from the economy, but the animals they catch, most of the animal is wasted, and they just throw away everything but the tusks of the elephant, or the rhino… they don’t keep any of the other parts, which are really extremely useful and could feed ten families for a month, if you know what I mean. So we’re out here hunting for poachers, to put it shortly.”
“I see,” Maurice pondered. Why would you kill a beast just for its tusks?
They rode along the whole day, with little to see but the savanna all around them in every direction. The heat was sweltering, especially now that they had no shade, and they stopped only twice in the whole day to have a break to water the elephants, and themselves.
“How long until we get where we’re going?” Maurice asked.
“Not too much longer. We should reach there by the evening,” said Milo.
“Good. I don’t think I can stand riding much longer,” he said. He was starting to have hurt legs, and they were extremely stiff when they got off the elephants for the second time. He could hardly walk.
“You’re lucky you get to lie down, Susan,” said Maurice, “my legs are killing me!”
“Well at least your leg isn’t broken,” she retorted.
“Touché,” he laughed. “They can get you help in the next village, Milo told me.”
On the other elephant, they had strapped Maurice’s balloon. It was a bit tight, now, to try and find places for everyone to sit. The poor elephants were having a hard time of it to carry all the extra weight that Maurice and Susan had brought. The men suggested getting the balloon unstrapped, and leaving it somewhere for them to come back and retrieve later when they had a few more elephants to help carry the weight.
“I want to bring it with us,” Maurice insisted, “I can fix it whenever we reach where we’re going, and then you won’t have to worry about carrying it any longer. Right? We’ll just fly to Kenya.”
The men agreed reluctantly.
Soon, they had reached their destination. It was a small-ish village, but still big enough to have a doctor and a post office. The villagers ran out to greet them, and marveled at Maurice’s balloon, as was the usual reaction.
“Wait until you see it all blown up,” Maurice said to them.
Most of the villagers didn’t speak English though, so what was said was completely lost on them. Here, the men who had rescued them promised them a place to sleep for the night, and medical care for Susan, and they said they would see what they could do about fixing the balloon. It didn’t look very hopeful, though. There were no cars, here, and animals were the main mode of transportation. They were farmers and hunters here, and the produce they collected would be carted off to the nearest biggest town to sell at the market.
“Maybe we would be able to find somewhere to fix the balloon there?” Maurice asked. It didn’t look likely that they would be able to find the part that they needed here. “Or if not, why don’t I just come with the market vendor’s tomorrow morning, and see if I can browse around and find what I need,” he said. The people in the village agreed to let him come with them the next morning, but warned him that he would have to get up at four o’clock in the morning and help them carry the produce. He agreed readily.
“I’m going to market tomorrow morning,” he told Susan, “I wish you could come with me.”
“You know, Maurice…” said Susan. She was lying in a bed in the small hospital (which was really just the doctor’s house), “the doctor said that I might take quite a while to heal. He’s reset my leg,” indeed, Maurice had been there when it had happened. He had promptly run out of the room to find a place to be sick. At least, that’s what he felt like doing. In actual fact, he had sat next to Susan to let her squeeze his hand, to help dull the pain. She had squeezed pretty hard. Maurice didn’t know how much pain she was in, as he had never broken a bone, but he knew that he did not want to.
“They reset the bone,” she continued, “but it will still be week and weeks before I’m healed enough to actually stand on it. I think I might have to stay here,” she said, looking him in the eye. She didn’t know how he would respond to this, but as she suspected, he looked downcast.
“I was afraid of that,” he said. “But what if you just stayed in the balloon, and I did the rest?
“Well, what would you say to this,” she said, in a manner which indicated that she was about to propose a plan, “what if we just lived here until I’m well enough to walk? The doctor said they have an extra house that no one is living in, and if we give them a little money in return, they’d be willing to put us up here. You could help them with your inventing skills, like upgrade their sewage system or something useful like that… and I could, I don’t know… Well, I’m sure I’ll find something useful to help out with. You know we can’t accept this hospitality without giving them something in return,” she said.
“I know it,” he replied, “and I think it’s a good idea. But I’m just worried, what if my father leaves Kenya before we get there? We’d have to travel halfway across the world again,” he said.
“Well, I did have one other idea…” she said hesitantly.
“What is it?” she didn’t seem to want to voice it into words.
“Well, have you thought of the possibility of you going on without me?” she watched his reaction. It was even more surprised and shocked than she had anticipated.
“I can’t go on without you, Susan!” he cried. “You’re the whole reason I went on this trip in the first place. I mean, you’re my rock, yeah? You’ve pulled me through it until now, I don’t think I would be able to do it without your help…” he looked at her earnestly. “I’d miss you too much,” he went on. “Don’t you know how much I care about you, Susan?”
She stared at him. “I had no idea you felt like that,” she said. “You really care that much?”
“Of course I do,” he said, a little softer than the way he had been shouting before. “From the first time I laid eyes on you, I knew I…”
“Maurice, I wish I had told you this sooner…” Susan began. Maurice looked at her breathlessly, thinking he knew what she was about to say, but not daring to hope. “It would have saved you so much grief… if you’re hoping, but you don’t know whether it’s going anywhere or not, sometimes it’s even harder than if you know the answer. And Maurice, I don’t want you to say anything more, because I have to tell you the way I feel about you. I don’t want you to get hurt. It’s just… I’ve known you’ve liked me for ages now. I tried to drive you away by hooking up with Captain Awesome, but it only hurt you more, and I felt awful. That’s why I had to break up with him. It was because of you. I couldn’t bear to see you hurt any more.”
“Susan, just spit it out. What are you trying to say?” Maurice asked breathlessly.
She looked down. “I’m sorry, Maurice,” she said, “I love you as a friend. I just can’t force myself to feel things that I don’t…”
Maurice felt sad, but he couldn’t say he didn’t see it coming. It was worse now though, because he had felt for just a moment that she was about to admit hidden feelings he hadn’t realized were there before.
“I wish you had just said it,” he said, “you got my hopes up for minute there, and they weren’t up before. I’ve always known you didn’t like me the way I like you,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“I’m going to need to be alone for a while,” he said, and stood up. The soft light filtering in the window of the setting sun shone red on the opposite wall. Susan let him go without saying anything. She felt awful for hurting him, but what can you do? She just hoped he would still be her friend by the end of today…
The next morning, Maurice had still not cheered up. He was getting used to being depressed, after that boat trip, but it didn’t make it any less painful. He tried to get his mind off it and resign himself to the fact that things would never go that way for he and Susan. Instead of dwelling, he pulled himself out of bed early in the morning, and helped the farmers get ready for the long trek to market.
The road was long, but it was good at least that they were traveling before the day had a chance to get hot. They loaded up all the elephants, and donkeys, and camels, and set out.
“You’ve got quite a good economy going here,” Maurice commented.
“Well, we have to give away half our profit in taxes,” said the only other English-speaking man in the convoy. “It doesn’t leave much for the village to live off of.”
“Why not just eat what you grow instead of selling it?” asked Maurice.
“There are things we need that we can’t make for ourselves. We need the money for supplies,” he said.
“Makes sense,” he said. They continued on their way.
It was long journey to town. Soon they began being joined by other people from other villages, all going along the same main road to town.
“We’ll be there soon,” said the man Maurice was walking beside. It had been two hours, and the group of vendors had grown until the crowd was stiflingly huge. They all had things to sell. There was a river nearby apparently, because there were many fish vendors. There were people selling fruit, vegetables, spices, herbs, fish, livestock, animals, chickens, pigs, rabbits, and many other African species’ of animals that Maurice didn’t know the name of… basically anything you can imagine. Soon they reached the edge of the city. Things immediately became more filthy. Maurice stuck close to his English-speaking guide. He didn’t want to be separated from him in a place like this where he could get so easily lost.
“Will you help me get to a place where I can find the part I need?”
“Yes. Let’s just go to set up the stall first.”
They picked their way through the crowd, and found the place where they were going to set up the stall. They had been carrying baskets of fruit, and so they set them on the ground at the stall and let the others from the village take care of setting things up.
“This way,” said his guide. He brought him further into the city. The sun had risen as they were coming into town, and now the shadows were growing slowly shorter. The people who lived in the city were just beginning to stir, with the arrival of the market vendors.
As they moved further into the centre of the city, things became a little more clean. The buildings became more than just shacks, and there were more official-looking buildings. They passed what looked like an embassy.
“Where are we?” asked Maurice.
“Adis Abeba,”
he answered.
“That’s a funny name,” said Maurice. His guide looked at him strangely.
“It’s the captal of Ethiopia,” he said.
“Oh. Is that where we are?”
The man looked exasperated. “Here, you can find what you need here, maybe,” he said. He led Maurice inside a dark shop where there worked some metal-workers. He began to speak to the workers in the language they spoke in Ethiopia, which Maurice understood not a single word of. The workers seemed willing to help. Maurice looked a little at the wares they were selling. Nothing was like what he needed. He had made his own part custom-made, after all, so it was no wonder they wouldn’t be selling exactly what he needed. He asked his guide to ask them if he would be able to use their materials to custom make the part he needed, since it was a thing of his own design. The guide asked them, but the men looked dubious about letting a stranger handle their tools.
“They want to know if you can make them a guide,” Maurice’s guide said.
“Like a blueprint?” he asked. His guide nodded. “I’m sure I can manage that,” he said, and asked for some paper and something to write with. It was provided, and Maurice sat down at their work desk and began to draw. He tried to put in as much detail as possible. In retrospect, he should have brought the part with him. Well, he thought he could remember the specifications for it. When he was finished, he handed them the paper.
“Will that be enogh to follow?” he asked. His guide translated, and the men examined the blueprints. They were discussing it in their own language, pointing to things, rubbing their chins… Maurice hoped this was a good sign.
“They say they can do it,” said his guide.
“That’s great! How much will it cost, and how long will it be before it’s done?” he asked. The guide translated.
“It will be done in five days,” he said, “and it will cost maybe $20.”
“That’s perfect,” Maurice was very relieved. Their money was down to almost nothing. As long as they could afford to fix the balloon, he knew, they would be able to keep going and make some more money along the way.
“Are you coming back to the stall now?” asked his guide, and Maurice agreed to come back. He would have to stay there for the whole day until they were ready to head back to the village, now. He didn’t know the way, and his guide said it wasn’t safe to travel alone.
“Where’s Milo?” asked Maurice. The thought had occurred to him that he hadn’t seen the man since they had come to the village.
“He went hunting poachers with the others,” said his guide, “they said they would be back this evening.”
“Good. I’d like to ask him some more questions about my father,” he said.
In the meantime, Maurice enjoyed himself in town. The market was truly a spectacle. The smells, sights, and sounds were unlike anything Maurice had ever experienced. He sampled some of the wares, which various vendors offered tastes of to him. It was a way to lure people in, to convince them to buy their wares. A taste test of the delicious food was usually enough to convince them, but unfortunately, Maurice had not brought enough money with him to buy everything he wanted. Instead, he decided to buy a carving of an elephant that one of the vendors was selling. She was an old woman, and his guide translated, that she made all of the carvings herself. The elephants stood for good luck, she said. Maurice felt that he needed it now more than ever, and not only could it serve useful, but the elephant was a beautifully painted one as well.
“Thank you,” he told the vendor. He didn’t think he would be spending any more today, after that splurge. He decided he would give it to Susan.
↔
That night, after they got back, after the sun had set, he went to visit Susan in her hospital bed and find out how she was doing.
“Hi, Susan” he said, “how are you feeling?”
“Good, thanks,” she replied, “how was the market?”
“Lifted my spirits,” he replied. “By the way, when is your birthday?”
“That’s a funny question to ask all of a sudden,” she said. “It just so happens that my birthday is on September 30th.”
“What’s the date today, do you know?”
“Honestly, I haven’t known since we left Brazil,” she laughed. It felt good to laugh with Susan again, after the tension that had come up the evening before. He really was feeling better now. He had even resigned himself to the fact that they might be living here for the next month or so.
“Actually, Maurice, I’ve been doing some thinking,” she said, her voice turning serious.
“What is it?” Maurice asked, beginning to become wary of what she might say.
“I want you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” he said, “just ask.”
“It won’t be easy,” she said.
“Out with it!” he laughed.
“Ok,” she smiled, “I want you to go and find your father. I want you to leave as soon as the balloon is fixed, and I want you to go to Kenya with Milo and find the address.”
“But you won’t be better until weeks from now…” he said. Realization dawned.
“Exactly. I want you to go without me.” She looked at him seriously, as if she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I won’t take no for an answer,” she said, just to emphasize her point. Maurice sat back, taking this in.
“All right. I’ll go,” he said. There was no arguing with her, he could see. And anyway, the sooner he found his father, the sooner he could come back to her again, and the sooner he left, the more quickly the time would fly by, and the sooner the time flew by, the sooner Susan’s leg would be healed enough for them to make the journey back home.
Home. It was a place Maurice had not thought about for some time. He had been so busy thinking about the present and worrying about the future, that he hadn’t thought about his home for ages. But now, he thought of his mother, and wondered how she was doing, alone in their small house, back in Boulder Colorado… he wondered how she was getting along with Susan’s father, and whether he was living up to his promise to take care of her in Maurice’s absence. In fact… Maurice had not even realized how long they had been gone. They time really had flown by. They had left home in the spring, and now it was getting on to autumn. But here on the other side of the equator, it was actually spring again, ironically enough. It must have been three months since he had been home. He had never been away that long before. In fact, before this journey, the longest he had ever been away was one week, on a camping trip with some of the local kids and their parents. His mother had been unable to come, for whatever reason (she had probably made up an illness, because she hated camping, and would do anything to get out of it), so he had hung around with the other kids on his own.
Thinking back this far, Maurice was amazed to be able to see how much he had changed since he had set out. When he had started this journey, he had been a shy, timid, cowardly, recluse inventor and shop boy. Now… he didn’t know how to describe himself now, but he knew he was certainly not the same person as he had been when he had left. Even Susan had changed, he thought. It was always easier to see the changes in people from the outside. It was nearly impossible to judge changes in ones self.
Actually, with this new realization of the change that had taken place in himself, Maurice’s confidence grew. He felt perfectly capable of traveling to Nairobi himself, and finding his father on his own. He didn’t think he would even want Susan to be there when he finally found his father. It was just something he needed to do for himself.
“Susan, I’m ready to go,” he said, “I didn’t feel ready before, but now I’ve grown. Have you noticed how much I’ve grown over this trip? It’s amazing, I’ve just thought back to how I was before I left, and you wouldn’t be able to tell that I’m the same person…”
“I kw, Maurice, I’ve noticed,” she said, “and I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m going to go and find my father,” he said. “I’m going to do it on my own. I shouldn’t expect you to take such a journey when you’ve got a broken leg. You should stay here and get better. I’ll be back when I’m done finding my father, I promise. And I hope I come back a new man.” He stood up. It was all very epic.
↔
Donald was nowhere to be found the next morning.
“Has anybody seen our monkey?” asked Maurice to anyone passing by. None of the villagers had seen him (or it could be that they were shaking their heads because they had no idea what Maurice was saying). Maurice finally found his translator, and got him to ask around for him. Someone had seen Donald, in fact, in some of the trees on the other end of the village. Maurice hurried towards the copse, and was amazed at what he found there.
“Donald, I see you’ve made some friends!” he said. Donald cheeped back. It seems that chimpanzee’s were to be found in Africa, because there was an entire tree full of them here. Donald was having fun playing with them, talking to them, getting to know them… Maurice was happy to see Donald meeting some of his own kind. E wondered where Susan had even gotten Donald, and whether he had been born in captivity, or if he had ever known what a real monkey’s life was supposed to be like.
↔
The balloon’s part was finished, Maurice paid the men, and took it back to his balloon. He installed the new piece, and took out the old piece. The balloon was as good as new. He filled it with the necessary equipment for the journey, and began the long inflation process early that morning.
He felt excited. His journey was almost at an end. As long as he hadn’t thought about home, he wouldn’t be homesick, but now that he had, he found the homesickness setting in. He almost couldn’t wait for to see his mother’s face again. And not to mention his father’s face! He wondered how he had changed.
Milo had agreed to come on the balloon with Maurice.
“I need a little excitement in my life,” he said, “and I’ve never flown in a hot air balloon before. See, even at my age, you can still do new things.”
So it was decided. Milo had packed up his things, and they all climbed into the balloon.
It was a week’s journey before they would reach Nairobi. Maurice was happy to spend time with Milo, to get to know him. They spent many an evening sitting by their fire in their makeshift shelters, telling stories of Colorado to each other.
“Listen, Maurice…” said Milo one day, in a serious voice. Maurice wondered what was up, with the man who was usually so happy-go-lucky and funny.
“What is it, Milo?” he asked.
“I’ve got something to tell you. A confession. My name isn’t really Milo.”
Maurice was confused. “All right… what is it, then?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. But first, I’ve got something else I need to say. When I was about your age, I got married. We had to, because my wife and I were having a baby. Our families didn’t approve, but we were very much in love. Then, something happened, and I had to leave home. It was the war, for one thing, but my arch enemy in the town where we lived was out to steal my fortune, and my wife. He said that he would leave it all alone, but on only one condition. If I left town, and never came back.”
“So… you left?”
“Of course I did. Unfortunately, the fortune was lost in a few bad decisions in gambling dens, leaving my wife and son with almost nothing… but I had no choice, if I didn’t want to lost the rest of everything I had to that no good son of a bitch.” But.
Chapter 15
Flying
In which everything is hunky-dory, for a while.
↔
They needed to get to Kenya. Instead of going for a straight route, the way the crow flies, they decided to take the scenic route, up to France, and across through Italy, Greece, and Turkey before heading down toward the Red Sea and from there down the coast of Africa. They projected that it would take them about a month to do, but they didn’t feel the need to rush. They had come to see the world, after all.
France was their first stop. They camped out in the Massif Centrale, and met some pilgrims riding donkeys. To Maurice’s surprise, the pilgrims didn’t seem to be at all in awe of Maurice’s strange-looking invention. When Susan asked them why (she had also taken French lessons at school), the responded that there had been hot air balloons all over the place for years now. Apparently, two Frenchmen had invented them in1784. Maurice was disappointed and sullen for the rest of the day. Susan tried to comfort him.
“Just think of that, Maurice! You thought of a completely original idea, which just happened to be the same idea that somebody else thought of three centuries ago! Wouldn’t it be neat to get our hands on the blueprints for another design, and see the differences and similarities between them?” This was something Maurice certainly wanted to do, and it cheered him up. In the next big-ish place they stopped, they went hunting for some blueprints. They found some old ones, in an antique shop. This would keep Maurice occupied for at least the rest of the week.
The next day, they reached Italy, and passed right through and down the coast of the Mediterranean, where they stopped for the night. The trip down to Africa went by quickly. They passed over the rest of Europe in a matter of days, and from there they flew over Egypt. They stopped at the Pyramids, and marveled there for a good while before continuing on. Three days later, and the journey was still going fine. On the fourth day, however, they ran into a little trouble...
They were high over the African savanna, on a sweltering hot day.
“I think we should find somewhere to stop. It would be a lot less hot if we slept during the day, and traveled at night,” Susan suggested.
“You might be right. But I’m worried about predators… maybe one person should keep watch.”
“Well, that’s exactly why we shouldn’t be stopped at night, because that’s when the lions come out, stupid.”
Maurice knew she was cranky and hot, so he let that last bit slide. “I do know. But there are other predators besides lions, right? It would be better to keep on the safe side. We can find a place to stop, and I’ll let you sleep first, since you seem to need it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Susan snapped.
“I just meant you’re cranky, and I’m getting sick of it. So just quit complaining, will you?”
Just then, there was a loud bang, and they started rapidly losing altitude.
“What happened!?” Susan cried.
“I don’t know!” Maurice was trying to figure that out. “I think our balloon just burst!”
There was nothing they could do but brace themselves for the crash. Maurice did everything he could, but in the end, a burst balloon is a burst balloon, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
When the balloon crashed, Maurice and Donald were thrown from the wreckage. A rope had gotten caught on Susan’s leg, so she was stuck there. They hit the ground hard, but Maurice got away with only having the air blown out of him. Susan, on the other hand…
Maurice lay there for a few moments, trying to catch his breath. He wheezed, and got himself rolled over onto his front and up onto his knees. He looked around to assess the damage. He could hear Susan whimpering. He didn’t see Donald anywhere. The balloon’s fire (for the hot air) was still burning, and Maurice quickly went to put it out, lest it caught the balloon on fire. He saw Susan lying there in the basket, and quickly put the fire out before tending to her.
“Susan? Are you all right?” he asked, panic in his voice.
“I think I’ve broken my leg…” she said, her voice shaky.
“It’s ok, I’ll get you out,” Maurice said, and began lifting off the bits of debris which had landed on her. Nothing too heavy, but the real problem was the rope wrapped around her leg. That was what had caused the damage. Maurice looked for his knife, and when he found it, he began to saw at the rope. It was the only way to get her foot untangled without wrenching her leg any more.
“What are we going to do? We’re in the middle of nowhere! There are no doctors, no hospitals! What if we die out here?” Susan was crying.
“It’s ok, Susie, we’ll be fine…” Maurice murmured, as he cut the rope. He was only saying this to comfort her, however. In truth, he was just as worried as she was. He got the rope free, and began to help her out of the basket. She began to pass out from the pain, clenching her teeth against it.
“Put me down,” she said loudly, through clenched teeth. Maurice leaned her against a tree. “You have to make a splint for my leg, and put it up so it doesn’t swell,” she ordered.
“How do I do that?” asked Maurice, bewildered that she would know all this.
“My mother broke her leg horseback riding once. I know what we have to do,” she said. She thought to herself, ‘But then, that time there were doctors taking care of everything. Who’s going to take care of me?’
Maurice went to find some sticks for the splint. Here, he ran across Donald, who was swinging from a tree branch.
“Donald, are you all right?” Maurice asked. Donald cheeped back cheerfully. ‘Well, that’s one good thing…’ Maurice thought. Donald came along and helped Maurice to find sticks of the most right straightness and length as possible.
They came back to where Susan was, at the edge of a copse of dry grey trees. It was boiling hot out, and Maurice thought the next thing they needed to do was create some shady shelter for themselves. The balloon would do that job nicely. First though, he did what Susan told him to do and put her leg in a splint.
“How do I tell if it’s a clean break? What if it needs to be put back in the right place?” he asked worriedly, feeling like he was going to throw up.
“Is it more or less straight?” she asked, her head propped back on a rolled up blanket.
“Yes…” Maurice said doubtfully.
“Then just put it in the splint, will you? I’m not the priority right now. You’ve got to get our balloon fixed so we can find a hospital.”
Maurice did what she said, though it wasn’t all that easy. He really didn’t want to look at her quickly swelling, red, right leg, but he had to force himself to so he could get the splint on all right. He did his best, and didn’t think it was too bad a job. He helped her prop it up so the swelling would stay down as much as possible.
“What about the lions, Maurice?” she asked. Maurice was beginning to think she might be in shock, but he didn’t mention it.
“I’m on it,” he replied. He began to try and make a fence of thorny bushes around their little crash site. He scoured the area for the bushes, and luckily there were enough to go around. As long as it was just big enough to keep them safely cut off from the lions for the night, it could be made bigger and more comfortable once they had the minimum. He built it around the balloon as well, and pulled the deflated cloth of the balloon over them, attaching it to the tree branches above, to make a shady area. It would serve as a mosquito net for later when evening fell, too.
All this work took Maurice the entire afternoon. He began to feel himself dehydrating, and went into the balloon to see what kinds of supplies they had to last them. A lot of their supplies had been thrown in the crash as well, and Donald was having fun going around picking them up, and putting them all in one big pile.
They had enough food and water for several days, and supplies for making a fire. They were well prepared to stay here for at least three days. If Maurice couldn’t get the balloon fixed by then, well… then they would have to see what would happen.
Susan slept most of the day. When she was awake, she would look at their maps, and try to figure out where they were now, and how far away the nearest town or village was.
When evening fell, Maurice made a fire. He felt dead tired, but couldn’t let himself go to sleep, not when lions might creep up on them in the dark and try to get through their fence… He was nodding, though. He couldn’t help it. Finally, Susan told him to go to bed, and that she would keep watch.
“But you won’t be able to scare away the lions in that state,” Maurice said.
“Don’t worry. If I see some lions, I’ll just poke you until you wake up. I’ve slept all day, anyway, and you need to be fresh and ready to start repairing the balloon tomorrow,” she said. “You’d better sleep near me so I can reach you if I need to wake you up,” she said. Maurice was grateful for her offer, and curled up in a blanket near her. Despite the situation, he was feeling pretty happy. He had a feeling that everything would be all right. First thing in the morning, he would start trying to fix the balloon.
↔
That night, Maurice awoke with Susan poking him in the side.
“Ow. What is it?” he grumbled. Then, he remembered where he was, and what had happened in the past little while. He sat up.
“Shh,” Susan put a finger to her lips, “look.”
Maurice looked. In the penetrating darkness, he saw two pairs of glowing eyes, staring through the brambles. Their fire was nothing but glowing coals now, so Maurice quietly went to try and flare it up again. The wood he had gathered was very dry, so the fire flared up almost immediately. He lit a branch to use as a makeshift torch, and held it high. He could dimly see their huge bodies, the bristling fur, the slavering jaws… he quickly put the branch back down again. It was really much better not to see that kind of thing.
“What’s the verdict?” Susan whispered.
“Two of them. Big. Slavering. We should probably stay inside,” he said shakily.
“Well I’m not going anywhere,” Susan said.
Maurice couldn’t go back to sleep now. He and Susan sat wide awake for the next few hours, waiting and watching the two beasts outside their little camp. Those brambles were starting to look pretty flimsy, compared to those lions.
(Author’s note: “Where can you see lions? Only in Kenya!” “But we’re not in Kenya yet.” “Oh, right.”)
The lions promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
They let out a sigh of relief. It seems the lions had given up, and gone back to wherever it was they had come from. Maurice felt safe enough to go back to sleep. Susan insisted that she wasn’t tired, and let Maurice take the rest of the night.
↔
In the morning, Maurice stretched and awoke. It was hot, hot, hot. He wondered how late he had slept. He looked over, and saw Donald and Susan were both fast asleep inside their makeshift tent. Maurice got up, and took a small drink of water from his bag. The fire was out again, so he revived it and began cooking breakfast. While that was cooking, he wandered over and took a look at the damage done to the balloon. It wasn’t quite as bad as he had expected. There had indeed been a puncture, caused by what, Maurice had no idea. He should be able to sew it together again, but it probably wouldn’t be as stable as it once was, unless he managed to get his hands on some better material… He went to examine the mechanics of the rest of the balloon, but it looked like they had a more serious problem here. There was a crucial piece that was all bent out of shape. He would have to try and bend it back, but it could be tough… He tried to do it with his hands, but it was too hard. Well, he would see about that later. For now he would repair the punctured balloon. He took out his repair kit, which he had put together before they had left. He would have to pull down the balloon from its current status of shelter, in order to reach the place which had been punctured. He began to climb up the tree to untie it.
Suddenly, Donald was scrambling up the tree next to him, screeching.
“What is it, Donald? What’s got you all in a state?” asked Maurice. Donald was pointing to somewhere in the distance. Maurice put a hand to shade his eyes from the sun, and saw that there were indeed some moving figures in the distance. He climbed down, got out his telescope, and climbed back up. He clung to the tree, holding on only with his legs, and sitting on a branch, and put the telescope to his eye.
“Susan!” he cried, “Susan, wake up!”
“Mhmm?” she mumbled.
“Susan, there are elephants! I can see elephants out there, and it looks like there are people riding them!” he cried. “I’m going to go out and flag them down. It looks like they’re coming this way,” he said. He got himself dressed, and everything was ready to go.
“Wait, Maurice!” Susan said, “How are you going to communicate with them? What if they only speak some obscure African dialect?”
“I have to take that chance. If I can’t fix the balloon, they’ll be our only ticket out of here,” he said.
“Well, all right…” said Susan worriedly, “but be back soon and tell me what’s going on,” she said.
“I will,” said Maurice, and he began to take out some of the brambly bushes so he could make a doorway. When he reached the other side, he put them back in place, so Susan and Donald would be protected.
Out here, in the open, he felt much more exposed to danger. The elephants and their riders were indeed getting closer, and soon they had spotted Maurice as well. He heard them shouting to each other in a foreign language. There were three smallish elephants, two with two riders, and one with one. They were all men, and all were black, except for one of the men riding in behind… Maurice wondered and hoped that they spoke English. He raised his hands as they grew closer, trying to show that he meant no harm.
One of them jumped down from their elephant, and approached Maurice on foot. Maurice waited for him to make the first move before he tried communicating with them. He didn’t know what kind of strange customs they might have here, and he didn’t want to offend them.
The man said something in his language, and Maurice had no clue what he meant.
“I’m sorry,” Maurice said, “I only speak English. English,” he said, hoping they would understand.
“English,” the man repeated, and signaled to one of the other men. He jumped down, and approached Maurice.
“Speak English?” the new man said.
“Yes,” Maurice smiled, relieved.
“What are you doing here?” the man asked.
“There’s been an accident. Our hot air balloon malfunctioned, and we crashed, right over there,” he pointed. “My friend is injured. Can you help us?”
“Take us there,” said the man, and climbed back onto his elephant. The other one climbed back up too, and helped Maurice onto the back of the elephant with only one man on it already. Maurice felt unsteady on the back of this huge beast, but it was an incredible experience to feel the sheer power of the muscles moving beneath him.
They reached the camp. Maurice was helped down, and he went to open the brambles so they could enter. He let them in, seeing as their only option at this point was to trust them. He hoped they weren’t robbers, or cannibals, or headhunters. If they were anybody other than those three options, he would be happy. Also, the fact that they spoke English told him that they had been able to live at least somewhat peacefully among colonists, so hopefully their goal was not to kill them.
“Susan, I’ve brought help,” he said. One of the men, the one Maurice had ridden behind, came over quickly to take a look at Susan’s leg. The others inspected the camp, looking curiously at the balloon.
The English-speaking one of them pulled Maurice aside to talk.
“Tell me how this happened, why are you here?” he asked. Maurice explained that they were ultimately on a search for his father, and that their balloon had punctured, leaving them stranded here. He brought the man over, and showed him the bent part.
“If we can’t either fix or replace that part, we’re stuck,” Maurice said. “In fact, I’m not even sure how we’ll get home if that happens. I’m afraid we’re running short on money, but we will find a way to pay you if you agree to help us, I promise,” he said.
The man held up his hand. “No, no payment,” he said, “we will help you. Come to our village, we have someone there who can heal your friend,” he said.
They packed everything up, but decided it was too late to venture out now. They stayed in Maurice and Susan’s encampment for the night, and with the help of the men, were able to build up a much more enforced barrier for the lions, and a bigger fire. Keeping watch was much simpler, as well.
That night, sitting next to the fire, the only white man of the group sat next to Maurice.
“So you’re name’s Maurice?” he struck up the conversation. Maurice could hear that his accent was not from England, but from America.
“Yes. You sound like you’re from America,” Maurice replied, “what part are you from, and how did you get all the way out here?”
“I’m from Colorado. And as to how I got here… well, that story will take a long time to tell,” he said.
“Colorado? That’s amazing, so am I!”
“Well, how about that!” the man exclaimed. “My name’s Milo.” He held out his hand, and Maurice shook it.
“So what brings you all the way out here? I heard something about that you were coming looking for your father?”
“That’s right,” Maurice said. He began to feel uncomfortable. It seemed like kind of an oddball thing to be doing. “I haven’t seen him since I was a baby… apparently he’s been traveling all over the world. He keeps sending us letters, and the last one was sent from Brazil. We went to Brazil, and the man at the post office gave us an address in Kenya. So that’s where we’re headed now.”
The man was silent. Then he said, “Well, what’s your father’s name, anyway?”
“Same as mine. Maurice Zeppelin,” he replied. Milo nodded.
“You know, I’ve been staying in Kenya for a little while now, and I think I might have met a guy named Maurice. Didn’t mention a son, though.”
“Was his last name Zeppelin?” Maurice asked, suddenly feeling hopeful.
“Didn’t say,” Milo grunted, “but I could introduce you to him, maybe, if he’s still in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. I can’t guarantee anything, though.”
“Thanks, I’d really appreciate it!”
“Don’t mention it. We’ll be heading back to Kenya in a few days, so I’m sure they won’t mind if we bring you along. You’ll have to pay for the elephant ride, though, since you’ve got such a big cargo. If you’re willing to leave your broken balloon behind, though, it won’t be too much of a bother, and we can transport you for free.”
Maurice thought of their dwindling funds, and then thought of his precious balloon. As low as their money was, he just didn’t have the heart to leave it behind. If he could find a proper workshop he could use somewhere, it was certain that he would be able to fix it in no time. He would have to ask Susan and see what she thought, but in his heart, Maurice had already made up his mind.
“I think we’ll take it with us,” he replied, “how much will it cost?”
The man told him. Maurice was a little more worried. Apparently, elephants were expensive.
“I’ll ask Susan,” he said. Really, he was just using it as an excuse to stop talking to Milo and to go have a long overdue visit with Susan.
“So,” he said as he went up to her, “how are you feeling?”
“A bit better,” she replied, “these men gave me some kind of painkilling herb, it has really done wonders.”
“I’m happy to hear that,” Maurice smiled.
“So am I,” she said, “I’ve been in horrible pain, you know. I didn’t want to say anything before, I didn’t want to worry you, but that’s pretty much the reason I let you sleep the other night. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep with this pain keeping me awake anyway.”
Maurice smiled, but didn’t really mean it. It pained him to think of Susan suffering like that. He grabbed hold of her hand, a thing which seemed to have happened without his brain even having to think it. His hand just did it on his own, and he was just as surprised as anyone to look down and see her hand in his.
“What’s that for?” Susan asked, but she didn’t sound offended or upset that Maurice was touching her. This heartened Maurice.
“I just care about you is all,” he said. Susan smiled. They didn’t say anything more, just kept each other company in the darkness and flickering firelight.
They slept near each other that night, and in the morning, they were woken by the men, who were ready to move on.
“What were you doing this far from Kenya, anyway, if that’s where you’re living now?” Maurice asked Milo. They were sharing an elephant, and Susan was strapped to the back of one on a special contraption like a stretcher that the men had cooked up.
“I do live in Kenya, and I have for several years,” he replied, “but right now we’re out on a mission. We’re trying to catch poachers. There has been a great upsurge in the poaching trade these past few years, and they’ve been really hurting the wildlife, and selling the animals on the black market. Not only does this detract from the economy, but the animals they catch, most of the animal is wasted, and they just throw away everything but the tusks of the elephant, or the rhino… they don’t keep any of the other parts, which are really extremely useful and could feed ten families for a month, if you know what I mean. So we’re out here hunting for poachers, to put it shortly.”
“I see,” Maurice pondered. Why would you kill a beast just for its tusks?
They rode along the whole day, with little to see but the savanna all around them in every direction. The heat was sweltering, especially now that they had no shade, and they stopped only twice in the whole day to have a break to water the elephants, and themselves.
“How long until we get where we’re going?” Maurice asked.
“Not too much longer. We should reach there by the evening,” said Milo.
“Good. I don’t think I can stand riding much longer,” he said. He was starting to have hurt legs, and they were extremely stiff when they got off the elephants for the second time. He could hardly walk.
“You’re lucky you get to lie down, Susan,” said Maurice, “my legs are killing me!”
“Well at least your leg isn’t broken,” she retorted.
“Touché,” he laughed. “They can get you help in the next village, Milo told me.”
On the other elephant, they had strapped Maurice’s balloon. It was a bit tight, now, to try and find places for everyone to sit. The poor elephants were having a hard time of it to carry all the extra weight that Maurice and Susan had brought. The men suggested getting the balloon unstrapped, and leaving it somewhere for them to come back and retrieve later when they had a few more elephants to help carry the weight.
“I want to bring it with us,” Maurice insisted, “I can fix it whenever we reach where we’re going, and then you won’t have to worry about carrying it any longer. Right? We’ll just fly to Kenya.”
The men agreed reluctantly.
Soon, they had reached their destination. It was a small-ish village, but still big enough to have a doctor and a post office. The villagers ran out to greet them, and marveled at Maurice’s balloon, as was the usual reaction.
“Wait until you see it all blown up,” Maurice said to them.
Most of the villagers didn’t speak English though, so what was said was completely lost on them. Here, the men who had rescued them promised them a place to sleep for the night, and medical care for Susan, and they said they would see what they could do about fixing the balloon. It didn’t look very hopeful, though. There were no cars, here, and animals were the main mode of transportation. They were farmers and hunters here, and the produce they collected would be carted off to the nearest biggest town to sell at the market.
“Maybe we would be able to find somewhere to fix the balloon there?” Maurice asked. It didn’t look likely that they would be able to find the part that they needed here. “Or if not, why don’t I just come with the market vendor’s tomorrow morning, and see if I can browse around and find what I need,” he said. The people in the village agreed to let him come with them the next morning, but warned him that he would have to get up at four o’clock in the morning and help them carry the produce. He agreed readily.
“I’m going to market tomorrow morning,” he told Susan, “I wish you could come with me.”
“You know, Maurice…” said Susan. She was lying in a bed in the small hospital (which was really just the doctor’s house), “the doctor said that I might take quite a while to heal. He’s reset my leg,” indeed, Maurice had been there when it had happened. He had promptly run out of the room to find a place to be sick. At least, that’s what he felt like doing. In actual fact, he had sat next to Susan to let her squeeze his hand, to help dull the pain. She had squeezed pretty hard. Maurice didn’t know how much pain she was in, as he had never broken a bone, but he knew that he did not want to.
“They reset the bone,” she continued, “but it will still be week and weeks before I’m healed enough to actually stand on it. I think I might have to stay here,” she said, looking him in the eye. She didn’t know how he would respond to this, but as she suspected, he looked downcast.
“I was afraid of that,” he said. “But what if you just stayed in the balloon, and I did the rest?
“Well, what would you say to this,” she said, in a manner which indicated that she was about to propose a plan, “what if we just lived here until I’m well enough to walk? The doctor said they have an extra house that no one is living in, and if we give them a little money in return, they’d be willing to put us up here. You could help them with your inventing skills, like upgrade their sewage system or something useful like that… and I could, I don’t know… Well, I’m sure I’ll find something useful to help out with. You know we can’t accept this hospitality without giving them something in return,” she said.
“I know it,” he replied, “and I think it’s a good idea. But I’m just worried, what if my father leaves Kenya before we get there? We’d have to travel halfway across the world again,” he said.
“Well, I did have one other idea…” she said hesitantly.
“What is it?” she didn’t seem to want to voice it into words.
“Well, have you thought of the possibility of you going on without me?” she watched his reaction. It was even more surprised and shocked than she had anticipated.
“I can’t go on without you, Susan!” he cried. “You’re the whole reason I went on this trip in the first place. I mean, you’re my rock, yeah? You’ve pulled me through it until now, I don’t think I would be able to do it without your help…” he looked at her earnestly. “I’d miss you too much,” he went on. “Don’t you know how much I care about you, Susan?”
She stared at him. “I had no idea you felt like that,” she said. “You really care that much?”
“Of course I do,” he said, a little softer than the way he had been shouting before. “From the first time I laid eyes on you, I knew I…”
“Maurice, I wish I had told you this sooner…” Susan began. Maurice looked at her breathlessly, thinking he knew what she was about to say, but not daring to hope. “It would have saved you so much grief… if you’re hoping, but you don’t know whether it’s going anywhere or not, sometimes it’s even harder than if you know the answer. And Maurice, I don’t want you to say anything more, because I have to tell you the way I feel about you. I don’t want you to get hurt. It’s just… I’ve known you’ve liked me for ages now. I tried to drive you away by hooking up with Captain Awesome, but it only hurt you more, and I felt awful. That’s why I had to break up with him. It was because of you. I couldn’t bear to see you hurt any more.”
“Susan, just spit it out. What are you trying to say?” Maurice asked breathlessly.
She looked down. “I’m sorry, Maurice,” she said, “I love you as a friend. I just can’t force myself to feel things that I don’t…”
Maurice felt sad, but he couldn’t say he didn’t see it coming. It was worse now though, because he had felt for just a moment that she was about to admit hidden feelings he hadn’t realized were there before.
“I wish you had just said it,” he said, “you got my hopes up for minute there, and they weren’t up before. I’ve always known you didn’t like me the way I like you,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“I’m going to need to be alone for a while,” he said, and stood up. The soft light filtering in the window of the setting sun shone red on the opposite wall. Susan let him go without saying anything. She felt awful for hurting him, but what can you do? She just hoped he would still be her friend by the end of today…
The next morning, Maurice had still not cheered up. He was getting used to being depressed, after that boat trip, but it didn’t make it any less painful. He tried to get his mind off it and resign himself to the fact that things would never go that way for he and Susan. Instead of dwelling, he pulled himself out of bed early in the morning, and helped the farmers get ready for the long trek to market.
The road was long, but it was good at least that they were traveling before the day had a chance to get hot. They loaded up all the elephants, and donkeys, and camels, and set out.
“You’ve got quite a good economy going here,” Maurice commented.
“Well, we have to give away half our profit in taxes,” said the only other English-speaking man in the convoy. “It doesn’t leave much for the village to live off of.”
“Why not just eat what you grow instead of selling it?” asked Maurice.
“There are things we need that we can’t make for ourselves. We need the money for supplies,” he said.
“Makes sense,” he said. They continued on their way.
It was long journey to town. Soon they began being joined by other people from other villages, all going along the same main road to town.
“We’ll be there soon,” said the man Maurice was walking beside. It had been two hours, and the group of vendors had grown until the crowd was stiflingly huge. They all had things to sell. There was a river nearby apparently, because there were many fish vendors. There were people selling fruit, vegetables, spices, herbs, fish, livestock, animals, chickens, pigs, rabbits, and many other African species’ of animals that Maurice didn’t know the name of… basically anything you can imagine. Soon they reached the edge of the city. Things immediately became more filthy. Maurice stuck close to his English-speaking guide. He didn’t want to be separated from him in a place like this where he could get so easily lost.
“Will you help me get to a place where I can find the part I need?”
“Yes. Let’s just go to set up the stall first.”
They picked their way through the crowd, and found the place where they were going to set up the stall. They had been carrying baskets of fruit, and so they set them on the ground at the stall and let the others from the village take care of setting things up.
“This way,” said his guide. He brought him further into the city. The sun had risen as they were coming into town, and now the shadows were growing slowly shorter. The people who lived in the city were just beginning to stir, with the arrival of the market vendors.
As they moved further into the centre of the city, things became a little more clean. The buildings became more than just shacks, and there were more official-looking buildings. They passed what looked like an embassy.
“Where are we?” asked Maurice.
“Adis Abeba,”
he answered.
“That’s a funny name,” said Maurice. His guide looked at him strangely.
“It’s the captal of Ethiopia,” he said.
“Oh. Is that where we are?”
The man looked exasperated. “Here, you can find what you need here, maybe,” he said. He led Maurice inside a dark shop where there worked some metal-workers. He began to speak to the workers in the language they spoke in Ethiopia, which Maurice understood not a single word of. The workers seemed willing to help. Maurice looked a little at the wares they were selling. Nothing was like what he needed. He had made his own part custom-made, after all, so it was no wonder they wouldn’t be selling exactly what he needed. He asked his guide to ask them if he would be able to use their materials to custom make the part he needed, since it was a thing of his own design. The guide asked them, but the men looked dubious about letting a stranger handle their tools.
“They want to know if you can make them a guide,” Maurice’s guide said.
“Like a blueprint?” he asked. His guide nodded. “I’m sure I can manage that,” he said, and asked for some paper and something to write with. It was provided, and Maurice sat down at their work desk and began to draw. He tried to put in as much detail as possible. In retrospect, he should have brought the part with him. Well, he thought he could remember the specifications for it. When he was finished, he handed them the paper.
“Will that be enogh to follow?” he asked. His guide translated, and the men examined the blueprints. They were discussing it in their own language, pointing to things, rubbing their chins… Maurice hoped this was a good sign.
“They say they can do it,” said his guide.
“That’s great! How much will it cost, and how long will it be before it’s done?” he asked. The guide translated.
“It will be done in five days,” he said, “and it will cost maybe $20.”
“That’s perfect,” Maurice was very relieved. Their money was down to almost nothing. As long as they could afford to fix the balloon, he knew, they would be able to keep going and make some more money along the way.
“Are you coming back to the stall now?” asked his guide, and Maurice agreed to come back. He would have to stay there for the whole day until they were ready to head back to the village, now. He didn’t know the way, and his guide said it wasn’t safe to travel alone.
“Where’s Milo?” asked Maurice. The thought had occurred to him that he hadn’t seen the man since they had come to the village.
“He went hunting poachers with the others,” said his guide, “they said they would be back this evening.”
“Good. I’d like to ask him some more questions about my father,” he said.
In the meantime, Maurice enjoyed himself in town. The market was truly a spectacle. The smells, sights, and sounds were unlike anything Maurice had ever experienced. He sampled some of the wares, which various vendors offered tastes of to him. It was a way to lure people in, to convince them to buy their wares. A taste test of the delicious food was usually enough to convince them, but unfortunately, Maurice had not brought enough money with him to buy everything he wanted. Instead, he decided to buy a carving of an elephant that one of the vendors was selling. She was an old woman, and his guide translated, that she made all of the carvings herself. The elephants stood for good luck, she said. Maurice felt that he needed it now more than ever, and not only could it serve useful, but the elephant was a beautifully painted one as well.
“Thank you,” he told the vendor. He didn’t think he would be spending any more today, after that splurge. He decided he would give it to Susan.
↔
That night, after they got back, after the sun had set, he went to visit Susan in her hospital bed and find out how she was doing.
“Hi, Susan” he said, “how are you feeling?”
“Good, thanks,” she replied, “how was the market?”
“Lifted my spirits,” he replied. “By the way, when is your birthday?”
“That’s a funny question to ask all of a sudden,” she said. “It just so happens that my birthday is on September 30th.”
“What’s the date today, do you know?”
“Honestly, I haven’t known since we left Brazil,” she laughed. It felt good to laugh with Susan again, after the tension that had come up the evening before. He really was feeling better now. He had even resigned himself to the fact that they might be living here for the next month or so.
“Actually, Maurice, I’ve been doing some thinking,” she said, her voice turning serious.
“What is it?” Maurice asked, beginning to become wary of what she might say.
“I want you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” he said, “just ask.”
“It won’t be easy,” she said.
“Out with it!” he laughed.
“Ok,” she smiled, “I want you to go and find your father. I want you to leave as soon as the balloon is fixed, and I want you to go to Kenya with Milo and find the address.”
“But you won’t be better until weeks from now…” he said. Realization dawned.
“Exactly. I want you to go without me.” She looked at him seriously, as if she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I won’t take no for an answer,” she said, just to emphasize her point. Maurice sat back, taking this in.
“All right. I’ll go,” he said. There was no arguing with her, he could see. And anyway, the sooner he found his father, the sooner he could come back to her again, and the sooner he left, the more quickly the time would fly by, and the sooner the time flew by, the sooner Susan’s leg would be healed enough for them to make the journey back home.
Home. It was a place Maurice had not thought about for some time. He had been so busy thinking about the present and worrying about the future, that he hadn’t thought about his home for ages. But now, he thought of his mother, and wondered how she was doing, alone in their small house, back in Boulder Colorado… he wondered how she was getting along with Susan’s father, and whether he was living up to his promise to take care of her in Maurice’s absence. In fact… Maurice had not even realized how long they had been gone. They time really had flown by. They had left home in the spring, and now it was getting on to autumn. But here on the other side of the equator, it was actually spring again, ironically enough. It must have been three months since he had been home. He had never been away that long before. In fact, before this journey, the longest he had ever been away was one week, on a camping trip with some of the local kids and their parents. His mother had been unable to come, for whatever reason (she had probably made up an illness, because she hated camping, and would do anything to get out of it), so he had hung around with the other kids on his own.
Thinking back this far, Maurice was amazed to be able to see how much he had changed since he had set out. When he had started this journey, he had been a shy, timid, cowardly, recluse inventor and shop boy. Now… he didn’t know how to describe himself now, but he knew he was certainly not the same person as he had been when he had left. Even Susan had changed, he thought. It was always easier to see the changes in people from the outside. It was nearly impossible to judge changes in ones self.
Actually, with this new realization of the change that had taken place in himself, Maurice’s confidence grew. He felt perfectly capable of traveling to Nairobi himself, and finding his father on his own. He didn’t think he would even want Susan to be there when he finally found his father. It was just something he needed to do for himself.
“Susan, I’m ready to go,” he said, “I didn’t feel ready before, but now I’ve grown. Have you noticed how much I’ve grown over this trip? It’s amazing, I’ve just thought back to how I was before I left, and you wouldn’t be able to tell that I’m the same person…”
“I kw, Maurice, I’ve noticed,” she said, “and I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m going to go and find my father,” he said. “I’m going to do it on my own. I shouldn’t expect you to take such a journey when you’ve got a broken leg. You should stay here and get better. I’ll be back when I’m done finding my father, I promise. And I hope I come back a new man.” He stood up. It was all very epic.
↔
Donald was nowhere to be found the next morning.
“Has anybody seen our monkey?” asked Maurice to anyone passing by. None of the villagers had seen him (or it could be that they were shaking their heads because they had no idea what Maurice was saying). Maurice finally found his translator, and got him to ask around for him. Someone had seen Donald, in fact, in some of the trees on the other end of the village. Maurice hurried towards the copse, and was amazed at what he found there.
“Donald, I see you’ve made some friends!” he said. Donald cheeped back. It seems that chimpanzee’s were to be found in Africa, because there was an entire tree full of them here. Donald was having fun playing with them, talking to them, getting to know them… Maurice was happy to see Donald meeting some of his own kind. E wondered where Susan had even gotten Donald, and whether he had been born in captivity, or if he had ever known what a real monkey’s life was supposed to be like.
↔
The balloon’s part was finished, Maurice paid the men, and took it back to his balloon. He installed the new piece, and took out the old piece. The balloon was as good as new. He filled it with the necessary equipment for the journey, and began the long inflation process early that morning.
He felt excited. His journey was almost at an end. As long as he hadn’t thought about home, he wouldn’t be homesick, but now that he had, he found the homesickness setting in. He almost couldn’t wait for to see his mother’s face again. And not to mention his father’s face! He wondered how he had changed.
Milo had agreed to come on the balloon with Maurice.
“I need a little excitement in my life,” he said, “and I’ve never flown in a hot air balloon before. See, even at my age, you can still do new things.”
So it was decided. Milo had packed up his things, and they all climbed into the balloon.
It was a week’s journey before they would reach Nairobi. Maurice was happy to spend time with Milo, to get to know him. They spent many an evening sitting by their fire in their makeshift shelters, telling stories of Colorado to each other.
“Listen, Maurice…” said Milo one day, in a serious voice. Maurice wondered what was up, with the man who was usually so happy-go-lucky and funny.
“What is it, Milo?” he asked.
“I’ve got something to tell you. A confession. My name isn’t really Milo.”
Maurice was confused. “All right… what is it, then?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. But first, I’ve got something else I need to say. When I was about your age, I got married. We had to, because my wife and I were having a baby. Our families didn’t approve, but we were very much in love. Then, something happened, and I had to leave home. It was the war, for one thing, but my arch enemy in the town where we lived was out to steal my fortune, and my wife. He said that he would leave it all alone, but on only one condition. If I left town, and never came back.”
“So… you left?”
“Of course I did. Unfortunately, the fortune was lost in a few bad decisions in gambling dens, leaving my wife and son with almost nothing… but I had no choice, if I didn’t want to lost the rest of everything I had to that no good son of a bitch.” But.