“Well, that answers the question about the smoke,” Kevin had said.

The animals had skewered the colobus monkeys and roasted them over the fire. The monkeys were then torn apart and distributed with great fanfare. Given all the hooting and vocalizations it had been obvious to the humans that this monkey meat was considered a great treat.

Bonobo number one had placed a few morsels of the feast on a large leaf and brought them back to the humans. Only Kevin had been willing to try it. He’d said it was the toughest thing he’d ever chewed. As far as taste was concerned, he’d told the women that it was strangely similar to the elephant he’d once sampled. The previous year, Siegfried had bagged a forest elephant on one of his hunting forays and after taking the tusks, he’d had some of the meat cooked up by the central kitchen.

The bonobos had not tried to imprison the humans and had not tried to inhibit Kevin and the women from untying the rope that bound them together. At the same time, the bonobos had made it clear that they were to stay in the small cave. At all times, at least two of the larger male bonobos remained in the immediate vicinity. Each time Kevin or one of the women tried to venture forth, these guards would screech and howl at the top of their lungs. Even more threatening, they would ferociously charge with bared teeth only to pull up short at the last minute. Thus they effectively kept the humans in their place.

“We’re going to have to do something,” Melanie said. “We can’t stay here forever. And it’s pretty apparent we’ll have to do it while they are all sleeping, like now.”

Every bonobo in the cave, including the supposed guards, were fast asleep on primitive pallets constructed of branches and leaves. Most were snoring.

“I don’t think we should take the chance of angering them,” Kevin said. “We’re lucky they’ve treated us as well as they have.”

“Being offered maggots to eat is not what I’d call being well treated,” Melanie said. “Seriously, we have to do something. Besides, they might turn on us. There’s no way to anticipate what they’ll do.”

“I prefer to wait,” Kevin said. “We’re a novelty now, but they’ll lose interest in us. Besides, we’re undoubtedly missed back in town. It won’t take Siegfried or Bertram that long to figure out what we’ve done. Then they’ll come for us.”

“I’m not convinced,” Melanie said. “Siegfried might take our disappearance as a godsend.”

“Siegfried might, but Bertram won’t,” Kevin said. “He’s basically a nice person.”

“What do you think, Candace?” Melanie asked.

“I don’t know what to think,” Candace said. “This situation is so far beyond anything I’d ever thought I’d be involved in, that I don’t know how to react. I’m numb.”

“What are we going to do when we do get back?” Kevin said. “We haven’t talked about that.”

“If we get back,” Melanie said.