“The bonobos’ good life on the island is a thing of the past,” Dave said. “They’ve been warring out here and killing each other. We’ve found four corpses as evidence, all bashed with stone wedges. So we’re caging them at the staging area in preparation for taking them all to the animal center. It’ll be six-foot concrete cells from now on as far as I know.”

Kevin’s mouth slowly fell open. In spite of his hunger, exhaustion, and aches and pains, he felt a profound sadness for these unfortunate creatures who’d not asked to be created or born. Their lives had suddenly and arbitrarily been doomed to monotonous incarceration. Their human potential was not to be realized, and their striking accomplishments thus far would be lost.

Daryl and three other men were now on their way up with a litter.

Kevin turned to look back inside the cave. In the far shadows, he could see Arthur’s profile near the lip of the chamber where Kevin and the women had been kept. A tear formed in the corner of Kevin’s eye as he imagined how Arthur was going to feel when he awoke to find himself encased in steel.

“All right, you three,” Dave said. “Let’s start back. Are you strong enough to walk or you want to ride on the trailer?”

“How do you move the trailer?” Kevin asked.

“We’ve got an all-terrain vehicle on the island,” Dave said.

“I’ll walk, thank you,” Melanie said icily.

Kevin and Candace nodded in agreement.

“We’re awfully hungry, though,” Kevin said. “The animals have only been offering us insects, worms, and marsh grass.”

“We’ve got some candy bars and soft drinks in a locker on the front of the trailer,” Dave said.

“That should be just fine,” Kevin said.

The climb down the rock face was the hardest part of the trip. Once on the flat, the walking was easy, especially since the animal handlers had cleared the trail for the all-terrain vehicle.

Kevin was impressed with how much the workers had accomplished in so short a time. As he emerged into the marshy field south of Lago Hippo, he wondered if the canoe was still hidden in the reeds. He guessed it probably was. There was no reason it would have been found.

Candace was elated when she saw the earth-covered timber bridge and said as much. She’d been worrying how they were going to get across the Rio Diviso.

“You people have been busy,” Kevin commented.

“We had no choice,” Dave said. “We had to round up these animals in the quickest time possible.”

Kevin, Melanie, and Candace began to get seriously fatigued on the last mile segment from the Rio Diviso bridge to the staging area. It was especially apparent when they had to step off the trail for the all-terrain vehicle to pass on its way back for the last trailer-load of bonobos. Stopping and standing just for a moment made their legs feel like lead.

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief when they emerged from the twilight of the jungle into the bustling staging area in the clearing. Another half dozen blue-coveralled workers were toiling under the hot sun. They were quickly unloading the bonobos from a second trailer and getting them into individual steel cages before the animals revived.