At the bottom of the hill, Thunder was leading the group through the rainforest. There was no time to waste if he was going to find his mother. “C’mon, I have to get back to my herd.”
Penelope queried from the trees. “No herd? No herd?”
Thunder shook his trunk at her and rolled his eyes. The parrot picked a small twig from the branch above him and dropped it on his head. “Stop goofin’, Penelope. I have to find them.”
Penelope shuffled her feet on her perch and wobbled her head from side to side. “Go home now. Go home. Dinner waiting. Can’t get cold.”
Cedric pruned his feathers with his dagger shaped beak, while he held onto Soma’s back gently with his feet. He glanced up at Penelope and smiled. “Stick with us!”
Sydney shook her head ruefully at her friend. She couldn’t care less if Penelope the parrot came with them anywhere. That bird’s antics were seriously grating on her nerves. She’d already made that loud and clear. “Speak for yourself, Cedric!”
Persius jabbed Sydney in the stomach and shook his head reproachfully. “Be nice, Sydney.”
“Hey!! Ouch! Stop it, will ya! Ow!!” Sydney hopped to the side to avoid another poke from Persius and tumbled from Soma’s back. The small egret landed in a heap behind the rhino and looked up to see Soma’s tail swishing in her face. She blew the tail from her beak and gave a loud disapproving huff of air. Sydney raised her left wing in the air and pointed at Persius. “Just you wait, you!”
“Or what? You’ll knock my stuffing out?” If Persius had a tongue, he would have stuck it out at her. Instead, he settled for splaying the feather tips of his wings out around his beak and shaking his head at her tauntingly.
“I will, just you wait!”
Thunder stomped on the ground and Sydney shook slightly, making a small vibrating chirping sound as all the air left her lungs. “Look, we have to work together if we’re going to get back to my herd. Team work. Got it?”
Soma stopped mid-step and looked first at Sydney, then the elephant calf in front of her who was acting like more than just their glorified tour guide. “Oh brother. Now we have a committee. What’s next? The U.N.?” Soma began to imagine a herd of elephants waving patriotic flags to the backdrop of some big band song that made them stamp their feet in rhythm. She shook the image away, deciding that these loony animals must be getting to her.
Thunder turned and faced Soma square on. “I can’t do it by myself. I’m afraid they’ll get me.”
Soma could not ignore the watery eyes staring back at her, or the slight tremble of fear in Thunder’s voice. She understood him more than he knew. Soma had gone through much at the hands of the uprights. Their impression was left on her to this day. She shrugged off the welling of emotions racing through her. Pitying the calf would not help him in the least. It was better he learned now how cold the world could be. “Well, kid, get used to it. Survival of the fittest, ya know?”
Penelope flew to a limb closer to them and rotated her head from side to side. “Darwin. Great man.”
Soma grumbled, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She really had no idea what the silly bird was going on about now. Not that it mattered. Her bird brain was the least of their worries. Soma nodded to Thunder, “Let’s keep moving.”
Thunder looked as if he were going to say something, but thought better of it. He waited for Soma to reach his side and they proceeded together in quiet.
Penelope dove from the trees and perched precariously on his head. She tilted her head at the egrets on top of Soma’s back as if to say who has the better ride now? A rustling sounded near them and Penelope hopped up and down excitedly. “What’s up? Uh-oh. Someone at the door.” She ended with a shrill whistle that made the other birds cringe.
Sydney looked all around them in confusion. “What door?”
“Knock, knock. Who’s there?” Penelope quipped in her singsong voice.
The animals stopped briefly, and turned around to scan the area. An unusual silence blanketed the forest. Not a single animal made a peep. That was certainly cause for concern. Soma raised her head and sniffed the ar. “It’s not safe here. Keep moving.”
“Oh, goodie! Does that mean we’re along for the ride?” Cedric asked. While the egrets had been with Soma for a few days, there was never a guarantee of how long Soma would let them stay around her. The grumpy rhino was awfully selective sometimes.
Soma sniffed in exaggerated irritation. “I suppose. If you must.”
Sydney cheered, “All right then!”
Persius did a little happy dance on Soma’s back. “Let’s go! Boogey down! Woo-woo!”
Penelope began to do a little dance on Thunder’s head. She bobbed her head up and down and shuffled her feet from side to side. “Nothing to lose.”
Soma rolled her eyes at the tiny creatures. “I hope we’re home for dinner.”
Penelope must have agreed with Soma’s words. She squawked once then added, “Home for dinner. Okay. Set the table.”
Thunder cheered at Penelope. “Yay, Penelope!”
The parrot pointed to the east enthusiastically. “Let’s go fly!” She slid down Thunder’s trunk and flew up into the trees. She skipped from tree to tree. “Wheeeee!”
Thunder continued along, taking a few steps in front of Soma when the path before them became narrower. Soma trailed behind him at steady pace. The egrets bobbed up and down on the rhino’s back grabbing up the insects as they landed on Soma and gobbling them up before they could fly away.
Cedric swallowed a tasty treat. “Mmm.”
Sydney gulped up hers. “Tasty! Needs salt though.”
Persius sucked up a few smaller insects that were trying to evade him. “I just can’t get enough!”
The group continued to make their way through the rainforest in amiable silence, searching for Thunder’s herd and their next big meal. The rumbling of Soma’s stomach competed with Thunder’s, but they continued on their way ignoring the hunger that called out to them.