ed, George and Lucy stepped through the mirror and into the beating heat of the Amazonian jungle. George was unnaturally quiet, especially for him, and both Ned and Lucy knew he was suffering from a terrible bout of nerves.
“George, you really don’t have anything to worry about. Stop being so silly.”
“Easy for you to say, madam. You aren’t about to be reunited with your missing species.”
Of the many things to have taken place since the discovery of the Hidden and their subsequent reintegration with the rest of the world, Mr Fox’s discovery of George’s fellow gorillas had been, at least to Ned and his friends, the best. Using the Tinker’s surveillance network, which had been greatly expanded with the cooperation of several global powers and independent corporations, a city hidden deep in the rainforest had been spotted from satellites high up over the earth’s atmosphere. On contact, the gorilla citizens living there had asked to be left alone but had expressed great excitement at the thought of meeting George, and two of its more elderly apes believed that they not only knew how he had come away from the city as a baby, but exactly who he was.
“If they really are your parents, George, you have nothing to fear. I should know, eh?” said Ned. “And besides, you’ll have so much to talk about. You do know they have six varieties of banana here, right?”
“Actually, old bean, I do. There’s Prata, da Terra, Maca and Caturra, Danica and my personal favourite – Ouro. Ouro means ‘gold’ by the way, and—”
“Hush, George, they’re waiting,” said Lucy.
The great ape leant down low and hugged his two wards.
“I shall miss you, you know.”
“We’ll see you soon, George. I promise,” said Ned.
And with that, George stepped towards the jungle. Ahead of him there was a loud grunting of joy in the leaves and bushes. George turned back to them and smiled that great big toothy smile of his, and then he ran – ran to meet his past and future with every bound.