Chapter 66: Unwanted Help
Higher and higher up the tree the little, blue monkey went, determined to discover the source of the twinkle.
Down on his platform of leaves, Pluto looked warily up at the baby’s progress. He himself had worked some jobs that required him to be up high, and knew the dangers that came with ascent. Namely: falling.
Taking no chances for the baby monkey’s safety, the hound dog started climbing up the vines that wrapped around the tree trunk.
For Pluto, the ascent was just as hazardous as the jury-rigged bridge they just had to cross. Now, he was starting to feel the terror of falling all over again. Even if there was a solid bed of leaves just beneath him.
His paws fumbled about for a place to anchor to. And when he was finally able to reach a suitable spot, he would find himself stretching his limbs even further for the next one.
As for the blue monkey, he was having far less trouble than his canine caretaker. His little paws and long tail were expertly wrapping around anything that was within their reach. And with almost no effort at all, he was able to climb well up the side of the tree.
The little twinkle of light was shining more brightly than before, beckoning the blue monkey onward. Every moment that the light was beyond his reach, the little monkey grew more excited. What new and marvelous thing the source of the light could be?
He was nearly at it, when all of a sudden he ran out of things to climb. The vines did not wind that far up, and the bark was too smooth to grip with his baby-sized paws.
Looking up, the blue monkey saw the twinkling light as radiant and intriguing as ever. Whatever it was, he would not be satisfied until he was able to investigate it.
From below, something set itself on the baby’s back paws and elevated him upward. When the sudden ascent stopped nearly twelve inches up, the little monkey glanced down and saw that he was standing on the very tip of Pluto’s snout.
Pluto’s paws stretched wide around the tree, gripping tightly to keep his hold. And with a reassuring (though strained) smile, he ushered his young companion on.
The blue monkey chattered his thanks and turned back to look at the wedge between the branches where the light had been coming from.
The twinkling light had gone. The baby looked left and right for the source of the light, but was unable to see anything that could have made it.
His childish curiosity got the better of him, and he climbed up into the wedge of the branches to try and find what was there, wrapping his tail around Pluto’s snout for support.
Pluto snorted and twitched his snout after getting a nose full of fur and shook the little monkey slightly.
Paying no mind to the jostle he had been given, the little, blue monkey curiously poked around the leaf litter that was collected in the wedge of branches. There was nothing out of the ordinary to be seen. Fallen leaves, the occasional twig, a caterpillar (which was promptly eaten by the baby), but nothing that could have made a twinkling light.
The only other thing up there was a perfectly clear rock. A rock unlike any that the little monkey had ever seen. First, he tried gently chewing on it, but could not sink his teeth into the surface. He tried banging it against the branches, hoping that something good could be found within its hard outer surface. But, no matter how he tried, he could not break the stone. Then again, maybe there was nothing inside.
He held it up in front of his eye, and saw the tree warped and compounded through it.
The little monkey jumped at the revelation and looked thoughtfully at the rock. He looked through it again and held his tiny paw in front of it. As if he had grown ten more arms, there were his many hands waving back at him.
With a growing sense of glee, the little monkey lowered the stone and looked at his own hand. Then at his hand through the stone again. He giggled gleefully at all of the wonderful ways that he could make his many hands kaleidoscopically interact with one another. He made them all shake each other as if to greet. He made them all dance. Somehow, he even got them to perform like a three ring circus.
The strain of gripping the tree was starting to get to Pluto. His four legs began to shake. Shortly after, he could feel one of the toes on his front legs pop loose. He crossed his next toe over the one that had popped loose to press it back down. When he did, the toe next to that came undone.
On his other three paws, Pluto could feel his toes loosing themselves from the tree one by one. Soon, he began to lurch backward ever so slightly.
The blue monkey was so engrossed in his game that he hardly noticed the gentle tensile pressure that was pulling on him. Just as he was doing hand puppets and watching his hands arrange into different animals, he yelped as he was suddenly yanked from the wedge in the branches.
Monkey and hound dog went plummeting back down to the leafy platform below, where they landed with a crunch.
The blue monkey shook his head lucid, then pulled his shiny rock from the leaves. It was a moment of celebration for him. Not only had he climbed the biggest tree he had ever attempted, but he had a pretty prize to show for it. He danced a little dance, and when he finished with a spin, he noticed that Pluto was not moving.
There in the leaves the hound dog lay, his four legs spread out in all directions, jaw slacked, and eyes wide open and gazing blankly upward.
“Kee-kee? Koo-kee-kee-kook-eek-ee?” the blue monkey asked, as he peered into Pluto’s dead eyes.
“Uuuhhhhh…” Pluto weakly whimpered in reply.
“Ku-ku-ka,” the monkey replied, jostling Pluto’s snout.
Pluto gave no response.
The little monkey paused and thought for a moment. Something had to be done to get his canine companion moving again. He started by waving his little paw in front of Pluto’s eyes. Next, he put his tail to Pluto’s mouth and began motorboating his lips up and down. But, to no avail. Finally, he began tapping Pluto’s forehead with the shiny rock he had retrieved.
At first, nothing seemed to happen. But when the rock caught a gleam of sunlight that was shining through the canopy, there was a sudden glint of light that flashed before Pluto’s eyes.
Clarity and lucidity shot through Pluto’s brain, and he jolted to his paws like a cat with a bad case of fleas. And like a cat with fleas, he began scratching himself silly to get the twigs out of his fur.
“Kee-kee! Kee-kee!” the little monkey celebrated, then got Pluto’s attention by tugging on the hound dog’s ear.
Pluto stopped gnawing his back and saw the little monkey chattering excitedly and pointing at the shiny rock he now had. As far as Pluto could tell, the rock had done nothing special to have snapped him out of his semi-catatonic state. Merely the bright flash of light hurt his eyes to the point that he was able to become aware of other things. The same result could easily have been achieved if the blue punk had bitten his tail. But, Pluto allowed the little monkey his victory and allowed him to anchor onto his tail again.
As they walked further on into the jungle, the little monkey held his shiny prize close. Now when he found his family, he would have something to show to them. Oh, how jealous his siblings were going to be.
Somewhere in the treetop village, a young monkey was separated from its family. And after the call that its mother sounded, the mother monkey became more determined than ever to find her lost child.
Minnie began aiding the search by looking around the nearest hut for any sign of life. Peering through a window, she saw that inside was a small room with a bedroll on the floor and a small desk. On the walls, garishly striped masks stared toward the center of the room, keeping watch over the dusty furniture that remained.
From below, Minnie felt a small hand tug on her skirt. Looking down, she saw the mother monkey, who started gently nudging her leg.
“Oh. Excuse me,” Minnie said, as she stepped to the side.
The mother monkey chattered a reply, then hopped through the windowsill to start looking for her missing child.
“Wait!” Minnie called after, as she crawled through the window next.
Shortly after she got her foot on the sill, the heel of her shoe caught on it and made her fall forward.
“Oh! Darn these high heels!” Minnie grumbled.
But, the answer to her fashion woes were staring right in front of her.
Beside the bedroll on the floor, covered in dust were a set of folded safari khakis. Next to them, a pair of trail boots.
It was the perfect find. Judging from how they were covered in as much dust as everything else in the hut, there would be nobody who was going to miss them. To get started, she began by removing her cumbersome high heels.
In the next room, the mother monkey searched for the source of the call she had heard just before. Though it sounded so near, she doubted that it was going to be found in that particular hut.
On the end of her tail, she felt her green child bobbing up and down. Recognizing it as a sign that he was trying to get her attention, the mother turned to face her baby.
The green monkey was pointing toward a spot on the wooden floor. A sickly red spot that was slightly smeared across the floor. One that looked much fresher than any blemish of grime that had become prevalent in that hut.
Worry welled up in the mother, who frantically called out again.
“KEE-KEE!!!”
Just as Minnie was putting on her pith helmet, she heard the call returned.
“Kee-kee…”
From the next room, Minnie heard a sudden pattering of the mother monkey hurrying out of the hut.
“Hold on! I’m coming!” she called, as she hurried out of the room.
Unknown to herself, she was being watched from the branch across from the hut. The very same where she had crossed over into the treetop village.
Just as the pursuer saw the top of Minnie’s ears disappear from view, she backed up and crouched low.
Like a coiled spring that had just been released, the pursuer ran and leapt across the gap as easily as anything. And with a loud clatter, she dug her claws into the wooden planks of the bridge that had just fallen loose. After waiting a moment for the bridge to settle, she began stealthily climbing up.
Minnie heard the noise of the planks outside, and stopped to look behind herself just as she was leaving the room. Seeing nothing beyond, she dismissed it as the rest of the bridge simply coming loose and hurried into the next room.
What she saw there was a sight she had not expected. Where there was likely a door at one time was a great, big hole broken through the wall, as if something enormous had broken through.
The call of the missing baby sounded again. So, with one last look at the jagged, broken opening, Minnie reasoned that whatever had made it had long since gone and exited the hut.
She was back on the circular platform that was built around the hut, and saw that in the place of any roads were wooden planks set on the clusters of leaves and twigs that made up the solid platforms. Across the gaps were more of the rope bridges that Minnie was rapidly growing wary of. More worrying still were the broken planks that looked as if something enormously heavy had walked on them, and the deep scratches on the wooden planks beneath her boots.
Somewhere nearby, the call of the mother monkey sounded off, and Minnie followed it across one of the bridges.
“Miss Monkey!? Where are you?” Minnie called out.
Behind herself, the tail end of a yellow-eyed shadow crawled beneath the underside of the platform the hut was on.
As she crossed, Minnie was careful to watch her footing. Though the boots she wore made her footing more stable across the planks, the way the planks were crookedly strewn about were a touch disconcerting to herself.
Minnie steadily made her way across, unaware of what was lurking beneath.
As slowly and steadily as Minnie on the topside, the yellow-eyed shadow crept along the underside of the planks. For every spot where Minnie’s weight was centered, the pursuer was careful to balance it out, ever mindful not to give herself away.
She was growing closer to Minnie. Closing the gap between them with every coordinated step.
On the top of the bridge, Minnie lost her footing and started wobbling around.
“Rgh! A million mice in the world, and I get the one klutz!” the pursuer thought to herself, and started speeding up toward the other end of the bridge.
Minnie’s head was tilted back, so she did not notice when something passed beneath her through the planks. As it passed, the weight of the bridge began to center in front of Minnie, who started slowly leaning herself toward her center of gravity. After freezing mid-teeter, the mouse was finally able to lean her foot down to solid ground.
“Thank goodness,” Minnie sighed to herself, before continuing across.
At the end of the bridge where the branches clustered together, a pair of yellow eyes peered out from within. Minnie was growing closer to her. All she had to do now was reach out and take her the moment that the mouse was close enough.
Minnie nearly reached the other side, when she noticed how the last few planks were broken. Too far for her to step across. She was going to have to jump for it.
She took a step back, mindful not to put her feet on any broken planks. And with a burst of energy, she leapt forth.
The feeling of momentary weightlessness surged through Minnie as she reached the height of her jump. So much that she did not even feel the waft of air from a clawed hand that just barely missed grabbing her ankle.
Minnie’s boots landed on the planks outside the next hut with a solid thud. As if she had sent some kind of signal, her landing was answered with a loud, “KEE-KEE!”
“Miss Monkey? Is that you?” Minnie called.
“Minnie!?”
The answer nearly stopped Minnie’s heart. Following her ears, she entered the nearest hut and found herself in a room with two chairs and a rug of dried plants. Then, from around the doorway at the end of the room appeared a diminutive, purple-scaled, green-eyed figure.
“Spike!” Minnie shouted. She rushed across the room and threw her arms around the little dragon, lifting him off of the ground. “I’m so sorry I lost you, Spike! I’ll never let you out of my sight again!”
Gradually, Minnie put Spike down on the floor. While he looked perfectly happy to see her again, something about the dragon’s smile troubled her. Then, his smile faded to a worried frown.
“Minnie. There’s something you should see over here,” he said.
Taking Minnie by the hand, Spike led her through the doorway to the next room. There, all manner of medical tools and salves were placed on the many shelves that were present. At least on the shelves that had not broken. Everything else seemed like it had been on the floor for many months, if not years.
It was on the table in the corner that Minnie saw something that made her gasp out loud. The mother monkey was cradling something very small in her arms, holding it like it was the most fragile thing in the world. For all of the bandages that it was wrapped up in, Minnie could hardly tell what it was, until she noticed a long, black, broken tail protruding from the mother’s arms.
“Spike! That’s…” Minnie stopped herself when she saw the way the mother monkey was looking at her injured child. “Oh, Miss Monkey! I’m so sorry.”
“Chee-kee-kee?” said the green baby, as he looked over his mother’s shoulder at his sibling.
The mother did not answer in any intelligible way, other than a quiet moan.
“She’s hurt really bad, Minnie,” Spike said. “I found her like that after the bridge broke. I thought I could find help when I found this village, but there just isn’t anypony around here. If she doesn’t get help soon--”
The injured baby’s labored breaths filled the room suddenly. So quiet, but at the same time so pervasive.
Looking at the mother monkey’s face, Minnie was immediately reminded of their last moments in Blaiddru. When Taffy was faced with the reality of losing what was most precious to her. Now, just the same as it had been before, Minnie decided that it would be best to leave the family to their grieving.
It was hard to tell from all of the bandages that Spike had applied, but it looked to Minnie as if all that was really injured were the child’s arm and tail. Still, what had happened was grievous enough to make Minnie want to leave the family to their reunion.
“We should let them be. Come on, Spike. Let’s give them a minute,” Minnie said, before she turned to lead Spike from the room.
For a brief moment, Spike resisted Minnie’s gentle pull, then relented and allowed himself to go.
Before they left the room, the mother monkey used her tail to lower herself from the table and trotted carefully over to her companions.
“Ko-ko,” she said.
“We’re not leaving. We’re just--” Minnie tried to explain.
“Kee-kee-kee-ko,” the mother said, as she gently tugged on Minnie’s arm with her tail.
With her tail still loosely holding to Minnie, the mother monkey walked to a hole that had been broken through the wall and gave a gentle tug on the mouse’s wrist.
“I think she wants us to go with her,” Minnie said.
“Do you think she knows a way to help her baby?” Spike asked.
“I don’t know. We’ll just have to see.”
Minnie and Spike both followed after the mother monkey, whose tail was quickly occupied by her green child the moment it was released from Minnie’s wrist.
As they exited, Spike took a brief moment to look at the hole that they were exiting through.
“What do you think made this hole?” he wondered.
“I couldn’t begin to guess,” Minnie replied. “But, whatever it was, I’m sure it’s long--GONE!!”
The second that Minnie turned to the side, her first step took her plunging over a broken part of the platform, which was built atop a patch of loosely packed leaves. And as soon as her foot touched down, the weight of her missed step took her right through.
“Minnie!” Spike shouted, before he started hastily climbing through the loose debris.
Though dense and pointed, the many twigs were no match for Spike’s thick scales. He climbed down through the platform, calling Minnie’s name.
“Minnie!” Spike shouted again.
“Down here!” Minnie answered.
Though only a few feet, it felt like several hundred had been passed by the time Spike was able to move past the inside of the leafy platform. He held fast to the lowest branch and looked down, where he saw Minnie holding onto a lower branch.
“S-Stay there! I’m coming down!” Spike stammered, as he tried to regain his bearings after a sudden bout of vertigo. Keeping his gaze from wandering downward, he started climbing toward Minnie.
From where she was hanging, Minnie could see Spike’s progress perfectly. Every time he moved one of his limbs, her heart missed a beat. No matter how hard she tried, she could only picture what would happen if he somehow missed his footing while he was moving toward her.
For Spike, it was all he could think about as well. No matter how easily he was able to get his claws onto something, he could never shake the idea that he may slip on his next move.
“Kee-kee!” the mother monkey called out from another branch she had walked to.
“Find something to help us!” Minnie called out.
Upon Minnie’s request, the mother monkey set her green baby down and gently passed his injured sister to his care, before she started searching for a means to assist.
Spike’s grunting diverted Minnie’s attention back to him, where she saw the little dragon stretching his arm out to grab his next hold.
“Be careful! I don’t think you should go that way!” Minnie called up.
“I know! But, it’s the quickest way down!” Spike replied.
He reached his claw out, just barely able to brush the next hold.
“Go back and try another way!” Minnie said.
“I can do it! Just a little further!”
Spike could feel the tip of his claw anchor to the next hold. Throwing caution to the wind, he let go of what he was holding then and leaned his whole body into his reach.
Minnie yelped when she saw Spike’s whole body turn, then swing as he clambered to grab ahold.
“I’m okay!” Spike shouted down, now directly above Minnie. “I can get down now! I just need to--find something!”
He climbed down nearly two hooves, when he found what he needed. A small branch that grew from the trunk. Though small and stubby, it was just what was called for.
Opening his mouth, Spike carefully extended his tongue to wrap around the branch. Once that was secured, he started slowly lowering himself until he reached his limit.
“Mi-ee? Ca’ oo reath me?” he asked.
Minnie reached up for Spike’s tail, but found that she was unable to reach.
“I can’t. You’re too high up,” she replied.
Spike tried to find a way to lower himself more, but only strained his tongue and jaw when he did. There had been no other branches to secure himself to. Somehow, he was going to have to come up with a new way.
“KEE-KEE!” came the mother monkey’s urgent call.
“Have you found something?” Minnie asked.
When she looked, she saw that the mother monkey had not found anything to help. Instead, she was pointing urgently in one direction.
“Whuh issit?” Spike asked.
Their question was answered in a most peculiar way. A rope bridge, planks and all suddenly unrolled low enough for both Minnie and Spike to grab on to. A cursory look, and Minnie thought it may have been the one that she had used to cross into the tree top village. Though it had been modified if it was, the way that two metal hooks were secured to the ropes at the end.
Looking up, she saw who had provided her salvation.
A lithe black panther laid across the edge of the wooden platform above, clad in a tank top and cargo shorts. Strapped to her back was a backpack, which though small looked loaded to capacity. For several seconds, she sat silently, fixing her great, yellow stare on Minnie.
“So, grab on,” she finally said.
Minnie remained silent and motionless. Though the ticket to her and Spike’s salvation was literally staring her in the face, a familiar feeling of unease was coursing through herself.
“Don’t hang around, girl. You and your kiddo gotta get out o’ there, don’t ya?” the panther said.
“What will you do if we do?” Minnie asked.
“How’s that?” the panther replied.
“Wha’ ‘ill you do to uth ith we do cli’ up there?” Spike answered for Minnie.
“Sorry, can’t understand ya. Ya got kinda a lisp,” the panther chuckled.
“What will you do to us if we climb up there?” Minnie repeated for Spike.
“Pfft,” the panther scoffed, rolling her eyes, “Ya judge everyone tryin’ to help you this harshly? You guys got real trust issues.”
“It’s hard to trust much anyone, after meeting the people we did,” Minnie said.
“Yeah. Afther the--” Spike tried to answer, before his aching tongue began to slip loose. He grabbed the nearby ladder for support and retracted his tongue back into his mouth. “--After the giant, killer snake and the brainwashed theows, how do we know you won’t try anything funny? For all we know, you’re the one who broke the bridge and busted up the village,” Spike accused.
“Kid, what are you talkin’ about? Ya think I’m big enough to make a hole like the one in the wall over there? That thing musta been beefier than a herd o’ cows. Besides that, didn’t you see all the dust? Nobody’s been here in a long time. So, that makes you two even luckier that I just happened to be in the neighborhood, offerin’ my help to bail you out of trouble.” The panther looked directly at Minnie, “So, how ‘bout it, girl? Your dragon pal’s already grabbed on. That makes me about half done with you guys, before I go on with my life.”
“How do we know you won’t knock the bridge over?” Minnie asked.
“You’re just gonna have to take my word,” the panther replied with a shrug.
Spike thought a moment, then answered, “Stand against the wall while we climb up.”
“No can do, little man. Somebody’s gotta make sure these hooks stay secure. Who else is gonna do that? Your little monkey friends? Ya got one too small, one way over there, an’ one that’s broken. You’re gonna have to get past these hangups, an’ trust me already,” the panther said.
Minnie looked pensively at the improvised ladder. At the moment, it was her easiest (if not only) way out of her predicament. On the other hand, she could not be sure if the panther talking to her was in league with the likes of the doctor or The Massster.
She reached out a hand and grabbed the bottommost plank.
“That’s the stuff,” the panther said. She then noticed how Minnie was still holding onto the branch that she was hanging from. With an exasperated sigh, she continued. “Look, girl, I got me a lot o’ stuff to do. I got things to find, things to guard, things to deliver, an’ a whole bunch o’ other stuff. An’ none o’ that involves you two. So if ya really want, I’ll pack up my bridge an’ go. Good luck gettin’ an offer as good as mine from anyone else ‘round here. Oh, wait: there ain’t anyone else ‘round here.”
Minnie tightened her fingers around the plank she held.
“Spike,” she quietly said, “Hold onto the bridge as tightly as you can.”
No matter what the reason Minnie had told him, Spike obeyed and dug his claws into the wooden planks.
At the top of the platform, the panther was doing the same. Her patience with Minnie and Spike had run out, and just as she was about to start hauling the bridge up with the two of them, Minnie executed her plan.
Holding the bottommost plank firmly, she snapped her arm back and cracked the whole bridge like a rug, just the same as she did to enter the village.
An arch traveled along the length of the bridge like an ocean wave. Spike held tighter still as the wave undulated beneath him and passed upward.
At the top, the wave unhooked the bridge from the platform above, and slapped the panther in the face, before it dropped down.
“Kee-kee-kee-kee!!” the mother monkey shouted when she saw Minnie and Spike suddenly fall, then rushed to collect her children.
The panther growled to herself, quickly rubbing her sore jaw and nose before collecting herself. Once the shock of pain had passed, she jumped right over the edge of the platform, and freefell toward her opponents.
Minnie cracked the bridge again in mid-air, making the hooks at the far end snag into the tree trunk in front of them.
The hooks gripped well enough, but the weight of its two passengers dragged it down, creating deep grooves in the wooden surface of the tree.
Spike dug his claws into the tree next, slowing them down enough that they nearly stopped.
Before they lost their inertia, a black, yellow-eyed shape fell past them, nearly missing Minnie as it went.
The panther grabbed a stub of a branch and swung around it, before digging her claws into the tree trunk and climbing swiftly toward Minnie and Spike.
Seeing the danger below, Minnie cracked the bridge again.
The bridge loosed from the tree, allowing Minnie to swing it over to hook onto the next tree trunk.
Spike stopped the impact by straightening his tail against the trunk and using it to absorb most of the shock. He felt it in his back and tail mostly, but was otherwise unhurt.
Thanks to Spike, Minnie was able to land with nothing more than a sudden stop and quickly swung to the side.
The panther leapt to the next tree, swung from a small branch and landed against the trunk of Minnie and Spike’s neighboring tree.
Minnie unhooked the bridge and swung it to the next nearest tree branch. As she and Spike swung around the next tree, Spike looked over his shoulder and saw the panther climbing along a tree trunk as if she were running. The moment she reached the end of the curve in the tree’s trunk, she jumped to the tree that they were swinging around.
Whether by quick thinking or by panic, Spike prematurely released the bridge from its anchor and let them nearly drop down into the abyss.
Only nearly, as they were suddenly stopped in mid-drop.
Glancing up, the bridge’s passengers saw the mother monkey grasping the topmost plank of the bridge with her excessively long tail. And at the end of their swing, she released them.
The hooks at the top of the bridge snagged into the edge of a leafy platform. With her companions safe, the mother monkey started using her three free appendages and her tail to hurriedly, yet carefully, climb downward.
The injured child in her arm whimpered quietly from the bumpy descent, but she knew that she could not slow down. A predator was after them.
Now riding on his mother’s shoulders, the green baby hung tightly, trying not to look down. A sudden thump at the next landing made him recoil and involuntarily look to where they were going. For as long as he had been growing up, his mother had always taught him to run away from anything with teeth bigger than his own. Now, they were running right toward one of those things.
Minnie tried to release the hooks of the bridge from the platform, but they were stuck too deeply into the tangle of twigs.
Nothing could be done by the time that the panther landed surprisingly lightly upon the leafy platform. The moment she landed, she began hauling up the broken bridge.
Minnie and Spike tried to swing free, but there was no escaping the panther’s grip this time. And the nearest safe landing was the platform that they were being pulled toward.
Spike lashed out his tongue and pulled them closer to the tree trunk. With one strong pull, he was able to get close enough to allow Minnie to dig the hooks at the bottom of the bridge into the bark.
Their ascent halted. The panther strained her arms to pull the bridge up, and felt it coming up ever so gradually.
The hooks in the bark were dragging up, leaving trails of curled wood in their wake. In a matter of moments, the passengers would be faced with their pursuer and at the mercy of whatever terrible thing she had in store for them.
The panther was about to yank with all her might, when all of a sudden she felt a painful weight on her shoulders.
The mother monkey screeched loudly as she scratched at the panther’s head.
The panther let go of the bridge and swung her claws at the monkeys, who jumped away before they were hit.
That had done it. The weight of the dropping bridge loosed it from its anchor on the platform and fell against the tree trunk. At the top, the weight of Spike and Minnie was too much for the hooks that held them, and went sprawling downward.
At the bottom, the momentum of the swinging bridge had dug them lightly into the tree bark, and allowed the passengers to swing down and dig the hooks on their end back into the tree. On impact, the hooks at the top fell loose, and the process repeated over and over, until they disappeared into the darkness below.
“Kee-kee-kee!!!” called the mother monkey, who followed after. She jumped to one leafy platform, to a stunted branch, then against the tree trunk, before she began her descent into the dark.
Higher up, the panther watched. Instead of a frustrated scowl, she instead smirked.
“Think you got away from me? You’re on my turf now, girly,” she said to herself, before she too jumped into the abyss.