“Please, Dr. Van Resen,” Mrs. Quarrie clucked. “We’ve barely started the day...”
“You’ll get Granby worrying,” Lilly said with a sly smile that began wilting as she pulled the old ranger’s hat off and hung it over a pair of horns jutting from one of the mounted skulls on the wall.
Humming sadly, Mr. Quarrie slid a comforting arm around the girl’s shoulders and the pair slumped as they thought of their missing friend.
Miss James took that moment to move. She stepped in close and grabbed at Lilly’s silk scarf.
“Oh Ginny, don’t fuss! I’ve a sore throat!” Lilly slipped out of her grandfather’s embrace as she fended off the governess’ attentions. The girl pressed the end of the kerchief over her mouth and spoke through it: “It’s all this dust and dirt—and the stink here. It’s worse than one of Grampy’s barns!”
“That’s enough, Lilly! A lady brings grace where she does not find it,” Miss James chided. “And she does not sleep late only to spoil breakfast for those who made it. Eat some fruit and biscuits, girl. You’ll need your strength if you’re to clean this place again as you’ve so generously offered.”
“Young Miss Lilly has reminded me also, Jacob,” Van Resen said, rising. “We have much to attend to today, but first we must deal with the former occupant of this place. I would not want him attracting any animals considering his state.”
“If he hasn’t already,” Jacob answered with a knowing nod.
An hour later, Van Resen called the castaways away from their chores. He and Jacob had dug a single grave in the rich, black soil some 30 feet behind the yurt just where the land began to rise, but far from the malodorous moringa grove.
It seemed to the scientist that at all times the gloomy murk clinging to the sickly trees worked as a forgotten memory, startling him with its long shadow.
He joined the others at the foot of the grave.
“I do not know of any rite to perform over these poor creatures.” The scientist gestured to the rolled up blanket that contained the skeletal remains of the man and infant. It lay on the ground at his feet. “I have guessed from the man’s dress and possessions that he came from eastern Europe, but that does not tell us much more than that he was likely Christian. As none of us is a priest perhaps a few kind words could be said to invoke the Holy Spirit.”
Neither Mr. Quarrie nor Miss James had yet discovered their Bibles among their possessions, but the elder gentleman stepped forward and asked his friends to bow their heads and pray that God would look over the souls of the two spirits they were delivering into his care.
After that, Van Resen bent low and helped Jacob lift the makeshift shroud into the grave—but the scientist paused before climbing out.
“I have to say this is a dilemma for me,” Van Resen said, looking up at Jacob who stood poised with a shovel full of dirt.
“What is it, doctor?” Mr. Quarrie asked.
“Only one of these poor unfortunates requires a Christian burial,” he scratched his chin. “Yet, knowing what I do of accepted evolutionary theory, neither would be free of original sin.”
Mr. and Mrs. Quarrie frowned into the grave until Jacob spoke up, “The doctor thinks the little bones aren’t human.”
“Well, what are they then?” Mrs. Quarrie asked, indignant.
Van Resen turned and flipped the blanket open to expose the bones and then extracted something as the women gasped and stepped away.
“Doctor!” Mr. Quarrie blurted. “Some civility, please!”
The scientist held up a small round bone the size of a man’s fist. The others grumbled at his outrageous behavior.
“Forgive me,” Van Resen said holding the small thing up and turning it before his eyes. “I suspected yesterday, but had only poor light to make the determination. Since then, I have been too busy, for a proper examination.”
“What are you saying, doctor?” Miss James gasped. “Must you...”
“There is no doubt!” He laughed, squinting at the small skull he held between thumb and index finger. “This skull did not come from a human infant. It is obvious under the light of day and to the trained eye to be that of a baby ape.”
“Apes again!” Mrs. Quarrie snapped, fanning her face with a hand.
“Again, yes, apes,” Van Resen answered. “This is more evidence that we share the jungle with large anthropoids. Important to know, don’t you think?”
“A baby ape?” Mr. Quarrie blurted, passing his unsteady wife to Virginia James. “Was it a pet?”
“A pet, yes, I would hope so.” Van Resen knelt and reached into the shroud to pull out the long bones from the little skeleton’s thighs. He looked past the castaways to scan where the land rose up to meet the line of thick jungle. “Otherwise, we must accept the theory that the apes have had uncontrolled access to the yurt and its occupant.”
“Access? To—to the—yurt!” Mr. Quarrie stammered. “But how?”
“I do no know.” The scientist’s thoughts turned to the large skeleton’s broken leg bones and he suppressed a shudder.
“Are you quite certain it was an ape?” Miss James asked.
“It is unlikely that a deformity from disease or injury could follow such a symmetrical pattern of growth as you see around the eyes and lower jaw.” The scientist turned to her, holding the little skull up for her inspection.
“Deformity?” Lilly asked, her eyes gleaming with keen interest. “I’ve seen illustrations in my schoolbooks, and bones at museums. That looks like a person—a—a human to me.”
“There are many similarities so the comparison is welcome, my dear, though it would disturb those who are close adherents to the Bible, but many of my colleagues say we are of the same family...”
“Not again!” Mrs. Quarrie cried, “Enough, doctor!”
“So, close are we, in fact,” Van Resen said pushing ahead, his cheeks turning a shade purple as his eyes twinkled impishly. “That some believe humans
