The Rainbows and the Secrets, Christine Cox [first ebook reader .txt] 📗
- Author: Christine Cox
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a hippo, and the monkeys all found this so funny that they rolled about laughing for several minutes.
The party continued all afternoon. When, at last, the sun was an orange disc going down in a yellow, pink and turquoise sky, the monkeys started to gather up the left-over coconuts to put them in the stores. (Nearly all the mangoes had all gone.)
Tufts didn't take part in the collection. She was sitting thinking - thinking about Angelica's words. It might be a long time before the Golden Monkey returned, but she wanted to do something, even if it was only a small thing, to bring that time nearer. Suddenly Tufts jumped up onto a boulder and made an announcement.
She was orange, but a little pale blue round the edges. "Listen everybody!" she shouted. "Stop and listen, please! I think - I think we should give One-eye more food." She pointed towards the Outlaw, where he sat in the shadows, watching them from a distance.
"So do I," chimed in Ellie. "He's worked so hard on the coconut stores, and he's got so thin, he might die if he doesn't get more to eat."
There was silence for a moment, then one of the Secrets muttered: "Doesn't deserve anything, not after what he's done." There were growls and murmurs of agreement from several other monkeys.
But Tufts continued bravely. "He did bad things," she said, echoing Angelica's words, "but he isn't doing bad things now. He tries to help as much as he can now. He brought the mango that he caught back. And Ellie's right: he worked harder than all of us on the coconut stores. And he's sorry." Tufts picked up a plump, juicy mango she'd been saving for the next day. "Anyone who agrees, follow me!" she said. Two more monkeys joined her, and a very small procession set off in the direction of One-eye.
When she reached One-eye, Tufts silently handed him the mango. The monkeys behind her, carrying coconuts, put them down at One-eye's feet. Slowly, a few more monkeys made a contribution, most of them rolling coconuts from a few metres away, not ready yet to be seen getting too close to the former enemy of both Secrets and Rainbows.
After a few minutes, a small pile of fruit had formed in front of One-eye. He could scarcely believe it was his. "Thank you," he whispered, and his one eye was full of tears.
It was time for Ellie and |Jamie to go home. They knew they would probably never see the monkeys again. They both promised they would never forget them. All the monkeys came in turn to hug each of them, (or almost in turn - monkeys aren't very good at queuing).
It was Tufts they hugged last and longest. As she and Ellie finally let go of each other, Tufts suddenly turned from purple to bright pink and exclaimed: "Look! Look!" A splash of yellow light from the setting sun lit up her pink face. "Look at the sunset!" she said.
The children turned to follow her gaze. The orange globe of the sun had sunk a little lower, the turquoise and pink had disappeared. But the yellow glow had turned to bright gold, so bright they had to cover their eyes and peer through their fingers at it. And the glow wasn't just a glow. It was a face: a monkey face. It was the most beautiful monkey face they had ever seen.
"The Golden Monkey!" whispered Jamie.
As they looked at her, she looked back at them, smiling; and as the Golden Monkey smiled at them, they all felt blissfully happy.
And then she was gone.
The Golden Monkey had appeared for just a few seconds in the sky above the sunset. But the children would never forget her, or the monkeys and their Story, for the rest of their lives.
THE END
Contents
1 Jamie in trouble again
2 Monkey business
3 War or peace?
4 The Story
5 Coconuts!
6 Missing pyjama top
7 Ellie in the jungle
8 Stopping the battle
9 Ellie in trouble
10 Sticking together
11 A different story?
12 Ellie’s plan
13 The plan is put into action
14 The source of the river
15 A terrible accident
16 Bad news and good
17 The "Proper Secrets"
18 Monkey drowning?
19 The return of the outlaw
20 One-eye tries to make amends
21 Human crocodiles
22 Two announcements and a celebration
23 The Golden Monkey
Imprint
The party continued all afternoon. When, at last, the sun was an orange disc going down in a yellow, pink and turquoise sky, the monkeys started to gather up the left-over coconuts to put them in the stores. (Nearly all the mangoes had all gone.)
Tufts didn't take part in the collection. She was sitting thinking - thinking about Angelica's words. It might be a long time before the Golden Monkey returned, but she wanted to do something, even if it was only a small thing, to bring that time nearer. Suddenly Tufts jumped up onto a boulder and made an announcement.
She was orange, but a little pale blue round the edges. "Listen everybody!" she shouted. "Stop and listen, please! I think - I think we should give One-eye more food." She pointed towards the Outlaw, where he sat in the shadows, watching them from a distance.
"So do I," chimed in Ellie. "He's worked so hard on the coconut stores, and he's got so thin, he might die if he doesn't get more to eat."
There was silence for a moment, then one of the Secrets muttered: "Doesn't deserve anything, not after what he's done." There were growls and murmurs of agreement from several other monkeys.
But Tufts continued bravely. "He did bad things," she said, echoing Angelica's words, "but he isn't doing bad things now. He tries to help as much as he can now. He brought the mango that he caught back. And Ellie's right: he worked harder than all of us on the coconut stores. And he's sorry." Tufts picked up a plump, juicy mango she'd been saving for the next day. "Anyone who agrees, follow me!" she said. Two more monkeys joined her, and a very small procession set off in the direction of One-eye.
When she reached One-eye, Tufts silently handed him the mango. The monkeys behind her, carrying coconuts, put them down at One-eye's feet. Slowly, a few more monkeys made a contribution, most of them rolling coconuts from a few metres away, not ready yet to be seen getting too close to the former enemy of both Secrets and Rainbows.
After a few minutes, a small pile of fruit had formed in front of One-eye. He could scarcely believe it was his. "Thank you," he whispered, and his one eye was full of tears.
It was time for Ellie and |Jamie to go home. They knew they would probably never see the monkeys again. They both promised they would never forget them. All the monkeys came in turn to hug each of them, (or almost in turn - monkeys aren't very good at queuing).
It was Tufts they hugged last and longest. As she and Ellie finally let go of each other, Tufts suddenly turned from purple to bright pink and exclaimed: "Look! Look!" A splash of yellow light from the setting sun lit up her pink face. "Look at the sunset!" she said.
The children turned to follow her gaze. The orange globe of the sun had sunk a little lower, the turquoise and pink had disappeared. But the yellow glow had turned to bright gold, so bright they had to cover their eyes and peer through their fingers at it. And the glow wasn't just a glow. It was a face: a monkey face. It was the most beautiful monkey face they had ever seen.
"The Golden Monkey!" whispered Jamie.
As they looked at her, she looked back at them, smiling; and as the Golden Monkey smiled at them, they all felt blissfully happy.
And then she was gone.
The Golden Monkey had appeared for just a few seconds in the sky above the sunset. But the children would never forget her, or the monkeys and their Story, for the rest of their lives.
THE END
Contents
1 Jamie in trouble again
2 Monkey business
3 War or peace?
4 The Story
5 Coconuts!
6 Missing pyjama top
7 Ellie in the jungle
8 Stopping the battle
9 Ellie in trouble
10 Sticking together
11 A different story?
12 Ellie’s plan
13 The plan is put into action
14 The source of the river
15 A terrible accident
16 Bad news and good
17 The "Proper Secrets"
18 Monkey drowning?
19 The return of the outlaw
20 One-eye tries to make amends
21 Human crocodiles
22 Two announcements and a celebration
23 The Golden Monkey
Imprint
Publication Date: 03-16-2010
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