Chapter 2

The motel the cabbie delivered me to was no Holliday Inn but it looked clean and well cared for. I added a five-dollar tip to the tab. I checked in and paid for one night in a single. As soon as the door closed behind me, I unlocked the padlock to lift Bonnie out or her escape pod and sat her on the bed.

"Are you OK? I'll bet it was stuffy in there."

She made a little 'coo' sound and crawled up into my arms for a hug. I sat on the bed and held her, rocking back and forth like I was holding a baby.

Spiriting Bonnie off the ship wasn't exactly the crime of the century so I doubted there would be any APBs out for me. Nevertheless, once she was discovered missing, I'd be the obvious 'person of interest' if, for no other reason, I was in charge of her care. I needed to get her to a safe place and I was going to need some help to do it. Animal rights people were the likely choice but how was I going to find one?

I figured my best bet was going to be the Internet. I picked up the phone and called the front office. The girl who checked me in looked young, maybe eighteen, and I thought it might be a family business. When she answered, I asked if there was a library nearby or somewhere I could get access to a computer and the Internet. She told me I could use the one in their lobby but I couldn't bring it back to my room. I was anxious about leaving Bonnie alone but I knew I'd have to at some point.

She was sitting in the middle of the bed watching me so I sat beside her and tried another game of charades. I pointed to myself, pointed at the door and then mimicked putting food in my mouth and eating. Her response was to imitate my imitation of eating and smile. She got it in one. Damn, she was quick!

I picked up the remote and turned on the TV to see if it would have any entertainment value for an ape. She emitted a sharp little bark when the picture came on and immediately went over to investigate. She reached out and tapped the screen, then climbed up on the stand and looked behind the TV. She looked at me waiting for an explanation. Apparently she had never seen a TV before.

I waved her back and she jumped from the stand to the middle of the bed and sat beside me. I showed her the remote and pushed the up and down channel buttons, showing her that the picture on the TV changed every time I did it. I handed her the remote and watched as she pushed buttons then looked up to see what they did. She was startled when she held down the volume button and the sound quickly rose to a deafening level. I showed her the button to make it go down and she pushed it, obviously pleased with the results. This was going to keep her occupied for a while.

I started for the door but then thought of something else we might be able to address early in our relationship. I went into the bathroom to pee and indicated she should follow me. Instead of whipping it out and doing the boy thing, I dropped my pants and sat. She heard me peeing into the water and looked between my legs to watch. When I was done, I stood and flushed the toilet. It was one of those power-flush models so it was loud. She backed up a step at the noise but watched the water swirl and drain. She immediately pushed the flush handle again and watched the results. Toilet training a child should be so easy. Bonnie climbed up onto the toilet seat, squatted over the opening and peed. Then she flushed.

When I stepped out the door, she was sitting on the bed pushing buttons on the remote.

I found an I-Mac in the lobby and googled 'Animal Rights Groups' bringing up pages of possibilities. I quickly explored three or four that looked like good ones and copied down some local phone numbers.

The girl was sitting on a stool behind the counter, apparently doing schoolwork of some sort. "Excuse me," I interrupted, "Is there a grocery store around here? Oh, and maybe a bookstore?"

She had a pretty smile. "You're in luck on both accounts. Around the corner to the right and a block down the street there's a shopping center with a grocery and a bookstore. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Not unless you're into animal rights." I joked and headed for the door.

"I am."

I looked back. "You are what?"

"I'm an animal rights activist. I belong to a group right here in town. Why would you be interested in animal rights groups?"

I wasn't ready for this so I kind of hedged. "Oh, I just heard about something recently and wanted to get some information on it. This, uh, group that you're with, do they have a lot of success in dealing with animal rights issues?"

"You bet! We've got our own lawyers and they're usually in court on one kind of a case or another."

"Hmm. That's interesting. Is there anybody you'd recommend I talk to about my concerns?"

"Probably my dad because he's on the local Board of Directors. He'll be back pretty soon. Do you want him to call your room when he gets here?"

"No, I don't want to be a bother. Maybe I'll just stop by later this evening."

"OK. Later, then!"

I left the office and headed for the shopping center.

I was back in the room in less than an hour with a bag of fresh fruit and veggies and two books; one by Frans de Waal titled 'The Forgotten Ape', the other was a book on ASL, American Sign Language. I remembered hearing or reading somewhere that chimpanzees had been found to be reasonably adept at learning sign so I figured, as smart as Bonnie was, she'd pick it up in no time.

It didn't look like she'd budged from the bed. She was still contentedly surfing channels. I put some of fruit and veggies in the plastic ice bucket and set it on the bed. She sampled a little of everything but she didn't seem especially hungry. I worked on a salad I'd picked up at the grocery store deli and opened a bottle of water. Bonnie looked at it so I opened another for her. She drank about half of it down and set the bottle on the nightstand.

The third number I called, I was able to speak to a real human instead of an answering machine. For lack of something more specific, I told her I was interested in information about returning animals to their natural habitats and wondered who would be the best source of information. She gave me another local number and said he was definitely the person I wanted to talk to. I thanked her and hung up to dial the number she gave me. A female voice answered, "Freemont Motel. May I help you?" It was the girl at the front desk.

"Oh, uh, hi. It's Aaron Samson in room sixteen. I guess your dad's the one I should speak to about that animal rights issue we spoke of earlier. I was calling around and he's the one they recommended. Is he back yet?"

"He is. I'll ask him to drop down to your room if it's convenient."

"No, wait! Uh, I'll just come to the office." I wasn't ready to reveal Bonnie yet.

When I stepped into the lobby, I saw the girl at the desk talking to a smallish man who looked to be about fifty. Some might have referred to him as the 'bookish' sort; balding, glasses, neatly trimmed mustache and goatee.

"Mr. Samson?" he asked, looking up as I approached the desk.

"Yes. You must be Mr. Freemont."

"Make it Steve. I'm not the formal type." He had a nice smile, like his daughter. We shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Steve. I'm Aaron." I wasn't at all sure where to start without revealing too much. "I, uh, have a question about returning an animal to the wild."

I guess Steve could see I was a little nervous. "I'll tell you what I can, Aaron. Why don't you step around the counter and we'll sit in the living room. It's more comfortable. Sarah, could you watch the desk for a little longer?"

I followed him into a comfortable looking room and took a seat in a large, overstuffed chair.

"So, tell me about this animal you want to return to the wild. And before you begin, Aaron, let me assure you my concern is for the animal and not for any claims of ownership or legal wrangling. Anything we talk about is strictly between us, OK?"

Steve had that disarming quality that makes you feel you can trust him with anything. I still didn't want to tell him where Bonnie was but did want him to understand her plight. I took a deep breath and plunged in.

"OK. The animal is a bonobo. She was being shipped to an HIV research lab. The issue, Steve, is that she's an amazingly intelligent animal. I'm no expert but I think she's way smarter than her species is supposed to be and from what I've already read, they're very intelligent apes. I think she understands almost everything I say. She doesn't need anything to be explained twice. I don't think I'm stretching it to say I think her abilities are on a par with a human. To use her for AIDS research would be a terrible crime."

Steve sat back and looked at me, trying to decide if I was for real. "Where is she, Aaron?"

"I'm not willing to say, right now."

"I understand your reticence but think about this: There are a lot of people in the world who are very concerned with protecting the remaining bonobo populations. If this one is anywhere near what you're describing, it's critical that we get her to a safe place until we can figure out a plan of action. It's my guess that you're the one who rescued her. You're going to need a lot of help with this, Aaron, and you'll have to trust me to have her and your best interests at heart. Will you take me to her?"