Chapter 5 #3
“What is happening today?” I muttered, brushing my hand against the side of my shorts while I checked that the camera hadn't taken the worst of my stumble.
I asked if you want a mate, the capuchin repeated, sitting back on his haunches as though the problem was simply that I hadn't heard him clearly enough.
“I heard you,” I told the monkey, adjusting the camera harness that had shifted when I stumbled while I tried to decide why I was seriously considering answering him. “And I don't know. Maybe someday.”
The capuchin studied me for several seconds, his dark eyes traveling over my face with an intensity that suggested he was working through a complicated problem.
You could choose spotted one, the monkey suggested at last, sounding pleased with himself as though he'd solved the entire issue.
I stared at him before a laugh escaped me so suddenly that I had to brace one hand against my knee. There was no helping it. The idea was ridiculous enough on its own, but the capuchin's confused expression only made the situation worse.
“No. I cannot choose the leopard as my mate,” I told the capuchin once I could speak normally again, wiping at the corner of one eye while a few lingering laughs still slipped through the words.
Why not? the monkey asked, leaning farther down from the branch as genuine confusion creased his small face.
“Because he's a leopard,” I explained to the capuchin, gesturing toward the deeper forest where the animal in question was probably sleeping beneath his usual roots.
Yes. A very good leopard, the capuchin agreed, blinking down at me as if he'd just strengthened his own argument.
“That's not what I meant,” I told the monkey, letting my hand fall to my side as I realized this conversation was going absolutely nowhere.
He's strong, the capuchin continued, sitting straighter and beginning to list qualities with the seriousness of someone I'd hired to find me a suitable partner.
“No,” I told the monkey, turning away and starting down the trail again before he could get any further.
He has good teeth, the capuchin added, following through the branches with enough enthusiasm that several leaves fluttered down behind me.
“I am painfully aware of his teeth,” I assured the monkey, ducking beneath a vine hanging across the path while one hand held my camera securely against my chest.
He's a good hunter, the capuchin continued, swinging onto the next branch without missing a beat.
“Still not relevant,” I told him, stepping onto a drier stretch of earth and resisting the urge to look up again.
And he likes you, the capuchin finished, his tone turning satisfied as though he'd finally reached the argument that should settle everything.
That made me slow despite myself. I looked up and found the monkey staring down at me as though he'd said something completely ordinary.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I asked the capuchin, shifting my camera against my chest while an unexpected warmth curled beneath my ribs.
Because he does, the capuchin answered with a small shrug, one shoulder lifting almost humanly before something farther through the trees caught his attention.
The monkey scrambled after whatever he'd spotted without another word, leaving me standing alone on the trail with nothing except the receding shake of branches overhead.
“That clears up absolutely nothing,” I muttered, although there was nobody nearby to appreciate the complaint.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the last animal to mention the leopard.
By midday, I'd heard about him from four different birds, two more monkeys, and something concealed so thoroughly in the undergrowth that I'd never managed to identify what species was speaking.
Everyone knew I'd been spending my afternoons at the creek, and none of them seemed to understand why I considered that information private.
They also couldn't agree on what I should be doing about him.
One tanager thought I should bring the leopard more food because hungry males become irritating. A monkey insisted I should stop feeding him altogether and let him bring food to me instead, then became offended when I asked why I would need a leopard delivering lunch.
Another bird recommended sleeping near him because large predators discouraged snakes from coming close, while a different bird immediately argued against it because large predators also stole the best sleeping spots.
The entire rainforest had turned into a collection of nosy neighbors, each convinced they understood my relationship with Cat better than I did.
I was still thinking about that when I noticed an older capuchin sitting alone on a thick horizontal branch beside the trail.
His gray-brown fur was noticeably lighter around his face than the younger monkeys I'd seen closer to the station, and there was something slower and more deliberate about the way he moved.
One hand rested against the branch while the other carefully separated the soft part of a yellow fruit from the fibrous center.
He noticed me but didn't leave, and I slowed several yards away because the light around him was beautiful. A narrow break in the canopy allowed sunlight to reach part of the branch, catching the pale hairs around his face while leaving the vegetation behind him in deeper shadow.
My hand moved toward the camera out of habit before I stopped myself.
“Would you mind if I took your picture?” I asked the elder capuchin, leaving the camera resting against my chest while I waited instead of automatically lifting it.
The monkey chewed the piece of fruit already in his mouth and studied me for several seconds.
You ask first, the elder capuchin observed, his voice slower and calmer than those of the younger monkeys I'd spoken to that morning as his dark gaze lingered on me.
“Usually. It seems even more important now that you can actually tell me whether you want me to,” I told the capuchin, resting my fingers along the side of the camera while I waited beneath the patchy shade.
You can take them, the capuchin allowed after considering that, turning his attention back toward the fruit while one leg hung loosely beneath the branch.
“Thank you,” I told the capuchin, lifting the camera carefully and adjusting the focus before taking the first photograph.