Read Online The Only Witness by Pamela Beason - Free Book Online Page B

would in the wild, she'd used an old black rug, a white blanket, and a few orange and yellow towels.
    Black. White. Orange. A calico nest. Turning back, Grace regarded the calico kitten in Neema's hands.
    "And some people think apes are slow," Josh said dryly.
    Neema echoed, signing slow .
    Josh laughed. "Good thing she doesn't know the sign for clueless."
    "She's repeating, not agreeing," Grace retorted. "And the tape is rolling."
    He looked at the camera mounted near the ceiling. "Well, Dr. McKenna, you're the Ph.D. You would recognize the difference between repetition and agreement."
    "Either get lost or come on in," Grace muttered. To Neema, Grace signed, black white orange cat black white orange nest .
    Nest , Neema agreed.
    "So it's finally time for a new pet." Josh knelt on the floor beside Grace. Neema now had both the white and calico kittens in her lap and was laughing her soft huh-huh-huh at the feel of their tiny claws on her legs. A gray kitten from the basket leapt up to bat at the black gorilla toes wrapped around the rim. Neema hooted with delight.
    Which cat for Neema? Josh signed.
    All cats stay . Play . Neema plucked the gray from the basket and added it to her lap.
    "One cat," Grace insisted. Should she make the decision for Neema and remove the rest of the kittens? Or would that touch off a temper tantrum?
    Some days it was hard to remember that she had a Ph.D. in Psychology. She should be teaching at a university, be Professor McKenna, with a roomful of dewy-eyed students looking up to her. When she'd first taken on this sign language project, she imagined working with Neema for a few hours each day and then retreating to her office or the lecture hall. Teaching gorillas sign language was a fascinating project, but the day-to-day process was grueling. When had she become this drudge, this weird mix of academic, zookeeper, and mommy? She never dreamed she'd be raising two gorilla children for the indefinite future. It was a lonely business. If only there was another gorilla mom to compare notes with.
    A soft 'hunh' from the barred area behind Neema drew their attention. Gumu, confined to the 'cage' area for now, stretched his long black arms through the bars toward them. Then he stepped back and slapped himself on the chest.
    Neema regarded her gorilla companion for a moment, and then signed cat Gumu . Gumu thumped his right hand against his chest, and then thrust the hand through the bars toward her.
    Grace turned to Josh. "Do you think Gumu can be trusted w—"
    Before she could get out the rest of the sentence, Neema scooted across the floor with a gray tiger kitten in one hand and the calico in the other. She sat down just out of reach of Gumu and cradled the kittens between her legs.
    "Uh-oh." Grace started across the floor. Neema had always been gentle with other animals. But Gumu was a huge male, younger, less 'humanized.' And male gorillas had been known to kill smaller animals in their territory.
    Josh grabbed Grace's arm. "Wait."
    Baby , Neema signed. Soft soft .
    Give Gumu . The thump the gorilla gave his own chest was so loud that both the kittens and the humans in the room startled at the sound. He insistently held out his hand, the huge black fingers curled upward.
    Soft , Neema signed again. Baby . Then she held out the gray kitten and gently dropped it into Gumu's giant palm.
    Grace groaned as Gumu pulled the kitten back into the cage. He held it up in front of his face. The kitten squeaked. Neema hooted softly, slashed an arm through the air, then held both arms briefly across her stomach. No snake . Love baby .
    Gumu inspected the mewing kitten, gently holding the tiny animal to his nose and sniffing. He thrust his other hand through the bars toward the calico kitten Neema still held.
    Nest soft baby , Neema signed.
    Give Gumu .
    Grace gasped as Neema handed him the calico kitten.
    The male gorilla compared the kittens, one grasped in each giant black hand, blowing on their fur and