Note: To my knowledge, there was never a dinosaur, in any of the eras, such as I have described.
Part 7
Carl Denham's POV (con't.)
We were deep inside Skull Mountain.
"So this is chez Kong."
Johnny looked a little sheepish at having stated the obvious, but I just grinned at him and ruffled his hair. He leaned into my touch, and it occurred to me how much I liked him doing that.
"It was nice of Little Kong to carry us all the way here," I murmured as I gazed at our surroundings. We weren't in the dark, and we should have been. We should have needed torches, flashlights, some form of illumination; I couldn't understand why we didn't.
"At least it gave us a chance to catch our breaths. I wonder where he went off to." Johnny crossed to one of the walls and ran curious fingers over its surface.
"No doubt he had Kong things to do." That made him smile, and that made me happy. I unscrewed the cap of one of the canteens and took a deep swallow, then grimaced. The water was warm and stale, and I hoped we'd be able to find a cool stream eventually.
"Carl! Look at this!" Johnny held out his hand, and it seemed to glitter with flashes of light. "What do you make of it?"
I touched the shiny stuff in his hand, and the light was transferred to my fingers. I rubbed my fingertips together and stared at them. "Hmmm. Some sort of phosphorescent algae, maybe. Light without heat. Jack Driscoll didn't say anything about this, just that it was kind of steamy."
Johnny was silent for a beat before he said, "There's not much steam here now."
"I wonder if that might be because fissures are breaking through all over the island, allowing the steam to escape."
"You think there's a chance the island will explode?"
"Like I said, kid. It's been here a million years. It should be here a million more."
"If you say so."
I remembered how wrong I'd been about our reception by the natives of Skull Island, and I suddenly shivered, as if someone had walked across my grave.
"I'm going to see where that leads, Carl." On the far side of the chamber was a set of natural stairs that climbed up toward an opening through which the afternoon sunlight spilled. He jogged across the floor of the cavern, and then up the steps.
I recapped the canteen, dropped them both against the wall, and followed after him. No sense in letting the kid have all the fun.
"Hey!" His voice echoed down. "Mr. Denham! I found something!"
I rushed the rest of the way up, emerging out onto a terrace. The open area was bordered by a low wall that almost appeared to have been manmade. Considering the path the Skipper and I had studied on our trek to find a camp, I was reluctant to shrug the idea aside as improbable. I stepped out into the center of the terrace and turned in a slow circle. For a man, the spot was huge, for King Kong, it would have been a snug fit, but for a creature the size of the young Kong, it would have been just right.
"There's some kind of bed over there," Johnny pointed out, "made from grasses."
The air was cooler here; the scents carried by the breeze weren't quite familiar ones. It would have made a comfortable bedroom.
The grasses that made up his bed were flattened but seemed fairly fresh. Tufts of white fur were tangled in it. I picked up some strands and rubbed them between my fingers. "Soft."
"Yes. And look at this." He held a large square of material. "I'd swear it looks like part of a woman's skirt."
"Well, I'll be!" I took the piece of cloth from him. It was light yellow cotton, part of a shirtwaist dress, which buttoned down the front. "This is what Ann Darrow was wearing the night the natives kidnapped her! I could never forget that dress!" I had bought it before I found Ann, before we left New York for the seas west of Sumatra, and fortunately, it had fit the woman I was going to make a star.
"They wanted to sacrifice her to Kong, didn't they?"
"Yeah. They'd never seen a white woman before. Offered us our choice of a dozen women in exchange, including the chief's favorite!"
"I guess they weren't happy when you told them no."
I shook my head. "They decided to help themselves. They rowed out to the Venture after dark and took Ann. She fought back, which they weren't expecting, but which made her an even more worthy bride in their eyes. One of the wrist-guards they favored was ripped loose during the struggle. Charley found it and started yelling fit to wake the dead. 'All hand on deck. Everybody on deck. All hand on deck.' By the time we figured out what had happened, got our weapons, manned the lifeboats, and made it to the island and the wall, it was too late. Kong had Ann."
"So you and... Driscoll... went after her."
"With twelve other men." I scrubbed my face with my hands. "Jack was on the other side of that ravine, and he was able to follow Kong. I had to go back to get more men and weapons. Jack brought Ann back before I could get the new search party together."
And when Jack had half carried, half dragged Ann through the doors in the enormous wall that separated the peninsula from the rest of Skull Island, she had been clothed only in a wet, torn slip.
"Kong would never have seen anything like this yellow dress." I fingered the material, which was frayed at the top where it had been joined to the waist of the dress. "I guess he was as curious about what was under Ann's clothes as Little Kong was about what was under yours, kid." I inspected the cloth more closely. It was smudged with dirt and covered with hairs, dark ones most likely from Kong, and lighter ones from his son. I sniffed guardedly. "This smells of monkey!" I'd become familiar with the smell on the voyage back to the States, when I'd observed Kong as he'd lain incapacitated by the gas bombs in the hold of the Venture.
"It was next to the bed, Carl. Maybe Little Kong slept with it?"
"I wouldn't be surprised. Could be it gave the little fella some comfort." I handed it back to Johnny, and he knelt on one knee and smoothed it across the bed.
"Do you think there are any more Kongs on this island?"
"Dunno, kid. King Kong was the only one we saw the last time. I wonder if Little Kong would have been as friendly to us if there were others of his kind around."
"Poor little fella. He must be lonely."
I walked to the wall, propped a hip against it, and folded my arms over my chest. While I studied the young man who had become my lover, who at one time had been so alone himself, I thought about what it must be like to be the only one of your kind left.
"It has a pretty nice view, Mr. Denham." Johnny joined me, his shoulder brushing against mine, and interrupted my morose thoughts. "There's a river that winds around the base of Skull Mountain, and there are some smaller mountains in the distance. Looks like there's some kind of nest there also."
I turned and glanced in the direction he indicated. One of the mountains appeared to be smoking, and as if on cue, the ground trembled. "Hmmm? Oh, pterodactyl, most likely. Jack said he'd seen a nest nearby." I braced my hands on the wall and leaned forward, and gazed down at the river far below. "Jack had to rappel down the side of this mountain with Ann clinging to his shoulders in order to get her away from King Kong. He was lucky; Kong was distracted by a pterodactyl that wanted Ann for supper, so Jack grabbed her, and they made a break for it. Kong took care of the pterodactyl and would have gotten Ann back, but Jack decided that they stood a better chance in the river. He let go of the... the root..." I held up one to demonstrate. "They dropped almost all the way down."
"Good thing they landed in the river, then," he snarled and turned away. He began to pace the length of the grotto. "I guess that makes him a fucking hero."
I stared after him in surprise. Before that day, I'd never heard Johnny use language like that.
Although now that I thought of it, he always did seem to poker up whenever Jack Driscoll's name was mentioned.
I'd slept with Jack once, years before I'd met Johnny. He had been attacked by a gang of bullyboys, and I'd waded in to give him a hand. Afterwards, we'd gone back to my rooms so I could patch him up, only I'd wound up having sex with him.
"Johnny." I waited until he paused in his pacing. "About Jack Driscoll. That one time with him..."
"I remember, Carl," he cut me off. The blue of his eyes was dark with anger and hurt. "You took him back to your room, the same as you did with me."
It hadn't been the same, I wanted to assure him. For one thing, Jack had been gone when I'd awakened the next morning.
"Driscoll was a dope to walk away from you."
"Johnny..." I took a step toward him.
"I'm not him." He looked away, blinking rapidly.
"I wouldn't want you to be." I was able to get a few steps closer.
"And I'm not a dope."
"No, you're not." I cupped his cheek in my hand. He needed to shave; the fine stubble tickled my palm. I liked the feeling. "Johnny, I fucked Jack. I make love to you."
For a moment I thought I was going to find myself with an armful of John Smith, but then his eyes grew huge, and he sucked in his breath. I hesitated to turn around.
"What is it?"
"What did you say that thing was that Kong killed?"
"Pterodactyl?"
"It looks like one is heading this way right now!" He swallowed hard. "We'd better get out of here, Mr. Denham!"
I whirled around and saw a creature with a wing span of over thirty feet approaching us. "I think you're right, Johnny!" I couldn't take my eyes off it, though. The prehistoric beasts that dwelled on Skull Island were so huge and unlike anything I had ever seen anywhere else on Earth. He grabbed my sleeve and tugged me relentlessly back into the passage. "If only I had my camera!" I bemoaned again as it glided closer. "What a shot this would have been!"
"You said the same thing about that monster shark, Mr. Denham," Johnny reminded me. He didn't relax until we were both safely inside Skull Mountain. We watched as the pterodactyl hovered a few yards above the terrace, then angled itself to the right and caught an updraft that carried it away in search of other prey.
"I could have made a fortune on newsreel footage of that flying critter."
"We'd still have to get off Skull Island. And that would be if that thing didn't eat us first!"
"Yeah. You have a point," I admitted sheepishly.
"And didn't you say the public wanted romance?"
"You'd have been in the picture, Johnny." I traced a fingertip over the blush that crept up from his jaw to his cheekbone. "Come on. Let's see what's on the ground floor."
"Gentlemen's shoes, leather accessories, shirts, ties, suits, and unmentionables," he intoned solemnly as we made our way carefully down the steps. He reminded me of an elevator operator reeling off each floor's inventory, and he made me laugh. He tossed a grin my way. "Hey! I hear running water!" He disappeared into a narrow passage.
"Johnny, wait! Something could be lurking around the corner!" I ran after him and emerged into a smaller chamber. "Oh!"
Three of the walls were lined with crystals of all shapes and sizes. The afternoon light poured down from an opening in the ceiling and splintered off them, sending splashes of color everywhere. The colors were rich as gemstones, ruby, sapphire, and citrine, emerald and amethyst. They were stunning, and I wondered if they were the treasure of Skull Island.
To our left a fourth wall was covered from ceiling to floor with a drape of thick, leafy vines interspersed with sweet-smelling flowers whose colors rivaled the crystals.
In a corner formed by that wall and one of the others was a wide, clear pool. Excess water spilled over the side, supplying the vines with the moisture they needed.
The opening that provided the light also provided the source of water for the pool. It flowed down in a gentle cascade.
Johnny stood beside it, enraptured. He held his hand under the waterfall, brought a handful of water to his mouth and sipped it. His eyes closed in bliss. "Oh, this is good! I swear I could get snockered on this! Try it, Mr. Denham!"
I walked up to the falls and stuck my hand under the water, then shook it vigorously. "Hey, you could have told me it was cold!"
"So sorry," he said, all innocence, and took another mouthful. I swatted his ass.
"Smart alec!" I cupped my hand to catch enough to drink, but Johnny stopped me. He wound his arm around my neck and caressed my lips with his. They were cool, and my mouth opened reflexively under the coaxing pressure. He filled it with the water, and I swallowed in surprise.
"You're right, this is good!" But it was Johnny's method of feeding it to me that made that drink of water the best I'd ever had. "Again!"
Johnny's eyes glittered, and this time his tongue followed the water into my mouth. I swallowed again and groaned at the contrast of hot and cold. His tongue glided in and out of my mouth, rubbing over the surface of my tongue. I was overwhelmed by the sudden tactile memory of his prick in my mouth, and I sucked on his tongue voraciously.
He fisted his hands in my hair, turning my head first one way and then another. I was wild for the taste of him. My fingers dug into his back, holding him close, trying to hold him closer. We were both panting heavily when we finally broke apart.
"I love the way you kiss me, Johnny," I whispered as I nuzzled the curls away from his ear.
"Really?"
"Really." I smiled against his throat, and his palms stroked my back. I glanced up at the opening in the ceiling, trying to gauge the time. "Unfortunately, we can't stay like this forever."
"Unfortunately, you're right." He kissed me quickly. "I guess we'd better start back to camp. I'm going to get the canteens."
"Oke, kid. I want to take a closer look at these crystals before we go."
He trotted back into the main cavern and retrieved the canteens, pausing for a second at the entrance of the chamber and glancing back into the cavern.
"Hear something, kid?" After our experience with the young Kong, I had no intention of doubting him.
"No, it must have been my imagination. I don't see anything." He spilled the contents of the canteens onto the ground, rinsed them thoroughly, and refilled them. "All set, Carl."
"Then we'd better get a move on if we want to make it back to camp before nightfall. I don't know how much daylight we have left, and the sun sets quickly is these latitudes." I turned my pockets out. "Red didn't think I'd have any need for my watch."
He handed me a canteen, and then we both heard it, a shuffling, slithering sound. Our heads snapped up, and we stiffened.
"Oh, god!" Johnny's voice was a dry croak.
The creature coming toward us must have been about fifteen feet in length. It had short, stubby legs, a tapered head at the end of a long neck, and an elongated, slender grayish-yellowish-greenish body. The snake-like tail whipped back and forth in agitation, and it waddled as it stalked us, its hind end moving first to one side and then the other. The mouth opened, revealing triangular teeth the size of shot glasses. The edges were serrated. It hissed at us, and its breath was tainted with the sour-sweet odor of carrion.
Johnny's hand went for his knife, and I looked around frantically and saw a loose piece of crystal lying near our feet. It was about a foot long, and I was careful how I grabbed it; the last thing I needed was to cut myself on the jagged edge. I moved to Johnny's side. We'd face this thing together.
"What is that?" Johnny kept his voice low.
"Beats the hell out of me, kid! Back," I whispered, and we began retreating in slow, cautious steps, not wanting to startle the prehistoric beast into attacking. The pool of water was to our left, and the wall of vines was at our back. We were as far from the creature as we could go.
It paused about a dozen feet from us, and its tongue flickered in and out, fat and slimy-looking, testing the air. Ropes of saliva dripped from its mouth.
"Johnny! The vines! Will they bear our weight?" From the corner of my eye I could see him tug on them, and he nodded. "Oke, start climbing, kid!"
For a second I thought he was going to argue with me. Instead he muttered, "You'd better be right behind me, Mr. Denham, or I'm coming back after you." He shoved his knife back into his pocket and started climbing.
"I'll be right on your tail, kid!"
Johnny swarmed up that wall. His feet were smaller than mine, and he was able to find toeholds in the interwoven stalks of the vines. The leather of my soles slipped a time or two on broken stems or torn leaves that oozed sap, but for the most part I was able to keep up with him.
I peered over my shoulder. The creature was almost directly below us, its head weaving back and forth. It shifted restlessly from one foot to the other, then settled its weight on its hind legs and planted its front legs on the wall. I bit back a curse. There were no more than a couple of yards between us and that open mouth.
The blood-red tongue shot out. It coiled around my ankle and began to drag me down to that hot, stinking maw.
Johnny screamed a protest, and I ordered between clenched teeth, "Stay put!"
The sudden pain in my hand reminded me that I wasn't totally helpless. I wound my left forearm in the vine I was clinging to, took aim, and hurled the shard of crystal into a pitiless yellow eye.
The sound the creature made was savage and pain-filled, but it didn't release its hold on me. I gripped the vine with both hands and struggled futilely to free my foot.
"Fucking bastard!" Johnny growled, and he released his grip on the vines and dropped like a stone past me.
"Noooo!" My fingers just missed him.
He landed on the back of the creature's neck and curled one arm just below where head and neck joined. A stray beam of light glinted off his knife as he wielded it with vicious intent.
Sawing through the stem of the banana bunch had dulled the knife's edge, but there was fury behind the hand that used it, and Johnny hacked through the creature's tongue. It recoiled, almost yanking me from the vines, but I held on. The creature's howl was a gurgle of pain and rage.
I stared down in revulsion. A length of tongue dangled from where it remained wrapped around my ankle. I kicked out, and it fell loose, landing on the floor with a sodden splat.
It dropped to the ground, swinging its head violently, and blood sprayed over the floor of the chamber. Johnny was flung off, sent flying to crash into a wall, and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.
The creature forgot all about me. There was someone closer for it to attack. It turned its head so its one good eye could find its quarry, and it began to slink toward Johnny, its tail thrashing, a trail of blood left in its wake.
I struggled to free myself from the vines, but I'd done too good a job securing my arm in them.
"Johnny! Johnny! Goddammit, kid, WAKE UP!"
Of course it was useless. I started biting at the vines, spitting out the bitter-tasting sap. I wouldn't be able to get loose in time.
And then, just like in one of those Perils of Pauline cliffhangers, Little Kong came to the rescue. He appeared in the opening of the chamber, took in the scenario, and with an ear-shattering roar, attacked the creature, leaping onto its back. He locked his legs around its body and pounded its head with clenched fists.
The creature bucked and reared in a desperate bid to rid itself of its tormentor, and blood splattered all over the chamber, but somehow the young Kong got his hands around its neck and twisted, and sank his teeth into the vulnerable throat. More blood began to pour down its chest to puddle on the ground.
Its struggles became more and more feeble, and finally it sank down, its legs splayed out, the stub of its tongue hanging from the corner of its mouth.
Little Kong climbed off the almost lifeless body. He shoved the piece of crystal that still protruded from the creature's eye deeper into its skull, and its tail quivered and went still.
Little Kong raised the head and let it go. It hit the ground with a solid, satisfying thunk, and the young animal dusted his hands.
Just then, Johnny groaned, and Little Kong bounded to his side. He sat on his rump and pulled the kid onto his lap. The way he stroked Johnny's hair was almost tender, but I was horrified to see red stain the blond locks.
I yanked harder at the vines, finally tearing them free, and I was able to slide down to the ground, but I'd no sooner reached the floor when a mass of vines came down on top of my head, and I was buried under them. I swore, which got me a mouthful of leaves, and I swore some more. I shoved the curtain of greenery off me, and surfaced to the sweetest sound in the world: Johnny laughing.
"Johnny!" I scrambled up and lost my footing again, and Johnny laughed harder. The sap that oozed from broken stems and ripped leaves made the ground as slick as a skating rink. At last I determined that the only way I'd be able to reach my lover was by crawling on hands and knees.
As soon as I was away from the vines, I was able to rise.
"Mr. Denham, are you oke?" Johnny was wavering on his feet, and I limped to his side.
"Are you nuts?" I demanded, turning his head this way and that to see where the blood was coming from. "You shouldn't be standing up!"
"Why not?" He raised his hand to touch me and stared nonplused at the blood that covered his hand. "Where'd this come from?
"That's what I'm trying to figure out!"
"Well, you've got blood all over you too."
"I'm oke. It belongs to that thing over there. Come on, let's get you over to the pool and get this washed off." I latched on to his upper arm and pulled him after me.
"You're limping, Mr. Denham."
I raised my trouser leg to reveal a band of mottled skin just below my calf. "Damned thing nearly ripped my foot off!" I dunked Johnny's head under the cascade, and the water turned pink, but after some minutes it ran clear, and I breathed a sign of relief. "I guess it must have been dino blood, kid."
"Little Kong has it all over his hands. He must have gotten it on me. C'mere, little fella. Let's get you cleaned up too."
As if he understood, the young animal approached us and allowed Johnny to wash the blood off him.
"I hope his cut doesn't get infected," he said as he removed the bandage and examined the wound. "Holy..."
"What is it?"
"Look at this! It's almost healed!"
"Are you sure you've got the right finger?"
His expression clearly showed what he thought of that remark. Before I could say anything further, Little Kong wiped his palms on the fur of his thighs and returned to the entrance of the chamber.
The light suddenly seemed more diffuse, and I looked up at the opening in the ceiling. "Damn. It's almost dusk. We're going to have to wait out the night here. I hope the Skipper won't be too worried. Oh, well, there's nothing we can do about it right now. Let's see if we can find some grass for a bed."
"And something to eat too?" he asked hopefully. He'd gone hungry too often to take a meal for granted.
Little Kong returned to us. He had picked something up, and it dangled from his fist, a furry carcass that was small only in comparison to him. He offered it to Johnny, who turned green and backed up a step.
"Oh... er... thanks, Little Kong. Sorry, no matches. Can't cook it."
The young animal continued to thrust it toward Johnny, and I tried to swallow my laughter.
"It's not funny, Carl!"
"I know. I'm sorry, kid, but it... it really is funny!"
"You're doing this to get back at me for laughing at you before, admit it!"
"Aw, Johnny, would I do something that... that..."
He scowled at me and took the body, and the young animal left the chamber, dragging the deceased dinosaur by its tail. "I just hope you like Br'er Rabbit tartar."
Still chuckling, I held out my hand. "Let me have your knife, kid." He retrieved it and presented it to me handle first. I examined it and nodded in satisfaction. "I thought so." There was a silver band at the bottom of the grip. I unscrewed it, and a handful of lucifers fell into my palm. I gave him back the knife. "Voila. I'll find some wood to build a fire while you skin and gut Br'er Rabbit."
"Hey!"
I raised an eyebrow and gave him my most charming smile, which he returned reluctantly.
"Mr. Denham, I'm a city boy. I don't know how to skin and gut anything."
"All right, kid. I'll do it. You're just lucky I..." The sentence petered out as I was lost in the brilliance of his eyes.
"Do you?" His smile was incandescent. "In that case..." He kissed me, and when I raised my arms to embrace him, he backed out of reach. Instead, I found myself with his knife in my hand. I tested the blade with my thumb.
"You need an edge on this," I told him blandly.
"Charley usually takes care of sharpening it for me."
"I may just have to skin this thing with my bare hands! All right, don't just stand there. Go get the firewood."
Before Johnny could leave the chamber to go in search of kindling, Little Kong returned with an armful of branches, which he dropped beside him. The two of them broke the kindling into manageable lengths, but it was Little Kong who actually laid out the wood within a ring of stones that bore scorched markings of other fires. We hadn't noticed that before. He produced some dried bits of moss and stuffed them under the wood, then looked at me expectantly.
This was becoming more and more intriguing.
I struck a lucifer and lit the moss, and soon the fire was burning hotly.
I'd dressed better carcasses in my life, I mused as I filched some twigs and skewered the meat, then laid them across the stones to roast.
A beam of sunlight struck something on the wall which had been freed from the curtain of vines.
"Carl! Look!"
"I see it, kid! What the...?" I approached it curiously. In the center of the wall, above our reach, hung a rectangular object that glittered and flashed fire. "Little Kong, come give me a hand over here!"
The young animal blinked solemnly and glanced at Johnny, then stood up and came toward me, for the first time walking like a primate, balancing on the knuckles of his hands. His intelligent eyes followed the direction I pointed in.
"Can you get that for me?"
He looked back over his shoulder at Johnny, who was watching with interest. "Go ahead," he encouraged, coming to join us. "What do you think it is, Carl?"
"I don't know, but it's putting the crystals to shame!"
Little Kong reached up and tugged at the rectangle. He grunted in irritation when the wall didn't immediately give up its prize, and he glared at it, then set himself to prying it loose. Finally, with a grating sound, he pulled it free, and with an expression of smug pride, presented it to Johnny.
He turned it over and over in his hands. The metal that formed the rectangle was soft, and he was able to bend it back to get a better look at what was inside. His eyes grew enormous.
"What did Helstrom say? Rubies the size of your nose? Sapphires as big as my eyes?" He handed the rectangle to me. "I think we've found the treasure of Skull Island!"
tbc