Monkey Wars Read Online Free PDF

remember”—he peered down the dusty road—“the humans will betray us in the end.”
    “Why the bleak mood?” asked Gospodar. “It’s a beautiful morning. We have a wonderful new home. Can’t you just relax?”
    Tyrell smiled politely. “I feel most relaxed, my lord, but the pleasantness of the morning cannot change the fact that everyone betrays you in the end.”
    “Not the humans.” Gospodar smiled, and as if timed to perfection, a group of people appeared at the bottom of the hill. “As you can see for yourself.”
    All eyes focused on the colorful procession of humans making its way up the street. Two monks dressed in flowing orange robes led a column of women adorned with ceremonial jewelry; on their head, each woman carried a large wooden platter piled high with the most succulent fruits, and accompanying the whole group were two boys who tapped out some enchanting rhythms with finger cymbals.
    With every step the procession took toward the cemetery gates, Gospodar felt his authority grow. He loved to see the rewards for his achievements delivered with such reverence.
    —
    From his hiding place, Mico watched, wide-eyed, as the humans paid tribute to the monkeys. One by one, each placed their platter before Lord Gospodar and bowed respectfully, until a sea of fruit surrounded the monkeys.
    The holy men paused to chant a prayer; then, as they turned and led the procession back down to the city, the elites started ferrying the fruit inside the cemetery walls and back to the Great Vault.
    So
that
was the secret of the banquets, thought Mico, astonished. There was a long-standing tradition in the langur troop of Fruit Feasts, hosted by the leadership. Everyone was told that Lord Gospodar and his deputies spent all night gathering the fruit as a tribute to the rank and file, but now Mico had stumbled on the truth: the fruit was a gift from the humans. This must be what his father was talking about when he said the langur were chosen.
    But why the deception?
    Mico came to his senses. With the sun climbing higher, the heat was starting to build, which meant his family would be waking up soon, and if he wasn’t there they’d start asking questions.
    The quickest way home was straight down the central pathway, but that was the route the soldiers were using, so instead Mico took a path that led the long way round, in the shadow of the cemetery wall.
    Too late did Mico realize that this took him right past the fateful spot where he’d seen the dead monkey being dragged away.
    As he drew closer, he looked the other way and tried to just keep running, but his legs had other ideas. Moments later, he found himself standing silently by the wall, staring at the stones.
    At one stone in particular…
    There at the base of the wall was a single bloody handprint, confronting Mico with the stark question: who was the poor rhesus that had left this terrible mark?
    The question plagued him all through the magnificent Fruit Feast that morning. While the other monkeys laughed and chatted as they stuffed themselves, Mico sat quietly, his mind bombarded with doubts.
    He looked over to Gospodar, the general and the deputies, desperately wanting them to stand up and make a speech explaining that this lavish banquet had all been provided by humans. But they didn’t.
    First the dead monkey, now the feast. How many more secrets were there?

T he recent horrors had left the rhesus survivors utterly exhausted. Despite the agreement that there would be no leaders, they all looked to Willow for a decision about whether to go with Twitcher (his distinctive ear movements had apparently earned him the nickname many seasons ago).
    Willow agreed to follow him mainly because she liked his easy charm; it soothed her jangled nerves. But underneath the nonchalance, she sensed Twitcher was razor-sharp—he obviously knew the city streets intimately, and darted through shortcuts with urbane ease.
    He also understood that although the monkeys were