CHAPTER 12
COURAGE
Larry’s head was sore where it had been repeatedly bashed against the boards of the quay by Sergeant Boar, and again in the Hall of Greeting. He rubbed it gingerly where blood had tried, matting his fur. His wrists and ankles still hurt were he had been tied but otherwise he was unharmed. Reginald arrived as he was being dragged into the Hall of Deliberation. He trumpeted under the vaulted dome as he thundered towards the black boar. All the figures of animals in their golden niches watched silently as the boar was hurled aside by a well-timed flick of the big elephant’s trunk. Reginald quickly untied Larry, some of the gorilla-guards assisting.
There was a great commotion as Reginald thundered into the Hall of Deliberation with Larry riding on his back. Reginald told the Mayor what the black boar had done and how Larry had been treated. The boar whined that he didn’t know; that orders were orders; that the monkey had looked suspicious. The Mayor roared so loudly that Larry feared the stained glass window, the one showing monkeys at play in banana palms, might shatter and rain down on the Mayor’s head. Half of those gathered, and there were many in the hall, were laid out flat as if the Mayor had issued forth a hurricane rather than of a roar. Sergeant Boar, who was the cause of the Mayor having lost his temper, lay so flat on the floor it was as if he wanted to become part of it.
As the Mayor ordered a squad of rhinos to go to the quay with all haste to see what might be done, Larry climbed down from Reginald’s back, dropped to the floor and slipped behind one of his tree-like legs. He was glad he didn’t have to stand on the dais where everyone could see him. He wouldn’t know what to say or do. And there were so many animals, more arriving all the time. He didn’t like crowds.
‘Today we have lost but we have also gained,’ said the Mayor, once he had regained his composure. ‘Would those Town Councillors present please join me on the dais. There are great deeds to acknowledge before we deal with… less savoury matters.’ He frowned at the boar, still lying prostrate on the floor, trotters covering his eyes.
A bear climbed the short stairs, balancing on its hind legs. Next a large alligator waddled up, its armoured tail dragging behind. A water buffalo had to mind she didn’t gorge the Mayor with her long horns as she passed. Last, not bothering with the stairs at all, a lemur with a black and white striped tail leapt onto the dais like a grasshopper and took his place beside the buffalo.
When the councillors were arranged behind the Mayor in a rough crescent, he turned and looked directly at Larry. Larry looked away pretending not to notice, his heart pounding.
‘We still have a hero to honour,’ said the Mayor. ‘Larry Monkey, would you please also join us on the dais.’
Larry snapped stiff with fright and stepped deeper into Reginald’s shadow. There was no way he was going up there in front of all the people.
‘Please forgive Larry, Mr Mayor. He has never been comfortable in a crowd, certainly not one as large and as distinguished as this,’ said Reginald. He looked down at Larry and smiled like a proud parent.
‘Oh, I see,’ the great lion said, nodding. The Mayor lifted his head and addressed the crowd. ‘There are many kinds of courage and the greatest kind is also the rarest. Larry Monkey has this kind in abundance: courage for the sake of others. Courage in front of a crowd is not really courage at all, it has more to do with egotism; the love of oneself. Many of us find crowds easy but who among us would dare to take on pirates single-handedly?’ The hall was silent. ‘Who among us has the skill and strength to strike with a harpoon, at a hundred yards, a sailing ship under full sail, in just the right place, then climb the trailing rope with enormous cheese wheels strapped to his or her back?’ The hall was silent except for the sound of hooves and claws shuffling on the hard tile floor. ‘It took a rare kind of courage for Larry Monkey to jam tight the Interloper’s rudder, causing it to run aground on Kidney Reef. It took a rare kind of courage to twice save the life of Flossy Fairweather Human. First, when she leapt from Pirate Pratt’s cabin window—he saved her despite the very real risk she was in fact a pirate. And then last night he saved her from us by escorting her safety across dark and slippery rooftops—regrettably, we had become a mindless mob. Now we learn he was courageously preparing to rescue Harry Possum, Stanley Horse and Sally Sloth from pirates who had secretly invaded our town.’
The big lion tipped forward his head in gratitude. The Town Councillors behind him bowed, and so everyone in the Hall of Deliberation bowed; each in the manner of his or her own species.
‘Larry Monkey. This town is forever in your debt,’ said the Mayor. ‘Your courage and imagination are an inspiration to us all. You saw clearly when our minds were clouded by prejudice and poor judgement. And you acted decisively without any regard to your own welfare. You showed the greater kind of courage; courage in the service of others.’
The hall erupted with heart-felt applause accompanied by hoots, howls, squeaks and whistles that seemed to go on forever. Those that stood on four legs, stamped enthusiastically. Others cheered.
When the noise died down, Larry peered out with round eyes from behind one of Reginald’s thick legs. His heart was racing and his palms, sweating. The Mayor was still looking at him.
‘Please forgive us for the way we treated you this afternoon, Mr Monkey. We upset your plans to stop the pirates and rescue your friends. We failed to give you a chance to explain what you had in mind. And we treated you with great disrespect, binding you like a common criminal rather than aiding you as we should have.’
The Mayor leapt lightly from the dais and approached Sergeant Boar. The black boar, who was now standing on shaky trotters, took a step back and looked nervously left and right.
‘I asked you to bring Larry Monkey so we might thank him for his courage in the service of our town. But instead you bound and gagged him, and as has been told by Mr Elephant, you even mistreated him in the hall outside. Is this true?’
‘But I didn’t know! I didn’t know and I didn’t know he was trying to stop them. He looked like he was trying to run away on a boat. I didn’t know. You didn’t say…!’
The Mayor growled. The black boar fell silent instantly, his beady black eyes wide with terror. He trotters clattered nervously on the hard tile floor as if fighting an instinct to flee.
‘You think a show of strength will make people respect you? It won’t. You want to be respected so much you forget how to show common courtesy, how to be decent, how to be noble. And so you lose the respect of all. Do you understand, sergeant?’
‘Ah…,’ said Sergeant Boar, desperately looking about for support. But the crowd had drawn around him like a noose and were staring at him blankly or scowling.
‘I asked you to fetch Larry Monkey so we might honour him.’ The Mayor sounded like teacher reprimanding a pupil. ‘Everyone here knew of Larry Monkey’s bravery. As an officer of this court, if you didn’t know you should have. But even had you not, you should have extended to him the same courtesy owed to all citizens of Port Isabel: the presumption of innocence.’
The lion stepped forward, looked over the sergeant’s head and raised his voice as he addressed the crowd.
‘Simply following an order is no excuse for failing to understand the spirit in which it is given.’ He looked down at the boar, his stern face tempered by pity. ‘When you receive an order, you are empowered to act with the authority of this office. Authority wielded without understanding has the potential to do great harm. You didn’t care to understand the intention of the order you so blithely followed. Because of this, you did great harm. The lives of Port Isabel’s finest are now in peril. Do you understand?’
Sergeant Boar nodded vigorously.
‘So this is our decision. You will leave us now and the Council will meet later to discuss your continuing role as an officer of this court. You are dismissed.’
‘Thank you, Mr Mayor for your generous words and sentences. I will depart forthwith as you say,’ said the Boar. Then he turned and trotted
out of the hall.
Some of the animals in the parting crowd jeered but most just looked the other way.