The Cotton Keeper
Wilf Morgan
(Eighty8Tales Press, Oct. 17, 2007)
Sierra Leone, West Africa. January, 1999. A dangerous time and place in which to find yourself. Especially if - like Femi - you're a young chimpanzee on a quest. Trying to escape a desperate existence with his starving tribe, Femi - along with his fearful best friend, Septimus and his tough older brother, Coker - strikes out to find a better life. The trio embark on a perilous adventure across the jungles and plains of Sierra Leone to find the one being who can help them - the legendary, mysterious Cotton Keeper. Unfortunately, Femi couldn't have chosen a worse time for his quest. Because the Big-Walkers are at war. Even as Femi and his friends trek towards their destination, the Big-Walkers race across the country on the backs of their growling, metal beasts, brandishing their magic, metal, killing arms. The race is on for the young chimps - if they want to reach their goal, they have to get to the Cotton Keeper before the Big-Walkers do.