The Future is Back
By The Inner Genie
3/15/02
Disclaimer: I own these children but not the characters of The Lost World.
The story was written purely for my own amusement and not for profit (as
if!). Please let me know what you think of it.
Our explorers have been stranded on the plateau of the Lost World for almost fifteen years. What changes have taken place? Who has survived? Who has paired up with whom? (As if we didn't know) Could the explorers of year-three imagine what their future holds in store for them?
CHAPTER 1 - The Adventure Begins
The sound of shrill voices floated up through the forest canopy followed by the distinct, gleeful chortle of childish laughter.
"Stop that, William!" scolded nine and a half year old Victoria. "You know Edward is afraid of spiders."
She stooped down to hug the crying little boy.
"It's all right, Edward. The spider's gone, now. Will was just mad because you beat him in the race." She patted him on the back. "You can really run fast, can't you?"
Edward's lifted his tear stained face and gave Victoria a watery smile. "My Mom's been running with me. She's the fastest runner on the plateau." His face glowed now with pride. "I bet she can run faster than a raptor!"
"Ha, bet she can't." challenged William. He strutted around the two on the ground, his swagger very much like his father's. "He only beat me 'cause he's eight and I'm only seven," he insisted. "But, I'm bigger than he is and I'll beat him next time, for sure."
Victoria stood up and gave her younger brother a discussed look.
"Stop your bragging, Will," she said. "Come, Edward. Let's go play with Alice and Summer.
She imperiously stalked off, tall and graceful, the very image of her mother. Her long, black hair was tied back with a pale, blue strip of cloth the same color as the loose shift she wore on this hot, humid morning. She didn't need to look back. She knew he would follow.
Edward jumped up and scampered after her, his mop of blond curls glinting in the sun. He was small for his age, but well proportioned and muscular. His skin was tanned to a golden glow and his blue eyes followed Victoria's retreating form with look of hero worship that she was only too aware of.
Will scowled and clenched his fists, then he, too, followed his sister.
Alice and Summer sat in the shade beside a small, gurgling stream. They were playing with the dolls their Grandma had made for them out of raptor hide and cloth scraps. Alice, six years old, was kneeling over a carefully arranged pile of sticks and rocks which could, given a good imagination, be called furniture. Her long, golden hair fell forward to cover her face as she gently placed pieces of moss on a flat rock.
"There, Summer," she announced with satisfaction, "that can be their bed."
Four year old Summer put her doll on top of the mossy rock and sang, "Sleep tight, Dolly, don't let the raptors bite."
Alice laughed with delight at the little girl. She loved Summer with all her heart. She swore that she could remember when Summer was born, although she was only two at the time. She had bonded with the dark hair, dark eyed baby at once and even though she was only her "cousin", she loved her like a sister.
Summer grew from a fussy, demanding baby into a stubborn, impulsive child. Her father dotingly called her his "little terror", for even though she always wanted things her way, she had a kind heart and an unexpectedly empathetic nature that made her a favorite with everyone. She was also clever and funny. She was not a beautiful child like her brother and sister, but, with her squinty, dark eyes, lopsided, dimpled smile and an already droll sense of humor, she was quickly developing into a child with a strong, charismatic character. The other children, quite without realizing it, were already starting to follow her lead. Which often got them into trouble. Big trouble.
Suddenly Alice stopped laughing. She was instantly alert when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Even though the children were allowed to play without adult supervision in the "safe zone" that had been created around the tree houses, they had been taught, from the time they could toddle, to be aware of the dangers always present in the thick, dense jungle around them. She shushed Summer with a wave of her hand and listened intently.
Then she relaxed and smiled when she heard Will's loud voice complaining about "playing with girls". She stood up to wait for her friends to join them.
Standing there in the dappled shadows, it was easy to see that Alice would be a beauty. Her hair, like her brother Edward's, was blond and curly, but long, flowing down to her waist. Her skin was flawless, golden brown where the sun had touched it. Her large, blue eyes were kind and almost always twinkled with happiness. She was unfailingly good-natured and loyal to those she loved. She looked for the best in people and people responded by trying to be their best around her. The adults over-protected her, not wanting her to see the uglier side of life on the wild and often vicious jungle plateau where they were stranded. Alice kindly let them, but she was perfectly aware of the dangers around her. For all her sweet nature and innocent demeanor, she was a strong, smart little girl. She instinctively knew she would need all the survival skills she could learn to protect her loved ones, and that was something that she was determined to do. She had begged her mother and her Uncle John to let her join the shooting lessons the older children were given. Reluctantly, they had finally agreed, but secretly thought her too fragile and timid to last long at it. She was to start her lessons tomorrow. She could hardly wait.
"There you are, Alice," said Victoria as she and the boys threw themselves down in the shade.
Suddenly Victoria was attacked by a small, brown whirlwind. Summer came at her, her small arms flailing. She pushed and pummeled her big sister with her fists. Victoria raised her hands up to ward off the blows.
"Move, Tori, move!" Summer shoved her harder. "You're sitting on my Dolly! Move!"
"Stop, Summer!" squealed Victoria. "Get her off of me, Will!"
Will, who had gotten out of the way, was standing with his arms folded across his chest, a slight smile on his lips. He was secretly happy to see his bossy older sister on the receiving end of Summer's wrath, but he knew, for his own safety, that he had better step in.
He grabbed his little sister's arm and pulled her back. "Now get up, Tori, and give Summer back her doll."
Victoria scrambled to her feet, reached down, picked up the rather flattened doll and held it out to her sister. "Really, Summer," she said with as much dignity as she could muster, "you must learn not to leave your toys lying on the ground. Here's your silly doll."
With her doll clutched tightly to her chest, Summer calmed down as quickly as she had flared up.
"Really, Tori," she mimicked perfectly, "you must learn to look before you plop your big bum down on the ground."
The other children started laughing. Summer stared at Victoria with her lopsided smile until even she too had to laugh.
"Sorry, Summer," she said sheepishly.
"Hey, I have a great idea," Alice, the peacemaker, spoke up. "Let's get our spears and go to the target grounds and practice." All of the children were taught to throw a spear from the time they were two.
"Yeah!" yelled both boys. They were always eager to compete. Victoria took a few seconds to decide if she wanted to go. In reality, she just loved to be begged and Alice didn't mind feeding her insatiable need for attention.
"Come with us, Tori. Please! Edward will carry your spear. Won't you, Edward?" she asked, turning to her big brother. She knew he would. Edward had always been under Victoria's spell and no matter how often Will tried to straighten him out about her he wouldn't listen.
"Well, sure, Tori. I'll carry your spear. Sure." Edward assured her eagerly.
Will groaned and turned his back on the pitiful sight. The Malone children were just too easy going for his taste.
"Come on," he snapped and then he said with a widening grin. "And since dear Victoria won't be carrying a spear, she can carry Summer across the stream."
"But of course I will," Victoria answered in her sweetest voice. "Come to Tori, sweet Summer Leigh," she cooed, holding out her arms.
Summer, with a knowing glance at Will, launched her solid little body into her sister's waiting arms, nearly sending them both to the ground. Victoria managed to stay upright, however, and staggered across the knee- deep stream with her precious burden.
The children quickly gathered their spears and slingshots from the storage shed and headed to the practice grounds.
The practice ground was a long, wide meadow. Short grasses, studded with small, bright flowers created a perfect carpet for the children to play on. The targets, made from hides stuffed with grasses, were placed at the end of the meadow. Behind the targets was a shear cliff that rose up a hundred meters into the air. The electrified perimeter fence wasn't needed here. It was decided that the cliff was steep enough to keep out not only the dinosaurs that inhabited the plateau but also any hostile tribes.
The meadow was a favorite gathering place for the ever-growing Challenger Expedition gang and their great friends from the Zanga village. They would often hold picnics there. Some of these gatherings lasted for days with whole families camping out under the stars. The children would run around, playing with the Zanga children and the adults would hold competitions among themselves. It seemed that the sun always shone on the meadow. The grass was always springy and thick, it never worn down no matter how many people played, and tromped, and ran over it. The meadow was a magic place for the children and adults, too.
Young Will Roxton strode into the meadow ahead of the other children. He wanted to be sure to claim his lucky target before Victoria could assign him a different one. Tori, being the oldest child, and the bossiest, too, in his opinion, always took it upon herself to see that the other children played by the rules, her rules. He had to admit he didn't understand his big sister or his mother either, for that matter. They both seemed to react to the simplest things in a totally unreasonable manner. Will had talked to his father about this problem but his Dad had just shrugged his shoulders. "Son," he laughed, "I've tried for years to figure out your mother and then your big sister and I have come to only one conclusion.they are just two more mysteries of the plateau." Will hoped that someday he could laugh about them, too.
The other children soon entered the meadow excitedly talking about what weapons they would be using, how well they did last time and how much better they hoped to do this time. They were only allowed three types of weapons.spears, slingshots and stones. Tori soon had them lined up in "Victoria order", Edward, Alice, Summer, Will and lastly, Victoria. She very graciously put herself last so that she "didn't discourage the younger children from trying".
At first the children encouraged each other. Will even praised Edward when he hit the target with a stone from his slingshot. Alice and Summer got to stand closer to the target because of their age, so when it was their turn, they were very successful. But soon the boys did get discouraged. Victoria hit the target almost every time, which soon brought the boys together in a fierce competition with her. They took turns trying to distract her just as she was making her shot. They were so intent on this game that they weren't paying attention to the two little girls.
Alice and Summer had wandered off when it was clear to them that they wouldn't be getting a turn anytime soon. They had spotted a patch of funny looking, twirling blue mist between two large bushes on the edge of the meadow. At first, they just stood and looked at it. Then Alice picked up a stone and flung it at the phenomenon. The stone didn't seem to fall through the mist, it appeared to be sucked in. Summer giggled. She picked up a stick and threw it in. The stick disappeared, too. The girls looked at each other and giggled again. Soon they were throwing everything they could get their little hands on into the swirling mist. They were laughing hysterically when Summer made a big mistake. In her frenzy to throw things in faster than Alice did, she picked up her Dolly and, before she realized what she was doing, she flung her precious toy in and watched as the mist sucked it into its blue, swirling center. With a shout of "My Dolly!" Summer leaped after her doll. The mist closed around her.
Alice screamed.
Victoria, Will, and Edward froze as they heard the little girl's screams. Then, as one, they hefted their spears and ran as quickly as they could towards the sound of Alice's wails. All three of them felt a wave of guilt as they realized that they had not been watching the younger ones as they should have been.
Edward in the lead, they soon found Alice jumping up and down and calling their names.
"Oh, Edward," she cried, as her big brother came running towards her. "Summer ran into the mist and she hasn't come out! Find her! Please find her!"
Victoria and Will came rushing up, holding their spears at the ready.
"What happened, Alice?" Tori demanded. "Where's Summer?"
Alice turned her tear stained face towards her. "In there," she wailed, pointing to the blue mist. "She ran into the mist after her Dolly. She shouldn't have thrown it in. It was her best dolly!"
The boys and Victoria stared at the swirling, blue fog and lowered their spears. Victoria knelt down before the weeping, small girl and put her hands on her shoulders.
"Calm down, Alice, and tell us what happened."
With many tears and sniffles, Alice told them how she and Summer were having so much fun throwing sticks and stones into the mist until Summer threw her Dolly in by mistake and then leapt after it.
"She shouldn't have done that!" the little girl repeated. "That was her favorite. Oh, where is she? Why doesn't she come out?"
Victoria stood up to take stock of the situation, but Will was on the move. He ran around behind the bushes to see if Summer was there. He came back almost immediately, shaking his head.
"She's not behind there," he announced. "In fact, there's no mist behind the bushes, nor any stones or sticks or dolls or anything!"
"All right, then," decided Victoria. "I'll go through the mist and bring Summer back. If I don't come straight back," she pointed at Edward, the fastest runner, "you run to the treehouse and get Dad."
Alice was having none of that.
"No, Tori. Don't go in there! Please!" she begged. "It sucks things in. You'll get sucked in just like Summer. Please don't! Let's get our dads to help us."
Victoria looked at the small girl and made up her mind.
"Alice, dear, if we go running to our parents every time Summer gets into trouble, they won't let us go out by ourselves. No, we have to take care of this." Her voice was determined and the other children knew it was useless to try to change her mind.
"It'll be easy. I'll just reach into the mist to see if I can grab her. Everyone hold on to me so that I won't get sucked in and when I get hold of Summer, you all pull us out. Got it?"
The other children certainly didn't want to have to go back to the humiliation of having an adult with them whenever they played outside, so with nods all around, the children grabbed onto Victoria. Alice got a firm grip on her dress and Will and Edward held her left arm and hand.
"Ouch! Don't squeeze my arm so hard, Will," admonished Tori. "Okay," she announced when Will loosened his grip somewhat, "now I'm going to stick my head and arm into here and when I yell "now", all of you pull me back as hard as you can."
Victoria held her right arm out in front of her and stuck it into the twirling mist. She moved it around but couldn't feel anything. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her head in after her arm. The other children leaned back as hard as they could when they felt Tori being tugged out of their grasp. But it was no use. With a small shriek from Alice, their feet left the ground and all four children were pulled into the hungry vortex.
(To be continued)
Our explorers have been stranded on the plateau of the Lost World for almost fifteen years. What changes have taken place? Who has survived? Who has paired up with whom? (As if we didn't know) Could the explorers of year-three imagine what their future holds in store for them?
CHAPTER 1 - The Adventure Begins
The sound of shrill voices floated up through the forest canopy followed by the distinct, gleeful chortle of childish laughter.
"Stop that, William!" scolded nine and a half year old Victoria. "You know Edward is afraid of spiders."
She stooped down to hug the crying little boy.
"It's all right, Edward. The spider's gone, now. Will was just mad because you beat him in the race." She patted him on the back. "You can really run fast, can't you?"
Edward's lifted his tear stained face and gave Victoria a watery smile. "My Mom's been running with me. She's the fastest runner on the plateau." His face glowed now with pride. "I bet she can run faster than a raptor!"
"Ha, bet she can't." challenged William. He strutted around the two on the ground, his swagger very much like his father's. "He only beat me 'cause he's eight and I'm only seven," he insisted. "But, I'm bigger than he is and I'll beat him next time, for sure."
Victoria stood up and gave her younger brother a discussed look.
"Stop your bragging, Will," she said. "Come, Edward. Let's go play with Alice and Summer.
She imperiously stalked off, tall and graceful, the very image of her mother. Her long, black hair was tied back with a pale, blue strip of cloth the same color as the loose shift she wore on this hot, humid morning. She didn't need to look back. She knew he would follow.
Edward jumped up and scampered after her, his mop of blond curls glinting in the sun. He was small for his age, but well proportioned and muscular. His skin was tanned to a golden glow and his blue eyes followed Victoria's retreating form with look of hero worship that she was only too aware of.
Will scowled and clenched his fists, then he, too, followed his sister.
Alice and Summer sat in the shade beside a small, gurgling stream. They were playing with the dolls their Grandma had made for them out of raptor hide and cloth scraps. Alice, six years old, was kneeling over a carefully arranged pile of sticks and rocks which could, given a good imagination, be called furniture. Her long, golden hair fell forward to cover her face as she gently placed pieces of moss on a flat rock.
"There, Summer," she announced with satisfaction, "that can be their bed."
Four year old Summer put her doll on top of the mossy rock and sang, "Sleep tight, Dolly, don't let the raptors bite."
Alice laughed with delight at the little girl. She loved Summer with all her heart. She swore that she could remember when Summer was born, although she was only two at the time. She had bonded with the dark hair, dark eyed baby at once and even though she was only her "cousin", she loved her like a sister.
Summer grew from a fussy, demanding baby into a stubborn, impulsive child. Her father dotingly called her his "little terror", for even though she always wanted things her way, she had a kind heart and an unexpectedly empathetic nature that made her a favorite with everyone. She was also clever and funny. She was not a beautiful child like her brother and sister, but, with her squinty, dark eyes, lopsided, dimpled smile and an already droll sense of humor, she was quickly developing into a child with a strong, charismatic character. The other children, quite without realizing it, were already starting to follow her lead. Which often got them into trouble. Big trouble.
Suddenly Alice stopped laughing. She was instantly alert when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Even though the children were allowed to play without adult supervision in the "safe zone" that had been created around the tree houses, they had been taught, from the time they could toddle, to be aware of the dangers always present in the thick, dense jungle around them. She shushed Summer with a wave of her hand and listened intently.
Then she relaxed and smiled when she heard Will's loud voice complaining about "playing with girls". She stood up to wait for her friends to join them.
Standing there in the dappled shadows, it was easy to see that Alice would be a beauty. Her hair, like her brother Edward's, was blond and curly, but long, flowing down to her waist. Her skin was flawless, golden brown where the sun had touched it. Her large, blue eyes were kind and almost always twinkled with happiness. She was unfailingly good-natured and loyal to those she loved. She looked for the best in people and people responded by trying to be their best around her. The adults over-protected her, not wanting her to see the uglier side of life on the wild and often vicious jungle plateau where they were stranded. Alice kindly let them, but she was perfectly aware of the dangers around her. For all her sweet nature and innocent demeanor, she was a strong, smart little girl. She instinctively knew she would need all the survival skills she could learn to protect her loved ones, and that was something that she was determined to do. She had begged her mother and her Uncle John to let her join the shooting lessons the older children were given. Reluctantly, they had finally agreed, but secretly thought her too fragile and timid to last long at it. She was to start her lessons tomorrow. She could hardly wait.
"There you are, Alice," said Victoria as she and the boys threw themselves down in the shade.
Suddenly Victoria was attacked by a small, brown whirlwind. Summer came at her, her small arms flailing. She pushed and pummeled her big sister with her fists. Victoria raised her hands up to ward off the blows.
"Move, Tori, move!" Summer shoved her harder. "You're sitting on my Dolly! Move!"
"Stop, Summer!" squealed Victoria. "Get her off of me, Will!"
Will, who had gotten out of the way, was standing with his arms folded across his chest, a slight smile on his lips. He was secretly happy to see his bossy older sister on the receiving end of Summer's wrath, but he knew, for his own safety, that he had better step in.
He grabbed his little sister's arm and pulled her back. "Now get up, Tori, and give Summer back her doll."
Victoria scrambled to her feet, reached down, picked up the rather flattened doll and held it out to her sister. "Really, Summer," she said with as much dignity as she could muster, "you must learn not to leave your toys lying on the ground. Here's your silly doll."
With her doll clutched tightly to her chest, Summer calmed down as quickly as she had flared up.
"Really, Tori," she mimicked perfectly, "you must learn to look before you plop your big bum down on the ground."
The other children started laughing. Summer stared at Victoria with her lopsided smile until even she too had to laugh.
"Sorry, Summer," she said sheepishly.
"Hey, I have a great idea," Alice, the peacemaker, spoke up. "Let's get our spears and go to the target grounds and practice." All of the children were taught to throw a spear from the time they were two.
"Yeah!" yelled both boys. They were always eager to compete. Victoria took a few seconds to decide if she wanted to go. In reality, she just loved to be begged and Alice didn't mind feeding her insatiable need for attention.
"Come with us, Tori. Please! Edward will carry your spear. Won't you, Edward?" she asked, turning to her big brother. She knew he would. Edward had always been under Victoria's spell and no matter how often Will tried to straighten him out about her he wouldn't listen.
"Well, sure, Tori. I'll carry your spear. Sure." Edward assured her eagerly.
Will groaned and turned his back on the pitiful sight. The Malone children were just too easy going for his taste.
"Come on," he snapped and then he said with a widening grin. "And since dear Victoria won't be carrying a spear, she can carry Summer across the stream."
"But of course I will," Victoria answered in her sweetest voice. "Come to Tori, sweet Summer Leigh," she cooed, holding out her arms.
Summer, with a knowing glance at Will, launched her solid little body into her sister's waiting arms, nearly sending them both to the ground. Victoria managed to stay upright, however, and staggered across the knee- deep stream with her precious burden.
The children quickly gathered their spears and slingshots from the storage shed and headed to the practice grounds.
The practice ground was a long, wide meadow. Short grasses, studded with small, bright flowers created a perfect carpet for the children to play on. The targets, made from hides stuffed with grasses, were placed at the end of the meadow. Behind the targets was a shear cliff that rose up a hundred meters into the air. The electrified perimeter fence wasn't needed here. It was decided that the cliff was steep enough to keep out not only the dinosaurs that inhabited the plateau but also any hostile tribes.
The meadow was a favorite gathering place for the ever-growing Challenger Expedition gang and their great friends from the Zanga village. They would often hold picnics there. Some of these gatherings lasted for days with whole families camping out under the stars. The children would run around, playing with the Zanga children and the adults would hold competitions among themselves. It seemed that the sun always shone on the meadow. The grass was always springy and thick, it never worn down no matter how many people played, and tromped, and ran over it. The meadow was a magic place for the children and adults, too.
Young Will Roxton strode into the meadow ahead of the other children. He wanted to be sure to claim his lucky target before Victoria could assign him a different one. Tori, being the oldest child, and the bossiest, too, in his opinion, always took it upon herself to see that the other children played by the rules, her rules. He had to admit he didn't understand his big sister or his mother either, for that matter. They both seemed to react to the simplest things in a totally unreasonable manner. Will had talked to his father about this problem but his Dad had just shrugged his shoulders. "Son," he laughed, "I've tried for years to figure out your mother and then your big sister and I have come to only one conclusion.they are just two more mysteries of the plateau." Will hoped that someday he could laugh about them, too.
The other children soon entered the meadow excitedly talking about what weapons they would be using, how well they did last time and how much better they hoped to do this time. They were only allowed three types of weapons.spears, slingshots and stones. Tori soon had them lined up in "Victoria order", Edward, Alice, Summer, Will and lastly, Victoria. She very graciously put herself last so that she "didn't discourage the younger children from trying".
At first the children encouraged each other. Will even praised Edward when he hit the target with a stone from his slingshot. Alice and Summer got to stand closer to the target because of their age, so when it was their turn, they were very successful. But soon the boys did get discouraged. Victoria hit the target almost every time, which soon brought the boys together in a fierce competition with her. They took turns trying to distract her just as she was making her shot. They were so intent on this game that they weren't paying attention to the two little girls.
Alice and Summer had wandered off when it was clear to them that they wouldn't be getting a turn anytime soon. They had spotted a patch of funny looking, twirling blue mist between two large bushes on the edge of the meadow. At first, they just stood and looked at it. Then Alice picked up a stone and flung it at the phenomenon. The stone didn't seem to fall through the mist, it appeared to be sucked in. Summer giggled. She picked up a stick and threw it in. The stick disappeared, too. The girls looked at each other and giggled again. Soon they were throwing everything they could get their little hands on into the swirling mist. They were laughing hysterically when Summer made a big mistake. In her frenzy to throw things in faster than Alice did, she picked up her Dolly and, before she realized what she was doing, she flung her precious toy in and watched as the mist sucked it into its blue, swirling center. With a shout of "My Dolly!" Summer leaped after her doll. The mist closed around her.
Alice screamed.
Victoria, Will, and Edward froze as they heard the little girl's screams. Then, as one, they hefted their spears and ran as quickly as they could towards the sound of Alice's wails. All three of them felt a wave of guilt as they realized that they had not been watching the younger ones as they should have been.
Edward in the lead, they soon found Alice jumping up and down and calling their names.
"Oh, Edward," she cried, as her big brother came running towards her. "Summer ran into the mist and she hasn't come out! Find her! Please find her!"
Victoria and Will came rushing up, holding their spears at the ready.
"What happened, Alice?" Tori demanded. "Where's Summer?"
Alice turned her tear stained face towards her. "In there," she wailed, pointing to the blue mist. "She ran into the mist after her Dolly. She shouldn't have thrown it in. It was her best dolly!"
The boys and Victoria stared at the swirling, blue fog and lowered their spears. Victoria knelt down before the weeping, small girl and put her hands on her shoulders.
"Calm down, Alice, and tell us what happened."
With many tears and sniffles, Alice told them how she and Summer were having so much fun throwing sticks and stones into the mist until Summer threw her Dolly in by mistake and then leapt after it.
"She shouldn't have done that!" the little girl repeated. "That was her favorite. Oh, where is she? Why doesn't she come out?"
Victoria stood up to take stock of the situation, but Will was on the move. He ran around behind the bushes to see if Summer was there. He came back almost immediately, shaking his head.
"She's not behind there," he announced. "In fact, there's no mist behind the bushes, nor any stones or sticks or dolls or anything!"
"All right, then," decided Victoria. "I'll go through the mist and bring Summer back. If I don't come straight back," she pointed at Edward, the fastest runner, "you run to the treehouse and get Dad."
Alice was having none of that.
"No, Tori. Don't go in there! Please!" she begged. "It sucks things in. You'll get sucked in just like Summer. Please don't! Let's get our dads to help us."
Victoria looked at the small girl and made up her mind.
"Alice, dear, if we go running to our parents every time Summer gets into trouble, they won't let us go out by ourselves. No, we have to take care of this." Her voice was determined and the other children knew it was useless to try to change her mind.
"It'll be easy. I'll just reach into the mist to see if I can grab her. Everyone hold on to me so that I won't get sucked in and when I get hold of Summer, you all pull us out. Got it?"
The other children certainly didn't want to have to go back to the humiliation of having an adult with them whenever they played outside, so with nods all around, the children grabbed onto Victoria. Alice got a firm grip on her dress and Will and Edward held her left arm and hand.
"Ouch! Don't squeeze my arm so hard, Will," admonished Tori. "Okay," she announced when Will loosened his grip somewhat, "now I'm going to stick my head and arm into here and when I yell "now", all of you pull me back as hard as you can."
Victoria held her right arm out in front of her and stuck it into the twirling mist. She moved it around but couldn't feel anything. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her head in after her arm. The other children leaned back as hard as they could when they felt Tori being tugged out of their grasp. But it was no use. With a small shriek from Alice, their feet left the ground and all four children were pulled into the hungry vortex.
(To be continued)