A Past Forgotten….Almost
Disclaimer: I own no Lost World characters. In fact I own nothing but this character I introduced. But, I really don't. I just made her up!
She wandered through the familiar jungle path, as she did everyday, taking in the sights, smells and sounds that greeted her lonely ears. She came to the river beside her home: an old hollowed-out mountain hidden beneath a waterfall. Inside the mountain, lay her village; well, her encampment anyway. Her parents and about 100 other people; hunters, scientists, geologists, etc., had traveled to the plateau about 15 years ago, in search of this marvelous world. Now, she was the only one left; everyone (including her parents) had either been killed or lost to other tribes in the first two years on the plateau. She had survived for 13 years on her own, with the only thought of the person inside the pendant she often fingered around her neck…
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Meanwhile, back at the Treehouse, Marguerite was desperately trying to cook something edible.
"I'll show them," she muttered. "I can learn how to make a decent meal without burning it!"
And she was succeeding as well, for the moment. Then, all of a sudden, Roxton and Malone, who had been fixing the windmill, came in and decided to play a little game. Malone stood in the kitchen, behind Marguerite (who didn't seem to notice), and Roxton stood in the other room. John then proceeded to toss the rifles at Malone so he could put them away for the time being. Unfortunately, Malone's hands were a little sweaty, and he caught the first rifle fine, but when the second came..
"What in the bloody hell are you doing?" Marguerite screamed at him. "Why are you throwing guns at me? Ohhhhh. Now look what you did."
The second rifle had slipped out of Ned's hands and landed by the stove, clipping Marguerite in the side, and sending her almost perfect food all over the floor. Ned shrunk back, knowing he had just crossed Marguerite's bad side. While Roxton sat semi-stunned, just waiting to feel Marguerite's wrath.
Marguerite was now holding her side, for the rifle had clipped her pretty badly, and she was heartbroken over her destroyed meal, which lay tattered on the kitchen floor. She looked up and caught Roxton's fading smirk; which, unfortunately for Roxton, angered her even more.
"I can't believe you two!" Marguerite shrieked. "Here I was, just trying to make a decent, edible meal to pull my weight around here, and you two decide to just come in here and start throwing bloody guns at me!"
"Well," Ned piped up, "We weren't throwing them at you, we were putting them away, and that last one slipped; which is sort of my fault anyway. So whatever you do, let Roxton off, he had nothing to do with it."
Shocked at his young friend's bravery, Roxton also spoke up, "No Marguerite. Blame me, not Malone. I probably threw the rifle too hard. So, just leave him alone, ok?"
Marguerite sat stunned and didn't know what to say. The two men just sat there and waited for Marguerite's fury to ensue.
Finally, Marguerite spoke. "Well, you two aren't making this very easy, so I will."
Both men stood there, waiting for one of them to be ripped to shreds.
"I will," she started, rather calmly (which scared the men even more than her screams), "completely and absolutely forget about this little...incident."
Malone and Roxton were bewildered; they didn't know what to say or do. This definitely wasn't the Marguerite they knew (and Roxton loved).
"But," Marguerite then continued, "I will need you two to do a little favor for me in return for messing up my dinner."
"But of course," Roxton finally stammered. "Anything Marguerite. We messed up your 'dinner' and a little favor is the least we can do. So, what is this little favor?"
Marguerite smiled. "It is really pretty simple. I just need a few ingredients because I used the last of some spices and herbs in my meal, that is now all over the floor. I only need some pepper, cayenne and a few other things."
Roxton and Malone inwardly sighed; they were expecting Marguerite to send them off into the dark valley, or into a dinosaur's nest. So, Marguerite gave them a small (actually very small) list of about 5 or 6 ingredients she needed, all of which were very close and easily identifiable. But, before they left, Roxton sent Malone on down first so he could talk to Marguerite alone. Little favors with her were never this simply solved, and Roxton assumed something was wrong. When he went back into the kitchen, he found her picking up the food from the floor, but she seemed to be doing it absentmindedly; like she was preoccupied with something else, something that she seemed to have around her neck...
"Marguerite," Roxton said soothingly. "Is there something the matter? You never let Ned and myself off that easy."
Marguerite, who was a little surprised by Roxton standing there, simply stood up and smiled. "Nothing really," she replied. "It was simply an accident. What more do you want me to do? Did you want to go into space or something and fetch me a star?"
Roxton smiled lovingly. "If it would make you happy, then yes. You know I would do anything for you, Marguerite."
Marguerite stood shocked; she had not expected him to say something like that. She loved him with all of her heart and soul, but she was too afraid of him hurting her; like all of the others before him. Instead of replying, she finished picking up the food and playing with the piece of jewelry around her neck.
Roxton noted her silence...and the trinket she fooled around with on her neck.
"What," Roxton implored. "Is that fine necklace around your neck? I don't believe I've ever seen it before."
"You wouldn't have," she replied somewhat dreamily. "I haven't put it on in quite a long time."
Roxton was a little perplexed. Marguerite always wore her jewelry that meant everything to her. She also never hid the fact she had any certain piece of jewelry. "Well," he began; forgetting Malone was already on his way. "What sparked this occasion? It is very lovely."
He could now see the locket in its entirety. It was a beautifully bright silver chain, woven with a gold ball every so often, and at the end of the chain in the center of her chest, lay the locket itself; a wonderful, calligraphic heart, encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. It was the most beautiful thing Roxton thought Marguerite owned.
"A dream," she responded softly. "A dream that I had last night. About...someone..."
This intrigued Roxton greatly. Everything about this woman intrigued him to the point of insanity. He loved her and wanted to know everything thing that he could.
"A dream?" he questioned. "About someone? Well, if you don't mind my asking, what and who did you dream about?"
"Her," Marguerite whispered, opening the locket and showing Roxton a picture of two young girls. Pointing to the girl on the right, she answered John's next question, "She's my sister..."
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Meanwhile, back in the jungle...
The girl had now wandered from her home and proceeded to move in the direction of a nearby field that held many herbs and spices she needed to stock up on, with the silver locket, encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, reflecting the sun's rays off into the distance. She hadn't worn the locket in quite a while, but she had experienced a wonderful dream last night, one that reminded her of what had kept her alive all these years. The hope; hope that her older sister was still out there looking for her, even after all these years apart, never knowing if the other was dead or alive. The girl she shared the locket with, given to them by her mother as a Christmas gift. "The diamonds," she heard, " stand for your birthstone." She commented, pointing at the older girl. " The emeralds stand for your birthstone, and the rubies stand for your father and I. It is a reminder that we are always together." The long ago memory suddenly faded as quickly as it came. With a sudden burst of nostalgia, Melody, known as Mel to her closest friends and family, continued off to the meadow to gather her herbs and spices. Little did she know, but her older sister lay just across the valley, with the same memory playing around inside her mind as well...
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Back at the treehouse, Roxton sat stunned.
"Your what?" he queried.
Marguerite, finally back in somewhat of a reality, couldn't quite gage the Lord's reaction to her news. "My sister," she replied again, rather calmly. "My little sister, Melody."
Roxton was still a little flabbergasted. "I heard you the first time," he answered back. "I was, just a little bit in shock... How come you have never mentioned her before?"
"Because," Marguerite responded, "I sort of...forgot..."
"You forgot?!" Roxton exclaimed. "How on earth could you forget you had a sister? And forget to mention this to any of us?"
Roxton had gotten a little angry and Marguerite had noticed it. John suddenly realized that maybe he had blown up for no reason and that he had hurt his wonderful heiress, as he could see it in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Marguerite," Roxton apologized. "I shouldn't have blown up like that. I don't know the whole story, and I should have listened befo..."
"No, John," Marguerite interrupted. "I know I should have told you- all of you- but I really did forget, as horrible as that sounds; forgetting my own sister. It was just so long ago-I.."
At that moment, Roxton whisked her away into a lovingly embrace, one that resembled their friendship, passion and love all in one; and this time Marguerite didn't resist, mostly because she really needed it right now.
"Now," Roxton began. "Why don't we start from the beginning, hmm? But first, I know you need time to think about this, so I'm going to go and get those ingredients for you with Malone and then I'll be back. And afterwards, just you and I will sit down, and we'll sort this whole this out. Alright?"
Marguerite instantly understood she loved this man more than life itself right now, and that sudden realization left her mute, and all she could do was nod. With that, Roxton pulled back from their embrace (much to his displeasure), kissed his love on the forehead and then proceeded to go and find Malone. Right then and there, Marguerite wanted to stay like that forever; a sort of mold of their love for each other. It felt so right, yet deep down where she wanted to tell him with every fiber of her being, she also longed to keep it inside forever. She knew things from her past had hurt her, and would, in turn, hurt him as well; and that was the last thing she wanted. But, at the same time, Marguerite wished that Roxton had never let go of her. But as suddenly as the memories of her sister had appeared, they were back again, and she was lost inside her own past once more...
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On her way to the meadow, Mel thought about her sister again. She was only about 7 when they had left. Her parents were wonderful people who had grown up with the story of this incredible Lost World. A good friend of theirs had supposedly come across it in his time, and they became fascinated with it, and in time, their children did as well. Mel didn't remember their last name, but she did remember her parent's first names: Victoria Rose and Jonathan Steven.
They had arranged a trip when the children were young to try and find this lost world. Melody and Marguerite, their two angels from Heaven had both wanted to go, but their parents would not let them; at least both of them anyway. Finally, Victoria and Jon made their decision; Marguerite, who was around 11 at the time, would stay here because she had just started etiquette school, and in a few years, would be able to carry on the family bloodline. She would stay with fellow nuns of the family since her parents were only children and both grandparents had passed away many years ago. They told her simply that they were bringing Melody because she had never been anywhere before, as Marguerite had already been to France, Germany, Italy, Africa, and many other countries. They promised they would return as soon as they found it, and they would come home for Marguerite so she could see it for herself. Unfortunately, Victoria and Jon had to lie to their beloved firstborn because the truth would have hurt her greatly; Melody had been severely ill for the past few weeks and the doctor feared that she would die. Her parents were bringing her because they felt it would have been too much on dear, sweet Marguerite if her little sister had died on her at home, at least in the jungle there were many excuses for a life lost.
That was 15 years ago. Mel had thrived greatly here on the plateau, and had survived past all of her friends that had journeyed here with her. While Marguerite, back at home, never knew what had become of her family. She had never made the connection between the plateau and her family before because she had decided long ago that they had never made it there, mainly because they had never returned. Since her parents never returned, Marguerite had to fend for herself after school (it was either being alone or be a nun). Mel and Marguerite had both forgotten each other, mainly because they felt the other had given up hope on ever finding them. Little did they know, but soon, their lives would collide again, their family would be as one and great dangers would surface to try and keep these sisters from ever being a family again.
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Roxton quickly caught up with Malone, who was starting to become worried that John had gotten lost, or worse. They ventured in silence to the meadow, Ned knowing whatever had taken Roxton that long was none of his business; at least until Roxton decided to tell him. When they reached the meadow, John hastily found all of the ingredients needed, leaving Malone a little perplexed.
"Say, Roxton," Malone ventured. "What is the rush? Marguerite said to take our time."
"Well Malone," Roxton semi-growled. "I promised Marguerite I would talk to her about something when we got back. And I don't like leaving her alone anyway. The lingering smell of her now-ruined food could attract predators."
"Oh. I see," Malone inwardly chuckled. "Mind if I ask what you two are going to talk about? That way if it is something personal, I can know to make myself scarce."
Roxton sighed. His young friend sometimes really made him wonder how he had ever survived three years on this plateau. "Actually Malone," John said. "It is sort of a family ordeal. But I assume she'll share it with everyone tonight, so I don't believe it would be a problem if you found out a little early."
Malone became thoroughly excited that his friend the hunter was going to share this tidbit with him. "It's a family thing?" he asked. "I thought Marguerite didn't have any family, at least ones she didn't know about."
"As a matter of fact," Roxton began. "Marguerite does have family; she just sort of forgot about her."
"Forgot about her?" Malone questioned rather brashly. "She forgot? And it's a her? Alright, would you mind elaborating on that?"
"Of course," Roxton chuckled heartily. "You see Malone, Marguerite had a dream last night. And in it, she saw her sister, she mentioned her name briefly, but I forgot already, and we are going to talk about it when I get back there. Anyway, she remembered her sister and tonight she is going to te-"
Roxton stopped talking abruptly and pointed his rifle towards a direction in the woods.
"What is it?" Malone inquired.
"I don't know," Roxton mumbled. "Maybe a dinosaur, but it didn't sound big enough. It might be a person, but we're not in anybody's territory. At far as I know."
Both men had their guns pointed towards the distant snapping sound in the forest. Little did they know, but their visitor had spied them quite a while ago and was already in the plan of jumping them. Their guest had tied a small lizard to a tree so it would make enough noise to distract the two men sitting in the meadow. They were new to the visitor's eyes, so they took no chances. Slowly, they crept behind the older one in the tree and waited just a second longer.
Finally, Roxton and Malone's guest leaped out of the trees, knocking them both to the ground.
"Who are you?" a voice demanded. "And what are you doing here?"
Roxton lifted up his head, spit out dirt and breathlessly answered back. "I am Lord John Roxton and this is my friend Ned Malone. We came here in peace, just to gather some herbs for dinner."
With that, they felt the weight of their visitor being lifted off of them and two small and delicate, though rough and strong hands came down to help the men up. They stood up and were surprised as they turned around to see a young woman standing there wielding a dangerous looking knife in one hand and a smile on her face. She reminded the men of Veronica a little bit, and of someone else too. But who, they couldn't figure out...
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The young woman stood there, staring at the two strangers who had just identified themselves as Roxton and Malone. She noticed that the one who had spoken had a distinct English accent, so maybe, just maybe...
"Are you from England?" the young woman questioned. "You have a very distinct accent. And you said Roxton? Could that be any relation to Lord Henry and Lady June Roxton of...oh...I forget the town."
Astounded by the young woman's question of his parents, John bewilderedly replied, "Well, yes, actually I am from England. And Lord and Lady Roxton are my parents. But, How could you have known that?"
The young woman smiled. "My parents knew them. They asked them to come on this expedition, but I believe that it was either you or your brother who was going off to the Royal Navy at such a young age; they didn't want to leave." She paused as if she had just thought of something. "Why are you here? How did you find this place? Are you with anyone else?"
The men both laughed at the girl's many question, and it was Malone who ended up replying. "We're here to prove a beloved, yet stubborn scientist wrong; We found this wonderful place through a map found on a lost explorer; and yes, we are with other people: a scientist, a huntress jungle girl, and a linguist-slash-geologist."
"Oh," came the woman's reply. "But you're here, right now, getting herbs? May I ask for what?"
"A friend," came John's answer. "We accidentally ruined her dinner, and so we came here to get some of the ingredients to make it up to her. Now, if you don't mind me asking, since you already asked us: What just so happens to be your name, and why is it you are here?"
"Mel," she retorted simply. "And I am here to gather more herbal supplies for my gar-"
She stopped abruptly and looked out into the forest. The two explorers didn't hear anything and became a little perturbed.
"Now what are you doing?" questioned Roxton, who was now a little impatient. "Is this some kind of ploy or something? We don't hear a th-"
With that Mel shoved her hand over Roxton's mouth with a hurried "shh."
"Be quiet!" she hissed. "I know you probably can't hear it. It's a pack of about 8 raptors. They are up ahead about 200 yards.... And they can smell us!"
Roxton and Malone then suddenly heard a series of loud growls, which they knew meant only one thing: dinner! They brought their rifles up and Mel had her knives ready and waiting.
Disclaimer: I own no Lost World characters. In fact I own nothing but this character I introduced. But, I really don't. I just made her up!
She wandered through the familiar jungle path, as she did everyday, taking in the sights, smells and sounds that greeted her lonely ears. She came to the river beside her home: an old hollowed-out mountain hidden beneath a waterfall. Inside the mountain, lay her village; well, her encampment anyway. Her parents and about 100 other people; hunters, scientists, geologists, etc., had traveled to the plateau about 15 years ago, in search of this marvelous world. Now, she was the only one left; everyone (including her parents) had either been killed or lost to other tribes in the first two years on the plateau. She had survived for 13 years on her own, with the only thought of the person inside the pendant she often fingered around her neck…
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Meanwhile, back at the Treehouse, Marguerite was desperately trying to cook something edible.
"I'll show them," she muttered. "I can learn how to make a decent meal without burning it!"
And she was succeeding as well, for the moment. Then, all of a sudden, Roxton and Malone, who had been fixing the windmill, came in and decided to play a little game. Malone stood in the kitchen, behind Marguerite (who didn't seem to notice), and Roxton stood in the other room. John then proceeded to toss the rifles at Malone so he could put them away for the time being. Unfortunately, Malone's hands were a little sweaty, and he caught the first rifle fine, but when the second came..
"What in the bloody hell are you doing?" Marguerite screamed at him. "Why are you throwing guns at me? Ohhhhh. Now look what you did."
The second rifle had slipped out of Ned's hands and landed by the stove, clipping Marguerite in the side, and sending her almost perfect food all over the floor. Ned shrunk back, knowing he had just crossed Marguerite's bad side. While Roxton sat semi-stunned, just waiting to feel Marguerite's wrath.
Marguerite was now holding her side, for the rifle had clipped her pretty badly, and she was heartbroken over her destroyed meal, which lay tattered on the kitchen floor. She looked up and caught Roxton's fading smirk; which, unfortunately for Roxton, angered her even more.
"I can't believe you two!" Marguerite shrieked. "Here I was, just trying to make a decent, edible meal to pull my weight around here, and you two decide to just come in here and start throwing bloody guns at me!"
"Well," Ned piped up, "We weren't throwing them at you, we were putting them away, and that last one slipped; which is sort of my fault anyway. So whatever you do, let Roxton off, he had nothing to do with it."
Shocked at his young friend's bravery, Roxton also spoke up, "No Marguerite. Blame me, not Malone. I probably threw the rifle too hard. So, just leave him alone, ok?"
Marguerite sat stunned and didn't know what to say. The two men just sat there and waited for Marguerite's fury to ensue.
Finally, Marguerite spoke. "Well, you two aren't making this very easy, so I will."
Both men stood there, waiting for one of them to be ripped to shreds.
"I will," she started, rather calmly (which scared the men even more than her screams), "completely and absolutely forget about this little...incident."
Malone and Roxton were bewildered; they didn't know what to say or do. This definitely wasn't the Marguerite they knew (and Roxton loved).
"But," Marguerite then continued, "I will need you two to do a little favor for me in return for messing up my dinner."
"But of course," Roxton finally stammered. "Anything Marguerite. We messed up your 'dinner' and a little favor is the least we can do. So, what is this little favor?"
Marguerite smiled. "It is really pretty simple. I just need a few ingredients because I used the last of some spices and herbs in my meal, that is now all over the floor. I only need some pepper, cayenne and a few other things."
Roxton and Malone inwardly sighed; they were expecting Marguerite to send them off into the dark valley, or into a dinosaur's nest. So, Marguerite gave them a small (actually very small) list of about 5 or 6 ingredients she needed, all of which were very close and easily identifiable. But, before they left, Roxton sent Malone on down first so he could talk to Marguerite alone. Little favors with her were never this simply solved, and Roxton assumed something was wrong. When he went back into the kitchen, he found her picking up the food from the floor, but she seemed to be doing it absentmindedly; like she was preoccupied with something else, something that she seemed to have around her neck...
"Marguerite," Roxton said soothingly. "Is there something the matter? You never let Ned and myself off that easy."
Marguerite, who was a little surprised by Roxton standing there, simply stood up and smiled. "Nothing really," she replied. "It was simply an accident. What more do you want me to do? Did you want to go into space or something and fetch me a star?"
Roxton smiled lovingly. "If it would make you happy, then yes. You know I would do anything for you, Marguerite."
Marguerite stood shocked; she had not expected him to say something like that. She loved him with all of her heart and soul, but she was too afraid of him hurting her; like all of the others before him. Instead of replying, she finished picking up the food and playing with the piece of jewelry around her neck.
Roxton noted her silence...and the trinket she fooled around with on her neck.
"What," Roxton implored. "Is that fine necklace around your neck? I don't believe I've ever seen it before."
"You wouldn't have," she replied somewhat dreamily. "I haven't put it on in quite a long time."
Roxton was a little perplexed. Marguerite always wore her jewelry that meant everything to her. She also never hid the fact she had any certain piece of jewelry. "Well," he began; forgetting Malone was already on his way. "What sparked this occasion? It is very lovely."
He could now see the locket in its entirety. It was a beautifully bright silver chain, woven with a gold ball every so often, and at the end of the chain in the center of her chest, lay the locket itself; a wonderful, calligraphic heart, encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. It was the most beautiful thing Roxton thought Marguerite owned.
"A dream," she responded softly. "A dream that I had last night. About...someone..."
This intrigued Roxton greatly. Everything about this woman intrigued him to the point of insanity. He loved her and wanted to know everything thing that he could.
"A dream?" he questioned. "About someone? Well, if you don't mind my asking, what and who did you dream about?"
"Her," Marguerite whispered, opening the locket and showing Roxton a picture of two young girls. Pointing to the girl on the right, she answered John's next question, "She's my sister..."
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Meanwhile, back in the jungle...
The girl had now wandered from her home and proceeded to move in the direction of a nearby field that held many herbs and spices she needed to stock up on, with the silver locket, encrusted with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, reflecting the sun's rays off into the distance. She hadn't worn the locket in quite a while, but she had experienced a wonderful dream last night, one that reminded her of what had kept her alive all these years. The hope; hope that her older sister was still out there looking for her, even after all these years apart, never knowing if the other was dead or alive. The girl she shared the locket with, given to them by her mother as a Christmas gift. "The diamonds," she heard, " stand for your birthstone." She commented, pointing at the older girl. " The emeralds stand for your birthstone, and the rubies stand for your father and I. It is a reminder that we are always together." The long ago memory suddenly faded as quickly as it came. With a sudden burst of nostalgia, Melody, known as Mel to her closest friends and family, continued off to the meadow to gather her herbs and spices. Little did she know, but her older sister lay just across the valley, with the same memory playing around inside her mind as well...
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Back at the treehouse, Roxton sat stunned.
"Your what?" he queried.
Marguerite, finally back in somewhat of a reality, couldn't quite gage the Lord's reaction to her news. "My sister," she replied again, rather calmly. "My little sister, Melody."
Roxton was still a little flabbergasted. "I heard you the first time," he answered back. "I was, just a little bit in shock... How come you have never mentioned her before?"
"Because," Marguerite responded, "I sort of...forgot..."
"You forgot?!" Roxton exclaimed. "How on earth could you forget you had a sister? And forget to mention this to any of us?"
Roxton had gotten a little angry and Marguerite had noticed it. John suddenly realized that maybe he had blown up for no reason and that he had hurt his wonderful heiress, as he could see it in her eyes.
"I'm sorry Marguerite," Roxton apologized. "I shouldn't have blown up like that. I don't know the whole story, and I should have listened befo..."
"No, John," Marguerite interrupted. "I know I should have told you- all of you- but I really did forget, as horrible as that sounds; forgetting my own sister. It was just so long ago-I.."
At that moment, Roxton whisked her away into a lovingly embrace, one that resembled their friendship, passion and love all in one; and this time Marguerite didn't resist, mostly because she really needed it right now.
"Now," Roxton began. "Why don't we start from the beginning, hmm? But first, I know you need time to think about this, so I'm going to go and get those ingredients for you with Malone and then I'll be back. And afterwards, just you and I will sit down, and we'll sort this whole this out. Alright?"
Marguerite instantly understood she loved this man more than life itself right now, and that sudden realization left her mute, and all she could do was nod. With that, Roxton pulled back from their embrace (much to his displeasure), kissed his love on the forehead and then proceeded to go and find Malone. Right then and there, Marguerite wanted to stay like that forever; a sort of mold of their love for each other. It felt so right, yet deep down where she wanted to tell him with every fiber of her being, she also longed to keep it inside forever. She knew things from her past had hurt her, and would, in turn, hurt him as well; and that was the last thing she wanted. But, at the same time, Marguerite wished that Roxton had never let go of her. But as suddenly as the memories of her sister had appeared, they were back again, and she was lost inside her own past once more...
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On her way to the meadow, Mel thought about her sister again. She was only about 7 when they had left. Her parents were wonderful people who had grown up with the story of this incredible Lost World. A good friend of theirs had supposedly come across it in his time, and they became fascinated with it, and in time, their children did as well. Mel didn't remember their last name, but she did remember her parent's first names: Victoria Rose and Jonathan Steven.
They had arranged a trip when the children were young to try and find this lost world. Melody and Marguerite, their two angels from Heaven had both wanted to go, but their parents would not let them; at least both of them anyway. Finally, Victoria and Jon made their decision; Marguerite, who was around 11 at the time, would stay here because she had just started etiquette school, and in a few years, would be able to carry on the family bloodline. She would stay with fellow nuns of the family since her parents were only children and both grandparents had passed away many years ago. They told her simply that they were bringing Melody because she had never been anywhere before, as Marguerite had already been to France, Germany, Italy, Africa, and many other countries. They promised they would return as soon as they found it, and they would come home for Marguerite so she could see it for herself. Unfortunately, Victoria and Jon had to lie to their beloved firstborn because the truth would have hurt her greatly; Melody had been severely ill for the past few weeks and the doctor feared that she would die. Her parents were bringing her because they felt it would have been too much on dear, sweet Marguerite if her little sister had died on her at home, at least in the jungle there were many excuses for a life lost.
That was 15 years ago. Mel had thrived greatly here on the plateau, and had survived past all of her friends that had journeyed here with her. While Marguerite, back at home, never knew what had become of her family. She had never made the connection between the plateau and her family before because she had decided long ago that they had never made it there, mainly because they had never returned. Since her parents never returned, Marguerite had to fend for herself after school (it was either being alone or be a nun). Mel and Marguerite had both forgotten each other, mainly because they felt the other had given up hope on ever finding them. Little did they know, but soon, their lives would collide again, their family would be as one and great dangers would surface to try and keep these sisters from ever being a family again.
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Roxton quickly caught up with Malone, who was starting to become worried that John had gotten lost, or worse. They ventured in silence to the meadow, Ned knowing whatever had taken Roxton that long was none of his business; at least until Roxton decided to tell him. When they reached the meadow, John hastily found all of the ingredients needed, leaving Malone a little perplexed.
"Say, Roxton," Malone ventured. "What is the rush? Marguerite said to take our time."
"Well Malone," Roxton semi-growled. "I promised Marguerite I would talk to her about something when we got back. And I don't like leaving her alone anyway. The lingering smell of her now-ruined food could attract predators."
"Oh. I see," Malone inwardly chuckled. "Mind if I ask what you two are going to talk about? That way if it is something personal, I can know to make myself scarce."
Roxton sighed. His young friend sometimes really made him wonder how he had ever survived three years on this plateau. "Actually Malone," John said. "It is sort of a family ordeal. But I assume she'll share it with everyone tonight, so I don't believe it would be a problem if you found out a little early."
Malone became thoroughly excited that his friend the hunter was going to share this tidbit with him. "It's a family thing?" he asked. "I thought Marguerite didn't have any family, at least ones she didn't know about."
"As a matter of fact," Roxton began. "Marguerite does have family; she just sort of forgot about her."
"Forgot about her?" Malone questioned rather brashly. "She forgot? And it's a her? Alright, would you mind elaborating on that?"
"Of course," Roxton chuckled heartily. "You see Malone, Marguerite had a dream last night. And in it, she saw her sister, she mentioned her name briefly, but I forgot already, and we are going to talk about it when I get back there. Anyway, she remembered her sister and tonight she is going to te-"
Roxton stopped talking abruptly and pointed his rifle towards a direction in the woods.
"What is it?" Malone inquired.
"I don't know," Roxton mumbled. "Maybe a dinosaur, but it didn't sound big enough. It might be a person, but we're not in anybody's territory. At far as I know."
Both men had their guns pointed towards the distant snapping sound in the forest. Little did they know, but their visitor had spied them quite a while ago and was already in the plan of jumping them. Their guest had tied a small lizard to a tree so it would make enough noise to distract the two men sitting in the meadow. They were new to the visitor's eyes, so they took no chances. Slowly, they crept behind the older one in the tree and waited just a second longer.
Finally, Roxton and Malone's guest leaped out of the trees, knocking them both to the ground.
"Who are you?" a voice demanded. "And what are you doing here?"
Roxton lifted up his head, spit out dirt and breathlessly answered back. "I am Lord John Roxton and this is my friend Ned Malone. We came here in peace, just to gather some herbs for dinner."
With that, they felt the weight of their visitor being lifted off of them and two small and delicate, though rough and strong hands came down to help the men up. They stood up and were surprised as they turned around to see a young woman standing there wielding a dangerous looking knife in one hand and a smile on her face. She reminded the men of Veronica a little bit, and of someone else too. But who, they couldn't figure out...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young woman stood there, staring at the two strangers who had just identified themselves as Roxton and Malone. She noticed that the one who had spoken had a distinct English accent, so maybe, just maybe...
"Are you from England?" the young woman questioned. "You have a very distinct accent. And you said Roxton? Could that be any relation to Lord Henry and Lady June Roxton of...oh...I forget the town."
Astounded by the young woman's question of his parents, John bewilderedly replied, "Well, yes, actually I am from England. And Lord and Lady Roxton are my parents. But, How could you have known that?"
The young woman smiled. "My parents knew them. They asked them to come on this expedition, but I believe that it was either you or your brother who was going off to the Royal Navy at such a young age; they didn't want to leave." She paused as if she had just thought of something. "Why are you here? How did you find this place? Are you with anyone else?"
The men both laughed at the girl's many question, and it was Malone who ended up replying. "We're here to prove a beloved, yet stubborn scientist wrong; We found this wonderful place through a map found on a lost explorer; and yes, we are with other people: a scientist, a huntress jungle girl, and a linguist-slash-geologist."
"Oh," came the woman's reply. "But you're here, right now, getting herbs? May I ask for what?"
"A friend," came John's answer. "We accidentally ruined her dinner, and so we came here to get some of the ingredients to make it up to her. Now, if you don't mind me asking, since you already asked us: What just so happens to be your name, and why is it you are here?"
"Mel," she retorted simply. "And I am here to gather more herbal supplies for my gar-"
She stopped abruptly and looked out into the forest. The two explorers didn't hear anything and became a little perturbed.
"Now what are you doing?" questioned Roxton, who was now a little impatient. "Is this some kind of ploy or something? We don't hear a th-"
With that Mel shoved her hand over Roxton's mouth with a hurried "shh."
"Be quiet!" she hissed. "I know you probably can't hear it. It's a pack of about 8 raptors. They are up ahead about 200 yards.... And they can smell us!"
Roxton and Malone then suddenly heard a series of loud growls, which they knew meant only one thing: dinner! They brought their rifles up and Mel had her knives ready and waiting.