IEHBD - A NEW APPRENTICE
AUTHOR: Lady F., TowandaBR
DISCLAIMER: All of the characters of the show "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World" are property of John Landis, Telescene, Coote/Hayes, DirecTV, New Line Television, Space, Action Adventure Network, Goodman/Rosen Productions, and Richmel Productions.
Very special thanks to Cris (our very kind translator), and to all the people who read our fics and were kind enough to take their time to leave reviews.
To all people who write or read Fics keeping TLW alive.
SPOILERS: OUT OF TIME
Based on fic IF EVERYTHING HAD BEEN DIFFERENT
IEHBD series: The Duel, The Lost Dream, Gladiators
George Challenger finds a small disciple. This fic was originally published as homage to the great wizard of science.
Tommy got ill. After physical examination, Challenger concluded that a new molar tooth was growing and it was bothering him. Challenger and Summerlee prepared some medication to relieve the boy, who was feverish and for some days became whiny as nobody had ever seen before.
Veronica worried about him. Even assured that he would be fine (and knowing that Tommy was taking advantage of the situation), they all knew nobody would take her away from him while he was ill. She spent her nights with the child in her lap, sat down at the library, telling him stories even after he slept. She didn't release him during the day either.
When he got better, he gave her that exclusive and charming smile that, happily, she accepted as reward.
In one afternoon, Summerlee and Malone had left for fishing, resolved to bring a beautiful fish for dinner. Marguerite and Roxton were in the Treehouse basis, she washing clothes and he chopping wood.
Challenger made some tea and then he went to find Tommy and Veronica playing in the patchwork placed on the balcony's floor. Better than that, Tommy played with all his energy recovered and renewed.
"He's better than ever, isn't he?" - the scientist said with a smile.
"More active than before." - she answered, eyelids heavy.
"Then, if he's already back to the pranks, I have a request."
"A request?" - She thought it strange.
"Yes. And I don't accept a 'no' as answer."
"Tell me."
"What about you sleep a little?"
Veronica laughed.
"There is no reason for you not to rest." - He proceeded - "Everything is quiet here. I'll be with the noble gentleman and if I need any help, Roxton and Marguerite are close."
"I don't want disturb you…"
"He won't bother me."
"Alright. But promise that you will call me in one or two hours, or even before if you need anything."
"I promise." - He smiled - "And by the way, I already prepared a very fresh tea cup for you."
Veronica got up and hand over the boy, who immediately became distracted with the fair-haired beard, saying the scientist's first name.
"Og."
"Behave yourself, young man. Thank you, Challenger."
"My pleasure, dear."
Veronica left. Challenger was right. Everything that she wanted was a nice bath, hot tea and sleep for a few hours.
The scientist was looking at the kid. He had been happy for Veronica having accepted his offer, but only on that moment he noticed that he didn't have any idea about what to do with Tommy.
"Very well, young man..." - He said, facing Tommy - "What me and you will do during the afternoon?"
He tried to imagine something. His experience with children was practically inexistent. Suddenly, as if he had had some brilliant idea, he raised his brows and took the child to the laboratory.
"Can you see those colored objects?" - He explained in the way - "They are prisms."
"What do you think about observing a chemical reaction among a..." - Challenger put the boy by the bench full of annotations (that Challenger carefully moved away). He stopped when noticing that Tommy became charmed with the test tubes: colors, smoky and bubbling. Nothing too harmful, but he just had the concern of keeping them far away from the boy's fast hands.
"Do you know what is this?... It's one of the compositions for my miraculous sedatives... Beautiful, huh?" – Challenger told himself admiring the color. The kid clapped hands and smiled - "Thank you..." – George shook the head thanking the praise.
He extended the arm, catching one more, now a reddened and also bubbling tube. - "This other one here is a reagent. By joining this one here with that blue one that I've showed before, we have the basis for the medicine..."
Tommy didn't turn his eyes from the colors. And for each tube showed to him, he applauded, pointing the one that he wanted to see next. Then, Challenger had another idea.
"What about to help me to prepare a formula, little one? The first formula is very important in our lifes. Who knows if will you not become a great scientist, huh?"
Challenger caught a recipient with a liquid and put it over the bench, besides the child.
Tommy began to splash his tinny hand in the water.
Challenger scraped a bar of indefinite color, and Tommy was curious extending his hand to feel the texture of the flakes that fell down.
Afterwards, the scientist began to slosh slightly the water, and encouraged the boy to do the same.
Tommy delighted when saw the bubbles being formed.
Challenger observed the kid, fascinated. He didn't remember to have been alone, only together with that child, for so long time, but found out he would like to repeat the experience.
He thought about Tommy's first months in the Treehouse, but he shook his head when noticed that such memories threatened to interfere on that wonderful moment. In the occasion, the man had learned in a painful way much more than he could have expected, and he was very thankful for that, but at the same time that was past.
George caught some pieces of wire and began to twist them, making such varied circles. Once in a while, he held Tommy's small hands, who was enthusiastic and splashed with force, spreading more water than it would have been needed.
Challenger got the attention of his curious assistant by putting one of the slender sticks in the recipient and blowing into the circle.
Then George knew for sure that what he saw next would never ever fade out from his mind.
He saw Tommy following the soap bubble, his mouth open in wonder and the black eyes shining. When the bubble approached him, intrigued he extended the finger touching the soap. And when the bubble burst and the boy surprised, George couldn't resist to a resonant laughter.
"This was a perfect experiment, dear assistant." - He took the child and put him in the floor with the recipient.
For the first time since he was a child, George sat down relaxed by the floor, blowing bubbles for a boy who tried to catch them. In minutes, a jug, a slender stick with several molds of circles, were on Tommy's small arms.
Then the child tried to imitate the scientist, blowing in the wire mold.
And Challenger enjoyed more and more, when noticing that trying to blow, Tommy could not avoid spitting, destroying the soap before the bubble was formed.
In middle of water and soap, Challenger got to made Tommy to develop (a very well developed) art of blowing soap balls.
He prepared a recipient, with cover, filling it with the 'complex' solution.
Little by little, the laboratory was full with bubbles all around, what made a wonderful contrast with the several colors of the test tubes. To each positive attempt, that now was the majority, Challenger smiled proudly, and Tommy did the same.
While one more session of bubbles began at the laboratory, Challenger heard some voices arriving from the kitchen.
The noisy came from nobody else, nobody less than John and Marguerite.
"Oh... one more dose of the daily giants duel..." - He thought.
Furtively, and followed by Tommy, he went in the direction of the kitchen to one more attempt to calm things down.
With his pot and the wire mold, the boy stopped close to the stairway, observing the discussion amid blows in the direction of the laboratory, when Challenger interfered, trying to hear the two sides.
"Please, you two! Veronica is trying to have a second of peace and if she doesn't get it, it will be me that you will have to worry about!"
With those words, he left towards the young woman's room, to check if her sleep was affected.
They two faced each other again, and resumed the exchange of insults and offenses.
Finally, Marguerite stretched out her arm, pointing an accusative finger in Roxton's direction, in her always hegemonic way.
Seconds later, a soap bubble came from the stairways, rested daintily on Marguerite's finger. The glances went all to her, who finally lost the rhythm for the discussion
Before they found out where from that bubble had come, they were surprised by a thick cloud of bubbles.
Tommy tried to give his best, blowing until loosing his breath the bubbles towards the bickering couple.
Roxton looked around himself, and Marguerite walked around, both with idle curiosity.
Quickly the child hid, stopping blowing the balls. - "But what the hell is this?" - John said, irritated.
"Somebody is trying to play with you, dear John..." - Marguerite said, arriving close to a small hair tuft that moved in the corner.
She was turned for him, making signs so that the hunter approached to where she was. Their looks were already totally changed; they had something of curiosity, and amusement.
"THE BUBBLE BRAT!" - Marguerite exclaimed, finding the boy who, with Roxton, screamed.
John opened his huge arms in order to catch the boy, but the little one was faster and ran away from them both, passing crawling underneath the hunter's standing legs.
In that instant, they two ran behind the boy, trying to reach him – what as almost impossible, because the boy used his low stature to pass in difficult places to be followed or reach.
Finally, the two drove the boy into a corner and then he saw himself without exit, except...
"No, Tommy, the bubbles again no!"
John caught him for the shirt when he was already in the middle of another escape, but when they turned, there was Challenger, arms crossed, unfriendly mien.
The three of them were in silence, as children found out in the middle of a trick.
"You three are luck that she's in a deep sleep."
Tommy noticed that Challenger was irritated, but nevertheless he didn't resist. He stopped quiet, stretching out the arms close to his body, closed his tiny hands and his dark black eyes, and he screamed to full lungs:
"iiiiiiiittteeeeee!"
Roxton looked angry.
"What does he think he is doing?"
Marguerite laughed heartily.
"Imitating you, that's obvious."
"That's it" - the scientist took the boy quickly putting him by his shoulders. Tommy, already settled down, laugh to them both, waving 'goodbyes' to Marguerite and Roxton, who smiled amused, even besides the previous reprehension.
Back to the lab, the man put the child on the floor. Tommy walked curiously, diffusing and spreading the things around, with Challenger in his heel trying to avoid that the chaos settled.
"Stop that, Tommy" – George spoke seriously. The boy faced him between surprised and sore, without understanding George's attitude.
He noticed that sometimes he treated people as children for mere details. If a boy didn't play or make mess, then he wouldn't be normal. Finally George passed the hand over the child's hair.
"I'm sorry, noble gentleman. You can touch whatever you want." - he said, already smiling, moving away some things that could offer any danger, and substituting them for other inoffensive ones.
Tommy went to a small puddle of water in the floor. He passed the hand once on it, and then looked at the scientist as if waiting to be reprehended. The man didn't react.
Soon afterwards, he decided to become more daring, and passed the tiny hand in the floor, spreading the liquid even more. Suspicious, he looked at Challenger once again.
He got up and, always looking at the scientist, went until the closest table.
"Are you testing me, noble gentleman? Don't worry. I will know when stop you." - he smiled back.
He took some metal objects putting them in front of the child, showing how the objects were attracted for the magnet. Tommy looked fascinated to the new thing, and took it from the scientist. After some time, the boy's eyes strayed for something on the top of the table and he pointed to it.
"imme!"
"What, that?" - Challenger laughed - "it is clay. That thing you and Veronica spread over when you are playing. You're remembering the dirty activities in which you two fell at home, aren't you?" – the man reached the great amount of clay, and put it on the floor in front of his assistant. The scientist soon caught a little bit of it in his hand and showed it to Tommy.
"ay."
"Clay... yes! Come on, don't be afraid!" - Tommy quickly touched with the index finger the handful of cold clay, retreating immediately, facing George.
Challenger used one of his hands to make Tommy touch the clay. After some time, the boy was already comfortable with the dark mud. George made a puppet with the clay, and Tommy seemed to like it.
"Art is not my best, but it could be yours."
He gave a portion of clay to the boy who, despite of just doing kneaded balls, seemed to enjoy it. The scientist eulogized all.
The noise in a work instrument diverted George's attention.
"Wait just a minute, assistant."
Although trying to assure with the corner of his eyes that the child remained in the same place, Challenger took more than one minute to come back – indeed, it was closer to five minutes. And when he came back, he found out a weird brown shape.
"If it was not for your eyeballs, I wouldn't recognize you!" - he said, surprised now with boy's appearance, seeming like a mud monster. - "Where did you get all of this?"
Tommy pointed for the sack near him. - "Is it going to help me if I ask you how did you manage to bring a found pound sack close to you?"
Challenger laughed at the boy's situation, but as always, seeking for an answer. - "Are you trying to camouflage?"
The boy clapped hands. - "Do I need to ask if Veronica is teaching you this?"
"You're very smart, Tommy, and that is a great quality. For your age, you are quite intelligent, not just for understanding our messages, but for doing things that a child your age normally would not do."
Challenger put a chair and sat down, observing the boy by the floor and his reactions. As always, the curious eyes accompanied the scientist.
"Now, my dear and small assistant, we will make the volcano." - he gathered the necessary ingredients: a board, clay, a can, soap, vegetable paint, and bicarbonate. Then he sat down in the floor close to the muddy boy.
"Do you want to be a scientist, noble gentleman? If yes, I think you will have to do much more than study and make experiences."
In formal evening attire, George Challenger ran in despair through the campus of the university. He was late for the cocktail that could define his future.
He censured himself by letting to be involved so much by his studies in the laboratory, forgetting the event that could give him what he wanted more on those days: to become chief of the laboratory. That event would decide the directions that his researches should take.
He adored the researches. And to have the control about the political decisions that involved them was, above all, a need. But the scientist didn't know about a fundamental detail: he thought only his work was enough as a reference about his capacity.
Exhausted and breathless for the race, he opened the door of the auditorium to, desolate, find out the cleaners cleaning the remains of a lively social encounter.
In that moment, he finally realized that more than talent, he needed to advertise his work and his results. Unfortunately, his social abilities were far from being reasonable.
And, there was somebody that had all the necessary qualities. Jerome McNeal. As a scientist, Jerome was competent, but he was far away from the brilliant Challenger's mind. However, his capacity of promoting his work was unbeatable.
George has time and again complained about the lack of budget and about conditions progressively difficult to work.
When they announced they would indicate a new chief for the laboratory, he saw the opportunity to make something more for his researches.
"What happened now, the traffic?" - The other boys laughed when seeing him arriving late.
"I'm sorry. I stayed working until late at night and..."
"Everything is fine, everything is fine, my friend." - Jerome smiled, touching Challenger' shoulder. – "We will drink a beer and we wouldn't go without you."
"Thanks for having waited, and I'm sorry. I did miss the cocktail, didn't I?"
They were all in silence.
Challenger remembered that day as if it was yesterday. Because of it George received two important lessons: That it was not enough to be the best in his area; and that he should pay more attention about what happened around.
The world would only pay attention to George Challenger if he showed to the world what he was doing. Since then, he followed those lessons until finally reaching the distinction and the resources that he deserved.
He gave up some working hours of his beloved researches to take coffee and to talk with other academics, including Jerome, and he discovered that those meetings enlarged his horizons and brought recognition to him.
And it was for having learned that valuable lesson that one day he could share his life with wonderful friends in that lost world, no longer caring as much as in the beginning with the subject of the whole sacrifice being in vain, forgotten by all, just because his expedition had disappeared.
"Who is the turn to play dice?" - Challenger startled when having his thoughts interrupted by the heiress's stopped by the stairway. - "My God, Challenger, what did you do to the boy?" - A mix of astonishment and amusement decorated Marguerite's look, after noticing the brownish state of Tommy.
George not even needed to answer it, since she could easily see clay spread all around. - "Oh, yes, I understand." - The scientist turned for her trying to recover.
"Any problem, young lady?"
The heiress continued to laugh.
"This is not a game, Lady Krux."
"George, you are playing with the brat in the lab. You are always saying that here is your sanctuary."
"I and my little assistant are making a very important experience." - He looked seriously to Tommy - "Right, assistant?"
"Fuuuuuu!" – the boy showed to Challenger how to blow.
Stretching out the little hand, the boy caught the mold of soap bubbles, put in the can next to him, and hand it to Challenger.
"uble" - Tommy gesticulated with the palm of the tiny hands for the air, and soon crossed them again.
Challenger gave a quick laughter, still trying to keep his serious man's posture, while Marguerite just got to emit the stuffy sound of laughter among her hands.
He began to get up, when Marguerite put her hand over his shoulder, smiling.
"No, don't worry, at least not for now! Malone and Summerlee have just arrived, and dinner will be served within half hour."
The heiress left the laboratory, still touched by the effect of Tommy's blowing out the bubbles.
"Now, very well, Tommy! We stayed here during all the afternoon, and you didn't give me any extra work, and you came off well in all the experiences. Congratulations!" - Challenger rose lively, and took Tommy in his lap, giving him a hug, and then the boy jump of joy in the man's arms.
Challenger gave him a kiss and again put him on the table. - "We will clean this mess, and soon afterwards I'll give you a bath, will dress you in clean clothes, and we will arise for dinner. A gentleman always should attend the meals with due cleanliness, understood?" - As usual the boy smiled shaking his head vigorously.
Then the two gentlemen, Tommy Layton and George Challenger, sat down for dinner. Properly dressed, clean and hair combed for the occasion.
The journalist approached them.
"I can take care of him now, Challenger."
"I'm sorry." - a very serious scientist answered - "Veronica trust him to my care, and until putting him to bed I will comply with my obligations."
The fish cooked by Malone was wonderful. Challenger had convinced the other ones not to wake up Veronica, and took for himself also the assignment of feeding his assistant.
Remembering the soap balls, Roxton and Marguerite hid the laughter with their hands. Arthur and Malone exchanged glances without understanding.
Curious, Ned and Summerlee decided to follow George and Tommy until the laboratory, where they had went after dinner.
"What are you doing?" - Arthur asked intrigued.
"I am observing the boy while he plays. I'm only observing him to prevent him to get in trouble."
"Only observing?" - Ned arched the brows.
"Only. What more could it be?"
Tommy caught the right leg of George's pants extending the mold of the soap balls to him.
"Where did he get that?"
"What?" - the scientist said.
"When I was boy" - Ned continued - "we used that for making soap balls."
"Really? I have no idea."
"And we molded the wire for doing the balls of several sizes."
"Then was that? He got that thing in somewhere."
"Hmm.." - Ned pretended to accept the explanation. - "Don't take too long to go upstairs."
"See what you almost did?" - Challenger pointed for Tommy that extended him his arms, wishing to go to Challenger's lap.
"I am a scientist, and a scientist has to keep a certain posture of seriousness." - Tommy began to laugh as if he thought that a great nonsense. Challenger returned his smile, taking the boy. The man gave him a kiss in the always ruddy cheek.
"Remember: that will be our secret, do you understand?" - The boy, as usual, shook his head affirmatively, for immediate relief of George. - "That's good, because I feel this is the first time of many others..."
In silence, the scientist went with him to the small room, putting him in his cradle.
He kissed the kid's head and received in exchange a delicious hug.
"You were a great assistant, noble gentleman. Sleep well!"
THE END…For Now
This fic will continue in IEHBD – Home Sweet Home (To be published in English soon)
Just two more IEHBD fics to go
For you all, our sincere THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
Lady F., TowandaBR