Chapter Three: Explanation and Accusation


Indy escorted Lara into a bright vermillion Mustang convertible. Lara raised her eyebrows
in surprise as she ran her hand across the shiny car. "Nice car, Jones. I thought you'd still be
driving around in one of those antique Jeeps from the War."

Indiana, who had just resumed the driver's seat, was unamused to say the least. "Very funny, now
get in before I get a notion to run you over," he said in a strident tone that demanded obedience.

Lara shook her head in disbelief at this man who could be so- she hated to admit it- charming one
minute and so irascible the next. She settled into the passenger seat, but before she could fasten
her safety belt, Indy had started the car and zoomed out of the parking lot. Lara grabbed her
sunglasses just before they were ungracefully whipped from her face. "What a wonderful driver
you are," she remarked dourly as she held her sunglasses firmly on her head.

"Thank you for the compliment, Miss Croft," remarked her chauffeur not a little sarcastically.
"But wait til I get started."

"Oh, I will," replied Lara coyly as she finally manage to buckle her seatbelt. "There seems to be
no other alternative besides jumping out and that would be suicide. I'm a little too young to die,
don't you think?" she asked sweetly.

"You'll kill me if I tell you what I really think of you so I am obliged to agree, Miss Croft."

"Stop calling me that! I hate people calling me by my surname," Lara called over the roar of the
wind.

"Well, maybe I'm not too keen on being called 'Jones' either," he retorted bitterly.

"I'm sorry, J-" Lara caught herself before she addressed her companion by his surname again,
"Professor, but I refuse to call you 'Indy' either. Is it true that name came from your dog?" Lara
asked smugly.

"Are all women this insensitive, or is it just the ones I acquaint that are afflicted with this
flippancy of tongue," returned the professor, who was apparently using his university-acquired
vocabulary to the fullest extent.

Lara decided that the best way to end the battle of wits at a draw would be to keep her "flippancy
of tongue" under control for the time being. Indiana seemed satisfied with her prudent reply, or
rather lack thereof, and decided to change the subject. "I'm sure you are curious as to why I had
the pool area evacuated yesterday, so I will tell you, that is, if you promised to keep your mouth
shut long enough for me to complete my tale without interruption.

Lara nodded her assent, and Indy proceeded with his explanation, "Well, as you know, I
disappeared more than a few years ago after one of my expeditions; I will not name dates, for I
cannot clearly recall them myself as you will soon see why. I actually can't remember just what I
was doing in Florida, but anyway, I was exploring the Everglades without companion for some
artifact or other when I realized I was lost. I searched for an exit from that infernal swamp for
several excruciatingly hot and was about to give myself up for dead when I chanced upon a
clearing in the bog. Standing there amongst the weeds and wildlife was the most beautiful
woman I had ever seen. I was positive that this was all a mirage and that any moment she would
fade away and I would be lost once more, but she spoke to me and said, 'Henry, you have finally
come home.' It was then that I realized that it was my mother. I ran to embrace her, but she
signaled me to stop. 'No, you mustn't touch me, for if you do, you will become immortal like me
and will have to stay here forever. I asked her where 'here' was and she replied, 'The Fountain of
Youth.' Now if any other person had told me that under any other circumstances, I would have
deemed them mad. But this was my *mother,* a woman I hadn't seen since I was a very small
boy.

"'They told me you were dead,' I faltered as I took in every feature of my mother's lovely face.

"'Well, in a way, I am,' she told me. 'I was the first to have seen what no man was meant to see,
so I am doomed to stay here forever. If I leave, I'll die.'

"My heart went out to her and I cried, 'Oh, mother, let me touch you, so I can stay here forever
and you may go home to father.'

"But she shook her head. 'Henry,' she began, 'I must always stay here no matter what happens as
a punishment for my discovering this sacred place. If you touch me, you will just have to stay
here with me. As it is, you will now be eternally youthful and never grow old just because you
have come here. I know that sounds appealing at first, but once you find someone to love and
realize that they will grow old and die and that you will always be young, you will curse the day
you came to this place.'

"Of course, at the time I thought my mother crazy, though I never said so. For who could ever
tire of being youthful? Now I know better, and sometimes I wish I could grow old, but anyway, I
stayed with my mother a long time and she told me how she had found the Fountain quite by
accident when she was searching for my father. He had gone on one of his quests for a religious
relic in the Everglades, and when she didn't receive word from him, she went to look for him,
leaving me at the hotel with my nurse. She never came back, and when my father did, the nurse
told her that she had been killed and dragged away by one of his rivals, which is what my mother
told her to say in case she didn't return. My father was very shaken, but he took the matter to the
police, and when they couldn't find her, he took for granted that the nurse's story was true.

"In the meantime, my mother had found the Fountain, which is not a physical fountain, but rather
an area of about an acre which is designated by a rare and precious jewel known as the Eternity
Stone, and had been cursed to stay there forever. The curse was threefold, she would live forever
as long as she remained in that acre and die if she left it. Whoever touched her willingly would
also be doomed to stay with her, and if she was removed from the premises, the Fountain would
brake and be useless or if the Stone was removed, she would die and both the Stone and Fount
would be useless until it was restored. The Stone is located outside of the Fount on an ancient
pedestal so whoever takes it will not be cursed. Whoever then returned the Stone would renew
the Fount and would be doomed to stay there forever, but my mother would still be dead.
According to the curse, whoever entered the premises while my mother was still alive, which
meant the Stone was still intact, would be eternally youthful and live forever, but would not be
forced to stay at the Fount to remain alive."

"Would you die if the Stone were removed?" queried Lara.

Indy laughed bitterly. "Evidently not, for here I am. And it obviously didn't affect my
youthfulness either."

Lara's eyes opened wide in shock. "You mean someone took the Stone? Your mother is dead?"

Indiana pulled over to the side of the road and buried his head in his hands. "Yes," he began
slowly. "And the man who did it will not be punished unless he returns it, which is not very
likely. Oh, damn him!" Indy hit the dashboard with his fist. "If only I had stopped him! But we
were asleep when it happened, and when I woke up, she was dead and I knew what had
happened. I exited the Fountain premises for the first time since I had entered and headed for the
distant spot where my mother had told me the pedestal stood. The Stone, was needless to say,
gone. I carefully read the long inscription on the plinth which revealed all the facts my mother
had revealed- and one more. My mother hadn't told me that there was a way to undo my
immortality as well. It read 'If one of those whose presence at the Fount has caused their
immortality replaces the Stone after its removal, his mortality shall be restored, and the Fountain
and Stone shall be swallowed up into the earth, never to be seen by man again. Any others who
are immortal from the Fountain shall also be restored.' And that is where I am torn."

"You mean, you don't know whether to find the Stone and replace it yourself, or let the one who
took it find out about the Fount and replace it so you may avenge your mother," Lara quipped.

"Bingo," said Indy as he pulled the vehicle out on the road again. "Either way, I had to find that
Stone. So I found my way out of the Everglades and discovered that I'd been in there for forty
years."

"Sort of like Rip Van Winkle," mused Lara. "Time sure must fly there."

"I guess. Well, I found out a few things about what had happened while I was in there, the new
archaeologists and such. And that's why I was searching the hotel pool."

"But why . . ." began Lara. Suddenly the light dawned on her. "You don't think *I* took it, do
you?" asked Lara.

"If the shoe fits . . ."

"Listen, Jones, I never even heard about the Eternity Stone until today."

"Then why are you here in Florida, to find another artifact?"

"I-I am exhibiting some of my recent finds. I-"

"Only play for sport, right? Then, why in hell would you be showing your acquisitions? Sounds
pretty suspicious to me."

"Why would I hide it in such a stupid place as a pool?"

"You tell me," said Indy as he produced a brilliantly coloured object from his pocket.

"The Stone?"

Indiana nodded. "And guess where I found it."

"What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?" protested Lara.

"I don't know," replied Indy as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. "I suppose we'll just have
to find out."

TBC . . .