Previously: The children quickly adapt to their "new" family. All but
Victoria, that is. She doesn't want anyone getting so comfortable that
they don't put all their efforts into finding the way back to their real
parents. A cozy family evening is suddenly disrupted by the arrival of the
owner of the treehouse, none other then Veronica, herself. Before she can
ask who their guests are, little Alice throws a giant monkey wrench into
the "back to an earlier time" theory by shocking all when she exclaims,
"But, Daddy Ned, she doesn't look anything like our mother!"
CHAPTER 4 – Hypothesis and House Guests
Veronica looked into the shocked faces of her friends and laughed.
"Of course I don't look like your mother, little girl." She turned to look at Ned. "And what's with this "Daddy Ned" business?"
Ned just sat there. He was incapable of movement or speech. Veronica wouldn't be his future wife? His dreams were evaporating faster then rain in the rainforest.
Edward and Alice scurried across to lean against Victoria. She put her arms around them and held them tight. They didn't understand what this new development meant, but, suddenly, they needed to be together. Summer seemed to be the most unaffected one, although when Marguerite pulled her up into her lap, instead of protesting about being treated like a baby, she snuggled back against her.
Roxton jumped up and moved towards Veronica. He took her by the arm and steered her over to the table.
"Well, Veronica," he said in a hardy voice. "We're so glad you're back. We have quite a story to tell you and, of course, we would like you to meet our young guests."
Veronica was staring at Marguerite. Was the cold and prickly heiress actually cuddling a little girl on her lap? What was going on?
She found her voice and asked just that. "What's going on here, Roxton? Where did these children come from?" She thought for a minute and then asked, "And why did that child call Ned, daddy?"
"There, there, Veronica," soothed Roxton as he pushed her into a chair. "All will be explained shortly. Eh, George?"
Challenger shook himself out of his contemplation of the new turn this strange day had taken.
"Er, right you are, John. Soon, very soon." He changed the subject. "Are you hungry, Veronica, my dear? We have all finished but I'm sure there is plenty left."
He bustled around the kitchen setting out a plate for her and scrapping out the leftover stew from the pan.
Veronica, sitting at the table with Roxton's hand still on her shoulder, looked over at Ned, who was staring sightlessly towards the balcony. Then she turned to look at the group of four children (Will had joined his friends) huddled around each other on the other side of the table. Finally, she stared at Marguerite who sat holding tightly to the little girl in her lap as if she never wanted to let her go. Veronica shook her head in confusion.
Challenger held the fruit bowl in front of her face.
"Stop, Challenger. I'm not hungry. I just want to know what is going on here, and I want to know, now!"
Ned pulled himself together and walked over to the children. He put one hand on Edward's shoulder and the other on William's. He looked down at them and smiled.
"Veronica," he said in a calm voice. "I'd like you to meet Edward, Victoria, Alice and William. And that lovely young lady in Marguerite's lap is Summer. They became lost today and we've invited them to stay with us until we can help them find their home again."
Victoria looked up at him and smiled.
Veronica was a little bit taken aback that the explanation was so simple compared to the high drama that she had walked in on.
Ever the gracious hostess, Veronica smiled at the children.
"Of course, you're very welcome to stay here, children. I'm so happy that you made it here safely. The jungle is no place to be lost in, even for an adult."
Summer wiggled down from Marguerite's lap and skipped over to Veronica. She reached out and ran her hand over her short skirt.
"Hi, Veronica. I like your dress," the incorrigible little wheedler cooed. "Can you make me one just like it?" She held up her doll for Veronica to see. "Dolly would like one, too. Marguerite is making her a dress out of her scarf and, if you make her one like yours, then she'll have two."
A great guffaw of laughter burst from Veronica.
"Marguerite is making your doll a dress out of her scarf!!??" she repeated, incredulously. "She actually offered her very own scarf? At Summer's nod, she put her arm around the little girl and gave her a hug.
"Sweetheart, that is the most incredible thing I've heard in a long time!"
Marguerite stood up in a huff.
"I don't see what's so incredible about it, Veronica. I can sew you know. And a lot better than you've sewn that "dress" of yours."
Veronica glared up at her.
"I wasn't talking about your sewing," she said pointedly.
"Ladies, ladies," Roxton jumped in. "There are children present."
Veronica and Marguerite glanced sheepishly at the children.
"Sorry," they said at the same time, then glared at each other.
"All right, now," Ned spoke up. "We need to make a plan for tomorrow. We have to find the meadow the children mentioned and then look for the portal they came through…"
"Portal?" Veronica gave Ned a puzzled frown.
Marguerite, who had been watching the children, saw Alice give a giant yawn. Her eyes were half shut and she was slumped against Victoria. Will and Edward were also looking heavy eyed, although they were trying very hard to appear attentive.
"We'll tell you about it in a minute, Veronica," Marguerite interrupted. "I think," she nodded her head toward the group by the table, "that it's time our adventurers went to bed. They've had a very long and stressful day."
"I'm not tired," insisted Summer and then ruined it with an ear popping yawn.
Marguerite smiled at her and scooped her up into her arms.
"Well then, Summer Leigh, you can lie in bed and keep your eyes open as long as you want." She agreed, and gave the little girl a tickle. Summer giggled.
Marguerite motioned to Victoria and Alice, "Come with me girls, you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep with…" she turned around and looked at Roxton. He leered at her and raised his eyebrows. "…Veronica."
Roxton's face fell and the others laughed. Then he sighed and held his hand out to William.
"Well, Will, old man, I guess you get to sleep in my bed. Mind now, you'll have to sleep with your hands over your ears, because I snore very loudly."
"That's okay, sir. I snore, too," Will admitted solemnly. He looked up at Roxton with adoration in his eyes.
"Well, everyone," he cocked his head at Ned, Veronica, and Challenger. "You can't say that you haven't been warned! I'll be back in a minute."
He and Will headed for his room.
Edward looked up at Ned. "Does that mean that I get to bunk with you?"
"Indeed it does," Ned agreed. He put on a mock serious expression and whispered to Edward, "You don't snore do you?"
"Oh, no, sir!" Edward shook his head.
"Good man! Let's go."
As Ned took Edward back to put him to bed, Challenger filled Veronica in on the mystery surrounding the appearance of the children. He explained how the children, and they, had surmised that they, but, seemingly not Veronica, were their parents, but of an earlier time. Veronica nodded her head as he talked. Traveling back and forth in time was not a new phenomenon in the lost world.
Back in the sleeping quarters, Marguerite came slowly out of her room carrying her nightgown and wearing a goofy grin on her face. She had just kissed three adorable little girls good night, and they had all hugged and kissed her back, even Victoria. Roxton, who had just stepped out of his room, smirked at her. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.
"Aren't they remarkable children, Marguerite?" he whispered. "Just think what we have to look forward to."
"May I remind you, Lord Roxton, that many things have to happen between now and then." She looked down at his hand on her waist. "Though, I guess this is a start," she whispered saucily.
He grinned and pulled her up against him. "This is a better start." He bent his head down and kissed her thoroughly. They slowly parted. As they stepped away from each other, they were once again amazed by the passion and, yes, comfort they felt in each other's arms. Everything felt so right between them, everything but the lack of trust. Because of their backgrounds, with secrets they dared not share with anyone, trust was the hardest thing for each of them to give the other. They both knew that the time was near, very near, when they would have to resolve their conflicted feelings. But that time was not tonight. They followed each other back to the kitchen.
Now," Challenger continued as the rest of the adults came back into the room and sat around the table. "We have a problem. It seemed very clear before that these children were from our future, but now, that may not be true. Alice said that Veronica wasn't their mother. Yet, her mother's name is Veronica. So, this leads us to surmise that, in their timeline, Veronica is a different person." He walked slowly around the table, pulling on his beard. "And that, of course, makes all of our former extrapolations suspect."
"Wait, wait, Challenger," Roxton interrupted. "Are you saying that Marguerite and I won't be the parents of those children in there?" Disappointment was evident in this voice.
"Now, now Roxton," he tried to explain, "I'm not saying that you and Marguerite, or you, Veronica and Ned, won't have children together in the future. They just won't be these children."
"But, Challenger, they look so much like us, and, evidently, their real parents look very much like us, as well. If we aren't their future parents, then who are?" Marguerite swallowed the lump in her throat as she felt her children being taken away from her.
"That is an interesting question, Marguerite. You see, if Veronica is a different person in their timeline, and we are the same people, then, somewhere along the line, our lives…split away from each other. Yes, yes," he said excitedly. "That must be it. Up to a certain point," he paced more quickly, "our lives were the same, and then…some disruptive happening occurred or…or vital decision was made, that split our lives. We, that is, the five of us around this table, lived, and will continue to live a different life from our other selves that were produced by that defining moment."
Challenger sat down heavily in his chair and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief.
Ned, Roxton and Marguerite sat slumped in disappointment. Even though a few brief hours ago the biggest wish in their lives was to find a way off the plateau, a way home, they now felt how lucky they would be if they could remain on the plateau and raise families. Their old lives in London paled in comparison to the excitement they felt for their future. Their future, that included the five children who had come so unexpectedly into their lives.
Veronica looked around at her friends. She couldn't believe the changes she saw. Her exposure to the children had been brief, granted, but the others had known them only hours longer and they seemed to have been completely won over by them. One might even say obsessed. She drummed her fingers on the table.
"Look, everyone," she said. "It seems very clear to me that the cataclysmic event that changed your lives was when you arrived on the plateau. Maybe when you all met me, the other group met…someone else. A different Veronica." She shrugged and grinned at Ned. "And maybe, we're living parallel lives right now and in ten or twelve years from now, we, too, will have a whole gaggle of children."
Ned sighed. "Yeah, but they won't be these children."
Challenger had recovered from the exhaustion of explaining his previous analysis. He jumped to his feet.
"You've got it, Veronica," he said excitedly. "Parallel lives, but with key differences. Yes. That must be it! We've met copies of ourselves already." He frowned. "They usually weren't too nice, but what if there were copies of us out there who are so much like us that it would be hard to tell the difference. They would be good, decent people, struggling to stay alive, looking for a way home, but aided by a different Veronica. Yes, yes," he said, rubbing his hands together. "That would explain everything."
"I was kidding, Challenger," Veronica rolled her eyes. "A parallel us, indeed!"
"Well, eh, actually, Veronica. Not a parallel you."
"So, let me get this straight," Marguerite said, holding her hand to her aching head. "These children came, not from our future, but from the future of our parallel doubles, who are living on the plateau right now, but in a parallel world…that we can't see. So," she mused, rubbing her temple. "The children not only came back in time, but also between parallel…worlds?"
"Well done, dear Marguerite. Very succinctly put."
Marguerite groaned.
Veronica threw her hands in the air. "Do you all realize just how absurd that sounds?"
Ned had been listening with his eyes shut. He was trying to come to terms with the tragic fact that these children would never be his. He whispered to himself, "These children belong to…our parallel selves." As a sudden thought struck him, his eyes flew open. "Their parents must be hunting for them right now. They must be worried sick about them."
He jumped up and held on to the back of his chair for support. His normally tan face went pale. He looked from one of his friends to the other.
"We must find a way to send these children back. Back to the future. Because, if they were our children, we'd want them back, wouldn't we?"
Marguerite grasped Roxton's hand under the table. "Their parents must be frantic. I know we would be if our children went missing."
Roxton squeezed her hand. "We'll question the children tomorrow. The older children say that they know just where this meadow is. I just pray that the misty portal is still there."
"And that it works in reverse." Ned said quietly. The others nodded.
"Well, I suggest we all get to bed," Challenger said. "We have a very important mission to accomplish tomorrow." He stood up, stretched. "Good night, everyone." He headed down the stair to his peaceful room in his lab.
Roxton and Ned said good night, too, and went to their rooms to spend the night with the boys.
Veronica looked over at Marguerite. "I have only one pillow. You'll have to sleep without one. One blanket, too. Oh, and the mattress is stuffed with plakatronia fluff. I hope you aren't allergic."
"You know I am. But, that's all right. I plan to sleep on the couch, anyway. I want to be alone right now." Marguerite was unusually subdued.
Veronica was instantly contrite. She hadn't realized just how much these children had gotten under Marguerite's skin and into her heart.
"Look, Marguerite," she offered. "You sleep in my bed. I'm used to sleeping on that couch. It's not very comfortable."
Marguerite smiled sadly. "Thank you, Veronica, but I really do prefer sleeping out here. I'll be fine."
Impulsively, Veronica reached over and hugged Marguerite. "I'm sorry," she whispered and went back to her room.
Marguerite wasn't very sleepy. She had too many things to think about. She cleared off the table and tidied away the dishes. She noticed the sheet still hanging across the balcony and pulled it down. As she did so, she saw the tub of water full of the girl's dirty clothes. She smiled. Victoria's doing, no doubt. She got to work washing out the girl's things and hanging them over the balcony railing to dry. Then she got the boy's clothes and did the same.
The physical work had been good for her. She felt much more relaxed and ready for bed. She quickly put on her nightgown, took the sheet and spread it over the couch, fluffed up the small pillow on one end, lay down and covered herself with the old blanket that they kept over the back.
She closed her eyes and snuggled her head into the pillow. A minute later, she felt a lump pushing into her back, so she turned over and snuggled into the pillow, again. Now, something was poking her in the knee. She tried to straighten her knee and almost fell off the couch. Back and forth, she tossed and turned. The couch was more than just uncomfortable. It was impossible.
Finally, giving up, she got up and put the couch cushions on the floor. Again, she covered them with the sheet and, with the pillow in place, she stretched out on the cushions and pulled the blanket over herself. It wasn't a great bed, but, at least, nothing was poking at her. She was soon asleep.
Two hours later, John Roxton tiptoed out of his room and headed for the couch. His young roommate didn't snore, but he did wiggle, a lot. Several times Roxton had to pull him out of the crack between the mattress and the wall. And when Will wasn't sliding down in the crack, he was all over the bed. Roxton had been kicked in the stomach, the shins, had a foot in the face, twice and had, finally, been pushed entirely off the bed. Through it all, Will never woke up. Roxton had had enough. He knew the couch wasn't comfortable, but at least it would be all his.
As he approached the couch, he almost fell over something on the floor. Flailing his arms to regain his balance, he could see in the dim light filtering in through the balcony, that someone had made a bed out of the couch cushions. Someone had beaten him to it.
"Damn," he whispered to himself. Then he noticed Marguerite's clothes hanging on the back of the kitchen chair. His eyes sparkled in the moonlight. This was his lucky night.
Very carefully, he lifted the blanket and slipped in beside his sleeping beauty. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his nose into her hair. She smelled lots better then William. Marguerite made a little noise and flipped over to snuggle up to Roxton with her head on his chest. Roxton sighed and held her close. He was soon fast asleep, dreaming dreams of the future.
**
The early morning sun was just filtering into the treehouse when Marguerite was suddenly awakened by something warm and heavy sitting on top of her. She opened one eye and found Summer's grinning face inches from her own. She closed her eyes with a groan.
"Mar-greet, Mar-greet, wake up!" Summer begged. Using her finger, she lifted Marguerite's eyelid.
"What is it, Summer? Do you know how early it is?"
"Mar-greet, I gotta go! Right now!"
"Well, go, then. I showed you where to go last night." Marguerite mumbled, trying not to wake up too thoroughly.
Summer patted her cheek. "That's right, I forgot," Summer giggled. She started to roll off of her when, instead, she leaned sideways and said, "Morning, John. I gotta go." And with that, she rolled all the way off, jumped up and headed down the steps.
Marguerite froze. Now that Summer had gone, she noticed the other warm body spooned behind her and the very male arm across her stomach.
"John Richard Roxton, that had better not be you!" she whispered angrily.
"Who do you want it to be?" John whispered back.
"Ahhhh!" Marguerite moaned in frustration. She sat up and turned towards him.
John put both arms behind his head and grinned up at her. "Good morning, Marguerite. Slept well, I hope?"
"What are you doing in my bed," she whispered fiercely.
"Well, Your Highness, officially it's not your bed, it's the couch. And I'm lying here because the young fellow who is sharing a bed with me, failed to tell me that he performed gymnastics in his sleep. Damned hard to sleep with a foot in your face," he grumbled.
"Fine, but when you saw I was sleeping here, why didn't you go somewhere else?"
"Last I heard," he drawled, "you were going to share a bed with Veronica. Now, as much as she likes me, I don't think she would welcome my taking your place." He raised himself up on his elbows so that their faces were very close together, "And, since you're so crazy about me," his eyes held hers, "I didn't think you would mind, too much, sharing your bed with me."
He leaned up to claim her lips but she pushed him back down. There was a familiar gleam in her eye.
"Crazy about you? You're awfully sure of yourself, aren't you, Lord Roxton?" she purred, leaning down over his face. She let her lips ever so lightly brush his. "But, next time you want to share my bed…ask first."
The pillow she had been gripping behind her back came out and hit him squarely in the face.
Marguerite scrambled up quickly, snatched her clothes off the chair, and giggled, as John grabbed the pillow and swung it at her retreating form.
"Why you little tease," he growled under his breath. Then he lay back on his folded arms, grinning. "Next time, eh? There will certainly be a next time if I have anything to say about it."
He was just starting to indulge himself in one of his very favorite fantasies when Veronica walked by, heading for the shower.
"Why, John," she grinned. "I thought Marguerite was sleeping there?"
Roxton was nothing if not a gentleman. He lifted up the blanket and peeked under it.
"Nope, don't see her anywhere around here, Veronica."
"Too bad," she said and they smirked at each other.
Suddenly, loud shrieks and screams from the bedroom area had John on his feet. He and Veronica ran pell-mell towards the source of the dreadful sounds. They seemed to be coming from Marguerite's room.
They stopped in her doorway.
Marguerite sat on her bed with her hands folded in her lap with Alice kneeling behind her dragging a brush through her long, dark hair. Victoria was clipping earrings in her ears. Each ear had a different earring. Victoria had the matching set clipped to her ears. Around her neck was an array of necklaces.
Will stood in front of the mirror that had been set on the floor, against the wall. He pushed his hands deep in the pockets of his shorts and then quickly drew them out and shot his finger-guns at his reflection. He wore Roxton's hat, cocked at a rakish angle, on his head. The brim almost covered his eyes. On his feet were Roxton's boots, the tops reached to his mid-thigh. Edward, attired in a pair of Ned's pants, the legs stuffed into Ned's boots, was pushing at Will, trying to get him to move over and give him a turn at the looking glass. Summer was jumping up and down behind the boys as, she, too, tried to get a look at herself dressed in Marguerite's silk nightgown.
The noise level was deafening.
"Move, Will! It's my turn. Move!" shouted Edward, pushing Will, while at the same time keeping one hand on the waistband of Ned's pants that were in danger of sliding to the floor.
"Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!" Will bellowed, his finger-guns moving at blazing speed.
"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Summer shrieked. She popped up and down behind them like a jack-in-the-box.
Alice loudly counted the strokes as she brushed. "Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty…if you don't hold still, Marguerite, your hair will tangle! Thirty- three, thirty-four…"
"Ouch," winced Marguerite as the brush caught in her hair.
"See!" admonished Alice.
"Pucker your lips up like this, Marguerite." Victoria demonstrated for her. "My mother says that it's quite all right to put rouge on ones lips if one is feeling particularly pale" she explained as she puffed on the rouge until Marguerite's lips and chin were a pleasing pink.
Summer was losing her temper with the boys. She spotted Roxton and Veronica in the doorway and walked as quickly as she could, holding up the gown, over to them. She grabbed their hands and pulled them into the room.
"John, Ronica, " she demanded, "Make those awful boys move so that I can look. They are being so mean!"
Marguerite, on seeing John and Veronica come into the room, jumped up. Alice went tumbling backwards on the bed and bumped her head smartly on the wall. She let out a wail. The powder puff was knocked out of Victoria's hand and flew up in the air, only to land on top of Roxton's hat, leaving a large, pink spot.
"Hey!" yelled Will. He plucked the puff off of the hat and threw it at Victoria. It hit her square in the chest, leaving another pink spot on the white chemise of Marguerite's that she was wearing.
"Look what you've done, now, Will Roxton," Victoria screamed.
Edward seized this opportunity to push past Will and claim the mirror for himself. Will shoved back. Both boys, overbalanced in their huge boots, went down on the floor. The boots kept them from bending their knees, so all they could do was roll around on the floor until they could grab on to something to pull themselves up. The whole time they were shouting abuse at each other.
Summer stood in the middle of the room, still holding hands with the two amused observers, when she saw that the space in front of the mirror was now vacant.
She smiled up at her two helpers.
"Thank you," she said politely. And, quite oblivious to the chaos around her, she tripped over to the mirror where she primped and posed to her hearts content.
Veronica, released by Summer, strode over and picked up Alice, who was rubbing her head and crying.
"Let me take a look, Sweetheart," she said, as Alice clung to her neck.
Marguerite stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, for once at a loss for words. Roxton cocked one eyebrow at her.
"Having fun, Marguerite?" he smirked.
Just as he said the taunting words, Will and Edward managed to roll over to him and grab one pant leg each to pull themselves up. Roxton's pants, not being very well fastened in his haste to get up, slowly descended to the floor right along with the boys.
Marguerite took one look at the shock on Roxton's face and burst out laughing. She doubled over, holding her stomach.
The girls, their attention caught by Marguerite's hysterics, took one look at Lord Roxton standing in his long underwear with his trousers puddled around his ankles, two little boys still attached, and they started laughing, too. Even Alice forgot her hurt and giggled along with Veronica.
The boys had frozen in place, waiting to see how much trouble they were in.
Roxton, with as much dignity as he could muster, said, "Well, I certainly don't have to stand here and be laughed at,"
With one more hurt look at Marguerite, he shuffled to the door, dragging the boys, who still held onto his pants, with him.
The boys let go as they bumped into the door jam. Roxton looked sadly at them as he bent down, pulled up his trousers and strode off. Will and Edward looked at each other. They quickly sat up, and helped each other pull off the offending pants and boots. They jumped to their feet and ran out the door. Just like in their own timeline, they knew that hiding out with Grandpa George in his laboratory was definitely in their best interest.
Marguerite backed up and sat down on her bed. She was still laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. Giggling, Victoria and Summer climbed up on the bed on either side of her and patted her on her back and wiped at her eyes as she slowly gained control.
Veronica, with Alice still in her arms, sat down beside Marguerite. Every time she looked over at her, she would start laughing all over again. Alice patted her on the cheek.
"Veronica, Veronica, stop laughing. You're bouncing me off your lap!" she pleaded.
That only made Veronica and the other girls laugh harder as Alice, true to her prediction, began to slide to the floor. Veronica grabbed her up and hugged her to her chest as the giggling died down and they all finally got themselves under control.
"Well, that was…fun, girls," Marguerite remarked, wiping the last of the tears out of her eyes. "But it's time we got ourselves dressed and have something to eat."
Marguerite looked around at her room. It looked as if one of Challenger experiments had gone off in it. She looked over pleadingly at Veronica.
"Veronica, do you think you could help the girls get dressed and then fix them some breakfast? I need to straighten up here."
Veronica shrugged. "Sure, I'll be glad to." She smiled down at Alice.
"Great! Their clothes are hanging over the balcony railing and I think there's some bread and fruit in the kitchen."
"I know what's here, Marguerite," Veronica assured her, giving her a strange look.
Domestic Marguerite. An oxymoron.
"Marguerite?" Victoria looked up at her shyly. "May I stay and help you tidy up? I'm a good helper. Really, I am."
Marguerite was flattered. The child really seemed to want to be with her.
"Sure, Tori. I'd like that."
Victoria grinned up at her. "I'll just run and get my clothes." She ran out the door and then ran back in. "Maybe when we're finished, you can brush my hair?" She ran out again.
Veronica laughed.
"Seems you've made a conquest, Marguerite."
She took Alice and Summer by the hand and led them out the door.
Marguerite sat slowly down on her bed. This situation was getting worse. These children were stealing her heart and there was nothing she could do about it. She suspected that their very presence was making her a different, if not a better, person. She was surprised to find that her concern for the well being of these children was taking precedence over her concern for her own.
Did she want children? She admitted to herself that she wasn't getting any younger. For the first time in her life, she heard the tick of her maternal clock.
That thought lead, quite logically, to thoughts of John Roxton. Did he love her? Did she love him? Marguerite had been married before, several times before. But none of those marriages had been for love. She thought no man was worth loving, until she was thrown together with Lord Roxton. At first she thought he was just another man, like all the men she knew. Interested in shallow, self-serving relationships. But now she knew the real John. The kind, compassionate, loyal, funny, caring, frustrating, aggravating, honest human being that was John. He wore his heart on his sleeve and it was becoming clear that he wore it for her. And that made her afraid.
And yet, the Marguerite and John that lived in the children's timeline had fallen in love, had married, and had four wonderful children. Could it be possible for them to do the same thing in this timeline? Was she brave enough to tear down her walls and trust this man? Was she?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the breathless arrival of Victoria. She had gotten herself dressed and had washed and hung out to dry the white chemise she had borrowed from Marguerite. The pink spot was hardly noticeable.
Marguerite smiled warmly at the young girl. Victoria thought to herself that perhaps she had been wrong in thinking that this woman was so different from her mother. She smiled back.
"I'm ready to help," she announced. "Gosh, this room is a mess. Those kids!" she said from habit.
They talked as they worked; about the mess they were cleaning up, about the children, and even a little bit about Victoria's life. While Victoria dragged the men's boots to their rooms, Marguerite hung the mirror back on the wall. They got the clothes hung up. They made the bed. Their last job was sorting the good size pile of earrings, necklaces and bracelets that came out of the covers.
"Are any of these necklaces like your mother's?" Marguerite asked curiously.
Victoria picked two up and let them run through her fingers. "Some of them are," she answered quietly. "But she has a whole bunch more then you have. Dad is always giving her new ones. He'll call her "Your Highness" and then fasten one around her neck. She'll laugh and say that a lord should always kneel before a queen. Then he'll say, that if that were so, then he would be on his knees all day, because she is the queen of his heart." Victoria looked up at Marguerite with tears in her eyes.
"I miss them so much."
Marguerite pulled her into her arms. "Of course you do, Sweetheart. We'll find you all a way home, very soon. I promise."
**
Ned was helping Veronica feed the children. Every few minutes he would glance over at her then look away. Veronica didn't know whether to be amused or uncomfortable. When the children were served and were tucking in with great appetite, Ned whispered to her that he would like to talk to her in private. Veronica agreed and followed him down in the elevator.
As they stepped out onto the jungle floor, Ned rubbed his hands on his pants nervously.
"Eh, Veronica," he stammered, "I was wondering if we could talk about the future…our future.
"Ned," Veronica frowned, "We've talked about our relationship before. We decided to just be friends, remember?"
"I know, I know," Ned nodded holding his palms towards her in a placating gesture. "But you must know that I don't look on you as just a friend. My feelings for you are…much stronger."
Veronica sighed and turned away to walk over to the outdoor table. She started fiddling with the objects on it.
"Ned, you know that I can't leave the plateau with you. I have to stay here and continue looking for my parents. My life is here and yours is in London."
"I don't know about that anymore," Ned said as he looked up at the treehouse.
Veronica turned around to face him.
"This change of heart has to do with Edward and Alice, doesn't it," she surmised.
He nodded and looked down. Veronica's heart went out to him, but she knew that he had to face reality.
"Ned, Challenger said that these children wouldn't be yours, remember?" She walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. "They're great kids, and maybe someday you'll have children just as wonderful. You and Gladys."
Ned's face froze.
"You know that I've put my feelings for Gladys behind me," he snapped. "And, besides, she can't have children." He paused. "I thought that I was resigned to never being a father, but now…I know that being a father is something that I really want."
"Are you sure that your strong feelings for me didn't come on as suddenly as your desire to be a father?"
Ned looked down and grinned.
"My feelings for you started a long, long time ago," he said meeting Veronica's eye.
His face took on a serious cast. "Veronica, please tell me if there is any hope for us. Do you have any feelings for me beyond just friendship?"
He held his breath waiting for her answer.
Veronica took her time answering. She wandered back over to the table and picked up a rock from a pile Marguerite was sorting. She hefted it in her hand and then put it down again. She leaned on the table with both arms straight out, her head hung in thought.
Finally, Ned could not stand it another minute.
"Well," he said sadly, "Your answer is obvious. I'm sorry I put you on the spot.
He started walking back towards the elevator.
"Wait, Ned!"
Veronica walked quickly over to him and put her arms around him. He held her tight as she rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating a fast rhythm.
Her answer came out slowly, mumbled against his chest.
"When you and…the others…talk about finding a way off of the plateau, and…going home, it…hurts me. You all seem to think that being stranded here is a disaster…that your lives have been…held up…that you're just marking time until you can resume your real lives."
She sniffled a little. "But…but…I live here. This is my real life. The plateau is my home and I can't leave. You know that! I owe it to my parents to never stop looking for them, as long as there's the least bit of hope.'
Her sniffle had now turned into real tears. "Everyone who loves me…leaves me. And…and now you say that you love me…but I know…that you'll leave me, too…as soon as you find a way back home."
She leaned back so that she could see his face. Her words came faster, now. "I don't want to love you, Ned. I couldn't stand to give you my love and then…see you leave."
Suddenly, she was in a rage…a rage against fate. "Even if I do care for you as more than a friend, I…I'm not going to act on it! I won't be hurt that way again!"
She pushed away from him, stomped over to the table and stood there, her back towards him. Her arms were folded across her chest, which was heaving in agitation.
Her words gave Ned hope, but alarmed him as well. He had to make Veronica understand the epiphany he had so recently experienced.
He took a deep breath and walked over to stand behind her.
"Veronica, I know that this sounds sudden, but I hope you can believe me when I tell you this. In the last twenty-four hours, my life, my plans, my dreams have changed. I…I don't quite understand what happened, myself. All I know is that I see so clearly now what I want, and one of those things is you…in my life."
He paused and said, "The other thing I know is that…I want to stay here with you. I want us to make a life here and…" Here he paused again, blushing at his boldness. "And, someday, have a family of our own."
He reached out and turned Veronica around. The look in her eyes gave him courage.
"I want you to be the mother of my children, my sweet Veronica," he whispered seriously. He cupped her cheeks with his strong hands as he saw the tears in her eyes. "There is not a doubt in my mind that our children will be as wonderful as those two up there."
She smiled, though her eyes glistened. "They are pretty wonderful, aren't they?"
Ned smiled back. "So?" He tilted his head to look into her lower eyes. "Do you think you'd like to work on this plan with me?"
Doubt and fear again sweep through her. She had to hear his promise again. "So, if you all found a way home tomorrow, you wouldn't change your mind?"
Ned shook his head as he pulled her against his chest. "Nope. They'd have to go without me. I mean it, Sweetheart, you're stuck with me." He hugged her tighter. "That is…if you'll have me."
Veronica, for all her strength, her warrior courage, was trembling in this man's arms. As he spoke to her, she found herself wanting to believe in his dream. Wanting to, more then she thought possible. But, what he said also frightened her as no apeman or cannibal or dinosaur ever had.
She took a shaky breath. "I can't promise anything right now, Ned." She felt him wilt with her words. "But…but, I'm willing to work on it."
Ned's grin spread from ear to ear. "That's all that I ask!"
Their kiss was full of hope, and want, and promise.
**
Marguerite and Victoria, finished with their cleaning, walked into the kitchen area to have breakfast. They walked in on what was becoming the norm…pandemonium.
The children, having finished their breakfast, were under the supervision of Roxton. He had made the mistake of lifting Alice up to see if she could reach the roof. After that, of course, everyone wanted a turn. The boys' competitive spirits thrived on such tests. When Will wanted to stand on Roxton's shoulders, John finally called the competition off.
Then Summer, who was standing on the top step leading up to the elevator called out, "John, John, watch me jump!"
Roxton caught her just before she would have landed painfully on the floor. He had no sooner set her down then Alice shouted, "Catch me, too!" He did, and then there was Summer, at the top again.
Will and Edward were waiting behind Summer.
"I don't need anybody to catch me," Edward boasted.
"Me, neither," Will declared.
"No! No more!" shouted Roxton, catching Summer for the second time.
"That's not fair," complained Edward. "Summer had two turns and we didn't get even one!"
"I want to jump by myself, too," chimed in Alice, pushing up behind Will.
Will joined forces with Edward. A move that had daunted many an adult before.
"Yeah! Not fair!"
"You heard me," Roxton said through gritted teeth. He was holding Summer by her waist under one arm and was lifting Alice down with the other, when Marguerite and Victoria entered.
The ladies grinned at each other. Victoria, because she had seen this scenario many times before, and Marguerite because she enjoyed seeing John playing daddy.
"Having fun, John?" she taunted.
Victoria, who knew that these children would never stop, since they now realized they were dealing with amateurs, came to the rescue.
She put her hands on her hips, feet spread apart. She glared around at the four little terrors, and frowned a terrible frown. The younger children were instantly quiet.
"William and Edward. You two hooligans get down here immediately and apologize to John for arguing with him."
She turned to the two girls who were still dangling from Roxton's arms. Their little heads snapped up as they felt Victoria's attention on them.
"Alice and Summer. You have been acting like spoiled babies. You need to tell John that you are very, very sorry for your behavior."
Having set everything straight, Victoria sat down at the table across from Marguerite.
John set the girls down and they immediately grabbed his legs and looked up at him with trembling lower lips.
"I'm very, very sorry, John," they said simultaneously, then buried their faces against his pants legs.
Edward walked down the steps and stood at attention in front of him. Will scrambled down behind him. He looked over at Edward and stood up straight, too.
Edward held out his right hand and said, "Please accept my apology, Uncle John."
Will quickly stuck out his hand, too. "Please accept my apology, too, Uncle…Daddy…John," he stammered.
He raised his eyebrows and looked up at John with his lopsided smile. John looked down at his mirror image and smiled back.
"Apologies accepted all round," he said vigorously, rubbing his hands together.
He cocked his head over at Marguerite, who was sitting at the table with Victoria, eating fruit.
"Ah, Marguerite, I'll just turn the care of these lovely young people over to you, now, and, ah, gather up Ned, Veronica and Challenger, so that we can get started looking for this meadow."
"What?!!" five voices whined in unison.
Marguerite jumped up.
"If you think that I'm going to stay here like…like some nanny, while the rest of you go adventuring, then you'd better think again!"
"Calm down, Marguerite," he said trying to head off an explosion. "We thought we'd just take a preliminary look around and come right back. We need to see if we can even find the meadow with the portal before we all trek out into the jungle with the children."
Marguerite sat back down with a huff. "Well, all right, then. But see that you hurry back."
Victoria, who had been listening to this exchange with great interest, spoke up.
"But, John, how will you find the meadow? And if you do manage to find it, do you know where to look for the portal? I think that Edward, Will or I should come with you to give you directions. After all, we made our way here by ourselves. We can find our way back."
This was said in a polite manner, but there was steel in her eyes.
Roxton was very familiar with that gray-eyed, stubborn look. He sat down next to the raven-haired little girl.
"Victoria, I see your point. If one of you could show us the way to the meadow, it would indeed save us some time. However, the jungle is a very dangerous place right now. And we, the adults that is, feel extremely reluctant to endanger you children if it's not necessary."
"It seems to me, John," Marguerite interjected, "that the faster we find the meadow, the less exposed any of us would be to the dangers of the jungle."
Victoria gave her a grateful look for her support.
"Good point, Marguerite. But…" He glanced over at Victoria and seeing the stubborn look intensify, he hastily went on. "I'll tell you what, we'll ask Veronica…"
"Ask Veronica what?" The elevator had reached the top of the treehouse without the group around the table noticing. Veronica stepped out followed closely by Ned.
Roxton thought that there was something different about his friends, but he shook off the notion and continued.
"If you know where this meadow is that the children say is the home of the time portal?"
Veronica walked over to the table and picked up Alice. She sat down in the vacated chair with the golden haired child on her lap. Alice looked up at her in surprise, but then she smiled and leaned back.
Ned ruffled Edward's hair and pulled up a chair next to him. He and Veronica shared a look. This caused Roxton and Marguerite to share a look of their own. Roxton raised his eyebrows inquiringly and Marguerite shrugged slightly in reply. There were brought back to the present when Veronica answered.
"I'm not sure just where it is. There are quite a few meadows and open fields on the plateau. She looked over at Edward and asked, "Edward, could you describe it in detail for me?" She smiled at him.
Edward smiled back. Then he frowned in concentration. He really wanted to impress Veronica. What had Professor Challenger called her? The Jungle Princess. Yes. That was it. Edward found his mind wandering. A story was forming in his mind…a story about a young lad and the Jungle Princess fighting raptors, as they hunted for the lost treasure…
"Edward?" Ned nudged him gently.
"What? Oh. Right," Edward said sheepishly. He concentrated hard.
"Well, the meadow is a beautiful place," he began with enthusiasm. "We play there a lot. It's a great place for a picnic and we can practice shooting and throwing spears 'cause Dad and Uncle John set up targets at the end of the field in front of the cliff face. The Zangas play there with us. My best friend is Atoo. He's Jarl's son and he's just my age." He realized that everyone was looking at him. "Oh, you want to know where it is, don't you. Well, that's easy. If you go down the main road to the Zanga village, you turn off at the path that leads to the stream, but you don't go all the way to the stream. When you get to the storage shed, you take the trail to the left that goes around behind it and the meadow is about, oh, ten…or thirty minutes walk from there. Course," he said thoughtfully, "you could take the shortcut that we took to get here, but the path isn't very clear anymore 'til you get to the stream and then me and Will could tell where to go from there…I think."
Out of all this rambling, Veronica gleaned a few facts to mull over.
"So the meadow is near a stream, but not too near, and at one end it has a cliff face." Veronica smiled at the little boy. Edward nodded.
Will couldn't keep silent.
"I could get you there. Edward doesn't know what to look for." He spoke slowly as if they were slow in comprehension. "The trail is full of moss covered rocks at the beginning and at the end are lots of trees with big, green leaves." Will folded his arms across his chest, and nodded his head as if he had settled the matter.
The adults looked at each other. This was getting them nowhere.
"I want to go with you. I'll know if we find the right meadow. It's silly for you to go out looking at meadow after meadow, if you won't be able to tell if it is the right one when you find it." Victoria was totally serious.
Veronica nodded at her, as serious as she was.
"You're right, Tori. That makes sense." She looked around at the others. "I vote we take Victoria with us."
"Now, wait just a minute, Veronica," Marguerite's maternal instincts couldn't agree to this reckless course of action. "You said yourself that the apemen are roaming close to here. It's too dangerous to take Tori with you!"
Roxton stood behind her and laid a restraining hand on her shoulder.
"It's all right, Marguerite. I won't let anything happen to her. You trust me on this don't you?"
She looked up at him and what she saw in his eyes moved her to cover his hand with hers.
"Yes, I do."
She knew how much these children meant to him. Her trust in him was total. She had never felt so close to him as she did this minute. It was a closeness not of the usual flirtatious, passionate nature but more a closeness of a partnership. A partnership in keeping loved ones safe.
He turned his hand over and squeezed hers.
"It's settle then. Let's get George up here and we'll get started."
Roxton went down to the lab to fill Challenger in on their plans. An hour later, they were ready to depart.
Everyone was subdued. Even little Summer was quiet. She and Alice sat on the couch, out of the way of the hustle and bustle. When it was time to go, emotions were high. Marguerite gave Victoria a big hug and kiss. She did the same to Roxton. Somehow, without them even realizing it, their relationship had changed…had matured.
The elevator took the hunters down into the jungle and left Marguerite alone with four very restless children. They were getting tired of staying in the treehouse. They didn't have the resources they were used to. They couldn't roam around outside and they didn't have their toys and games to play with inside.
After hearing them whine and complain for an hour, Marguerite had finally had enough. She told the boys they had a choice. Either find something to keep themselves occupied or go take a nap. They disappeared in the direction of Challenger's lab. Marguerite had a niggling feeling that this wasn't a good idea, but then she got busy and forgot about them.
She sat with Alice and Summer teaching them to sew a simple hem. She, as promised, made Dolly a dress out of her beautiful blue scarf.
They were sewing and singing silly songs when a loud explosion made them jump. Marguerite felt her heart plummet into her stomach as she raced down to the lab where thick, black smoke was billowing up from the corner of the room.
Out of the smoke two blackened faces appeared.
"It's all right, Marguerite," Edward assured her. "I've done this experiment hundreds of times. It smokes a lot but nothing catches on fire…honest."
"You're forgetting the time Grandpa's papers burned up," William supplied helpfully.
"Well, they weren't important papers," snapped Edward.
"What is that dreadful smell?" asked Alice, pinching her nose.
"Oh, that? We spilled a little bit of Grandpa Challenger's ingredients. But just a little!" Edward reassured her. "The smell goes away in a few hours."
Marguerite looked around at the mess and felt partly to blame. She shouldn't have left the boys alone, unsupervised.
She surprised everyone, including herself, when she didn't get angry but said in a firm voice.
"You must promise to never, ever play in Challenger's lab without his supervision." They nodded. "Now, wash your faces and gather up that mess in a bucket. We'll take it outside and bury it."
She paused thoughtfully as she looked down at the two soot-streaked faces. "I think an hour pulling weeds from the garden will give you time to think about what a dangerous thing you two did. After that, you boys will have to find something less dangerous to play with."
"Yes, Marguerite!" Edward and Will said gratefully. They were extremely happy that they weren't in more trouble and that they got to go outside.
They quickly shoveled the experiment into a bucket and soon all five of them were outside digging a deep hole to hide the evidence. When they had finished their gardening chore, Marguerite remembered about the throwing disk that was left behind by a family from the future. They played with that long into the afternoon.
**
After much debate, the search party decided to go with Victoria's recommendation and retrace the children's steps in reverse. They felt that this was the only sure way of reaching the correct meadow since the roads and trails Victoria was used to following were years away from being cleared.
Following Victoria's directions, they skirted the electric fence, rounded the outcropping of rocks, and plunged into the dark forest where the fast running stream emerged to flow past the treehouse and on down to the river. The explorers were amazed that the children had found their way through the tangled, matted undergrowth. Even walking next to the stream was not easy going. They spotted signs of the children's passage and hoped that the apemen had not also spotted the same signs.
Challenger took the lead. He kept his rifle at the ready. If there was one tribe on the plateau he really disliked running into, it was the apemen. Ned and Veronica walked at the rear of the procession. They, too, kept a sharp look out for trouble, but that didn't stop them from being very aware of each other. Veronica actually blushed with Ned picked a flower and tucked it behind her ear. Roxton, who happened to be looking back at them at that moment, thought the gesture goopy in the extreme, that is until he saw Veronica's adoring look at Ned. "Hmmm," he thought, "I'll have to try that one on Marguerite."
He felt a tug on his pants and looked down to see Victoria's looking up at him inquisitively. She tossed her head back to indicate that she had seen the interaction between the two behind them.
Her gray eyes were alight with speculation. "Do you think that Ned loves Veronica?" she asked.
Stalling for time, John asked a question in reply, "What makes you say that, Tori?"
"Well," she said after a moment's thought. "Ned's always looking at her and he gets her things and they argue a lot…"
Roxton laughed. "Sounds like love to me."
Victoria silently marched along beside him for a minute, then she cast her expressive eyes up at the tall man walking beside her.
"They act just like you and Marguerite," she said slyly.
"Now, just a minute there," Roxton stopped in a huff. "Marguerite and I have a very…different relationship. We may have our disagreements, true, and there may, and I say may, be some, uh, attraction between us, but we are two mature adults who are past the giddy, flirtations of youth. We have developed, over the past few years, a certain…respect for each other and…"
"You love her, don't you," she grinned at him.
Roxton took a deep breath to deny it, but something told him that there was no hiding the truth from this remarkable young lady. He blew out his breath.
"Beyond all reason," Roxton admitted with a shake of his head.
Victoria nodded her head sagely. "Thought so," she said with satisfaction.
Roxton was suddenly very worried. "Now, this is just between the two of us, Victoria," he cautioned.
Victoria shrugged offhandedly. "Everyone already knows."
"Impossible!" Roxton exclaimed. He was silent a minute. "Even Marguerite?" He looked down at her uneasily.
Victoria nodded her head. "Even Summer!" she laughed.
"Oh, God!" Roxton muttered.
They walked in silence. The trail, if one could call it a trail, was very difficult to traverse. Roxton often had to lift Victoria over fallen trees and branches. Challenger, who had himself been badly scratched by a giant thorn bush, could only shake his head at the thought of these young children walking through this dangerous and, often, deadly jungle.
"Divine protection," he whispered to himself.
Almost two hours later, the exhausted group reached a clearing. Here the ground was littered with moss-covered rocks. The five sat down on the cushiony mounds to take a rest. Victoria looked around and nodded her head in satisfaction.
"I've been here before." She pointed to a barely discernible path in front of them. "We were going to go that way, past the rock castle, to get to the treehouse, but the boys wanted to take the shortcut we just used."
Roxton and Challenger paled when she mentioned the rock castle. They realized that she was referring to the rock formation where Summer had been trapped by the raptors. If the children had taken that route, they would have been helpless against the ravenous pack of scavenger attracted by the dead raptors.
"Divine intervention, indeed," Challenger whispered to Roxton.
Victoria looked carefully around the clearing. She was nervous that she wouldn't be able to recognize the path that would lead them to the meadow. She let out an audible sigh of relief when she looked behind her and saw the small trail disappearing into the shadows of the forest.
She jumped to her feet excitedly and pointed to the path.
"There, there!" she shouted. "That path will take us to the meadow."
Suddenly, with a heart-stopping roar, the clearing was swarming with brown, furry apemen. They came from all directions. Victoria screamed as Roxton threw her to the ground behind one of the tallest rocks.
"Quiet," he whispered fiercely.
Her face in the dirt, Victoria tried to lie as still as possible. She could hear the apemen roaring out their rage as they attacked and attacked again. Gunshots echoed through the clearing along with howls and grunts of pain. She heard her friends calling out "Watch out!" "Behind you!" "Get down!" And still the apemen came.
Suddenly, she was picked up around her waist by a hairy arm. Scared out of her mind, she thrashed out at the horrid, smelly beast that held her and screamed, "Daddy!"
"Tori! Hold still!" Roxton bellowed.
Victoria froze and seconds later she felt the impact of a bullet hitting the apeman. The apeman howled and threw her to the ground as he fell dead. Victoria grunted as she landed hard. Roxton was instantly there, picking her up and holding her tight.
"Are you all right?" he asked over and over. Victoria could only sob and cling to him. He carried her away from the sight of the carnage that lay over the once peaceful clearing. The adventurers hurried on but they had not escape the confrontation unscathed. Challenger was limping badly, having been hit in the leg by a stone thrown with great force. Ned and Veronica had come away with many cuts and bruises, and Roxton had been clubbed in the side.
They hurried as fast as they could down the trail that Victoria had indicated earlier. Roxton carried Victoria and the other flanked them, keeping a vigilant eye out for another attack. At last, sore and exhausted, they reached the meadow that they sought.
**
The long afternoon wore on. Marguerite sat on the bench by the worktable outside the treehouse, watching the children play. They had gone in for luncheon, honey sandwiches and fruit, around noon, but now the shadows were long on the grass and the children were starting to wilt. Summer came over to sit with her. She leaned against Marguerite and danced her Dolly around aimlessly, admiring the way the new dress moved in the breeze.
She stopped her play to yawn. "I'm hungry, Mar-greet," she whined.
Marguerite frowned. She knew the children would soon be wanting their dinner, but she was at a loss as to what to feed them. She had faked her way through lunch, giving them a treat instead of good nutrition. Dinner would have to be better for them. She mentally ran through the list of things she knew how to cook. It didn't take long. Sandwiches; peeled fruits and vegetables; coffee; and soup. Soup! That was it.
"How would you all like a nice bowl of soup for your dinners?" she asked the children.
"What kind?" Will asked suspiciously.
Marguerite was taken aback. "Well, Will, what kind would you like?" she asked him sweetly.
He cut his eyes over to Edward. "Snake soup," he said with a straight face.
Marguerite swallowed hard.
Alice giggled.
"Snake soup! Snake soup! chanted Summer.
Edward pursed his lips as if in deep contemplation.
"I don't know, Will," he said slowly. "We had snake soup last week. I'm thinking…" he tapped his finger on his chin, "raptor tail soup."
Both Alice and Summer giggled behind their hands.
Marguerite stood up and put her hands on her hips. "You know what kind of soup I'm thinking?" She wandered slowly around the yard. They all looked at her expectantly.
"Children soup!" she yelled and took off after the children who screamed and fled in all directions.
Marguerite roared like a dinosaur as she chased the boys around the base of the treehouse. The little girls ran after her until she turned around and ran after them.
They were soon laughing so hard that they ran out of breath and collapsed in a heap on top of Marguerite, who was the first to fall.
They lay there panting, giggles breaking out now and then. Finally, Marguerite sat up, shedding the children who were lying all over her.
"All right, you cannibals, let's go fix dinner. And" she dictated, "the soup of the day will be…vegetable."
"Awww," the boys moaned.
But they all got up with good spirit and went up into the treehouse. They washed their hands and faces, and everyone helped cut up the vegetables. Soon a savory soup was boiling on the stove.
While the soup was cooking, Marguerite had the children help her clean out a small corner of the treehouse that Arthur Summerlee, who was still missing, had used as a bedroom. She made up a bed in this tiny alcove for the boys. Alice and Summer pouted with jealousy. They, too, wanted their very own room. Marguerite thought hard and finally put cushions on the floor in one corner of her room and hung a gauzy shawl to screen it in. The girls were thrilled and wanted to go to bed right then. Marguerite laughed and reminded them that they needed to have dinner first.
The dinner proved to be a great success. The children declared the soup delicious and compliment each other on what good cooks they were becoming. Marguerite breathed a sigh of relief that this was the last meal she would have to prepare. Tomorrow, one of the others would take over the cooking again.
Not long after dinner, the children were clean and dressed for bed. Marguerite allowed Edward to tell them a bedtime story while she cleaned up the kitchen. Edward was an amazingly good storyteller. His imagination knew no bounds. The other children sat on the couch spellbound as he wove his tale of thrilling adventures.
The kitchen clean and the story finally over (at least that chapter of it), the four children eagerly retired to their new, secret hideaways. Marguerite hugged and kissed them all good night. For just a minute, Will was upset that Tori wasn't there, too. But Marguerite put her arm around him and reassured him that his sister would be back in the treehouse when he woke up in the morning. A reassurance that she needed badly, herself.
The children had been asleep for hours. Night had closed in around the treehouse. It's light shone out like a beacon high in the canopy…a beacon to lead the weary hunters safely home.
Safely home. Marguerite sat on the couch pretending to read and wished that very wish. She listened to the jungle noises, which, after three years, were as familiar to her as the noises of a London street. Every minute she expected to hear the noise of the elevator.
She put down her unread book and picked up one of Will's boots. She had wiped the mud from the children shoes and washed their clothes, again. That was when she noticed that Will's boots were almost worn through on the bottom. As she inspected the small boot, she saw that it was made of raptor hide. She had never stopped to think about where the children's clothes came from, but now she realized that everything they wore had to come from the plateau. It must be quite a job to keep six children clothed, not to mention fed. Marguerite felt new respect for the children's parents. The children were so fun and sweet but their upkeep must tax the ingenuity of all of the adults.
She was so engrossed in her musings that the elevator was halfway to the top before it registered with her that the others were home. She sprang from her seat and rushed to the steps just as the first three hunters came staggering off. Challenger barely acknowledged her. He limped over to a chair and sat down with a moan. Next to step off were the two people that she had been the most anxious about.
Roxton had his arm around Victoria's shoulder. She looked as if she had just woken up, which in fact, she had. Ned and John had taken turns carrying her, fast asleep, the last few miles home. She was dirty and scratched and her hair was wild, full of tiny leaves and twigs. She took one look at Marguerite and ran, sobbing, into her arms. Marguerite gathered the child into her embrace and rocked her slightly back and forth, patting her on the back.
She looked up at Roxton over Victoria's head. He looked pale and exhausted. Marguerite longed to take him into her arms as well. Behind him, the elevator came back up with Ned and Veronica. No one had said anything.
Roxton licked his lips and reached out to put his hand on Victoria's head.
"The child is exhausted," He said. "She needs to be in bed."
Marguerite could stand it no longer. "But, John, did you find the meadow and the time portal?"
Roxton looked over her head and his eyes squinted up as if seeing something far away. He scratched the stubble on his chin as he blew a sharp breath.
"Oh, yes, Marguerite, we found the meadow, all right."
Marguerite glanced quizzically around at the group of silent adults.
"And did you find the time portal?"
Roxton turned his head away.
Victoria pulled herself back from Marguerite's embrace. With tears streaming down her face, she nodded her head. Marguerite's heart tightened in her chest.
"You found the portal? Then, what…what's the matter?" she whispered.
"Oh, Marguerite!" Victoria cried. "We didn't find just one portal…we found seven, and…and we don't know which one will take us home!"
TO BE CONTINUED. Chapter 5 coming soon!
CHAPTER 4 – Hypothesis and House Guests
Veronica looked into the shocked faces of her friends and laughed.
"Of course I don't look like your mother, little girl." She turned to look at Ned. "And what's with this "Daddy Ned" business?"
Ned just sat there. He was incapable of movement or speech. Veronica wouldn't be his future wife? His dreams were evaporating faster then rain in the rainforest.
Edward and Alice scurried across to lean against Victoria. She put her arms around them and held them tight. They didn't understand what this new development meant, but, suddenly, they needed to be together. Summer seemed to be the most unaffected one, although when Marguerite pulled her up into her lap, instead of protesting about being treated like a baby, she snuggled back against her.
Roxton jumped up and moved towards Veronica. He took her by the arm and steered her over to the table.
"Well, Veronica," he said in a hardy voice. "We're so glad you're back. We have quite a story to tell you and, of course, we would like you to meet our young guests."
Veronica was staring at Marguerite. Was the cold and prickly heiress actually cuddling a little girl on her lap? What was going on?
She found her voice and asked just that. "What's going on here, Roxton? Where did these children come from?" She thought for a minute and then asked, "And why did that child call Ned, daddy?"
"There, there, Veronica," soothed Roxton as he pushed her into a chair. "All will be explained shortly. Eh, George?"
Challenger shook himself out of his contemplation of the new turn this strange day had taken.
"Er, right you are, John. Soon, very soon." He changed the subject. "Are you hungry, Veronica, my dear? We have all finished but I'm sure there is plenty left."
He bustled around the kitchen setting out a plate for her and scrapping out the leftover stew from the pan.
Veronica, sitting at the table with Roxton's hand still on her shoulder, looked over at Ned, who was staring sightlessly towards the balcony. Then she turned to look at the group of four children (Will had joined his friends) huddled around each other on the other side of the table. Finally, she stared at Marguerite who sat holding tightly to the little girl in her lap as if she never wanted to let her go. Veronica shook her head in confusion.
Challenger held the fruit bowl in front of her face.
"Stop, Challenger. I'm not hungry. I just want to know what is going on here, and I want to know, now!"
Ned pulled himself together and walked over to the children. He put one hand on Edward's shoulder and the other on William's. He looked down at them and smiled.
"Veronica," he said in a calm voice. "I'd like you to meet Edward, Victoria, Alice and William. And that lovely young lady in Marguerite's lap is Summer. They became lost today and we've invited them to stay with us until we can help them find their home again."
Victoria looked up at him and smiled.
Veronica was a little bit taken aback that the explanation was so simple compared to the high drama that she had walked in on.
Ever the gracious hostess, Veronica smiled at the children.
"Of course, you're very welcome to stay here, children. I'm so happy that you made it here safely. The jungle is no place to be lost in, even for an adult."
Summer wiggled down from Marguerite's lap and skipped over to Veronica. She reached out and ran her hand over her short skirt.
"Hi, Veronica. I like your dress," the incorrigible little wheedler cooed. "Can you make me one just like it?" She held up her doll for Veronica to see. "Dolly would like one, too. Marguerite is making her a dress out of her scarf and, if you make her one like yours, then she'll have two."
A great guffaw of laughter burst from Veronica.
"Marguerite is making your doll a dress out of her scarf!!??" she repeated, incredulously. "She actually offered her very own scarf? At Summer's nod, she put her arm around the little girl and gave her a hug.
"Sweetheart, that is the most incredible thing I've heard in a long time!"
Marguerite stood up in a huff.
"I don't see what's so incredible about it, Veronica. I can sew you know. And a lot better than you've sewn that "dress" of yours."
Veronica glared up at her.
"I wasn't talking about your sewing," she said pointedly.
"Ladies, ladies," Roxton jumped in. "There are children present."
Veronica and Marguerite glanced sheepishly at the children.
"Sorry," they said at the same time, then glared at each other.
"All right, now," Ned spoke up. "We need to make a plan for tomorrow. We have to find the meadow the children mentioned and then look for the portal they came through…"
"Portal?" Veronica gave Ned a puzzled frown.
Marguerite, who had been watching the children, saw Alice give a giant yawn. Her eyes were half shut and she was slumped against Victoria. Will and Edward were also looking heavy eyed, although they were trying very hard to appear attentive.
"We'll tell you about it in a minute, Veronica," Marguerite interrupted. "I think," she nodded her head toward the group by the table, "that it's time our adventurers went to bed. They've had a very long and stressful day."
"I'm not tired," insisted Summer and then ruined it with an ear popping yawn.
Marguerite smiled at her and scooped her up into her arms.
"Well then, Summer Leigh, you can lie in bed and keep your eyes open as long as you want." She agreed, and gave the little girl a tickle. Summer giggled.
Marguerite motioned to Victoria and Alice, "Come with me girls, you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep with…" she turned around and looked at Roxton. He leered at her and raised his eyebrows. "…Veronica."
Roxton's face fell and the others laughed. Then he sighed and held his hand out to William.
"Well, Will, old man, I guess you get to sleep in my bed. Mind now, you'll have to sleep with your hands over your ears, because I snore very loudly."
"That's okay, sir. I snore, too," Will admitted solemnly. He looked up at Roxton with adoration in his eyes.
"Well, everyone," he cocked his head at Ned, Veronica, and Challenger. "You can't say that you haven't been warned! I'll be back in a minute."
He and Will headed for his room.
Edward looked up at Ned. "Does that mean that I get to bunk with you?"
"Indeed it does," Ned agreed. He put on a mock serious expression and whispered to Edward, "You don't snore do you?"
"Oh, no, sir!" Edward shook his head.
"Good man! Let's go."
As Ned took Edward back to put him to bed, Challenger filled Veronica in on the mystery surrounding the appearance of the children. He explained how the children, and they, had surmised that they, but, seemingly not Veronica, were their parents, but of an earlier time. Veronica nodded her head as he talked. Traveling back and forth in time was not a new phenomenon in the lost world.
Back in the sleeping quarters, Marguerite came slowly out of her room carrying her nightgown and wearing a goofy grin on her face. She had just kissed three adorable little girls good night, and they had all hugged and kissed her back, even Victoria. Roxton, who had just stepped out of his room, smirked at her. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.
"Aren't they remarkable children, Marguerite?" he whispered. "Just think what we have to look forward to."
"May I remind you, Lord Roxton, that many things have to happen between now and then." She looked down at his hand on her waist. "Though, I guess this is a start," she whispered saucily.
He grinned and pulled her up against him. "This is a better start." He bent his head down and kissed her thoroughly. They slowly parted. As they stepped away from each other, they were once again amazed by the passion and, yes, comfort they felt in each other's arms. Everything felt so right between them, everything but the lack of trust. Because of their backgrounds, with secrets they dared not share with anyone, trust was the hardest thing for each of them to give the other. They both knew that the time was near, very near, when they would have to resolve their conflicted feelings. But that time was not tonight. They followed each other back to the kitchen.
Now," Challenger continued as the rest of the adults came back into the room and sat around the table. "We have a problem. It seemed very clear before that these children were from our future, but now, that may not be true. Alice said that Veronica wasn't their mother. Yet, her mother's name is Veronica. So, this leads us to surmise that, in their timeline, Veronica is a different person." He walked slowly around the table, pulling on his beard. "And that, of course, makes all of our former extrapolations suspect."
"Wait, wait, Challenger," Roxton interrupted. "Are you saying that Marguerite and I won't be the parents of those children in there?" Disappointment was evident in this voice.
"Now, now Roxton," he tried to explain, "I'm not saying that you and Marguerite, or you, Veronica and Ned, won't have children together in the future. They just won't be these children."
"But, Challenger, they look so much like us, and, evidently, their real parents look very much like us, as well. If we aren't their future parents, then who are?" Marguerite swallowed the lump in her throat as she felt her children being taken away from her.
"That is an interesting question, Marguerite. You see, if Veronica is a different person in their timeline, and we are the same people, then, somewhere along the line, our lives…split away from each other. Yes, yes," he said excitedly. "That must be it. Up to a certain point," he paced more quickly, "our lives were the same, and then…some disruptive happening occurred or…or vital decision was made, that split our lives. We, that is, the five of us around this table, lived, and will continue to live a different life from our other selves that were produced by that defining moment."
Challenger sat down heavily in his chair and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief.
Ned, Roxton and Marguerite sat slumped in disappointment. Even though a few brief hours ago the biggest wish in their lives was to find a way off the plateau, a way home, they now felt how lucky they would be if they could remain on the plateau and raise families. Their old lives in London paled in comparison to the excitement they felt for their future. Their future, that included the five children who had come so unexpectedly into their lives.
Veronica looked around at her friends. She couldn't believe the changes she saw. Her exposure to the children had been brief, granted, but the others had known them only hours longer and they seemed to have been completely won over by them. One might even say obsessed. She drummed her fingers on the table.
"Look, everyone," she said. "It seems very clear to me that the cataclysmic event that changed your lives was when you arrived on the plateau. Maybe when you all met me, the other group met…someone else. A different Veronica." She shrugged and grinned at Ned. "And maybe, we're living parallel lives right now and in ten or twelve years from now, we, too, will have a whole gaggle of children."
Ned sighed. "Yeah, but they won't be these children."
Challenger had recovered from the exhaustion of explaining his previous analysis. He jumped to his feet.
"You've got it, Veronica," he said excitedly. "Parallel lives, but with key differences. Yes. That must be it! We've met copies of ourselves already." He frowned. "They usually weren't too nice, but what if there were copies of us out there who are so much like us that it would be hard to tell the difference. They would be good, decent people, struggling to stay alive, looking for a way home, but aided by a different Veronica. Yes, yes," he said, rubbing his hands together. "That would explain everything."
"I was kidding, Challenger," Veronica rolled her eyes. "A parallel us, indeed!"
"Well, eh, actually, Veronica. Not a parallel you."
"So, let me get this straight," Marguerite said, holding her hand to her aching head. "These children came, not from our future, but from the future of our parallel doubles, who are living on the plateau right now, but in a parallel world…that we can't see. So," she mused, rubbing her temple. "The children not only came back in time, but also between parallel…worlds?"
"Well done, dear Marguerite. Very succinctly put."
Marguerite groaned.
Veronica threw her hands in the air. "Do you all realize just how absurd that sounds?"
Ned had been listening with his eyes shut. He was trying to come to terms with the tragic fact that these children would never be his. He whispered to himself, "These children belong to…our parallel selves." As a sudden thought struck him, his eyes flew open. "Their parents must be hunting for them right now. They must be worried sick about them."
He jumped up and held on to the back of his chair for support. His normally tan face went pale. He looked from one of his friends to the other.
"We must find a way to send these children back. Back to the future. Because, if they were our children, we'd want them back, wouldn't we?"
Marguerite grasped Roxton's hand under the table. "Their parents must be frantic. I know we would be if our children went missing."
Roxton squeezed her hand. "We'll question the children tomorrow. The older children say that they know just where this meadow is. I just pray that the misty portal is still there."
"And that it works in reverse." Ned said quietly. The others nodded.
"Well, I suggest we all get to bed," Challenger said. "We have a very important mission to accomplish tomorrow." He stood up, stretched. "Good night, everyone." He headed down the stair to his peaceful room in his lab.
Roxton and Ned said good night, too, and went to their rooms to spend the night with the boys.
Veronica looked over at Marguerite. "I have only one pillow. You'll have to sleep without one. One blanket, too. Oh, and the mattress is stuffed with plakatronia fluff. I hope you aren't allergic."
"You know I am. But, that's all right. I plan to sleep on the couch, anyway. I want to be alone right now." Marguerite was unusually subdued.
Veronica was instantly contrite. She hadn't realized just how much these children had gotten under Marguerite's skin and into her heart.
"Look, Marguerite," she offered. "You sleep in my bed. I'm used to sleeping on that couch. It's not very comfortable."
Marguerite smiled sadly. "Thank you, Veronica, but I really do prefer sleeping out here. I'll be fine."
Impulsively, Veronica reached over and hugged Marguerite. "I'm sorry," she whispered and went back to her room.
Marguerite wasn't very sleepy. She had too many things to think about. She cleared off the table and tidied away the dishes. She noticed the sheet still hanging across the balcony and pulled it down. As she did so, she saw the tub of water full of the girl's dirty clothes. She smiled. Victoria's doing, no doubt. She got to work washing out the girl's things and hanging them over the balcony railing to dry. Then she got the boy's clothes and did the same.
The physical work had been good for her. She felt much more relaxed and ready for bed. She quickly put on her nightgown, took the sheet and spread it over the couch, fluffed up the small pillow on one end, lay down and covered herself with the old blanket that they kept over the back.
She closed her eyes and snuggled her head into the pillow. A minute later, she felt a lump pushing into her back, so she turned over and snuggled into the pillow, again. Now, something was poking her in the knee. She tried to straighten her knee and almost fell off the couch. Back and forth, she tossed and turned. The couch was more than just uncomfortable. It was impossible.
Finally, giving up, she got up and put the couch cushions on the floor. Again, she covered them with the sheet and, with the pillow in place, she stretched out on the cushions and pulled the blanket over herself. It wasn't a great bed, but, at least, nothing was poking at her. She was soon asleep.
Two hours later, John Roxton tiptoed out of his room and headed for the couch. His young roommate didn't snore, but he did wiggle, a lot. Several times Roxton had to pull him out of the crack between the mattress and the wall. And when Will wasn't sliding down in the crack, he was all over the bed. Roxton had been kicked in the stomach, the shins, had a foot in the face, twice and had, finally, been pushed entirely off the bed. Through it all, Will never woke up. Roxton had had enough. He knew the couch wasn't comfortable, but at least it would be all his.
As he approached the couch, he almost fell over something on the floor. Flailing his arms to regain his balance, he could see in the dim light filtering in through the balcony, that someone had made a bed out of the couch cushions. Someone had beaten him to it.
"Damn," he whispered to himself. Then he noticed Marguerite's clothes hanging on the back of the kitchen chair. His eyes sparkled in the moonlight. This was his lucky night.
Very carefully, he lifted the blanket and slipped in beside his sleeping beauty. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his nose into her hair. She smelled lots better then William. Marguerite made a little noise and flipped over to snuggle up to Roxton with her head on his chest. Roxton sighed and held her close. He was soon fast asleep, dreaming dreams of the future.
**
The early morning sun was just filtering into the treehouse when Marguerite was suddenly awakened by something warm and heavy sitting on top of her. She opened one eye and found Summer's grinning face inches from her own. She closed her eyes with a groan.
"Mar-greet, Mar-greet, wake up!" Summer begged. Using her finger, she lifted Marguerite's eyelid.
"What is it, Summer? Do you know how early it is?"
"Mar-greet, I gotta go! Right now!"
"Well, go, then. I showed you where to go last night." Marguerite mumbled, trying not to wake up too thoroughly.
Summer patted her cheek. "That's right, I forgot," Summer giggled. She started to roll off of her when, instead, she leaned sideways and said, "Morning, John. I gotta go." And with that, she rolled all the way off, jumped up and headed down the steps.
Marguerite froze. Now that Summer had gone, she noticed the other warm body spooned behind her and the very male arm across her stomach.
"John Richard Roxton, that had better not be you!" she whispered angrily.
"Who do you want it to be?" John whispered back.
"Ahhhh!" Marguerite moaned in frustration. She sat up and turned towards him.
John put both arms behind his head and grinned up at her. "Good morning, Marguerite. Slept well, I hope?"
"What are you doing in my bed," she whispered fiercely.
"Well, Your Highness, officially it's not your bed, it's the couch. And I'm lying here because the young fellow who is sharing a bed with me, failed to tell me that he performed gymnastics in his sleep. Damned hard to sleep with a foot in your face," he grumbled.
"Fine, but when you saw I was sleeping here, why didn't you go somewhere else?"
"Last I heard," he drawled, "you were going to share a bed with Veronica. Now, as much as she likes me, I don't think she would welcome my taking your place." He raised himself up on his elbows so that their faces were very close together, "And, since you're so crazy about me," his eyes held hers, "I didn't think you would mind, too much, sharing your bed with me."
He leaned up to claim her lips but she pushed him back down. There was a familiar gleam in her eye.
"Crazy about you? You're awfully sure of yourself, aren't you, Lord Roxton?" she purred, leaning down over his face. She let her lips ever so lightly brush his. "But, next time you want to share my bed…ask first."
The pillow she had been gripping behind her back came out and hit him squarely in the face.
Marguerite scrambled up quickly, snatched her clothes off the chair, and giggled, as John grabbed the pillow and swung it at her retreating form.
"Why you little tease," he growled under his breath. Then he lay back on his folded arms, grinning. "Next time, eh? There will certainly be a next time if I have anything to say about it."
He was just starting to indulge himself in one of his very favorite fantasies when Veronica walked by, heading for the shower.
"Why, John," she grinned. "I thought Marguerite was sleeping there?"
Roxton was nothing if not a gentleman. He lifted up the blanket and peeked under it.
"Nope, don't see her anywhere around here, Veronica."
"Too bad," she said and they smirked at each other.
Suddenly, loud shrieks and screams from the bedroom area had John on his feet. He and Veronica ran pell-mell towards the source of the dreadful sounds. They seemed to be coming from Marguerite's room.
They stopped in her doorway.
Marguerite sat on her bed with her hands folded in her lap with Alice kneeling behind her dragging a brush through her long, dark hair. Victoria was clipping earrings in her ears. Each ear had a different earring. Victoria had the matching set clipped to her ears. Around her neck was an array of necklaces.
Will stood in front of the mirror that had been set on the floor, against the wall. He pushed his hands deep in the pockets of his shorts and then quickly drew them out and shot his finger-guns at his reflection. He wore Roxton's hat, cocked at a rakish angle, on his head. The brim almost covered his eyes. On his feet were Roxton's boots, the tops reached to his mid-thigh. Edward, attired in a pair of Ned's pants, the legs stuffed into Ned's boots, was pushing at Will, trying to get him to move over and give him a turn at the looking glass. Summer was jumping up and down behind the boys as, she, too, tried to get a look at herself dressed in Marguerite's silk nightgown.
The noise level was deafening.
"Move, Will! It's my turn. Move!" shouted Edward, pushing Will, while at the same time keeping one hand on the waistband of Ned's pants that were in danger of sliding to the floor.
"Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!" Will bellowed, his finger-guns moving at blazing speed.
"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Summer shrieked. She popped up and down behind them like a jack-in-the-box.
Alice loudly counted the strokes as she brushed. "Thirty-one, thirty-two, thirty…if you don't hold still, Marguerite, your hair will tangle! Thirty- three, thirty-four…"
"Ouch," winced Marguerite as the brush caught in her hair.
"See!" admonished Alice.
"Pucker your lips up like this, Marguerite." Victoria demonstrated for her. "My mother says that it's quite all right to put rouge on ones lips if one is feeling particularly pale" she explained as she puffed on the rouge until Marguerite's lips and chin were a pleasing pink.
Summer was losing her temper with the boys. She spotted Roxton and Veronica in the doorway and walked as quickly as she could, holding up the gown, over to them. She grabbed their hands and pulled them into the room.
"John, Ronica, " she demanded, "Make those awful boys move so that I can look. They are being so mean!"
Marguerite, on seeing John and Veronica come into the room, jumped up. Alice went tumbling backwards on the bed and bumped her head smartly on the wall. She let out a wail. The powder puff was knocked out of Victoria's hand and flew up in the air, only to land on top of Roxton's hat, leaving a large, pink spot.
"Hey!" yelled Will. He plucked the puff off of the hat and threw it at Victoria. It hit her square in the chest, leaving another pink spot on the white chemise of Marguerite's that she was wearing.
"Look what you've done, now, Will Roxton," Victoria screamed.
Edward seized this opportunity to push past Will and claim the mirror for himself. Will shoved back. Both boys, overbalanced in their huge boots, went down on the floor. The boots kept them from bending their knees, so all they could do was roll around on the floor until they could grab on to something to pull themselves up. The whole time they were shouting abuse at each other.
Summer stood in the middle of the room, still holding hands with the two amused observers, when she saw that the space in front of the mirror was now vacant.
She smiled up at her two helpers.
"Thank you," she said politely. And, quite oblivious to the chaos around her, she tripped over to the mirror where she primped and posed to her hearts content.
Veronica, released by Summer, strode over and picked up Alice, who was rubbing her head and crying.
"Let me take a look, Sweetheart," she said, as Alice clung to her neck.
Marguerite stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, for once at a loss for words. Roxton cocked one eyebrow at her.
"Having fun, Marguerite?" he smirked.
Just as he said the taunting words, Will and Edward managed to roll over to him and grab one pant leg each to pull themselves up. Roxton's pants, not being very well fastened in his haste to get up, slowly descended to the floor right along with the boys.
Marguerite took one look at the shock on Roxton's face and burst out laughing. She doubled over, holding her stomach.
The girls, their attention caught by Marguerite's hysterics, took one look at Lord Roxton standing in his long underwear with his trousers puddled around his ankles, two little boys still attached, and they started laughing, too. Even Alice forgot her hurt and giggled along with Veronica.
The boys had frozen in place, waiting to see how much trouble they were in.
Roxton, with as much dignity as he could muster, said, "Well, I certainly don't have to stand here and be laughed at,"
With one more hurt look at Marguerite, he shuffled to the door, dragging the boys, who still held onto his pants, with him.
The boys let go as they bumped into the door jam. Roxton looked sadly at them as he bent down, pulled up his trousers and strode off. Will and Edward looked at each other. They quickly sat up, and helped each other pull off the offending pants and boots. They jumped to their feet and ran out the door. Just like in their own timeline, they knew that hiding out with Grandpa George in his laboratory was definitely in their best interest.
Marguerite backed up and sat down on her bed. She was still laughing so hard that tears were streaming down her face. Giggling, Victoria and Summer climbed up on the bed on either side of her and patted her on her back and wiped at her eyes as she slowly gained control.
Veronica, with Alice still in her arms, sat down beside Marguerite. Every time she looked over at her, she would start laughing all over again. Alice patted her on the cheek.
"Veronica, Veronica, stop laughing. You're bouncing me off your lap!" she pleaded.
That only made Veronica and the other girls laugh harder as Alice, true to her prediction, began to slide to the floor. Veronica grabbed her up and hugged her to her chest as the giggling died down and they all finally got themselves under control.
"Well, that was…fun, girls," Marguerite remarked, wiping the last of the tears out of her eyes. "But it's time we got ourselves dressed and have something to eat."
Marguerite looked around at her room. It looked as if one of Challenger experiments had gone off in it. She looked over pleadingly at Veronica.
"Veronica, do you think you could help the girls get dressed and then fix them some breakfast? I need to straighten up here."
Veronica shrugged. "Sure, I'll be glad to." She smiled down at Alice.
"Great! Their clothes are hanging over the balcony railing and I think there's some bread and fruit in the kitchen."
"I know what's here, Marguerite," Veronica assured her, giving her a strange look.
Domestic Marguerite. An oxymoron.
"Marguerite?" Victoria looked up at her shyly. "May I stay and help you tidy up? I'm a good helper. Really, I am."
Marguerite was flattered. The child really seemed to want to be with her.
"Sure, Tori. I'd like that."
Victoria grinned up at her. "I'll just run and get my clothes." She ran out the door and then ran back in. "Maybe when we're finished, you can brush my hair?" She ran out again.
Veronica laughed.
"Seems you've made a conquest, Marguerite."
She took Alice and Summer by the hand and led them out the door.
Marguerite sat slowly down on her bed. This situation was getting worse. These children were stealing her heart and there was nothing she could do about it. She suspected that their very presence was making her a different, if not a better, person. She was surprised to find that her concern for the well being of these children was taking precedence over her concern for her own.
Did she want children? She admitted to herself that she wasn't getting any younger. For the first time in her life, she heard the tick of her maternal clock.
That thought lead, quite logically, to thoughts of John Roxton. Did he love her? Did she love him? Marguerite had been married before, several times before. But none of those marriages had been for love. She thought no man was worth loving, until she was thrown together with Lord Roxton. At first she thought he was just another man, like all the men she knew. Interested in shallow, self-serving relationships. But now she knew the real John. The kind, compassionate, loyal, funny, caring, frustrating, aggravating, honest human being that was John. He wore his heart on his sleeve and it was becoming clear that he wore it for her. And that made her afraid.
And yet, the Marguerite and John that lived in the children's timeline had fallen in love, had married, and had four wonderful children. Could it be possible for them to do the same thing in this timeline? Was she brave enough to tear down her walls and trust this man? Was she?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the breathless arrival of Victoria. She had gotten herself dressed and had washed and hung out to dry the white chemise she had borrowed from Marguerite. The pink spot was hardly noticeable.
Marguerite smiled warmly at the young girl. Victoria thought to herself that perhaps she had been wrong in thinking that this woman was so different from her mother. She smiled back.
"I'm ready to help," she announced. "Gosh, this room is a mess. Those kids!" she said from habit.
They talked as they worked; about the mess they were cleaning up, about the children, and even a little bit about Victoria's life. While Victoria dragged the men's boots to their rooms, Marguerite hung the mirror back on the wall. They got the clothes hung up. They made the bed. Their last job was sorting the good size pile of earrings, necklaces and bracelets that came out of the covers.
"Are any of these necklaces like your mother's?" Marguerite asked curiously.
Victoria picked two up and let them run through her fingers. "Some of them are," she answered quietly. "But she has a whole bunch more then you have. Dad is always giving her new ones. He'll call her "Your Highness" and then fasten one around her neck. She'll laugh and say that a lord should always kneel before a queen. Then he'll say, that if that were so, then he would be on his knees all day, because she is the queen of his heart." Victoria looked up at Marguerite with tears in her eyes.
"I miss them so much."
Marguerite pulled her into her arms. "Of course you do, Sweetheart. We'll find you all a way home, very soon. I promise."
**
Ned was helping Veronica feed the children. Every few minutes he would glance over at her then look away. Veronica didn't know whether to be amused or uncomfortable. When the children were served and were tucking in with great appetite, Ned whispered to her that he would like to talk to her in private. Veronica agreed and followed him down in the elevator.
As they stepped out onto the jungle floor, Ned rubbed his hands on his pants nervously.
"Eh, Veronica," he stammered, "I was wondering if we could talk about the future…our future.
"Ned," Veronica frowned, "We've talked about our relationship before. We decided to just be friends, remember?"
"I know, I know," Ned nodded holding his palms towards her in a placating gesture. "But you must know that I don't look on you as just a friend. My feelings for you are…much stronger."
Veronica sighed and turned away to walk over to the outdoor table. She started fiddling with the objects on it.
"Ned, you know that I can't leave the plateau with you. I have to stay here and continue looking for my parents. My life is here and yours is in London."
"I don't know about that anymore," Ned said as he looked up at the treehouse.
Veronica turned around to face him.
"This change of heart has to do with Edward and Alice, doesn't it," she surmised.
He nodded and looked down. Veronica's heart went out to him, but she knew that he had to face reality.
"Ned, Challenger said that these children wouldn't be yours, remember?" She walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. "They're great kids, and maybe someday you'll have children just as wonderful. You and Gladys."
Ned's face froze.
"You know that I've put my feelings for Gladys behind me," he snapped. "And, besides, she can't have children." He paused. "I thought that I was resigned to never being a father, but now…I know that being a father is something that I really want."
"Are you sure that your strong feelings for me didn't come on as suddenly as your desire to be a father?"
Ned looked down and grinned.
"My feelings for you started a long, long time ago," he said meeting Veronica's eye.
His face took on a serious cast. "Veronica, please tell me if there is any hope for us. Do you have any feelings for me beyond just friendship?"
He held his breath waiting for her answer.
Veronica took her time answering. She wandered back over to the table and picked up a rock from a pile Marguerite was sorting. She hefted it in her hand and then put it down again. She leaned on the table with both arms straight out, her head hung in thought.
Finally, Ned could not stand it another minute.
"Well," he said sadly, "Your answer is obvious. I'm sorry I put you on the spot.
He started walking back towards the elevator.
"Wait, Ned!"
Veronica walked quickly over to him and put her arms around him. He held her tight as she rested her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating a fast rhythm.
Her answer came out slowly, mumbled against his chest.
"When you and…the others…talk about finding a way off of the plateau, and…going home, it…hurts me. You all seem to think that being stranded here is a disaster…that your lives have been…held up…that you're just marking time until you can resume your real lives."
She sniffled a little. "But…but…I live here. This is my real life. The plateau is my home and I can't leave. You know that! I owe it to my parents to never stop looking for them, as long as there's the least bit of hope.'
Her sniffle had now turned into real tears. "Everyone who loves me…leaves me. And…and now you say that you love me…but I know…that you'll leave me, too…as soon as you find a way back home."
She leaned back so that she could see his face. Her words came faster, now. "I don't want to love you, Ned. I couldn't stand to give you my love and then…see you leave."
Suddenly, she was in a rage…a rage against fate. "Even if I do care for you as more than a friend, I…I'm not going to act on it! I won't be hurt that way again!"
She pushed away from him, stomped over to the table and stood there, her back towards him. Her arms were folded across her chest, which was heaving in agitation.
Her words gave Ned hope, but alarmed him as well. He had to make Veronica understand the epiphany he had so recently experienced.
He took a deep breath and walked over to stand behind her.
"Veronica, I know that this sounds sudden, but I hope you can believe me when I tell you this. In the last twenty-four hours, my life, my plans, my dreams have changed. I…I don't quite understand what happened, myself. All I know is that I see so clearly now what I want, and one of those things is you…in my life."
He paused and said, "The other thing I know is that…I want to stay here with you. I want us to make a life here and…" Here he paused again, blushing at his boldness. "And, someday, have a family of our own."
He reached out and turned Veronica around. The look in her eyes gave him courage.
"I want you to be the mother of my children, my sweet Veronica," he whispered seriously. He cupped her cheeks with his strong hands as he saw the tears in her eyes. "There is not a doubt in my mind that our children will be as wonderful as those two up there."
She smiled, though her eyes glistened. "They are pretty wonderful, aren't they?"
Ned smiled back. "So?" He tilted his head to look into her lower eyes. "Do you think you'd like to work on this plan with me?"
Doubt and fear again sweep through her. She had to hear his promise again. "So, if you all found a way home tomorrow, you wouldn't change your mind?"
Ned shook his head as he pulled her against his chest. "Nope. They'd have to go without me. I mean it, Sweetheart, you're stuck with me." He hugged her tighter. "That is…if you'll have me."
Veronica, for all her strength, her warrior courage, was trembling in this man's arms. As he spoke to her, she found herself wanting to believe in his dream. Wanting to, more then she thought possible. But, what he said also frightened her as no apeman or cannibal or dinosaur ever had.
She took a shaky breath. "I can't promise anything right now, Ned." She felt him wilt with her words. "But…but, I'm willing to work on it."
Ned's grin spread from ear to ear. "That's all that I ask!"
Their kiss was full of hope, and want, and promise.
**
Marguerite and Victoria, finished with their cleaning, walked into the kitchen area to have breakfast. They walked in on what was becoming the norm…pandemonium.
The children, having finished their breakfast, were under the supervision of Roxton. He had made the mistake of lifting Alice up to see if she could reach the roof. After that, of course, everyone wanted a turn. The boys' competitive spirits thrived on such tests. When Will wanted to stand on Roxton's shoulders, John finally called the competition off.
Then Summer, who was standing on the top step leading up to the elevator called out, "John, John, watch me jump!"
Roxton caught her just before she would have landed painfully on the floor. He had no sooner set her down then Alice shouted, "Catch me, too!" He did, and then there was Summer, at the top again.
Will and Edward were waiting behind Summer.
"I don't need anybody to catch me," Edward boasted.
"Me, neither," Will declared.
"No! No more!" shouted Roxton, catching Summer for the second time.
"That's not fair," complained Edward. "Summer had two turns and we didn't get even one!"
"I want to jump by myself, too," chimed in Alice, pushing up behind Will.
Will joined forces with Edward. A move that had daunted many an adult before.
"Yeah! Not fair!"
"You heard me," Roxton said through gritted teeth. He was holding Summer by her waist under one arm and was lifting Alice down with the other, when Marguerite and Victoria entered.
The ladies grinned at each other. Victoria, because she had seen this scenario many times before, and Marguerite because she enjoyed seeing John playing daddy.
"Having fun, John?" she taunted.
Victoria, who knew that these children would never stop, since they now realized they were dealing with amateurs, came to the rescue.
She put her hands on her hips, feet spread apart. She glared around at the four little terrors, and frowned a terrible frown. The younger children were instantly quiet.
"William and Edward. You two hooligans get down here immediately and apologize to John for arguing with him."
She turned to the two girls who were still dangling from Roxton's arms. Their little heads snapped up as they felt Victoria's attention on them.
"Alice and Summer. You have been acting like spoiled babies. You need to tell John that you are very, very sorry for your behavior."
Having set everything straight, Victoria sat down at the table across from Marguerite.
John set the girls down and they immediately grabbed his legs and looked up at him with trembling lower lips.
"I'm very, very sorry, John," they said simultaneously, then buried their faces against his pants legs.
Edward walked down the steps and stood at attention in front of him. Will scrambled down behind him. He looked over at Edward and stood up straight, too.
Edward held out his right hand and said, "Please accept my apology, Uncle John."
Will quickly stuck out his hand, too. "Please accept my apology, too, Uncle…Daddy…John," he stammered.
He raised his eyebrows and looked up at John with his lopsided smile. John looked down at his mirror image and smiled back.
"Apologies accepted all round," he said vigorously, rubbing his hands together.
He cocked his head over at Marguerite, who was sitting at the table with Victoria, eating fruit.
"Ah, Marguerite, I'll just turn the care of these lovely young people over to you, now, and, ah, gather up Ned, Veronica and Challenger, so that we can get started looking for this meadow."
"What?!!" five voices whined in unison.
Marguerite jumped up.
"If you think that I'm going to stay here like…like some nanny, while the rest of you go adventuring, then you'd better think again!"
"Calm down, Marguerite," he said trying to head off an explosion. "We thought we'd just take a preliminary look around and come right back. We need to see if we can even find the meadow with the portal before we all trek out into the jungle with the children."
Marguerite sat back down with a huff. "Well, all right, then. But see that you hurry back."
Victoria, who had been listening to this exchange with great interest, spoke up.
"But, John, how will you find the meadow? And if you do manage to find it, do you know where to look for the portal? I think that Edward, Will or I should come with you to give you directions. After all, we made our way here by ourselves. We can find our way back."
This was said in a polite manner, but there was steel in her eyes.
Roxton was very familiar with that gray-eyed, stubborn look. He sat down next to the raven-haired little girl.
"Victoria, I see your point. If one of you could show us the way to the meadow, it would indeed save us some time. However, the jungle is a very dangerous place right now. And we, the adults that is, feel extremely reluctant to endanger you children if it's not necessary."
"It seems to me, John," Marguerite interjected, "that the faster we find the meadow, the less exposed any of us would be to the dangers of the jungle."
Victoria gave her a grateful look for her support.
"Good point, Marguerite. But…" He glanced over at Victoria and seeing the stubborn look intensify, he hastily went on. "I'll tell you what, we'll ask Veronica…"
"Ask Veronica what?" The elevator had reached the top of the treehouse without the group around the table noticing. Veronica stepped out followed closely by Ned.
Roxton thought that there was something different about his friends, but he shook off the notion and continued.
"If you know where this meadow is that the children say is the home of the time portal?"
Veronica walked over to the table and picked up Alice. She sat down in the vacated chair with the golden haired child on her lap. Alice looked up at her in surprise, but then she smiled and leaned back.
Ned ruffled Edward's hair and pulled up a chair next to him. He and Veronica shared a look. This caused Roxton and Marguerite to share a look of their own. Roxton raised his eyebrows inquiringly and Marguerite shrugged slightly in reply. There were brought back to the present when Veronica answered.
"I'm not sure just where it is. There are quite a few meadows and open fields on the plateau. She looked over at Edward and asked, "Edward, could you describe it in detail for me?" She smiled at him.
Edward smiled back. Then he frowned in concentration. He really wanted to impress Veronica. What had Professor Challenger called her? The Jungle Princess. Yes. That was it. Edward found his mind wandering. A story was forming in his mind…a story about a young lad and the Jungle Princess fighting raptors, as they hunted for the lost treasure…
"Edward?" Ned nudged him gently.
"What? Oh. Right," Edward said sheepishly. He concentrated hard.
"Well, the meadow is a beautiful place," he began with enthusiasm. "We play there a lot. It's a great place for a picnic and we can practice shooting and throwing spears 'cause Dad and Uncle John set up targets at the end of the field in front of the cliff face. The Zangas play there with us. My best friend is Atoo. He's Jarl's son and he's just my age." He realized that everyone was looking at him. "Oh, you want to know where it is, don't you. Well, that's easy. If you go down the main road to the Zanga village, you turn off at the path that leads to the stream, but you don't go all the way to the stream. When you get to the storage shed, you take the trail to the left that goes around behind it and the meadow is about, oh, ten…or thirty minutes walk from there. Course," he said thoughtfully, "you could take the shortcut that we took to get here, but the path isn't very clear anymore 'til you get to the stream and then me and Will could tell where to go from there…I think."
Out of all this rambling, Veronica gleaned a few facts to mull over.
"So the meadow is near a stream, but not too near, and at one end it has a cliff face." Veronica smiled at the little boy. Edward nodded.
Will couldn't keep silent.
"I could get you there. Edward doesn't know what to look for." He spoke slowly as if they were slow in comprehension. "The trail is full of moss covered rocks at the beginning and at the end are lots of trees with big, green leaves." Will folded his arms across his chest, and nodded his head as if he had settled the matter.
The adults looked at each other. This was getting them nowhere.
"I want to go with you. I'll know if we find the right meadow. It's silly for you to go out looking at meadow after meadow, if you won't be able to tell if it is the right one when you find it." Victoria was totally serious.
Veronica nodded at her, as serious as she was.
"You're right, Tori. That makes sense." She looked around at the others. "I vote we take Victoria with us."
"Now, wait just a minute, Veronica," Marguerite's maternal instincts couldn't agree to this reckless course of action. "You said yourself that the apemen are roaming close to here. It's too dangerous to take Tori with you!"
Roxton stood behind her and laid a restraining hand on her shoulder.
"It's all right, Marguerite. I won't let anything happen to her. You trust me on this don't you?"
She looked up at him and what she saw in his eyes moved her to cover his hand with hers.
"Yes, I do."
She knew how much these children meant to him. Her trust in him was total. She had never felt so close to him as she did this minute. It was a closeness not of the usual flirtatious, passionate nature but more a closeness of a partnership. A partnership in keeping loved ones safe.
He turned his hand over and squeezed hers.
"It's settle then. Let's get George up here and we'll get started."
Roxton went down to the lab to fill Challenger in on their plans. An hour later, they were ready to depart.
Everyone was subdued. Even little Summer was quiet. She and Alice sat on the couch, out of the way of the hustle and bustle. When it was time to go, emotions were high. Marguerite gave Victoria a big hug and kiss. She did the same to Roxton. Somehow, without them even realizing it, their relationship had changed…had matured.
The elevator took the hunters down into the jungle and left Marguerite alone with four very restless children. They were getting tired of staying in the treehouse. They didn't have the resources they were used to. They couldn't roam around outside and they didn't have their toys and games to play with inside.
After hearing them whine and complain for an hour, Marguerite had finally had enough. She told the boys they had a choice. Either find something to keep themselves occupied or go take a nap. They disappeared in the direction of Challenger's lab. Marguerite had a niggling feeling that this wasn't a good idea, but then she got busy and forgot about them.
She sat with Alice and Summer teaching them to sew a simple hem. She, as promised, made Dolly a dress out of her beautiful blue scarf.
They were sewing and singing silly songs when a loud explosion made them jump. Marguerite felt her heart plummet into her stomach as she raced down to the lab where thick, black smoke was billowing up from the corner of the room.
Out of the smoke two blackened faces appeared.
"It's all right, Marguerite," Edward assured her. "I've done this experiment hundreds of times. It smokes a lot but nothing catches on fire…honest."
"You're forgetting the time Grandpa's papers burned up," William supplied helpfully.
"Well, they weren't important papers," snapped Edward.
"What is that dreadful smell?" asked Alice, pinching her nose.
"Oh, that? We spilled a little bit of Grandpa Challenger's ingredients. But just a little!" Edward reassured her. "The smell goes away in a few hours."
Marguerite looked around at the mess and felt partly to blame. She shouldn't have left the boys alone, unsupervised.
She surprised everyone, including herself, when she didn't get angry but said in a firm voice.
"You must promise to never, ever play in Challenger's lab without his supervision." They nodded. "Now, wash your faces and gather up that mess in a bucket. We'll take it outside and bury it."
She paused thoughtfully as she looked down at the two soot-streaked faces. "I think an hour pulling weeds from the garden will give you time to think about what a dangerous thing you two did. After that, you boys will have to find something less dangerous to play with."
"Yes, Marguerite!" Edward and Will said gratefully. They were extremely happy that they weren't in more trouble and that they got to go outside.
They quickly shoveled the experiment into a bucket and soon all five of them were outside digging a deep hole to hide the evidence. When they had finished their gardening chore, Marguerite remembered about the throwing disk that was left behind by a family from the future. They played with that long into the afternoon.
**
After much debate, the search party decided to go with Victoria's recommendation and retrace the children's steps in reverse. They felt that this was the only sure way of reaching the correct meadow since the roads and trails Victoria was used to following were years away from being cleared.
Following Victoria's directions, they skirted the electric fence, rounded the outcropping of rocks, and plunged into the dark forest where the fast running stream emerged to flow past the treehouse and on down to the river. The explorers were amazed that the children had found their way through the tangled, matted undergrowth. Even walking next to the stream was not easy going. They spotted signs of the children's passage and hoped that the apemen had not also spotted the same signs.
Challenger took the lead. He kept his rifle at the ready. If there was one tribe on the plateau he really disliked running into, it was the apemen. Ned and Veronica walked at the rear of the procession. They, too, kept a sharp look out for trouble, but that didn't stop them from being very aware of each other. Veronica actually blushed with Ned picked a flower and tucked it behind her ear. Roxton, who happened to be looking back at them at that moment, thought the gesture goopy in the extreme, that is until he saw Veronica's adoring look at Ned. "Hmmm," he thought, "I'll have to try that one on Marguerite."
He felt a tug on his pants and looked down to see Victoria's looking up at him inquisitively. She tossed her head back to indicate that she had seen the interaction between the two behind them.
Her gray eyes were alight with speculation. "Do you think that Ned loves Veronica?" she asked.
Stalling for time, John asked a question in reply, "What makes you say that, Tori?"
"Well," she said after a moment's thought. "Ned's always looking at her and he gets her things and they argue a lot…"
Roxton laughed. "Sounds like love to me."
Victoria silently marched along beside him for a minute, then she cast her expressive eyes up at the tall man walking beside her.
"They act just like you and Marguerite," she said slyly.
"Now, just a minute there," Roxton stopped in a huff. "Marguerite and I have a very…different relationship. We may have our disagreements, true, and there may, and I say may, be some, uh, attraction between us, but we are two mature adults who are past the giddy, flirtations of youth. We have developed, over the past few years, a certain…respect for each other and…"
"You love her, don't you," she grinned at him.
Roxton took a deep breath to deny it, but something told him that there was no hiding the truth from this remarkable young lady. He blew out his breath.
"Beyond all reason," Roxton admitted with a shake of his head.
Victoria nodded her head sagely. "Thought so," she said with satisfaction.
Roxton was suddenly very worried. "Now, this is just between the two of us, Victoria," he cautioned.
Victoria shrugged offhandedly. "Everyone already knows."
"Impossible!" Roxton exclaimed. He was silent a minute. "Even Marguerite?" He looked down at her uneasily.
Victoria nodded her head. "Even Summer!" she laughed.
"Oh, God!" Roxton muttered.
They walked in silence. The trail, if one could call it a trail, was very difficult to traverse. Roxton often had to lift Victoria over fallen trees and branches. Challenger, who had himself been badly scratched by a giant thorn bush, could only shake his head at the thought of these young children walking through this dangerous and, often, deadly jungle.
"Divine protection," he whispered to himself.
Almost two hours later, the exhausted group reached a clearing. Here the ground was littered with moss-covered rocks. The five sat down on the cushiony mounds to take a rest. Victoria looked around and nodded her head in satisfaction.
"I've been here before." She pointed to a barely discernible path in front of them. "We were going to go that way, past the rock castle, to get to the treehouse, but the boys wanted to take the shortcut we just used."
Roxton and Challenger paled when she mentioned the rock castle. They realized that she was referring to the rock formation where Summer had been trapped by the raptors. If the children had taken that route, they would have been helpless against the ravenous pack of scavenger attracted by the dead raptors.
"Divine intervention, indeed," Challenger whispered to Roxton.
Victoria looked carefully around the clearing. She was nervous that she wouldn't be able to recognize the path that would lead them to the meadow. She let out an audible sigh of relief when she looked behind her and saw the small trail disappearing into the shadows of the forest.
She jumped to her feet excitedly and pointed to the path.
"There, there!" she shouted. "That path will take us to the meadow."
Suddenly, with a heart-stopping roar, the clearing was swarming with brown, furry apemen. They came from all directions. Victoria screamed as Roxton threw her to the ground behind one of the tallest rocks.
"Quiet," he whispered fiercely.
Her face in the dirt, Victoria tried to lie as still as possible. She could hear the apemen roaring out their rage as they attacked and attacked again. Gunshots echoed through the clearing along with howls and grunts of pain. She heard her friends calling out "Watch out!" "Behind you!" "Get down!" And still the apemen came.
Suddenly, she was picked up around her waist by a hairy arm. Scared out of her mind, she thrashed out at the horrid, smelly beast that held her and screamed, "Daddy!"
"Tori! Hold still!" Roxton bellowed.
Victoria froze and seconds later she felt the impact of a bullet hitting the apeman. The apeman howled and threw her to the ground as he fell dead. Victoria grunted as she landed hard. Roxton was instantly there, picking her up and holding her tight.
"Are you all right?" he asked over and over. Victoria could only sob and cling to him. He carried her away from the sight of the carnage that lay over the once peaceful clearing. The adventurers hurried on but they had not escape the confrontation unscathed. Challenger was limping badly, having been hit in the leg by a stone thrown with great force. Ned and Veronica had come away with many cuts and bruises, and Roxton had been clubbed in the side.
They hurried as fast as they could down the trail that Victoria had indicated earlier. Roxton carried Victoria and the other flanked them, keeping a vigilant eye out for another attack. At last, sore and exhausted, they reached the meadow that they sought.
**
The long afternoon wore on. Marguerite sat on the bench by the worktable outside the treehouse, watching the children play. They had gone in for luncheon, honey sandwiches and fruit, around noon, but now the shadows were long on the grass and the children were starting to wilt. Summer came over to sit with her. She leaned against Marguerite and danced her Dolly around aimlessly, admiring the way the new dress moved in the breeze.
She stopped her play to yawn. "I'm hungry, Mar-greet," she whined.
Marguerite frowned. She knew the children would soon be wanting their dinner, but she was at a loss as to what to feed them. She had faked her way through lunch, giving them a treat instead of good nutrition. Dinner would have to be better for them. She mentally ran through the list of things she knew how to cook. It didn't take long. Sandwiches; peeled fruits and vegetables; coffee; and soup. Soup! That was it.
"How would you all like a nice bowl of soup for your dinners?" she asked the children.
"What kind?" Will asked suspiciously.
Marguerite was taken aback. "Well, Will, what kind would you like?" she asked him sweetly.
He cut his eyes over to Edward. "Snake soup," he said with a straight face.
Marguerite swallowed hard.
Alice giggled.
"Snake soup! Snake soup! chanted Summer.
Edward pursed his lips as if in deep contemplation.
"I don't know, Will," he said slowly. "We had snake soup last week. I'm thinking…" he tapped his finger on his chin, "raptor tail soup."
Both Alice and Summer giggled behind their hands.
Marguerite stood up and put her hands on her hips. "You know what kind of soup I'm thinking?" She wandered slowly around the yard. They all looked at her expectantly.
"Children soup!" she yelled and took off after the children who screamed and fled in all directions.
Marguerite roared like a dinosaur as she chased the boys around the base of the treehouse. The little girls ran after her until she turned around and ran after them.
They were soon laughing so hard that they ran out of breath and collapsed in a heap on top of Marguerite, who was the first to fall.
They lay there panting, giggles breaking out now and then. Finally, Marguerite sat up, shedding the children who were lying all over her.
"All right, you cannibals, let's go fix dinner. And" she dictated, "the soup of the day will be…vegetable."
"Awww," the boys moaned.
But they all got up with good spirit and went up into the treehouse. They washed their hands and faces, and everyone helped cut up the vegetables. Soon a savory soup was boiling on the stove.
While the soup was cooking, Marguerite had the children help her clean out a small corner of the treehouse that Arthur Summerlee, who was still missing, had used as a bedroom. She made up a bed in this tiny alcove for the boys. Alice and Summer pouted with jealousy. They, too, wanted their very own room. Marguerite thought hard and finally put cushions on the floor in one corner of her room and hung a gauzy shawl to screen it in. The girls were thrilled and wanted to go to bed right then. Marguerite laughed and reminded them that they needed to have dinner first.
The dinner proved to be a great success. The children declared the soup delicious and compliment each other on what good cooks they were becoming. Marguerite breathed a sigh of relief that this was the last meal she would have to prepare. Tomorrow, one of the others would take over the cooking again.
Not long after dinner, the children were clean and dressed for bed. Marguerite allowed Edward to tell them a bedtime story while she cleaned up the kitchen. Edward was an amazingly good storyteller. His imagination knew no bounds. The other children sat on the couch spellbound as he wove his tale of thrilling adventures.
The kitchen clean and the story finally over (at least that chapter of it), the four children eagerly retired to their new, secret hideaways. Marguerite hugged and kissed them all good night. For just a minute, Will was upset that Tori wasn't there, too. But Marguerite put her arm around him and reassured him that his sister would be back in the treehouse when he woke up in the morning. A reassurance that she needed badly, herself.
The children had been asleep for hours. Night had closed in around the treehouse. It's light shone out like a beacon high in the canopy…a beacon to lead the weary hunters safely home.
Safely home. Marguerite sat on the couch pretending to read and wished that very wish. She listened to the jungle noises, which, after three years, were as familiar to her as the noises of a London street. Every minute she expected to hear the noise of the elevator.
She put down her unread book and picked up one of Will's boots. She had wiped the mud from the children shoes and washed their clothes, again. That was when she noticed that Will's boots were almost worn through on the bottom. As she inspected the small boot, she saw that it was made of raptor hide. She had never stopped to think about where the children's clothes came from, but now she realized that everything they wore had to come from the plateau. It must be quite a job to keep six children clothed, not to mention fed. Marguerite felt new respect for the children's parents. The children were so fun and sweet but their upkeep must tax the ingenuity of all of the adults.
She was so engrossed in her musings that the elevator was halfway to the top before it registered with her that the others were home. She sprang from her seat and rushed to the steps just as the first three hunters came staggering off. Challenger barely acknowledged her. He limped over to a chair and sat down with a moan. Next to step off were the two people that she had been the most anxious about.
Roxton had his arm around Victoria's shoulder. She looked as if she had just woken up, which in fact, she had. Ned and John had taken turns carrying her, fast asleep, the last few miles home. She was dirty and scratched and her hair was wild, full of tiny leaves and twigs. She took one look at Marguerite and ran, sobbing, into her arms. Marguerite gathered the child into her embrace and rocked her slightly back and forth, patting her on the back.
She looked up at Roxton over Victoria's head. He looked pale and exhausted. Marguerite longed to take him into her arms as well. Behind him, the elevator came back up with Ned and Veronica. No one had said anything.
Roxton licked his lips and reached out to put his hand on Victoria's head.
"The child is exhausted," He said. "She needs to be in bed."
Marguerite could stand it no longer. "But, John, did you find the meadow and the time portal?"
Roxton looked over her head and his eyes squinted up as if seeing something far away. He scratched the stubble on his chin as he blew a sharp breath.
"Oh, yes, Marguerite, we found the meadow, all right."
Marguerite glanced quizzically around at the group of silent adults.
"And did you find the time portal?"
Roxton turned his head away.
Victoria pulled herself back from Marguerite's embrace. With tears streaming down her face, she nodded her head. Marguerite's heart tightened in her chest.
"You found the portal? Then, what…what's the matter?" she whispered.
"Oh, Marguerite!" Victoria cried. "We didn't find just one portal…we found seven, and…and we don't know which one will take us home!"
TO BE CONTINUED. Chapter 5 coming soon!
