Disclaimer: None of these Characters Are Mine
The Ties That Bind
Chapter 11
Nigel spells out his demands and reveals his father's true fate, Marguerite and Roxton learn the truth about Emma.
When they arrived at that treehouse, Nigel smiled, still holding on to Marguerite tightly.
'This is very quaint. I'm sure my father was very comfortable here.'
Marguerite's eyes met Roxton's. She offered him a silent apology for not heeding his warnings. Roxton met her gaze with a reassuring one.
Nigel suddenly let go of Marguerite, pushing her towards the rest of the group. Roxton pulled her into his arms, holding on to her tight. Nigel stood in front of the elevator.
A loud whimper was heard. Everyone's eyes looked towards the upper level. Everyone's except for Nigel's.
'For God's sake's man!' Challenger hissed. 'Give us the antidote! Name your price!'
Finn cried out again. Veronica pulled away from Ned and ran upstairs anyway. Malone's eyes followed after her. The fact that Nigel did not shoot Veronica showed that he needed them alive...for now.
Nigel breathed deeply. 'I'll be brief. I want the fruit.'
Roxton, Marguerite, Challenger and Ned gaped at him.
'What the hell are you talking about, man?!' Roxton asked, squinting at him. Marguerite began to move away from Roxton.
Nigel regarded him for a moment, cocking the gun in his direction. He smirked.
'You know, I have been awfully rude. I now see that none of you know a damned thing about anything. So, let me explain myself. I have been on this plateau for exactly one year and three months.'
Challenger looked at Malone, then looked back at Nigel.
'Don't be ridiculous! How is that possible?'
'Professor Challenger. Oh how being cut off from the real world makes one oh so ignorant.'
Malone clenched his fist. 'Skip the story and give us the medicine for Finn!'
Nigel moved a few steps away from the elevator. He ignored Malone.
'There was a rescue expedition sent for all of you. We stopped at a certain point by a waterfall....'
Marguerite gasped quietly. 'The same one Summerlee would've run in to.'
Nigel looked over at her. 'That's right. He did.'
Roxton, Marguerite, Malone and Challenger all looked at one another. Challenger moved closer to Nigel.
'Are you saying that your father survived his ordeal? And he never sent help back for us?'
Nigel gave him a cold smile. 'We realized that our expedition was on the other side of that waterfall. My father just floated in one day. He didn't live but a few days. Pneumonia.'
Marguerite turned away. Roxton looked at her. Challenger closed his eyes briefly. But Malone stared Nigel down.
'What is this fruit you're talking about?'
'My father was delirious, rambling on and on about your adventures. It was the part about the fruit that interested me. The fruit that kept one youthful. The money I could make on that would keep my experiments well financed. Imagine, the fountain of youth in a fruit!'
Roxton gave a short laugh. 'Well, Nigel, you're out of luck. We destroyed the plant, at the root, at your father's suggestion. So we couldn't show you where it was anyway. Now, give us the antidote!'
Nigel's eyes met Marguerite's. Roxton looked from Nigel to Marguerite. Roxton took a deep breath and pulled Marguerite, a lot harder than he would've liked, over into a corner.
'We don't have a lot of time here, so, I want you to give me an honest, straight answer. Did you keep some of that fruit? And did Summerlee know about it?'
Marguerite shook him off of her! Yes! She had kept some of the damned fruit! She would've been a fool not to! During one of their misadventures, in which her jewelry was needed to get Roxton, herself and Malone out of a jam, Summerlee went pawing through her things and found her fruit stash.
She remembered being mildly annoyed with the elderly professor. Keeping a fruit stash hidden in their living quarters was hard work. She had to specially preserve it in wrappings. Oddly, it never seemed to rot though. Summerlee had reluctantly agreed to keep her secret, but warned her against eating the fruit. Marguerite only took small nips anyway, but she had always lived in fear that he would give away that secret. It looks like he did, unintentionally though.
'Marguerite!' Challenger yelled from across the room. Malone was glaring at her. She faced Roxton.
'Alright, alright! Yes! I kept some! And yes, Summerlee knew about it!' She peeked around Roxton at Nigel.
'I don't see how my old fruit is going to help you, though! So, you might as well give us the antidote and get out of here!'
'Where is it?' Roxton asked her in a tight voice. Marguerite's eyes flew back to his.
'John, the fruit will be useless to him...'
'This is not a game! Our friend is dying up there! Now you give him what he asked for or else!'
Marguerite backed away. She had seen Roxton angry plenty of times, yes, but the look in his eyes now had a special charge to it. Marguerite turned abruptly and marched up the stairs. She glanced over into Finn's room and saw Veronica wiping her forehead with a cloth. Marguerite looked away, went in to her room and opened a little box, one of her favorite hiding places.
Just as she had opened one of the compartments, the box was snatched from her hand by Roxton!'
'I was coming back down!'
'Not fast enough!'
Roxton dumped everything out on to the ground! Under ordinary circumstances, Marguerite might have protested, but she sensed it was better not to say nothing. He found the specially wrapped fruit and waved it in her face.
'Have you been eating this poison while you've been pregnant? Is this stuff why we had to get Phoix over here to help you?!'
Marguerite's mouth dropped open!
'Take it back!' she hissed in a low voice.
Roxton stared her down. Veronica appeared in the doorway.
'Whatever is going between you two now, is going to have to wait. Finn is close to death! Whatever it is Nigel sent you up here for, get and give it to him!'
Roxton and Marguerite continued to stare at one another. Roxton then broke off eye contact and looked at Veronica. He handed her the fruit.
'Give this to him.'
Veronica frowned. 'What the hell is this?'
Marguerite patted her hair. 'What does it look like?'
'Some kind of dried up looking food!' She answered. Veronica then looked at Marguerite, who looked away. Roxton stared at Marguerite.
'You'd better get down there now.' Roxton said to Veronica, but still looked at Marguerite. Veronica gave them both an uneasy glance, then left the room. The sound of her feet running down the stairs could be heard.
'I will never understand your greed if it takes the rest of my natural life! Why...'
'Oh, shut up!' Marguerite yelled. 'So I forgot about the fruit! So what?! I haven't touched that stuff in years!'
'But you were planning on getting rich off of it when we returned home, weren't you?'
Marguerite looked him up and down.
'And? What if I was? What would've been the harm?'
Roxton walked over to her. Their faces were inches apart.
'Malone almost lost his life over that poison! We all did! How you could've kept a reminder of it, is beyond me!'
Marguerite rolled her eyes and turned away.
'Don't turn away from me, Marguerite!'
Marguerite turned back. 'I don't like your tone. Nor do I appreciate your accusation that I purposely put my baby at risk!'
'Our baby!'
'Just go! I'm not in the mood to be judged today, Lord Roxton. Especially from a man who lied about being married. Get out!'
Roxton gave a short laugh, then rubbed his face.
'Do you really think that it would've made any difference at all, if you had known upfront about Emma?'
Marguerite hated it when he mentioned the woman by name. It caused her to visualize what she might look like. Marguerite hoped like hell she wasn't pretty!
'I don't know what you mean.'
'I think you do. Would you have wanted me any less if you had known I was married?'
Marguerite rolled her eyes again! 'I hardly see what difference that makes!'
Roxton folded his arms, regarding her with something akin to amusement.
'I think it makes all of the difference in the world. Because I can honestly tell you that if you had come on this expedition, still Mrs. Harry Krux, that would not have stopped me from making you mine. So I want you to think about that long and hard, then decide how long you're going to let a dead woman come between us.'
Marguerite stared at him a moment, before turning away. Roxton walked out of her room. She closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck.
****
'So, you're plan is to duplicate this fruit in some manner, correct?' Challenger asked Nigel.
Nigel examined the fruit, holding it up to get better lighting. He did not answer Challenger. For at heart, Challenger was a scientist. For all Nigel knew, Challenger was thinking of some way to steal the idea away from him at this very moment!
Nigel reached inside his jacket pocket and tossed a small, leather pouch to Challenger.
'That is what the girl needs. Give it to her.'
Challenger, Veronica and Malone ran up the stairs. Roxton, who had just come back down, glared at Nigel.
'You have what you came for, now leave.' Roxton ordered in a calm voice.
Nigel wrapped the fruit back up and put it inside the pack, all the while keeping his gun and eyes, on Roxton.
'Very well. I'm sorry that I won't be able to return to London with any of you. Specifically Marguerite. '
'Is that a fact?' Roxton almost sneered.
'Oh yes. I mean I would be happy enough to marry our Ms. Krux or Ms. Von Bubrik have you, raise your child and live off of her money happily ever after. By the way, the baby is yours, isn't it? I'm making an educated guess, since neither Challenger or Mr. Malone seem to be her type.'
Roxton moved slightly closer to him. Nigel's gun did not move.
'Tell me how you and the Countess ended up as co-conspirators? You were, weren't you? I mean, that was why you shot Royce in the back, hey?'
Nigel began to back towards the elevator.
'After my father died, I had run out of money. I didn't have enough to go on towards this plateau. I headed back to London. I met Caroline and told her what I had learned about the fruit. Being a lonely, middle-aged fool, she funded my expedition back here. I couldn't get too many people to come on to the plateau with me. The ones that did, usually perished by the hand of some murdering ape mongrel or a dinosaur. I escaped death many times, searching for your party, never finding you, and then having to return back to London.'
Roxton eyed Nigel's gun. 'But somewhere along the line, you decided to stay?'
'That was thanks to Caroline's jealous nature. She began to suspect that I was keeping some native girl as a mistress here, thus an explanation for my seemingly long trips away. She insisted on coming with me, the time before last. She also wanted to be comfortable. But there was not enough money in the world that would get workers to build our compound here.'
Roxton nodded slightly. 'But there was free labor here, right? With the tribes?'
'Of course! And I was not foolish enough to think that they would do the work I required for free. I realized I needed to make them feel indebted to me. That was when I began visiting the tribes with my own special seasoning for their food sources. People would drop like flies almost instantly. I then would 'cure' them. Along with the various trinkets that I'm sure will glean me a nice, tidy sum, I also obtained workers for Caroline's 'home away from home'.
'You said 'the time before last'?' Roxton asked.
Nigel smirked and backed into the elevator.
'I have a plane, Lord Roxton. There is a radio at the compound. So yes, I am very capable of getting off of this plateau. Ah, but you asked me about the Countess, did you not?'
Roxton said nothing. Marguerite appeared on a stair step behind Roxton.
'On my last visit to London, she approached me about coming to find Marguerite. She hoped like hell you were all dead, you know? Anyway, I told her she was welcome to stay with me if and when she arrived. When she arrived with Royce, I asked her to come clean as to why a woman of her means, travels to this God forsaken hell with only a few pieces of luggage and her solicitor?'
Marguerite came down the few remaining steps and walked up beside Roxton. He looked over at her. She ignored his gaze, her eyes on Nigel.
'We know why. To steal my birthright and poison us, no thanks to you.'
Nigel bowed. 'I must confess, that was my idea. When she confided her plan, I realized she was missing one thing. Realistically, Royce and herself alone were not enough to overpower all of you. I didn't see how she was going to be able to get you to sign away your birthright, then leave you all unless she disarmed you somehow.'
There was a silence. Nigel began to wave as he lowered the elevator. It was then that Marguerite did the unthinkable. She rushed the elevator and knocked the gun from his hand! The gun slid across the treehouse floor. Roxton hurried to assist her, dragging Nigel by the throat back into the treehouse. He glared at Marguerite.
'What the hell do you think you're doing, woman?! He could've killed us!'
Marguerite stared down at Nigel, who was being retrained by Roxton's foot on his throat.
'What you just told us makes no sense. Because if the Countess had succeeded in poisoning all of us, you would've never known where the fruit was.'
Roxton looked at Marguerite, then down at Nigel. He eased up the pressure of his foothold.
'Talk, man!'
Nigel's voice sounded raspy. 'I would've found it, eventually.'
Marguerite stared down at him. 'Maybe. But I doubt it. It was no accident that you saved me from the raptor. And the Countess wasn't about to fly back to you in that balloon and tell you where we were. Hell, she wasn't even taking Royce back. I think the Countess asked you for your poison, cure, whatever the hell you call that stuff you murder people with, and you were forced to give in to her demands. Why?'
Roxton tilted his head, staring down at him as well.
'Royce ran from you. He thought you were just as dangerous as the Countess. You're not getting out of here alive, Nigel, so you might as well fess up!'
Nigel smirked again.
'Then if that's the case, then I'll just come out with it. Caroline was not the only woman I was seeing.'
Marguerite snorted. 'Now why doesn't that surprise me!'
Nigel's smirk began to turn in to a full blown grin. For the first time, Roxton actually felt fear, even though he had the man at a disadvantage.
'She was beautiful, but married, though that in itself was a sham. For you see, her husband went missing three years back...lost on some expedition. The poor thing had been in love with some man who came from a family of degenerate gamblers. He was killed when he couldn't repay a debt. She soon fell into my arms.'
Roxton began to ease up even more on Nigel's throat, as the truth began to seep in. Marguerite still seemed confused.
'So, the Countess threatened to tell Caroline about this other woman? Of course. And if Caroline found out, then all of your delusions of grandeur go up and smoke.'
Roxton took his foot off of Nigel's throat. Nigel stood up quickly.
'John! What are you doing?' she asked. She then stared at Roxton. Something was wrong.
Roxton stared at Nigel. 'You were the one? You murdered Emma! The Countess knew!'
Marguerite's mouth dropped open. She touched Roxton's arm. Nigel rubbed his throat and emitted a raspy laugh.
'Good God Roxton! Is that what you told this poor woman when you got her with child?'
Marguerite raised a brow. She looked from Nigel to Roxton.
'What is he talking about, John?'
Roxton quickly glanced at her.
'I don't know! He's just admitted to killing Emma!'
Nigel looked at Marguerite. 'I don't know what the hell he's been telling you, but I did not kill Lady Roxton. She is however, slightly burned. The poor wretch found out about Caroline and threatened to tell the the authorities about my cancer experiments. I realized that I preferred Caroline. I lured her to our special place.'
'The cabin.' Roxton said dully.
'Yes. I hid nearby and watched her go in. I then torched the place. I had meant to kill her, but somehow, someway, she escaped, though not unscathed. Badly burned. Believe me Roxton, not a nice sight to go back to. The Countess, unfortunately, was one of those rare people who saw Emma and I together once. She figured out what I had done. So yes, you are right. I did not want Caroline to know what I had been up to.
Marguerite glared at Nigel. 'Roxton's wife is dead!'
'And this is true because he told you?' Nigel asked sarcastically.
'The journals...' Roxton muttered.
'Journals? You know, I do believe I saw the Countess writing up a storm when she was a guest at the compound.'
Marguerite began to back away. 'Those were Ian Royce's journals!'
Nigel shrugged. 'That is possible. I'm telling you that the only one of the two I ever saw writing in journals, was the Countess.'
Suddenly, Nigel leapt forwards and punched Roxton twice. Roxton fell back. Nigel turned and ran for the elevator. Marguerite picked up the gun that she had knocked out of his hand and shot him through the forehead.
****
Finn was starting to look much better, when they all heard the single gunshot. Finn tried to sit up, but Veronica pushed her gently back on to the bed.
'Easy! Let Ned and Challenger find out what's going on.'
'What happened to me?' Finn asked weakly.
'The Countess poisoned the vegetables in the garden.'
Finn's eyes flashed. 'It's just too bad the raptors got to her before we could.'
Veronica smiled at her. 'I can see you're getting better already.'
****
Malone confirmed that Nigel was dead. Challenger stared at Roxton, who was looking at Marguerite.
'I'm sorry we left you alone for so long...I should've known he wouldn't leave quietly.' Malone said.
'What's happened?' Challenger asked, still staring at Roxton. He then looked at Marguerite.
Malone looked at Marguerite, then looked at Challenger.
Marguerite had been looking down. She then looked at the three of them.
'Is Finn feeling better?'
'Uh, yes. I guess that was one promise Nigel did keep.'
'Good. Let's get our stuff. Nigel admitted that he had a plane and a radio.'
'Did you believe him?' Challenger asked.
'He was so cocksure...I believed him. I believed him about everything.' Marguerite said, focusing her eyes on Roxton.
'Marguerite, I thought she was dead.' he answered.
Malone sucked in his breath loudly. Roxton and Challenger looked at him.
'What is it?' Challenger asked.
Malone stared at Marguerite. 'You know, don't you?'
Roxton broke off his gaze from Marguerite and directed it towards Malone.
'You knew?' he asked.
Malone shook his head. 'I had just found out before I ran in to you all out there. Royce was confessing all.'
'Know what?!' Challenger asked, sounding perturbed.
Marguerite crossed her arms. 'Lady Emma Roxton isn't so dead after all.'
Marguerite then began to walk past Roxton and go upstairs. His hand snaked out and caught her arm. She stopped and looked at his hand on her arm, then turned back around. This time, she looked at Challenger and Malone.
'I don't know about the rest of you, but if Nigel was sitting on a plane and a radio, I plan to make full use of it. I think it's about time that we revisited Caroline.'
With that said, Marguerite pulled her arm from Roxton's grasp and walked upstairs to pack. Roxton looked over at Challenger and Malone. They were staring at him.
The Ties That Bind
Chapter 11
Nigel spells out his demands and reveals his father's true fate, Marguerite and Roxton learn the truth about Emma.
When they arrived at that treehouse, Nigel smiled, still holding on to Marguerite tightly.
'This is very quaint. I'm sure my father was very comfortable here.'
Marguerite's eyes met Roxton's. She offered him a silent apology for not heeding his warnings. Roxton met her gaze with a reassuring one.
Nigel suddenly let go of Marguerite, pushing her towards the rest of the group. Roxton pulled her into his arms, holding on to her tight. Nigel stood in front of the elevator.
A loud whimper was heard. Everyone's eyes looked towards the upper level. Everyone's except for Nigel's.
'For God's sake's man!' Challenger hissed. 'Give us the antidote! Name your price!'
Finn cried out again. Veronica pulled away from Ned and ran upstairs anyway. Malone's eyes followed after her. The fact that Nigel did not shoot Veronica showed that he needed them alive...for now.
Nigel breathed deeply. 'I'll be brief. I want the fruit.'
Roxton, Marguerite, Challenger and Ned gaped at him.
'What the hell are you talking about, man?!' Roxton asked, squinting at him. Marguerite began to move away from Roxton.
Nigel regarded him for a moment, cocking the gun in his direction. He smirked.
'You know, I have been awfully rude. I now see that none of you know a damned thing about anything. So, let me explain myself. I have been on this plateau for exactly one year and three months.'
Challenger looked at Malone, then looked back at Nigel.
'Don't be ridiculous! How is that possible?'
'Professor Challenger. Oh how being cut off from the real world makes one oh so ignorant.'
Malone clenched his fist. 'Skip the story and give us the medicine for Finn!'
Nigel moved a few steps away from the elevator. He ignored Malone.
'There was a rescue expedition sent for all of you. We stopped at a certain point by a waterfall....'
Marguerite gasped quietly. 'The same one Summerlee would've run in to.'
Nigel looked over at her. 'That's right. He did.'
Roxton, Marguerite, Malone and Challenger all looked at one another. Challenger moved closer to Nigel.
'Are you saying that your father survived his ordeal? And he never sent help back for us?'
Nigel gave him a cold smile. 'We realized that our expedition was on the other side of that waterfall. My father just floated in one day. He didn't live but a few days. Pneumonia.'
Marguerite turned away. Roxton looked at her. Challenger closed his eyes briefly. But Malone stared Nigel down.
'What is this fruit you're talking about?'
'My father was delirious, rambling on and on about your adventures. It was the part about the fruit that interested me. The fruit that kept one youthful. The money I could make on that would keep my experiments well financed. Imagine, the fountain of youth in a fruit!'
Roxton gave a short laugh. 'Well, Nigel, you're out of luck. We destroyed the plant, at the root, at your father's suggestion. So we couldn't show you where it was anyway. Now, give us the antidote!'
Nigel's eyes met Marguerite's. Roxton looked from Nigel to Marguerite. Roxton took a deep breath and pulled Marguerite, a lot harder than he would've liked, over into a corner.
'We don't have a lot of time here, so, I want you to give me an honest, straight answer. Did you keep some of that fruit? And did Summerlee know about it?'
Marguerite shook him off of her! Yes! She had kept some of the damned fruit! She would've been a fool not to! During one of their misadventures, in which her jewelry was needed to get Roxton, herself and Malone out of a jam, Summerlee went pawing through her things and found her fruit stash.
She remembered being mildly annoyed with the elderly professor. Keeping a fruit stash hidden in their living quarters was hard work. She had to specially preserve it in wrappings. Oddly, it never seemed to rot though. Summerlee had reluctantly agreed to keep her secret, but warned her against eating the fruit. Marguerite only took small nips anyway, but she had always lived in fear that he would give away that secret. It looks like he did, unintentionally though.
'Marguerite!' Challenger yelled from across the room. Malone was glaring at her. She faced Roxton.
'Alright, alright! Yes! I kept some! And yes, Summerlee knew about it!' She peeked around Roxton at Nigel.
'I don't see how my old fruit is going to help you, though! So, you might as well give us the antidote and get out of here!'
'Where is it?' Roxton asked her in a tight voice. Marguerite's eyes flew back to his.
'John, the fruit will be useless to him...'
'This is not a game! Our friend is dying up there! Now you give him what he asked for or else!'
Marguerite backed away. She had seen Roxton angry plenty of times, yes, but the look in his eyes now had a special charge to it. Marguerite turned abruptly and marched up the stairs. She glanced over into Finn's room and saw Veronica wiping her forehead with a cloth. Marguerite looked away, went in to her room and opened a little box, one of her favorite hiding places.
Just as she had opened one of the compartments, the box was snatched from her hand by Roxton!'
'I was coming back down!'
'Not fast enough!'
Roxton dumped everything out on to the ground! Under ordinary circumstances, Marguerite might have protested, but she sensed it was better not to say nothing. He found the specially wrapped fruit and waved it in her face.
'Have you been eating this poison while you've been pregnant? Is this stuff why we had to get Phoix over here to help you?!'
Marguerite's mouth dropped open!
'Take it back!' she hissed in a low voice.
Roxton stared her down. Veronica appeared in the doorway.
'Whatever is going between you two now, is going to have to wait. Finn is close to death! Whatever it is Nigel sent you up here for, get and give it to him!'
Roxton and Marguerite continued to stare at one another. Roxton then broke off eye contact and looked at Veronica. He handed her the fruit.
'Give this to him.'
Veronica frowned. 'What the hell is this?'
Marguerite patted her hair. 'What does it look like?'
'Some kind of dried up looking food!' She answered. Veronica then looked at Marguerite, who looked away. Roxton stared at Marguerite.
'You'd better get down there now.' Roxton said to Veronica, but still looked at Marguerite. Veronica gave them both an uneasy glance, then left the room. The sound of her feet running down the stairs could be heard.
'I will never understand your greed if it takes the rest of my natural life! Why...'
'Oh, shut up!' Marguerite yelled. 'So I forgot about the fruit! So what?! I haven't touched that stuff in years!'
'But you were planning on getting rich off of it when we returned home, weren't you?'
Marguerite looked him up and down.
'And? What if I was? What would've been the harm?'
Roxton walked over to her. Their faces were inches apart.
'Malone almost lost his life over that poison! We all did! How you could've kept a reminder of it, is beyond me!'
Marguerite rolled her eyes and turned away.
'Don't turn away from me, Marguerite!'
Marguerite turned back. 'I don't like your tone. Nor do I appreciate your accusation that I purposely put my baby at risk!'
'Our baby!'
'Just go! I'm not in the mood to be judged today, Lord Roxton. Especially from a man who lied about being married. Get out!'
Roxton gave a short laugh, then rubbed his face.
'Do you really think that it would've made any difference at all, if you had known upfront about Emma?'
Marguerite hated it when he mentioned the woman by name. It caused her to visualize what she might look like. Marguerite hoped like hell she wasn't pretty!
'I don't know what you mean.'
'I think you do. Would you have wanted me any less if you had known I was married?'
Marguerite rolled her eyes again! 'I hardly see what difference that makes!'
Roxton folded his arms, regarding her with something akin to amusement.
'I think it makes all of the difference in the world. Because I can honestly tell you that if you had come on this expedition, still Mrs. Harry Krux, that would not have stopped me from making you mine. So I want you to think about that long and hard, then decide how long you're going to let a dead woman come between us.'
Marguerite stared at him a moment, before turning away. Roxton walked out of her room. She closed her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck.
****
'So, you're plan is to duplicate this fruit in some manner, correct?' Challenger asked Nigel.
Nigel examined the fruit, holding it up to get better lighting. He did not answer Challenger. For at heart, Challenger was a scientist. For all Nigel knew, Challenger was thinking of some way to steal the idea away from him at this very moment!
Nigel reached inside his jacket pocket and tossed a small, leather pouch to Challenger.
'That is what the girl needs. Give it to her.'
Challenger, Veronica and Malone ran up the stairs. Roxton, who had just come back down, glared at Nigel.
'You have what you came for, now leave.' Roxton ordered in a calm voice.
Nigel wrapped the fruit back up and put it inside the pack, all the while keeping his gun and eyes, on Roxton.
'Very well. I'm sorry that I won't be able to return to London with any of you. Specifically Marguerite. '
'Is that a fact?' Roxton almost sneered.
'Oh yes. I mean I would be happy enough to marry our Ms. Krux or Ms. Von Bubrik have you, raise your child and live off of her money happily ever after. By the way, the baby is yours, isn't it? I'm making an educated guess, since neither Challenger or Mr. Malone seem to be her type.'
Roxton moved slightly closer to him. Nigel's gun did not move.
'Tell me how you and the Countess ended up as co-conspirators? You were, weren't you? I mean, that was why you shot Royce in the back, hey?'
Nigel began to back towards the elevator.
'After my father died, I had run out of money. I didn't have enough to go on towards this plateau. I headed back to London. I met Caroline and told her what I had learned about the fruit. Being a lonely, middle-aged fool, she funded my expedition back here. I couldn't get too many people to come on to the plateau with me. The ones that did, usually perished by the hand of some murdering ape mongrel or a dinosaur. I escaped death many times, searching for your party, never finding you, and then having to return back to London.'
Roxton eyed Nigel's gun. 'But somewhere along the line, you decided to stay?'
'That was thanks to Caroline's jealous nature. She began to suspect that I was keeping some native girl as a mistress here, thus an explanation for my seemingly long trips away. She insisted on coming with me, the time before last. She also wanted to be comfortable. But there was not enough money in the world that would get workers to build our compound here.'
Roxton nodded slightly. 'But there was free labor here, right? With the tribes?'
'Of course! And I was not foolish enough to think that they would do the work I required for free. I realized I needed to make them feel indebted to me. That was when I began visiting the tribes with my own special seasoning for their food sources. People would drop like flies almost instantly. I then would 'cure' them. Along with the various trinkets that I'm sure will glean me a nice, tidy sum, I also obtained workers for Caroline's 'home away from home'.
'You said 'the time before last'?' Roxton asked.
Nigel smirked and backed into the elevator.
'I have a plane, Lord Roxton. There is a radio at the compound. So yes, I am very capable of getting off of this plateau. Ah, but you asked me about the Countess, did you not?'
Roxton said nothing. Marguerite appeared on a stair step behind Roxton.
'On my last visit to London, she approached me about coming to find Marguerite. She hoped like hell you were all dead, you know? Anyway, I told her she was welcome to stay with me if and when she arrived. When she arrived with Royce, I asked her to come clean as to why a woman of her means, travels to this God forsaken hell with only a few pieces of luggage and her solicitor?'
Marguerite came down the few remaining steps and walked up beside Roxton. He looked over at her. She ignored his gaze, her eyes on Nigel.
'We know why. To steal my birthright and poison us, no thanks to you.'
Nigel bowed. 'I must confess, that was my idea. When she confided her plan, I realized she was missing one thing. Realistically, Royce and herself alone were not enough to overpower all of you. I didn't see how she was going to be able to get you to sign away your birthright, then leave you all unless she disarmed you somehow.'
There was a silence. Nigel began to wave as he lowered the elevator. It was then that Marguerite did the unthinkable. She rushed the elevator and knocked the gun from his hand! The gun slid across the treehouse floor. Roxton hurried to assist her, dragging Nigel by the throat back into the treehouse. He glared at Marguerite.
'What the hell do you think you're doing, woman?! He could've killed us!'
Marguerite stared down at Nigel, who was being retrained by Roxton's foot on his throat.
'What you just told us makes no sense. Because if the Countess had succeeded in poisoning all of us, you would've never known where the fruit was.'
Roxton looked at Marguerite, then down at Nigel. He eased up the pressure of his foothold.
'Talk, man!'
Nigel's voice sounded raspy. 'I would've found it, eventually.'
Marguerite stared down at him. 'Maybe. But I doubt it. It was no accident that you saved me from the raptor. And the Countess wasn't about to fly back to you in that balloon and tell you where we were. Hell, she wasn't even taking Royce back. I think the Countess asked you for your poison, cure, whatever the hell you call that stuff you murder people with, and you were forced to give in to her demands. Why?'
Roxton tilted his head, staring down at him as well.
'Royce ran from you. He thought you were just as dangerous as the Countess. You're not getting out of here alive, Nigel, so you might as well fess up!'
Nigel smirked again.
'Then if that's the case, then I'll just come out with it. Caroline was not the only woman I was seeing.'
Marguerite snorted. 'Now why doesn't that surprise me!'
Nigel's smirk began to turn in to a full blown grin. For the first time, Roxton actually felt fear, even though he had the man at a disadvantage.
'She was beautiful, but married, though that in itself was a sham. For you see, her husband went missing three years back...lost on some expedition. The poor thing had been in love with some man who came from a family of degenerate gamblers. He was killed when he couldn't repay a debt. She soon fell into my arms.'
Roxton began to ease up even more on Nigel's throat, as the truth began to seep in. Marguerite still seemed confused.
'So, the Countess threatened to tell Caroline about this other woman? Of course. And if Caroline found out, then all of your delusions of grandeur go up and smoke.'
Roxton took his foot off of Nigel's throat. Nigel stood up quickly.
'John! What are you doing?' she asked. She then stared at Roxton. Something was wrong.
Roxton stared at Nigel. 'You were the one? You murdered Emma! The Countess knew!'
Marguerite's mouth dropped open. She touched Roxton's arm. Nigel rubbed his throat and emitted a raspy laugh.
'Good God Roxton! Is that what you told this poor woman when you got her with child?'
Marguerite raised a brow. She looked from Nigel to Roxton.
'What is he talking about, John?'
Roxton quickly glanced at her.
'I don't know! He's just admitted to killing Emma!'
Nigel looked at Marguerite. 'I don't know what the hell he's been telling you, but I did not kill Lady Roxton. She is however, slightly burned. The poor wretch found out about Caroline and threatened to tell the the authorities about my cancer experiments. I realized that I preferred Caroline. I lured her to our special place.'
'The cabin.' Roxton said dully.
'Yes. I hid nearby and watched her go in. I then torched the place. I had meant to kill her, but somehow, someway, she escaped, though not unscathed. Badly burned. Believe me Roxton, not a nice sight to go back to. The Countess, unfortunately, was one of those rare people who saw Emma and I together once. She figured out what I had done. So yes, you are right. I did not want Caroline to know what I had been up to.
Marguerite glared at Nigel. 'Roxton's wife is dead!'
'And this is true because he told you?' Nigel asked sarcastically.
'The journals...' Roxton muttered.
'Journals? You know, I do believe I saw the Countess writing up a storm when she was a guest at the compound.'
Marguerite began to back away. 'Those were Ian Royce's journals!'
Nigel shrugged. 'That is possible. I'm telling you that the only one of the two I ever saw writing in journals, was the Countess.'
Suddenly, Nigel leapt forwards and punched Roxton twice. Roxton fell back. Nigel turned and ran for the elevator. Marguerite picked up the gun that she had knocked out of his hand and shot him through the forehead.
****
Finn was starting to look much better, when they all heard the single gunshot. Finn tried to sit up, but Veronica pushed her gently back on to the bed.
'Easy! Let Ned and Challenger find out what's going on.'
'What happened to me?' Finn asked weakly.
'The Countess poisoned the vegetables in the garden.'
Finn's eyes flashed. 'It's just too bad the raptors got to her before we could.'
Veronica smiled at her. 'I can see you're getting better already.'
****
Malone confirmed that Nigel was dead. Challenger stared at Roxton, who was looking at Marguerite.
'I'm sorry we left you alone for so long...I should've known he wouldn't leave quietly.' Malone said.
'What's happened?' Challenger asked, still staring at Roxton. He then looked at Marguerite.
Malone looked at Marguerite, then looked at Challenger.
Marguerite had been looking down. She then looked at the three of them.
'Is Finn feeling better?'
'Uh, yes. I guess that was one promise Nigel did keep.'
'Good. Let's get our stuff. Nigel admitted that he had a plane and a radio.'
'Did you believe him?' Challenger asked.
'He was so cocksure...I believed him. I believed him about everything.' Marguerite said, focusing her eyes on Roxton.
'Marguerite, I thought she was dead.' he answered.
Malone sucked in his breath loudly. Roxton and Challenger looked at him.
'What is it?' Challenger asked.
Malone stared at Marguerite. 'You know, don't you?'
Roxton broke off his gaze from Marguerite and directed it towards Malone.
'You knew?' he asked.
Malone shook his head. 'I had just found out before I ran in to you all out there. Royce was confessing all.'
'Know what?!' Challenger asked, sounding perturbed.
Marguerite crossed her arms. 'Lady Emma Roxton isn't so dead after all.'
Marguerite then began to walk past Roxton and go upstairs. His hand snaked out and caught her arm. She stopped and looked at his hand on her arm, then turned back around. This time, she looked at Challenger and Malone.
'I don't know about the rest of you, but if Nigel was sitting on a plane and a radio, I plan to make full use of it. I think it's about time that we revisited Caroline.'
With that said, Marguerite pulled her arm from Roxton's grasp and walked upstairs to pack. Roxton looked over at Challenger and Malone. They were staring at him.