Chapter Three
Odd Sensations
Marguerite sat in stony silence watching as the water droplets slowly slid off the leaves of the tree house. It was sprinkling and hazy, but otherwise a comfortable late-spring evening. It had been a week since her mysterious "illness" (as they referred to it) and she hadn't shown a sign of repercussion much to her delight and Roxton's cynicism. He was wary and watchful of her every breath as though he feared a relapse.
Challenger and Malone had returned to the tree house with Clarias, a medicine woman. Clarias had hung around a couple days before declaring Marguerite healed and departed back to her village. This was enough for the professor and journalist. Veronica and Roxton on the other hand kept an eye on the heiress; going so far as Veronica bathing with her every morning. It was beginning to grate on Marguerite's nerves.
Marguerite didn't recall much of what happened to her during her "sick" days, but chalked it up to stress. She was told about how she experienced nightmares and cold sweats and decided she was better off not remembering.
Marguerite leaned back further into the wicker chair. She was tired of lazing around. She would even go as far to say she was bored enough to clean the tree house. Not that she would admit it to anyone.
A chilling breeze swept over her and her spine impulsively went rigid. Her breathing grew shallow and – strangely – fear boiled through her veins in waves of heat and cold. She snapped her head back and forth in search of whatever it was that gave her a fright, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
"Something wrong, Marguerite?"
Marguerite shrieked, tumbling out of her chair and whirling around on quivering knees. Her liquid brown eyes laced with hints of green were wide with fear. Embarrassed, she straightened her posture. "Rox-Roxton." She gulped nervously.
His expression contorted into blatant worry and he cautiously inched forward. "Marguerite," he murmured. "What's wrong?"
"No-nothing. You just startled me. Honestly, Roxton, you shouldn't sneak up on people." Marguerite stared him head on in the attempt to exert an air of calm. She smoothed down the front of her skirt to hide the trembling of her hands.
This is foolish, she snapped at herself. There isn't anything to be afraid of. There's nothing out to get you.
Roxton half nodded his head, but his eyes were suspicious. "If you say so, Marguerite." He held up his rifle. "I'm going for a walk. I thought maybe you would like to join me. It would give you a chance to leave the tree house for a little while."
"This isn't one of your schemes to get me alone, is it, Roxton?" she teased all the while gathering up her pistol and knife.
"You wound me, Marguerite." He grinned boyishly.
Marguerite snorted. "Sure."
Part Two
They had been trekking along a makeshift path for the last two hours in what Marguerite feared was a giant circle. Nevertheless, Roxton denied her claim saying, "I'm a trained hunter, Marguerite. I know how to avoid going in circles."
"Then why do you keep following them?" Marguerite swatted at a swarm of bugs that flew into her face and grumbled.
Roxton lifted up a branch that stuck out into the path for Marguerite to walk under. "What does that mean?"
"Nothing, except your life is just full of circles. You never move forward, Roxton." She ducked beneath his arm. "When will you take a chance and leap towards what you want instead of reaching for it, but never touching it?"
Roxton's face crunched up into confusion. "What are you rambling about?"
"Nothing." She marched on. Men, she thought bitterly.
She jolted to a sudden halt as her vision blurred and the abnormal terror gripped at her heart once more. Her body began to shake as sweat glistened on her forehead and upper lip. Something was horribly wrong, but she couldn't grasp what.
She could hear Roxton calling her name, but his voice was distant. She felt her knees give way and she tumbled to the ground, but was shocked at never feeling the hard forest floor meet her.
Outside her world, Roxton had caught her. He swung her up to cradle her in his arms as he would a baby and made a fleeting dash for the tree house. All the while he yelled out, "Veronica! Challenger! Malone! Veronica! Challenger! Malone! Veronica…"
Part Three
Malone came sprinting out of the tree house at the sound of Roxton's cries. He raced out into the "yard" in time to see Roxton bursting from the tree line with Marguerite in his arms. Malone rushed forward. "What happened?"
"I don't know. She looked terrified and then just…collapsed. Hurry, get Challenger." Roxton entered the elevator. He gazed down at Marguerite and noticed for the first time that her eyes were still open, but they were glazed over. "Marguerite," he whispered. What is wrong? He thought desperately.
Marguerite released a bone-chilling screech.
End Chapter Three
