Chapter Two

Hope

Part One

As Marguerite approached the dock, she noticed a tall, broad man with slumped shoulders standing in the moonlight.  She walked over to him and the weary couple stood rigid against the bitter bite of frozen wind as it whipped across their faces and tried to embrace their shivering bodies. 

Roxton glanced nervously at Marguerite every now and then to reassure himself that he wasn't standing out there in the nippy, murky dock on his own.  She was so quiet and unresponsive to all her surroundings.

A man emerged from behind a pile of crates; shadows like a cat getting prepared to pounce.  He was dressed all in black with a smooth face and sparkling green eyes.  He scanned them over before braking into a grin.  "Finally, I've been so anxious about this meeting.  It's great to see you again."

Roxton nodded tersely.  "And the same towards you I suppose, but I must admit I hardly remember you."

The man waved him off.  "That isn't what is important at the moment."

Marguerite shifted and crossed her arms protectively over her chest.  "It's cold and I'm miserable so can we cut to the chase as to why you dragged us out here in the middle of the night?"

"Yes, yes, of course, Lady Roxton.  What I called you out here for is to discuss the possibility of bringing back your little boy."

Roxton stepped forward with rage and a little glimpse of hidden hope.  "Who the hell do you think you are?  Our son is dead.  I was there when it happened.  I held him as he died.  You can't bring him back!  You are full of shit and the cruelest person I have ever known to try and play such a devilish joke on grieving parents!"

"Lord Roxton, quite on the contrary.  Your son maybe resting at the moment, but his body is still salvageable.  I've been working on this new experiment that can possibly bring the dead back to the living."  He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out an envelope.  "Here, read through these.  I'll be in touch."  He turned swiftly to leave.

"Wait!" Roxton called after him, his voice cracking.  "You can't bring people back from the dead no matter what you try."

The man grinned mischievously.  "Lord Roxton, on the plateau anything is possible."  Then like a gust of wind, he was gone.

Part Two

In the documents where astounding outlines of a secret discovery made by a Doctor Christopher Burns, the man they had met at the docks.  He and a crew of eleven other men had journeyed to the elusive plateau in search of a rare herb that was said to heal the deadliest of illnesses.  Burns had altered the herb and through countless years of trials and errors was able to bring a mouse back to life.

Burns' scientists had stolen Adam's body from his coffin the day he was to be buried and placed him in a well-preserved tank housed in a cave on the plateau.  He had respected the Challenger Expedition; and was linked to the Roxton family in a way that was never allowed to be known.  Yet, his secret loyalty was so binding that he wanted only to try and ease the pain and suffering of Roxton and Marguerite.  And of course win world fame for cheating death of its prize.

The catch was that Adam would have to remain on the plateau for his body would deteriorate rapidly outside the mystical grounds and without the daily dosage of the herb.  Another catch was that he would need vital transfusions from his father such as blood, tissue, and bone marrow.  There was a high risk that never of them would make it through the surgery.  These sort of extensive procedures were new to the 1930s and very experimental, even shunned by many.

Yet, it had only taken Roxton a mere week to agree to the operation.   

End Chapter Two

Well…I wouldn't mind some feedback.  Honestly I wouldn't. /smiles/ And if you're going to send fire and brimstone, please at least be a little nice about it.  I know this is a very implausible scenario, but isn't everything in the Lost World?