No one knew what was going on. One moment, they were at death's
door, and the next, they found themselves floating through a black abyss.
None of them could tell whether they were being pulled forward, or whether
the world around them was being pulled backwards. Only Finn, the only
witness to Veronica's struggle in the tree house, had some idea of what was
going on. "Vee must have done it!" Finn thought. "She must have saved the
Plateau!"
Finn had barely finished her thought when she emerged from the darkness and was unceremoniously dropped on the ground outside of the tree house. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she took inventory of her surroundings. "Thank God," she thought. "The tree house is still standing." She saw that the rest of missing explorers were back as well. They had landed in a circle around the tree house. Finn slowly looked around at her friends. She was obviously the only one aware of her surroundings. The others were all in shock. Finn figured she must not have been affected as badly because she wasn't in the time warp as long. Who knew what they had been through-they looked like they had been to hell and back.
Challenger was to her right, dabbing at the perspiration on his forehead with his handkerchief. Beside him was Marguerite, who was clutching her chest, and seemed to be having trouble catching her breath. Roxton was a few feet from her on bended knee, staring at the ground. And to Finn's left, removing a noose from his neck was a man she had never met, but whom she recognized from Veronica's drawings."MALONE!" Her squeal snapped the others out of their daze, and they realized where they were. Everyone quickly got up and ran to each other.
Chaos followed. Challenger picked Finn up and swung her around. Roxton and Marguerite embraced, both realizing that a few minutes ago, they thought they would never see each other again. Everyone crowded around Malone, taking turns hugging him. Questions flew from all directions. Where had Malone been? Where did Marguerite disappear to when she was helping Roxton fight off the conquistadors? How did they get back to the tree house? How did Finn know who Malone was?
Not a coherent sentence could be understood as everyone asked and started to answer various questions all at once. Finn, still the only person thinking logically, tried to get the attention of the group. When she failed to get the attention of any individual, she proceeded to put her thumb and index finger in her mouth and whistled loudly. Everyone stopped and stared at her.
"Thank you. Now if you will all just chill out for a minute, maybe you will notice that we are not all back." She focused on Ned when she said this. He caught her meaning immediately.
"Veronica," he said.
"Yes," said Finn. The last time I saw her, before I got sucked into the time warp, she was in the tree house, holding her mother's necklace. It seemed to be doing something to the storm. She's probably still up there, and seeing as how she didn't come out when you were making all that noise just now, I think she may need our help."
Challenger started for the elevator, and the others followed. "Finn's right. Until we find Veronica, everything else will have to wait." He stopped in front of the elevator and saw that the storm had done too much damage for it to be useful.
"Looks like we'll have to climb for it," said Roxton.
"Yes, well we'd better be quick about it," said Marguerite. "Veronica could be seriously injured."
"I should be light enough to climb the elevator shaft. When I get to the top, I can lower a ladder down for the rest of you."
"Good thinking, Finn. Just be careful. Who knows how unstable that shaft is after the storm."
"I'll be fine, Challenger. The most important thing is getting to Vee."
Roxton gave Finn a boost onto the elevator shaft, and she gingerly made her way up. The others were all silent as they watched her, each wondering about Veronica. She had saved their lives. Were they too late to do the same for her?
Finn had barely finished her thought when she emerged from the darkness and was unceremoniously dropped on the ground outside of the tree house. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she took inventory of her surroundings. "Thank God," she thought. "The tree house is still standing." She saw that the rest of missing explorers were back as well. They had landed in a circle around the tree house. Finn slowly looked around at her friends. She was obviously the only one aware of her surroundings. The others were all in shock. Finn figured she must not have been affected as badly because she wasn't in the time warp as long. Who knew what they had been through-they looked like they had been to hell and back.
Challenger was to her right, dabbing at the perspiration on his forehead with his handkerchief. Beside him was Marguerite, who was clutching her chest, and seemed to be having trouble catching her breath. Roxton was a few feet from her on bended knee, staring at the ground. And to Finn's left, removing a noose from his neck was a man she had never met, but whom she recognized from Veronica's drawings."MALONE!" Her squeal snapped the others out of their daze, and they realized where they were. Everyone quickly got up and ran to each other.
Chaos followed. Challenger picked Finn up and swung her around. Roxton and Marguerite embraced, both realizing that a few minutes ago, they thought they would never see each other again. Everyone crowded around Malone, taking turns hugging him. Questions flew from all directions. Where had Malone been? Where did Marguerite disappear to when she was helping Roxton fight off the conquistadors? How did they get back to the tree house? How did Finn know who Malone was?
Not a coherent sentence could be understood as everyone asked and started to answer various questions all at once. Finn, still the only person thinking logically, tried to get the attention of the group. When she failed to get the attention of any individual, she proceeded to put her thumb and index finger in her mouth and whistled loudly. Everyone stopped and stared at her.
"Thank you. Now if you will all just chill out for a minute, maybe you will notice that we are not all back." She focused on Ned when she said this. He caught her meaning immediately.
"Veronica," he said.
"Yes," said Finn. The last time I saw her, before I got sucked into the time warp, she was in the tree house, holding her mother's necklace. It seemed to be doing something to the storm. She's probably still up there, and seeing as how she didn't come out when you were making all that noise just now, I think she may need our help."
Challenger started for the elevator, and the others followed. "Finn's right. Until we find Veronica, everything else will have to wait." He stopped in front of the elevator and saw that the storm had done too much damage for it to be useful.
"Looks like we'll have to climb for it," said Roxton.
"Yes, well we'd better be quick about it," said Marguerite. "Veronica could be seriously injured."
"I should be light enough to climb the elevator shaft. When I get to the top, I can lower a ladder down for the rest of you."
"Good thinking, Finn. Just be careful. Who knows how unstable that shaft is after the storm."
"I'll be fine, Challenger. The most important thing is getting to Vee."
Roxton gave Finn a boost onto the elevator shaft, and she gingerly made her way up. The others were all silent as they watched her, each wondering about Veronica. She had saved their lives. Were they too late to do the same for her?