IEHBD – MY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
CHAPTER 1
AUTHOR: Lady F. , TowandaBR
DISCLAIMER: All of the characters of the series "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World" are property of John Landis, Telescene, Coote/Hayes, DirecTV, New Line Television, Space, Action Adventure Network, Goodman/Rosen Productions, and Richmel Productions.
Very special thanks to Cris (our very kind translator), JL, and to all the people who read the IEHBD series.
To all people who write or read Fics keeping TLW alive.
SPOILERS: OUT OF TIME
Based on fic IF EVERYTHING HAD BEEN DIFFERENT
IEHBD serie: "The Duel", "The Lost Dream", "Gladiators", "A New Apprentice", "Home, Sweet Home".
Also in Portuguese: "STFD – Meu Primeiro Natal" – The last chapter was originaly posted in 12/25/2004.
Sometimes we need to learn to share the things we love the most.
"Wow" - Tommy opened his eyes wide, astonish. With the boy in his shoulders Ned blushed while Veronica laughed when listening to the expression. In the last days the kid had chosen his next target to imitate. Malone. Then for all new or surprising things he said 'Wow'.
Curiously they noticed that they had never taken Tommy to the Zanga's. Whenever they intended do it something happened, preventing them to go. So, enjoying the opportunity of Christmas getting close by, they all decided to go there. To perform some exchanges, to participate in one of the local parties, to expend some pleasant days with their friends, and to give, for the first time, the opportunity to the child to be in contact with other people.
And that 'wow' was exactly due to that. It seemed that all the zangas were gathered in the external area of the village, and Tommy was impressed with so much movement.
Men, women, senior, children. Ned put the boy in the ground, who ran closer to Veronica, taking her hand seeking for her protection.
The others looked him with concern, while the blond signaled everything was ok, so they moved forward. Malone hesitated, but a light nodding by her made him notice that this was one of those moments when the boy needed a special encouragement, and that only the young woman could offer it to him.
She lowered on her knees, being face to face with Tommy and caressing his face.
"Hey." - she spoke in a low voice - "What is it, Tommy?" - he hugged her and Veronica felt his little heart beating very fast. Then she observed the children of the village approaching them and she smiled.
"They are your friends. They want to play with you."
A boy three or four years older than Tommy offered his hand and a warm and hearty smile. Without letting go of Veronica, Tommy looked at him suspiciously, until slowly reached for the offered hand. The new boy took him and Veronica as followers until they were all surrounded by other children in a typical and wonderful bawling.
Some minutes later, Tommy left Veronica and abandoned himself completely to the amusement of being with a new group, under the vigilance of the older boys and girls who reassured Veronica that her boy would be safe and sound.
One of the children took a narrow leather strip and tied it around Tommy's head to hold back the black hair tuft so it didn't fall in the forehead. Tommy smiled at the innovation.
No matter how welcome they were, everybody had their obligations in the community, and the visitors also wanted to help.
As always, Roxton and Malone joined the men in the heaviest tasks: fixing the shacks damaged by the recent rains and cutting the firewood.
Trying to show some courtesy the heiress offered help, just to feel bitterly sorry soon afterwards when they gave her a large shallow pan full of vegetables to be sliced and peeled.
"Damn it, Marguerite" - she muttered - "you had to volunteer for the work."
Challenger, Veronica and Summerllee were taken to a cottage where they meet a very weak woman and a newborn child crying a lot.
The healer explained.
"She gave birth a week ago and she's very ill. The child is not very strong either. The mother can't feed the baby and he cries a lot."
Challenger and Summerllee immediately went to the woman prostated at the bed, while Veronica took the small infant from the father's arms, nestling the baby close to herself.
The young woman caught a piece of clean cloth and soaked it in some of the milk donated by other breast-feeding women from the village.
Soon afterwards she carefully took it to the child's lips.
Slowly he calmed down and started to suck the milk from the cloth until feeling satisfied.
There he stayed cuddled. Veronica tried to put him back on his father's lap, but it made the baby resumed his cryinng and she nestled him again close to herself.
She decided to leave Summerllee and Challenger with their work, then she covered the skinny small body with a light blanket.
"Let's take a walk, little one."
She couldn't know that a special someone was observing her when she left the shack and started to walk around the village.
Tommy smiled when he saw Veronica leaving the cottage.
"Mama" - he screamed amid the other children's racket, but the woman didn't listen to him and proceeded in another direction, smiling a lot while rocking that unknown child.
Tommy still called her once again, even in higher pitch this time, but with all the noise around them it was impossible for her to listen to him.
The boy stayed with his new friends, who were taking very good care of him, but he looked everywhere trying to find Veronica.
And whenever she appeared, he tried to get her attention, but his friends always would take him to another place.
And she seemed not to look to him. She was always with that infant in her arms.
When he finally got rid of the other children, he sat down in a trunk besides Marguerite, who was as irritated as he was.
"Pay attention, little brat, never ever volunteer yourself for anything. There will always be somebody to accept the offer, do you understand?"
Tommy shook his head with sadness.
The heat was unbearable once more in the plateau.
The children of Zanga village were also gathered around Ned Malone and Tommy, close to a fountain. Some children ran, and some other played in separate.
Sitting in the ground, they told stories, and spent a nice afternoon with their new small friend.
Tommy was having fun, of course he didn't understand most of the story-telling things, but he also laughed seeing the children laughing.
Ned tried to distract the boy, who had been a little bit stressed since their arrival to the village.
After some time, Veronica got closer to them. She still carried the baby in her arms.
"Having fun, boys?" – she asked, lowering down between Ned and Tommy. She smiled when they both shook their heads in agreement. She kissed their cheeks soundly.
"Take it." - She gave a pot to the journalist with some kind of red jelly - "Could you feed him with it?"
"Sure." - Ned gave her a smack and she smiled to Tommy. He hesitated, but when the baby whimped Veronica decided it was time to put him in new cloths and stood up to continue with her chores, getting away from Tommy but being followed by a sad pair of jet black eyes.
Tommy's eyes finally turned to the pot, licking his lips in antecipation, anxious to proof the tasty new. Ned tried it first, and approved it.
"Hum..." - he teased Tommy - "it's tasty."
The other children were also eating that delicious dessert. Even so they caught Malone for the arm.
"Well, it seems that it is my time to tell a story."
The children ate their candies, while Ned began a new storie.
"A long time ago,..." - He diffused to pick what he would give for Tommy, who already was legs-crossed as a little indian, opening his mouth towards the candy.
"How long?" - A girl asked curiously, in the Zanga's language.
Ned interrupted the narrative abruptly as he looked at the girl, again stopping with the spoon in the air. - "What do you mean by 'how long'?"
"When does the story begin?" - Another boy asked, trying to explain to Ned the girl's question, who now seemed to understand.
"I don't know... in gods' era..."
"Ahhhh!" - An understanding murmur was heard, and Malone smiled because it was now clear enough to continue.
Meanwhile, the spoon was in the air, and Tommy followed it only with his eyes while his mouth remained open, waiting for the spoonful.
Ned patiently returned to pick to the pot, while diffusing a little more of the red delight, getting it ready again to serve to the boy.
Again Tommy waited, while Ned continued the story.
"... then, the young knight of the castle, caught his horse and left, in search of new adventures, and..." - It went going to Tommy's direction, who once again desired to prove it, opening his mouth.
"How was the knight?" - Another child questioned.
"How?" - Ned stopped the course of the spoon once again - "He was strong, tall, and as I've already said he was very kind..."
Tommy accompanied again only with a glance the countless questions that followed for more some time.
But at each done question, Tommy launched a totally irritated glance towards the children, and then to Ned, but he didn't say anything.
It was not until the seventh or eighth frustrated time in that he had wished to try the private candy that he was so irritated that finally he screamed stridently.
"Waaaaaaaanna!
He got up half unbalanced and, removing the pot from Malone's hand, he left, walking hard in the dust, muttering incomprehensible things.
The young man called him three, four times, but the kid not even once looked back. When he tried to get up to go for the boy, the children pulled him down and filled him with questions. He still cared for looking in the direction Tommy was going. When Summerlee waived for him assuming the task of watching the boy, Ned became distracted with the thousands of 'reasons' being asked by their small friends.
Tommy came out walking, still angry at with the journalist and at those children who ate their candies, while he could have not even still proof his first spoon.
He looked around, and without having anything to do nor anywhere to go, he started to run behind anyone who passed around him, extending his arms with the pot in his hand.
"Waaaaaanna!
People laughed, thinking how cute he was, but they didn't understand what he really wanted.
After some time without success, he sat down by the ground, in the center of the village, and began to eat the candy with his hands.
But something happened. That delicacy had became pure water, and it was hot.
"...Waaaaaanna..." - Tommy said discouraged, almost silently to himself, looking at the pot.
Tommy licked the finger that he had just dived in the candy, and he made faces, soon spitting it all. He screamed again and threw the pot far from him, making a long face.
Suddenly, a hand touched the boy's tanned shoulders, giving him a new pot, larger and at the ideal temperature.
Tommy looked up, and smiled. It was Summerlee, saving the day, once again.
"You're cranky today, aren't you? More than usual, I have been noticing, small fighting cock...".
The boy smiled pleasantly to the botanist, and they sought shelter in the shadow of a tree. They sat down there and Tommy could finally eat the jelly that Summerlee proudly feed him.
Veronica was waking up slowly, after hearing a noise somewhere over there. Her eyes were still closed, and her body close to Ned's, but she wanted to move, she wanted to identify that noise. In a certain way she struggled against sleep and the fatigue of one full day of work.
The Zangas respected and admired the exploirers a lot and their visit was more than welcome, so they offered them the best reception and the best sheltering available.
Marguerite stayed in Assai's shack who, as Chief's daughter, had her privileges, which pleased the heiress a lot.
Summerllee, Challenger and Roxton shared the lodgings of the wise men with whom they talked animatedly.
Veronica and Malone received a small cottage with a thick and soft mat. For their surprise, they found a wicker curtain creating a second smaller adapted room, where there was a very small mat for...
"Tommy?" – she whispered and then felt Malone's hand caressing her hair.
"Shh... he's sleeping." - he answered in the same tone.
She was slumbering back to sleep once more when she heard the same noise again, now lowder – "Sleeping?"
Both opened their eyes and stayed still. In fact, there was a noise.
They got up slowly and head towards the other corner tenuously illuminated by a torch fixed on the wall.
The two heads looked around carefully in order to see from where the strange noise came. They saw Tommy trying to play a flute.
"...Fuuuu..."
They decided to stay there observing a little bit more, they won't interrupt the kid just to make him sleep. After some time they were surprised by what they saw next.
The boy, in underwear, moved away the small flute made of wood and began to hum something.
"Ahh... oh... ahhh ohh ahh... ahhh ahhhh ihhhh eieieieieieie i-i-i..."
Both were static and surprised.
"pi pi pi..."
While they heard the distracted boy's concert, lying with the face in the pillow of leaves, Veronica didn't get to speak anything. Looking intrigued, Ned finally prodded her.
"I know this song."
All of a sudden Veronica knew what he was talking about.
"Marguerite." - they said together.
They identified the song as the one the heiress always hummed during her bath.
Ned looked at the young woman and whispered. - "Shall we dance, milady?" - She smiled affectionately and hugged him.
Tommy seemed to have sensed the arrival of the two, and got up abruptly. He had reddish wet eyes. The smile in Veronica and Ned's lips disappeared completely, when noticing his lips twisting to start to cry. Considering the boy's pained expression, it seemed he had been crying for some time.
"What is it?" - Ned asked to the child.
Veronica approached and stooped down besides the boy. She was observing Tommy, who had lowered his head, hiding the face among his tinny hands. The girl tried to hug him, but the kid stretched out an arm, avoiding her.
"Tommy, what happened? Tell me, sweetie, what's wrong?"
Ned observed him who, unyielding, hid the face among the knees while Veronica had an afflicted glance. He approached and then the boy threw himself in the young man's neck, ignoring the saddened look the blond gave for Malone.
"When he calms down we'll see what's happening." - the journalist said -"It's still dark. Go back to sleep. I'll stay with him."
"Take him to the other mat, Ned." - she temporarily resigned - "It has more space. I'll stay here."
Malone blinked at her and got up with Tommy firmly clinging to him.
"Alright. Don't be so anguished. We'll find out what's the problem in the morning."
Veronica saw her two boys return for the mat where Tommy, still holding to Malone, sobbed a little before falling sleep. She, by her time, tried to accommodate herself as well as possible over the small mat, but, without managing to get back to sleep, observed the sunrise.
TO BE CONTINUED...