IEHBD – MY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
CHAPTER 4
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.
After sleeping the whole night hugged to Veronica, Tommy woke up and smiled at her warmly, in which she was returned.
"Wow." - he said suddenly seeming to notice that he was in the wrong place.
Pushing Malone and the young woman aside, he jumped from the bed with unfriendly mien.
He went until the closed room's door and stood up there waiting until the journalist got up to open it.
"You definitely is a blockhead."
Stepping hard, the child went until the Marguerite's room, that was closed. He sat down there, with his arms crossed and frowned face.
He saw Veronica going to the kitchen and decided that it was time to be noticed. Closing his small fist, he knocked at the heiress' door strongly.
"Iiiitttttteeeeeee!"
The boy stopped screaming and looked towards the blond, trying to discover if he had attracted her attention. Aparently she continued her tasks without even giving a glance to his side. Still more nervous, he knocked again.
"IIIIITTTTTEEEEEE!"
"Tommy" - reproved Veronica - "You are going to wake up everybody."
"IIIIITTTTTEEEEEE!"
When the door opened abruptly, the boy lost his balance and almost fell down.
"I don't believe." – the heiress said, closing her dressing-gown and looking furious.
But Tommy not even blinked an eye. He quickly entered in her room and pulled Marguerite inside, he himself closing the door.
Veronica decided that it was enough. One thing was to try to provoke her, but now he had went too far.
She began to walk towards Marguerite's room, with the firm intention to take him for a walk and to apologize to the heiress.
She was almost there when Marguerite came out. The heiress just directed her speech to Ned, who was coming close.
"Hold that kid, Malone." – she pointed to the child who followed her. Then she took the blond by the arm - "You want him and I don't. So, we need to talk."
The two women went to the kitchen-table, where they started to whisper while somebody very curious tried to pay attention in what they were saying. In the end, the women went to different directions.
The heiress went to the boy and took his hand.
"Ok, brat. I already negotiated it with your 'mama'. From now on you are all mine."
Malone stayed still, without understanding it, until he noticed the blond and the brunette exchanging discreet blinks while Veronica pulled him by the hand for a conversation that she would also have with the other residents as soon as they woke up.
Marguerite didn't release the child not even for a minute. Wherever she went she took him with her. If he wanted to play alone or with some of the other residents of the treehouse, she moved away making him to follow her.
He saw Challenger relaxed seating in a tree stub with a pot and the mold, blowing bubbles. A smile illuminated Tommy's face when George greeted him.
"Hello, noble gentleman. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"
He tried to run for the scientist, being stopped by the heiress. He became angry; however he had no option except for being dragged by her.
On the way to the vegetable garden, Summerllee was fumbling with the earth. It seemed that the botanist was amusing himself a lot. Tommy looked the large quantity of soft ground, ready to turn over and over on it, however once again Marguerite drove him to another place.
"Very good." - they listened Roxton's voice and they went for him. They meet the hunter further on, with a lot of traps around him.
"What is 'very good', Lord Roxton?" - the heiress asked.
"My traps. They're perfect." - he laughed and talked to the child, obviously the interested party. - "It's really funny, boy."
"Ox!"
When Tommy tried to get closer to the man, Marguerite caught him by the shoulder.
"Excuse us, John, we have a lot of things to do." – and there they were, boy and woman.
'Tim, clang, tum, pling, plang', they heard. Running to the direction of that strange sound, they saw Malone playing upon an improvised xylophone made of spoons of several sizes, tied into a string among two trees.
"One!" - He screamed, extending his small hands towards the journalist.
"Hi, Tommy. I borrowed your spoons; I'll put them back later."
"See you later, Malone." - Marguerite said, already pulling the almost desperate boy.
And in the middle of the afternoon she took him for a walk in the forest.
"FFFFFFIIIIIIUUUUUUUUUU!"
The heiress and the boy looked to where the whistle had came from.
"What are you doing there?" - the brunette laughed when seeing Veronica on the top of a mango tree, peeling the fruit.
"Eating. Do you want some?" – the young woman smiled, pretending to ignore the kid who was already opening his mouth and putting the tongue out to taste the air.
"No, thanks." - she began to pull the boy by the hand - "Come on, little brat."
The boy extended the arms for the tree.
"Waaaaanna!"
"Don't even think about it. I won't climb the tree for you, and I think Veronica won't be nice enough to give you a mango."
"No way." - Veronica tasted one more slice of the fruit - "Hummm! It's really delicious."
"Giiiiime!"
"Forget it." - Marguerite pulled the boy who, irritated, released her hand and run to under the branch where the blond was. He raised his arms while completely stretching on his tiptoes.
"Mamaaaaa!"
The brunette took the child, suspending him to Verônica, who had already lowered herself extending her hand and taking him up. Quickly Tommy stole a piece of mango from her hand, laughing heartily.
"You are a bribed kid." - the heiress said to him, pretending irritation - "Exchanging me by a mango? I'm offended."
"Thanks for taking care of him, Marguerite."
"Believe me, it wasn't my pleasure." - she smiled to herself when noticing that it was fun. She was turning to go back to the treehouse when she listened.
"IIIIIttttttteeeeeee!" - She saw the boy blowing her a kiss.
"Good-bye, brat."
"Bye!" – he repeated.
The blond didn't get tired of kissing the child's cheeks, who hugged her with tenderness.
"You know you're the most important, don't you?"
"Am?"
"Yes."
Daintily he put a piece of the fruit in her mouth. For days he had held back his desire to have her as close to him as before.
They were there for a long time until the moment when Veronica committed a great mistake. She looked fixedly to him, what he interpreted as being the sign to trigger the fighting game. He threw himself towards her strongly and quickly, what caught her completely by surprise.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" – They both screamed at the same time... 'TUM!'
&&&
Ned worried when saw Veronica limping a little, with Tommy clinging to her neck and ran to help her. The journalist extended his arms to the boy who refused it, hugging the blond still stronger.
"What happened to you?"
"We fell of the tree."
"Are you all right?"
"Tommy is fine. As far as I am concerned, I have nothing that a caress doesn't heal." - And it was when she won the most slobbered of the kisses.
They all spoke and talk animadetely when Challenger insistently cleared his throat. He wanted a minute of attention.
Little by little they were silencing and only Tommy, the small summer's Santa Claus, laugh with no reason. Veronica made him a silence sign that he imitated unconsciously.
"Dear friends... I would like to emphasize that..." - Visibly patient Challenger looked at each one knowing that they all desired their gifts and the dinner - "... that I'll be brief in my speech."
They all sighed alleviated and Challenger smiled.
"...I would like to say that, as all of you already know, we are gathered here to share our hearts and to give thanks by being alive and healthy, what is the most important thing..." - they laughed - "... and united for any challenge that we may need to face. Let's make a toast to this, my dear friends!"
George raised his goblet and was imitated by the others. Tommy also raised his feeding-bottle full with juice.
"...I wish that next year is even better than this one!" - Roxton said.
"Impossible..." - Marguerite said among her teeth, but only Roxton heard, and she laughed - "And that the gifts are also better… May we open them now, please!" - the impatient and curious heiress spoke.
As soon as he pronounced the word 'gift', Tommy was already contorting himself in Ned's arms, who put him on the floor. He ran at the maximum speed his legs could tolerate until reaching the decorated Christmas tree.
He was cheerful when seeing some great decorated packages. Opening his arms, he tried to catch all of them at the same time, until Veronica approached to calm him down.
"I bet that he thinks all of them are for him." - Marguerite murmured.
"Don't be sad, Marguerite, Santa Claus didn't forget your letter."
"And did I write some, Roxton?" – she asked irritated, seeing the hunter smiling moving towards the tree.
"Open it, kid, it's all yours. Open!" - the hunter encouraged him.
"The right thing to do is to open the gifts only on the twenty fifth…" – Summerlee commented - "But considering a package this size… It will be past midnight when he finally manages to open it… ".
"Summerlee, give me that wine goblet." – Ned mentioned, joining the other explorers in laugh.
"What is inside that package?"
Roxton tried to help the little one, who barely got to pull the bow on the top.
"Damn, Marguerite, it's too tight! Tommy would like to see his gift this year yet!"
"Men, how they complain!" – Looking bored, she got closer, pulling the lace that easily went out – in front of a disbeliefed hunter that still looked for a trick coming from the heiress.
Tommy's eyes were getting wider while he just covered his mouth with his hands in a shell. He was as surprised as the others, who waited for his reaction.
"Wow!"
It was a toy car. Very simply built, but well done. It had a wooden basis, with wooden wheels. And there was embellished with a very delicate pillow, fixed as the sitting place, and a pole also covered in a pillow for the boy to hold. There was a rope in the front part to allow the car to be pulled.
"This is for you, Malone".- The hunter laughed handing the rope that was tied in front of the toy.
"Thank you very much!" - Ned answered, already beginning to pull it with Tommy comfortably installed and without stop laughing.
They spent time playing with the toy, and listening to Marguerite repeating who had made the colored cushions.
Summerllee came with another package.
"This is for you, my little friend." - Tommy looked at the botanist with such affection in his eyes that moved the professor. Then unexpectedly he hugged the man strongly and soon afterwards snapped a kiss on his face. Only after that the child directed back his attention to the gift. He sat down in the ground and without any ceremony opened the package: a rake, a shovel and a watering can. He smiled.
"I need an assistant in the vegetable garden." – Arthur completed.
"My turn." - Challenger continued, puffing up his chest. Standing up, Tommy looked upward impressed by the scientist's portliness who looked at him. - "Noble gentleman, what I'm giving to you is not a toy." - He knelt down before the boy. Challenger helped him to open the small package.
"I wish you may find safe and sound paths!" - the scientist smiled, hugging the boy who was hypnotized by the compass' indicator he had just won. Repeating what he had done with the botanist, he hugged the scientist lastly - "Thank you for this gift, little friend." - George whispered by the kid's ear.
Malone and Veronica took the great tow sack, helping the anxious boy to open it. He didn't say a word. He was there motionless, completely static, with his mouth open.
"Tommy!" - Veronica interrupted his thoughts. The child indicated to her to take what he had just won.
"Com." - he said. Then, he made her sit by the bench in front of her painting tripod while he did the same in front of the small painting tripod he had just won. There they stayed together drawing for sometime.
Tommy also gave gifts.
For Summerllee, he gave a small plant that he had pulled, still with the roots dirty in earth.
Challenger won a piece of glass, and the boy taught how the man should use it as a magnifying glass. It was obvious that it didn't work, but the scientist liked it anyway.
Roxton won a handful of pieces of kindling wood and a piece of rope, obviously raw material for his traps.
For Marguerite he gave a sack full of colored stones that the boy affectionately had picked.
Malone received one of the things that Tommy liked more. His favorite spoon. Of course that in the day after the kid would take it back.
Veronica was touched when receiving a sheet of paper with impressions of the boy's hands and feet besides a lot of colored scribbles.
The delivery of gifts among the adults was fast. Before that, they found stones destined to each one of the explorers, but without sender identification. Even Tommy received one whose format reminded a lion. Nobody commented on, but they all suspected about the originator being somebody with long dark curly hair, clear light eyes and mysterious habits.
Marguerite received from Malone and Veronica a string with a stone as pendant. Summerllee designed and Challenger moulded a pair of earrings for her.
Except for Roxton, the heiress gave a shirt for each one of the other men, done in rustic fabric that she had gotten with the friends from the Zanga village. For Veronica she made an oil-lamp made by clay in substitution of the one Tommy had broken in an access of jealousy.
Roxton and Veronica laughed when they give the same thing to each other: a hunting knife. The hunter still gave Challenger a small shelf with holes for placement of test tubes, and offered to Malone a leather bag for his diaries, and a pipe-case made of leather to Arthur.
Summerllee gave dehydrated flowers the two touched ladies of the house. To Marguerite he offered a daisy that he kept with himself since his Anna had passwed away, and to Veronica he gave a beautiful and rare edelweiss that he had since his adolescence. To Challenger he gave a delicious bottle of liqueur made with native fruits, and he received from him a new stock of tobacco for the tobacco-pipe.
Veronica gave Challenger one of her favorite books, to what she had made a new cover and wrote an inscription, whose content he preferred to maintain as a secret among them both, pact that was sealed with a delicate hug.
For Ned she gave a picture of him. For days she had wakened up in the middle of the night and under the tenuous light of the lantern she made a drawing of the young man while he was sleeping.
Malone put Tommy in the ground, shook his hair and spoke.
"Go to Roxton, kid." - The boy smiled and ran to the hunter, who turned him upside down before accommodating the boy laughing on his lap.
The journalist took Veronica's hand and conducted her to the center of the main room. She looked intrigued and he smiled to her.
"Don't leave this spot, ok?"
He went until a corner and from a gap he removed a small wood box. Then he came back followed by the curious eyes of all his friends.
He stopped in front of the woman, holding her hands. He sweated copiously. She worried about him.
"Ned? Are you alright?"
"No... But I will be... I hope so... Ok, I can do it." - he kept the box closed - "You know, I thought a lot about what I could give you this Christmas, but I think I was selfish by keeping the hope that you would offer me the best of the gifts…" – all of them looked the scene without understanding it.
Ned opened the box. He looked straight to Veronica eyes, who was static, showing absolutely no reaction.
"Do you?"
She looked at him, touched. She noticed he had, by himself, a little bit clumsily, twisted the plain leather strings as the Zanga tradition would tell.
After a pause, she took one of the strings and, without a word, tied it by Malone's wrist.
Challenger whispered in Marguerite's ear.
"Are they doing what I think they are doing?"
"They are marrying in the Zanga's way, George. I think."
Ned tied the other string to the girl's wrist, and they stayed there holding each other hands. None of them could avert their eyes from one another.
"Come on, Malone." – Roxton interrupted - "Don't beat around the bush."
"Kiss her." – Summerlee completed.
Only then they finally smiled shyly, and kissed under the sounds of the bravos from their friends and Tommy's animated clapping.
After the wonderful dinner, Tommy went to sleep; Challenger and Summerlee savored a cup of coffee where they had sprinkled some drops of cognac.
"What are you thinking about, Arthur?"
"Probably the same you are thinking about." - the botanist answered, with a nostalgic glance.
"My Jessie."
"My children and grandchildren."
"Have you already imagined, Arthur? A Christmas in the plateau. Roxton, Marguerite, Malone, Veronica, Tommy, me, you, your family, Jessie." - Challenger seemed to imagine the scene.
"It would be wonderful, my friend. Who knows… Maybe some day."
"A toast to our families and the family that we conquered here."
Arthur raised the cup.
"Merry Christmas, George."
Alone in the base of the treehouse, Roxton contemplated the sky and breathed the pure air, while savoring a liqueur. He thought about how much he would miss it there if someday they came to find an exit of the plateau.
"A penny for your thoughts, Lord Roxton."
He turned and could not contain a sigh when saw Marguerite arriving, framed by the moonlight.
"I was thinking, miss Krux, that I don't remember having received a gift from you."
"What a coincidence. I also don't remember having received some from you."
They smiled at each other, and once again Roxton admired her beauty under the moonlight.
"What do you have there?" - she asked.
"Liqueur... a good one..."
"Oh, yes..."
"Do you care for some?"
"Me?"
"If you drink it, I will tell you what I was thinking about."
"Are you sure it doesn't have any poison?"
"It will just make you submissive to my wishes all night long."
"Wow!" - They laughed - "I accept the challenge - at most it will provoke a bellyache."
He smiled while she carefully sat down by his side. 'As a lady' he thought.
"Oh, I forgot the cup! I'll be back in a minute!"
"Wait." - Roxton held her by the arm, offering his cup. - "It won't be necessary."
Marguerite made a funny face.
"Why not? Aren't you afraid that I come to know all your secrets?" – she joked.
"I think you already know the most important one."
John began to move closer, while she walked backwards. She stopped, leaning to the trunk.
He moved away a black hair curl that was preventing his full view of the white heiress' bosom, and looked straight to her eyes. Marguerite felt a shiver down her spine.
Their glances interlocked and there was a bold brightness in each one of them. John slowly wet his finger in the goblet and put it lightly over the heiress' lips, who savoured each drop of it.
She took the goblet and threw it to the ground, saying:
"I don't wanna to drink from the globlet."
Softly, John Roxton was pulled by the well-ironed shirt to closer to her.
They kissed each other passionately, and the emotion of finding out their feelings at that moment was more than what they could bear.
"Merry Christmas, Marguerite." - she smiled at his whispered words.
She would answer when he pulled her by the waist to even closer to him and kissed her again, deeply and even more passionately. They both were abandoning themselves to the momentarily emotions, and were not willing to stop anywhen soon.
"Do you want me to get your gift now?" - she asked him saucily.
"Do you want me to get yours?"
"It can wait."
"I think this Christmas will be the best of all." - She whispered before being taken again soon in the hunter's arms.
Hugged in the couch, Malone and Veronica were alone in the balcony for a long time.
"He had a good time today."
"He's completely exhausted with all the excitement."
"And you? Are you happy?"
"More than ever." - He looked at her caressing the young woman's face - "I could never imagine that I would come so far to have my own family." - he hugged the girl tenderly - "Shall we go inside?"
"Hum, hum."
In each other arms they entered their bedroom, already anticipating the end of a perfect night.
"Ned?" - she said, interrupting the kiss.
"What?"
"Look."
Malone turned.
"I don't believe."
With his arms and legs opened, Tommy slept right in the middle of the bed.
"Ned." - Veronica was vexed.
"Closes your eyes and stay right here." - the young man ordered, already closing the door.
In a while he came back smiling.
"Don't open your eyes." - He took her by the hand, pulling the woman – "Ok, you can open your eyes now."
Veronica laughed when saw the ground of the small corridor between the cradle and the wall of Tommy's room occupied by a bed quilt, a sheet and pillows.
"Do you think there is enough space for both of us?" - she asked, coming closer to him and embracing his neck with her arms.
"Hmm... I'm sure there is plenty of space." – He answered with an ardent kiss, already bringing her with him to the ground.
With all the double bed only for him, even sleeping, Tommy couldn't stop smiling.
"Are you happy, little one?" - The enormous gentleman of white beards, red cap and a kind glance asked him in his dreams.
"Yeah…" - spoke the asleep boy.
THE END
OBS: Santa Claus was described as an old man of white beards and rosy cheeks in a steep sled for eight reindeers in 1822 for Clement Clark Moore in a poem today known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Santa Claus' symbol was used soon by the commercial publicity. In 1931, the Coke ordered artist Habdon Sundblom the remodeling of Santa Claus of Nast to turn him into a closer character. Sundblom was inspired by a retired salesperson and Santa Claus that we know was born like this.
Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo, Season's greetings and Happy New Year, Felices Pasquas Y felices ano Nuevo, Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo, Sung Tan Chuk Há, Sretan Bozic i Nova Godina, Glædelig Jul, Joyeux Noel, Froehliche Weihnachten, Kala Christouyenna, Selamat Hari Natal, Cestitamo Bozic, Buone Feste Natalizie, Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto, God Jul, Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia, Feliz Navidad, Sarbatori FERICITE, MERY KWANZAA POZDREVLYAYU s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom, hAPPY HANUKKAH, God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År, Chung Mung Giang Sinh.