With a branch in her hand Marguerite tried once again to shake the tree. For over an hour she grasped a branch with one hand and shook as hard as she could in an effort to dislodge the bag only a few feet above her.
"God, I don't know if you are listening to me. But if you can hear me, I'd appreciate a little help here. I mean, come to think of it, I think you do owe me a favor. This whole, lets bring Marguerite to a plateau infested with dinosaurs joke you played on me merits a reward of some sort. I'm not asking for anything major, just a breeze perhaps, something to bring the bag down. Maybe you could sneeze or something." Marguerite looked around her, her eyes circling the sky hoping to see some sign of divine guidance.
Minutes passed slowly and to Marguerite's disappointment nothing happened. She threw her head back and groaned, "That's the last time I ask you for -- ohh." Her verbal rampage was interrupted as Challenger's packed seemed to fall from the branch above her, the strap of the bag caught gracefully on her hand. She smiled as she looked up towards the heavens, "Thanks. I owe you one."
Using the bush as leverage managed to open the pouch single handedly. She bit the top of the bag with her teeth to free her hand which quickly reached inside. With a triumphant smile she pulled out one of the mirrors Challenger had packed. She removed the bag from her mouth and edged it between her body and the branches.
"Please, Roxton, please be paying attention to mirror signals. Please." She really didn't know how to use the mirrors, morse code being Ned and Roxton's skill, but she picked up a little to know how to signal for help.
Luck was clearly on Marguerite's side as hundreds of feet away Ned felt a light blind his eye. Shielding his eyes he looked up towards the sky. He was facing away from the sun, wasn't he?
"Roxton?" He asked. "Do you see that? What do you think it is?"
Squinting his eyes, the hunter looked towards Ned direction. "Mirror signals! I think…yes… I think Challenger and Marguerite must be signaling for help!"
"From their proximity, they must be close to us."
"We're coming!" Roxton screamed towards the direction of the signal, hoping they could be heard. "Hold on Marguerite! We're coming for you!" He raced towards the signals, Ned following suit.
"Roxton!" Marguerite screamed, hearing the distant voice of the hunter. "ROXTON! We're over here, Roxton!" With relief pouring through her veins she saw the familiar sight of Roxton's hat peak from the forest's trees.
Ned barely had time to register to recognize the type of tree that has snared Veronica just a year before, when he saw Challenger dangling above him. As Roxton worked on freeing Marguerite, Ned moved closer to the tree and searched for the rope suspending the scientist.
"Oh God, Roxton, I thought you were never going to find us," Marguerite said as Roxton cut threw the branches entrapping her arms and upper body.
"Of course I'd find you, I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Deciding it would take too long to remove the rest of the branches, Roxton grabbed a hold of her arms and half pulled half dragged the beauty out of the tree. They stared in each others eyes for a long moment, each wanting to say more but finding no words to express their emotions. The moment was broken as a loud crash broke the silence.
"Challenger!" Marguerite exclaimed breaking free of Roxton's hold and running towards the scientist now lying on the ground. "His gun discharged, I think the bullet went through his thigh."
Blood was now pouring profusely from the wound, and Marguerite began ripping pieces of fabric from her skirt. She knew the damage done to her skirt was irreversible, but she assumed it was a small price to pay for Challenger's life.
Kneeling next to Marguerite, Roxton looked at Challenger's wound. "It's just a flesh wound, the bullet didn't go through, it just grazed the skin. Luckily the blood was rushing away from his thigh, and not towards it, otherwise he would have lost a lot of blood."
As the blood began to rush from Challenger's head, the scientist slowly opened his eyes. "Marguerite?" He murmured.
"I'm fine, George, I'm right here. We're all okay. Ned and Roxton found us."
Challenger shook his head slowly, "And Veronica?"
"She is missing," Ned broke in, outraged at the reunion in front of him. At least someone seemed to notice she was gone. "Does no one else care that she can be hurt right now? This isn't the time for talking, we need to do something. Now!"
Roxton helped Challenger up and spoke calmly at Ned, "I know what you are going through right now Ned, and that is because I am going through it also. I want to help Veronica also, you know that. But there is no point in going after her and leaving Challenger alone to die. We need to stabilize Challenger and then go and find her." He turned towards Marguerite.
"We've been following her trail, or at least what we think it is. If we are right, there is a set of footprints belonging to Rithos, and we can see he is dragging something behind him, presumably Veronica. We are getting closer; the markings seem almost brand new. If we walk faster we are bound to catch up with them."
"Challenger, do you think you will be able to walk? Or should you and I go back towards the treehouse?" Marguerite asked as the color began to come back to Challenger's face.
"No, I'm fine. The throbbing has basically subsided. I want to help find Veronica and see Rithos face to face. I want to know why he did this. Why on earth he made this happen."
"He's not really Rithos," Marguerite announced. "Do you remember that village we went to with that cannibal flower? Pakim's village? Well, if I'm right, Rithos is really Tomu, a survivor from that village. Do you remember that game he taught us? I knew it looked familiar, and now I realize that the guards must have been playing it when we were captured." Pausing slightly she continued, "And I think everyone else died, and he blames us for it. He thinks that we didn't protect them from the outside world like we promised to do. That we killed the flower, and in essence killed everyone else. I can't help but think that he may be right."
"We did as best as we could Marguerite, we can't be responsible for all of the horrors of this plateau." Roxton said, standing up, looking Marguerite squarely in the eyes.
"Well either way we should get a move on and find Veronica," Challenger said securing his hat on his head. Although his leg did hurt, he refused to think about it now. He knew they had to get to Veronica before it was too late.