Well hi again guys! This is Chapter 2 (at last!)
Thanks so much to people who did R&R, it was really helpful, so keep up the
good R&R-ing!
Hope you like it!
CHAPTER 2
*RESCUE*
"HELP, HELP, NO, ROXTON, HELP."
"Stop, she belongs to us."
"What?"
"What?"
"She belongs to us, let her go, the world needs to be ended, the plateau runs in cycles, there has to be a new protector."
~*****~
"They killed them Roxton, they killed the Druids that were trying to kill me."
"So why are they here now?" he asked, puzzled.
~*****~
Marguerite watched the mysterious shield of light disappear into the distance. They were back, but where was Roxton?
"Let me go, I don't belong to you, I don't belong to anyone."
"You belong to your parents, they need you now."
"You know my parents?" she said with some inquisition.
"Yes, and they need you."
She stopped and thought for a moment "I have no parents, and I've survived pretty well my whole life without them, so I don't think I need them now thank you very much."
"You don't know the whole story."
"I think I know pretty well, we don't want our child, lets send her away, to boarding school, no love, no family, nothing." She stopped, shocked at herself and what she had just said. "Now thank you very much for everything, but I really should be going now," she said with some vigour.
She pulled to free herself from their grasp but their grip just tightened on her shoulders. She flinched and collapsed her body down onto the dampened forest floor. Her hair covered her face; she lay staring at the ground.
"Look, we know you're surprised. But no coincidences, remember? And that birth mark." A man reached to pull her shirt off of her shoulder.
"Get off me."
"Stop," one of the men ordered. "We'll sit down here," he paused, "and we'll have to tell her everything."
"I don't want to know, the only thing I care about is. Roxton, where's John? And Challenger, Veronica, Finn? Help them."
"Are these your friends."
"Family". She stopped again. They were her family. The only family she had ever had.
"We will make a deal then," one man began. "We need you and you want them to be safe."
"Yes"
"If you come with us, I will save your friends tonight."
"You mean they're all in danger, how, where? Help them."
"So we have a deal?"
"No we don't have a deal. I don't even know who you are yet. How can you expect me to trust you? How do I know you'll save them?"
"Marguerite, your whole life has been destined here, to come back to your parents, don't you understand, they love you, and need you."
"That's right, they love you when they want something, just like everybody else in this bloody world." She thought of Roxton for a moment, he was different, she would miss him unbearably. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. She buried her head on her lap and closed her eyes. She could picture him now, and those last moments they had spent together. She didn't know where she had been or where she was now, but she could just picture his face. She laughed but bit her lip at the thought of those pirates he had been telling her about. The thought of him made her happy again, he made her forget everything: her worries, her sins, her lies. Now she was scared and alone, with big decisions to make. She needed him with her; she needed him now more than ever before.
One of the men tried to comfort her. "Marguerite, the only reason they gave you up was because of the fighting here, the war. I'm sure if you saw them."
"I don't want to talk about it," she interrupted.
"I'm going to have to tell you whether you like it or not, but it's up to you whether you decide to listen."
~*****~
"Did you listen?" asked Roxton, intently listening to every word Marguerite had to say. He desperately wanted her to get to the point.
"Did a have a bloody choice?" she replied with a harshness in her voice. She calmed down and then, "Sorry. I'm sorry."
She fell into his arms again and stayed there, her head pressed against his chest. He held her, trying to comfort her. He knew what 'sorry' meant; he knew she'd agreed to go. His heart sank. What would he do without her? He wouldn't let her go, he couldn't, but how could he stop her from seeing her parents? How could he be the one to take away her dreams, her life's ambition to find out who she really was? Finally he answered her, "So what did they say.about your parents?"
~*****~
"Your mother and father are Druids like us. They are the priest and priestess of our assembly. They took over our group after the last cycle of the Plateau. Your mother's mother was in charge before that. Your mother and father were already married when it was their turn to rule. They already had you, and." he paused to look at her face, he decided to save that news for later. "You see, we belong in the Land of the Protector. We saved the Protector long ago, but the others took her from us. Another protector was put in her place after she escaped and went back to the real world."
"Veronica? .You know a way off the Plateau?"
"So you are listening, I thought you might after I mentioned the way off, you're just like your mother!" the man said with a mocking tone. Marguerite gave him a grin, if only a tiny one, it was definitely there. He saw this and continued, "Well yes, I believe she did know the way off, but no one knows for sure. The thing we do know is that even if she did get off the Plateau, no one else has ever found it, well no one in our collection anyway, and I doubt anyone else has either. It's the biggest secret there is and probably ever will be. And yes I do believe someone called Veronica was due to success her mother tonight, do you know her?"
"She saved us when we landed here, we've lived in her Treehouse for years." She stopped. Why was she telling them all this. She looked back down at the floor, thinking about Veronica. "What happened to her mother?" she asked.
"Well no one knows that for sure either, she disappeared, personally I believe it was the others again. You see, they have a problem with the rotation of the Plateau. They don't believe in it. They don't think it should have to happen, so they hate the Protectors. Now because of this, I have some bad news."
"Veronica?"
"No.I'm afraid it's your mother." Marguerite looked up at him at last. Then she thought. Why am I concerned, she abandoned me, they all did. He continued, "Because she is the leader of our community, when a war starts, she must abdicate her roll. Unfortunately, tomorrow night a war will start."
"How do you know that, psychic are we?" she asked sarcastically.
"Your mother, she has dreams. Have you ever had dreams Marguerite?"
She hesitated. "Yes", she whispered softly.
"Look, your mother needs you to take her place, if you can't then the next in line will be Pentanious, a warrior of the other group, as he will start the invasion on our village. We'll all be slaughtered Marguerite, even your mother and father, you have to help us, we need you."
She looked at him, straight in the eyes. She hated her parents, she had hated them ever since she could remember. She thought about when she was a little girl, sitting up on that hill at Avebury, where she could see the whole world. She had wondered where her parents were, and why they had abandoned her. Now, she looked around, she looked at the sea of faces; their longing eyes staring deep into hers. 'They just want me back when they need me.' But deep inside she was urging herself to go through with it. She looked away and then slowly turned her head back towards their avid faces. 'Why should she have to make this kind of decision? '
"OK, OK," she yelled. "I'll do it, but just to save my friends, I told you. But don't think you've got me back in your little tribe."
~*****~
"You saved us?" He was so proud, though his face could only show heartbreaking pain. He knew what was coming, but he had that glint of hope that she had made him possess, and it had sprung from pure love. He wasn't about to let her leave, not now, not ever. He would never leave her.
~*****~
Their smiling faces made her happy, and if just for a moment, her spirits were high and she suddenly sensed a feeling if security. For once in her life she felt she had done something right, and she had done it on her own. The group started to chatter quietly. "Oh, thank you Marguerite," the man cried. He cleared his throat and the assembly was quiet. "There's just one small point we haven't mentioned yet," he paused before continuing, focusing on her eyes, how should he put this? He continued quickly, "You'll have to marry."
She was baffled. "What?"
"You'll have to marry the priest's son, of our neighbouring village." He saw the look on her face and decided to continue quickly before she had chance to speak. "He's a very nice man, most of the women in our villages would give their right arm to be with him. He has alwa." She turned away, he stopped mid-word.
Marguerite was silent. Then she spoke again, this time with another sarcastic tone. "Is there anything else I may need to know about? Nothing else up your sleeve is there?" She turned away. What could she possibly say that would make things any better, albeit, any worse than they already were?
"OK, lets just get this straight. So, you expect me to give up everything I have or ever will have, to come with you, complete strangers, to live in a new village miles away from anywhere, to never see my friends again, and now you want me to marry and probably sleep with a 'nice' man who I've never even seen before?"
"Yes, but.."
"Wait, I haven't finished yet," she interrupted, a now half angry, half sobbing tone in her voice. "All this to save my friends who I endangered in the first place by paying for this bloody expedition, and my parents who gave me up at birth to go and live somewhere far away, in a boarding school, in a place they've probably never even heard of." She paused. "Have I included everything?"
The group was silent. The leader spoke again. He wondered how to put what he had to say next. She didn't seem to be taking all this too well, but then who would. He pondered for a moment. "Erm.I.er," and then, "Look Marguerite, when your mother married your father, she didn't have much choice. They had been pushed together from an early age. The Priestess must always marry the highest available rank from the next village. Just after they had you, the cycle came around again. When the war broke out, they had to begin their rule. They were the targets of our enemies. They already had you. They had a responsibility to send you away to keep you safe, they didn't have any choice." Her face was intent. Now she was listening. "Where you went back to last night was the night of the last rotation, the night that the war broke out between us. That's why they took you. They thought you were your mother. They wanted to kill her, then they could have invaded, taken us, and killed us all. Just like they want to do now, all over again. History repeats itself Marguerite, but only if you let it."
Marguerite sat in silence. All this was just too much. How did she know if she could even trust these people? But right now she had no other option, it was either to go with them, or else her friends would die.
The man saw the heart-rending look on Marguerite's face, how could he do this to someone, especially his Priest's daughter. He made a quick decision in his head. "We'll save your friends. Don't come with us now, stay with your friends, just for tonight. Your parents will come for you in the morning."
~*****~
"You're leaving?" was all Roxton could seem to say. He was so angry and upset, not with her but with everything. He had felt this before, when his brother died, but this was different. At least then he could blame someone, whether it was himself or not. Now, he had nothing, he was emptied of everything he had. Everything was bottled up inside him. He couldn't do anything but wait for time to pass, with their last moments together fading before him. His life would be unbearable without her but he knew he couldn't do anything. Once Marguerite had made a decision, there was no going back.
~
Meanwhile, the other explorers were beginning to get impatient, especially Veronica who had two really strange strangers standing in the hallway of her Treehouse. They were worried and confused about Marguerite and what these strangers had said to her to make her so upset.
She bent over towards Malone and whispered in his ear. "I'll go wake Finn up, she seems to know just about the everything about anything." She turned. "Well, except how to track, but maybe she'll have some bright ideas," she commented happily to herself. Veronica smiled as she wondered over to Finn's bedroom. She was so glad that Finn had become part of their family, like the sister she had never had. As she walked in, she planned how would be the funniest way to wake her up. She made her way to the side of Finn's bed. "Boo," she cried as she lifted up the bed sheets. She laughed, and then shocked, she stepped back. Where was Finn? She ran back out to the others.
"Has anybody seen Finn this morning?" she asked with intent.
"Why, is she missing?" asked Challenger inquisitively.
"Well, she's not in her room," responded Veronica with a worried tone in her voice.
"Oh, look, don't worry," comforted Malone, "You know Finn, she's probably just gone out for a morning stroll or something."
"No, she knows better than to go out by herself." She eyed up the inquiring visitors. 'What are they doing here?' She thought. "Oh, I do hope Roxton and Marguerite come out soon, why are they taking so long?" she mumbled somewhere in Malone's direction. "Maybe Marguerite has some answers."
~
"I can't go out there," whispered Marguerite.
"Yes you can, you have to, we'll see each other again, I know it. Be brave Marguerite. I'll always be here for you." He knew he had to be strong for her. He had to keep going even though his heart was breaking up inside. He knew there was nothing he could do to change anything, this was her fate and it always had been.
"No you won't, you'll just find some other poor unsuspecting woman," she joked desolately as she placed some of her jewels into a bag. "Give it a couple of weeks and you'll have forgotten all about me."
"No, Marguerite, you know that's not true." He tried to hold her as she turned away. "Give yourself some credit for once. I'll never forget about you. And besides, you'll only live a few miles away," he said in a half attempt to comfort Marguerite and himself.
"You know you won't be able to visit," she said coldly. He tried to embrace her again but she still pulled away. Her eyes glazed as she turned from him. She sat down on the edge of her bed, covering her face, hiding her feelings.
"Marguerite." he tried as he sat down next to her.
She raised her voice a little, looking back at his face longingly. "I think," her voice broke with her tears. "I think it would be better if I just went." She looked at him sorrowfully. "I have to go Roxton, please understand," she begged as she stood up, beginning to pace the room. "They're in trouble. I want to do the right thing just once in my life. And my parents." She cut short.
"Of course I understand," he said. "I just don't want to lose you." Roxton looked down at the floor. His eyes began to water as the pain sank in. "I love you Marguerite," he whispered.
She walked back over to him once again and sat down, her back at an angle to him. He ran his hand over her shoulder. This time she didn't flinch. He moved his hands lower and wrapped them around her waist. She lay into his arms, looking up at him longingly. She needed him to help her, but she knew that this time nobody could save her.
Roxton looked deep into Marguerite's eyes. Now he knew. He knew who Marguerite was, who her parents were, he knew who had saved them last night, and now he knew just how much he really loved her. He loved her now more than ever before. He held her hands tightly. He knew that she had chosen to do the right thing. It would be so hard without her in his arms, without her to talk to and laugh with every day. As tears started to role down her cheeks, he took her into his arms and ran his fingers through her glossy hair. She could see the pain on his face, the tears on his cheeks. Marguerite couldn't help but give in to him. She carefully wiped away his tears with her soft hand, and slowly moved into him as he changed his position. He embraced her warmly as their lips gently touched. She held him tightly, his body gently pressed into hers. She pressed her cheek against his and gently whispered in his ear. "I love you."
~
The others waited patiently in the awkward silence. Veronica, desperately tired of all the silence, tried to think of something to say. They wanted some answers but the questions were just too hard to ask. For a start, no one knew whether the guests even spoke English, and secondly Marguerite seemed to know exactly who they were yet they had upset her greatly. Finally, the silence was broken.
"So, who are you? Why are you here?" Veronica spoke slowly, as though she were patronising them a little. She had just made a wild stab in the dark, thought of a question and hoped they would understand. But to their surprise one of them answered. Their words were clear and correct.
"We're here to collect Marguerite, she's our daughter."
Their simple words hit the explorers with a bang. For moments they all stood shocked, questions running through their heads. Marguerite's parents? How? Why?
Veronica replied at last, "Oh". What else could she say; no one knew what to say.
They spoke again. "It's a lovely home you have here, Veronica. Your parents would be proud of the way you live, you were very brave."
Veronica stared hard at them. "How do you know about my parents? How do you know my name?" she inquired a little harshly.
The woman spoke again, her voice seemed a little apprehensive. "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to scare you, it's just that we come from the Land of the Protector. We know everything about you, we knew about your mother too and beyond that. You do know you're the protector now, don't you?"
"What?" she answered, but suddenly Veronica saw a picture flash through her mind. There was lightning, pain and roaring thunder. Then darkness. She was scared by this image and tried to put it aside, but it kept coming back. This time she saw a triangle, a necklace, the one she had on, but it was glowing. It was glowing a bright gold and it burned her hand with its red hot metal. She heard her own voice shouting as loud as it could. "Am I the protector?" it cried, over and over again in a never-ending whirlpool of words. The silence in the room seemed longer and longer. She began to feel dizzy. The world was spinning around and around inside her head. She collapsed onto the floor.
"Veronica," Ned spoke softly. "Veronica, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
She opened her eyes and felt her back against the cold, harsh wooded floor. She sat up, looking around the room. She was temporarily disorientated for the first time in her whole life. "Where am I?" she asked. She stood up slowly before raising a hand to the top of her head.
"You took a nasty blow on the head there, Veronica, what happened?" asked Malone with concern.
"I, I am the protector." She paused. "There was a light, a bright light, and then darkness and I could hear myself screaming and shouting." She paused again, not wanting to think about it. "You're right," she said to the strangers, "Last night wasn't a dream, it was all real." She looked around her, suddenly everything became so clear. "Challenger, you're alright!" she exclaimed. He looked a little perplexed. "Remember, we lost you through that time barrier?" She thought for a moment. "And Malone?" Then something daunted on her. "Where's Finn?"
"Finn?" asked the woman. "How do you know Finn?"
The explorers were dazed and astonished, not for the first time that day. "How do YOU know Finn?" they asked in unison.
This day had been far too strange already. As they waited for the answer all they could do was look at each other in complete bewilderment. They had reached their limit, things couldn't things get anymore extraordinary. Well, so they thought.
CHAPTER 2
*RESCUE*
"HELP, HELP, NO, ROXTON, HELP."
"Stop, she belongs to us."
"What?"
"What?"
"She belongs to us, let her go, the world needs to be ended, the plateau runs in cycles, there has to be a new protector."
~*****~
"They killed them Roxton, they killed the Druids that were trying to kill me."
"So why are they here now?" he asked, puzzled.
~*****~
Marguerite watched the mysterious shield of light disappear into the distance. They were back, but where was Roxton?
"Let me go, I don't belong to you, I don't belong to anyone."
"You belong to your parents, they need you now."
"You know my parents?" she said with some inquisition.
"Yes, and they need you."
She stopped and thought for a moment "I have no parents, and I've survived pretty well my whole life without them, so I don't think I need them now thank you very much."
"You don't know the whole story."
"I think I know pretty well, we don't want our child, lets send her away, to boarding school, no love, no family, nothing." She stopped, shocked at herself and what she had just said. "Now thank you very much for everything, but I really should be going now," she said with some vigour.
She pulled to free herself from their grasp but their grip just tightened on her shoulders. She flinched and collapsed her body down onto the dampened forest floor. Her hair covered her face; she lay staring at the ground.
"Look, we know you're surprised. But no coincidences, remember? And that birth mark." A man reached to pull her shirt off of her shoulder.
"Get off me."
"Stop," one of the men ordered. "We'll sit down here," he paused, "and we'll have to tell her everything."
"I don't want to know, the only thing I care about is. Roxton, where's John? And Challenger, Veronica, Finn? Help them."
"Are these your friends."
"Family". She stopped again. They were her family. The only family she had ever had.
"We will make a deal then," one man began. "We need you and you want them to be safe."
"Yes"
"If you come with us, I will save your friends tonight."
"You mean they're all in danger, how, where? Help them."
"So we have a deal?"
"No we don't have a deal. I don't even know who you are yet. How can you expect me to trust you? How do I know you'll save them?"
"Marguerite, your whole life has been destined here, to come back to your parents, don't you understand, they love you, and need you."
"That's right, they love you when they want something, just like everybody else in this bloody world." She thought of Roxton for a moment, he was different, she would miss him unbearably. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. She buried her head on her lap and closed her eyes. She could picture him now, and those last moments they had spent together. She didn't know where she had been or where she was now, but she could just picture his face. She laughed but bit her lip at the thought of those pirates he had been telling her about. The thought of him made her happy again, he made her forget everything: her worries, her sins, her lies. Now she was scared and alone, with big decisions to make. She needed him with her; she needed him now more than ever before.
One of the men tried to comfort her. "Marguerite, the only reason they gave you up was because of the fighting here, the war. I'm sure if you saw them."
"I don't want to talk about it," she interrupted.
"I'm going to have to tell you whether you like it or not, but it's up to you whether you decide to listen."
~*****~
"Did you listen?" asked Roxton, intently listening to every word Marguerite had to say. He desperately wanted her to get to the point.
"Did a have a bloody choice?" she replied with a harshness in her voice. She calmed down and then, "Sorry. I'm sorry."
She fell into his arms again and stayed there, her head pressed against his chest. He held her, trying to comfort her. He knew what 'sorry' meant; he knew she'd agreed to go. His heart sank. What would he do without her? He wouldn't let her go, he couldn't, but how could he stop her from seeing her parents? How could he be the one to take away her dreams, her life's ambition to find out who she really was? Finally he answered her, "So what did they say.about your parents?"
~*****~
"Your mother and father are Druids like us. They are the priest and priestess of our assembly. They took over our group after the last cycle of the Plateau. Your mother's mother was in charge before that. Your mother and father were already married when it was their turn to rule. They already had you, and." he paused to look at her face, he decided to save that news for later. "You see, we belong in the Land of the Protector. We saved the Protector long ago, but the others took her from us. Another protector was put in her place after she escaped and went back to the real world."
"Veronica? .You know a way off the Plateau?"
"So you are listening, I thought you might after I mentioned the way off, you're just like your mother!" the man said with a mocking tone. Marguerite gave him a grin, if only a tiny one, it was definitely there. He saw this and continued, "Well yes, I believe she did know the way off, but no one knows for sure. The thing we do know is that even if she did get off the Plateau, no one else has ever found it, well no one in our collection anyway, and I doubt anyone else has either. It's the biggest secret there is and probably ever will be. And yes I do believe someone called Veronica was due to success her mother tonight, do you know her?"
"She saved us when we landed here, we've lived in her Treehouse for years." She stopped. Why was she telling them all this. She looked back down at the floor, thinking about Veronica. "What happened to her mother?" she asked.
"Well no one knows that for sure either, she disappeared, personally I believe it was the others again. You see, they have a problem with the rotation of the Plateau. They don't believe in it. They don't think it should have to happen, so they hate the Protectors. Now because of this, I have some bad news."
"Veronica?"
"No.I'm afraid it's your mother." Marguerite looked up at him at last. Then she thought. Why am I concerned, she abandoned me, they all did. He continued, "Because she is the leader of our community, when a war starts, she must abdicate her roll. Unfortunately, tomorrow night a war will start."
"How do you know that, psychic are we?" she asked sarcastically.
"Your mother, she has dreams. Have you ever had dreams Marguerite?"
She hesitated. "Yes", she whispered softly.
"Look, your mother needs you to take her place, if you can't then the next in line will be Pentanious, a warrior of the other group, as he will start the invasion on our village. We'll all be slaughtered Marguerite, even your mother and father, you have to help us, we need you."
She looked at him, straight in the eyes. She hated her parents, she had hated them ever since she could remember. She thought about when she was a little girl, sitting up on that hill at Avebury, where she could see the whole world. She had wondered where her parents were, and why they had abandoned her. Now, she looked around, she looked at the sea of faces; their longing eyes staring deep into hers. 'They just want me back when they need me.' But deep inside she was urging herself to go through with it. She looked away and then slowly turned her head back towards their avid faces. 'Why should she have to make this kind of decision? '
"OK, OK," she yelled. "I'll do it, but just to save my friends, I told you. But don't think you've got me back in your little tribe."
~*****~
"You saved us?" He was so proud, though his face could only show heartbreaking pain. He knew what was coming, but he had that glint of hope that she had made him possess, and it had sprung from pure love. He wasn't about to let her leave, not now, not ever. He would never leave her.
~*****~
Their smiling faces made her happy, and if just for a moment, her spirits were high and she suddenly sensed a feeling if security. For once in her life she felt she had done something right, and she had done it on her own. The group started to chatter quietly. "Oh, thank you Marguerite," the man cried. He cleared his throat and the assembly was quiet. "There's just one small point we haven't mentioned yet," he paused before continuing, focusing on her eyes, how should he put this? He continued quickly, "You'll have to marry."
She was baffled. "What?"
"You'll have to marry the priest's son, of our neighbouring village." He saw the look on her face and decided to continue quickly before she had chance to speak. "He's a very nice man, most of the women in our villages would give their right arm to be with him. He has alwa." She turned away, he stopped mid-word.
Marguerite was silent. Then she spoke again, this time with another sarcastic tone. "Is there anything else I may need to know about? Nothing else up your sleeve is there?" She turned away. What could she possibly say that would make things any better, albeit, any worse than they already were?
"OK, lets just get this straight. So, you expect me to give up everything I have or ever will have, to come with you, complete strangers, to live in a new village miles away from anywhere, to never see my friends again, and now you want me to marry and probably sleep with a 'nice' man who I've never even seen before?"
"Yes, but.."
"Wait, I haven't finished yet," she interrupted, a now half angry, half sobbing tone in her voice. "All this to save my friends who I endangered in the first place by paying for this bloody expedition, and my parents who gave me up at birth to go and live somewhere far away, in a boarding school, in a place they've probably never even heard of." She paused. "Have I included everything?"
The group was silent. The leader spoke again. He wondered how to put what he had to say next. She didn't seem to be taking all this too well, but then who would. He pondered for a moment. "Erm.I.er," and then, "Look Marguerite, when your mother married your father, she didn't have much choice. They had been pushed together from an early age. The Priestess must always marry the highest available rank from the next village. Just after they had you, the cycle came around again. When the war broke out, they had to begin their rule. They were the targets of our enemies. They already had you. They had a responsibility to send you away to keep you safe, they didn't have any choice." Her face was intent. Now she was listening. "Where you went back to last night was the night of the last rotation, the night that the war broke out between us. That's why they took you. They thought you were your mother. They wanted to kill her, then they could have invaded, taken us, and killed us all. Just like they want to do now, all over again. History repeats itself Marguerite, but only if you let it."
Marguerite sat in silence. All this was just too much. How did she know if she could even trust these people? But right now she had no other option, it was either to go with them, or else her friends would die.
The man saw the heart-rending look on Marguerite's face, how could he do this to someone, especially his Priest's daughter. He made a quick decision in his head. "We'll save your friends. Don't come with us now, stay with your friends, just for tonight. Your parents will come for you in the morning."
~*****~
"You're leaving?" was all Roxton could seem to say. He was so angry and upset, not with her but with everything. He had felt this before, when his brother died, but this was different. At least then he could blame someone, whether it was himself or not. Now, he had nothing, he was emptied of everything he had. Everything was bottled up inside him. He couldn't do anything but wait for time to pass, with their last moments together fading before him. His life would be unbearable without her but he knew he couldn't do anything. Once Marguerite had made a decision, there was no going back.
~
Meanwhile, the other explorers were beginning to get impatient, especially Veronica who had two really strange strangers standing in the hallway of her Treehouse. They were worried and confused about Marguerite and what these strangers had said to her to make her so upset.
She bent over towards Malone and whispered in his ear. "I'll go wake Finn up, she seems to know just about the everything about anything." She turned. "Well, except how to track, but maybe she'll have some bright ideas," she commented happily to herself. Veronica smiled as she wondered over to Finn's bedroom. She was so glad that Finn had become part of their family, like the sister she had never had. As she walked in, she planned how would be the funniest way to wake her up. She made her way to the side of Finn's bed. "Boo," she cried as she lifted up the bed sheets. She laughed, and then shocked, she stepped back. Where was Finn? She ran back out to the others.
"Has anybody seen Finn this morning?" she asked with intent.
"Why, is she missing?" asked Challenger inquisitively.
"Well, she's not in her room," responded Veronica with a worried tone in her voice.
"Oh, look, don't worry," comforted Malone, "You know Finn, she's probably just gone out for a morning stroll or something."
"No, she knows better than to go out by herself." She eyed up the inquiring visitors. 'What are they doing here?' She thought. "Oh, I do hope Roxton and Marguerite come out soon, why are they taking so long?" she mumbled somewhere in Malone's direction. "Maybe Marguerite has some answers."
~
"I can't go out there," whispered Marguerite.
"Yes you can, you have to, we'll see each other again, I know it. Be brave Marguerite. I'll always be here for you." He knew he had to be strong for her. He had to keep going even though his heart was breaking up inside. He knew there was nothing he could do to change anything, this was her fate and it always had been.
"No you won't, you'll just find some other poor unsuspecting woman," she joked desolately as she placed some of her jewels into a bag. "Give it a couple of weeks and you'll have forgotten all about me."
"No, Marguerite, you know that's not true." He tried to hold her as she turned away. "Give yourself some credit for once. I'll never forget about you. And besides, you'll only live a few miles away," he said in a half attempt to comfort Marguerite and himself.
"You know you won't be able to visit," she said coldly. He tried to embrace her again but she still pulled away. Her eyes glazed as she turned from him. She sat down on the edge of her bed, covering her face, hiding her feelings.
"Marguerite." he tried as he sat down next to her.
She raised her voice a little, looking back at his face longingly. "I think," her voice broke with her tears. "I think it would be better if I just went." She looked at him sorrowfully. "I have to go Roxton, please understand," she begged as she stood up, beginning to pace the room. "They're in trouble. I want to do the right thing just once in my life. And my parents." She cut short.
"Of course I understand," he said. "I just don't want to lose you." Roxton looked down at the floor. His eyes began to water as the pain sank in. "I love you Marguerite," he whispered.
She walked back over to him once again and sat down, her back at an angle to him. He ran his hand over her shoulder. This time she didn't flinch. He moved his hands lower and wrapped them around her waist. She lay into his arms, looking up at him longingly. She needed him to help her, but she knew that this time nobody could save her.
Roxton looked deep into Marguerite's eyes. Now he knew. He knew who Marguerite was, who her parents were, he knew who had saved them last night, and now he knew just how much he really loved her. He loved her now more than ever before. He held her hands tightly. He knew that she had chosen to do the right thing. It would be so hard without her in his arms, without her to talk to and laugh with every day. As tears started to role down her cheeks, he took her into his arms and ran his fingers through her glossy hair. She could see the pain on his face, the tears on his cheeks. Marguerite couldn't help but give in to him. She carefully wiped away his tears with her soft hand, and slowly moved into him as he changed his position. He embraced her warmly as their lips gently touched. She held him tightly, his body gently pressed into hers. She pressed her cheek against his and gently whispered in his ear. "I love you."
~
The others waited patiently in the awkward silence. Veronica, desperately tired of all the silence, tried to think of something to say. They wanted some answers but the questions were just too hard to ask. For a start, no one knew whether the guests even spoke English, and secondly Marguerite seemed to know exactly who they were yet they had upset her greatly. Finally, the silence was broken.
"So, who are you? Why are you here?" Veronica spoke slowly, as though she were patronising them a little. She had just made a wild stab in the dark, thought of a question and hoped they would understand. But to their surprise one of them answered. Their words were clear and correct.
"We're here to collect Marguerite, she's our daughter."
Their simple words hit the explorers with a bang. For moments they all stood shocked, questions running through their heads. Marguerite's parents? How? Why?
Veronica replied at last, "Oh". What else could she say; no one knew what to say.
They spoke again. "It's a lovely home you have here, Veronica. Your parents would be proud of the way you live, you were very brave."
Veronica stared hard at them. "How do you know about my parents? How do you know my name?" she inquired a little harshly.
The woman spoke again, her voice seemed a little apprehensive. "Oh, sorry I didn't mean to scare you, it's just that we come from the Land of the Protector. We know everything about you, we knew about your mother too and beyond that. You do know you're the protector now, don't you?"
"What?" she answered, but suddenly Veronica saw a picture flash through her mind. There was lightning, pain and roaring thunder. Then darkness. She was scared by this image and tried to put it aside, but it kept coming back. This time she saw a triangle, a necklace, the one she had on, but it was glowing. It was glowing a bright gold and it burned her hand with its red hot metal. She heard her own voice shouting as loud as it could. "Am I the protector?" it cried, over and over again in a never-ending whirlpool of words. The silence in the room seemed longer and longer. She began to feel dizzy. The world was spinning around and around inside her head. She collapsed onto the floor.
"Veronica," Ned spoke softly. "Veronica, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
She opened her eyes and felt her back against the cold, harsh wooded floor. She sat up, looking around the room. She was temporarily disorientated for the first time in her whole life. "Where am I?" she asked. She stood up slowly before raising a hand to the top of her head.
"You took a nasty blow on the head there, Veronica, what happened?" asked Malone with concern.
"I, I am the protector." She paused. "There was a light, a bright light, and then darkness and I could hear myself screaming and shouting." She paused again, not wanting to think about it. "You're right," she said to the strangers, "Last night wasn't a dream, it was all real." She looked around her, suddenly everything became so clear. "Challenger, you're alright!" she exclaimed. He looked a little perplexed. "Remember, we lost you through that time barrier?" She thought for a moment. "And Malone?" Then something daunted on her. "Where's Finn?"
"Finn?" asked the woman. "How do you know Finn?"
The explorers were dazed and astonished, not for the first time that day. "How do YOU know Finn?" they asked in unison.
This day had been far too strange already. As they waited for the answer all they could do was look at each other in complete bewilderment. They had reached their limit, things couldn't things get anymore extraordinary. Well, so they thought.