Chapter 3

Slowly, Challenger climbed back towards consciousness. He tried to sit up but his limbs were heavy and unresponsive. Well, I'm not dead, he thought as a small but sharp rock dug into his back. He tried flexing his fingers again but felt only pins and needles. He heard light steps approach him and stop as someone crouched down beside him. A small hand began repeatedly patting his cheek, and each pat became sharper until it felt like he was being slapped. The patting stopped as suddenly as it began. Before he could respond to the assault, his eye was pried open, and a shaft of bright light blinded him. A big, blurry, blue…thing filled his vision. Abruptly, his eye was released.

"No, they're still sleeping," a child announced. Challenger heard it step back and settle in the grass. "Big people sure do sleep for a long time," the child declared with a sigh.

He waited for several minutes, listening for signs that others were near and waiting for the feeling to return to his limbs. Finally, when Challenger was sure it was fairly safe, he sat up with a groan. As he sat up, the child scrambled away and he got a good view of his small tormentor.

The boy couldn't have been more than four or five years old. His blue eyes were impossibly big at he stared at Challenger in surprise. His blonde hair was in wild disarray and appeared to have half of the jungle's vegetation stuck in it. His formerly white shirt; at least, Challenger thought it might have been white, was several sizes too large and hopelessly stained.

A cough from nearby distracted them, and Challenger turned to see Veronica trying to roll onto her back. He hurried to her side and helped her sit up. "How do you feel?" Challenger asked as he handed her his canteen.

Veronica shakily took it and swallowed a few sips. "Like I got stepped on by a T-Rex. What happened?"

"I'm not sure myself, but we seem to have found a new friend," he answered, motioning at the boy who had crept closer to Veronica. She smiled at him, and the boy smiled back. Encouraged by this, Veronica motioned him closer. "Hi, I'm Veronica and this is Challenger. What's your name?"

"You're pretty," the boy declared as he studied her.

"Thank you," Veronica said with an embarrassed grin. "Where are your parents?"

"I dunno," he said with a careless shrug. He pointed at the trion pendant she was wearing. "What's that?"

"It's a necklace. Are you here all by yourself?"

He looked down at his bare feet and sighed dejectedly. "I dunno. The others were here, waiting to play with us. Then you scared them away. It was such a good game too. Now the game is over. Since the others are gone, will you play with us now?" he asked hopefully.

Veronica decided to try another tactic. "Sure, we'll play with you," she said as Challenger helped her to her feet. "But I don't know what to call you."

"I'm Edward, but Uncle Mike said Edward is too big of a name for someone as small as me. He calls me Ned. But I'm not small. I'm big. I'm five," he proudly announced, holding up five fingers.

"Ned?" Veronica repeated, staring down at him. "Ned Malone?"

"Yeah," the boy chirped cheerfully. "That's my name. How'd you know?"

"Your name is Edward T. Malone?" she asked, sharing a shocked look with Challenger.

The boy nodded. "Uh huh."

Veronica grabbed Challenger's arm, looking a bit faint. "Is this possible? Could Ned have been turned into a little boy?" she whispered, unable to hide the panic in her voice.

"Stranger things have happened to us," Challenger said, patting her hand reassuringly. He crouched down to look the boy in the eye. "If you're Ned Malone, where is Marguerite?"

"Right there," Ned said as if he was pointing out the obvious. Challenger and Veronica looked in the direction he was pointing, and noticed another child sitting in the shadow of one of the bushes.

Veronica cautiously walked over, taking in the child. As she got closer, she noticed that it was the same little girl who had caught their attention by diving through the bushes. It was no wonder both she and Challenger missed seeing her until now. Her dark, curly hair spilled over her shoulders and ended at her waist, allowing her to blend into the lengthening shadows. She was dressed like Ned in a much too large shirt. Next to her was a pile of items that Veronica recognized as Ned and Marguerite's. Any doubts she had to the identity of the girl vanished when the little girl looked up. A five-year-old Marguerite Krux absently played with her familiar gold locket as she gazed at Veronica.

"Hi," Veronica said as she crouched down in front of Marguerite.

Marguerite pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Hi."

Veronica carefully watched Marguerite for any sign of recognition. "Do you remember me?"

Marguerite shook her head and nervously chewed on a strand of hair. "It figures," Veronica sighed to herself. Looking over her shoulder at Challenger, she noticed Ned galloping towards her.

"Hi," he panted as he skidded to a stop next to Marguerite. "Guess what! Mister Challenger says that they have a tree house and they want us to come and see it. A real tree house. Way high up in the air! We'll have to ride in an ellelator to get to the top!"

Marguerite leaned over and whispered to Ned as Challenger approached them. Veronica stood up and gave him an apprehensive look. "What are we going to do?" she asked in a low voice.

"We have to get them back to the tree house. Maybe I can run some tests and figure out what's going on," he explained as he watched the children. Ned was loudly expounding the merits of 'going adventuring with Mr. Challenger' to a dubious looking Marguerite.

"What if this is something we can't fix?" Veronica questioned as she kept an eye on her two small friends. She had spent her whole life on the Plateau, and she had never heard of anything like this ever happening.

Challenger noticed Marguerite was intently watching him, and he tried to look as harmless as possible. "Either way," he said, still smiling at Marguerite, "it's getting dark, and we can't simply leave them here." He waited for Veronica to nod in agreement before clapping his hands and looking at the children. "So, why don't we go to the tree house and get something to eat, eh?"

Ned nodded vigorously and after a moment, Marguerite also nodded. Veronica held out her hands to them, and she soon had a little hand in each of hers. The group slowly and cautiously headed for home.

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TBC