" A Day on the Plateau"
by
Amazon 16, Caty, Explorer, The Inner Genie, Lex, and Others of, "The Lost World" Forum. (Initial Concept by Senhorita Krux of Lisbon.) Edited by Amazon 16 and Explorer.
Day began early in the tropics. The sun nudged its halogen-bright orb above the mountains beyond the Treehouse, and murky nocturnal shadows gradually gave way to finite shapes: trees taller than most men's dreams, open glades, and in the distance, viewable with the expeditions's Zeiss prism binoculars, the occasional shape of a lumbering sauropod dinosaur en route to a shallow lake midway to the horizon. The shadow of a passing pterodactyl or giant condor drifted over the balcony, and the aroma of coffee soon joined the natural jungle smells. Howler monkeys and macaws began the daily cacophony of sounds that masked the more furtive movements of deer, rodents, flightless birds.and the quieter travel of feline and reptilian predators.
Inside, the "family" of five explorers were finishing breakfast, which had been prepared by Veronica and Finn, with the somewhat fumbling assistance of Lord John Roxton and Professor George Edward Challenger. Marguerite Krux, true to form, had arrived just as scrambled eggs from a nearby nest of jungle fowl were being served. If anyone thought anything of her tardy arrival, they were diplomatic enough to not mention it, perhaps out of gratitude that she hadn't offered her limited culinary skills in the kitchen. Marguerite had many talents. Cooking wasn't among them.
Bacon that would have augmented the eggs in England was replaced with meat from a tapir shot months before, made into ham with a brine formula devised by Challenger. Bread came from wild wheat now cultivated in a garden, and made into flour by Veronica, using a formula handed down by her missing parents. The coffee beans had been bought in Manaus, but were Columbian, not the less desirable Brazilian Santos variety. They were dwindling, and so far, no local coffee bushes had been found.
As Veronica gathered dishes for the sink, the crew discussed various goals for the day. Roxton recalled that they were getting low on meat, and announced that he needed to hunt. Others mentioned various projects, with Finn and Challenger being mysterious (and a little smug) about their latest project in the improvised scientific lab. Marguerite said that her immediate goal was to have a second cup of coffee.
She followed Roxton as he walked toward the elevator, and grasped him by the sleeve before he boarded.
"John", she said, "I hate to bother you, but we need hot water for laundry and the lab today. We're getting low on firewood. Could you chop some before you leave?"
Roxton nodded, wishing that he'd slipped out before she had thought of this added little chore. It was too nice a day to spend at the woodpile, doing manual labor. He also needed to get to a waterhole before game came down the trail to it, enabling him to ambush some of the succulent brocket deer that all preferred to reptile meat.
"Venison, any day, by choice", he reflected.
He set the .275 Rigby rifle against a tree, ensuring that the chamber was empty, and that the rifle was secure against falling over. He stretched, took off his shirt and stretched again.
"Got to limber up the sleepy muscles before I tackle axe work," he muttered.
He hefted the axe, checked that the head wasn't loosening in the hickory handle, and gave it a few exploratory swings. The edge was still keen. He set a section of wood on the stump that they used as a chopping and splitting block, stepped back and swung the axe down hard. The head ricocheted off the wood, which he'd struck at an angle. He swore a mighty oath, and set the wood back on the stump. Back came the axe, then down. Thwack! The head bit in cleanly this time, and the wood began to transform itself from chunk into kindling.
Above, on the balcony, Marguerite stood behind a bookcase holding Veronica's father's literary treasures and scientific texts. There was a pot of ferns on top of the bookcase, and she knew that even if John looked up, he wouldn't see her flushed face peeping through the foliage.
She watched the ripple of muscle as he repeatedly lifted the axe and swung it. Lift, swing, THWACK! The rhythm of a metronome, she thought, but so strong and ...masculine. The movement of his muscles, the rampant maleness of his stance and power, excited her.
In the laboratory below, Finn listened raptly as George Challenger reviewed his latest project. "According to my calculations, we should be able to produce a substance that will so revolt raptors that they won't come near us if we throw some of it on the ground near them", said Challenger. "In theory, chemical interactions can repel various species. One snake emits a smell as if it was dead, which causes other, predatory, snakes to leave it alone."
"I'm like, yeah, Challenger, " Finn smirked. "I mean, I know about this stuff. In my time, we had mosquito repellent that was pretty good once they found out how to quit using DEET, which was a carcinogen. And there was this diver scientist lady named Eugenie Clark, who found this sole fish that squirted a chemical that sharks didn't like to smell. Ooo! Eugenie! Is that a gross name, or what?"
Finn ran her hands around the bare midriff exposed by her crop- topped shirt and lingered at her navel. She cast her eyes up at the bearded scientist to see if he was
watching her, or paying more attention to those jars he was shuffling around.
"Hey, Challenger! Do you think I'd look good with a navel ring?" Finn asked. " I mean, I've been thinking about it for a couple of years, and there's this guy who has a piercing shop in the Zanga mall, and he has like, got a special sale on, doing navel rings this weekend. Maybe a plain gold ring. Whaddaya think?"
"I don't think you should be getting any body enhancements until you're old enough to drink coffee, young lady," Challenger said, suppressing a smile. He was shy about admitting it, but Finn's irreverent approach to life and incessant curiosity amused him, and she really was good company in the lab, although he still had to tell her what some words were. Nonetheless, he was pleased with her reading skills in the main. Later today, he would check to be sure that she understood the difference between, "two", "too", and "to". Yesterday, she'd noted that he wanted "to" specimens of an aloe plant for his skin care cream formula...
Meanwhile, two floors above, Marguerite was unable to tear her eyes away from the man in front of her. She felt like she was mired in a trance! As she watched his lightly bronzed body glisten in the sunlight, his face became taut with exertion, and his muscles rippled with each swing. His hands grasped the axe firmly and brought it down again, with force and precision. Her mind began to envision those hands on her, wondering how it would be to make that hunter her own. To feel those hands caress her own body. "Stop it," she scolded herself, unwilling to let her hormones get the better of her, "You aren't a silly school girl anymore who can get carried away in these things." Making a determined effort to leave, she straightened her shoulders and shook her head in an attempt to clear it from thoughts she was helpless to stop thinking. She took a last look at Roxton to find that he was no longer in her line of vision. Wanting to see him one more time, she moved the plant from the ledge where it rested precariously near the edge. And, there Roxton sat, letting water from his canteen splash over his body. "Oh, hell," Marguerite murmured, "just enjoy it". She leaned against the rail to get a better view. The sultry beauty unfastened the top two buttons of her blouse, reached inside, and stiffened as her nimble fingers began to caress her nipples through a silk camisole.
Roxton's instincts, sharpened by years in the jungle, told him that someone was watching. Slowly lowering the canteen, he looked up towards the balcony. "Why, hello, Ms. Krux! How are you this fine morning?" he asked with a grin. Unable to pretend that she didn't see him, and desperately thinking of a way to get out of this situation while saving her pride, Marguerite just smiled down at him. "Are you okay, Marguerite? You look a little flushed." He surveyed her glowing face and slightly unbuttoned blouse.
Oh, how she wished she could knock that knowing grin off his face and get rid of that insufferable arrogance! "Yes, it's a bit hot today," she finally managed to call.
"Oh, yes, that it is," Roxton answered with a wink, standing up to stretch tired muscles.
"Two can play at this game" the raven- haired beauty thought, with a glimmer of satisfaction. "There is just something about weather like this that.....I don't know...
it just changes things, don't you think?", she asked, leaning further over the banister. "It makes me feel more alive." Wondering where his voice went, Roxton found that he was only able to nod his head, and was positive that if he wasn't sweating already, he would be now.
Finn, being nothing if not single minded, continued her quest. "Ya know, Challenger, I was just thinking that perhaps we could go to the Zanga Mall together. It wouldn't hurt to get you spruced up a little. If you put your hair into a ponytail and got an earring, you'd look like 'da man'. "
Challenger laughed indulgently. "That sounds much more like 'da woman', my dear. No, no, I have no desire to go to the Zanga Mall. I'm much too busy with my work here."
Seeing the disappointed look on Finn's face, he relented a little "Now, now. I suppose that I could go, but only if everyone wants to. Why don't you go ask if the rest of them?"
Finn cheered up immediately. With a squeal, she raced up the stairs, ready to persuade the others that a trip to the mall would be loads of fun.
Challenger watched her go with a small squiggle of guilt. He knew she would never get all of them to agree. Lately, the atmosphere in the tree house was anything but friendly. Marguerite and Veronica were having a tiff, and the other men had gotten drawn into it. The scientific genius shrugged. Let them bicker, as long as it didn't interfere with his very important work. Now where did he put those poppy seeds?
Finn got to the top of the stairs and her happy little bubble burst. There was no one in sight. Just as she was turning away, she heard voices coming from the balcony. Moving closer, she recognized the voices of Marguerite and Roxton. She stopped and stood still. She loved listening to the two of them. They were so quaint and old fashioned in their lovemaking. Just like watching a really old video. She sighed.
Marguerite whipped her head around at the sound and frowned at the young girl. She leaned even further over the railing and said to the man below. "Ix-nay on the alk-tay. We have ompany-cay."
Turning to the youngster from the future, she lifted one eyebrow and drawled. "Did you ever consider wearing a bell around your neck?"
Finn brightened. "No, I never had a bell, but I bet I could get one at the Zanga Mall. How about it, Marguerite? Wouldn't you and Roxton like to go shopping? The Pirate's Chest has great jewelry. Why, I bet a certain hunter could find you something you'd really like there."
Marguerite tapped her chin with her finger. "Hmmm," she thought to herself, "Roxton owes me something nice after what I caught him and Veronica doing." A satisfied smile flitted across her face. Something really nice. She frowned. Maybe she had been too quick to forgive him, but after all, it had all been Veronica's doing,
and John was so adorably contrite. One side of her mouth turned up. How could she stay mad at that handsome, gorgeous, sexy... Watch yourself Marguerite, you're getting all hot and bothered again. She laughed gently. He really was all hot and bothered when he found her watching him. Maybe this was a good time to visit the jewelers.
Finn had been bouncing on her toes watching the different thoughts and emotions cross the older woman's face. Now, she couldn't stand it any longer. "Well? Well? Whattaya think, Marguerite? Would you and Roxton like to come?"
"Lord Roxton and I would love to accompany you, Finn. Consider it a date," Marguerite said sweetly.
"Oh, thank you, Marguerite. Thank you!" Finn happily turned away and murmured, "Now, I just have to convince Veronica to come."
"Veronica!" Marguerite exploded. "You're not seriously considering inviting that...that trollop, are you?"
"No,no, Marguerite," Finn said hastily. "Not any trollops; just V."
"Well, if she goes, I won't." Marguerite folded her arms across her chest and pointed her nose in the air.
Finn, in a flash of inspiration, shrugged her shoulders. "Well, suit yourself, Marguerite. You don't have to come. I bet that Roxton and Veronica will be happy to come with me. I'll just go and set it up with them, now."
"Wait a minute, Finn. I've changed my mind," said Marguerite. "I'll come."
"That's great, M. We'll all go."
Marguerite cringed at the "M", but watched Finn jump into the elevator without correcting her. She walked back out onto the balcony and stood staring at the ground with a speculative gleam in her eye.
Finn was right. There was something she wanted Roxton to buy her at The Pirate's Chest, and that something was a diamond ring, not just any old ring, but a large, deliciously expensive engagement ring. Now, that would be a sock in the eye to Veronica!
The dark-haired beauty stared unseeingly out at the jungle in deep thought. Roxton was a little shy of commitment. Oh, sure, he told that he loved her, but he'd never mentioned marriage. Well, she would just have to give him the right incentive to pop the question, and she only had one night to make him see what he would be missing if he didn't have her for his lawfully wedded wife. Humming under her breath, she headed to her room to air out her remaining lingerie.
Finn stepped out of the elevator, or "lift" as everyone but she and V. insisted on calling it. She looked around for Veronica, and heard a scraping noise coming from a big wooden table in the garden. Turning the corner into the garden, she saw Veronica scraping and hammering brief portions of jaguar hide with bone tools.
"Hi, V. What're you making?" asked Finn.
Veronica glanced up at her "little sister" and smiled tautly. "I'm finishing a set of jaguar skin undies that I've been tanning. After the way Marguerite ripped my bra last night when she blew up after she saw me with Roxton, I need a replacement. She still doesn't realize that I only rubbed up against John and started fondling him because I knew she was watching when he saw me step out of my room to get a drink last night. Poor John was actually embarrassed when he realized that he'd seen me in just lingerie when he walked into the kitchen. He did make an admiring remark, but he was only teasing. Nothing would have happened if I hadn't seen that bitch glowering at us. The temptation to slow dance with John and feel him up was just too great to pass up. He just went along because he knew I was teasing, and he didn't know she was there."
"Unh, huh", winked Finn.
"Look, Finn, I'm telling the truth! John and I are more like brother and sister than lovers!"
"Yeah, I've heard about siblings like that," drawled Finn. "I think their relationships are even legal in Sweden." She grinned lewdly, and then brightened. "Hey, V.! You wanta go to the mall? You can get some leopard print lingerie at Vicky's. It feels a lot better against your skin than that real hide does. It's lots easier to wash, too. Everybody else is going. Well, maybe not Challenger, but I think I can talk him into it. He needs a break. He's been working too hard again."
Finn's brow creased a bit and she looked anxious as she realized that the eminent scientist really did look tired lately. She loved all of her friends from "the past", but George Challenger held a special place in her heart. Had it not been for his accidental time machine, she'd probably be a pleasure slave in New Amazonia by now. And, he was really quite sweet once one got past the stuffy exterior...
In the yard below, Roxton was fretting about his love life. "There are just some things I can't understand about that woman," Roxton muttered to himself as he stacked the remaining pieces of wood. "I tell her I love her, she tells me I can't. I try to get mad at her. and it just never lasts. Then she gets mad at me and doesn't tell me why! I'm a man, for goodness sakes, not a mind reader!"
"Is the wood talking back to you, Roxton?" A laughing voice belonging to Challenger asked behind him.
"Challenger! I didn't know you were here.uh. were you here all the time?" Roxton asked sheepishly.
"Long enough to hear you talking to yourself, and to see you throwing the wood around on the floor. So, tell me, what is getting you so mad on this beautiful day on the plateau?" George asked. He dusted off the stump used for chopping wood, and sat down. "Does it have anything to do with our Miss Krux?"
"It's about Veronica and me," John began trying to find the right words, "Well, it didn't look that harmless; I admit it. And I would have explained, but she didn't seem angry enough to stay upset for long, so I didn't think she was still in a foul mood this morning."
"You're rambling John! When you deal with a woman you have to try and think scientifically, step by step. Trust me: I should know. Now start with what happened with Veronica."
"Veronica was feeling very bad last night. After all, Ned has been gone now for almost three months with no word from him.."
"I'm just so confused," he remembered Veronica whispering to him, " I was so sure of so many things but lately, I've found that all my ideas have just. just crumbled into bits and pieces... I thought, no I knew, that my life here was perfect on the plateau, and that I would never need to leave. I mean, sure, I knew that I would miss Ned, but thought that I was strong enough to be without him. And suddenly he's gone and it feels. and I just know that if/when Ned comes back he is going to want to return to London and I just don't know."
"Know what to do?" Roxton supplied, pulling her into his arms and giving her the comfort she needed. "Everything will work out in the end, and if it doesn't, it isn't the end. So cheer up, we can't have you wallowing away into despair, Ned would never forgive us."
"You always try to make things so simple and uncomplicated. No I'm serious," she said when he began to laugh, "You never pretended to be more than what you appeared to be, and you never were afraid to say what you wanted. Thanks Roxton," Veronica said standing on her toes and giving him a kiss, You made me feel better."
"And that's how Marguerite found us, together in my arms, kissing each other." John said standing up and moving closer to Challenger. "Oh, she held onto me, gave me a silly grin, and we started to dance, too."
"Did she seem angry or upset?" queried Challenger.
"No, she got a little huffy, but didn't comment on it. You know how she acts. And of course you know how Veronica acts, too. Always wanting to poke fun at her, trying to get her out of that calm veneer she always wears. So, of course, she doesn't tell Marguerite the truth, but tells her some lie to get her mad. you heard what she told Finn."
"Did you confront Marguerite about this?"
"No, because this morning she seemed fine. In fact she seemed more than fine." Roxton said, drifting off into memory. Reminding himself how gorgeous she looked up there on that balcony with the wind blowing through her hair, seeing that tantalizing bit of skin underneath her shirt.
"Roxton!" Challenger said, bringing him back to the present, "What was next?"
"She got upset again for some reason, and just walked away. Just walked away. No comment; no nothing." He spread his hands in bewilderment.
"Well, John, it seems to me that you have finally realized what most of the male population has always known: women are different than men. They don't think rationally like they should. I remember that every day with Jessie was like a new mystery to solve. What will get her angry today? The nights we stayed up fighting because I didn't call her and tell her I was working late. Sometimes, it made me wonder what I was doing- being married to her." Challenger said resting his hand on Roxton's shoulder.
"So, you are saying that I should just forget about Marguerite then? That it is impossible for us to ever really be happy?"
"No, no, dear boy, that is not what I said at all. What I am saying is that it is these eccentricities of women that make it impossible for us to not love them. Now cheer up," Challenger said easing his body up, "We are going into the Zanga village today. We had better get a move on."
"The Zanga village? Today?"
"Yes, and maybe you should buy Marguerite a present. It always worked for me."
Later, at the mall, Marguerite stared bemused at the bracelet of shiny stones that Roxton was offering proudly to her. It was pretty, certainly, and she knew it would look very fetching on her wrist. With a great effort, she kept the corners of her mouth from twitching in an amused smile: Roxton was so endearing, and so earnest! She was more moved by him than she liked to admit, and sometimes frustrated by her inability to apply the standards to him that she had learned were so appropriate for dealing with other suitors. And, even worse, she sensed his understanding of her ... all her artifices could not divert him from his heartfelt knowledge of her. His aim was unerring.
But ... he did occasionally misread her, as he had that afternoon. Marguerite had overheard Roxton's exasperated conversation with Challenger. After her indignation at the males' presumption had faded, amusement had crept in. Had Roxton thought her jealous and outraged after that supposedly compromising scene with Veronica? A wicked glint appeared in Marguerite's lovely eyes. As she accepted the bracelet and allowed Roxton to fasten it carefully around her elegant wrist, her eyes took in the sight of his brown hands enclosing her slender, pale one ... and imagined her left hand simultaneously clasped between the strong, capable ones of Veronica. Her imagination flared, and her breath rasped. Roxton smiled, pleased, at her appreciation of his little gift. Marguerite leaned up to kiss Roxton, banged her broad-brimmed hat against his forehead, and took it off, as Roxton laughingly grabbed his head as if he was in pain. She tried again, standing slightly on tiptoe, pressing her lips lightly against his. He seized her with both arms, pulling her body against his in a gentle, yet passionate embrace.
"John, thank you, ever so much," she breathed. "The bracelet is more than I deserve. But, I'll accept it!" Her large green eyes were luminous, and her cheeks colored as she saw the look in his eyes. This man could reach into her soul, even
when she meant only to tease or jest.
Roxton cleared his throat self-consciously. "Ah, Marguerite, I think people are looking at us. Never mind that they're grinning like Cheshire cats. Would you like something to eat? I want a gin and tonic, or a limeade. That was a long trek in from the Treehouse. Perhaps a quiche or croissant?"
"I think my figure can stand a quiche," she agreed. "But you have to hold my hand and lead me to the table. I'm so exhilarated that I may float off if you don't hold onto me."
Roxton smiled, took her hand, and they went off toward La Cuisine Sauvage, the mall restaurant.
Meanwhile, Veronica and Finn had been window shopping the boutiques along the east wing of the mall. They went into Vicky's Lingerie Lair and laughed as they held up bustiers in front of each other, laughed at an embarrassed man who was examining garter belts under his girl friend's amused scrutiny, and stopped a sales clerk to ask for leopard print panties.
They sorted through the selection, and Finn bought two pair, one with black waistband and leg openings, the other a string style that was all spots. Veronica chose four pair, one a thong with a cute black ribbon in front, and added two matching bras. Finn added two pair of black bikini briefs and they paid from V.'s pouch of silver Maria Therese thalers.
They went out to the main mall aisle and down to the fountain, where they shared a brioche that Veronica cut with her knife after glancing around to ensure that no one who would be shocked would see her take the Fairbairn dagger from her boot. Finn brought two cups, with Darjeeling tea for V. and mocha coffee for herself.
They sat chatting amiably, critiquing fashion on girls who walked by and calling one another's attention to hot guys. Finally, Finn shyly asked V. just what had happened between her and Marguerite, who was still giving V. the cold shoulder while en route to the mall.
Veronica hesitated, then decided to tell Finn the truth. Skirting it had bothered her conscience; V. was an honest woman, who found it hard to hide her true feelings. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. Nothing is ever as it seems with Marguerite", Veronica sighed. "She lies without blinking an eye ... and yet ...", The blonde's words trailed off, and she distractedly pushed her piece of brioche around her plate with a fork. Finn waited for her to continue, but Veronica continued to concentrate on her plate, and finally Finn, impatiently, demanded, "'Yet,' what?" She exhaled noisily; Finn had little tolerance for hesitation.
"Well," said Veronica, keeping her eyes on her uneaten food, "I once ... I mean, Marguerite and I ... well, one time, we were ... it's hard to explain, but Challenger and Roxton had disappeared. Malone was gone. It turned out that some woman who claimed to be Death was ... well, never mind. Anyway, Marguerite and I were trying to find them. We were upset, and we had a little fight. I felt so furious with her and her selfishness. But, Marguerite apologized! She seemed really worried that she had
hurt me. I began to realize that Marguerite wasn't so different than the rest of us. And her eyes were fixed on my face; I couldn't look away."
Finn was leaning over the table. She urged Veronica on: "Yeah - then what?"
Veronica looked confused. "You see, I wasn't used to thinking of Marguerite that way ... worried, unsure. Her eyes ... I just ... I don't know why, but, all of a sudden, I thought that maybe she needed me - she wasn't as independent as she liked to appear, you know? And so, I ...."Veronica hesitated...too long.
"Why hello, ladies," Challenger greeted, spying the two blondes sitting at the table. Seeing the look on Veronica's face, he immediately realized that he had interrupted something.
"Please, my dears, don't let me stop you from your little chat. I'll just sit right here and be as quiet as can be."
He sat down on one of the small chairs and stretched out his long legs. He groaned with relief. Damn, it felt good to get off his feet. He suddenly noticed that the two girls were still staring silently at him. Waving his hand imperiously, he ordered, "Carry on. Carry on. I assure you that I won't interrupt again."
Veronica looked over at Finn, pressed her lips together and shook her head. The moment for confession had passed.
A good thing, too, for Marguerite and Roxton came up behind them. Marguerite had her arm out and was shaking her wrist back and forth. "Look,look. See what Roxton got for me. Isn't it charming? He's such a dear."
Finn craned her neck over the table to see the bright bauble. "Gee, Marguerite. That is so cool." She looked over at the tall hunter. "You picked a good one, Roxton"
Roxton had his eyes firmly fixed on his love's face as he murmured, "Indeed, I did."
Challenger winked at him over the girl's heads. "Well done, old boy."
Marguerite still had her arm extended when Veronica reached out, took her hand and pulled it closer. She traced the curve of the bracelet around the dark-haired woman's slender wrist. One corner of her mouth quirked up and she raised her head to look at her friend. The words she was about to speak died on her lips when her eyes met the wild, luminous gaze of the older woman. She drew in a sharp breath, and bit down on her lower lip and looked away, but not before Roxton saw the expression on her face.
"Lovely, isn't it, Veronica?" he put in hastily, before the silence went on any longer. He reached around and took Marguerite's hand from Veronica.
"Well, if we've all finished our shopping, we'd best be off." He continued hardily, "It's a long walk home."
Challenger got slowly to his feet, moaning a little as he put weight on his sore tootsies. "He's right, ladies. We should get started for home."
Finn jumped up and smiled at the older man. "Here, Challenger, let me carry your packages."
He smiled back at her. "Well, if you insist, my dear. I can't deny that I am somewhat tired."
Veronica stood, and abruptly walked away. "Hmpf: it looks as if Veronica is just as eager to get home as I am," Challenger noted.
Finn nodded and started after her blond friend. "Wait up, V," she called as Veronica disappeared out of the mall's lofty doorway. Challenger hurried after her.
Roxton looked sideways at Marguerite. She had her head down, a finger roaming over the bright stones in the bracelet. "What is it, Marguerite? You look down in the dumps suddenly. Don't you like your trinket?"
"Oh, no, John. I love it. It's just that..." Her head drooped again.
He looked at the woman who meant the world to him and closed his eyes for an instant. Nothing is ever easy, he thought. He opened his eyes, tenderly raised her hand to his lips and kissed it fervently, and then he tucked it into the crook of his arm and led her toward the exit.
"We need to talk," he said as they stepped out into the familiar jungle. Getting Marguerite to talk about her feelings was never easy ... in fact, it was like pulling teeth ... but Roxton was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering her. He'd been giving some thought to the problem after his discussion with Challenger, and had come to realize that his initial interpretation was wrong. Marguerite was not, after all, the jealous type, not given to petty girlish drama. And Roxton knew that she was secure in his love for her; she was too wary to ever have allowed their relationship to reach its current stage if any doubt about his sincerity lingered in her heart.
And yet ... there was something strange in the air, and he sensed that it involved Veronica. What was that look that had passed between the two women as Veronica admired Marguerite's bracelet today?! Hell, he could practically feel the blaze of it still. And now another incident came to mind; there had been some unexplained tension, a noticeable awkwardness, between Marguerite and Veronica that had developed shortly after his return from his adventure with "Death." After a few days, it had dissipated, and Roxton forgot about it, but now it took on a new importance.
So, as soon as the explorers returned to the tree house, Roxton dragged an unwilling Marguerite out to the balcony. He had to grin as he recognized her "stubborn" stance: arms crossed over her chest, chin thrust out, head cocked to the side, and eyes half lidded - a mien that was very familiar to them all, by now! "Marguerite," he said, forcing himself to sound stern, "Look, we need to discuss ..."
Just then, Veronica appeared. She looked disheveled. She blurted out,
"Marguerite! I need to talk to you ..." and then stopped, mid-sentence, when she realized she had interrupted a private moment. But she didn't leave - just stayed where she was, her eyes fixed on Marguerite's face.
"Er, Veronica, do you mind? I'm trying to talk about something with Marguerite at the moment," Roxton said, somewhat testily.
Veronica ignored Roxton, and exclaimed, more urgently, "Marguerite! I really need a minute with you."
Marguerite gave an exasperated sigh. She looked at them both. And then she said, "Actually, I was hoping that the three of us might have a conversation." Marguerite and Roxton looked into one another's eyes. Roxton had a challenging expression on his face, and Marguerite realized that he was upset at Veronica's intrusion, and that he felt an urgent need to settle their differences. She felt guilty, and a wave of empathy rushed through her as she appreciated the intense stress he must be feeling.
"John, please just give me a few moments with Veronica. I think that what we need to say to one another will be better said once Veronica and I have spoken. I promise we'll be right back." She reached out to him with her arm and with her large, expressive green eyes.
Roxton stood with arms folded, defensive, but making it clear that he meant to have answers from his lady. He glanced down at her hand on his arm, followed the length of her lavender sleeve back to her shoulder and on to her eyes. He considered, then nodded his head curtly.
"Go, then, Marguerite. But I want you back here shortly, or I'm coming after you. Things need to be said between us, and they are going to be said, and soon. I deserve that much from you, I believe."
She looked embarrassed, nodded, squeezed his shoulder, and gestured to Veronica to lead the way to a private area.
Veronica turned to leave, then looked back at Roxton. "John, we seriously need to have some girl talk before you two have it out. I wouldn't interrupt if I didn't think it was vital. Please forgive me," she said. She looked pleadingly at him.
"I'll make tea," Roxton said, and the women left.
He went into the kitchen and set a freshly filled kettle to boil, grateful for the water purifier that Challenger had installed to preclude the need to boil water so often. Living in a primitive jungle carried significant health risks, and he often longed for the cool weather and clean water of his home in Avebury.
Veronica led Marguerite into the library and turned to face the older woman, if being a decade elder made her an "older woman". She thought with a twinge of humor how Marguerite would react if she knew that anyone thought of her as "an older woman".
The women stood two feet apart, both with arms folded across their desirable bosoms. Each looked defiant, yet contrite. Veronica was the first to break the stare between them.
"Marguerite", she began, "before this goes any further, I want you to know that I love you, deeply. More than I once dreamed was possible, let alone likely. I've been thinking of the time we talked when Lady Death came so close to taking Roxton from us. When you came into my arms and I held you, and you began to cry, I was dumbfounded. It was so unlike you to lose control, to be vulnerable. Only then did I fully understand how much you love John, how much it hurt you that he was in peril. You openly cared for someone more than for yourself, and I doubt that had happened often before...it hit me pretty hard."
"I had this tantrum that I was about to throw, and it got stopped in its tracks," Veronica continued. "Something passed between us, and I knew that - to my amazement - I loved you. As a friend." She blushed deeply. "That's above and beyond the physical sensation you aroused in me. That was there, too, the tactile sensation of another woman, especially one as beautiful as you." She felt her whole body blush scarlet.
"You think I'm beautiful?" asked Marguerite. She wore an expression of surprise, overlaid with anxiety.
"Oh, yes, Marguerite!" gushed Veronica. "Oh, Honey, you are SO beautiful! I'd always noticed, even when I tried to think of you as just being a snotty, betraying bitch. But I felt so plain beside you, so unsophisticated. I tried to tell myself that the aura you had about you was trivial, plastic, and totally vain. Actually, it was. Is still, to some degree," she admitted.
"But, Marguerite, you've grown in so many ways. And when I saw that you were almost beside yourself with concern for Roxton, and that you knew what it would mean to lose someone so dear to you, I was overcome with sympathy and I wanted to reach out to you. I was aware of you physically, yes, but my love was as one friend for another. When I held you, it just seemed so natural to comfort you, to tell you that I knew what you were going through and that you weren't alone. That's why I kissed you. If you weren't so suspicious and maybe if you hadn't been through something like that embrace with Adrienne, when her intentions were, well, different..." Veronica looked down, then cast her gaze up, watching Marguerite's face.
"Anyway," she continued, "when I saw your face and realized what you were thinking, I just blurted out that if I was attracted to one of you two, it was Roxton that I'd think of THAT way...you took it the wrong way. I was stunned when you said that I wouldn't be getting either one of you, but at least, you finally understood why I was so indifferent to Ned Malone. It took an instant before I realized what you really meant. Marguerite...DID something erotic happen with you and Adrienne? Please tell me. I'll keep your secret. But you started to react to what I said before I could explain, and your defensive armor came down and you pushed me away." Veronica reached out with her eyes, pleading for understanding.
Marguerite tightened her jaw muscles and glared at the blonde beauty. She was
outraged, yet realized that that scene in the jungle while both women had been in terror for their loved ones had haunted Veronica since. And what she'd said before she turned with a swirl of her skirt and flounced away had hurt Veronica much more than Marguerite had dreamed. Marguerite's face softened, and compassion lanced across the space between them. She reached out to Veronica, and the other woman came into her arms, this time with relief on both their parts.
"Veronica," Marguerite began, "I've thought about that often since. I really felt then that you were, well...but when you said that about preferring John if you were going to fool around with either of us it seared my soul. When I had time to think about it once the crisis was past, I could never stop wondering if you wanted him. I watched for signs, but when I didn't see any, except for when he looked at you admiringly, the way a man can't help looking at a woman with your...assets...I decided that you'd just said what you did to torment me. You had just been spouting off to tell me that it wasn't me that you wanted...that way."
"Then, when I came out of my room last night, after I heard John get up next door and go to the kitchen, I was going to go in and tell him how much I love him and have some rare time alone with him. But what I saw was you in that tarty leopard bathing costume or whatever it is that made it look like you meant for him to see you undressed, and then he took you in his arms and you kissed while you started running your hands all over his back and started to dance...I was furious. I almost NEVER lose control like I did then. Veronica, I am so embarrassed. But, I have to know...what are your real feelings for Lord Roxton? And, for me?"
"Oh, Marguerite! How do I feel? That's what I'm trying to tell you!" exclaimed Veronica. "You completely misunderstood why I embraced you that day. It was just to tell you that I finally accepted you fully as a friend, and one in need of emotional succor, at that. I was overcome with emotion when I realized that you were finally able to feel for John so strongly that you'd put yourself in harm's way to help him. I want VERY MUCH to see you and John happy together, forever. I think that you two are ideally suited for one another. I don't know why it's taken you so long to admit it, even to yourself."
"About last night...I am so sorry. John and I just surprised each other in the kitchen. He flirted a little, but we both knew he was teasing, and so was I when I grabbed him and started slow dancing. It was all but over when I saw you walk out of your room and see us and cross your arms and start glaring like you'd caught us really messing around. You can be so pompous sometimes...I kind of lost it and kissed him just to upset you because you'd been prissy earlier in the day and were standing there giving us the evil eye." "Please believe me: I want both you and John as friends. The last thing on my mind would be to damage what's between you. If you ever get enough sense to marry that man, I'd be honored to be your bridesmaid, and I hope you'll ask me."
Veronica looked pleadingly at the elegant brunette. "Please, Marguerite? Can you find it in your heart to believe me? To forgive me? I couldn't even sleep last night, thinking that my stupid flirting might have cost me my best friends. I went a long time without people of my own kind. I need you probably as much as I think you need me. Forgive me? I'll tell John it was all my fault, and that I should have known better than to have baited you." She reached out to Marguerite with her hand and
with her heart.
Marguerite tapped her right foot and thought. She studied Veronica's eyes, in some cultures the reputed windows to the soul. Someone walked past the doorway quickly with a thud of boots, then turned and looked in at the two women.
"Oh, hey, V!" said Finn. "Have you got any good books that I can read? Maybe one with pictures so that I can match words to images? Challenger said that he'd help me read a chapter or two before bedtime."
Marguerite turned to Finn with an incredulous look on her face. She opened her mouth to speak. How dare this impertinent blonde shrimp interrupt HER conversation?
Finn was startled to see the expressions on the other women's faces. "Uh, wow, girls, " she stammered. "Am I interrupting something big here?"
"No, no, Finn, that's all right," said Veronica. She looked imploringly at Marguerite. "Marguerite, will you excuse me for just a moment? I can get Finn a book in a jiffy."
Marguerite looked up and rolled her eyes at the impertinence of Finn and Fate, then nodded to V.
Veronica led Finn quickly to a bookcase and shined her candle down the rows of volumes. She stopped at one title, grinned mischievously to herself, and took out the book, which had no title marked on the green leather spine.
"Finn", she said, "I think this is precisely what you need. Take it to Challenger without opening it. I want you to be surprised when he begins to read to you. Please tell me later how you like it. Okay?
"Sure, V, " answered Finn. She shot a concerned glance at the other woman, her friend and to a large degree, the primary female role model in her life. "V., are you sure that everything is all right? What's wrong with Marguerite? Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, no, Finn," Veronica assured her. "We''re just having a very personal discussion about something that I did that she... misunderstood. It's entirely personal, but we need to clear the air. Tell Challenger that I selected this book especially for you, and tell me how he likes it, will you?"
"Sure, V.," said Finn. "But call me if you need a friend to help, promise?" She looked pleadingly into Veronica's eyes.
Veronica nodded abruptly, now a little embarrassed at sending Finn to Challenger with that particular book. They all loved to tease poor Finn, but Finn was really a loyal friend and sometimes V. felt bad about pulling her leg. Still, she wished that she could be present when Challenger began to read.
Veronica rejoined Marguerite, who had been thinking and assessing her instincts and feelings.
"Veronica", she began. "What happened between us was an event that occurred under a lot of stress. I wasn't myself. I think I may have overreacted. By just a little, of course. You did mislead me, however unintentionally. And I was absolutely beside myself with concern for Roxton. "I'm a little insecure at times. Well, at most times. And don't you DARE repeat that to anyone. I need so much to feel in control. I'm very uneasy about revealing much of myself to anyone, and I know that I didn't mention anything about Adrienne to you. How did you know about that? I've never even told John about that night in Paris when Adrienne had too much champagne and made a pass at me. I think she was desperate for someone to love, and too drunk to care much that I wasn't a man. She normally didn't do that sort of thing. How did you learn this?"
Veronica looked deeply embarrassed. "Uh, Marguerite...one night you were bummed out after a fight with Roxton, and you had several glasses of brandy, from that special decanter of Remy Martin cognac. When you went to sleep on the couch in the living room, I came in later with a sheet to cover you up. It had gotten chilly. I didn't want you to catch cold. I really like you, in spite of the differences we've had. "
"Anyway," she continued, "you were mumbling about Adriennne in your dreams. You said for her to leave you alone and sober up, that you didn't like her THAT way. You said some other things, but you kept drifting in and out in how clearly I could hear you. Sometimes, you just mumbled. When I was sure that it was just a dream, and that you were sleeping normally otherwise, I went back to bed. But I kept wondering what went on that night in Paris." She shuffled in embarrassment. "I wasn't really eavesdropping. Okay, maybe I did a little. But I mainly just wanted to be sure that you were all right. I swear, I've never said a word to anyone else about this. Please accept that."
Marguerite had begun tapping her foot again and her arms were again across her chest. Her face was deeply flushed. "Veronica, I remember waking up that day. I thought that Roxton or Challenger had covered me with that sheet. I felt such a fool for getting drunk that I just got off the couch and slunk off to my room and never mentioned the episode to anyone. And they all avoided speaking of it." She grinned. "The men probably didn't want to risk arousing the queen bitch. I'm not a pretty sight when I go on the warpath, as the American Red Indians say. Sometimes, I wish I stayed calmer when I get mad." That reminded her of the scene the previous night. "Oh, Veronica! I'm sorry about your leopard bra. Can I help you make another, or buy you one in the mall? I was such a witch, but I really believed that you were making a pass at John and deliberately rubbing my face in it."
Veronica shrugged and smiled. "Given what I was doing, you had every right to be angry. You're forgiven, Marguerite. I've already made a new bra, and I got others at the mall today. If having to mend that shoulder strap is all this episode has cost me, I've gotten off lightly. Can YOU forgive ME?"
Finn cast a worried look after Veronica, but then she shrugged. If V. wanted to tell her what was going on, she would. It clearly wouldn't do to pry. She went into the kitchen, where Roxton had just finished brewing a large pot of Twining's best Ceylon tea.
They spoke briefly, and she saw that John was also preoccupied about something, and she suspected that it had to do with whatever it was that was going on between the women.
Finn took a silver tray with two cups of tea and some cookies, and held the book under her left arm as she went down to Challenger's laboratory.
Challenger greeted her warmly, thanked her for the tea and cookies, which he hadn't expected, but greatly appreciated.
Finn handed him the unopened book, explaining how Veronica had wanted him to begin reading to her from it before she looked inside. "V. said it was something that I'd really enjoy, Challenger," she said as they sat down at a table to the side of the main lab counter. She sipped her tea and looked eagerly across the table at the scientist, then slid her chair over next to his so she could see the pictures when the book opened.
Challenger wondered what the book was. He'd already glanced at the spine, seeing no title. He laid the handbound volume on the table and opened it. When he recognized the story, he suppressed an amused grin. These girls were always jesting, but this was surely a good prank. "Well, Finn", he intoned, "this volume is truly a classic work. I feel certain that you'll, ah, remember it always." He began to read, "Once upon a time, there were three little pigs..."
Roxton sipped his tea, but his mind wasn't on the fragrant blend; he was worried about Marguerite...and Veronica, too. He heard a noise behind him and turned around in his chair. Marguerite and Veronica came tripping up the back stairway laughing at something Veronica had said. The tension that had so lately hung around them thicker than a London fog had lifted. The dark-haired man smiled with relief as the two women approached.
Marguerite and Veronica smiled back at the handsome hunter. He jumped up to get them some cups.
"You'll have a cup of tea, won't you? It's the very last of the Ceylon blend we brought with us, I'm afraid."
"Then by all means, pour us a cup," Marguerite said with uncustomary hardiness.
Handing her a brimming cup, Roxton murmured, "Would you like to take your tea out to the balcony with me? It's a lovely night."
Marguerite looked over at Veronica and hesitated.
"Hey, you two go ahead. I found a book in the library I'd like to reread. It was...is one of my mother's favorites." Veronica felt herself blushing.
"Well, if you're sure you don't want to join us..." Marguerite didn't want Veronica to feel deserted, although she longed for time alone with John Roxton.
"Go, go," the jungle girl said, waving them off.
Carrying their teacups with them, they walked out onto the large balcony that ran the circumference of the tree house. A rare evening breeze blew in smelling of exotic jungle flowers. As Marguerite lifted the delicate china cup to her lips, Roxton laid his hand gently on her arm. Marguerite turned inquisitive eyes towards him.
"Are you two all right?" he asked in a hushed voice. "What was all the drama about?"
"I can't tell you, John," she said, smiling to take any harshness out of the reply.
"Not more secrets?" he asked with a slightly hurt tone.
"Not secrets, John. Confidences."
He snorted. "Same difference."
"Not at all," she replied. "Confidences are even more sacred then secrets, at least between women."
John just shrugged. He wasn't about to go there.
Marguerite leaned her back against the railing and watched Veronica as she sat at the table reading. She sighed. "She misses him terribly," she stated softly.
Roxton followed her gaze, "Misses whom?" he asked. "Malone?"
"No, King Jacoba," Marguerite said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. Men could be so dense. "Of course Malone," she told him.
"How can that be? Malone told me she just wanted to be friends with him," he argued.
"That was then, and this is now," she answered.
"What?" He didn't get it.
Before she could explain, Finn came clattering up the stairs waving the green- bound book. "V, Challenger read me the story, and I really liked it, even though I know you gave me a kids' book to embarrass me, you DORK! I have a question, though, and he told me to ask you about it."
Veronica smiled at her puzzled expression. "What's your question, Finn?"
Finn frowned and opened the book. She pointed to the illustration at the top of the page. "These pigs have clothes on, V. Pigs don't wear clothes."
"Of course not, Finn. This is just a nursery story." At the young woman's look of incomprehension, she tried again. "It's a story for children about being dangerously lazy." Still seeing no flicker of understanding, she was thinking of another way to explain it, Roxton and Marguerite joined them. Roxton plucked the book off of the table and began to leaf through it.
"The pigs wear clothes because children think it's funny," he told Finn, not quite accurately.
Finn smiled and nodded her head. "They do look funny with their ears sticking out of little holes in their hats," she laughed, and the others laughed, too, caught up in her good humor.
"May I join you?" Challenger asked politely as he reached to top of the stairs. "Sounds like you're having fun." He poured himself another cup of tea.
"By all means, George," Marguerite told him. She smiled at John as he pulled a chair out for her. He sat down in the chair next to hers and opened the book on the table.
"Have a seat, Finn," said Roxton, "and I'll read you another story. It's called 'The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs' and it's a lesson about greediness," he said, raising one eyebrow at the dark haired beauty beside him.
Marguerite drew herself up haughtily. I'm sure I don't know why everyone is looking at me," she stated.
They all started to laugh then, until even Marguerite had to join in.
by
Amazon 16, Caty, Explorer, The Inner Genie, Lex, and Others of, "The Lost World" Forum. (Initial Concept by Senhorita Krux of Lisbon.) Edited by Amazon 16 and Explorer.
Day began early in the tropics. The sun nudged its halogen-bright orb above the mountains beyond the Treehouse, and murky nocturnal shadows gradually gave way to finite shapes: trees taller than most men's dreams, open glades, and in the distance, viewable with the expeditions's Zeiss prism binoculars, the occasional shape of a lumbering sauropod dinosaur en route to a shallow lake midway to the horizon. The shadow of a passing pterodactyl or giant condor drifted over the balcony, and the aroma of coffee soon joined the natural jungle smells. Howler monkeys and macaws began the daily cacophony of sounds that masked the more furtive movements of deer, rodents, flightless birds.and the quieter travel of feline and reptilian predators.
Inside, the "family" of five explorers were finishing breakfast, which had been prepared by Veronica and Finn, with the somewhat fumbling assistance of Lord John Roxton and Professor George Edward Challenger. Marguerite Krux, true to form, had arrived just as scrambled eggs from a nearby nest of jungle fowl were being served. If anyone thought anything of her tardy arrival, they were diplomatic enough to not mention it, perhaps out of gratitude that she hadn't offered her limited culinary skills in the kitchen. Marguerite had many talents. Cooking wasn't among them.
Bacon that would have augmented the eggs in England was replaced with meat from a tapir shot months before, made into ham with a brine formula devised by Challenger. Bread came from wild wheat now cultivated in a garden, and made into flour by Veronica, using a formula handed down by her missing parents. The coffee beans had been bought in Manaus, but were Columbian, not the less desirable Brazilian Santos variety. They were dwindling, and so far, no local coffee bushes had been found.
As Veronica gathered dishes for the sink, the crew discussed various goals for the day. Roxton recalled that they were getting low on meat, and announced that he needed to hunt. Others mentioned various projects, with Finn and Challenger being mysterious (and a little smug) about their latest project in the improvised scientific lab. Marguerite said that her immediate goal was to have a second cup of coffee.
She followed Roxton as he walked toward the elevator, and grasped him by the sleeve before he boarded.
"John", she said, "I hate to bother you, but we need hot water for laundry and the lab today. We're getting low on firewood. Could you chop some before you leave?"
Roxton nodded, wishing that he'd slipped out before she had thought of this added little chore. It was too nice a day to spend at the woodpile, doing manual labor. He also needed to get to a waterhole before game came down the trail to it, enabling him to ambush some of the succulent brocket deer that all preferred to reptile meat.
"Venison, any day, by choice", he reflected.
He set the .275 Rigby rifle against a tree, ensuring that the chamber was empty, and that the rifle was secure against falling over. He stretched, took off his shirt and stretched again.
"Got to limber up the sleepy muscles before I tackle axe work," he muttered.
He hefted the axe, checked that the head wasn't loosening in the hickory handle, and gave it a few exploratory swings. The edge was still keen. He set a section of wood on the stump that they used as a chopping and splitting block, stepped back and swung the axe down hard. The head ricocheted off the wood, which he'd struck at an angle. He swore a mighty oath, and set the wood back on the stump. Back came the axe, then down. Thwack! The head bit in cleanly this time, and the wood began to transform itself from chunk into kindling.
Above, on the balcony, Marguerite stood behind a bookcase holding Veronica's father's literary treasures and scientific texts. There was a pot of ferns on top of the bookcase, and she knew that even if John looked up, he wouldn't see her flushed face peeping through the foliage.
She watched the ripple of muscle as he repeatedly lifted the axe and swung it. Lift, swing, THWACK! The rhythm of a metronome, she thought, but so strong and ...masculine. The movement of his muscles, the rampant maleness of his stance and power, excited her.
In the laboratory below, Finn listened raptly as George Challenger reviewed his latest project. "According to my calculations, we should be able to produce a substance that will so revolt raptors that they won't come near us if we throw some of it on the ground near them", said Challenger. "In theory, chemical interactions can repel various species. One snake emits a smell as if it was dead, which causes other, predatory, snakes to leave it alone."
"I'm like, yeah, Challenger, " Finn smirked. "I mean, I know about this stuff. In my time, we had mosquito repellent that was pretty good once they found out how to quit using DEET, which was a carcinogen. And there was this diver scientist lady named Eugenie Clark, who found this sole fish that squirted a chemical that sharks didn't like to smell. Ooo! Eugenie! Is that a gross name, or what?"
Finn ran her hands around the bare midriff exposed by her crop- topped shirt and lingered at her navel. She cast her eyes up at the bearded scientist to see if he was
watching her, or paying more attention to those jars he was shuffling around.
"Hey, Challenger! Do you think I'd look good with a navel ring?" Finn asked. " I mean, I've been thinking about it for a couple of years, and there's this guy who has a piercing shop in the Zanga mall, and he has like, got a special sale on, doing navel rings this weekend. Maybe a plain gold ring. Whaddaya think?"
"I don't think you should be getting any body enhancements until you're old enough to drink coffee, young lady," Challenger said, suppressing a smile. He was shy about admitting it, but Finn's irreverent approach to life and incessant curiosity amused him, and she really was good company in the lab, although he still had to tell her what some words were. Nonetheless, he was pleased with her reading skills in the main. Later today, he would check to be sure that she understood the difference between, "two", "too", and "to". Yesterday, she'd noted that he wanted "to" specimens of an aloe plant for his skin care cream formula...
Meanwhile, two floors above, Marguerite was unable to tear her eyes away from the man in front of her. She felt like she was mired in a trance! As she watched his lightly bronzed body glisten in the sunlight, his face became taut with exertion, and his muscles rippled with each swing. His hands grasped the axe firmly and brought it down again, with force and precision. Her mind began to envision those hands on her, wondering how it would be to make that hunter her own. To feel those hands caress her own body. "Stop it," she scolded herself, unwilling to let her hormones get the better of her, "You aren't a silly school girl anymore who can get carried away in these things." Making a determined effort to leave, she straightened her shoulders and shook her head in an attempt to clear it from thoughts she was helpless to stop thinking. She took a last look at Roxton to find that he was no longer in her line of vision. Wanting to see him one more time, she moved the plant from the ledge where it rested precariously near the edge. And, there Roxton sat, letting water from his canteen splash over his body. "Oh, hell," Marguerite murmured, "just enjoy it". She leaned against the rail to get a better view. The sultry beauty unfastened the top two buttons of her blouse, reached inside, and stiffened as her nimble fingers began to caress her nipples through a silk camisole.
Roxton's instincts, sharpened by years in the jungle, told him that someone was watching. Slowly lowering the canteen, he looked up towards the balcony. "Why, hello, Ms. Krux! How are you this fine morning?" he asked with a grin. Unable to pretend that she didn't see him, and desperately thinking of a way to get out of this situation while saving her pride, Marguerite just smiled down at him. "Are you okay, Marguerite? You look a little flushed." He surveyed her glowing face and slightly unbuttoned blouse.
Oh, how she wished she could knock that knowing grin off his face and get rid of that insufferable arrogance! "Yes, it's a bit hot today," she finally managed to call.
"Oh, yes, that it is," Roxton answered with a wink, standing up to stretch tired muscles.
"Two can play at this game" the raven- haired beauty thought, with a glimmer of satisfaction. "There is just something about weather like this that.....I don't know...
it just changes things, don't you think?", she asked, leaning further over the banister. "It makes me feel more alive." Wondering where his voice went, Roxton found that he was only able to nod his head, and was positive that if he wasn't sweating already, he would be now.
Finn, being nothing if not single minded, continued her quest. "Ya know, Challenger, I was just thinking that perhaps we could go to the Zanga Mall together. It wouldn't hurt to get you spruced up a little. If you put your hair into a ponytail and got an earring, you'd look like 'da man'. "
Challenger laughed indulgently. "That sounds much more like 'da woman', my dear. No, no, I have no desire to go to the Zanga Mall. I'm much too busy with my work here."
Seeing the disappointed look on Finn's face, he relented a little "Now, now. I suppose that I could go, but only if everyone wants to. Why don't you go ask if the rest of them?"
Finn cheered up immediately. With a squeal, she raced up the stairs, ready to persuade the others that a trip to the mall would be loads of fun.
Challenger watched her go with a small squiggle of guilt. He knew she would never get all of them to agree. Lately, the atmosphere in the tree house was anything but friendly. Marguerite and Veronica were having a tiff, and the other men had gotten drawn into it. The scientific genius shrugged. Let them bicker, as long as it didn't interfere with his very important work. Now where did he put those poppy seeds?
Finn got to the top of the stairs and her happy little bubble burst. There was no one in sight. Just as she was turning away, she heard voices coming from the balcony. Moving closer, she recognized the voices of Marguerite and Roxton. She stopped and stood still. She loved listening to the two of them. They were so quaint and old fashioned in their lovemaking. Just like watching a really old video. She sighed.
Marguerite whipped her head around at the sound and frowned at the young girl. She leaned even further over the railing and said to the man below. "Ix-nay on the alk-tay. We have ompany-cay."
Turning to the youngster from the future, she lifted one eyebrow and drawled. "Did you ever consider wearing a bell around your neck?"
Finn brightened. "No, I never had a bell, but I bet I could get one at the Zanga Mall. How about it, Marguerite? Wouldn't you and Roxton like to go shopping? The Pirate's Chest has great jewelry. Why, I bet a certain hunter could find you something you'd really like there."
Marguerite tapped her chin with her finger. "Hmmm," she thought to herself, "Roxton owes me something nice after what I caught him and Veronica doing." A satisfied smile flitted across her face. Something really nice. She frowned. Maybe she had been too quick to forgive him, but after all, it had all been Veronica's doing,
and John was so adorably contrite. One side of her mouth turned up. How could she stay mad at that handsome, gorgeous, sexy... Watch yourself Marguerite, you're getting all hot and bothered again. She laughed gently. He really was all hot and bothered when he found her watching him. Maybe this was a good time to visit the jewelers.
Finn had been bouncing on her toes watching the different thoughts and emotions cross the older woman's face. Now, she couldn't stand it any longer. "Well? Well? Whattaya think, Marguerite? Would you and Roxton like to come?"
"Lord Roxton and I would love to accompany you, Finn. Consider it a date," Marguerite said sweetly.
"Oh, thank you, Marguerite. Thank you!" Finn happily turned away and murmured, "Now, I just have to convince Veronica to come."
"Veronica!" Marguerite exploded. "You're not seriously considering inviting that...that trollop, are you?"
"No,no, Marguerite," Finn said hastily. "Not any trollops; just V."
"Well, if she goes, I won't." Marguerite folded her arms across her chest and pointed her nose in the air.
Finn, in a flash of inspiration, shrugged her shoulders. "Well, suit yourself, Marguerite. You don't have to come. I bet that Roxton and Veronica will be happy to come with me. I'll just go and set it up with them, now."
"Wait a minute, Finn. I've changed my mind," said Marguerite. "I'll come."
"That's great, M. We'll all go."
Marguerite cringed at the "M", but watched Finn jump into the elevator without correcting her. She walked back out onto the balcony and stood staring at the ground with a speculative gleam in her eye.
Finn was right. There was something she wanted Roxton to buy her at The Pirate's Chest, and that something was a diamond ring, not just any old ring, but a large, deliciously expensive engagement ring. Now, that would be a sock in the eye to Veronica!
The dark-haired beauty stared unseeingly out at the jungle in deep thought. Roxton was a little shy of commitment. Oh, sure, he told that he loved her, but he'd never mentioned marriage. Well, she would just have to give him the right incentive to pop the question, and she only had one night to make him see what he would be missing if he didn't have her for his lawfully wedded wife. Humming under her breath, she headed to her room to air out her remaining lingerie.
Finn stepped out of the elevator, or "lift" as everyone but she and V. insisted on calling it. She looked around for Veronica, and heard a scraping noise coming from a big wooden table in the garden. Turning the corner into the garden, she saw Veronica scraping and hammering brief portions of jaguar hide with bone tools.
"Hi, V. What're you making?" asked Finn.
Veronica glanced up at her "little sister" and smiled tautly. "I'm finishing a set of jaguar skin undies that I've been tanning. After the way Marguerite ripped my bra last night when she blew up after she saw me with Roxton, I need a replacement. She still doesn't realize that I only rubbed up against John and started fondling him because I knew she was watching when he saw me step out of my room to get a drink last night. Poor John was actually embarrassed when he realized that he'd seen me in just lingerie when he walked into the kitchen. He did make an admiring remark, but he was only teasing. Nothing would have happened if I hadn't seen that bitch glowering at us. The temptation to slow dance with John and feel him up was just too great to pass up. He just went along because he knew I was teasing, and he didn't know she was there."
"Unh, huh", winked Finn.
"Look, Finn, I'm telling the truth! John and I are more like brother and sister than lovers!"
"Yeah, I've heard about siblings like that," drawled Finn. "I think their relationships are even legal in Sweden." She grinned lewdly, and then brightened. "Hey, V.! You wanta go to the mall? You can get some leopard print lingerie at Vicky's. It feels a lot better against your skin than that real hide does. It's lots easier to wash, too. Everybody else is going. Well, maybe not Challenger, but I think I can talk him into it. He needs a break. He's been working too hard again."
Finn's brow creased a bit and she looked anxious as she realized that the eminent scientist really did look tired lately. She loved all of her friends from "the past", but George Challenger held a special place in her heart. Had it not been for his accidental time machine, she'd probably be a pleasure slave in New Amazonia by now. And, he was really quite sweet once one got past the stuffy exterior...
In the yard below, Roxton was fretting about his love life. "There are just some things I can't understand about that woman," Roxton muttered to himself as he stacked the remaining pieces of wood. "I tell her I love her, she tells me I can't. I try to get mad at her. and it just never lasts. Then she gets mad at me and doesn't tell me why! I'm a man, for goodness sakes, not a mind reader!"
"Is the wood talking back to you, Roxton?" A laughing voice belonging to Challenger asked behind him.
"Challenger! I didn't know you were here.uh. were you here all the time?" Roxton asked sheepishly.
"Long enough to hear you talking to yourself, and to see you throwing the wood around on the floor. So, tell me, what is getting you so mad on this beautiful day on the plateau?" George asked. He dusted off the stump used for chopping wood, and sat down. "Does it have anything to do with our Miss Krux?"
"It's about Veronica and me," John began trying to find the right words, "Well, it didn't look that harmless; I admit it. And I would have explained, but she didn't seem angry enough to stay upset for long, so I didn't think she was still in a foul mood this morning."
"You're rambling John! When you deal with a woman you have to try and think scientifically, step by step. Trust me: I should know. Now start with what happened with Veronica."
"Veronica was feeling very bad last night. After all, Ned has been gone now for almost three months with no word from him.."
"I'm just so confused," he remembered Veronica whispering to him, " I was so sure of so many things but lately, I've found that all my ideas have just. just crumbled into bits and pieces... I thought, no I knew, that my life here was perfect on the plateau, and that I would never need to leave. I mean, sure, I knew that I would miss Ned, but thought that I was strong enough to be without him. And suddenly he's gone and it feels. and I just know that if/when Ned comes back he is going to want to return to London and I just don't know."
"Know what to do?" Roxton supplied, pulling her into his arms and giving her the comfort she needed. "Everything will work out in the end, and if it doesn't, it isn't the end. So cheer up, we can't have you wallowing away into despair, Ned would never forgive us."
"You always try to make things so simple and uncomplicated. No I'm serious," she said when he began to laugh, "You never pretended to be more than what you appeared to be, and you never were afraid to say what you wanted. Thanks Roxton," Veronica said standing on her toes and giving him a kiss, You made me feel better."
"And that's how Marguerite found us, together in my arms, kissing each other." John said standing up and moving closer to Challenger. "Oh, she held onto me, gave me a silly grin, and we started to dance, too."
"Did she seem angry or upset?" queried Challenger.
"No, she got a little huffy, but didn't comment on it. You know how she acts. And of course you know how Veronica acts, too. Always wanting to poke fun at her, trying to get her out of that calm veneer she always wears. So, of course, she doesn't tell Marguerite the truth, but tells her some lie to get her mad. you heard what she told Finn."
"Did you confront Marguerite about this?"
"No, because this morning she seemed fine. In fact she seemed more than fine." Roxton said, drifting off into memory. Reminding himself how gorgeous she looked up there on that balcony with the wind blowing through her hair, seeing that tantalizing bit of skin underneath her shirt.
"Roxton!" Challenger said, bringing him back to the present, "What was next?"
"She got upset again for some reason, and just walked away. Just walked away. No comment; no nothing." He spread his hands in bewilderment.
"Well, John, it seems to me that you have finally realized what most of the male population has always known: women are different than men. They don't think rationally like they should. I remember that every day with Jessie was like a new mystery to solve. What will get her angry today? The nights we stayed up fighting because I didn't call her and tell her I was working late. Sometimes, it made me wonder what I was doing- being married to her." Challenger said resting his hand on Roxton's shoulder.
"So, you are saying that I should just forget about Marguerite then? That it is impossible for us to ever really be happy?"
"No, no, dear boy, that is not what I said at all. What I am saying is that it is these eccentricities of women that make it impossible for us to not love them. Now cheer up," Challenger said easing his body up, "We are going into the Zanga village today. We had better get a move on."
"The Zanga village? Today?"
"Yes, and maybe you should buy Marguerite a present. It always worked for me."
Later, at the mall, Marguerite stared bemused at the bracelet of shiny stones that Roxton was offering proudly to her. It was pretty, certainly, and she knew it would look very fetching on her wrist. With a great effort, she kept the corners of her mouth from twitching in an amused smile: Roxton was so endearing, and so earnest! She was more moved by him than she liked to admit, and sometimes frustrated by her inability to apply the standards to him that she had learned were so appropriate for dealing with other suitors. And, even worse, she sensed his understanding of her ... all her artifices could not divert him from his heartfelt knowledge of her. His aim was unerring.
But ... he did occasionally misread her, as he had that afternoon. Marguerite had overheard Roxton's exasperated conversation with Challenger. After her indignation at the males' presumption had faded, amusement had crept in. Had Roxton thought her jealous and outraged after that supposedly compromising scene with Veronica? A wicked glint appeared in Marguerite's lovely eyes. As she accepted the bracelet and allowed Roxton to fasten it carefully around her elegant wrist, her eyes took in the sight of his brown hands enclosing her slender, pale one ... and imagined her left hand simultaneously clasped between the strong, capable ones of Veronica. Her imagination flared, and her breath rasped. Roxton smiled, pleased, at her appreciation of his little gift. Marguerite leaned up to kiss Roxton, banged her broad-brimmed hat against his forehead, and took it off, as Roxton laughingly grabbed his head as if he was in pain. She tried again, standing slightly on tiptoe, pressing her lips lightly against his. He seized her with both arms, pulling her body against his in a gentle, yet passionate embrace.
"John, thank you, ever so much," she breathed. "The bracelet is more than I deserve. But, I'll accept it!" Her large green eyes were luminous, and her cheeks colored as she saw the look in his eyes. This man could reach into her soul, even
when she meant only to tease or jest.
Roxton cleared his throat self-consciously. "Ah, Marguerite, I think people are looking at us. Never mind that they're grinning like Cheshire cats. Would you like something to eat? I want a gin and tonic, or a limeade. That was a long trek in from the Treehouse. Perhaps a quiche or croissant?"
"I think my figure can stand a quiche," she agreed. "But you have to hold my hand and lead me to the table. I'm so exhilarated that I may float off if you don't hold onto me."
Roxton smiled, took her hand, and they went off toward La Cuisine Sauvage, the mall restaurant.
Meanwhile, Veronica and Finn had been window shopping the boutiques along the east wing of the mall. They went into Vicky's Lingerie Lair and laughed as they held up bustiers in front of each other, laughed at an embarrassed man who was examining garter belts under his girl friend's amused scrutiny, and stopped a sales clerk to ask for leopard print panties.
They sorted through the selection, and Finn bought two pair, one with black waistband and leg openings, the other a string style that was all spots. Veronica chose four pair, one a thong with a cute black ribbon in front, and added two matching bras. Finn added two pair of black bikini briefs and they paid from V.'s pouch of silver Maria Therese thalers.
They went out to the main mall aisle and down to the fountain, where they shared a brioche that Veronica cut with her knife after glancing around to ensure that no one who would be shocked would see her take the Fairbairn dagger from her boot. Finn brought two cups, with Darjeeling tea for V. and mocha coffee for herself.
They sat chatting amiably, critiquing fashion on girls who walked by and calling one another's attention to hot guys. Finally, Finn shyly asked V. just what had happened between her and Marguerite, who was still giving V. the cold shoulder while en route to the mall.
Veronica hesitated, then decided to tell Finn the truth. Skirting it had bothered her conscience; V. was an honest woman, who found it hard to hide her true feelings. "Well, I'm not exactly sure. Nothing is ever as it seems with Marguerite", Veronica sighed. "She lies without blinking an eye ... and yet ...", The blonde's words trailed off, and she distractedly pushed her piece of brioche around her plate with a fork. Finn waited for her to continue, but Veronica continued to concentrate on her plate, and finally Finn, impatiently, demanded, "'Yet,' what?" She exhaled noisily; Finn had little tolerance for hesitation.
"Well," said Veronica, keeping her eyes on her uneaten food, "I once ... I mean, Marguerite and I ... well, one time, we were ... it's hard to explain, but Challenger and Roxton had disappeared. Malone was gone. It turned out that some woman who claimed to be Death was ... well, never mind. Anyway, Marguerite and I were trying to find them. We were upset, and we had a little fight. I felt so furious with her and her selfishness. But, Marguerite apologized! She seemed really worried that she had
hurt me. I began to realize that Marguerite wasn't so different than the rest of us. And her eyes were fixed on my face; I couldn't look away."
Finn was leaning over the table. She urged Veronica on: "Yeah - then what?"
Veronica looked confused. "You see, I wasn't used to thinking of Marguerite that way ... worried, unsure. Her eyes ... I just ... I don't know why, but, all of a sudden, I thought that maybe she needed me - she wasn't as independent as she liked to appear, you know? And so, I ...."Veronica hesitated...too long.
"Why hello, ladies," Challenger greeted, spying the two blondes sitting at the table. Seeing the look on Veronica's face, he immediately realized that he had interrupted something.
"Please, my dears, don't let me stop you from your little chat. I'll just sit right here and be as quiet as can be."
He sat down on one of the small chairs and stretched out his long legs. He groaned with relief. Damn, it felt good to get off his feet. He suddenly noticed that the two girls were still staring silently at him. Waving his hand imperiously, he ordered, "Carry on. Carry on. I assure you that I won't interrupt again."
Veronica looked over at Finn, pressed her lips together and shook her head. The moment for confession had passed.
A good thing, too, for Marguerite and Roxton came up behind them. Marguerite had her arm out and was shaking her wrist back and forth. "Look,look. See what Roxton got for me. Isn't it charming? He's such a dear."
Finn craned her neck over the table to see the bright bauble. "Gee, Marguerite. That is so cool." She looked over at the tall hunter. "You picked a good one, Roxton"
Roxton had his eyes firmly fixed on his love's face as he murmured, "Indeed, I did."
Challenger winked at him over the girl's heads. "Well done, old boy."
Marguerite still had her arm extended when Veronica reached out, took her hand and pulled it closer. She traced the curve of the bracelet around the dark-haired woman's slender wrist. One corner of her mouth quirked up and she raised her head to look at her friend. The words she was about to speak died on her lips when her eyes met the wild, luminous gaze of the older woman. She drew in a sharp breath, and bit down on her lower lip and looked away, but not before Roxton saw the expression on her face.
"Lovely, isn't it, Veronica?" he put in hastily, before the silence went on any longer. He reached around and took Marguerite's hand from Veronica.
"Well, if we've all finished our shopping, we'd best be off." He continued hardily, "It's a long walk home."
Challenger got slowly to his feet, moaning a little as he put weight on his sore tootsies. "He's right, ladies. We should get started for home."
Finn jumped up and smiled at the older man. "Here, Challenger, let me carry your packages."
He smiled back at her. "Well, if you insist, my dear. I can't deny that I am somewhat tired."
Veronica stood, and abruptly walked away. "Hmpf: it looks as if Veronica is just as eager to get home as I am," Challenger noted.
Finn nodded and started after her blond friend. "Wait up, V," she called as Veronica disappeared out of the mall's lofty doorway. Challenger hurried after her.
Roxton looked sideways at Marguerite. She had her head down, a finger roaming over the bright stones in the bracelet. "What is it, Marguerite? You look down in the dumps suddenly. Don't you like your trinket?"
"Oh, no, John. I love it. It's just that..." Her head drooped again.
He looked at the woman who meant the world to him and closed his eyes for an instant. Nothing is ever easy, he thought. He opened his eyes, tenderly raised her hand to his lips and kissed it fervently, and then he tucked it into the crook of his arm and led her toward the exit.
"We need to talk," he said as they stepped out into the familiar jungle. Getting Marguerite to talk about her feelings was never easy ... in fact, it was like pulling teeth ... but Roxton was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was bothering her. He'd been giving some thought to the problem after his discussion with Challenger, and had come to realize that his initial interpretation was wrong. Marguerite was not, after all, the jealous type, not given to petty girlish drama. And Roxton knew that she was secure in his love for her; she was too wary to ever have allowed their relationship to reach its current stage if any doubt about his sincerity lingered in her heart.
And yet ... there was something strange in the air, and he sensed that it involved Veronica. What was that look that had passed between the two women as Veronica admired Marguerite's bracelet today?! Hell, he could practically feel the blaze of it still. And now another incident came to mind; there had been some unexplained tension, a noticeable awkwardness, between Marguerite and Veronica that had developed shortly after his return from his adventure with "Death." After a few days, it had dissipated, and Roxton forgot about it, but now it took on a new importance.
So, as soon as the explorers returned to the tree house, Roxton dragged an unwilling Marguerite out to the balcony. He had to grin as he recognized her "stubborn" stance: arms crossed over her chest, chin thrust out, head cocked to the side, and eyes half lidded - a mien that was very familiar to them all, by now! "Marguerite," he said, forcing himself to sound stern, "Look, we need to discuss ..."
Just then, Veronica appeared. She looked disheveled. She blurted out,
"Marguerite! I need to talk to you ..." and then stopped, mid-sentence, when she realized she had interrupted a private moment. But she didn't leave - just stayed where she was, her eyes fixed on Marguerite's face.
"Er, Veronica, do you mind? I'm trying to talk about something with Marguerite at the moment," Roxton said, somewhat testily.
Veronica ignored Roxton, and exclaimed, more urgently, "Marguerite! I really need a minute with you."
Marguerite gave an exasperated sigh. She looked at them both. And then she said, "Actually, I was hoping that the three of us might have a conversation." Marguerite and Roxton looked into one another's eyes. Roxton had a challenging expression on his face, and Marguerite realized that he was upset at Veronica's intrusion, and that he felt an urgent need to settle their differences. She felt guilty, and a wave of empathy rushed through her as she appreciated the intense stress he must be feeling.
"John, please just give me a few moments with Veronica. I think that what we need to say to one another will be better said once Veronica and I have spoken. I promise we'll be right back." She reached out to him with her arm and with her large, expressive green eyes.
Roxton stood with arms folded, defensive, but making it clear that he meant to have answers from his lady. He glanced down at her hand on his arm, followed the length of her lavender sleeve back to her shoulder and on to her eyes. He considered, then nodded his head curtly.
"Go, then, Marguerite. But I want you back here shortly, or I'm coming after you. Things need to be said between us, and they are going to be said, and soon. I deserve that much from you, I believe."
She looked embarrassed, nodded, squeezed his shoulder, and gestured to Veronica to lead the way to a private area.
Veronica turned to leave, then looked back at Roxton. "John, we seriously need to have some girl talk before you two have it out. I wouldn't interrupt if I didn't think it was vital. Please forgive me," she said. She looked pleadingly at him.
"I'll make tea," Roxton said, and the women left.
He went into the kitchen and set a freshly filled kettle to boil, grateful for the water purifier that Challenger had installed to preclude the need to boil water so often. Living in a primitive jungle carried significant health risks, and he often longed for the cool weather and clean water of his home in Avebury.
Veronica led Marguerite into the library and turned to face the older woman, if being a decade elder made her an "older woman". She thought with a twinge of humor how Marguerite would react if she knew that anyone thought of her as "an older woman".
The women stood two feet apart, both with arms folded across their desirable bosoms. Each looked defiant, yet contrite. Veronica was the first to break the stare between them.
"Marguerite", she began, "before this goes any further, I want you to know that I love you, deeply. More than I once dreamed was possible, let alone likely. I've been thinking of the time we talked when Lady Death came so close to taking Roxton from us. When you came into my arms and I held you, and you began to cry, I was dumbfounded. It was so unlike you to lose control, to be vulnerable. Only then did I fully understand how much you love John, how much it hurt you that he was in peril. You openly cared for someone more than for yourself, and I doubt that had happened often before...it hit me pretty hard."
"I had this tantrum that I was about to throw, and it got stopped in its tracks," Veronica continued. "Something passed between us, and I knew that - to my amazement - I loved you. As a friend." She blushed deeply. "That's above and beyond the physical sensation you aroused in me. That was there, too, the tactile sensation of another woman, especially one as beautiful as you." She felt her whole body blush scarlet.
"You think I'm beautiful?" asked Marguerite. She wore an expression of surprise, overlaid with anxiety.
"Oh, yes, Marguerite!" gushed Veronica. "Oh, Honey, you are SO beautiful! I'd always noticed, even when I tried to think of you as just being a snotty, betraying bitch. But I felt so plain beside you, so unsophisticated. I tried to tell myself that the aura you had about you was trivial, plastic, and totally vain. Actually, it was. Is still, to some degree," she admitted.
"But, Marguerite, you've grown in so many ways. And when I saw that you were almost beside yourself with concern for Roxton, and that you knew what it would mean to lose someone so dear to you, I was overcome with sympathy and I wanted to reach out to you. I was aware of you physically, yes, but my love was as one friend for another. When I held you, it just seemed so natural to comfort you, to tell you that I knew what you were going through and that you weren't alone. That's why I kissed you. If you weren't so suspicious and maybe if you hadn't been through something like that embrace with Adrienne, when her intentions were, well, different..." Veronica looked down, then cast her gaze up, watching Marguerite's face.
"Anyway," she continued, "when I saw your face and realized what you were thinking, I just blurted out that if I was attracted to one of you two, it was Roxton that I'd think of THAT way...you took it the wrong way. I was stunned when you said that I wouldn't be getting either one of you, but at least, you finally understood why I was so indifferent to Ned Malone. It took an instant before I realized what you really meant. Marguerite...DID something erotic happen with you and Adrienne? Please tell me. I'll keep your secret. But you started to react to what I said before I could explain, and your defensive armor came down and you pushed me away." Veronica reached out with her eyes, pleading for understanding.
Marguerite tightened her jaw muscles and glared at the blonde beauty. She was
outraged, yet realized that that scene in the jungle while both women had been in terror for their loved ones had haunted Veronica since. And what she'd said before she turned with a swirl of her skirt and flounced away had hurt Veronica much more than Marguerite had dreamed. Marguerite's face softened, and compassion lanced across the space between them. She reached out to Veronica, and the other woman came into her arms, this time with relief on both their parts.
"Veronica," Marguerite began, "I've thought about that often since. I really felt then that you were, well...but when you said that about preferring John if you were going to fool around with either of us it seared my soul. When I had time to think about it once the crisis was past, I could never stop wondering if you wanted him. I watched for signs, but when I didn't see any, except for when he looked at you admiringly, the way a man can't help looking at a woman with your...assets...I decided that you'd just said what you did to torment me. You had just been spouting off to tell me that it wasn't me that you wanted...that way."
"Then, when I came out of my room last night, after I heard John get up next door and go to the kitchen, I was going to go in and tell him how much I love him and have some rare time alone with him. But what I saw was you in that tarty leopard bathing costume or whatever it is that made it look like you meant for him to see you undressed, and then he took you in his arms and you kissed while you started running your hands all over his back and started to dance...I was furious. I almost NEVER lose control like I did then. Veronica, I am so embarrassed. But, I have to know...what are your real feelings for Lord Roxton? And, for me?"
"Oh, Marguerite! How do I feel? That's what I'm trying to tell you!" exclaimed Veronica. "You completely misunderstood why I embraced you that day. It was just to tell you that I finally accepted you fully as a friend, and one in need of emotional succor, at that. I was overcome with emotion when I realized that you were finally able to feel for John so strongly that you'd put yourself in harm's way to help him. I want VERY MUCH to see you and John happy together, forever. I think that you two are ideally suited for one another. I don't know why it's taken you so long to admit it, even to yourself."
"About last night...I am so sorry. John and I just surprised each other in the kitchen. He flirted a little, but we both knew he was teasing, and so was I when I grabbed him and started slow dancing. It was all but over when I saw you walk out of your room and see us and cross your arms and start glaring like you'd caught us really messing around. You can be so pompous sometimes...I kind of lost it and kissed him just to upset you because you'd been prissy earlier in the day and were standing there giving us the evil eye." "Please believe me: I want both you and John as friends. The last thing on my mind would be to damage what's between you. If you ever get enough sense to marry that man, I'd be honored to be your bridesmaid, and I hope you'll ask me."
Veronica looked pleadingly at the elegant brunette. "Please, Marguerite? Can you find it in your heart to believe me? To forgive me? I couldn't even sleep last night, thinking that my stupid flirting might have cost me my best friends. I went a long time without people of my own kind. I need you probably as much as I think you need me. Forgive me? I'll tell John it was all my fault, and that I should have known better than to have baited you." She reached out to Marguerite with her hand and
with her heart.
Marguerite tapped her right foot and thought. She studied Veronica's eyes, in some cultures the reputed windows to the soul. Someone walked past the doorway quickly with a thud of boots, then turned and looked in at the two women.
"Oh, hey, V!" said Finn. "Have you got any good books that I can read? Maybe one with pictures so that I can match words to images? Challenger said that he'd help me read a chapter or two before bedtime."
Marguerite turned to Finn with an incredulous look on her face. She opened her mouth to speak. How dare this impertinent blonde shrimp interrupt HER conversation?
Finn was startled to see the expressions on the other women's faces. "Uh, wow, girls, " she stammered. "Am I interrupting something big here?"
"No, no, Finn, that's all right," said Veronica. She looked imploringly at Marguerite. "Marguerite, will you excuse me for just a moment? I can get Finn a book in a jiffy."
Marguerite looked up and rolled her eyes at the impertinence of Finn and Fate, then nodded to V.
Veronica led Finn quickly to a bookcase and shined her candle down the rows of volumes. She stopped at one title, grinned mischievously to herself, and took out the book, which had no title marked on the green leather spine.
"Finn", she said, "I think this is precisely what you need. Take it to Challenger without opening it. I want you to be surprised when he begins to read to you. Please tell me later how you like it. Okay?
"Sure, V, " answered Finn. She shot a concerned glance at the other woman, her friend and to a large degree, the primary female role model in her life. "V., are you sure that everything is all right? What's wrong with Marguerite? Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, no, Finn," Veronica assured her. "We''re just having a very personal discussion about something that I did that she... misunderstood. It's entirely personal, but we need to clear the air. Tell Challenger that I selected this book especially for you, and tell me how he likes it, will you?"
"Sure, V.," said Finn. "But call me if you need a friend to help, promise?" She looked pleadingly into Veronica's eyes.
Veronica nodded abruptly, now a little embarrassed at sending Finn to Challenger with that particular book. They all loved to tease poor Finn, but Finn was really a loyal friend and sometimes V. felt bad about pulling her leg. Still, she wished that she could be present when Challenger began to read.
Veronica rejoined Marguerite, who had been thinking and assessing her instincts and feelings.
"Veronica", she began. "What happened between us was an event that occurred under a lot of stress. I wasn't myself. I think I may have overreacted. By just a little, of course. You did mislead me, however unintentionally. And I was absolutely beside myself with concern for Roxton. "I'm a little insecure at times. Well, at most times. And don't you DARE repeat that to anyone. I need so much to feel in control. I'm very uneasy about revealing much of myself to anyone, and I know that I didn't mention anything about Adrienne to you. How did you know about that? I've never even told John about that night in Paris when Adrienne had too much champagne and made a pass at me. I think she was desperate for someone to love, and too drunk to care much that I wasn't a man. She normally didn't do that sort of thing. How did you learn this?"
Veronica looked deeply embarrassed. "Uh, Marguerite...one night you were bummed out after a fight with Roxton, and you had several glasses of brandy, from that special decanter of Remy Martin cognac. When you went to sleep on the couch in the living room, I came in later with a sheet to cover you up. It had gotten chilly. I didn't want you to catch cold. I really like you, in spite of the differences we've had. "
"Anyway," she continued, "you were mumbling about Adriennne in your dreams. You said for her to leave you alone and sober up, that you didn't like her THAT way. You said some other things, but you kept drifting in and out in how clearly I could hear you. Sometimes, you just mumbled. When I was sure that it was just a dream, and that you were sleeping normally otherwise, I went back to bed. But I kept wondering what went on that night in Paris." She shuffled in embarrassment. "I wasn't really eavesdropping. Okay, maybe I did a little. But I mainly just wanted to be sure that you were all right. I swear, I've never said a word to anyone else about this. Please accept that."
Marguerite had begun tapping her foot again and her arms were again across her chest. Her face was deeply flushed. "Veronica, I remember waking up that day. I thought that Roxton or Challenger had covered me with that sheet. I felt such a fool for getting drunk that I just got off the couch and slunk off to my room and never mentioned the episode to anyone. And they all avoided speaking of it." She grinned. "The men probably didn't want to risk arousing the queen bitch. I'm not a pretty sight when I go on the warpath, as the American Red Indians say. Sometimes, I wish I stayed calmer when I get mad." That reminded her of the scene the previous night. "Oh, Veronica! I'm sorry about your leopard bra. Can I help you make another, or buy you one in the mall? I was such a witch, but I really believed that you were making a pass at John and deliberately rubbing my face in it."
Veronica shrugged and smiled. "Given what I was doing, you had every right to be angry. You're forgiven, Marguerite. I've already made a new bra, and I got others at the mall today. If having to mend that shoulder strap is all this episode has cost me, I've gotten off lightly. Can YOU forgive ME?"
Finn cast a worried look after Veronica, but then she shrugged. If V. wanted to tell her what was going on, she would. It clearly wouldn't do to pry. She went into the kitchen, where Roxton had just finished brewing a large pot of Twining's best Ceylon tea.
They spoke briefly, and she saw that John was also preoccupied about something, and she suspected that it had to do with whatever it was that was going on between the women.
Finn took a silver tray with two cups of tea and some cookies, and held the book under her left arm as she went down to Challenger's laboratory.
Challenger greeted her warmly, thanked her for the tea and cookies, which he hadn't expected, but greatly appreciated.
Finn handed him the unopened book, explaining how Veronica had wanted him to begin reading to her from it before she looked inside. "V. said it was something that I'd really enjoy, Challenger," she said as they sat down at a table to the side of the main lab counter. She sipped her tea and looked eagerly across the table at the scientist, then slid her chair over next to his so she could see the pictures when the book opened.
Challenger wondered what the book was. He'd already glanced at the spine, seeing no title. He laid the handbound volume on the table and opened it. When he recognized the story, he suppressed an amused grin. These girls were always jesting, but this was surely a good prank. "Well, Finn", he intoned, "this volume is truly a classic work. I feel certain that you'll, ah, remember it always." He began to read, "Once upon a time, there were three little pigs..."
Roxton sipped his tea, but his mind wasn't on the fragrant blend; he was worried about Marguerite...and Veronica, too. He heard a noise behind him and turned around in his chair. Marguerite and Veronica came tripping up the back stairway laughing at something Veronica had said. The tension that had so lately hung around them thicker than a London fog had lifted. The dark-haired man smiled with relief as the two women approached.
Marguerite and Veronica smiled back at the handsome hunter. He jumped up to get them some cups.
"You'll have a cup of tea, won't you? It's the very last of the Ceylon blend we brought with us, I'm afraid."
"Then by all means, pour us a cup," Marguerite said with uncustomary hardiness.
Handing her a brimming cup, Roxton murmured, "Would you like to take your tea out to the balcony with me? It's a lovely night."
Marguerite looked over at Veronica and hesitated.
"Hey, you two go ahead. I found a book in the library I'd like to reread. It was...is one of my mother's favorites." Veronica felt herself blushing.
"Well, if you're sure you don't want to join us..." Marguerite didn't want Veronica to feel deserted, although she longed for time alone with John Roxton.
"Go, go," the jungle girl said, waving them off.
Carrying their teacups with them, they walked out onto the large balcony that ran the circumference of the tree house. A rare evening breeze blew in smelling of exotic jungle flowers. As Marguerite lifted the delicate china cup to her lips, Roxton laid his hand gently on her arm. Marguerite turned inquisitive eyes towards him.
"Are you two all right?" he asked in a hushed voice. "What was all the drama about?"
"I can't tell you, John," she said, smiling to take any harshness out of the reply.
"Not more secrets?" he asked with a slightly hurt tone.
"Not secrets, John. Confidences."
He snorted. "Same difference."
"Not at all," she replied. "Confidences are even more sacred then secrets, at least between women."
John just shrugged. He wasn't about to go there.
Marguerite leaned her back against the railing and watched Veronica as she sat at the table reading. She sighed. "She misses him terribly," she stated softly.
Roxton followed her gaze, "Misses whom?" he asked. "Malone?"
"No, King Jacoba," Marguerite said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. Men could be so dense. "Of course Malone," she told him.
"How can that be? Malone told me she just wanted to be friends with him," he argued.
"That was then, and this is now," she answered.
"What?" He didn't get it.
Before she could explain, Finn came clattering up the stairs waving the green- bound book. "V, Challenger read me the story, and I really liked it, even though I know you gave me a kids' book to embarrass me, you DORK! I have a question, though, and he told me to ask you about it."
Veronica smiled at her puzzled expression. "What's your question, Finn?"
Finn frowned and opened the book. She pointed to the illustration at the top of the page. "These pigs have clothes on, V. Pigs don't wear clothes."
"Of course not, Finn. This is just a nursery story." At the young woman's look of incomprehension, she tried again. "It's a story for children about being dangerously lazy." Still seeing no flicker of understanding, she was thinking of another way to explain it, Roxton and Marguerite joined them. Roxton plucked the book off of the table and began to leaf through it.
"The pigs wear clothes because children think it's funny," he told Finn, not quite accurately.
Finn smiled and nodded her head. "They do look funny with their ears sticking out of little holes in their hats," she laughed, and the others laughed, too, caught up in her good humor.
"May I join you?" Challenger asked politely as he reached to top of the stairs. "Sounds like you're having fun." He poured himself another cup of tea.
"By all means, George," Marguerite told him. She smiled at John as he pulled a chair out for her. He sat down in the chair next to hers and opened the book on the table.
"Have a seat, Finn," said Roxton, "and I'll read you another story. It's called 'The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs' and it's a lesson about greediness," he said, raising one eyebrow at the dark haired beauty beside him.
Marguerite drew herself up haughtily. I'm sure I don't know why everyone is looking at me," she stated.
They all started to laugh then, until even Marguerite had to join in.