Lost World - Lady Jade Roxton

Potts swivelled with the Leica to catch one more shot of the fleeting "dragon". Letting the breath he had been holding out slowly, his head reeled with the old rush. The smell of burnt cordite, blood and danger brought back the anticipation of Monte Casino and the landing at Utah Beach. Only in this twisted place did he again feel the mixed emotions of elation and guilt, mirroring his days as a combat journalist.

As he turned from the retreating form of the the massive creature, he called out, pulling out his notebook "What'dya call that thing anyway?"

"Ramphorynchus dranonis!" Lady Jade called back, examining the mate to see if it truly was no longer a threat.

How the hell d'ya remember all that? he asked sharply.

"When your godfathers are two of Edwardian Britain's most eminent naturalists, it comes easily to you..." she said softly, not taking her eyes of the creature before her.

Something in her voice caught Pott's notice. Instead of asking her to spell the gobbledygook words, he asked, in a quieter voice, "What is it?"

"Not too many of these." She murmurred. "My Father and Malone discovered them on the second expedition. They only took photos then. father didn't give up on trophy-hunting... but he didn't see the sense in taking the rarer species up here."

"Well, your ladyship, it wasn't without provocation..." As the fleeting memory of a Herman Goering Division panzer; on fire with muffled sounds coming from within, flashed in his mind. "Better him than us!"

"Yank pragmatism", she said, looking up from the female's body. "Quite right."

"I told ya before, lady." he said, turning away to make sure the male was not coming back. "My address may be in Manhattan, and I went to Columbia for a year before Pearl Harbour.. but my mom and dad were just as English as you!"

"Your accent and bizzare use of the language to the contrary, I believe you..." Her hand stopped as she was reaching for a new magazine to reload the Colt .45 pistol.

He heard the catch in her voice. Although he could not see the enraptured look on her face, he knew something had changed.

"Something up, yer ladyship?" He prompted.

Her hand slowly reached up to enclose the blueish diamond; all that remained of the once-sizable Roxton fortunes. Her voice trembled as she exclaimed, "We're here!"


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