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“Larra,
Larra!” The voice seemed
to come from the end of a tunnel.
Slowly, Larra opened her eyes.
At first she saw only blurred images, then
gradually her eyes focused.
A woman and a
man.
“Amy,” she gasped. Her
voice was very weak. Her throat
felt as if it had been clamped in a vise.
“What… what?”
“Don’t try to talk.
You’re alright. We
got here just in time.”
Larra’s eyes were clear now.
It was her friend Amy Price and her fiancé Albrecht
Steiner.
“We were out for a little drive and thought we’d drop in on
you. We knew something was wrong
when we found the gates open and all of the guard dogs
drugged.”
Larra’s head was slowly clearing.
She tried to sit up, but Amy pushed her
back. Amy no longer lived with
Larra now that she and Steiner had become
engaged. Steiner had been
instrumental in rescuing Amy from captivity during Larra’s last expedition
to
“The water,” Larra moaned.
She noticed that although she was still in the gym, she was no longer
tied to the weight bench, but was lying on the floor and covered with a
towel. Several towels had been
placed under her head. A few
feet away was the wine bottle that had caused her
so much agony.
“The water,” she repeated.
Amy knew what she meant. She
scampered upstairs to Larra’s private
apartments. There in a large
refrigerated room was a sealed container filled with the mysterious water
that Larra had brought back from the Lost
World. It was water with a very
special quality, the ability to heal and to prolong
life. Taken on a regular basis
it was supposed to extend life by a factor of
ten. Larra and her companions
had been taking a draught of the precious fluid once a month since their
return from the Lost World. So
far they had not been able to evaluate its life extending properties, but
there was little doubt about its healing
powers. Minor ailments had
disappeared. Anyone who drank
the magical water was cured of all colds and other annoying
illnesses.
Amy filled a small phial with the precious fluid and carried it back down
to the Gym. Cradling Larra’s
head she held the flask to her lips.
Larra drank and lay back down.
She seemed totally done in.
“Not surprising,” thought Amy.
“That wine bottle must have been brutally painful, if not
crippling.” She picked up
the empty bottle wondering what the pain must have been
like.
“It’s a damned good thing they didn’t find the magnum of
champagne.”
Amy turned her head. It was
Larra. Already she seemed to
be recovering. Or at least her
sense of humor had recovered.
“Oh Larra,” she said.
“It must have been awful.”
“It was,” said Larra, trying to sit
up. Already the water seemed
to be working.
“You should rest,” said
Steiner. “Give the water
a chance to
work.”
“It’s amazing stuff,” Larra
replied. “I feel better
all ready, but I’ll take your advice if you will help me to my
room.”
While Steiner turned away, Amy helped Larra into a
robe. Then with Steiner on one
side and Amy on the other, they walked Larra to her
room.
Thanks to the power of the healing water Larra was fully healed within three
days. Her companions were amazed
at the speed of her recovery, even considering the magical powers of the
water. By this time she was once
again surrounded by her full household.
Katie Reddel, the American adventurer and a fully trained pilot; and
Jia Li, the Chinese martial arts expert she had met in
By the fourth day Larra had returned to her work, researching a collection
of books on ancient
She was interrupted in her studies by her
most trusted servant and companion,
Sarah. Sarah was a statuesque
black African who had followed her back from
“Miss Larra, I have a telegram.
It just arrived.”
“Thank you, Sarah,” answered Larra,
smiling. She was not like other
members of the British
aristocracy. She actually
treated her servants like human beings.
She tore open the envelope.
“Urgent
I see you.
This was
unexpected. Lord Halifax was
a very senior member of the British
government. “Prepare my
bags,” she said to Sarah.
“I’m leaving on a short trip to
Lord Halifax rose as Larra and Steiner entered the
room. “Good afternoon,
Larra advanced across the room and took Lord Halifax’s
hand. He was a thin, slightly
built man with a long angular face.
Larra had worked with him before during her expedition to the Lost
World. “What can we do for
you Lord Halifax?” said Larra.
Lord Halifax spoke for over an hour.
At the end Larra had a new and most dangerous
mission. She and Steiner returned
to her home where Larra went over the details with her
companions. Although sworn to
secrecy, she knew that anything she said would be safe with
them.
“So you are going to
“Yes,” said Katie.
“I can’t think of a more dangerous place for you to
go. You have foiled the Third
Reich on two occasions. Your
life would not be worth a farthing if the Gestapo caught
you.”
“I know the risk,” replied Larra, “and so does
Steiner. We will take every
precaution, and I think Lord Halifax is right; there isn’t anyone else
who is better suited to this job than I
am.”
“What,” said Amy, sarcastically, “they can’t find another
female archeologist who is fluent in
German?”
“Guess they didn’t try very hard,” smiled
Larra. Two days later she and
Steiner were on a plane heading for
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