Laundry Day
A Round Robin Collaboration/Battle between Zakiyah and DNash

Standard Disclaimer: 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World' is the exclusive property of Coote/Hayes, New Line Television, and anyone else who has a stake in it. No copyright infringement is intended. Any characters you recognize here belong to them; the rest are our own creations.
Special Thanks: FiTanna gets the uber-crown once again for her full beta of this tale. Thanks also to Jaclyn and SunKrux who were with us from the start and hung in there through countless delays to get to the long-awaited ending. And thanks to Pam, who came in late but gave us some great suggestions.
Time: Somewhere in the midst of Season 2.
Rating: PG

Round 1 - Zakiyah

It was washday at the Treehouse, and everyone was lending a hand. Roxton was busily bringing bundles of dirty clothes and sheets from the Treehouse to the pond and hauling the wet clean clothes back to Marguerite, who hung them up to dry and made note of what needed mending. Veronica washed the clothes in the pond, and Malone was in charge of rinsing and wringing once Veronica deemed an article clean enough. Even Challenger helped by testing out his experimental "auto-washing tub" and latest soap substitute with a small load of the explorers' oldest and most expendable garments.

"You'll see. This will be a great time saver," Challenger beamed as he cranked the handle on his invention to get it started. The gears beneath ratcheted up with a loud series of clacks and clangs as the spring coiled tighter.

"I'm sure it will," Roxton smiled at the professor, although privately he had his doubts.

"Yeah, just as soon as it's blown up a couple of times," Malone muttered to Veronica, fighting to hide his grin.

"Not to mention destroyed at least half of the things he tests in it," Veronica snickered back.

"He'd better not – we don't have that many clothes to spare."

"Hm." Veronica gave him a half-quizzical, half-humorous look. "Between what stores we have from my parents' expedition and what you brought, we haven't done too badly – but maybe you should start making plans for wearing Zanga outfits, just in case." She laughed aloud at Malone's horrified look.

"What's so funny?" Challenger called over the racket of his invention.

"Oh, just talking about clothes," Malone shouted back, making shushing movements at Veronica, who continued to laugh at Malone's expression.

Challenger gave them an odd look, but he was too preoccupied with his invention to inquire further. "There, that should do it," he said, giving the crank one last turn and straightening up. "Now all I have to do is release this lever, and in a few minutes we should have clean clothes!"

He reached for the lever, but before he could pull it, Veronica suddenly raised a hand in warning. "Wait!"

"What is it?" the scientist asked irritably.

Veronica's face was contorting, and nearby Malone was turning pale. "Eugh!" Veronica cried, covering her face with one hand.

Round 2 - DNash

"Good lord!" exclaimed Malone, choking on the foul smell that was suddenly rising from the pond. He gagged and stumbled back a step. His foot caught on a rock, and he sat down hard in the cold water.

Veronica would have laughed if she hadn't been trying so hard to control the nausea the swept over her. She dropped the blouse she was scrubbing and stumbled toward Ned who was just beginning to rise. One hand still over her mouth, she reached out the other and hauled Malone to his feet.

Challenger met them at the water's edge. He'd wisely tied a large handkerchief over his nose and mouth, leaving both hands free to help them out. "Here," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the cloth. "It's not so bad over here."

The three scrambled to where Challenger's new invention stood and the air was considerably fresher. All three took a moment to regain their breath.

Roxton approached the trio, an inquisitive look on his face. "What's going on?" he asked. Then the wind shifted and he caught a whiff of what had sent his compatriots gasping for air. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"It's coming from the pond," Veronica finally choked out. She glanced back over her shoulder toward the pool, and her eyes widened. It was no longer its usual clear blue color, but a murky reddish brown. "Marguerite's going to be mad." The three men eyed her curiously. "I left one of her blouses back there."

"Any idea what that smell is?" asked Malone. He'd finally gotten his breath back, but the vile scent seemed to cling to the insides of his nostrils. He sneezed.

Roxton looked at him. "Well, at the moment," he replied, "you."

The younger man looked up from where he sat on the green slope of ground. "Huh?" He took an experimental whiff and cringed. "Great," he muttered. "I'm wet, I stink, and our pool isn't going to make me or my clothes any cleaner."

"Good thing we have my auto-washing tub in that case," declared Challenger, not one to let the opportunity to tout his newest invention pass.

The others tried not to roll their eyes. If the thing worked it would make all their lives easier. If it didn't…at least they wouldn't be any worse off than they were now.

"That might clean the clothes," admitted Malone, "but I'm sure as hell not climbing in that thing myself." He rose and stood there, dripping and annoyed.

"Of course not." Challenger was genuinely surprised at the suggestion. "You're much too heavy for it. It would be damaged."

At that moment, an impatient Marguerite appeared from the direction of the Treehouse. "Anyone want to explain why you lot are all lolly-gagging while some of us…" She glared at them and corrected herself. "…one of us is trying to get some laundry done? I'm waiting for you, you realize. I can't--" The dark-haired woman stopped her small tirade abruptly. Her eyes widened and she suddenly looked as if she bitten a persimmon. "My god, that smell! Ugh. Who died?"

Veronica was still staring in the direction of the pond. She pointed a lithe, graceful arm in the direction of the water. "He did."

Continued in Round 3