The City That Time Had Forgot

By Lizzy Clarke

The story begins with Henry Baxter, a scientist, who goes in to a Brazilian jungle to find a plant with healing powers but stumbles across a city. Wanting answers to his questions he walks in to a small town where he reveals a wall of silence from the locals. Unable to get answers he leaves with his sketches and notes. Years later he has been brought together with a young married couple and the towns people and together they search for the mysteries surrounding the city. The young married man, Ben, finds and injured lion and helped by the local vet brings the lion back from almost death. The lion returns time and time again when Ben needs him but tragedy isn't far away for all of them. As Ben tries to fight the evil with in the city will he be too late to save his wife and friend? And will it be too late for Ben?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Apr 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490731087

Lizzy Clarke

The author has written two other children’s books and enjoys the stories as much as she writes them. She gets her inspiration from everyday things, from her beloved animals she cares for and her granddaughter, her bobby, her faithful husband, who is always by her side. The author of this book would like all children to be able to read her stories as there are messages within the story, for every one of her stories are full of magical adventures, which takes the reader far away beyond reality. Then when you have finished the last page, wanting more of the story, she hopes to write for as long as there is someone to read them to lift the spirits of children and adults everywhere.

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© Copyright 2014 .

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-3107-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-3106-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-3108-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014906728

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER ONE

Somewhere in the remotest part of the jungle in Brazil stands a city called Lost Souls. Hidden from all the world, it stands under the jungle’s canopy. Time for the city had stood still for over a hundred years. The people who lived there had become statues among the ruins of the city; only the native birds flew in and out of the houses and streets, or the creatures from the jungle would roam in and out of the houses.

Everything was covered in a whitish dust, but when it rained, a layer of the dust would be washed away only to be replaced a few days later. The local people who lived near the city knew about its existence but would never walk its streets at night as this was a taboo and stories were told by the elders of the city’s evil. Bad luck would come to anyone who walked its streets.

The old men would tell the young people of terrible things that had happened there, but no one could tell the true story of how the city was ruined because no one knew what happened.

Then one day a stranger came into the jungle—a scientist called Henry Baxter; he was of medium build, with greyish hair, and looked to be around fortyish. His style of clothes was casual. He wore cotton trousers and a striped shirt. On his head was a straw hat, and metal glasses fell down on his nose.

He came into the jungle looking for a tropical plant but stumbled across the city and was bewildered and amazed at how everything had just stood still—men, women, and children all standing still like white statues—that he hastily wrote down what he had witnessed and drew drawings of houses and people. He wanted to find out more, so he walked on through the jungle for what seemed miles and miles till he came to a town called Friendly.

He noticed some elderly men sitting outside a very large house, playing cards. It had very tall windows and shutters on them. Around the entrance were craniums in pots. Above its door, a large sign read ‘Stop here and rest, friend’, so he stopped and spoke to one elderly man in a wicker chair away from the other men. He had white hair and a beard to match; in his mouth was a pipe, which he would take out and tap on the side of his chair.

Henry asked, ‘What of that city that lies in the jungle? What happened there?’

The elderly man said, ‘Stay away, or you will die.’

Then Henry asked, ‘How do you know this?’

But the old man wouldn’t speak apart from saying, ‘Go home, hombre, there is danger and death.’

Then Henry asked him, ‘I have come a long way. May I have a room for a night please?’

An elderly man, who was playing cards, took a gulp of wine, then called out, ‘Maria.’

A small, petite young woman, with her blonde hair flowing, came to the door; she was wearing a long bright-orange dress that just touched the ground. Her feet peeped at the bottom.

She said, ‘Yes, Grandad, did you call me?’ Looking all over at Henry, she smiled.

Her granddad said to her, ‘Show this hombre to our best room.’

She held her arm out in a gesture of ‘follow me’, and Henry followed her through the big house, down the corridor, and up some stairs. They came to a small room with a large brown door. On the door were carvings of animals.

She opened it, and Henry looked into the room. It was very well presented; a large bed sat in the middle of the room, a telephone sat on the cabinet next to the bed, and the room smelt of roses. He thanked her.

She said, ‘Have a good night’s sleep,’ then closed the door.

The next morning, quite early, Henry got up and crept out of the house with his thick green book tucked under his arm.

Many years later, in the summer, a young couple called Ben and Sarah Moore decided to tack their honeymoon near the jungle and stay in the big house. Ben was a tall man, with brown hair which hung down past his shoulders, tied up by a brown ribbon. He was smartly dressed in a beige suit and brown leather sandals. His wife, Sarah, was also tall and thin, dressed in a pink chiffon dress with white sandals on her feet. Her black hair was plaited and tied up with a pink ribbon. When she walked, it was like a model walking the catwalk in a fashion show. Ben was a quiet man of few words, a shy, kind man. His wife, however, was not a kind person and thought everyone was beneath her, and if she asked for something, it would sound like an order.

In the evening, when the sun was going down, they would sit with the locals, drinking wine and listening, while the elderly men told of the danger of the city. They told them not to go near it or walk upon its roads.

But the next morning, Ben got up early around dawn, his mind full of the tales told the night before, but