Tomb Raider: The Legacy

Chapter 1: Lady Croft

I will return and I will be millions.

HOWARD FAST, Spartacus

1. Lady Croft

The old lady slowly pulled back the curtain and inquisitively surveyed the outer landscape. Croft Manor was calm, silent and serene as usual, the ticking of the old clock being the only sound there.

She'd arrived in advance, as always. She wanted to be there when her granddaughter arrived, to greet her personally. No negligence on the part of Lady Croft - not with her.

That girl meant the world to her.

She winced at the distant roar of the engine. She frowned - of course, he brought her on the motorbike. On that huge, noisy, monstrous motorbike.

The horror.

She watched with a critical eye as the manor gates opened and the shiny Brough Superior SS100 made its entrance. An old glory, and Lady Croft would've been surprised if only she were interested in such things, how much that vehicle had endured and its merit in surviving through it all.

Same as its driver.

That man - Lady Croft refused to utter his name, although of course she knew it - parked the motorbike on the main road and turned off the engine. Almost as soon as the roar died out, her granddaughter's incessant chatter overcame the soft murmur of the garden.

The old lady didn't hear exactly what she was saying, nor did she care too much at the moment. She was rather worried about the girl traveling on that monster, behind that man, clinging to his waist.

How awful. There was plenty of traffic accidents nowadays, and even more when riding those devil machines - not to mention that the man had never used a helmet.

Although Lady Croft had to give him that, at least, the girl was wearing one. In fact, while she was still chattering like a parrot, he turned and patiently took the helmet off his daughter's head, revealing tangled hair.

The lady grunted in disapproval: her granddaughter looked like a basket of angry cats. No matter how much she tried to turn her into something good-looking when she was with her: as soon as she returned to that man – or to her mother, for what mattered - she got out of control again.

The girl, oblivious to her disastrous appearance, keep on chattering non-stop while the man rubbed her hair with one hand.

"Lovely." Lady Croft grunted between teeth. "Tousle her hair a bit more, why not."

Moments later, and still not silent, the girl adjusted a baggy backpack almost bigger than her, put her arms around the man's neck and kissed him - Good Lord, I hope he doesn't spread anything to her - on his half-shaved cheek – he doesn't even know how to shave properly, look at those side-whiskers – after which she jumped off the bike and planted on the ground with a movement not lacking a certain elegance.

The elegance of her mother, of course. She was a Croft.

Now that man was saying something in a low voice, miraculously silencing her. The girl listened carefully, then nodded. The man smiled - if that crooked grin could be called a smile - and patted her on the shoulder. The girl smiled too, said goodbye waving her hand, turned back and entered the manor.

Then the man looked up and looked directly at her.

Lady Croft startled and leaped back, releasing the curtain. What on earth...? She covered her mouth, embarrassed, and stood quietly behind the curtains until she heard the roar of the engine and the motorbike going away.