Double Trouble

by Judi Curtin

  Then I noticed that everyone was staring at the track leading towards the gate. Two people were walking along it. One was an elegant-looking man, dressed in a toga. He had grey, wavy hair and he moved like he was someone important – like he was used to being stared at. Beside him was a girl who looked about my age. Like the slaves, she was wearing a knee-length tunic – but there the similarity ended. The slaves’ tunics were heavy and rough-looking, but I could see that the girl’s tunic was made of fine, delicate fabric and was trimmed at the hem with gold and silver threads. Round her shoulders she had a pale blue shawl.

  The slaves were pointing and whispering among themselves, and at first I was really sorry that I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Were we looking at two Ancient Roman celebrities? Should I be impressed? Should I be asking for their autographs?

  Then I realized that I really didn’t care who these people were. All I knew was that, while they were there, I might get a few minutes’ break from picking onions.

  The strangers were next to us now. The girl stared right at me – a bit rudely, I thought – and the man spoke to the ogre, who didn’t seem so confident any more, half bowing and speaking in a whiny voice. Then the man in the toga surveyed the group of slaves and pointed at me. I could feel my sunburned face go even redder as everyone else stared at me too.

  The ogre and the elegant-looking man talked for a long time. Then the ogre laughed and held up four fingers. The man shook his head and held up two fingers. I knew exactly what was going on. Not only were they talking about me like I wasn’t standing right there, they were also haggling over how much I was worth. Finally, both men held up three fingers. It looked like the deal was done.

  The man pulled a small leather pouch from the folds of his toga, took out three coins and handed them to the ogre. Then the man and the girl began to walk back towards the gate.

  I stood there, unsure of what to do next.

  Was I supposed to follow these strangers? If I did follow them, was everyone going to laugh and pull me back and hand me my onion sack for another few hours of hard work?

  Before I could make up my mind, Marca raced inside and returned with Tilly’s schoolbag over her shoulder. She handed me the bag, then smiled and patted my arm in a vague kind of way. Then she gave me a gentle push and I knew what I had to do.

  I gave her a quick hug, then followed my new owners and set off for the next stage of my journey. I had no idea where I was going, but I sooo hoped it wasn’t going to involve another onion farm.

  When I got to the gate, I turned round for a last look. Already the slaves were on their way back to work and no one was looking at me. I wondered how many times you have to watch people being bought and sold before it becomes almost normal.

  Neither the man nor the girl spoke while we walked through the gate and on to the road. I couldn’t have answered them anyway, but the silence was making me kind of nervous. Then, under the shade of a tall tree, I saw a big wooden vehicle. It looked like some kind of ancient caravan. In front were two huge white horses that were being held by a young boy who was dressed like a slave. The girl walked up to the caravan and pulled open a door. She stepped inside and beckoned to me to follow her.

  I hesitated. I sooo wanted to get far away from the ogre and the onion farm, but what if that meant getting far away from Tilly and Saturn too?

  I looked around desperately, hoping to see Tilly sitting on a wall, or Saturn lazing on the low branch of a tree, but there was no sign of either of them.

  Inside the caravan, I could hear the girl’s voice, and then I heard the wonderful sound of familiar laughter and a voice I knew almost as well as my own.

  ‘Are you coming up here or do I have to drag you?’

  I scrambled up the steps and into the caravan and threw myself into Tilly’s arms.

  ‘What happened?’ I said. ‘What are you doing here? What am I doing here? Who are these people? Have you seen Saturn?’

  Tilly shook her head. ‘Sorry. I haven’t seen Saturn at all. But let me introduce my new friend. Prima, this is Lauren; Lauren, this is Prima.’

  I didn’t know what the formal greeting in Roman times was, so I sort of waved at Prima and she smiled at me and sort of waved back.

  Then the door opened and the man looked inside. He seemed happy to see that we were smiling and trying to communicate.

  ‘Pater,’ said Prima, pointing at the man.

  ‘Bet you any money that means father,’ said Tilly.

  Then Prima pointed at him again. ‘Julius,’ she said.

  Tilly’s mouth opened wide. ‘OMG. I don’t believe it,’ she said. ‘Don’t tell me we’ve just ended up with Julius Caesar? How amazingly cool would that be? Do you think we should bow or curtsey or something?’

  I was too stunned to answer any of Tilly’s questions. All I could do was stare at the man and gasp, ‘Julius Caesar.’

  Prima and her father were laughing like this was the funniest thing they had ever heard. Eventually, the man wiped his eyes and pointed to his chest. ‘Titus Julius Arcanus,’ he said.

  ‘Julius Caesar mortuus est …’ said Prima.

  ‘Like post-mortem,’ I said to Tilly. ‘Julius Caesar must be dead already. That’ll help us to figure out exactly when we are.’

  ‘Well, it would if we knew when exactly Julius Caesar lived and died.’

  She was right, but I realized that I didn’t really care what the date was. All I wanted to do was find Saturn and then get very, very far away from the ogre.

  Julius spoke to Prima and closed the caravan door. A few seconds later, the caravan began to move, and through an opening I could see Julius walking behind us.

  Prima, Tilly and I sat on the cushion-lined benches that ran all round the inside of the caravan. I was so happy I could hardly speak. Prima and her father seemed like kind people, and Tilly and I were back together.

  ‘So tell me,’ I said to Tilly, ‘what’s been going on.’

  Tilly took a deep breath and began to explain. ‘Well, it all started kind of badly. Last night I slept in a shed thing with no door, and it sooo wasn’t fun. I was cold and afraid, and I had no idea how I was going to rescue you. And then this morning, I was watching when you came out into the field with the other slaves and began to work. And I felt so sorry for you, and so sorry for myself too. And then I saw all the guards with swords and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to help you escape, and I couldn’t find Saturn anywhere and …’

  She stopped talking, and I could see tears coming to her eyes.

  ‘And?’ I prompted her gently.

  ‘And that’s when I made up my mind. I decided I was going to look for the ogre and give myself up.’

  I gasped. ‘But your original idea was a great one. I was totally scared, but I knew we’d done the right thing. If you’d given yourself up, we’d never have escaped. We’d both have been slaves forever.’

  Tilly nodded. ‘I know. But I couldn’t think of anything else to do. Before long, I was probably going to starve to death, or get eaten by wolves or something, and then I couldn’t rescue you anyway. So you’d still be a slave forever and I’d be dead, and that sooo wasn’t the way I wanted all this to work out. And …’ Her voice trailed off.

  ‘And what …? I prompted her again.

  Her voice was almost a whisper. ‘And without you, Lauren, I was so lonely and so afraid, I thought I was going to die.’

  ‘And then what happened?’

  ‘Well, as I was walking up to the gate of the farm, I felt sooo bad. It was all much, much too scary for me. I sat down by the side of the road and cried and cried for ages. I was crying so much I didn’t even hear the caravan coming along, and next thing I knew, Prima and her father were standing next to me and talking to me, and they looked nice, so I just smiled and pretended I had the first notion of what they were on about. And after a while, Julius nodded and Prima hugge
d him.’

  ‘And then?’

  ‘And then I realized that I was starving because I hadn’t eaten since you gave me that bread last night. So I rubbed my stomach, and I felt totally stupid, but Prima understood straight away. She got a basket from the caravan and gave me bread and fruit and cheese.’

  ‘That’s what I had for lunch too,’ I said. ‘The cheese wasn’t that nice though. It …’

  I noticed that Tilly was looking at me with raised eyebrows and knew that she wanted to get on with her story.

  ‘Oops, sorry,’ I said, and she continued.

  ‘Then Prima tried to get me to go into the caravan. I knew I’d be safe with her, but I couldn’t just go away and leave you. I looked over the wall and saw that you and all the other slaves were asleep. So I kept pointing to you and trying to explain that I wanted you to come too, but Prima and Julius didn’t understand, and there were so many slaves there, they probably didn’t even know which one I was pointing at. And then, for the first time in my life, I realized I was glad to be wearing my school uniform. I pointed at it, and I tried to make Prima and Julius see that I wanted them to get the other girl who was wearing the same uniform, and I got down on my knees and begged.’

  ‘Really? You did that for me?’

  She nodded. ‘I had to. I had to make them see how important it was. And then they seemed to understand and they tried to make me go with them, but now that there seemed to be another way, I sooo wasn’t going to risk getting caught by the ogre. So they went into the farm without me.’

  ‘And you hid in the caravan?’

  She nodded again. ‘And I so hoped that Prima and Julius had understood properly, and that they weren’t going to show up with an ancient old granny instead of you. And then you came and now … everything’s perfect … except that we don’t know where Saturn is … and –’

  I finished the sentence for her.

  ‘– and without Saturn, we have no way of getting back home again.’

  Suddenly the joy of being back with Tilly began to fade. Prima and Julius seemed nice, but without Saturn, Tilly and I were still in a lot of trouble.

  I wished I’d paid more attention in history class.

  ‘Do you know anything about the Romans and cats?’ I said to Tilly. ‘Did they eat them or worship them or what?’

  Tilly shrugged. ‘Neither, as far as I know. I think they just had them as pets, like we do. Anyway, Saturn can find his way through hundreds and thousands of years. I’m sure he’ll be able to track us down. Don’t worry, Lauren, it’ll all turn out well in the end.’

  She put her arm round me and for the first time in ages, I felt safe and happy.

  The caravan trundled on for a while. Prima sat on the bench across from Tilly and me and smiled at us a lot. She didn’t seem to mind that she couldn’t talk to us. Every now and then, Tilly and I said something to each other, but we were both tired after our eventful day and soon we both lay back on the cushions and drifted off to sleep.

  Suddenly, I woke up, aware that the caravan had stopped moving. I peeped out through the side window, but it didn’t look like we’d arrived anywhere in particular. All I could see were fields. Beside me, Tilly sat up and rubbed her eyes.

  Just at that moment I had a horrible thought.

  ‘Oh no,’ I whispered. ‘Maybe Julius has changed his mind about buying me. Maybe he wants to take me back. Maybe he’s kept the receipt and can get a refund within thirty days.’

  Tilly giggled. ‘Don’t be so paranoid, Lauren. Maybe we’re stopping for a picnic or something.’

  Prima stood up and opened the door of the caravan. She stepped outside, and came back seconds later, looking surprised.

  ‘Cattus,’ she said.

  Tilly and I looked at each other and beamed. Even though we’d never studied Latin, it didn’t take a genius to figure out what cattus meant. I jumped up from my seat and ran down the steps.

  There, right in the middle of the road, was Saturn. He was licking his lips and almost smiling, like he was glad to see me. I raced over and picked him up and hugged him. Then Tilly caught up and the two of us stroked and petted him, as if he was the most wonderful thing we had ever seen.

  Julius and Prima were smiling, and they didn’t protest when Tilly and I climbed back into the caravan bringing Saturn with us.

  As the caravan started to move again I caught Prima’s eye. I pointed at Saturn. ‘Saturn,’ I said. ‘My cat … I mean … cattus.’

  To my surprise, Prima didn’t smile and repeat the name. She looked very shocked, like I’d said something really bad.

  ‘Saturn,’ I said again and now Prima looked almost afraid.

  ‘I don’t think she likes your cat’s name,’ said Tilly.

  ‘Clever of you to notice,’ I said. ‘Maybe she knows someone horrible who’s called Saturn and that’s why she doesn’t like it.’

  When I said the word again, Prima flinched and shook her head. I had no idea what was going on, but I figured it best not to do or say anything else that might upset her. She was all that stood between me and a long, hard life as an onion-picking slave.

  ‘Sattie,’ I said, and was pleased to see Prima smile.

  She came over and stroked Saturn’s head. ‘Sattie,’ she said slowly.

  Then we all settled down and our journey continued.

  10

  Much, much later, the caravan slowed down again. I looked out through an opening and saw that we had turned off the road and were going along a wide driveway. In the distance, I could see a huge city with a mountain behind it.

  ‘OMG,’ I said. ‘There’s the city we were in before with the ogre. That has to be Rome.’

  ‘How do you know?’ asked Tilly.

  ‘Well, it looks like Rome,’ I said.

  ‘And you’ve been to Rome how many times exactly?’ asked Tilly.

  ‘Er … none. But there’s a big hill over there, and remember Romulus and Remus built Rome on a hill. And look over there on the left – I think I can see the colosseum.’

  Tilly looked where I was pointing. ‘Oh, Lauren,’ she said. ‘I think you’re right –we’re in Ancient Rome and we’re going to have so much fun. Let’s not be scared any more. Time travel is totally amazing.’

  She jumped up and we hugged for a long time.

  I felt sorry for Prima, who was watching us and clearly not understanding what was going on.

  ‘Rome?’ I said to her, pointing at the city.

  She looked puzzled for a minute and then smiled. ‘Roma?’ she asked.

  I nodded. ‘Yes, Roma. That’s it over there, isn’t it?’

  Prima laughed and shook her head.

  I pointed to the city again and made my best questioning face at Prima. She seemed to understand.

  ‘Campania,’ she said.

  ‘Never heard of it,’ said Tilly. ‘I so wish it was Rome. Hanging out in the colosseum would have been totally cool.’

  I was disappointed too, but tried not to show it.

  ‘Who cares if it’s Rome or not?’ I said. ‘It’s a city and I don’t see a single onion farm.’

  Tilly patted my arm. ‘It’s time to move on, Lauren,’ she said. ‘It’s time to leave your onion-picking days behind you.’

  I knew she was right. I’d only been a farm slave for a single day and it was probably time to stop whingeing about it.

  Before we could discuss it any more, the caravan stopped. Prima opened the door and we all climbed down. I held Saturn tightly in my arms, not wanting to be parted from him again so soon.

  ‘OMIGOD!’ said Tilly.

  ‘OMIGOD!’ I said at the same time.

  ‘O-mi-dog!’ said Prima, and we all laughed.

  We were standing outside a huge house with brick walls and a red-tiled roof. Julius and Prima led the way along a path of white marble. All along the path there were statues on tall pillars
.

  ‘This is so weird,’ said Tilly. ‘It’s like being in a museum.’

  The path led to a stone archway and we all walked through. We were in a big courtyard, with rooms leading off in every direction. Some of the doors were open and we could see that the walls were decorated with paintings and the floors were covered in intricate, colourful mosaics.

  Tilly grabbed my arm and pointed. ‘Can you believe it?’ she said. ‘They’ve even got a swimming pool.’

  She was right. Over at one end of the courtyard was a big swimming pool. Through the clear water, I could see that it too was lined with mosaics.

  ‘Do you think Campania might be the Latin word for Beverly Hills?’ said Tilly, laughing.

  Prima seemed happy with our response and she led the way round the courtyard, opening doors and pointing.

  ‘Culina,’ she said as she opened the door to the kitchen.

  ‘Like culinary,’ said Tilly. ‘My dad boasts about his culinary skills, whenever he manages to make toast without burning it.’

  Then Prima opened a door to a bedroom. ‘Cubiculum,’ she said.

  ‘Like cubicle,’ I said. ‘You know what, Tilly? The Romans seem to have stolen lots of our words.’

  Tilly laughed. ‘I think it might have been the other way round.’

  She was right of course and I felt a bit stupid, but Tilly smiled at me and then I didn’t feel so bad.

  Soon we’d seen all the rooms and Prima led us back across the courtyard. But suddenly I noticed that Tilly wasn’t smiling any more.

  ‘What?’ I asked.

  ‘This is all lovely,’ she said. ‘But I wonder what the slave quarters are like? They could be totally horrible.’

  ‘But …’

  In all the excitement of exploring the house, I’d actually managed to forget that we were slaves.

  ‘Julius bought us, remember?’ said Tilly.

  ‘Well, he bought me,’ I corrected her.

  ‘Technically, he stole you. You probably still belong to the ogre.’

  Tilly shuddered. ‘Do you think the ogre might come looking for me?’

  I shook my head. ‘No way. Did you see the way he sucked up to Julius? Clearly Julius is an important man and the ogre would never do anything to upset him. He won’t come here searching for his runaway slave.’