Double Trouble

by Judi Curtin

  Everyone obeyed Julius, so I knew he was the one I had to convince. I handed my picture to him and waited.

  Julius looked at the paper and suddenly he seemed to understand. He clapped his hands. A group of slaves appeared and Julius spoke quickly. The slaves stood there looking worried. Then one ran for the door and the others quickly followed.

  ‘Phew,’ I said. ‘Now let’s get going.’

  But Prima’s mother had picked up a basket and was filling it with silver cups and ornaments. Julius had gathered up some scrolls and was putting them into a large canvas bag. Neither of them was moving with any sense of urgency. They looked like they had all the time in the world.

  ‘No!’ I shouted. ‘Leave that stuff. Leave everything. The archaeologists can find it in a few thousand years. We have to go now!’

  Tilly put her hand on my shoulder. ‘You’re wasting your breath, Lauren,’ she said. ‘They love their stuff and are afraid to leave it behind.’

  ‘But …’

  ‘They don’t know what we know. To them, Pompeii is just an ordinary town and Vesuvius is just a hill.’

  I nodded, suddenly understanding. ‘It’s like when I was on the Titanic – everyone except me thought it was just a big fancy ship.’

  Tilly sighed. ‘Exactly. We have to think of a way to make Julius and Livia see that there’s no time to save anything except themselves.’

  ‘And how are we going to do that?’

  ‘I’m thinking. And while I’m thinking, you’d better look after Saturn.’

  I turned round to see Saturn huddled in a scared-looking heap under a big stone bench.

  ‘Sorry, Saturn,’ I said, as I picked him up. ‘But it’s your own fault for always landing me in such dangerous places.’

  I grabbed Tilly’s schoolbag and put Saturn inside, zipping it almost closed so all I could see were his nose and his wide, odd eyes. I kissed his nose once and then put the schoolbag over my shoulders.

  Prima’s parents were still pottering around like they were getting ready to go on holiday and their plane wasn’t due to leave for hours.

  Tilly grabbed my arm. ‘I have an idea,’ she said, ‘but there’s no time to explain. When I give the signal, just run as quickly as you can. We need to go outside and follow the path down the hill until we get to the harbour. Do you know the way?’

  I nodded. ‘But we can’t leave these people here. How are we going to make them follow us?’

  ‘We make them follow by taking something precious with us.’

  I looked around the room, wondering which of the lavish ornaments was the most valuable, but then I realized I was on completely the wrong track.

  Tilly was walking slowly across the room.

  ‘Hey, Secunda,’ she said. ‘I know you’re a big girl, but I’m going to pick you up and carry you for a bit, OK?’

  As Secunda grinned at her, Tilly scooped her up and ran for the door. The sudden movement frightened Secunda and she screamed loudly.

  I still couldn’t speak Latin, but I was guessing she was saying something like ‘Someone come here quickly and rescue me from this crazy girl!’

  ‘Perfect, Secunda,’ said Tilly. ‘Scream as loudly as you can.’

  As if she understood, Secunda screamed again. Tilly raced out through the door, across the courtyard and through the archway. I followed as Tilly scrambled across the gravel towards the path to the harbour. In her arms, Secunda was white-faced, probably too scared to scream any more.

  Ahead of us, I could see some people hurrying in the direction of the sea. After a minute, I looked back and saw that we were being followed by Julius, Livia and Prima. The element of surprise had given Tilly and me a good head start, and we were well out of their reach.

  ‘Felix isn’t with them,’ said Tilly.

  I’d noticed that too, but knew there was nothing we could do about it. If we ran back for him, we’d probably all be killed.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ I said, trying to sound confident. ‘He’s probably not far behind them.’

  Before Tilly could reply, there was a loud grumbling noise. I looked across at Vesuvius and saw that it was now puffing out huge clouds of ash and stones. The peaceful hillside of a few days earlier was impossible to imagine now.

  Crowds of people began to push past us, even faster than before, and it was hard to keep steady on the rough path.

  Soon we were being showered with ash. Secunda wasn’t struggling any more. She was clinging on to Tilly like her life depended on it – and it probably did.

  Tilly was tiring, though, and had slowed to a kind of stumbling walk. Before long, Julius was next to us, but that didn’t matter now. Tilly’s plan had worked.

  Julius was leaning over to take Secunda from Tilly’s arms when a sudden shower of rocks and pebbles descended on top of us.

  ‘Look out!’ I screamed.

  Tilly jumped out of the way, but Julius was too late. A huge rock hit him on the leg, and even though I’d never witnessed anything like it before, I had a horrible feeling that I’d just heard the sound of a bone being broken.

  Julius collapsed on to the ground, moaning. His tanned face had turned the dull white colour of his toga. Livia pulled desperately at his arm, but Julius couldn’t stand up. He waved towards the harbour, indicating that we should leave him, but Livia refused. Julius turned to Prima and shouted something, but Prima just sat down beside him and folded her arms. Secunda clung to Livia’s legs and silent tears poured down her cheeks. Julius put his face in his hands and moaned again.

  Tilly and I stared at each other.

  ‘We’ve got to go, Lauren,’ she said.

  ‘But we can’t leave them,’ I protested. ‘They’ll die up here.’

  ‘If we stay, we’ll all die,’ she replied quietly.

  This was much too big a decision for me. Sometimes I can’t even decide what kind of cereal to have for breakfast, or what colour toothbrush to buy. How was I supposed to figure this out?

  Then I saw Prima jump to her feet, with a huge smile on her face. I turned to see Felix galloping towards us on one of the big white horses. He stopped beside us and jumped to the ground.

  Tilly held the horse, stroking its nose and whispering to try to calm it down. Prima, Felix and I pulled and dragged and struggled until we had managed to hoist Julius over the horse’s back. The poor man didn’t look very dignified, with his hair all messed up and his bottom in the air, but I suspect he didn’t care.

  Then we continued our journey.

  20

  When we finally got to the harbour, there was total chaos, as crowds of people cried and pushed and shoved. There were regular showers of ash and rocks – each one followed by a fresh chorus of screams. The air smelled bad, like someone had set off a hundred stink bombs. Some people had pillows and thick blankets over their heads to protect themselves from the falling debris.

  Luckily there was a big fleet of boats waiting to help us. When we got to one with space, a group of soldiers came and carried Julius on board and the rest of us followed. Felix patted the horse on its rump and set it free to try to save itself. Then he came on board too.

  But the boat still hadn’t moved ten minutes later, as crowds of people tried to force their way aboard.

  Julius lay on a bench. His face had turned grey now, and clearly he was in a lot of pain. Prima’s mother sat next to him, rubbing his forehead and whispering to him. Secunda clutched her mother’s tunic and sobbed quietly. I couldn’t see where Felix had gone.

  Prima, Tilly and I were all pushed together on the other side of the deck, near the wooden railings. The three of us held hands, and I hoped the others wouldn’t notice how badly mine were shaking. On my back, through Tilly’s schoolbag, I could feel Saturn’s gentle breathing. I very much wanted to take him out and cuddle him, but I was too afraid. Things were scary enough already, and if Saturn ran off, I wasn’t sure I could cop
e.

  ‘Phew,’ said Tilly. ‘At last we’re safe. That could all have turned out really –’

  Before she could finish the sentence, a huge wave rocked the boat. Everyone screamed and there was a surge of people towards our side of the deck. A tall man stumbled and while trying to save himself, his two outstretched arms hit Prima.

  And then everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

  I held on as tightly as I could, but Prima’s hand slipped from mine.

  She grabbed for the railings – and missed. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out, as she overbalanced slowly and then tumbled downwards. Her tunic fluttered briefly, and then I watched in horror as my friend vanished slowly under the rough, grey water.

  ‘Prima!’ I screeched.

  I grabbed a man near me. ‘Help her! You’ve got to help my friend!’ I yelled. ‘She’s afraid of water. She can’t swim.’

  The man looked worried, but he didn’t do anything. He just held tighter to his wife and baby. I had a horrible feeling that he’d have ignored me even if I’d spoken a language he could understand.

  Tilly was pulling off her shoes. ‘I’m probably the best swimmer here,’ she said. ‘I can save her.’

  Tilly is a great swimmer, but I’ve never seen her swim in a rough sea, with a huge boat bobbing next to her and a volcano spitting ash and gravel everywhere.

  How could I let her risk her life? How could I not let her try to save Prima?

  ‘Be careful,’ was all I could say as Tilly climbed on to the wooden railing.

  And then there was another shout. A figure grabbed Tilly and pulled her back so that she fell to the deck in a heap. Then the figure climbed on to the railing, and a second later, he had vanished in a graceful dive.

  I helped Tilly to her feet. She was a bit dazed. ‘Who was that?’ she asked.

  ‘Felix,’ I said. ‘It was Felix.’

  We watched as Prima bobbed to the surface again – and as her arms went round Felix’s neck.

  Tilly sighed. ‘She’s safe, and at last Felix’s dream has come true,’ she said. ‘He’s got Prima in his arms.’

  ‘I don’t think this is quite the way he imagined it, though,’ I said.

  By now, lots of other people had gathered at the railing. Some soldiers threw down a long rope attached to a large cork float that narrowly missed Felix’s head as it landed in the water. Felix helped Prima to grab the float, and the soldiers pulled her back on board. Livia, who had just seen what was happening, raced over and hugged and kissed Prima and wrapped her shawl over her shoulders.

  The soldiers then rescued Felix, hauling him over the side of the boat like an oversized fish. He sat on the deck, dripping and spluttering. Livia threw herself on her knees in front of him and tried to kiss his hands. Some of the crowd clapped and cheered and slapped him on the back. Felix looked embarrassed.

  Suddenly there was a loud whistle. Sailors unwound the heavy ropes that were holding the boat against the harbour wall. I took a last look back to the shore. I knew I would never see anything like this again – and if I lived to tell the tale, I wanted to be able to tell it properly. It was still the middle of the day, but the cloud of smoke and ash made it seem almost dark. I couldn’t see Prima’s house, or any of the beautiful places where I’d spent the last few days.

  Then, with a loud fluttering of its sails, the vessel pushed off and we sailed away from Pompeii and Vesuvius.

  21

  The boat sailed along the coast, and soon we escaped the foul-smelling cloud. Ash stopped landing on us and the water became calm. We sailed round a bend, and it was almost like Pompeii and the volcano didn’t exist any more. The sun was shining, and on the shore, life seemed to be going on as normal.

  On board, some people near us were crying and looking back to where they had come from. I wondered if they had lost friends and family, or if they had any idea how great the devastation behind us was going to be.

  I found a quiet corner of the deck, and Tilly and I sat down together. I took Saturn out of the schoolbag and cuddled him in my arms. He fell asleep instantly, like all the excitement had been too much for him.

  ‘That was so brave of you, Tilly,’ I said.

  Tilly shrugged. ‘I only took my shoes off,’ she said.

  ‘Well, even that was brave. Have you washed your socks lately?’

  She giggled. ‘I think a slave did it for me. But seriously, I really didn’t do anything brave in the end.’

  ‘But you would have,’ I said. ‘And that’s what counts.’

  Tilly looked embarrassed.

  ‘Is this what we get for saying life around here is boring?’ she asked.

  ‘Maybe. If so, I’m sorry. Give me boring any day. That whole thing was much, much too scary for me. I sooo don’t want to end up as a tourist attraction.

  ‘I wonder where this boat is going?’ said Tilly.

  ‘I don’t know. They’ll probably drop us off somewhere safe and then go back to Pompeii to see if they can save anyone else.’

  ‘And what’s going to happen to us when they drop us off?’

  ‘I don’t know that either, but Julius and Livia will take care of us, won’t they?’

  Tilly didn’t answer for a long time. Then she said slowly. ‘Julius and Livia are good people, but …’

  ‘But what?’ I asked, half afraid that I knew the answer already.

  ‘Thanks to us, their family survived, but apart from that, they’ve lost everything. Their beautiful home is probably already buried and won’t be seen again for a few thousand years. And …’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And they’ll have to start all over again. They’ll have to sell anything of value.’

  ‘But they’ve lost all their valuables. We didn’t give them time to pack anything, remember? As soon as you grabbed Secunda, they dropped the few things they had gathered.’

  ‘But they haven’t lost all their valuables,’ said Tilly. ‘They’ve still got us.’

  And all of a sudden, I knew she was right.

  No matter how nice Julius and Livia were, we were never going to be like family to them. They loved Prima and Secunda, and if selling Tilly and me was going to help them, then that’s what would happen. Tilly and I would be back on the onion farm before we knew it.

  It was time to go home.

  We both looked across to where Prima and her family were huddled round Julius. Felix stood next to them, like a sentry. He looked like he was ready to protect them from any possible harm.

  ‘Do you think they’ll have to sell Felix?’ asked Tilly.

  I shook my head. ‘Let’s hope not. It would break poor Prima’s heart.’

  ‘Should we say goodbye to them before we go?’ asked Tilly.

  I’d been wondering that too. It seemed mean just to vanish, but how on earth were they ever going to understand?

  Even if we spoke the same language, how were they going to understand something as amazing as what we had to say to them?

  So I shook my head slowly. ‘We saved their lives,’ I said. ‘So maybe they’ll find it in their hearts to forgive us for stealing ourselves from them. Hopefully they won’t think too badly of us.’

  ‘They won’t,’ said Tilly.

  ‘So you’re ready?’

  Tilly nodded.

  ‘Tell me what you did the last time,’ she said.

  ‘I told you. I just held Saturn in my arms and tried to reason with him.’

  ‘You tried to reason with a cat?’

  ‘I was on a ship that was about to sink. I was desperate. So I tried to reason with him, and I begged him, and I threatened him and I stroked him.’

  ‘And which one worked?’

  ‘All of them? None of them? I’ve no idea. Maybe the whole thing was just coincidence. All I know is, I got back home and I was so glad to be there, I didn’t waste too much time wondering about
the details.’

  ‘So we’ll just do what you did and see what happens?’

  I nodded.

  ‘We’d better do this properly then,’ said Tilly. ‘I so don’t want to be left here on my own. I need to be touching you, I suppose?’

  I nodded again. ‘I think so. That’s probably how you ended up here in the first place. And you’d better put your schoolbag on your back, if you don’t want to be in a lot of trouble on Monday morning.’

  The two of us huddled together, and I shook Saturn gently to wake him. I held him up in front of me, like a big hairy baby.

  He opened his odd eyes and stared at me.

  ‘This is important, Saturn,’ I said. ‘Remember the last time you and I were on a ship together? Remember how scary that was? Well, Tilly and I think things are going to get scary around here too, and we’d really, really love it if you could find a way to bring us home.’

  Saturn blinked once, but nothing happened. We were still on the gently rocking boat, off the coast of Italy.

  ‘Begging isn’t working,’ said Tilly. ‘Try threatening him.’

  I put on my crossest face.

  ‘If you don’t get us back home, Saturn, Tilly and I are going to be sold. And we got lucky last time, but I don’t think we’ll find another place where slaves are allowed to have pets. You’ll be on your own. You’ll probably have to fend for yourself. And as far as I know, you’ve never caught a mouse in your whole life.’

  ‘He caught a dormouse,’ said Tilly.

  ‘It doesn’t count if it’s dead already. And stop interrupting, Tilly. This is important. Anyway, Saturn, as I was saying, you’ll have to fend for yourself and you won’t like that, I promise.’

  Saturn blinked once more, and once more nothing happened.

  ‘Try stroking him,’ said Tilly. ‘Maybe that’s what did it.’