THE TIMELY TWINS
AND
THE EMERALD SERPENTS

Harry Ball-Weber


Published in 2010 by Harry Ball-Weber at Smashwords


Copyright 2010 © Text Harry Ball-Weber
The author asserts the moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 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 without the prior written consent of the author, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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Table of Contents

Copyright Page

CHAPTER 01 – A NEW FRIEND
CHAPTER 02 – A STORM BREWS
CHAPTER 03 – MONTY’S BASEMENT
CHAPTER 04 – INTO THE DEEP
CHAPTER 05 – SPARKS OF CREATION
CHAPTER 06 – A MOMENT IN TIME
CHAPTER 07 – GETTING THERE IS EASY
CHAPTER 08 – EXPLORING THE PAST
CHAPTER 09 – A ROMAN HOUSEHOLD
CHAPTER 10 – MEETING THE MASTER
CHAPTER 11 – A NEW MURAL
CHAPTER 12 – POMPEII
CHAPTER 13 – THE GLADIATOR
CHAPTER 14 – THE EMERALD SERPENTS
CHAPTER 15 – A ROMAN FEAST
CHAPTER 16 – THE ORACLE
CHAPTER 17 – NO WAY OUT
CHAPTER 18 – A LIGHT IN THE DARK
CHAPTER 19 – A NEW MISTRESS
CHAPTER 20 – A FAMILIAR SWORD
CHAPTER 21 – BURIED ALIVE
CHAPTER 22 – ENTERING HADES
CHAPTER 23 – A SON’S LAMENT
CHAPTER 24 – DARK FACE ILLUMINATED
CHAPTER 25 – JUDGMENT DAY
CHAPTER 26 –THE LAST GALLEY
CHAPTER 27 – MAGIC
CHAPTER 28 – LOST IN TIME
CHAPTER 29 – HOME
EPILOGUE



This only is denied to God: the power to undo the past
Agathon (448 BC - 400 BC), from Nicomachean Ethics

All my possessions for a moment of time.
Queen Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603)

Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944), ‘The Little Prince’



CHAPTER 1 – A NEW FRIEND


How important would football be once Laurie was a famous archaeologist like his father had been, searching for the remains of Atlantis or discovering Mayan pyramids in South America? So what if during sports that morning he had been absolutely hopeless as a goalie: seventeen – nil. Was it his fault that he was smaller than most of the other 11-year-old boys in his class? At least his mind was miles above; that’s what Miss Sheldon, their geography teacher, had said to the class just that morning. That, unfortunately, was also the reason Patrick Fitzgriffin had bullied him once again just before Professor Hawkins’ history class.
What he wouldn’t give right now to be exploring the deserted beach near their house with his twin sister Gertie and their terrier Britney - their father had bought the terrier for the twins when they were two years old, just a few months before he had mysteriously disappeared.
‘Laurie!’ Gertie hissed. ‘Stop daydreaming.’
‘This is a nationwide competition, and it is open to any student wishing to enter,’ boomed Professor Hawkins in his familiar deep voice. Laurie straightened up, his curiosity awake. ‘Yes, even you, Laurence Timely,’ the professor addressed Laurie. ‘This may be the last day of school before summer, but you will want to hear what I have to say.’
‘Laurence Timely,’ aped Patrick Fitzgriffin. ‘How are you going to do a history project like that without a computer, carrot-top?’ he sneered.
‘I was just getting to that, Mr. Fitzgriffin,’ the Professor sighed. ‘These are forms for those of you who don’t own a computer. They are to be signed by your parents or guardians. Return them to me and you will be given a card.’ Professor Hawkins held up a small blue plastic card the size of a credit card. ‘You are to show this card at the town library, where you will be able to use the computer to research your chosen history project.’
Laurie was really paying attention now. A history project and using a computer. This was just what he needed to take his mind off recent events. But, as soon as his mood had lifted he remembered the hopeless situation he found himself in. He remembered his grandfather’s final words, whispered inside an ambulance only one month earlier.
‘You’re the man in the family now,’ Monty Timely had said to him. ‘Look after your mother, great-aunt and sister!’ But how could he? They needed money, and fast!
Just then Professor Hawkins continued. ‘The winning entry to this competition will win the sum of five thousand pounds, and the project will be published in a national newspaper. You have until the end of your summer break.’
The silence that followed was absolute. For once, even Patrick Fitzgriffin was lost for words.
Like her brother’s, Gertie’s hair was the colour of strawberries mixed with chocolate, and her nose was covered in freckles. Happy-spots, their grandfather used to call them. Well, he didn't have to live with them every day. Still, she didn't much care what anyone else thought of her freckles; or of her bushy red hair for that matter. Gertie was a carefree girl and well liked amongst her fellow classmates. She was also very good at sports and would happily wrestle anyone to the ground if they dared to call her, or her brother, names. It's just that she wasn't always there to defend him. And even if she was, he got so embarrassed being rescued by a girl that things usually got worse.
The twins were putting their books into their adjoining lockers, when Patrick and his gang sauntered past them. Just when Laurie thought that for once the headmaster’s nephew would leave him in peace, Patrick turned around.
‘I am off to work on my winning entry, Timely.’ Some of the boys in Patrick’s gang sniggered. ‘Since you’re no good at football and you haven’t got a computer why don’t you go to the library with the old folks and use theirs?’
‘I’ve seen you kick a ball, Fitzgriffin,’ Gertie’s voice cut through the noisy hallway. ‘I’m surprised you can actually see the ball over that fat belly of yours.’
This was followed by giggles from the crowd that had formed around them. No one usually opposed Patrick, but moments like these confirmed that many of the other children longed to see Patrick get some of his own medicine.
‘And as for the library,’ Gertie continued in a firm voice, ‘only morons like you think that libraries are just for old people. Books are for all ages and you can even borrow the latest movies and music these days.’
Most of the children present were whispering amongst themselves now. Maybe they, too, should pay a visit to the library. Laurie shut his locker with a loud thud, which scattered the crowd. But Patrick hadn’t finished quite yet.
‘Never mind your stupid library,’ Patrick spat, his face now purple with rage. ‘Did you know that my father’s best friend works at your mother’s bank?’
Laurie looked at his sister. Fitzgriffin couldn’t possibly know, could he?
‘Your family, or what’s left of it, doesn’t have any money left,’ Patrick continued gleefully. ‘In fact, you are all going to be evicted from your decrepit old house soon. God knows where you’ll live. Maybe at the library?’
Laurie really couldn’t take much more. Why couldn’t he have a normal family with an ordinary mum and dad who both had good jobs? In fact, where was his father, and why had his silly grandfather not left them any valuable inventions? That final thought took him by surprise. In all the years he could remember he had always been proud of his grandfather. What was happening to him?
‘It is possible I can help you,’ a voice interrupted his dark thoughts. It was a voice he had grown to like over the past weeks. But to admit that to his sister, or anyone else for that matter, would have been too embarrassing.
Francesca Feliciano was a willowy, pretty Italian girl, whose family had recently moved to England from Naples in Italy. She had arrived right in the middle of the school year, and although she was struggling to keep up with the rest of the class her English was getting better every day. This was the first time she’d actually spoken to Laurie.
‘What do you know about Pompeii?’ she asked in heavily accented English, which sounded heavenly, Laurie thought.
‘Isn’t that the city that was destroyed by a volcano long ago?’ Laurie’s voice seemed to have gone up an octave. What was the matter with him? It wasn’t the first time this had happened either.
‘Si,’ answered Francesca, and broke into a big smile as she remembered happy days in her native Italy. She pulled an enormous book from her school-bag and thrust it at Laurie:
- La Storia di Pompeii - The History of Pompeii -
‘I’m afraid I don’t know much about it,’ Laurie replied, whilst leafing through the magnificent book, which was full of colourful illustrations. ‘We haven’t learned about it at school yet, and I’ve never been to Italy.’ His voice was almost back to normal and the smile Francesca gave him made him blush again.
‘My father gave me this book to help me learn English,’ she said sheepishly. ‘My home is in Napoli but Pompeii is only forty minutes away. I have been there many times and have many more books about it. My father says our family originally came from Pompeii two thousand years ago. I have been trying so hard to find out more about it.’ Her face clouded over momentarily. ‘My father says I am wasting my time, but I am sure I am close to finding out the truth.’ She put her mouth close to Laurie’s ear and whispered, ‘I think my family-tree began with a young woman who survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.’
‘What makes you think that?’ asked Gertie, her arms crossed over her chest. Francesca’s whisper had not been too discreet and, nearby, Patrick Fitzgriffin was listening to her story with great interest.
‘Intuizione,’ Francesca continued passionately. ‘I am so close, I can feel it. Maybe I help you with your history project and you help me find my ancestor?’
 ‘So, your great-great-great aunt was a pickpocket in old Pompeii and was burnt to a crisp by a volcano. Big deal!’ Patrick’s heinous comment was loud enough for all to hear, and Francesca began to tremble. How could anyone be so mean? She stepped towards him and threw back her wild mane of dark hair. Laurie walked up to Francesca and put his arm on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off and stepped closer to Patrick. For a moment it looked as if Patrick was going to step backwards, but he swallowed hard and stood his ground.
‘All these silly boys are by your side because your uncle is the headmaster.’ Francesca continued with barely a whisper. ‘But when school is finished you are just a lonely boy with no friends. For me a friend is like family. Even a new friend.’ Francesca glanced at Laurie before glaring back at Patrick. This really affected Patrick and his face clouded over, but when some of his feeble friends surrounded him his confidence reappeared with added venom.
‘At least there’s one tradition your clan has kept alive,’ Patrick retaliated. ‘Stealing. In fact, didn’t your family have to leave Italy because your father stole money from the government? At least, that’s what my dad says.’
It was as if he’d slapped her. She was lost for words and tears appeared in her eyes. Was this true? Had her father lied to her? Why had her family really left Naples?
CHAPTER 2 – A STORM BREWS


Gertie took hold of Francesca’s hand and faced Patrick defiantly. ‘I’m sure that, as usual, you’ve got your facts muddled up, Fitzgriffin,’ she snapped at him. ‘But, even if it’s true, you can be sure that we would rather be friends with a thief’s daughter than with a worthless coward and a bully.’
In deadly silence the hallway began to empty. Soon Francesca and the twins were alone.
‘Why would you want to help my brother with his project?’ asked Gertie as she collected her things.
‘Why not?’ Francesca answered, her voice shaky but strong. ‘Maybe Laurie can win and the Fitzgriffin boy will lose,’ she added, and her dark, sparkling eyes threw virtual daggers towards the door Patrick had disappeared through. ‘We can eat lunch together,’ she suggested to the twins. This had almost been an order and not a question. ‘I will lend you my book. It will help with your project.’
Gertie was beginning to think that Francesca generally got her way, and she was not so sure what to make of this headstrong girl. Who did she think she was? And to top it off, a long lost-relative in ancient Pompeii. How could she ever prove that? And why did Laurie keep dropping things?
‘I think I saw you down on the beach with your mother once,’ Laurie said nervously, while putting away his books.
‘Si,’ Francesca replied. ‘You were running with your little dog. It is bellissima. That means very pretty.’
‘We don’t usually call dogs pretty, but thank you,’ Laurie replied sheepishly.
Gertie finally realized what was happening, even though she couldn’t quite believe it. Laurie hated girls. Well, maybe hated was a bit strong, but she certainly had never seen him go ga-ga whilst talking to any of her girlfriends. Maybe it was the accent. Or, better yet, maybe it really was the history project. Yes, that had to be it.
‘I just remembered something,’ Gertie blurted out the first thing she could think of to get away. ‘I promised aunt Hortense I’d pick up some wool during my lunch break.’
‘Wool?’ Laurie asked suspiciously. Before he had a chance to ask more questions, Gertie smiled and ran off.
‘Your aunt Hortense, she does a lot of, how you say...’
‘Knitting,’ Laurie completed her sentence.

*****

Francesca and Laurie were soon walking along the dusty lane that led down to the sea. 
‘I am always happy when I am next to the sea,’ Francesca said with a faraway look in her dark eyes. ‘My grandmother, she lives in Positano. Since I was very little we go in the summer and walk on the beach just like this, but with little stones instead of the sand.’
‘Pebbles,’ said Laurie and smiled.
‘You laugh at my English,’ Francesca snapped, her dark hair flying in the sea breeze. Laurie could see that she had pride and a temper to boost, and he hoped he hadn’t offended her.
‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbled, ‘I’m not making fun of you, I promise. I think it’s amazing that you’ve learnt English so fast, and I’m sure none of us could have learned Italian even half as quickly.’
‘The Fitzgriffin boy can never learn Italian, I am sure,’ she said with a naughty twinkle in her eye. ‘But he looks as if he likes a lot of Italian food.’
Hearing about Patrick Fitzgriffin made him think about the history project again. He loved the idea of Pompeii. But would he be able to compete against Patrick? Even with the help of Francesca’s amazing book?
Francesca’s laughter woke him from his daydreams. She had removed her shoes and was wading in the foaming surf. The sea was rough and some of the waves were dangerously high, but that didn’t deter her.
‘Come, Laurie,’ she shouted, breathless and happy. Laurie decided that worrying about the future wasn’t going to help right now. Besides, if he was going to beat Patrick he would need all the help he could get. He pulled off his trainers and socks and joined Francesca by the water’s edge. Was it his imagination or were the waves getting higher? Before he completed his thought the distant sound of thunder stopped both of them in their tracks.
‘Look at the clouds!’ Francesca exclaimed. She pointed towards the sky. Laurie couldn’t believe it. Five minutes ago the sky had been blue and the sun’s rays hot on their skin. Now daylight was disappearing fast as ominous, black clouds drifted together to form an impenetrable dark blanket above them. How could they have missed this sudden change of weather? This was no ordinary summer storm. By now the clouds looked like thick, burnt molasses and appeared to be rotating into the shape of a large dome. Laurie was reminded of the cauldron of bubbling, chocolate rice-pudding he’d been asked to stir by aunt Hortense just the other day.
‘I’ve never seen clouds like that before,’ Laurie said, a glint of fear in his voice. A sharp bolt of lightning hit the sea close to the horizon and seconds later a deafening clap of thunder drowned out Laurie’s voice almost completely. ‘I think we should get back to school!’
Francesca nodded and raced from the water. Without bothering to dry her feet she slipped into her shoes. That was when the clouds exploded and thunderous rain began to pelt down on them.
‘Ouch!’ Francesca winced. The raindrops were so large and fell with such force that they actually hurt her skin. Quickly Laurie pulled a grey sweatshirt from his rucksack and draped it across Francesca’s shoulder. He was glad his sister wasn’t there to witness this special occasion. It the first time someone other than Laurie got to wear the sweatshirt – his absolute favorite. It was far too big for Laurie and had once belonged to their father. Gertie wasn’t even allowed to touch the ragged old thing. Here it was against Francesca’s skin, and within ten seconds it was drenched and rivets of water were running down her arms and bare legs.
As they were moving away from the sea and the by now dangerously high waves, they could hear the school bell in the distance. It was being rung frantically.
‘We’re almost there,’ Laurie reassured Francesca.
That was when they both heard the piercing sound of a siren. Francesca looked at Laurie. What was that?
‘It’s the town hall siren,’ he shouted over the ever-increasing fracas of the storm. This was not good. The siren sounded every Sunday at noon, to confirm the time and to show it was still in working order. Other than that it hadn’t been heard in the sleepy, coastal town of Larkhaven since the 27th of March 1945.
On that day a German V-2 bomb fell hair-raisingly close to Monty Timely’s house and created an immense crater, which changed the twins’ grandfather’s life, and would soon alter their own future forever.
CHAPTER 3 – MONTY’S BASEMENT


In previous years, the final day of school had been followed by a very special dinner prepared by Hortense and Katherine. The twins’ mother had always made a point of being home early on that particular day, so that she and her aunt could prepare a feast to celebrate the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. Only twelve months earlier, Monty had been at the head of the table, which had been set in the garden underneath an old chestnut tree. The table had been laden with roast beef, roast potatoes and parsnips, and aunt Hortense’s unique concoction of creamed carrots and Brussels sprouts. This was, in fact, the only way she could get the twins to eat Brussels sprouts.
Hortense breathed a sigh of relief and welcomed the twins into the kitchen with a hug. Britney was barking like mad and jumping up and down like a hairy rubber ball.
‘Thank the Lord you made it home in one piece,’ Hortense huffed, whilst ruffling Laurie’s hair. ‘Your mother just called. She’s spending the night at the house of one of her colleagues. There are trees down on the roads everywhere and it’s best to be safe.’
Laurie’s face dropped.
‘But we always have dinner together on the last school night,’ Hortense had complained when Katherine had telephoned her earlier. ‘Storm or no storm.’
‘I know, Hortense. Please don’t make me feel any worse than I already do. It just can’t be helped.’
Hortense sighed deeply. It was easy to forget that her niece was only thirty-two years old. Far too young to carry the heavy burden of raising a young family without a husband. Still, day in day out she carried on working hard, and Hortense couldn’t remember the last time Katherine had spent some time or money on herself.
‘Maybe there are some other relatives we could go and live with. That way Mum could work seven days a week and you wouldn’t have to cook for us,’ Laurie said quietly.
‘Laurie!’ shouted Gertie, and Britney hid underneath the large, wooden table, as she didn’t like raised voices.
Hortense dried her hands on a tea towel and sat down next to them. ‘You have every right to be angry.’ She gently stroked Britney’s fuzzy head under the table. ‘Angry with the world for being unfair, or the bank for foreclosing our loan. But don’t you dare take it out on your mother.’  Hortense’s eyes were blazing. ‘As God is my witness, that girl has done everything she can to give you two a better life.’
Gertie fidgeted in her chair and Laurie could barely lift his head to look at his great-aunt. He couldn’t remember hearing her ever raise her voice at them.
‘Now, things are bad at the moment and they’ll probably get worse before they get better,’ she continued. ‘But we’re a family, and there’ll be no talk of living with relatives, you hear me?’
Laurie’s lip quivered and he nodded. Hortense rose from the table and threw peeled potatoes into boiling water.
‘Now go and make sure the shutters are closed in all the bedrooms, before this storm gets any worse. We’ll eat in twenty minutes.’
The twins couldn’t get away fast enough and Britney slithered across the polished floorboards as she tried to follow them. After they had gone, Hortense sat down again. Yes, things were definitely going to get worse. How they were going to get through the next couple of months was anyone’s guess, but right now all she could hope for was that tonight the house would protect them from the elements.

*****

‘I think that’s all the windows done,’ Gertie wheezed a little while later, all out of breath. They’d been running through the house at great speed. Britney kept sneezing from all the dust they’d sent flying. It was easy to forget just how large the house really was. Half-hidden beneath age-old trees and weathered by the nearby sea, the redbrick and wood house had stood proud for over 200 years. Threadbare rugs covered creaking floorboards. There were at least ten bedrooms, but most of them were dilapidated and hadn’t been lived in for decades. Many of the fireplaces were big enough for the twins to hide in, and on cold winter nights they housed crackling fires, which warmed the house. Laurie remembered overhearing Katherine and Monty, as they’d worried about the growing costs of keeping the old house. If only his grandfather could have sold one of his inventions. They would never have to worry again, and his mother could stop working so much.
But it was not to be. Monty had died without any of his inventions ever having been sold. In fact, the twins had never seen any of Monty’s work, as they had never been allowed inside his basement workshop. After his death, Katherine had locked the room and that had been the end of that.
They were making their way back towards the kitchen when Britney stopped in her tracks and cocked her head. She could hear a noise from the basement. Now the twins could hear it, too. Somewhere below, an open window was banging in the storm, but where? As far as they remembered there were no windows anywhere in the basement. Except...
‘Grandpa’s workshop!’ they gasped simultaneously.
‘We have to tell aunt Hortense,’ urged Gertie, but Laurie had other plans.
‘No, we don’t,’ he snapped. ‘I know where Mum keeps the key.’
Two minutes – and a trip to their mother’s bedside cabinet later - the twins were inside Monty’s workshop for the very first time. They’d often wondered what it would be like to explore this most secret room, which, for all of their lives, had been deemed out of bounds.
‘I’d never forgive myself if you hurt yourself amongst all my junk,’ Monty had often mumbled. Once, he and Katherine had had a bitter fight over some long forgotten accident – a fire of some sort, but the twins had never found out more. Now, they couldn’t wait to see all the magical things he’d been working on for all those years.
But, as it turned out, Monty had been working on absolutely nothing. There were large boxes filled with nothing but wood-chips. Whatever was in them was long gone.  Hung up on a wall was a collection of old woodwork tools and several enormous, ancient iron keys. They, like everything else were covered in a thick layer of grime and dust.
‘I don't think he's used any of these things in years. What exactly did he do here?’ Laurie wondered. His eyes raced around, his mind working. Gertie put down the rusty spanner she’d taken off the wall. She knew that look on her brother’s face. 
‘What?’ she asked, her eyes rolling.
‘It's too messy’, Laurie replied. ‘Grandpa was always so tidy, it doesn’t make sense’. Then he noticed Britney. The dog was sitting next to a large wooden book-cabinet, as if waiting for something. When Laurie approached her she got up and sniffed the cabinet, her tail wagging wildly. 
‘They're only books, Britney.’ Laurie tried to pull the dog away, but she wouldn't budge. Now she started to bark. 
‘Shhh’, hissed Gertie, ‘Aunt Hortense will hear you.’
‘What?’ asked Laurie, when Britney began to scratch the book cabinet. Laurie kneeled down next to Britney, and Gertie joined him. 
‘What's inside the cabinet?’ Gertie cajoled. 
‘It's not what's inside, it's what's behind.’ Laurie pointed at the floor. There, a faint groove, shaped like a semi-circle, ran from the corner of the cabinet halfway into the middle of the room.  ‘Help me find a switch or something,’ Laurie demanded excitedly.
Gertie's laugh resembled a snort. ‘Oh, we're looking for a secret doorway, why didn't I think of that?’ As usual her brother’s imagination was running riot.
Click! The noise startled them both. The cabinet had moved only half an inch, but there was a definite gap behind it. Britney’s tail wiggled faster now, and she excitedly sniffed the air coming through the gap.
‘What did you touch?’ urged Laurie. 
Gertie looked at the gap behind the cabinet, her hands shaking. ‘I'm not sure,’ she said, ‘I thought you were joking. I didn't think...’
Laurie's fingers searched the shelves, until he found it; a book that wasn't a book. ‘It's made of wood, look,’ he said as he pushed the wooden book sideways. With a soft swishing sound, the cabinet moved further away from the wall, and before the twins could stop her, Britney disappeared through the opening into the dark...
CHAPTER 4 – INTO THE DEEP


The children were greeted by salty sea-air mixed with a familiar, faded scent. ‘I can smell Grandpa,’ whispered Gertie.
‘It's his pipe,’ said Laurie.
‘I saw an old torch amongst those rusty tools,’ Gertie remembered.
Moments later, they were making their way down an uneven stairway carved into solid rock. About two feet from the ground, running along the bare rock walls, and disappearing in a downward spiral, were several thick pipes and cables.
‘These look like water and electricity pipes,’ said Laurie. The torch provided meager illumination, and their steps were tentative and slow. Twice, Gertie almost slipped.
‘Why are these steps so wet and slippery?’
‘Why do you think? We must be right above sea level here. I can almost taste the salt.’ Laurie licked his lips, and Gertie followed suit.
‘You’re right. I think I can hear the sea,’ Gertie whispered. They were silent for a moment. The sound of waves crashing upon cliffs came from the depths of the spiral stairs below them. It almost drowned out the storm’s wild thunder from above. Soon they heard Britney barking in the distance below them.
‘She’s close by,’ said Gertie, and slipped again. This time she fell against Laurie, who promptly dropped the torch. In an instant they were in complete darkness.
‘Did you hurt yourself?’ asked Laurie, his voice directed into the darkness behind him.
‘Just my knee, it’s nothing,’ murmured Gertie.
‘Take my hand,’ Laurie extended his right hand until he felt Gertie grip it firmly. ‘Let’s just feel our way along the pipes on the wall. It can’t be that much further.’
Moments later they were greeted by Britney. They couldn’t see her in the dark, but it was obvious by the racket she was making that she was happy they had found her.
‘I can feel the stairs go further down, but there’s a wooden door to the right,’ said Laurie, his hands searching for a doorknob or handle. ‘I found it!’ he shouted, but their joy was short-lived. ‘It’s locked,’ said Laurie disappointedly.
‘Rusty old iron keys,’ they burst out in unison.

*****

Five minutes later Laurie was back with a lit candle and a handful of keys. The first two he tried weren’t even remotely the right size for the ancient lock. But the third key slid into the lock smoothly. Monty had obviously kept it well oiled, one more indication that whatever this room would reveal, their grandfather had used it frequently.
With an enormous creaking sound, the door opened and Britney rushed inside, followed by the twins. Laurie felt his way around the darkness until he found a switch. They were momentarily blinded, but when their eyes got accustomed to the light they both gasped in amazement. They had found their grandfather's secret workshop.
Even after not having been used for over a month there was hardly a speck of dust in sight, just as they would have expected from Monty. The wooden floor was covered in thick rugs, maybe to muffle any sound when he worked here late at night. But, where was Britney? 
‘Woof.’ the answer came from the far corner. There, her tail wagging wildly, Britney sat in a wicker dog-basket lined with a colourful blanket. She’d been wondering how long it would take her clever owners to discover Monty’s secret. If only they could have asked her. There was also a desk, and on it, amidst piles of books and papers, a framed photograph of the twins and their mother.
Tears welled up in Gertie's eyes. The moment passed, and she found herself before a wall that was a drawing board. It was covered from top to bottom with drawings and blueprints of a sphere-like object.
‘Look!’ Laurie called out from behind her. Amongst the papers on Monty’s desk he had found an impossibly thick diary, bound in worn, black leather. With trembling hands Laurie turned a couple of pages. His eyes flew over the pages, which were covered in Monty’s familiar, spidery writing; some of it so faded, it was hard to read.
‘Look at some of these dates!’ Laurie cried in amazement. ‘He must have begun writing this when he was quite young. Laurie’s fingers caressed the pages as they turned leaf after leaf, whilst his eyes hungrily devoured his grandfather’s past. One of the entries, about a quarter into the diary, caught his attention.

Sunday, August 9th 1945
Marise agrees that it was wise to choose the American soldiers to help with the excavation work below the house. All traces of the bomb have gone and the new basement is taking shape. Soon the men will have gone back home across the ocean and with them the secret of my new underground workshop. The folk of Larkhaven are none the wiser, while they are busy rebuilding their lives. So, after all the destruction this terrible war has brought, it has provided the space I desperately needed for my work, and Marise and I are the only souls that know of its existence...

Laurie carried on searching, and he found that here and there pages had been ripped out. Near the end of the diary he reached the final entry. 
‘Look at the date. He must have written this on the day he...’ Laurie didn’t finish his sentence.

Friday, June 13th 2006
Another day has passed in this seemingly unending quest for salvation and discovery. I have not seen Katherine in over five days as she has taken on more work to cover the mortgage payments. She is growing apart from the children and has no pleasures in life since the accident... What have I done? And after all that happened how could I have borrowed more money to fund this insane project? Sweet Marise, if only you were here to guide me. Instead, all I have are tormenting dreams of Phaedra, who spoke to me once, but has been silent ever since that fatal night, when Nathaniel disappeared into the void of space and time.  My only hope is to find enough power and to re-awaken her. May God have mercy on my soul if I don’t succeed...

‘Nathaniel!’ cried Gertie. ‘This is about Dad. What kind of accident was granddad talking about?’
She snatched the diary from her brother’s hands and searched the blank pages that followed the final entry. But it was useless. Throughout the diary at least forty pages had been ripped from the diary. Who had taken them? And why?
Britney's bark stopped them both in their tracks again. The dog had disappeared behind a drawn curtain at the back of the room. Quickly, the twins followed her. Gertie opened the curtain, and Laurie found a light switch. Unlike the other room, which was warm and inviting, here all the walls were covered in steel and glistened coldly in the bright lights. A large, oval object hung from the ceiling, suspended on chains and covered by a huge dustsheet. 
‘What do you think it is?’ asked Gertie.
‘There's only one way to find out,’ replied Laurie.
With one swift movement, he pulled away the dust-sheet and there it was in front of them; the glass and steel sphere-like object, just like in the drawings they'd seen pinned up on the wall. It reflected the bright ceiling lights magically and in parts seemed to be made of water. But, when the children touched it, it was like nothing they'd ever felt. As their fingers disappeared into the gel-like, transparent structure, they excitedly looked at each other. What was this thing? Hundreds of multicoloured thin wires covered the dome in a spider web-like fashion. It was amazing, like nothing they had ever seen before.
Laurie ran back to his grandfather's desk and returned with the diary. Flicking through the pages once more, he read frantically. Then, his eyes stopped. He exhaled sharply...
‘What?’ shouted Gertie.
Her brother looked at her, his mouth open wide.
‘It’s a time machine.’
CHAPTER 5 – SPARKS OF CREATION


In the forest behind the house the storm had caused havoc. Trees that had stood proudly for hundreds of years had yielded to the strong winds and lay strewn throughout, beaten and lifeless. Any wildlife lucky enough to survive had fled underground, and even the hardiest of birds had ceased their singing hours ago.
Whilst the storm was raging and picking up speed and force, people everywhere were preparing for worse to come. Reports on television and radio had urged everyone to remain calm, but the opposite seemed to be happening. People were panicking and had started to stockpile groceries and other necessities. Long queues at petrol stations were adding to the already chaotic traffic conditions, and supermarkets were rapidly running out of basic goods like water, bread and tinned vegetables and meat. It was, said the weather report, the worst storm to hit England since the hurricane in 1987. Hortense remembered it well, as it had completely ruined her vegetable garden. She had lamented the destruction and so had her family, when they were served bland tasting supermarket vegetables for dinner.
Just before eight in the evening the storm was officially upgraded to a hurricane and named Vicky, and Hortense and Laurie began nailing wooden boards to the outside of the ground floor windows. The newsreader on television had recommended this, and after seeing news-footage of the damage done by fallen trees all over the country, Hortense agreed that it would be a sensible precaution.

*****

It was after nine o’clock now and the twins and Hortense were drinking their nightly mug of hot milk and honey. Hortense’s mug had been infused with a larger than usual dose of Irish whiskey, and not even the blustering winds heard through the rattling windows could lessen her enjoyment.
Katherine had telephoned again, just before the lines had gone down. Whilst this confirmed to the twins that their mother was safe, it was unlikely that they’d see her, or even hear from her, within the next twenty-four hours.
‘Now don’t you worry, we’re perfectly safe within these walls,’ Hortense assured the twins, but Laurie feared that this was probably said for Hortense’s own benefit.
‘Maybe we should all hide in the basement.’ Laurie said casually. ‘It’s bound to be safer below the ground.
‘What basement?’ Hortense asked, fast as a whip. Her eyes narrowed as she searched Laurie’s face for clues. The twins had taken rather a long time securing the windows before dinner. Could it be they’d taken a detour? ‘You know you’re not supposed to be down there.’
‘I meant the laundry room.’ Laurie replied quickly, before shooting Gertie a conspiring look. ‘It has no windows, so it must be below ground, don’t you think?’ He could see that they would have to be more careful. Their decision to keep Hortense in the dark about their discovery for the time being had obviously been the right one; especially since the time machine, even after repeated prodding earlier, had done absolutely nothing. It appeared to be as dead as a doornail. Whatever had happened in that basement so long ago, they were going to have to find out all by themselves.
Meanwhile, Hortense made a mental note to have words with her niece. So far she and Katherine had avoided Monty’s workshop like the plague. The one time they’d inspected it after her brother’s death they’d been surprised at finding only empty boxes and rusty tools. Could it be that they hadn’t looked hard enough? Maybe it was time for them to deal with the past.
The twins waited for aunt Hortense to go to her room, before once again venturing into the depths below the house. Just before they entered the secret workshop through the creaking wooden door, they considered descending the steps further. But the frightening sounds of crashing waves and howling winds from deep below soon put an end to that adventure.
‘We’ll wait until the weather returns to normal.’ Laurie’s voice was full of confidence he didn’t really have.
As soon as they entered the workshop Britney immediately hid in her basket. She really hated the howling of the wind. Naturally, she was a courageous dog, descended from a long family tree of famous fighters. Happy to show rabbits and badgers a trick or two, but a hurricane? No thank you! Now, where was that blanket and how could she best cover her ears with it?
‘What do you think this does?’ Laurie was startled out of deep thoughts by Gertie, who, amongst the dozens of strange objects they’d uncovered, had found another seemingly useless gadget. It looked like a small plastic brick.
‘Nice,’ said Laurie. ‘Great for building water-proof houses.’ But it was, in fact, an emergency dinghy. At least that’s what it said in Monty’s diary. ‘It says here that the dinghy is made from fire-proof PVC and reinforced with steel mesh.’
Gertie scratched her head as she inspected the strange piece of yellow plastic with nimble fingers. ‘But how does it work?’ she probed.
‘Upon being inserted into water the dingy-brick will inflate automatically,’ Laurie continued to read from the journal. ‘We’ll have to test it, but maybe not tonight.’
Next they found a wooden crate roughly the size of a large shoebox. Fragile, it said in thick, red letters. Its lid was nailed shut and a slip of paper was stapled to it: Patent Office London.
Soon they pried the lid from the crate Packed neatly, side by side, they found ten rectangular jewellery-cases. Was it possible they’d found diamonds?
Laurie opened one of the cases and from it he took an object that resembled a delicate necklace. Gertie opened some of the others and found they were all similar and fashioned like chokers, to be worn closely around the neck and throat.
‘They are pretty. Mum wore a choker on her wedding day. Remember the pictures?’ asked Gertie wistfully.
‘These are different,’ rebuffed Laurie. He pointed at the square front of the choker in his hand. It was made out of fine wires and small square pieces of plastic and metal. ‘I think I saw a magnifying glass on Granddad’s desk somewhere.’ He was back moments later and they both proceeded to really explore the gadget. ‘Look!’ he said and pointed at several microscopically small, square metal plates that had been soldered onto the wired structure. ‘These look like computer chips.’
Gertie took another choker from the box and examined it closely. Without the magnifying glass it was more difficult, but she could definitely identify computer chips on this piece of jewellery as well. ‘I think they must all do the same thing, even if they look slightly different,’ she said, scratching her head in confusion. Laurie put down the magnifying glass and gently unhooked the clasp of the choker he was holding.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Gertie, even though she knew the answer. ‘Here, let me help you,’ she offered. She placed the choker around her brother’s neck and fastened the clasp. ‘It’s elasticized.’
‘So it can be adjusted to fit any neck size,’ Laurie completed her thought. ‘That way it will even fit Hortense.’
‘Laurie!’ scolded Gertie playfully. Laurie turned around and presented himself to his sister’s critical eye.
‘Ta-dah!’ he said and strutted around the room like a super-model. ‘How do I look?’
‘Like a member of the Massai tribe,’ giggled Gertie. ‘Do you feel anything at all?’ Laurie stroked the choker and searched for a switch of some sort. ‘Maybe it needs to be turned on.’ Gertie moved the magnifying glass closer to her brother’s throat and her eyes suddenly widened. ‘There is a tiny screw at the front.’ Before Gertie had a chance to look for a small screwdriver Laurie had already found one amongst his grandfather’s tools. ‘Quick. Can you turn it? Or maybe try to unscrew it.’
Laurie’s face had gone red with excitement. Was this the moment they’d been waiting for? Gertie bit her lower lip and inserted the screwdriver into the microscopic screw. A click was followed by a gentle humming sound, and two small, cone-shaped pieces of plastic, attached on either side of the choker by thin blue and red wire, dropped onto Laurie’s shoulders.
‘Oh, my god, they’re earplugs,’ cried Gertie with delight. ‘Pop them into your ears!’
Laurie did as his sister ordered and immediately touched his throat. ‘Oh,’ he exclaimed. ‘Das kitzelt aber.’
It was Laurie’s voice coming from his mouth, but there was also a soft buzzing sound coming from the depths of his throat. It was as if the English words were caught there, silently echoing in the background.
‘Was soll denn das? Wer spricht denn da?’ Laurie blurted out in fluent German. Gertie scrutinized the choker further and soon found another, even smaller screw to turn. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Try again.’
Laurie shrugged and in the now familiar, buzzing voice said, ‘No sé porqué hablo alemán. Me entiendes, Gertie?’
Gertie’s jaw dropped and Britney barked. What was going on? Could this be true? Had their grandfather actually been a genius? Laurie removed the choker and pulled out the earplugs. He examined it in amazement.
‘This is it, Gertie!’ he cried. ‘Grandpa really was a successful inventor. Just like he always told us.’ Britney roused herself from her basket and barked. Finally her owners could see what she had known all along. It was about time Monty got the recognition he deserved!
Laurie put the choker back into its box and began to leaf through Monty’s diary again. His eyes flew over the pages and over the next hour he and Gertie began to unravel some of their past.

The twins had never met their grandmother, as she had died before they were born. They knew, however, that she had been a beautiful French woman whom their grandfather had met during the war. Now they found out that Monty had been nineteen when he had been injured by a stray bullet while fighting in Normandy. Marise had only been seventeen, but she had already been a respected member of the French resistance. She had been the one to find Monty and had single-handedly carried him back to her parent’s house. Marise’s family had been suspicious of the red-haired young Irishman, who, like the French, was fighting the Germans. But his bubbly personality and knack for repairing anything that needed fixing had soon endeared him to the whole household. Before the war was over Monty and Marise had been married, and soon after that Monty had brought his young bride to England. It had taken almost fifteen years after Monty and Marise were married for Katherine to be born and, to everyone’s heartbreak, in giving life to Katherine, Marise had given up her own. Monty had never quite recovered from his loss and had never re-married.

*****

‘We need to find these missing pages if we want to get this machine to work,’ Laurie said disappointedly. Gertie’s fingers touched the shredded remains of the missing pages. ‘He must not have liked what he wrote,’ she suggested.
Laurie was not so certain. How could they be sure that it was Monty who’d ripped out the pages? About ten pages before the final entry he paused. Something about the words he was reading felt like missing pieces to a puzzle. As if the answer to their riddle was right in front of them.

Sunday, March 15th 2006,
I have done all I can, but still Phaedra refuses to rise again. I am reminded of the all-consuming flames on the night Nathaniel disappeared. Had Hortense not discovered the fire, we might all be dead. Proof enough that nature will not be tamed. Proof also that plain electricity alone will not be enough. I have read Professor Rothman’s letter over and over. Am I missing something? But what? Only heaven’s powers can re-awaken Phaedra now...

A letter fell from the diary’s pages; the ink on the crumbling, yellow parchment paper was faded with age.

My dear Monty,
Your letter fails to state if the object to be transported across the barriers of time is alive. I will assume from your past experiments that it is. Each passing moment is like a station along a never-ending train track, and the train of time moves forward at a steady speed. So, if there are trains going from A to B why not go from B to A? At least that’s what Albert and I thought when we were at Heidelberg University together. (Just look at his relativity theory!) The universal law dictates that we move from A to B, like a thousand dolphins crossing oceans in search of new feeding grounds. For a single dolphin to swim the other way it would be quite impossible to break through. And even if it managed to do so for a while, it would bump into so many of its own kind that it would end up disorientated and hopelessly lost in the middle of the ocean. Lost in time. Naturally, a dolphin with tremendous power would just force its way through them all. Sadly, one would need a power source a thousand times stronger than ordinary electricity...

At that precise moment bolts of lightning hit the ground not far from the house and the sound of thunder was deafening. Britney hid her little snout in Gertie’s lap and the overhead lights flickered wildly. The twins looked at each other. They almost stopped breathing and knew instinctively what the other was thinking. For just the briefest of moments it was indeed as if time stood still.
CHAPTER 6 - A MOMENT IN TIME


The grandfather clock in the entrance hall chimed eleven times when the hurricane reached its peak. Gale force winds rattled the windows through their wooden barricades and raindrops hammered like machinegun fire against the roof.
Thanks to the special cup of tea she’d had earlier, Hortense slept soundly and would later remember nothing of that night. Just as well, for had she known what the twins were up to she would have put an immediate stop to their ‘shenanigans’ - one of her favorite words for nonsense.
Meanwhile, up on the roof, all hell had broken loose. Gertie was leaning out of the window just below the roof, hoping to catch glimpses of Laurie, but with little effect.
‘Laurie! Be careful up there.’ But Gertie might as well have tried to overpower the sound of a locomotive thundering through a long dark tunnel. It was useless. 
‘Now pass me the wire,’ shouted Laurie from above, whilst checking that the rope he had tied around his waist was still securely attached to the guttering. Hortense would have his head on a silver plate when she found out about this little adventure. How he was going to explain any of this was anyone’s guess. He’d been up on the flat part of the roof for twenty minutes, wrapped in his weatherproof cape. The icy rain on their faces was another matter.
Laurie grabbed the heavy roll of thick cable that his sister had passed from the window below and began unwinding several meters. He continued by securing the thickly insulated cable against the roof and chimney. He had found the cable in the workshop, after they’d decided that this was the only way to power the time machine; and why not? After searching Monty’s journal for more clues, it seemed the most obvious choice, as lightning really was nothing more than concentrated bolts of electricity. They had decided they were going to harvest that electricity and channel it into the basement to load up the machine’s built-in power reservoir. This, according to Monty’s very detailed plans, was located at the back of the machine and looked rather like a large piece of brown toast, with rows of copper wire twisted tightly round it.
‘Why do we need a power reservoir?’ asked Gertie. None of this technical jargon made any sense to her.
‘Storms like this one don’t just happen every day. By loading up the reservoir we’re making sure there’s enough power to bring the machine back.’
Initially Gertie had been mortified at the plan to direct bolts of lightning through the house into the basement. ‘I suppose one fire wasn’t enough,’ she’d reminded her brother of their grandfather’s entry in his diary. ‘You won’t rest until the whole place has burnt to the ground.’
Laurie’s eyes had clouded over, but then he’d had an idea. He had run to the fireplace and had extinguished the fire. Gertie had stared at him blankly.
‘Listen,’ Laurie had said, his ears close to the chimney breast, ‘can you hear the wind howling?’
Here they were, half an hour later, and their mission was almost complete. They had braved the hurricane, but the end result would be worth it; at least they hoped it would.
‘I can see the candle,’ Laurie shouted. He had decided earlier to place a candle inside the fireplace in the workshop. There were six chimneys on the roof, but only one of them led to the flickering candle in the distance below.
Fifteen minutes later Laurie was pulling the thick cable from the fireplace inside the workshop. Using thick masking tape he secured the cable to the floor and directed it towards the machine. Laboriously he began attaching the cable to the machine’s power reservoir. He had no idea if he was doing it correctly, but time would tell. Oddly, he had never felt closer to his grandfather than right now. It was as if Monty’s spirit was guiding him, and maybe it really was.
Meanwhile, Gertie was racing around their bedroom. She had been filling Laurie’s rucksack with things she felt they would need on their first trip into the unknown. A part of her didn’t want to get her hopes up. The machine probably wouldn’t work. But what if it did? She hesitated briefly when she saw Francesca’s heavy book on Laurie’s bed and then stuffed it into the rucksack.
Earlier, up on the roof, Laurie had built a little mechanism, and he now hoped it would work. Protruding from the workshop’s fireplace were two cables. One would channel electricity from the roof towards the time machine. The other one was much thinner and served a greater purpose.
With all his strength Laurie pulled on the second cable and, up on the roof, a small wheel started turning. Slowly a thick metal rod began to extend high into the stormy night sky. Higher and higher, but would it be high enough to attract the powerful bolts of lightning?
In the workshop’s antechamber Laurie explained to Gertie all he had learned about the machine from Monty’s journal and drawings. He secretly prayed that he had interpreted his grandfather’s words correctly.
‘Most of the machine’s actions will be controlled by our thoughts and feelings. We must clear our minds of all thoughts when we are inside it.’
Gertie was impressed by how quickly her brother had figured out how the machine worked. He’d spent less than an hour reading the journal, but he might as well have been there when Monty wrote the instructions.
‘I almost forgot the most important thing,’ Laurie added, before handing Gertie one of the translating chokers. ‘I’ve fiddled with them and I think that they are now set to Latin.’
‘Latin?’ cried Gertie. ‘What for?’
‘What language do you think they spoke in Pompeii two thousand years ago?’
It dawned on Gertie. Laurie really wanted to go to the ancient city of Pompeii, and she secretly congratulated herself for packing Francesca’s book.
The twins held hands as they approached the machine and looked at one another nervously. Britney began to whimper and kept pawing at the twins’ legs. Judging by the heavy rucksack Laurie was carrying, they were going somewhere. Well, they’d better not think about going without her!
‘It feels warm,’ said Gertie, as the gel-like structure of the machine slowly engulfed her. Soon they were settled in the two rounded seats that seemed to float in the centre of the elliptical sphere. Floating above the chairs were two helmets made from steel mesh wire. They looked like the kind of crash helmets angels might wear before they mastered the art of gliding through the skies.
‘Now, whatever happens, you mustn’t take off your helmet while the machine is moving, understood?’ Laurie insisted.
‘Aye, aye, captain,’ Gertie joked, but she knew that she would never take her brother’s advice lightly.
At that moment lightning hit the extended conductor high up on the roof, and almost immediately the machine started to hum and vibrate gently. Bolts of electricity were travelling down the chimney and it appeared as if the machine was hungrily lapping up all the energy.
Again and again lightning struck. The already beautiful machine now radiated with bright, iridescent colours and it seemed to tug at the chains that held it suspended in mid-air. It virtually took the twins’ breath away.
‘The machine is waking up,’ Gertie whispered and her brother agreed. It was as if the machine was beginning to have a mind of its own. With a clanking sound the chains holding it dropped to the floor.
‘We’re floating,’ cried Gertie with delight. The machine was alive and breathing and all its multi-coloured lights seemed to echo the life-giving lightning outside.
Laurie checked the power meter, which was to the left of his seat. ‘Almost enough,’ he affirmed, before turning his attentions to a rectangular red screen that floated at eye-level in front of the two seats. On closer inspection the twins realized that any object inside the machine that appeared to be floating was, in fact, set into the machine’s translucent gelatin-like structure.
‘This screen is the machine’s brain. Without it nothing works,’ Laurie said, and then pointed towards two identical, small panels fitted into the armrests of the two chairs. Instinctively, Gertie followed her brother and placed her right hand onto the panel at her side.
Immediately they were both filled with a strong sense of calm and strength. A delicate beeping sound interrupted them and the voice of the machine spoke to them for the first time. It was a synthetic voice that sounded like a man and a woman speaking at the same time.
‘I am Phaedra. I thank you for giving me life. Commencing initiation data transfer; please clear mind of unnecessary thought process. Connection achieved and mind exchange in progress.’
The machine’s humming increased in frequency and then changed to what sounded like thousands of wind chimes, stroked by a gentle breeze. The twins found they couldn’t keep their eyes open and almost immediately fell into a deep trance. In their dream they were holding hands and running through an unending field of lavender. They could actually smell the purple blossoms and their nostrils flared in their sleep. Moments later a man came running towards them from the distance. Who was that? Britney growled before barking excitedly. Was it possible she, too, could see the man getting closer? Even without a helmet? Soon they would be able to see the man’s face.
‘Initiation sequence completed,’ said Phaedra, and the twins’ eyes opened simultaneously. Why hadn’t they been allowed to see the man’s face?
‘Data transfer not possible from incomplete memory,’ continued Phaedra’s voice, apparently able to read their minds. ‘Please enter coordinates for transfer.’ 
Laurie hesitated. He hoped he remembered his grandfather’s written instructions correctly and then began programming the machine’s computer.
‘I suppose you have a date in mind?’ said Gertie.
‘August 24th 78 AD,’ said Laurie with determination. ‘That’s exactly one year before the volcano erupted. Just to be on the safe side.’
Gertie was nervous, but soon got excited again. There was no way anyone else was going to win the history project now. ‘We get there. We take photographs and collect some bits and pieces. Then we come right back here. Right?’ Gertie looked at her brother expectantly.
Laurie nodded. What else would they possibly want to do? It would be easy as child’s play. They’d be back in less than an hour and Hortense would never even know they had been gone.
‘Keep thinking about Pompeii. In your mind keep repeating the date 24-8-78; 24-8-78.’ Laurie insisted. ‘Don’t say it, just think it.’
Britney’s eyes were the only ones open now. She continued to watch as the machine’s countless lights proceeded to blink in rhythmic sequences, until eventually the glare became so bright that she too closed her eyes.
‘Final system checks completed,’ said Phaedra. ‘Molecular osmosis commencing in five seconds.’
In their deep trance the twins reached out for one another and held hands, while Britney lay curled up tight on Gertie’s lap. ‘Five - four - three - two – one. Molecular osmosis initiated.’
Had anyone’s eyes been open they would have watched in amazement as the shape of the machine and its passengers was slowly disintegrating into hundreds of small round shapes, which then became thousands of tiny specks of shimmering light. When the light turned completely white the sound became one of breaking crystal and Phaedra’s voice returned for the last time.
‘Osmosis completed; stand by for layer and location coordinates. Commencing energy transfer to layer 24080078 at sector 4927800.’
The sound had now become so high pitched that everything in the basement began to vibrate violently, even next door on Monty’s desk. Slowly, the framed picture of Katherine and the twins slid sideways, before falling off the edge.  But instead of crashing to the ground the frame slowed down in mid-fall, until it stopped inches from the floor where it was suspended in space and time; along with the rest of the room.
CHAPTER 7 - GETTING THERE IS EASY


Almost two thousand years ago Pompeii was a thriving city full of wealthy noblemen and their glamorous wives. Pompeii was the pride of the Roman Empire, which in those days extended into the far corners of the modern world, as we know it. It was the crowning glory of an empire whose generals and legions had brought progress to primitive nations, some of whom had previously lived like animals. Many battles had been fought and won, and only the triumphant generals and some of their lucky soldiers found themselves rewarded with a spectacular villa overlooking the bay of Naples.
Here they would live out their days in luxury, in the shade of nearby Mount Vesuvius, a mildly active volcano people had grown used to.
These luxurious homes were built by craftsmen who knew their business. Every large villa was designed to perfection and nothing was left to chance. The really rich had flowing water delivered into their homes through a very advanced underground system of aqueducts and lead pipes, and once heated it was pumped into bathtubs through golden faucets.
Countless slaves and servants would fulfill any possible wish, whilst days would be lazed away in the shade of fragrant almond trees. At nights there were festivities second to none. Mystic theatrical plays performed by travelling fairs from distant lands, and meats and wine so succulent any king would be proud to serve them. When some nights there was a chill in the air the under-floor heating would be operated by slaves, for it was the Romans who invented it over two-thousand years ago.

‘Pompi!’ shouted Delphia for what had to be the fifth time. She couldn’t believe how greedy the little donkey was. How could he still be hungry after all the fragrant leaves he’d been munching off that bay tree, or what was left of it, now that the naughty donkey had finished its meal.
‘I don’t want to, but I will use my cane if you don’t obey,’ she added, even though she knew she’d rather carry the entire firewood home on her own back than whip her dear Pompi.
The other inhabitants of the house of Apolloneus made fun of her affection for the stubborn animal, but Delphia didn’t care. An orphan, she had no one in the world, unlike the other servants, who often came in pairs. Yes, her life was hard, as was that of all slaves in Pompeii. But at least she had a home and food. Her master, Apolloneus, a well-respected herbalist and painter of murals, looked after his servants well. Delphia couldn’t remember being beaten once, unlike Palomea from next door at the house of Lysander. She remembered the purple bruises on the girl’s face when they had walked home from market on the day of the new moon.
Yes, she considered herself lucky. What if aged sixteen her only true friend was a little donkey? There was always Callistus. Thinking about him made her blush and she smiled, lost in her all too brief daydream.
Delphia’s smile faded as she imagined the future. Callistus was olive-skinned and his chin proud, and at almost eighteen he was sure to be married within another year. His father, Rufus Polybius, was sure to choose a girl from one of Pompeii’s finest families to be his only son’s bride. And yet, in secret Callistus had chosen Delphia and had often declared his undying love for her.
Not another soul knew, nor would they approve of a union between Callistus and Delphia the slave-girl, least of all Delphia’s master, now that his wife had passed away. What a week of mourning it had been. With sadness she remembered the rituals they had performed to ensure her mistress’s journey into the afterlife.
At first she had been frightened by the bizarre clay masks the servants had had to wear for the funeral procession. But then she’d noticed the admiring glances their bright costumes and masks had got from onlookers, and she’d been proud to be part of it all.
She remembered her master speaking to them all on the night after the funeral. Most of his words had meant little to her, but she understood that one day, after Apolloneus’s death, each of the servants would receive a sum of money that would make sure they’d never be slaves again. Apolloneus and his wife had not been blessed with children, which was a great misfortune in the eyes of ancient Roman society. But for the slaves of the house of Apolloneus it meant a future without chains.
Delphia and her donkey reached a clearing outside the pine forest where they had collected firewood. In the distance below them lay Pompeii, and the city’s rooftops shimmered in the early morning sun. The glistening sea and bustling harbor were clearly visible and Delphia could make out the distant sails of fishing boats returning with their daily catch.
She would have to hurry home and deliver the firewood to the cook, before running to market for fish and vegetables. She hadn’t even begun rinsing the master’s sheets like she was supposed to. They’d been soaking in large troughs of water and urine all morning, and everyone knew that this was the best way to remove stains from sheets. Later she would hang them from the roof and the sun would dry and bleach them.
A noise stopped Delphia in her tracks. It came from the forest behind her, but not from the ground. She shielded her eyes against the bright sunlight and focused on the treetops. There was definitely something there. It was not a noise she’d heard before and for a moment she wondered if she should be frightened.
The last time she had heard a rumbling sound like that was when Mount Vesuvius had erupted two months ago. The eruption had been minor and no damage had been done, but the town magistrates were predicting further earthquakes to befall Pompeii. Maybe this was one? But earthquakes normally shook the ground before rustling treetops.
‘Woof!’ Was that a dog she had heard up in the trees?

*****

The silence inside the time machine felt strange after the long period of humming and buzzing. Laurie was first to open his eyes and soon Gertie followed suit.
‘Phaedra?’ Laurie asked timidly. But there was no reply. The twins took off the helmets. Through the translucent body of the machine they could see that they were stuck high above the ground between treetops.
‘We’d better not move too much until we know that the machine is anchored safely,’ suggested Laurie, and Gertie agreed. But Britney was anxious to get outside. Fragments of exotic fragrances from the air outside were tantalizing the little dog. She was sniffing wildly and couldn’t wait to get going. Was that a donkey she could smell?
‘Why doesn’t the machine talk to us like it did in the basement?’ wondered Gertie.
Laurie had been wondering about the same thing. He inspected the panels next to the seats, but no amount of prodding and pressing produced any result.
‘Maybe Phaedra is recharging her energy,’ he said meekly. He still wasn’t sure if the machine was a he or she.
‘You don’t think the machine broke on the way here, do you?’ Gertie asked wide-eyed. A sense of dread crept up her spine. ‘What are we going to do? What if we are stuck here?’
‘Why don’t we go outside and do some exploring,’ Laurie changed the subject, and he hoped that his sister didn’t notice his shaking hands. ‘Maybe by the time we are back Phaedra will be back to normal.’
But once outside the machine the twins could see the reason for Phaedra’s silence. At the back of the machine, where the toast-shaped power reservoir had been before, the only things left were two metal bolts.
‘It must have fallen off during the journey,’ concluded Gertie, and Laurie agreed.
‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘But we should still look around. The reservoir may have dropped off during our arrival.’
‘So what do we do?’ asked Gertie.
‘We look for it,’ Laurie answered without hesitation. ‘Maybe it got stuck on one of those trees.’ He pointed into the forest below them and grabbed Britney. Once the little dog was settled inside his rucksack the twins started their difficult descent.
Thirty minutes and some scratched legs and forearms later the twins and their dog were standing next to the tree where they had first arrived. They had been exploring a radius of about two hundred meters surrounding the time machine, but without luck.
‘It’s got to be here somewhere,’ Laurie cried, and he had no way of knowing how right he was.
Ten meters behind him and hidden by a fallen tree was the machine’s power reservoir; or what was left of it. As Laurie had correctly guessed it had been severed moments before the machine had come to a standstill.
Unfortunately for the twins they were destined not to find it. Even if they had, it would have been of little use. Not only had the reservoir been severed from Phaedra, it had fallen from such a great height that on impact it had broken into hundreds of little pieces.
Almost two thousand years later some of those pieces would be found by archaeologists and locked away in a museum’s vault. They would never be explored or explained due to an administrative error.
It meant, however, that Phaedra had no power, and as such would be about as useful for time travel as a piece of toast.
CHAPTER 8 – EXPLORING THE PAST


Britney had gone crazy as soon as her paws had touched the ground. She hadn’t stopped running around in all directions and sniffing whatever she could find. Most of these aromas she’d never come across before, and she was an experienced dog with a lifetime of sniffing accomplishments. Badger droppings were one thing, but what in the world left droppings that smelled like these? And what dog had ever chewed pinecones that tasted as strong and strange as the one she was chewing right now? Even if she could talk, no one back home would believe her.
‘Look,’ shouted Laurie from a distance. The twins had resigned themselves to not finding the reservoir; at least for the time being. They would go ahead with their original plan and explore Pompeii. When the time came to return home they would simply have to think of another way to find power. Gertie put on a brave face, but Laurie could see that she was really upset, and with good cause. He hated to think what would happen if they failed to find an alternative source.
Laurie walked towards the edge of the pine forest and found himself standing on a clearing on the top of a hill. Gertie and Britney caught up with him just as he pulled Francesca’s book from his rucksack.
His fingers flew over the pages until he found what he was looking for. He pointed at the open page. ‘Look at this!’
A drawing depicted the bay of Naples, as it would have looked in 78 AD before Mount Vesuvius erupted. It was drawn by a man known as Pliny the Elder, and the twins could confirm that he had done a very good job.
Sprawled out in front of them lay the Bay of Naples and it looked almost exactly as it did in the book.
They were standing on the slopes that led up to the infamous volcano, and lush green fields and hanging gardens below them descended towards Pompeii and the Adriatic Sea right behind it. The sky was clear and Laurie could make out two islands in the distance. Francesca’s book told him that they were called Capri and Ischia.
Laurie took out his camera and took the first photograph.
‘Wait until Fitzgriffin gets hold of this,’ Laurie said and grinned happily.
‘Da dove siete venuti?
The twins spotted Delphia at the same time. Pompi brayed at Britney, who promptly ran towards the little donkey and eagerly licked its nose.
‘Quick,’ whispered Laurie, and he stuffed the camera back into his rucksack. ‘Put on the language-choker and the ear-plugs.’ Gertie understood immediately and took the necklace from Laurie’s hand. Like her brother she fastened it round her neck and put in the tiny earplugs just before Delphia repeated her question. This time the twins understood the Roman girl’s every word.
‘Where have you come from?’
Laurie stepped towards Delphia and held out his right hand to her. ‘I am Laurie.’ He hoped that his voice - altered by the necklace, would not frighten the girl away. ‘And this is my sister Gertie.’
The names that had flowed from Laurie’s lips had been translated by the necklace into Laurentius and Gertrudis. Delphia looked at them both in silence. What a strange pair of children they were. She had never seen clothes like that before. Unlike her own flowing tunic, which covered her body loosely, these children’s clothes seemed to follow their bodies’ contours. How odd.
Her own feet were sore from wearing coarse wooden clogs. What were those unfamiliar shapes on the children’s feet? One couldn’t even see if they had toes. Maybe they had none? Even their voices were different. Every word the strange boy had spoken appeared to be accompanied by the ringing of tiny silver bells.
‘We have heard about your city and have come from far away to explore it,’ Laurie added. Would the girl continue to listen to him? For a while longer she just stared at them.
‘My name is Delphia. I am a servant at the house of Apolloneus. Welcome to Pompeii.’
Gertie breathed a sigh of relief and Delphia finally held out her hand, like Laurie had done to her. She was not quite sure why, but guessed that it was a greeting in the homeland of this strange children.
She flinched when Laurie took her hand in his, but smiled when he shook it vigorously. People in ancient Rome never touched one another in public. It was almost considered an insult. Even close relatives always kept a polite distance when outside the privacy of their home.
‘Will you show us the wonders of your home?’ Laurie asked, his tone hopeful. Delphia sighed.
‘I should like to, but have much work to complete before the day is done. I must make my way back or I will be too late for market. You are most welcome to follow me and I will show you what I can.’
Delphia looked to Laurie and Gertie for a reply.
‘Thank you,’ Gertie said humbly and began to walk with Delphia. Pompi and Britney might have met before, the way they were trotting down the hill side by side. Laurie trailed behind the girls and secretly took another photograph. Soon he followed his sister and Delphia on the path towards Pompeii. Little did they know that from behind a tree they were observed by the dark eyes of a willowy woman draped in torn, black robes. Her long, white hair blew in the breeze and she left behind the faded scent of lavender.
CHAPTER 9 – A ROMAN HOUSEHOLD


‘How can she walk so fast in those wooden clogs?’ asked Gertie, quite out of breath.
‘I’m not sure,’ huffed Laurie as he tried to keep up with Delphia down narrow and roughly cobbled lanes. Even Pompi wasn’t used to being dragged through the streets at this ridiculous speed.
‘And they’re not clogs. It says here in Francesca’s book they are called Sculponea, and are only worn by slaves.’
Delphia was not to be deterred and continued to speedily weave her way through the deserted early morning streets.
‘The sooner I deliver the firewood to cook, the sooner I can go to market,’ said Delphia over her shoulder. ‘Today of all days I must not be late. Everyone will want to get the best offerings for the great feast tonight. The master will surely whip me if I present him with a handful of meager sardines and wilted lettuce.’
Laurie searched his book for any information regarding any big feast, but found none. ‘What can you tell us about this feast?’ he asked.
Delphia stopped in her tracks and turned around. Britney used the short break to mark some of the buildings.
‘By Jupiter, you are from distant lands. Why, it is the Lady Julia’s Birthday,’ she exclaimed, before turning around and continuing on her way. ‘All the noble of Pompeii will assemble to honor her. It is said that the new Emperor himself will honor Pompeii with his presence.’
‘New?’ asked Gertie.
‘It is but two months since the old Emperor passed into the Underworld.’
‘Tell us more about the Lady Julia,’ insisted Laurie. ‘She must be very old to have become so famous.’
Delphia laughed out loud, but quickly regained her composure. It was unseemly for a slave to laugh in public. ‘Today the Lady Julia celebrates her twentieth year on this earth.’
‘Twenty,’ Gertie cried. ‘What can she have done in twenty years to deserve such honors?’
‘She is the richest and most powerful woman in Pompeii. My master says that no woman has ever been the mistress of more houses in all of the Roman Empire, not to mention the many ships and places of business as far away as Brindisi and Narnia.’
‘Narnia?’ said Gertie, and her face lit up.
‘Narnia was a real place in Roman times,’ hissed Laurie.
Delphia had reached the outer gate of the house of Apolloneus.
‘The Lady Julia must have a very rich husband,’ suggested Laurie.
Delphia began to unload firewood from the donkey’s back and Laurie helped her.
‘The Lady Julia has had two very rich husbands.’
 Once Pompi’s back was free of its load Delphia led the thirsty donkey towards a happily gurgling fountain. In a while she would lead him to the stables at the back of the house, where the tired donkey could rest in the shade. ‘People say that tonight’s feast will produce a further husband.’ Delphia continued in a hushed voice. ‘Cook thinks the Lady Julia has set her sights on my master.’
Delphia took most of the firewood into her arms and Laurie grabbed the rest. Pompi nudged Britney, as if to give consent for the little dog to join the twins as they followed Delphia.
Soon they were all walking towards the inner sanctum of this typically Roman house. It was built on two levels - a sign of wealth, around two sheltered but open to the elements courtyards. In the heat of summer this provided airflow to the surrounding living quarters.
After they passed through the first courtyard, they reached the inner buildings, where the true ingenuity of Roman house design became apparent.
All that interrupted the tranquility of flowers and herbs was the sound of birdsong and crickets. Hidden under low hanging trees was a long, narrow pool, whose gold and turquoise tiles shimmered magically in the Mediterranean sun.
‘This is beautiful,’ whispered Gertie. ‘It’s like a room, but outside.’ They didn’t know what to look at first. The marbled floors inlaid with gold and lapis lazuli or the ornate seating and furniture covered in luscious silks and brocade.
But nothing could have prepared the twins for what they found inside the Roman villa. Every available bit of wall and ceiling was covered in the most spectacular wall paintings; or murals, as they were called in Francesca’s book. The scenes immortalized appeared to be alive; the colours so vibrant the twins could almost smell the flowers that surrounded countless young maidens.
‘I’ve seen photographs of these paintings in some of Francesca’s books, but on paper they are incomplete and have faded with time,’ Laurie whispered to Gertie. ‘I think that in the future this house will be referred to as the Villa of Mysteries,’ he added, and he and sister shivered with excitement.
‘My master has many scrolls, but none of them are shaped like the one you keep consulting. May I see it?’ asked Delphia. Laurie wasn’t prepared for this. Delphia appeared to be friendly towards them, but how much should they tell her? For all they knew she was destined to perish in the volcano eruption that was going to destroy all this beauty before them. Could they risk changing the past?
‘It is a secret book given to us by our ancestors,’ Gertie lied spontaneously. Laurie glared at his sister, but she held his look. What was she supposed to have said?
Delphia hesitated for a moment. She knew all too well that Pompeian’s and Romans alike had their strange beliefs. Why shouldn’t these strange children have their own?
‘Forgive me,’ she said and bowed her head, ‘I had no wish to offend you.’
‘You didn’t,’ Laurie replied swiftly and put his hand on Delphia’s arm again. This time she didn’t flinch, but smiled at him.
‘I might have known you were idling your time away as usual,’ came a woman’s sharp voice from behind them.
‘I have all the wood I could carry,’ said Delphia quickly, her head bowed even lower.
‘I can see that. There is kindling all over my freshly scrubbed floor. Who are these strange children?’
The woman standing before them was no taller than Gertie, but a great deal plumper. She was about forty years old and while her cupid-shaped face was not pretty, it invited confidence. Dressed in plain white robes, she looked flushed, as if she’d been doing the work of several women.
‘That must be the cook,’ hissed Gertie under her breath.
‘Oh, you must be a learned child that can see hidden truths?’ barked the woman, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. ‘I am Flavia, but you may call me cook.’ She put a gentle hand on Delphia’s cheek, before beckoning the children to follow her into the kitchen, which was situated at the very back of the house.
This part of the house was less ornate, but still the walls were covered with a multitude of murals. On closer inspection even the exterior walls surrounding the second courtyard were covered in beautiful scenes that portrayed daily life in Pompeii.
‘You like the master’s painting?’ asked Flavia when she saw the children’s open mouths.
‘We have never seen anything like it,’ the twins said in unison.
‘I expect not,’ snorted Flavia. ‘Apolloneus paints unlike any other in the Empire. Even the Empress Agrippina was painted by him during her final days, before that murderous son of hers sent his henchmen,’ her voice bitter as she remembered restless times.
‘Agrippina was the mother of the Emperor Nero. It is believed he may have been responsible for her death,’ Laurie revealed another bit of knowledge taken from Francesca’s book.
‘Believed?’ Flavia shouted, her face a picture of anguish. ‘I watched from behind a curtain as my mistress gave her last breath to Nero’s trusted guard.’ Flavia briskly took the firewood off Delphia and Laurie, and the twins thought they spotted tears in the ample woman’s eyes.
‘Flavia was the Empress’s favorite maid and was lucky to escape with her life,’ confided Delphia when Flavia was out of earshot. ‘The master found her wandering the streets the morning after the Empress was murdered, and took her in. Just as he found me wandering the streets by myself as an infant.
‘You don’t know your mother?’ The words had slipped out of Gertie’s mouth before she had a chance to think.
‘Or my father.’ Delphia smiled at Gertie, who sheepishly lowered her gaze.
‘We don’t remember our father.’ said Laurie. He wasn’t sure why, but felt compelled to share this with their newfound friend. ‘We were too young to remember him.’
It was Delphia’s turn to put her arm on Laurie’s shoulder. They shared a moment of silence, which was interrupted by Britney. Flavia had given her a bowl of water and some leftover cooked meat. This meant Flavia had a new friend for life. It was also the final confirmation the twins needed to convince them. Flavia was a good person and could be trusted.
‘The master wants his breakfast taken up now.’
The man appeared to have come out of thin air and Britney began to growl silently. The twins hadn’t seen her do this often, but they both knew their dog to be an excellent judge of character. 
‘I will see to it, Serpinius,’ said Flavia, her voice sharp again. The man stepped from the shadows and moved towards Delphia.
‘Why not let Delphia take it to him,’ he sneered.
Flavia stepped between them, hands on hips. ‘Delphia is needed to go to market,’ she said without fear.
The twins could see that while Delphia may have feared Serpinius, Flavia was afraid of no one. Maybe she would never again be as frightened as she was the night her former mistress died.
‘I expect you have done the meats we are to deliver to the house of the Lady Julia?’ Serpinius probed slyly.
Flavia glanced at Delphia, who smiled in return. ‘I’ll be glad to take breakfast to the master. I would like to take my new friends to meet him.’
CHAPTER 10 –MEETING THE MASTER


A few minutes later the twins were following Delphia up the marble stairs towards the rooms of Apolloneus.
‘Enter,’ a man’s voice came from inside and Laurie opened the heavy wooden door for Delphia. The twins remained at the door and watched Delphia carry her laden tray inside. They could hear her speak to Apolloneus, before being summoned inside.
‘Come up close, so I can see these strange travelers my favorite servant has found.’ Although his voice was deep and loud, the twins immediately liked Delphia’s master. He almost reminded them of their grandfather. But in appearance, he could not have been more different. Whilst their grandfather was a wisp of a man, Apolloneus resembled a bear. His white hair and beard betrayed his years, but his shoulders were broad and his blue eyes crystal clear and untouched by age.
But if the twins were surprised by Apolloneus’ appearance he had certainly never seen children such as these. Their strange clothes and hairstyles aside, their mannerism was not one he had encountered during his long and varied life, not to mention the strange hairy creature that refused to leave their side. Was it a breed of cat? Britney appeared to be reading Apolloneus’ mind and barked, as if to confirm her identity.
‘You could not be from Germania,’ he said, as if thinking out loud, ‘you are too clean and your hair is not matted.’
Gertie giggled, but like Delphia earlier caught herself and covered her mouth with a bashful hand.
‘Your skin is too fair to be from the deserts of Aegyptus.’
It was Delphia’s turn to smile. She had never known of a riddle her master could not solve. Could this be the day? Apolloneus looked at the twins expectantly, and Delphia’s curiosity had also reached its limits. Where were these children from? Laurie felt a trickle of sweat running down the back of his neck and Gertie swallowed hard before she began to speak.
‘Our names are Laurence and Gertrud,’ she said, but the perfect words of Latin that came from her mouth were Laurentius et Gertrudis. ‘We have come from Britannia to learn all we can about Pompeii.’
Apolloneus scratched his head. Learned children? Impossible. In Roman culture boys became men at fourteen and girls could marry even younger, but children travelling by themselves? Unheard of. Unless…
‘You were sent by the Emperor, were you not?’ boomed Apolloneus. He had just remembered the Emperor Aurelian, who had once employed the services of child advisors. They had helped win battles in Illyricum and Macedonia. Maybe they had not been children but sorcerers, and here they were; standing before him. The dog was too small to provide protection and was probably a talisman of sorts. It made perfect sense, and was, in fact, the only explanation.
‘You are most welcome in my humble home,’ Apolloneus continued, his head bowed low. He beckoned for Delphia to get down on her knees, but Gertie stopped her. ‘We have no wish to make you our servants,’ she was beginning to enjoy playing the part of a sorcerer. ‘All we need is information about your people and customs. Then we shall leave you in peace. Ouch.’ Gertie winced after Laurie kicked her shin hard.
‘What are you doing?’ he hissed.
Apolloneus rose and beckoned the twins further into his living quarters. Towards the back of the rooms they could see clear views of Pompeii and the sea beyond it through large, opened doors that led onto a balcony.
‘Come,’ he invited them. ‘I will show you my work.
The balcony was made from wood and stone, and had marble banisters overgrown with ivy and rosebushes. There were several wooden easels, all of which held drawings and paintings. One particularly large oil painting looked as if it had just been finished; the paint still wet, it glistened in the sun and the smell of oil was strong in the hot air.
Britney sneezed. This was the first unpleasant fragrance she’d encountered since their arrival in this strange place.
‘You have seen the murals on the walls of my home. These are sketches of work I am yet to do.’
There was pride in Apolloneus’ voice as the twins admired his work; and rightfully so. Many of the so-called sketches were more beautiful than many a painting in art galleries of the twenty-first century. ‘I am especially pleased with the likeness of the Lady Julia. I am to present it to her tonight, at a feast to celebrate her birthday.’
The twins came closer to the painting in question.
‘Delphia has told us about the feast. It sounds like no celebration we’ve ever been to,’ said Laurie, full of awe.’
Apolloneus thought about this for a moment. ‘Then you must join us. You will attend as my guests of honor and will be welcomed by the Lady Julia herself, I am certain.’
Gertie’s face lit up; a Roman feast? This was getting better by the minute. The broken time machine had been forgotten and would have to be dealt with later.
But then everything changed.
‘Look, Gertie!’ cried Laurie. He was standing in front of the painting and because of that Gertie couldn’t quite see what he was staring at. When she came closer he stepped aside.
‘But, that’s impossible,’ Gertie stammered.
Apolloneus and Delphia exchanged worried glances. The children looked as if they had seen a ghost. Britney growled silently, aware that something was wrong.
‘What is the Lady Julia’s full name?’ asked Laurie in a hoarse whisper.
‘Why, everyone knows that,’ said Delphia, ‘It is the Lady Julia Felix.’ These were the words the twins heard with the help of their grandfather’s clever language-chokers. But the name that had sprung from Delphia’s lips had been Julia Feliciano.
And there in front of them, painted on canvas in the most life-like fashion, with a knowing smile on her lips, was the spitting image of Francesca Feliciano.
CHAPTER 11 - A NEW MURAL


‘You must try and sit still, Gertie,’ said Apolloneus, and not for the first time. The sun was high up in the sky. Apolloneus was standing on a ladder, made of pine, which was perched against the outside wall of the house.
‘That’s easy for you to say,’ complained Gertie as she wiped droplets of sweat from her forehead with a silk handkerchief; given to her by Apolloneus for precisely that purpose.
The twins were sprawled over countless brocade cushions and blankets. These were artfully arranged on the tiled floor of another one of the house’s many balconies.
Pompeii and the glistening sea beyond provided a colourful backdrop, and that was what Apolloneus was painting onto his wall. At first Britney was supposed to have been part of the scene to be painted, but soon the sun had become too hot for her. No amount of cajoling had made her leave her spot in the shade, and now she was sound asleep. 
‘We have been sitting in the sun for almost two hours,’ Gertie continued to complain, ‘and you are in the shade.
Apolloneus smiled and put down his brush, which was made from twigs of pinewood and wolf hair.
‘Forgive my rudeness. I am too immersed in my work and forget about my subjects’ plight. The mural is almost done, but we shall continue tomorrow.’ He got ready to climb down from the top of the ladder, but Laurie stopped him.
‘Don’t! Keep painting. It can’t be that much longer, right?’ urged Laurie, before giving Gertie a stern look. ‘We won’t be here tomorrow and we want the mural to be finished,’ Laurie hissed.
‘Why do we care about a silly mural?’
‘Have you forgotten the reason we are here? This will make a perfect photograph for the project.’ whispered Laurie as he rolled his eyes. The sound of footsteps interrupted him and soon Delphia rejoined the twins once more. She had left them earlier to go to market by herself, when it had been decided that Apolloneus would paint the twins’ mural.
‘It is a great honor to be painted by the master,’ Delphia had said before she’d slipped away earlier.
Now she was back with a tray of olives, cheese, bread and chalices filled with water and limejuice. She also carried a bowl with wild boar sausage, which she offered to Britney, who shook herself to discard remnants of sleep. As Delphia offered refreshments to the children she admired the work her master had done in her absence.
‘It is a very good likeness, master.’
Apolloneus leaned back on his ladder and inspected his brushstrokes, ‘I fear I have worked with haste, but it will have to do for today. We must take some food and then rest before tonight’s feast.’
‘Will there be many people at the feast?’ asked Laurie, and he could barely hide his excitement.
‘Why, all of Pompeii’s society is expected,’ Apolloneus replied, ‘It is said that Pliny the Elder will grace the assembly with his presence.’
The twins’ eyes lit up, but Laurie soon realized that there was one major obstacle. ‘We have nothing to wear except what we have on now. We can’t possibly go dressed like this.’
Apolloneus completed his final paint stroke and descended from the ladder. The children could see that his hands and clothes were covered in red, blue and ochre paint. He inspected first his latest masterpiece and then the twins and their clothes with a critical eye, before taking some bread and olives from the tray. ‘I see your point,’ he said between mouthfuls of food and turned to Delphia, who in her mind’s eye was already searching the house for suitable garments.
‘If the master will allow me to search our dear mistress’ rooms, I am sure we shall find two robes suitable.’
‘I can’t wear a woman’s robe,’ cried Laurie, and the girls giggled.
‘I think you’d make a lovely girl,’ Gertie added between spurts of laughter.
‘Delphia will go to the house of Rufus Polybius and speak to Callistus,’ Apolloneus decided. Delphia froze and her face turned crimson. Surely the master couldn’t know her secret? But her fears turned out to be unfounded. Apolloneus merely suggested that Laurie might wear some of Callistus’s outgrown robes. ‘Callistus is the son of Rufus Polybius. Rufus has been a trusted friend for many years. He also holds the post of the Lower Magistrate of Pompeii,’ Apolloneus explained.
The twins looked at him in bewilderment and he continued, ‘The Lower Magistrate is held responsible for all daily necessities, like water, drainage and keeping the city clean.’
‘That sounds like a lot of responsibility,’ said Laurie.
‘That it is.’ Apolloneus frowned, and the lines on his forehead grew deeper yet as he mumbled, ‘And not all in our society approve of his choices.’
The twins listened with great interest. Was this something else they could use for their project?
‘He has been my friend for so many years,’ Apolloneus continued, his voice weary. ‘But it appears our friendship is about to be tested.’
Delphia touched her master’s arm in support.
‘Rufus Polybius and I are the only two candidates in the upcoming elections for the post of Upper Magistrate and one of us is destined to loose.’
The twins could see that Apolloneus was deeply troubled by what he had just told them. ‘And now you must forgive this old man, for I must rest.’

*****

Some time later the twins were resting in one of the house’s many bedrooms. The room was spotlessly clean, just like the rest of the impossibly large house. The wooden shutters were half closed and allowed glimpses of Mount Vesuvius and the lush, sweeping hills below it. A thin but constant line of white smoke rose steadily above the ominous mountain.
The twins shuddered when they imagined the destruction that would come from it in a year’s time.
‘There won’t be much left of any of this after next year,’ Laurie said dramatically. ‘To think that the volcano has been destroying these parts over and over for as long as can be remembered.’
‘So why do people carry on living here? They must know it will happen again?’ said Gertie, as she walked to the window to take another close look at the treacherous mountain. Laurie remembered the answer to that question from his geography lesson at school.
‘Don’t you remember when Professor Doogle showed us those slides of Mount Etna in Sicily? The hills surrounding the volcano were covered in dark, fertile earth,’ Laurie lectured as he joined his sister by the window. He pointed towards what looked like rows of vines, laden with shiny, succulent grapes. Even from the distance they could see the various shades of red, ranging from pale pink to almost black. The grapes would soon be ripe and would be pressed into wine, which would be drunk in the far corners of the huge Roman Empire.
‘Volcanic earth is amongst the most fertile on earth. It’s where most of these people’s food comes from.’
Gertie shielded her eyes from the strong late-afternoon sun and changed the subject, ‘We haven’t talked about the painting of Francesca.’
‘It’s not Francesca,’ said Laurie, ‘but very possibly one of her ancestors.’
The twins had been dumbfounded when they’d been confronted with Apolloneus’ painting of the Lady Julia Felix. The similarity between her and their friend Francesca Feliciano was undeniable. But almost two thousand years had passed. Surely the two couldn’t possibly be related?
Apolloneus and Delphia had exchanged worried glances earlier, as the twins stared at the painting, with their mouths open wide in disbelief.
‘It’s not only possible, but extremely likely,’ said Laurie self-importantly. Gertie was not so sure, but, as usual, expected to be convinced otherwise by her clever brother. ‘Think of it. Languages change and adapt as time goes by. Have you looked at an English dictionary lately? Felix could easily have turned into Feliciano and people who live in these parts of Italy probably don’t move far from where they were born. They meet local people and marry within their own community.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’ Gertie scratched her head in bewilderment and tried to detangle her bushy hair.
‘Genetic probability; like plus like equals like.’
Gertie was always confused when her brother used scientific language – that’s what he called it, but she began to see his point. ‘Families in these parts of Italy are mostly olive-skinned and dark-haired. Unless a blonde Swedish woman diluted their bloodline, Francesca could easily still look like her distant ancestor,’ Laurie continued. Gertie vaguely remembered hearing something like that in biology class some time back. Maybe school wasn’t all a waste of time.
Britney lifted her head from the cool marble floor tiles just before a knock on the door, which turned out to be Delphia.
‘I have your robes for tonight,’ she beamed. The twins tried on their new clothes and were amazed. Delphia had chosen well.
‘They fit,’ cried Gertie, ‘thank you, Delphia. We are going to look so trendy.’
‘What is the meaning...trendy?’ asked Delphia.
‘It is a word we use in our homeland.’ Laurie interrupted, before Gertie could put her foot in any deeper, ‘The robes fit perfectly, thank you for all your help.’
Delphia blushed, and the twins could tell she was pleased to receive praise.
‘The boy who wore these robes must be from a good family,’ said Laurie as he stroked the gold and purple hem of the immaculate, white robe.
‘It is known as the Toga Praetexta.’ Delphia explained. ‘Only Magistrates and noblemen are allowed to wear purple stripes, as are their sons,’ 
‘Will he be at the feast tonight? I would like to thank him,’ Laurie probed further. Something told him there was more to this boy than Delphia had told them.
Delphia’s flushed face now turned completely crimson and she began to stammer, ‘I hope he will..., I mean yes, he promised...’
The twins looked at her expectantly. ‘Oh, it’s no use,’ Delphia burst out, and her tears started to flow. Gertie ran to her and placed a comforting arm on her shoulder.
Soon the slave girl regained her composure. Whilst stroking Britney’s head, which rested on her lap, Delphia told the twins about Callistus, and about how he had sworn undying love to her in his father’s almond groves outside the town wall; but also how he was soon to marry, if his father had his way.
‘His father has made a match with a wealthy widow. If they are to be married my heart will simply break on that day,’ Delphia sobbed, and Gertie’s eyes also misted over. Laurie sighed. Why did girls always have to cry?
‘We have some hours before the feast. At this moment much of Pompeii is asleep or resting indoors.’ Delphia had dried her tears and paused expectantly.
‘I have told Callistus of your wish to see Pompeii. He is of the opinion that right now is the best time for exploring the city’s mysteries, and he offers to be our guide. ‘Do you still wish to explore the wonders of Pompeii?
CHAPTER 12 – POMPEII


The Stabian Gate protected Pompeii from unwanted intruders towards the southeast corner of the city. To this day remnants of the temple of Isis and the Theatre Palaestra, both situated just inside the gate, bear witness to the ingenuity of Roman architecture, as do the painstakingly excavated temples of Apollo and Jupiter.
But if Francesca’s book had allowed the twins a glimpse at what the past may have been like, the sensation of seeing it with their own eyes was quite another matter. Nothing and no one could have prepared them for the visual spectacle that was Pompeii. Its rich colours and exotic fragrances, the latter not all pleasant – except to Britney, who’d been known to delightfully sink her nose into a pile of cow manure.
What a stroke of luck it had been for them to meet Delphia. Not only had she got them an invite to the most exclusive party in town, she had arranged for the best possible guide they could have wished for; Callistus. Gertie could see why Delphia’s heart was in a flutter. Not only was he tall, blond and handsome, he was also polite and friendly to a fault. Britney co
mpletely approved and Gertie continuously tried to stop the cheeky terrier from licking the handsome young Roman’s bare calves.
For the past few hours Callistus had patiently explained the concepts of Roman architecture. For instance, the mechanism that kept constant fresh water flowing in the entire city’s public baths and households: water that sprang from deep within the earth was collected along with rainwater, and stored high up in the hills in large, supremely built underground storage tanks, known as aqueducts. From there water flowed through the city’s subterranean network of lead and copper pipes into public baths and private homes.
‘Romans take cleanliness very serious,’ Callistus revealed, full of pride. ‘Most citizens visit the baths several times a week. The late Emperor Augustus built the aqueduct known as the Aqua Augusta and for more than eighty years it has supplied Pompeii and the eight cities around it with fresh water.’
They were standing on the steps of the Temple of Isis, which allowed them an unobstructed view of the Stabian Bath’s main entrance opposite. Gertie couldn’t believe the amount of people who entered and left the bath; nor had she expected them to be of such a variety. Her eyes wandered from a well-built man in white and purple striped robes - obviously a politician of sorts - to a frail old man draped in tattered rags.
‘To be clean is not a privilege of the rich in Pompeii,’ said Callistus, who had noticed Gertie’s observation. ‘But I must confess that many people visit the baths at the moment because of late our water supplies have run low.’ Callistus directed the twins’ gaze towards a dried, cracked water fountain at the bottom of the steps of the temple. Like the pipes that supplied it with water, the fountain was crafted from lead and copper.
‘Many years ago we would have quenched our thirst from it. Pompeii had a multitude of public fountains, but the big earthquake of seventeen years ago destroyed most.’ Callistus pointed at the barren fountain. ‘This was one of the few rebuilt, but it has been dry these past months. There is talk of an earthquake like none before.’
The mood had grown somber and Laurie was determined to change the subject, ‘Where are the copper pipes made?’
‘The copper is brought from the far corners of the empire to the workshop of Marcus Ferronimus; Pompeii’s most accomplished blacksmith. It is said that he crafted the copper harness and helmet for the Emperor’s coronation.’
‘He must have tons of copper wire at his workshop,’ Laurie probed further, before whispering to Gertie, ‘Copper is a conductor for electricity.’ Gertie had all but forgotten about their need for a new power supply. Maybe Laurie was on to something?
‘Remember the gladiators?’ Laurie again changed the subject. ‘You promised to show us where they practice.’
Delphia and Gertie rolled their eyes in unison. What was it with boys and fighting?
‘I have waited until now for a reason,’ Callistus said, whilst checking the sundial on a nearby building. ‘Just before sundown is the best time to observe the gladiators at their practice.’
The twins had liked Callistus on sight and Britney approved fully. The little dog could not believe her luck. First a donkey, then a friendly cook with plenty of boar sausage just for dogs. Now a strapping young man, who seemed to like nothing more than running about town with her. Could things get any better?
They were now walking on the main street, the Cardo Maximus, which began at the Vesuvius gate, at the northwest corner of the city wall. From here it led through all of Pompeii right to another guarded gate, which opened onto the road to Stabiae.
Britney kept running to and fro, determined not to miss a single thing this place had in store for her, when she came across a fragrance she recognized instantly; boar sausage. The clever little dog moved towards the smell and soon found its origin: Flavia. The cook from the house of Apolloneus had just exited the crumbled ruin of a house, its dilapidated façade covered in graffiti.
‘The gladiatorial troupe of Cortulus Aurelianus will fight at Pompeii on 16 June; come and eat all the pig you can,’ it said in faded letters. 
Flavia carried a basket, empty for all but some wilted greens. Whatever food she’d carried was safely bestowed elsewhere, and no one would have recognised her, disguised by a dark shawl. But whilst Britney’s eyes might have been fooled, her exquisitely honed sense of smell wasn’t.
Still, something stopped Britney from running up to her new friend. The way Flavia was continuously checking over her shoulders. Here was a woman who did not want to be seen. After a final tightening of the shawl around her face she turned, and quickly walked away.
Britney was about to return to where she’d left the twins, when she noticed movement behind one of the broken windows of the house. It was on the first floor and, once again, would not have been seen by anyone other than a very observant little dog.
It was a woman draped in a tattered black cloak. Long silver strands of wispy hair were blowing in the breeze and hung to below her waist. Her skin was white as milk; but her eyes, piercing and almost black, were the eyes of a much younger woman; one who had seen the best and the worst of times. As suddenly as she had appeared she was gone and the little dog finally ran away.
Had Britney been allowed to watch the woman for a while longer she might have noticed the strange, tattoo-like markings on the woman’s arms; like tribal images they glistened, black and shiny.
CHAPTER 13 – THE GLADIATOR


The Palaestra – the gladiator’s training area - was situated next to the gladiator’s barracks and directly behind the arena that regularly housed fights. Incidentally, it was only a short distance from the house of the Lady Julia Felix, where preparations for the evening to come were in full force.
The twins could hear the hustle of a crowd of onlookers as they approached and Gertie shuddered when she imagined the blood spilled in the name of entertainment. How could one human being kill another? It was barbaric. Laurie agreed, but after reading a chapter on gladiators in Francesca’s book he was no longer sure what to believe.
‘It says here that gladiators were the soccer champions of Roman times. Kind of like David Beckham, I guess. They provided entertainment for the masses and helped the common man get rid of his aggressions.’
But Gertie wasn’t convinced. All she could think of was how silly David Beckham looked dressed up as a gladiator in a television commercial she’d seen him in.
‘I hope we won’t see any blood,’ Gertie whined, but Callistus shook his head vigorously.
‘That is exactly the reason I brought you here at this time. These fights are in good spirits and meant only for practice and training.’
Soon they joined the crowd. The jeering mass showed their support for one of the gladiators, named Demetrius, and Britney assisted by happily barking along. The twins had never seen a man of such giant proportions before.
‘Look at the size of his neck,’ Laurie gulped, and Gertie could only stare at the colossus of a man.
His skin was the colour of ebony and glistened in the early evening sun, and his shaved head was covered by a bronze helmet, which just about revealed intelligent, pale brown eyes and thick, cracked lips.
‘Demetrius is a favorite to win tomorrow’s games,’ Callistus announced, as the gladiators began to half-heartedly fight one another. ‘He has survived nineteen fights. He needs but one more win for his freedom.’
Gertie’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Then he’ll be a free man?’
‘Not only that,’ replied Callistus. ‘He will be given a grand villa by the sea, a wife and more gold than he will ever be able to spend.
‘That sounds fair,’ said Laurie.
‘Fair?’ cried Gertie. ‘I wonder if he agrees.’
As if on command, Demetrius seemed to suddenly wake from his subdued state. Like an engine that had just been switched on he reared up and was ready to fight. He began wielding his wooden sword, which, during the fight tomorrow, would be replaced by a deadly blade. There were five men, all strong and well proportioned, but within minutes it became clear that none of them was a match for Demetrius. Although outnumbered, one by one he forced them to retreat. Soon all of Demetrius’ opponents had retreated into the safety of the gladiators’ barracks.
‘He didn’t use half of his strength. Imagine him at full power. He will be magnificent tomorrow,’ Callistus beamed. ‘We must place bets for the fight.’
Demetrius stood in front of his adoring onlookers and took off his helmet. With flourish he took a deep bow. The crowd went wild, and no one paid any attention to the man who approached Demetrius from behind. He was one of the gladiators Demetrius had just defeated. His face bore bruises and there was a cut on his left shoulder. Grim-faced, he looked determined to get revenge at any cost.
Demetrius’ supporters were too busy congratulating themselves on a sure win for tomorrow, and they didn’t see the silver dagger the man had pulled from the folds of his leather harness.
But Britney saw it. The little dog virtually flew over the fence into the arena. Like an arrow fired from a bow she honed in on her target. So quickly, the callous man never saw her approach. Demetrius rose from his bow and raised his arms towards the crowd. This gave his assailant more cover and he raised the dagger high into the sky. Just as he began to thrust his weapon towards Demetrius Britney catapulted herself into the air until her sharp little fangs had hold of the man’s biceps. The man cried out and dropped the dagger. The crowd gasped as one and then fell silent. All that could be heard was Britney’s growling as she bared her teeth. The man had dropped to his knees and nursed the bite on his arm. One look from Demetrius was enough to send him running back to the barracks.
Britney shook herself, before licking Demetrius’ hand. The crowd was waiting and the silence was absolute. What would the great gladiator’s reaction be?
With a swift movement of his left arm Demetrius lifted Britney high up into the dusty air.
‘Let us praise my savior,’ he shouted in a low, husky voice. Within moments the arena broke into applause and shouts of approval. Then the crowd erupted into the arena itself. Several strong men grabbed Demetrius and lifted him up onto their shoulders. Britney seemed to enjoy being held high above the crowd during the march of honor that followed, and the twins were beside themselves with pride.
No one wasted time to look at Mount Vesuvius, which at that precise moment sent a cloud of smoke into the air; a dark promise of future events, which the volcano fully intended to keep.
CHAPTER 14 - THE EMERALD SERPENTS


Gertie couldn’t believe that the girl in the mirror wasn’t a Roman princess, and neither could Laurie. He had seen his twin sister in fancy dress before, but this was not just a disguise, it was a complete transformation.
‘Hold still, child,’ barked Flavia, whilst pulling the final strands of Gertie’s hair into the elaborate style she had created. Gertie gritted her teeth, as she’d been doing for what seemed like hours, and forcefully smiled at the stranger in the mirror.
She hated to admit it, but Flavia had performed magic. How had she transformed a frizzy mop of reddish-brown hair into this elegant creation of tumbling curls and intricate waves? Flavia had also applied delicate make-up to Gertie’s face, as was the custom for young girls all over the Roman Empire.
‘I look amazing,’ Gertie exclaimed breathily.
‘I am glad you think so, your majesty,’ Flavia snorted, though secretly she agreed. The girl looked divine in her simple toga and elaborate hair and make-up. In all her years as a servant she’d rarely encountered a girl with better manners or a sweeter nature.
‘As long as you’re happy,’ sulked Laurie, who was being helped with his toga by Delphia. ‘I look like a girl in a dress.’
‘Nonsense,’ barked Flavia, her eyes full of mischievous sparkle. ‘I have not seen a finer pair of legs since…’
‘Since feeding Pompi,’ Gertie completed the sentence, and they all erupted into laughter at Laurie’s expense.
Laurie was not amused, but realized there was little he could change. This was what men wore in ancient Rome. He would attract more attention than they already had if he didn’t blend in at tonight’s feast.
There was a knock on the door. It was Apolloneus, who was now dressed in his most formal robes of gold and purple. He even wore glistening powder on his face and crimson pigment on his lips and cheeks, as was the custom with noblemen in antiquity.
The twins rose and bowed to show their respect, and presented themselves to Apolloneus’ judging gaze. He nodded and smiled; a sign of his approval.
‘The Emperor would be proud of his ambassadors,’ Apolloneus concluded. The twins lowered their eyes, ashamed to keep up the pretence, but what could they do? The truth would almost certainly be too much for their newfound friends.
Even Demetrius the gladiator, who’d made them promise to cheer for him during tomorrow’s games, would have trouble accepting the fact that they were time-travelers from the future. He had, however, promised them and their dog friendship for life. One never knew when one needed the services of a bloodthirsty gladiator.
Apolloneus had brought with him a small, wooden box, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and precious amber.
‘These belonged to my late wife,’ he said, and his voice cracked with painful memories. ‘We were not blessed with children of our own, but had we been granted a daughter…’ His voice trailed off as he remembered past times as he opened the box.
He revealed two beautiful hair ornaments and handed them to Gertie. She could barely catch her breath as she looked at the delicate objects, which were made from pure gold. They were crafted in the shape of two serpents, each wound tightly around a curved comb. On closer inspection Gertie could see that the serpents’ heads were covered in tiny rubies, whilst their eyes were flawless emeralds.
‘These are too valuable, I could never accept them.’ Gertie stammered, but Apolloneus would hear nothing of it.
‘They are only of value if they give joy to the person who wears them.’
Flavia took the emerald serpents from Gertie’s hands. Gently, but with deliberation, she attached the precious hair ornaments to Gertie’s hair.
No one noticed Serpinius, who was watching through the open door. He had been observing Apolloneus’ growing attachment to the twins and did not like it one bit.

*****

As the sun set over the Bay of Naples, the noble citizens of Pompeii made their way to the villa of the Lady Julia Felix. They came by chariot and sedan chair, and some even walked. But none would have missed this event. Would the Lady pick another husband tonight? Would the magistrates discuss how to best spend the city’s gold?
Looking at the women who attended the feast, it was hard to believe there was any gold left in the empire. There were tiaras, chokers and necklaces. Even the men were draped in jewelry. Yes, the birthday celebration of the Lady Julia Felix was going to be a magnificent occasion, but would it be remembered tomorrow? Time would tell.
The twins and their hosts were just about to leave the house when Serpinius opened the door to admit Rufus Polybius, his wife Minerva and their son Callistus. Laurie and Gertie had just come down the stairs, when they heard the tail end of a conversation between husband and wife, obviously not meant for their ears.
‘He is far too old, and she will soon tire of him,’ Rufus Polybius’ nasal voice cut through the evening birdsong.
‘That is not a valid reason to...’ Minerva Polybius cut short her reply at the sight of Serpinius behind the open door. Serpinius’ bow was so low, he could easily have kissed the shimmering floor mosaic of Apollo, which was meant to bless visitors to the house. He rose and smiled slyly, ‘Apollo’s good wishes to you all. May Artemis grant all your wishes...’
‘Yes, yes, Serpinius,’ Rufus Polybius interrupted him abruptly. ‘I’m sure you mean to bless us, just like you bless all around you.’
The two men stared at one another in prickling silence, but then Serpinius remembered his place. He was master of servants, but a servant nonetheless. He lowered his eyes with false modesty and let Rufus pass, but lifted his gaze to smile insincerely at Rufus’ wife.
Minerva Polybius was timid; a shadow of the woman she might have been in her youth. Her face was sallow and devoid of life or emotion, but adorned in crimson silk and bejeweled to the teeth she made a handsome picture next to her overbearing husband.
Callistus entered the house respectfully behind his parents. Like his father, he wore a purple-striped white toga that asserted his high standing in Pompeii’s society. He smiled at the twins, who were descending the stairs. Behind them was Delphia. She almost tripped when she saw Callistus, but quickly regained her composure. Her flushed face was less obvious at night, lit by the flickering light of countless oil lamps. Callistus’ demeanor changed in an instant. Where before he had been lackluster, now his eyes were shining bright and his gaze hopeful.
‘Ah,’ exclaimed Rufus Polybius when he saw the twins. ‘These must be the travelling children. The town is ablaze with rumors.’
Gertie took Laurie’s hand when they reached the ground floor. Something about this man inspired awe, but also a feeling of unease. Maybe Rufus Polybius would not be fooled as easily as the others had been. They would have to be careful.
‘Tell me,’ Rufus continued to probe, ‘how is the new Emperor’s health?’
Apolloneus must have confided in Rufus, Laurie thought. All of Pompeii probably believed that the twins were spies sent by the Emperor. It was only a matter of time before someone found out the truth.
‘When we left the Emperor his health was fantastic.’ Gertie blurted out. She wondered if she’d just introduced a new word into the first century. But, as it turned out, this was going to be the least of their problems.
‘I am glad to hear it.’ Rufus Polybius replied. ‘Especially since he is without his physician at present.’
The twins looked at Rufus. What was he talking about? Was he trying to trick them? Maybe he really had found out the truth about them.
‘Surely you know that Apollinaris, who was the late Emperor Vespasian’s physician, is now preserving the health of our new Emperor of two months; Titus.’
Laurie froze, but thankfully Apolloneus made his entrance at that point. He escorted his guests into the main courtyard, where Flavia and Delphia served them sweet, cooled wine. The twins were left alone at the bottom of the stairs and Gertie could see that something was wrong.
‘What is it, Laurie?’
‘I can’t tell you here,’ he whispered, whilst virtually dragging her up the stairs, ‘we must look at Francesca’s book.’

‘This is worse than I thought,’ Laurie cried when they got back to the room they had been given. He pointed at the open book in front of them.
‘I don’t understand. What are you trying to show me?’
Laurie took his sister’s hands into his own. The news was terrible and he wasn’t sure how best to tell her.
‘The Roman Emperor Vespasian died in June of the year 79 AD. The Emperor Titus succeeded him.’ Laurie waited for his sister to react. When she didn’t, he continued. ‘Don’t you remember? Delphia and Rufus Polybius have both told us that they’ve had a new Emperor for two months now. If the old one died in June...’
Gertie finally made the connection, and even though the air was warm she felt cold shivers running down her spine.
‘On what date did the volcano destroy Pompeii?’ she asked. Her eyebrows lifted in hope. Laurie’s eyes flew over the pages of the book.
‘On the early morning of the twenty-fourth of August in the year 79 AD.’

Rufus Polybius was being congratulated by Apolloneus on his election to the post of Lower Magistrate several months earlier. ‘It is true,’ Rufus said self-importantly, ‘I would have preferred the post of Upper Magistrate, whose power is so much greater.’ He trailed off and stared into space. In his mind he was spending the fortunes of Pompeii, a privilege reserved for the Upper Magistrate.
‘We will fight for that post in the New Year, old friend. May Fortuna guide the winning man,’ Apolloneus said as he raised his chalice to the sky. Rufus smiled and he, too, raised his drink. But his smile did not reach his eyes. Friends or not; it was clear that he intended to win at any cost.
Just then the twins appeared in the garden.
‘What is the date today?’ Laurie blurted out.
The small group fell silent, as it was not customary for children to interrupt adults.
‘Why, it is the birthday of the Lady Julia, child,’ Rufus Polybius said flippantly, as if it was obvious to anyone with half a brain. Laurie looked at Delphia, who was keeping the guests cool by fanning them with a large palm-leaf. Delphia awaited permission to speak, which Apolloneus gave with a silent nod.
‘Today is the twenty-third day of the month of August.’
At that moment, as if to confirm Delphia’s statement, Mount Vesuvius sent an enormous cloud of soft, white ashes high up into the night sky. This was accompanied by a soft rumbling of the earth, which was felt as far away as Misenium and Neapolis. But by the time the ashes settled like silver frost on the rooftops and marble statues of Pompeii, the birthday celebrations of the Lady Julia were in full force.
The tragic destiny of every honored guest had long been set in volcanic stone and could not be changed, and the valued guests of honor were named Laurentius and Gertrudis.
CHAPTER 15 – A ROMAN FEAST


And so the last night of the ancient wonder that was Pompeii commenced with a feast, the likes of which the region of Campania had never seen before. Contrary to rumors the Emperor Titus did not attend - much to the twins’ relief - but every other noble member of Roman society was present and definitely visible.
It had been decided that a walk to the Lady Julia’s villa would encourage a good appetite and the colourful procession was admired by many citizens. Most had not been lucky enough to procure an invite to this momentous event, and they watched with great envy.
Laurie and Gertie’s minds were ablaze with desperate thoughts of how to avoid the feast without arousing too much suspicion. They were, after all, guests of honor. Unfortunately, Serpinius had been ordered by Apolloneus to keep a protecting eye on the children. This meant he was never more than four steps behind them.
At one point he helped Gertie, who had stumbled over her toga’s long train - to rearrange her toga and the twins were beginning to wonder if they might have been wrong in judging Serpinius too quickly.
Halfway through their brief journey Callistus got Laurie’s attention by pointing towards a barricaded shop front. 
‘Earlier you expressed an interest in our coppersmith. This is the workshop of Marcus Ferronimus,’ he said and Laurie made a mental note of the location. How he would get access to the shop was another matter.

The magnificent garden of the Lady Julia Felix had been transformed into a magical wonderland of burning torches and sweeping garlands. Britney was having a field day sniffing all the exotic plants and flowers that had been brought from the far corners of the empire. Most of them would be of no use tomorrow, but for tonight they would lend their fragrance to bewitch the rich of Pompeii.
As expected, Gaius Plinius Secundus - known to all as Pliny the Elder - had arrived early. He and his family lived at Misenium, just across the Bay of Naples, and he was delivered by his private galley. Talk of a further earthquake had frightened the rest of his family from making the brief journey. Pliny’s nephew, aptly named Pliny the Younger, had only approved his uncle’s journey when the latter had promised to return to Misenium no later than midnight.
Pliny the Elder was a short, stocky man with a full white beard and mischievous smile. Highly thought of as a natural philosopher in antiquity, he was an accomplished writer of books on botany and history, and had recently taken a keen interest in the phenomenon of volcanoes.
‘It is only a matter of time before Mount Vesuvius takes back what we mortals have claimed as ours without right or thought,’ he said to his audience of onlookers, who hung on every syllable he spoke. ‘The constant rumbling of the Earth and the unexpected migration of birdlife have long been observed. The drying up of the Aqua Augusta is almost certainly the final warning sign.’
Rufus Polybius lifted his glass for a servant to refill it with wine, and he slurred smugly, ‘For as long as this wine does not stop flowing I shall not miss any water.’
No one else in the group seemed to agree with him and an uncomfortable silence followed. Pliny was known to be a kind-hearted man, but it was plain to see that he did not approve of Rufus Polybius.
‘Do not underestimate the power of nature, Rufus, for once released she will bring us all to our knees,’ Pliny lectured passionately.
Laurie took Gertie aside and told her about some of the things he had learned about Pliny in Francesca’s book.
‘Pliny was very ahead of his time. He was one of the first to actually study volcanoes and what caused them to erupt.’
He and Gertie took chunks of flatbread from a tray that was offered to them by a silken-skinned Egyptian manservant. Britney drooled as she watched them dip the bread into a provided bowl, which was filled with thick, green olive oil, garlic and crushed herbs.
Between mouthfuls of the scrumptious bread Laurie continued. ‘There are different kinds of volcano eruptions and Pliny was one of the first to document this. Back in the future the most explosive types of eruptions are actually named after him: Plinian Explosions.’
Gertie’s mouth was wide open with awe, and before she closed it she quickly popped in another piece of bread. Finally, she offered a morsel to Britney, who devoured it without swallowing.
 ‘In the final chapter in Francesca’s book it says that the force of Vesuvius’ destruction was almost three hundred times stronger than that of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima,’ Laurie completed his lecture.
The manservant offered his tray to Gertie again, but her appetite had well and truly vanished. What were they going to do? ‘We have to leave now, Laurie, or it will be too late. Phaedra is less than half a mile from the volcano…’
‘Don’t you think I know that?’ Laurie snapped. ‘But first we must go to the blacksmith’s workshop.’
Serpinius had crept closer and strained to hear what it was the twins were talking about in hushed tones.
‘We’ll wait for Serpinius to get more food and then we’ll make a run for it.’
Just then harsh sounds of a confrontation interrupted the pleasant buzz of conversation. ‘You are an old man and should leave courtship to the young. You know as well as I do that Callistus is a perfect choice of husband for the Lady.’
The rest of the room had grown quiet as Rufus Polybius staggered into the garden through a gilded archway. He was drunk and was unaware of the attention his words had garnered amongst the guests. Following him with swift steps was Apolloneus. His familiar smile was absent and deep frown lines betrayed the argument the two men were having.
‘It appears the choice has been made, and not by myself; as I have been trying to tell you,’ Apolloneus replied. ‘And as for the post of Upper Magistrate…’ he fell silent when he became aware of the spectacle they were creating. The men stopped their quarrelling at once.
Minerva Polybius appeared out of nowhere and calmly took her husband to one side. She looked at the twins and gave them an apologetic smile.
‘I shall offer my assistance to Minerva Polybius,’ said Serpinius and scuffled off in their direction.
‘It can’t be easy being married to that bully,’ said Gertie, but Laurie’s mind was elsewhere.
‘Right now might be the best time to disappear,’ he suggested. But the deafening sound of a gong put a stop to that idea and brought silence to the assembly.
Like a vision in gold and silk, the Lady Julia Felix appeared in the midst of the garden. Apolloneus’ painting had barely scratched the surface of her beauty, and the twins were not the only ones made breathless by her charisma. If Francesca grew up to look like this she would prove to be a popular girl.
‘Welcome, my friends and honored guests. I thank you for attending this humble feast. I pray our wine and food have pleased you,’ she said in a husky voice that commanded absolute attention. The crowd applauded politely. ‘I thank you for bestowing your generous gifts upon this simple girl,’ she said and smiled, whilst stroking an enormous golden ring on her finger; the ruby on it was the size of a quail’s egg, and the crowd chuckled. ‘Allow me to give you a gift in return,’
Sounds of footsteps and the rustling of fabric being swept across tiles interrupted the silence. All eyes moved towards the arch leading into the Lady’s house.
Who could be arriving this late?
The steps were getting louder, as was another sound; a multitude of little silver bells, accompanied by a woman’s low, melodious humming.
CHAPTER 16 - THE ORACLE


‘Come on, Gertie, let’s go,’ Laurie hissed.
‘I want to see who it is,’ Gertie replied. ‘Another minute won’t make a difference.’
A unanimous gasp rose from the crowd as many of the guests recognized the late arrival. A woman descended into the garden. Countless bells, sewn into her tattered, black dress rang gently as they brushed against the polished marble steps. Much of her milky, white skin was covered by torn, faded black silk and the bells on the dress shone like stars in the flickering light of the garden’s countless torches. A sudden gust of wind played havoc with her long, white hair as she passed the twins. Gertie caught a whiff of faded lavender and glimpsed the woman’s partially exposed back.
‘Did you see those black markings on her skin?’ Gertie gasped. Laurie nodded, before lifting Britney up off the floor. The little dog had begun to growl in recognition the moment the mysterious woman had entered the garden.
‘They looked like some kind of tattoos or tribal markings,’ said Laurie.
The Lady Julia Felix silenced the crowd with a mere gesture of her nimble hand, until the only sound left was the woman’s low-pitched humming.
‘My friends; you all know Cassandra to be one of Pompeii’s most gifted oracles. Tonight, to repay you for your kindness, I give to you the gift of premonition,’ she said in a firm voice, before stepping aside for the famed mystic.
Cassandra lifted her long arms towards the sky, and abruptly, her humming stopped.
‘Millions will walk to explore where many of you must soon rest forever,’ Cassandra said, her voice unlike her appearance, youthful and pleasing. ‘There will be no more feasts or murals in Pompeii.’
The crowd, deadly silent until now, erupted into a buzz of disapproval. What was this silly old crone talking about? Tonight’s feast was only the first in a season of many to come.
‘Silence,’ Cassandra boomed, her voice sharp as an eagle’s cry. The crowd, surprisingly, obeyed instantly. ‘The mountain will have her way and reclaim what was always hers. But some of you may still be saved.’ Cassandra looked straight at the twins, who felt the room grow cold.
After a moment of disbelief - the woman was clearly mad - most of the guests returned to their wine and conversation. Only a few of them appeared uneasy and discreetly left for their homes.
Delphia approached the twins. Her face was flushed and her eyes were red. Had she been crying? The Lady Julia’s laughter echoed across from the garden, where she and Callistus were clinking glasses.
‘The master wishes to leave,’ Delphia snapped. The twins had not seen Delphia like this before. She appeared angry.
‘What happened to your arm?’ asked Gertie when she noticed a dark stain on her friend’s shoulder. Delphia quickly hid her arm within the folds of her toga.
‘I must take better care when I collect firewood,’ Delphia mumbled, but the twins were sure she was hiding something from them.
‘You must go now!’ Cassandra had appeared by their side and she repeated her advice. ‘Time is precious and you have yet to heal your vessel.’
‘How do you know...?’ Laurie began was interrupted by a high-pitched scream.
Minerva Polybius flew down the steps into the garden. She was breathing hard and her hands were shaking with fear as she approached the Lady Julia.
‘You must send for the Roman Guard at once, my Lady!’
The Lady Julia took Minerva’s hands and tried to comfort her. ‘Calm thee, Minerva. What can be so great a tragedy for me to call the guard?’
‘Follow me into your home, and I shall show you.’ Minerva replied.
Moments later the twins were looking at Apolloneus. He was lying on the marbled floor, right on top of a mosaic of Mars; the Roman god of war. Apolloneus’ eyes were open, but they would never see again, for he was dead. A silver dagger had been thrust into his heart and his hands were clasped around it, as if trying to ease the pain.
Most of the guests had assembled around the body, but it was Delphia who reacted first. She flung her lithe body across Apolloneus, willing him to get up and reveal the joke he had played on them. To and fro she rocked in disbelief, until Serpinius stepped from the crowd and virtually pulled her off Apolloneus’ body.
‘Oh, father,’ she wailed, and the crowd reacted. What had the slave girl just called Apolloneus?
‘What is that?’ A small object protruding from Apolloneus’ tight fist had caught the Lady Julia’s attention. She nodded at one of her slaves, who kneeled down next to the body. Soon he handed her the object.
‘Why, it is an ornament,’ she revealed with a frown. All eyes were on the precious object in her hand. What was it? Surely it was stained with blood and belonged to the culprit; the murderer. Before Gertie could see the object in detail, her hands flew to her hair. She could feel one of the hair ornaments, but where was the other? The Lady Julia stepped close to Gertie.
‘Is this the object you are looking for, devil child?’ she spat and thrust her hand towards Gertie.
And there, in her bejeweled hand, the Lady Julia Felix held one of the emerald serpents.
CHAPTER 17 - NO WAY OUT


‘How could this have happened,’ wept Gertie, before she hid her tear-streaked face in her hands. Here she was, alone in a bare cell carved out of rock, deep beneath the Temple of the Venus Pompeiiana. There were no windows, but she was sure it was way past midnight. Time was running out.
The cell had once been a cave, used as catacombs, and countless skulls and bones served as gruesome reminders. It was also the place where Christians were kept locked up, before they were fed to the lions at the circus.
Gertie had searched the cell for a possible escape route, but with no luck. Her only hopes now were with Laurie and Britney. She could forget about getting any help from Delphia, who obviously believed that Gertie had indeed murdered Apolloneus; who, as it turned out, was Delphia’s father. What a mess!
Gertie would never forget the look in Delphia’s eyes. She only hoped that she’d be given time to prove her innocence, so that their brief friendship would not be tarnished forever.
Again and again Gertie had tried to remember how one of the emerald serpents could have ended up with Apolloneus’ body, but it was no use. Whoever the true culprit was, they had planned their dastardly deed well.
A few hours from now, after the volcano had erupted, the temple above and the cell holding Gertie would be destroyed and buried. Was she destined to become one of the victims to be found in two thousand years?
CHAPTER 18 - A LIGHT IN THE DARK


Britney was in her element. Why was it that humans only depended on their four-legged best friends when a situation appeared hopeless? She could have told the twins this whole trip had been a bad idea from the start, but as usual no one had listened to her. Come to think of it, they didn’t speak her language. Even those silly necklaces, whose high-pitched noise she couldn’t stand, couldn’t help translate the language of dogs.
‘Where are you taking me, Britney?’ Laurie whispered, quite out of breath.
He and the little dog hadn’t slowed down since the Roman guard had almost caught them earlier. Laurie had wanted to stay with Delphia, but Britney had decided that this was not the time to find out who was friend or foe. They had to leave and find a safe place to stay, and Britney knew just the place.

 ‘Phew, it really smells here,’ Laurie complained some time later. What was this place, and how had Britney found it?
Really? Britney didn’t think so. In fact, she rather liked the smell of bird-droppings and cat pee. But, as usual, there was no accounting for human taste.
‘How did you know this place was empty?’ Laurie asked, whilst he scratched Britney’s head. ‘I guess we are safe for the moment, but what are we going to do about getting Gertie freed?’
Laurie sat down in a dark corner and hugged his knees to his chest. What would aunt Hortense do now?
‘No dinner, and off to bed,’ said his aunt’s voice inside his mind. If only she was here.
Britney had cuddled up to Laurie, but now she lifted her head. Slowly her hackles went up and a low growl started at the back of her throat.
‘Oh, no,’ Laurie cried softly. ‘How could they find us so quickly?’ But when Laurie peeked through the broken window he saw no one outside. All he could hear was a gentle humming.
Soon it grew louder, and it was accompanied by the sound of countless bells. Laurie got up off the floor and tiptoed towards the stairs that led to the ground floor. That was when he saw the approaching light, and it was preceded by the faint smell of lavender.
CHAPTER 19 - A NEW MISTRESS


Flavia was not sure what more she should do. She had made a brew of fennel and chamomile. Under ordinary circumstances this was certain to calm frayed nerves, but Delphia simply refused to stop crying.
‘You don’t understand, Flavia,’ Delphia sobbed. ‘To find out I have a father, only to have him snatched by death’s cruel claws.’
Flavia hugged the crying girl to her ample bosom, not sure what else she could do. This girl was like a daughter to her and she had practically raised her from the age of two. She remembered the day when Apolloneus had brought her to the house.
‘I found her roaming the streets without her mother,’ he had explained to his wife, but Flavia had had her own reasons for knowing the truth. Thankfully, ancient Roman customs were somewhat different to those of the twenty-first century, and none of the neighbors had questions the presence of the new slave girl.
The girl had soon settled in and, as she’d grown older, had proved to be a loyal worker. The fact that she apparently had no mother or father appeared to have no effect on her happiness. Luckily she had never heard the gossip that surrounded her and Apolloneus; about how he was supposed to be her father and how her mother had been a slave girl who had long since passed into the Underworld.
That was until the master’s wife had died. It had no longer been necessary to spare the mistress’ feelings and only three weeks ago Apolloneus had confessed his true identity to his newly found daughter. But not all had been well.
‘What of my mother?’ Delphia had asked, her voice full of anguish. It had been too much for her young mind to take in. How could she love a man as her father, when for her whole life he had thought of her as a slave?
Could it be...? Had Delphia murdered her father out of revenge?
Flavia clasped both her hands over her mouth to stop herself from crying out. How could she even think such a thing? And yet...
What possible reason could the strange travelling girl have to mean the master harm?
‘The centurion was sure of the girl’s guilt?’ Flavia asked in a soft voice. The anger that had previously shown in Delphia’s eyes when Gertie’s name was mentioned seemed to have softened.
‘The hair ornament given to Gertrudis was found in the master’s..., in my father’s hand, but I...’ Delphia trailed off. Flavia could see the torment within Delphia. Could it be that Gertrudis was innocent?
‘Why ask these questions, Flavia?’ said Serpinius. As usual he had stepped from the dark without a warning. Flavia and Delphia put their hands on their hearts, which had just missed a beat.
‘To prevent an innocent soul from certain death,’ Flavia replied passionately. ‘For that is what Gertrudis will face if proven to be guilty.’
Serpinius interlaced his hands and offered an insincere smile, ‘Ah, but if only it were possible to prove otherwise. Sadly there is the hair ornament given to the girl by the master. I understand it was all the proof the centurion needed.’
Serpinius turned away and made for the stairs, and in parting he sneered, ‘And now you must forgive me, for I intend to collect the thousand Sestertius I was promised after the master’s demise; along with my freedom.’
Delphia rose and her face was flushed with anger. ‘The master is but dead two hours and you wish to collect your blood-money?’
Serpinius stopped, but only for a moment. ‘I should want to mourn the master with proper rites, but I fear that Mount Vesuvius will take care of it in good time.’
As if on command there was a sound of distant rumbling and the ground began to shake softly.
Outside silent lightning illuminated the night sky; a further sign of what was yet to come. Flavia and Delphia covered their hair with their hands, as dust fell from the ornate ceiling.
‘We are free, Flavia,’ Serpinius beamed and his eyes shone madly. ‘Isn’t this what every slave in Pompeii longs for?’
Flavia put her hands on Delphia’s shoulders before replying. ‘But you are not free, foolish man.’
Serpinius’ smile faded. What was she talking about?
‘Have you not forgotten the master’s daughter?’ she said, her voice as cold as steel. Delphia’s eyes widened in realization. Was it true?
‘The law is quite clear,’ Flavia insisted. ‘As it stands you had better hold your tongue in front of your new mistress.’
A whip to his back would not have caused a swifter change of heart. His face distorted with rage as he moved with almost supernatural speed. ‘No kinder deed than to reunite the child with her father,’ Serpinius roared and lunged at Delphia.
But if in all the years he thought he had seen all there was to Flavia, he was mistaken. Like a wild beast roused from restless sleep, Flavia flew at Serpinius. Had she had fangs she would have had him by the throat. As it was, her nails had to do, and with a great cry Flavia dug them into Serpinius’ eyes.
Delphia could only stand and stare at the two people she had known since she was a small child. They were embroiled in a fight like none Delphia had ever witnessed, and only one of them was destined to be the victor. Would Flavia be strong enough to defeat Serpinius?
The rumbling came as suddenly as it had before, but this time the shaking of the earth continued for several minutes. Delphia watched in horror as parts of the ceiling crumbled and fell towards her, and she escaped by a hand’s width. The house’s centre wall was next and like a pack of cards it collapsed all around them.
‘Flavia!’ Delphia screamed, but there was no reply. Oil lamps had dropped with the wall that had housed them, and the oil was spreading like quicksilver. Seconds later hungry flames began to devour everything within reach.
From the stables Delphia could hear Pompi bray loudly. She had all but forgotten her faithful donkey and hoped he would run away to safety.
At the foot of the stairs, where Flavia and Serpinius had been locked in fierce battle moments before, all that was left was a pile of rubble, with flames moving in swiftly.
‘Flavia!’ Delphia repeated her hopeless pleas, whilst the familiar world around her burned fiercely.
The apocalypse had begun.
CHAPTER 20 - A FAMILIAR SWORD


Laurie, Britney and Cassandra were running faster than either of them could remember having done before. They were on their way to the Temple of the Venus Pompeiiana. The earthquake had caused much damage all over town and many buildings had been completely destroyed. Everywhere Laurie looked he could see people covered in dust and dirt. Many of them were bleeding freely.
‘The gods have abandoned us,’ he heard one man cry in utter despair, whilst continuous lightning brightened the night sky.  The man’s wife and children were caught inside a house destroyed by the quake. Laurie desperately wanted to help, but knew there was no way he could.
‘Come along, child,’ Cassandra said in her low, soothing voice. ‘Or it will be too late for your sister.’
They continued moving west along the Cardo Maximus; the main street through Pompeii. To get to the temple they had to move towards Mount Vesuvius, and they were the only ones doing so. Hordes of people were streaming towards them, determined to put distance between themselves and the deadly mountain. Soon it was near impossible to get through the crowds.
The earthquake had caused a wide gap to open in the centre of the street; it began close to the Vesuvius Gate and was getting longer, wider and deeper as the earth continued to shake.
A mule, laden with a family’s belongings, had fallen into the gap, and Laurie could see its owners trying to drag it back onto the street. After a moment’s hesitation, and a further rocking of the ground, the poor animal was left to its own devices. Once again, Laurie could do nothing but watch.
‘We must find another way!’ Cassandra ordered and Laurie agreed. They would never make it through the sea of desperate people determined to escape the mountain’s wrath. ‘We shall walk along the City Gate. It is a greater distance but there will be fewer people.’ There is the boy, someone stop him!’ The voice belonged to a woman who had been at the Lady Julia’s birthday feast. ‘His sister killed Apolloneus and he is sure to be her accomplice. Someone call the Guard.’
Cassandra put her arms around Laurie protectively and Britney bared her teeth to anyone who dared to approach. This held the crowd at bay for a while, but for how much longer could it last?
‘Make way!’ a man’s voice boomed above all the mayhem. Britney began to wag her tail wildly in recognition and soon the crowd parted. In the darkness and with all the smoke around them Laurie had trouble recognizing his savior, but then he saw a glistening sword thrust high above the crowd. In the flickering light of a nearby torch Laurie recognized pale brown eyes that looked at him through the gap in a gladiator’s helmet, and he knew that they were safe for the moment.
‘On to the Temple of the Venus Pompeiiana,’ urged Cassandra and Laurie agreed. Finally they were doing something to save his sister.
Soon they were running towards the south corner of the city, where the gate opened onto the Marine Road beside the sea. From there they would follow the City wall, which would lead them to the temple. But how exactly, Laurie thought, were they going to release Gertie from a dungeon that had held great warriors captive without hope of escape?
‘I don’t expect you have a key to the dungeon?’ Laurie asked Demetrius, while they continued to run. The gladiator laughed and bared his teeth. He lifted his heavy sword high up into the sky once more. ‘Be brave, boy!’ he growled. ‘This key unlocks any door I have come upon on my journeys. Let the Venus Pompeiiana be the first to refuse me entry, if she dares.
CHAPTER 21 – BURIED ALIVE


For a moment Delphia thought that she had died. It was only when she felt the pain in her leg that she knew she was living still.
The fallen ceiling had put a halt to the worst of the fire, but soon flames were rekindling and biting at her bare legs. Delphia mustered all the strength she had left inside and lifted the sharp plank of wood that had fallen onto her legs. She winced in pain, but rose from the ground.
She brushed debris from her face and hair and got her bearings. The flames were bright enough to show that the main exit to the street was blocked. Where was she to go? She had to get out, and soon. Already she found it hard to breathe. Jupiter only knew how much longer the roof would hold.
‘Delphia,’ a familiar voice came from the outside.
‘I am in here,’ she cried, the pain in her leg all but forgotten. ‘The door is blocked. What am I to do?’
‘Do not move, I will find you,’ Callistus replied.
True to his word, and only minutes later, he was by her side. He held her tight for a moment, before guiding her towards the atrium. ‘The moving of the earth has caused the garden wall to collapse,’ he explained, ‘This is the only way and we must be quick, for I fear there will be worse movement before the night is done.’

*****

True to Demetrius’ word, neither the wooden temple gates nor the guards had been a match for his mighty sword. Already frightened by the earthquake and lightning, when the men who had guarded Gertie had recognized Demetrius – he was famous after all – they had simply dropped their weapons and fled. They’d had no wish to join their ancestors in Hades just yet. Gertie had hardly had time to thank her saviors, before the group had moved on to their next destination.
Now, here they were before the ruins of what had once been the beautiful House of Apolloneus, and the twins wondered if maybe they had come too late for Delphia.
Britney barked, as if to voice everyone’s disappointment, but Cassandra put a hand up to silence her. ‘If we are to survive this night we must be calm, and do so together. My business at the house of Apolloneus is not quite done.’
‘You must help us!’ Delphia sobbed, as she and Callistus emerged from the neighboring garden of the House of Lysander. Their clothes were torn and blackened, and dried blood covered Delphia’s right leg.
‘You are safe,’ Cassandra whispered, but only Laurie and Gertie had been close enough to hear it.
The ground began to shake again and bolts of soundless lightning appeared to be coming from the top of Mount Vesuvius.
‘It is not me you must help. We must go back to find Flavia,’ Delphia wailed. ‘We cannot leave without my beloved Flavia.’
‘Flavia, still inside the house?’ Cassandra muttered in disbelief. The ground shook again, and this time hard enough for the House of Lysander to be leveled to the ground in less than a minute. They all huddled together on the ground, but as soon as the earth was still once more Demetrius jumped over the remains of the garden wall and made for the atrium. Before the twins could stop Britney she had followed the gladiator.
CHAPTER 22 – ENTERING HADES


‘I respect all who are dead in this house and have no wish to disturb you.’ Demetrius shouted. ‘But if you are a woman that lives, and goes by the name of Flavia, you must answer me.’
Britney was carefully sniffing her way around the dark. Luckily, most of the flames had been extinguished by dropping debris, but dense smoke made it near impossible to breathe or see. Demetrius waited a while longer, then made up his mind and turned around. He was ready to leave this house, which had surely become a path to Hades, the underworld of the dead, resided over by the great God Pluto.
Britney’s barking stopped him, and only for an instant, but it was long enough.
‘I cannot see you, but I assure you I am amongst the living,’ Flavia’s whisper came from beneath the rubble. 
Delphia and Callistus returned from the stables, where they had found Pompi gone.
‘He is a clever donkey and will find safety well before we do,’ Callistus assured Delphia. They were holding hands and the twins had the feeling that nothing would ever separate these two again.
‘Fortuna be praised, for it is a miracle,’ Cassandra announced, and Delphia let go of Callistus’ hand to run towards Demetrius. The gladiator was carrying Flavia towards them, and Britney was leading the way; her head up high, like a warrior queen.
‘Oh, my Flavia. You are safe,’ Delphia cried. She cradled Flavia’s face in her hands and kissed it over and over.
‘I shall surely drown if you don’t cease this flood of tears and kisses.’ Flavia croaked in mock pretence. Then she saw Cassandra and Flavia’s face all but turned to stone. ‘You are here?’ she asked disbelievingly, and Cassandra nodded, her face blank and indecipherable. Delphia looked at Cassandra. Why was she here? And how was it Flavia knew Cassandra?
‘So, after all these years,’ Flavia said resignedly, ‘shall we be forced to tell the truth?’
‘What can you mean?’ asked Delphia.
‘I am your mother, Delphia,’ said Cassandra and in an instant her face looked as young as it might have done twenty years ago. Delphia could only look in amazement, first at Cassandra, then at Flavia.
‘And I your aunt, your mother’s sister,’ Flavia barely breathed.
Callistus held Delphia’s hand once more and Demetrius gently lowered Flavia to the ground. The gladiator appeared spellbound by this fierce woman he had saved. ‘Cassandra and I were the Empress Agrippina’s favorite servants,’ Flavia continued, but Cassandra’s eyes silenced her.
‘I have been silent for too long,’ Cassandra said ruefully and continued. ‘Your father was the only faithful Pompeian to our Empress on that night all others abandoned her. Nero’s henchmen had failed to murder her earlier that night aboard her galley, and Apolloneus had helped the Empress swim to safety.’
Cassandra hesitated, but Flavia nodded encouragingly and she continued. ‘The Empress and your father arrived at the palace, where Nero’s vile guard laid waiting. They murdered Agrippina in cold blood and left Apolloneus for dead.’
The memory became too much for Cassandra and Flavia continued. ‘We were watching from our hiding place and when the murderous cowards left we carried Apolloneus to a place of shelter.’
‘The ruin where Britney and I were hiding in?’ asked Laurie, and Cassandra nodded. ‘It was not always a ruin, just as I was once not a hag.’
‘Apolloneus recovered in our care,’ Flavia continued their story. ‘But duty bound him to return to his wife, who had thought him dead. Apolloneus could not forget my sister, and over the years their union has produced a lasting sign of their love.’ The sisters looked at Delphia, who was beginning to understand.
‘Can this be proved to be the truth?’ Delphia asked Flavia. ‘For I have heard too many revelations these past days to know who to believe anymore!’ Delphia’s burning gaze flew from the twins to Callistus, before settling on Flavia and Cassandra.
‘Reveal your shoulder to me, Delphia,’ Cassandra ordered gently, as she slowly lowered her own black rags to reveal white skin. The black marks the twins had noticed earlier that night appeared to move in the flickering glow of fire and torchlight. They were tattoos in the language of Jesus Christ: Aramaic. Delphia was overcome by a sense of recognition and slowly revealed her own shoulder. There, for all to see, was a smaller version of that same tattoo. What Gertie had earlier presumed to be a smudge of black paint, was a mark given to her when she was still an infant. ‘Apolloneus’ wife found out about the child, and who her mother was. She agreed to have Delphia raised at the House of Apolloneus, but insisted on the mark of Christianity to be put upon mother and daughter,’ Cassandra completed her tale and took her sister’s hand. ‘For we were born and raised as Christians.’
The twins could barely catch their breath or keep up with all they were hearing. But at long last there was no more doubt in Delphia’s mind.
‘Am I to be your daughter then?’
Cassandra did not reply, for she did not have to. Delphia could see in the eyes of the oracle what she had longed to see for many years. A mother’s love.
CHAPTER 23 – A SON’S LAMENT


‘We must make haste if we are to reach safety before dawn,’ Cassandra urged.
‘Serpinius has chosen the wrong path, but has he truly slain my father?’ cried Delphia. Her last word had scarcely left her mouth when, with another trembling of the ground, the house of Apolloneus collapsed with barely a sound. All that was left were the house’s back and sidewalls, the latter of which held Laurie and Gertie’s mural. It would soon be hidden beneath thirty meters of molten lava.
‘It appears the felon received his wages at last,’ Flavia said finally. ‘We may never know the truth.’
But Callistus disagreed. He roused himself, his face one of anguish and sudden realization. ‘I know the truth now,’ he said and his eyes were lowered, as if in shame. ‘I saw the truth at the feast, but did not know it for that. Like all others I was misled by a villain and judged Gertrudis.’
All were silent, except the rumbling mountain, which was biding its time to strike again.
Gertie tried to comfort Callistus. ‘You must not blame yourself for what has happened, but if you know who did this terrible thing...’
‘I do know it,’ he interrupted Gertie. He held Delphia’s hand tight in his own, and his eyes were heavy with sorrow. ‘Forgive me, sweet Delphia? For I know it is my parent I am protecting.’
‘I knew it,’ hissed Gertie, ‘Remember when we saw Rufus Polybius have that fight with Apolloneus?’
Laurie nodded silently and Gertie added, ‘I bet he wasn’t even drunk. He was just pretending, so he’d have an alibi. Later on everyone at the feast would remember him as being too drunk to murder Apolloneus.’
But Cassandra was not convinced.
‘How was Rufus able to put the blame on Gertrudis, and how did he obtain the emerald serpent?’
Gertie’s exhaled sharply; how could she not have remembered? ‘Remember when Serpinius helped me with my toga on the way to the feast? Maybe he took the Emerald Serpent and later gave it to Rufus Polybius.’
Delphia and Flavia agreed; it all made sense.
Yes, to all eyes Rufus and Serpinius had been enemies, but Apolloneus’ death had benefited them both. Serpinius was to be a freed man, whilst Rufus would soon be a father to the Lady Julia. And who knew? With Apolloneus gone, he might even have become an Upper Magistrate. Somewhere along the way Rufus and Serpinius had to have formed an unlikely alliance.
There was only one thing to do and it would prove to be the hardest task Callistus had undertaken during his brief, happy life.
CHAPTER 24 – DARK FACE ILLUMINATED


The walk from the ruined house of Apolloneus to the house of Rufus Polybius took only minutes, but by the time the destination was reached, the group of seven had expanded to a whispering crowd of fifty.
Word had spread like wildfire that Apolloneus’ true slayer had been discovered, and that justice was about to be done in Pompeii.
‘I always knew that dear child was innocent,’ declared the woman who one hour earlier had induced a mob to catch Laurie and Britney.
‘To think that the post of Lower Magistrate was not enough for the villain,’ snarled another.

*****

With a heavy heart Callistus knocked on the door of the house into which he was born eighteen years ago. All his memories were happy ones, but that was sure to change as soon as the door was opened. The sound of approaching footsteps made him want to turn around and flee, but the sure grip of Delphia’s hand in his own compelled him to stand tall.
‘Servant fools; running from a rumbling mountain in fear,’ Rufus Polybius’ voice boomed from inside as he opened the door. ‘Changed your mind and returned to beg me not whip you too hard, have you?’
He stopped dead in his tracks, unsure what to make of this assembly in front of his house. ‘Callistus, I thought you asleep long since,’ he said to his son. Then he saw Callistus’ hand in Delphia’s and his smile froze. ‘What do you mean by bringing a slave to my door?’
‘Her father lays slain, making her the mistress of the house of Apolloneus. Will you welcome her now, I wonder?’ said Callistus without a smile.
Rufus thought about this for a moment and under the watchful gaze of the crowd his smile returned, if somewhat forced. ‘Your happiness is my utmost concern, son.’ But even he didn’t believe his words.
Cassandra stepped to the front of the assembly, preceded by the ominous ringing of her many bells.
‘We have come for justice, Rufus, for we know the truth about dear Apolloneus. What treacherous thoughts you must have harbored for so long. He was your friend and always supported your cause.’
Confused, Rufus looked at her, but soon he began to laugh heartily. ‘I am to be accused of murder. How entertaining. Tell me, who is to be my judge?’ He pointed a sharp finger at Cassandra. ‘You, hag?’
The crowd exhaled as one and waited for Cassandra to reply, but she remained silent. The only sound came from crackling torches, carried by the mob.
‘I will be the judge, father,’ said Callistus solemnly. ‘But it is not you who stands accused.’
Delphia gasped, as did the crowd. Rufus was innocent? Rufus Polybius looked at his only son, whom he valued above all else in the world. If not he, Rufus, then who was to stand accused of murder?
‘It is me you came for,’ echoed a voice from the dark inside the house. Rufus turned around and opened the door fully. The light of countless torches slowly illuminated the approaching figure of Minerva Polybius.
But was it really the same woman? Earlier that evening Laurie had likened her to a mouse. The woman standing in front of them now was like a tigress, with her head held high and her eyes blazing at her accusers.
‘It is true,’ she snarled. ‘I murdered the old fool. But it was all for you, sweet son of mine. The Lady Julia is free and waiting for you.’
Could it be she still believed in a golden future for herself and her family? A mad smile distorted her fading features, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next; Callistus’ hand in Delphia’s.
‘Insolent slave,’ she spat at Delphia. ‘Move away from my son this instant!’ She moved towards Delphia, but Callistus blocked her way, and he was not to be deterred.
‘It was you Serpinius gave the emerald serpent to,’ cried Gertie. ‘Your husband really was drunk.’
Minerva’s upper lip curled in anger and she snarled, ‘That simpleton, Serpinius. Like a dog eager to please his new master he fetched me the hair ornament without delay.’
‘Why, Minerva? The riches I gave you were not enough?’ Rufus Polybius was crushed, and his voice barely audible.
‘Riches?’ she laughed hysterically. Slowly she turned to her husband. All this was his fault! ‘In charge of manure and rubble? I spit at your so-called riches! I paved the way for you to rise above all others. You might have been a senator one day, and I was to be the mother of the Lady Julia. What true riches would have awaited us there?’
‘No riches will ever restore a son’s love,’ said Callistus, his eyes downcast.
Minerva’s shoulders drooped low as the truth began to sink in; she had failed. Her only son had spurned the future she had wished to provide for him. With that she turned and walked back into the house, with her head held up high, just as before. Her shrill, mad laughter echoed through the crowd long after she’d gone.
‘What am I to do, son?’ asked Rufus. ‘I hold your mother dear and cannot abandon her in her hour of need.’
Father and son looked at one another long and hard, before Rufus embraced his son heartily. Then he entered his house and closed the door, never to open it again.
CHAPTER 25 – JUDGEMENT DAY


The twins and their newfound friends fought their way through the crowd and headed southwest, as the Marine Road appeared to be their only possible escape from the doomed city. If only they could find a boat that would take them across the bay to Neapolis. Surely they would be safe there. When they ran past Marcus Ferronimus’s workshop Laurie turned to Gertie. ‘You go with the others,’ he urged. ‘I have something to take care of.
‘What are you talking about?’ Gertie screamed. Had he finally lost his mind?
‘Just trust me. I’ll take Britney to keep me safe and we’ll catch up with you soon, I promise. Just get to the harbor.’

*****

It was now five o’clock in the morning; the date was the twenty-fourth day of August of the year 79 AD. At that precise moment the forces that had been accumulating deep below Mount Vesuvius reached breaking point.
The few who survived the catastrophe later told of a momentary silence - like an intake of breath - before the top of the mountain exploded. Molten magma heated to several thousand degrees, which had been finding its way from the core of the planet for decades, had finally found a way out. The force of the explosion had caused the mountaintop to virtually disintegrate and within exactly two hours deadly lava would spew from the new opening at a speed of more than a thousand kilometers per hour. So great would the force be that the deadly cloud of gas, pumice and magma would be blown twenty-eight kilometers high up into the air.
The mountain’s deadly breath would then surge towards Pompeii and Herculaneum at such speeds that most victims would perish long before they understood what grim fate had befallen them.
This gave the people of Pompeii about an hour to reach a safe distance. But many citizens were asleep in their beds and, lucky for them, would take the swift journey into Hades without pain; unlike thousands of others.
Rufus Polybius had joined his wife by the window after the initial, immense noise of the explosion. Minerva’s crime was momentarily forgotten, as the couple watched the volcano’s awakening in horror.
‘It is my wrongdoing,’ Minerva cried, her mad laughter long since silenced. ‘It is she, Ceres, Goddess of the Earth; come to strike me down for my murderous deed. Oh, Rufus, can you ever forgive this treacherous wife, who has always loved you?’ she wept.
Her haughtiness gone and tears in her eyes, she was once again the girl Rufus had married. He smiled at her kindly and held her tight, when a large piece of rock from the mountain fell upon their house and leveled it to the ground.
CHAPTER 26 – THE LAST GALLEY


The cloud of ash that had risen high up into the air after the initial explosion had begun to settle on Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum. Those who had risen late had mistaken it for an unseasonable fall of snow, but had soon learned otherwise.
Shopkeepers had not removed wooden boards from their shop-fronts as usual. Even the baker, a well-known scrooge, had decided to vacate his premises. Before he was even out of earshot two men had broken down the door and taken what bread they could find. Looting was punishable by death, but who would be here to point a finger?
There were some who simply carried on as if nothing had happened. They thought of the explosion as merely a noisy end to an ongoing rumbling of the earth. How wrong they were, and how sorry they would be before nightfall.

*****

‘I see the harbor,’ announced Cassandra. ‘Hurry now. There are few galleys left.’
They had been running all the way. At times the path had been blocked and they’d had to force themselves through homes and gardens. What would they have done without Demetrius and his sword?
Along the way Delphia had observed Flavia and Demetrius. It had become clear to her that the cook of the House of Apolloneus would never have to worry about her safety again. If she were to survive the night, she would have her own gladiator, and he a lovelorn cook.
Gertie’s nerves had become frayed to within a hair’s breadth. Where were Laurie and Britney? And how could Laurie they have left her? Just when she thought that she could take no more Britney’s barking cut through the surrounding mayhem. Soon she recognized her brother amongst hundreds of people desperate to reach the harbor. He was the only one to wear a rucksack above his toga. But Gertie couldn’t remember it bulging at the seams like that before, and judging by Laurie’s pained expression it appeared to be heavy, too.
Cassandra rushed up to a man, who appeared to be in charge. A smug grin on his pockmarked face, he noisily counted heaps of gold Sestertius into a wooden box.
‘How many of those will it take to have one of your galleys?’ Cassandra asked the man.
He barely looked at her and continued his task. ‘I might say you will need two crates of gold, dark mistress. But, as it is, even that won’t be enough. All my galleys are spoken for and have left the harbor.’
Cassandra’s watchful eyes settled on a small galley, moored only yards from them.
‘What will you call that?’ she asked with a smile, which he did not return.
‘Why, it is my own and I will behead anyone who sets foot on it.’
Demetrius was ready to draw his sword and Britney was right beside him, growl at the ready, but Cassandra waved them off.
On closer inspection of the galley in question they could see the dirty faces of several small children, and their mother behind them, her eyes large and frightened.
Without warning Cassandra began to hum her tune and turned to Demetrius. ‘I am given a vision. Quick. You must make this man leave with his family at once. There is no time for gentle persuasion. Use your sword!’
Demetrius didn’t understand the reasons for this strange request, but, in the brief time he had known her, he had come to trust Cassandra.
‘You heard the oracle,’ Demetrius barked at the man, who almost fainted with fear but drew a crude, wooden sword, nevertheless.
‘I will defend my family,’ whimpered the man, but Demetrius had already lifted him off the ground.
‘Yes, you will,’ laughed Demetrius and like a feather he threw the man into the galley, where his family could only look in awe. Britney barked like mad and, despite the seriousness of the situation, the twins had to laugh.
‘My gold!’ cried the man. ‘You have tricked me.’
But before he had finished his accusation Demetrius lifted the box and threw it into the galley. The man barely had time to thank Demetrius before Cassandra raised her hands and wailed, ‘You must leave right now, and row as if you are chased by the Furies of Sybil.’
The man needed no further encouragement; within seconds the galley glided through the water, which was strangely still and covered in a thick layer of ash and pumice.
Just then several impossibly large pieces of volcanic rock smashed noisily into the water, where the galley had been only seconds earlier. The man’s wife and children cried out with fear, but nothing and no one would stop the man from rowing. In the end, he and his family would prove to be amongst the few survivors to reach the shores of Neapolis later that day. Until his dying day he would remember that he and his family were saved by the Oracle Cassandra.

‘Child!’ the voice rang across from the elegant, gilded galley almost a hundred meters into its journey to Misenium.
‘It is the Lady Julia,’ cried Delphia. The twins could just make out the silhouette of Pliny the Elder, who was standing at the galley’s helm, and next to him was the Lady Julia Felix. Had the twins seen her face from up close, they would have seen her lower her eyes in shame.
News of Gertie’s innocence had swept through Pompeii almost as fast as the volcanic ashes and the Lady was determined to make amends.
‘We must return for them,’ she begged Pliny.
The rowing men were sure their master had gone mad. Rowing back to Pompeii? They would all face certain death. Pliny gestured for the twins, Cassandra and the others to wade into the sea and meet them part of the way. Cassandra was first to enter the water, her dark rags trailing behind her like the wings of a black swan. The others followed suit and soon found themselves up to their necks in water.
Another explosion came from the depth of the furious volcano and rocked the earth, while more pieces of rock were landing in the water around them. The galley was close enough for the twins to see the turmoil in Pliny’s face, but it was no use. One more explosion would surely destroy the galley and be the end of all aboard it. So near and yet so far, but they would have to leave without them.
The Lady Julia lifted her hands to the skies in a final attempt to pray to Fortuna, the Goddess of fortune and luck. Impulsively, she took off her gold necklace, which held an amulet with her portrait. Pliny observed her silently.
‘I am shamed for having accused the girl, so I offer this token to Fortuna in exchange for saving her.’
With all her might she threw the necklace and it landed on a floating piece of pumice about five meters short of Britney. Finally, the paddling dog thought; something for her to do. Five meters away? This would be dog’s play.
Soon, the necklace safely between her teeth, Britney made her way back towards the shore, where the others had just emerged from the sea.
‘You must save yourself any way you can,’ Pliny shouted across the stormy sea. He pretended not to see the tears shed by the Lady Julia, just as she pretended not to see his.
CHAPTER 27 - MAGIC


The hissing sound surprised them all. What was that?
‘Woof!’ Britney barked again.
‘Oh, Laurie,’ Gertie whooped with joy. ‘You brought Grandpa’s magic pillow.’
‘Magic?’ Cassandra exclaimed. Had she been right about these children all along?
Laurie threw the little yellow pillow into the water, just as Monty had instructed in his journal. But what if it didn’t work?
Gertie breathed a sigh of relief when the pillow expanded rapidly, and soon the dinghy was ready for its passengers. Callistus had been quick to understand and went in search of some rowing paddles.
‘I found three pairs. Will these serve us?’ he asked Laurie, who nodded his approval.
Several small, smoking pieces of volcanic rock dropped near the dinghy, but Laurie reassured the passengers that they were perfectly safe.
‘Our grandfather made this. It can withstand fire and great heat,’ he said proudly. ‘It is also much smaller than the galley and will be easier to navigate around the floating pumice and falling rocks.’
Gertie waded back into the water and shouted Pliny’s name. She hoped he would still hear her.
‘Wait for us,’ she shouted as loud as she could. ‘We found a way to get across the water.’
Pliny ordered his men to stop rowing and the galley slowed to a halt, but how long before the sailors would revolt?
Flavia and Cassandra were first to get into the dinghy and Delphia and Callistus followed.
‘You are next,’ urged Demetrius, but Laurie held Gertie back. ‘What are you doing?’ he asked his sister. She was actually going to get in. It was as if Gertie had forgotten their ultimate goal. They had to fix Phaedra and find a way to return home, even if there was a chance that they couldn’t?
‘What if we can’t repair the damage, Laurie?’
‘We have to at least try,’ he replied, even though secretly he agreed with her. What if they were stuck here? And Pliny’s waiting galley their only chance of escape?
‘If we are to be safe we cannot stay here any longer,’ Callistus urged. What were they waiting for?
Laurie turned to Cassandra, but how could he tell her the truth? ‘We are not who you think we are,’ he blurted out. ‘We are not from you world.’
Cassandra took his hand in hers and smiled. ‘My visions have prepared me for this moment.’ Laurie tried to reply, but Cassandra softly placed her hand over his lips. She closed her eyes and lifted her hands to the sky. Her humming no longer came as a surprise. As it got louder and more melodious the twins felt the strangest sensation of calm running through them. They simply had to close their eyes and felt a familiar vibration running down their spines, but how was this possible?
‘You must return and complete your journey,’ the voice came from within them. None of the others could hear it, but to the twins it was as real as the fire-spewing volcano; it was the distinctive voice of Phaedra.
‘What about the power reservoir?’ Laurie and Gertie thought at the same time; the reply came instantly. ‘There will come power when you need it.’
The twins woke from their meditation. Cassandra smiled at them and said, ‘I know that you must return to live your life in your world, just as we have to survive in ours.’
‘Will you not join us?’ Delphia cried from the dinghy. The twins joined hands and shook their heads in unison and Britney barked, as if to agree with them.
‘We want to thank you for all you have taught us,’ said Laurie, and his sister nodded in agreement.
‘We have learnt so much,’ Gertie added. ‘And we will tell everyone in our land how courageous and noble the people of Pompeii were.’
Callistus stroked the smooth, yellow surface of the dinghy, and his eyes were bright with amazement he shouted, ‘Your grandfather has saved our lives, and he is a great man.’
‘He was,’ said the twins in unison. They could almost hear Monty’s laughter in the background. Great? Me?
‘Good-bye Gertrudis and Laurentius,’ Delphia and Flavia shouted, just before Laurie gave the dingy a final good shove. The passengers began paddling and soon they were on their way. In a short while they would reach Pliny’s galley and they would be safe.
This final image of their Pompeian friends was one the twins would remember forever; and what they remembered the most were the black markings on Cassandra’s white skin, just before the dingy disappeared into the mist.
CHAPTER 28 – LOST IN TIME


It was now six thirty in the morning. If Francesca’s book was to be trusted - and so far they’d had no reason not to, they now had less than an hour before the destructive force reached the forest where Phaedra laid waiting.
Pliny’s galley would have reached its destination by now, and Gertie had given up searching the horizon. The many fishing boats and galleys desperate to reach safety had long since disappeared amongst thick mist, which clung to the water like flies to a donkey.
The sun had risen in a sky obscured by thick clouds; their colour testimony to the fact that these were no ordinary clouds. Silent lightning still burst through them from time to time, and the intervals were getting shorter. Gertie shuddered when she imagined what would happen here within the hour. It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘There is the pine forest,’ said Laurie and Britney barked happily as they entered it. Even through the foul smell of sulphur, which rose through cracks in the earth, the little dog would never forget the multitude of smells in what could only be described as dog’s paradise.
‘Britney seems to know where she’s going,’ continued Laurie and the twins tried to keep up with her. ‘Let’s hope she finds the right tree.’
A few minutes later they were standing underneath the tree in question, but how they would climb up to the machine was anyone’s guess. Sliding down the tree in good weather was one thing; climbing up during what was fast becoming a terrible storm was quite another.
‘Laurie, I’m scared. What if we get hit by lightning?’ Gertie cried.
‘I thought of that, but it may well be what saves us in the end.’
Twenty minutes later, and with countless scratches on their arms and legs, the twins breathed a tentative sigh of relief as they reached their craft.
Laurie had tied Britney to Gertie’s back with strips torn from his toga.
‘Why not put her in your rucksack like before?’ Gertie had asked, but her brother had ignored her.
Now, safely within Phaedra, Laurie unzipped his rucksack to reveal several reels of thick copper wire.
‘You broke into that shop and stole the wire!’ Gertie scolded.
‘Oh, please!’ Laurie laughed. ‘It will all be gone tomorrow and it may save us.’ Gertie didn’t like the way he stressed the word may. They were going to be safe, weren’t they?
Laurie experienced a severe sense of déjà vu. Here he was, high above the ground fiddling with copper wire; hadn’t he just done that?
He clenched his thighs tightly around the tree, hoping his shaking legs would carry him for just a while longer.
He tried hard to remember the way he had wound the wire around their house’s chimneybreast. The big difference was the fact that this wire was not wrapped in protective rubber piping. What would happen when lightning hit this unprotected wire? Would the electricity transfer down the wire to give Phaedra the energy they needed? Maybe it would simply set the tree ablaze and they would suffer the same fate as Pompeii after all.
The ferocious monster deep below Mount Vesuvius had by now reached the end of its patience. For years it had tried to release its pressure by sending irregular waves of heat, magma and rubble through the tiny cracks in the Earth’s crust; but enough was enough. It craved for its power to finally be released, and this was the time it had chosen.
For exactly five minutes there was a deadly calm, like that of a kettle snatched from a stove. Even the lightning stopped and many inhabitants of Pompeii breathed a sigh of relief. Some peeked through their barricaded windows. Was it safe to come out? The mountain had surely lost its anger.
High up in the tree Laurie, too, witnessed this sudden silence, but unlike the citizens of Pompeii he knew exactly what to expect next.
Like a dervish he bent the copper wire in a final twist around the top of the tree. Then, without hesitation or a thought of what would happen if he fell, he virtually flew down the tree. Like a monkey he used hands and feet to maneuver through the thicket of branches and leaves. If only his sports teacher could see him now.
He would never know what gave him the strength to do it, but within a minute he was safely strapped into his seat inside the sheltering body of Phaedra.
‘Did it work?’ Gertie asked wide-eyed.
‘We’ll soon know,’ he replied, whilst putting on his helmet. Gertie was already wearing the other.
Then all hell broke loose. The twins had almost forgotten the choker and headphones they were still wearing, when a high-pitched screeching made them pull out the earpieces in agony.
The sound coming from Mount Vesuvius was like that of a painfully dying animal of mammoth proportions and the headphones had amplified that sound a hundred times over.
The pyroclastic flow that shot from the volcano’s new opening had miraculously missed the small forest, just like a waterfall can leave those standing underneath it dry, but only for the time being.
Onwards the molten lava shot through the air towards Pompeii. The heat and poisonous gases that radiated from the destructive flow had caused any moisture within air and earth itself to boil. Within moments the ground was so hot it could not be walked on. Soon trees began to burn viciously and the fire was creeping towards the forest that sheltered Phaedra.
Thick bolts of lightning had reappeared around the mountaintop; one of them narrowly missed Phaedra.
‘Laurie, why won’t Phaedra wake up?’ Gertie cried hysterically.
A cluster of lesser bolts of lightning finally hit the copper wire. Almost instantly the machine’s bright lights and wires began to light up, but it was not enough to rouse Phaedra from her dormant state.
The volcano had truly become a living being. As such it had developed a conscience that constantly sought to widen its power of destruction. It was as if it felt the sparks that were created when the electricity hit the copper wires. Sparks meant destruction, and it wanted more!
The collective assault of thick bolts of electricity that followed caused the twins to close their eyes. They really believed their final moment had come. Britney had long since hidden inside the rucksack, which still held the acidic taste of copper. Laurie took Gertie’s hand and screamed, ‘Think of home!’ and he hoped she’d heard him.
A crashing surge of power leapt towards the machine from above and it left fire and charcoal along its way. The noise was so terrible that the twins barely heard Phaedra’s voice.
‘Commencing initiation data transfer; please clear mind of unnecessary thought process.’
Gertie almost cried with relief; they were going home!
Both of them placed a hand on the panels next to their seat, so that the machine could connect to them. They made sure their helmets fitted snugly and concentrated on the task at hand.
Clearing one’s mind wasn’t easy when faced with being blown to pieces by an angry volcano, but they managed somehow. Just as they began to fall into a deep trance the earth shook again and the machine dropped by about a meter; it was still anchored within the thick branches of the tree, but how long before it dropped further?
Abruptly, the machine stopped buzzing and all lights, which had flickered wildly moments ago, turned to darkness. The only illumination came from bolts of lightning outside; all wasted energy, as far as Laurie could see.
Laurie undid his helmet and got ready to leave the machine.
‘Where are you going?’ Gertie asked fearfully.
‘Something’s obviously gone wrong, so I’d better check.’
As expected, Laurie found the problem almost immediately. The copper wire was no longer attached to the machine. The sudden drop of the machine had severed the connection and the end of the wire was dangling less than half a meter from where it was supposed to be.
Laurie tried pulling the cable closer to the machine, but what if he pulled too hard? He would have to climb back to the top to reattach it and there simply wasn’t enough time. Another bolt of lightning hit the tree. This one so near Laurie could taste burnt wood at the back of his throat.
Maybe it was the lightning, or maybe it was plain luck. But all of a sudden, Laurie knew exactly what to do.
He clambered back into the machine and urged Gertie, ‘I need that necklace. Quickly!’
‘What necklace?’
‘Lady Julia’s necklace. The one she threw into the sea,’ he explained. Gertie had put the necklace around her neck for safekeeping. She had intended to give it to Francesca Felix, as a reminder of her noble ancestor.
She undid the clasp and handed it to Laurie, who took off the amulet and handed it back to his sister. ‘Keep this bit for Francesca.’ With that he was back outside.
Britney whimpered and stuck her head out of the rucksack. What was going on, and why weren’t they going home? Gertie bit her lower lip and hugged the little dog close.
Once outside Laurie inspected the necklace. As he’d guessed, it was crafted from gold and copper. Not a perfect conductor for electricity, but it would have to do. He could only hope that lightning would not hit whilst he was using the necklace to connect Phaedra to the dangling wire.
‘Do you think it will work?’ Gertie asked when her brother returned. Laurie shrugged his shoulders, while taking his seat again. He barely had time to fasten his helmet, before the storm entered its final stage.
Cracks were beginning to show all the way down the side of the volcano. The sun had not been visible for some time, and smoke and clouds made day seem like night.
Through the widening cracks in the earth glowing lava was slowly seeping to the surface. In a Hollywood movie this kind of effect would have caused cries of delight and admiration. In reality anyone close enough to observe it had long since succumbed to the poisonous gases, not to mention the scalding heat.
Round and round the molten poison churned within the depths of the crater, ready to join the thousands of gallons that were spewing closer and closer to the forest. The unbearable smell of burnt wood and wildlife had finally filtered through Phaedra’s gel-like walls. Gertie couldn’t bear to think of the thousands of poor animals that inhabited the forest. Would any of them escape with their lives?
Another bolt of lightning, and, to their relief, Phaedra continued to carry out necessary system checks.
‘It worked!’ Gertie cried with delight. The twins’ eyelids felt heavy at once and they descended into a familiar trance.
‘Final system checks completed,’ said Phaedra. ‘Molecular osmosis commencing in five seconds.’
Had the twins been conscious they would have recognized the familiar sound of breaking crystal, as the machine once again began disassembling matter into anti-matter.
Any forest animals still alive marveled at this spectacle of light and sound, which emerged from high above the burning ground. Beams of multi-coloured light mingled with sparks from burning trees, whilst a thick layer of deadly lava silently covered Pompeii below. 
Soon an unbearably bright light engulfed the forest in its entirety, as Phaedra and her passengers slowly disintegrated. 
CHAPTER 29 - HOME


The storm outside was still in full force. Not quite enough to impress Laurie and Gertie, but enough to make Hortense hide her head under a pillow in her bedroom.
As the machine materialized in Monty’s steel-lined chamber once more, the framed photograph of Katherine and the twins awoke from its suspension in midair, and finally fell to the cushioned floor.

Slowly the twins roused themselves and opened their eyes. They’d been holding hands so tight, each of them had a red imprint to prove it.
‘Oh, thank God! We’re home again!’ both of them screamed from the tops of their voices and Britney joined in, for good measure, although hers sounded more like barking. They’d forgotten about Hortense. Oh well, if she heard them…
They removed their helmets and clambered from the machine. That was when they noticed the scorch-marks all over it. The force of the volcano had left its mark. But, luckily, Phaedra’s shell was made from organic matter and would completely regenerate itself within twenty-four hours.
‘Travel sequence one completed,’ said Phaedra. ‘Regeneration module activated.’
The lights on the machine went crazy and the whole gelatinous form began to vibrate like a huge pudding.
Before their eyes Laurie and Gertie could see scorch-marks fade, and the machine slowly returned to its previous, glossy state; if only humans could heal themselves this way.
The twins hugged, whilst comparing which bit of the adventure had been their favorite.
How they wished that Monty could have lived to see this day. But wait, thought Laurie. What was that in Gertie’s hair?
Rubies and emeralds sparkled wildly in the beams of the workshop’s electric light. It was the first time the ornament had been lit by anything other than candlelight.   
Laurie and Gertie wondered what might have happened to its twin by now, but there, stuck in Gertie’s hair was one of the emerald serpents.
EPILOGUE


Almost two thousand years on, and Pompeii had lost little of its magic. The relentless assault of tourists, as predicted by Cassandra, continued without mercy, and with no end in sight.
But even the occasional Coca-Cola bottle lying on the wayside would never change the fact that Pompeii was still breathtaking and magical; with many stories left to tell.

This was the twins’ third visit to Pompeii in as many days and they simply couldn’t get enough. By now they’d realized that the best time to visit was after 4.00 PM, after the tour buses tooted their horns for the hordes to return to their hotels.
By 5.30 PM Pompeii was like a ghost town; which, of course, is exactly what it is. A place filled with so many restless souls, one can almost hear their voices.
Katherine had to agree with her children. Pompeii was a town unlike any other they were ever likely to see; at least not without the services of Phaedra, thought the twins.
But Phaedra was still a secret, as was the amazing journey the twins had barely survived.
They had deliberated for hours over how best to tell their mother. In the end they’d agreed that at the very least Katherine would not allow them to ever use the machine again. Gertie had shuddered when she’d tried to imagine their mother’s reaction to all that had happened to them in Pompeii; telling her was absolutely out of the question.
The only person they’d simply had to tell was Francesca, who at first had been angry with the twins for telling her what she’d called, ‘Stupido bugie’; stupid lies.
The medallion of the Lady Julia had soon changed that. Francesca had listened to the twins’ story open-mouthed, before happily accepting Gertie’s gift from the past. She’d known instinctively that the Lady Julia Felix, whose image on the amulet she’d caressed delicately, was her ancestor. There was no doubt in her mind now that what her father had been telling her for all her life was true. Theirs was indeed the blood of a noble family from ancient Pompeii.
It had been more difficult to explain the spectacular success of their history project to their mother and great-aunt.
‘Timely Twins create history project worthy of Hollywood blockbuster,’ the headline in The Times had virtually screamed.
The twins had had to tell the occasional white lie to Katherine and Hortense, especially when it came to how they had found an antique hair ornament buried in their garden.
Laurie was convinced that both his mother and great-aunt had not believed a word they’d told them, yet they had asked remarkably few questions. Could it be that they’d simply come to realize that where Monty’s grandchildren were concerned anything was possible?
 But the crowning of the twins’ glory had been the prize-giving ceremony at London’s National History Museum; the absolute bomb, as Laurie had titled it.
Patrick Fitzgriffin’s entry had naturally been short-listed along with the twins’ and several other entries. He and his uncle had pompously taken centre seats at the front of the auditorium, certain that Patrick would win.
Laurie would never forget the look on Patrick’s face when the Minister of Education, a smart, older woman with grey hair almost as frizzy as Gertie’s, had announced Laurie and Gertie as the joint winners.
‘Congratulations on completing this outstanding project,’ she had beamed. ‘In all my years of working in education I don’t think I remember having seen anything researched as well as this.’
Britney’s mad barking had been completely drowned out by the rip-roaring applause and Gertie was convinced she’d seen tears in her mother’s eyes.
During the applause the Minister had pressed the twins for further information about some of the unbelievably clear photographs, not to mention the emerald serpent hair ornament.
‘I mean, we all know that you manipulated these images on a computer, but our experts still haven’t figured out quite how you’ve managed to do it so convincingly. What program did you say you used again?’ she’d asked, and not for the first time.
‘I didn’t,’ Laurie had replied and smiled. ‘It is a program my grandfather invented. Maybe one day it will be available to buy.’
‘And you say you found the hair ornament in your garden?’ she’d continued to probe.
‘Our dog Britney found it when she was trying to catch a mouse,’ Gertie had intercepted and Britney had barked, as if to confirm the story.
‘Well, there it is; proof at last,’ the Minister had concluded with false sweetness. ‘The Romans truly left their mark in Britannia.’
Just then the journalists in the audience had been allowed to take photographs and cameras had begun to click all around them. Between clenched teeth the Minister had whispered, ‘Maybe we need to talk some more about your grandfather’s inventions. Just think of what they could do for your country and for your government? I’m sure we’ll come to some sort of agreement.’ Soon after that the Minister had been surrounded by photographers and the twins had escaped.

Three weeks later here they were in Italy. Unfortunately without Britney, who was being looked after by aunt Hortense. The little dog would probably be twice her size by the time they returned home, with Hortense certain to spoil her rotten.
Katherine and the twins had been overwhelmed by an all-expenses paid trip to Pompeii, courtesy of the Italian Minister for Cultural Heritage; Peppino, as he had insisted on being called.
‘It will be an honor to welcome you in person,’ he had boomed down the crackling telephone line. This had been after the news of the emerald serpent’s discovery in a country garden in England had made the papers in Italy.
The fact that the Italian government had decided to give the twins a check for the equivalent of ten thousand pounds as a thank you for returning the ornament had not been made public. That money had been added to the five thousand pound prize money the twins had earned for winning the history project, and the total sum had been used to reduce the mortgage on the house. Things were still tight, but the mortgage payments were now low enough for Katherine to work just one job. For the time being they were safe.
‘Our government is eternally grateful to you for returning the artifact back to Italian soil,’ Peppino had continued to bark down the line. ‘We have arranged for a ceremony, during which it will be reunited with its twin, which was recently unearthed in Pompeii by archaeologists.’

*****

The sun had just set over the glistening Bay of Naples when the ceremony began. A rotund woman with silken skin and shiny, black hair sang a moving rendition of an aria known as Doretta’s song for a select group of guests, who were seated in the garden of the Villa of Mysteries, although to the twins it would always be known as the House of Apolloneus.
Sitting next to their proud mother, they had to swallow hard on more than one occasion, when they almost felt the spirit of their departed friends touch their souls.
The music finished and Peppino, who was round-faced and ever smiling - just as they’d expected him to be - began a brief speech. He spoke about the rise and fall of Pompeii about how many people had lost their lives, but also about how their souls would go on living whilst they were remembered by visiting and respectful tourists.
This was greeted with applause and the twins noticed that theirs were not the only tears flowing tonight.
‘What?’ Laurie asked his sister, who was staring at the woman sitting next to them. Gertie was shaking with excitement. ‘Look at the picture in that brochure!’
The elegant Italian woman was perusing the brochure that all the guests had been given upon their arrival. It was to be a souvenir of this memorable day and provided a detailed account of recently unearthed artifacts.
The picture the woman was looking at was that of a painting. It depicted a donkey, draped in colourful garlands and flowers. The twins quickly found the page in their brochure and began to read.
‘Do you think what I think?’ whispered Gertie, and her brother nodded. Both of them had a hard time not to roll with laughter.

...accounts from the town of Herculaneum from one Romulus Parpinius describe how the donkey flew into his garden at the precise moment of Vesuvius’ awakening. It was therefore believed that the donkey had flown from the depths of the volcano to provide guidance to the people. Many were saved by following the donkey as it ran towards the town of Neapolis, where the donkey was given its own stable by the town’s magistrate...

‘This is a historical moment, my friends,’ Peppino continued his speech. ‘And it is with great pride that I ask our guests of honor, Laurence and Gertrud, to join me on the newly restored balcony of the Villa of Mysteries.’
As had previously been arranged, the twins and Peppino disappeared inside the villa, only to emerge moments later on the well-lit balcony above the garden.
‘I think I’m going to cry,’ whispered Gertie, but Laurie held her hand tight and the moment passed.
The wall behind them was covered by a sheet of crimson silk, which had been draped across in a theatrical fashion. Just in front of the wall was a table, again covered in red silk, and pinned onto the silk was the recently unearthed and restored emerald serpent.
Gertie felt an actual pain shoot through her heart when she took her emerald serpent from the little velvet box she was carrying. Gently she took the ornament and placed it next to its twin.
The crowd below applauded again and Peppino took hold of a golden cord, ready to reveal the final surprise.
‘It has taken countless hours to restore the mural you are about to see. Our experts believe that it was painted by a man known only as...’ Peppino searched his pocket for a piece of paper, but without success. ‘Well, I am afraid he shall go unnamed for the moment. But his work will truly live forever.’
With that he pulled the cord and the crimson silk dropped gently to the ground. The crowd exhaled as one and many rose from their seats; Katherine amongst them.
The mural of two children in Roman attire had been expertly restored. It might have been painted yesterday, but none of the guests noticed the obvious. None, except Katherine. She stood and stared, as if she’d seen a ghost.
The rest of the guests marveled at this latest addition to the multitude of treasures unearthed from fabled Pompeii.
‘The artist even captured the vibrancy of the hair ornaments in the girl’s hair,’ one bejeweled woman observed. ‘However did this ornament come to be in England? And why does it look so much newer than its twin?’
Peppino and the twins had rejoined the guests in the garden and the minister shrugged his shoulders. ‘The earth in England must have special preserving powers. It is just one more mystery to join all the others in this most magical place.’

*****

Much later, the twins and their mother were seated on the balcony of their hotel. The lights of Capri glittered magically in the distance and they would visit the island tomorrow. The hotel had been chosen by Peppino, who’d insisted they’d have the best room with an unobstructed view over the Bay of Naples.
It had only been three days, but spending time alone as a family had been rewarding and the twins felt closer to their mother than they had in years.
‘I haven’t really had a chance to thank you,’ Katherine said quietly as she sipped a glass of iced lemonade; her eyes lost in the darkness of the ocean. ‘The money you have earned...’ she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking and put down the glass.
‘We didn’t pay for this trip,’ Laurie protested, but a look from his mother silenced him. She clasped her hands together and deliberated about what to say next.
‘I don’t quite know how all that has happened came to be...’ she began, and the twins lowered their eyes.
What would she say next? Was she mad at them? Had she found out about Phaedra?
‘Whatever the truth, all I know is that your grandfather would be very proud today of what you have achieved.’ Katherine stared long and hard at her son and daughter. ‘And he would probably want you to have these.’
The twins exchanged surprised looks. What was their mother talking about?
Katherine grabbed her handbag from the floor and pulled a brown envelope from it. She passed it to Laurie and got up from her chair. ‘I must be mad,’ she said and shook her head. ‘God knows what you’ll do next. But I suppose it’s what your grandfather would have wanted.’
Enough had been said and she kissed them goodnight. ‘Get ready for bed. We have a long day ahead tomorrow.’
Katherine disappeared inside the room and soon the twins heard the running of water.
Laurie opened the envelope and from it he pulled the missing pages from Monty’s diary.
‘Do you think she knows?’ Gertie whispered, but Laurie didn’t answer. He was busy arranging the diary’s pages into the order in which they were written. Soon his eyes clouded over. ‘What?’ asked Gertie.
‘There are still five pages missing.’
What was so important, or so terrible that they should not know about it?
‘I wish Grandpa was still here,’ Gertie said wistfully, and the twins continued to watch the boats entering the peaceful harbor.