Colin and the Gladiators by Merv Lambert

Author:Merv Lambert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: emu, colin, librarian, merv lambert, children, bedtime, class, story, fun, funny, humour, fantasy
ISBN: 9781782345794
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2012
Published: 2013-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Colin and the Gladiators

“Let the games begin!” An extremely loud voice rang out.

All around him a crowd roared, as Colin opened his eyes. Where was he? What had the phoenix planned for him this time? What he was wearing might give him some clues. What was hanging around his neck? And was this a sort of pitchfork in his hand? Again the crowd roared expectantly. He just had time to glance down at his costume - sturdy sandals on his feet, bare legs, some sort of tunic that came down to his knees.

“Look out, Shorty! Hairy Chest will eat you alive!”

It was some young wit in the crowd warning him gleefully about something rather unpleasant it seemed. He glanced up to see a huge man with a very hairy chest glaring at him through the eye-holes of his helmet. A slightly smaller version of him was snarling threateningly beside him.

“Come on, Hairy Chest! Come on, Fairly Hairy Chest! Kill the lot! The fishermen don’t stand a chance!” shouted a young boy at the front of the crowd.

The huge man, who was obviously known simply as Hairy Chest raised a giant hand holding a giant sword. With the other hand he beat his chest, and let out a ferocious war-cry. “Yaaaaar!”

“Ooh, I hate this!” cried a small voice behind Colin. “When I was told I was going to school, I was pleased, until I learned it was a gladiator school!”

A skinny dark-skinned teenager stood there trembling. He was dressed in just a loin cloth, and he too was holding a net and a trident.

“Stand firm, my friend,” urged Colin. “Push your trident out in front of you, and trip them up.” To the magic phoenix bookmark lodged safely in his tunic, he said, “Over to you, phoenix.”

Colin was remembering that he had been at work in the library discussing Roman gladiators with his friend and colleague Jez Jellysox because a group of children from a local primary school had come in with their teacher. They were doing a project on the Roman Empire. M was invisibly looking on, as a dozen young girls and boys were sitting round a table in the children’s section. They were chattering excitedly, looking at a spread of books with brightly coloured pictures.

One little boy pointed at a double-page illustration.

“Look!” he said. “Gladiators! Why did they do it? They had to fight to the death, didn’t they?”

“Yes, Timmy,” replied his teacher, Mrs. Brody.

“But why?” persisted the little boy.

“Well, perhaps they didn’t have a choice.”

“No”, explained Mr. Jellysox. “They were often slaves, or prisoners of war, or criminals.

“And some may have just enjoyed it,” added Colin. “They volunteered because they liked it. It made them famous.”

“You mean like an extreme sport today?” piped up a little girl.

“Yes, I suppose so, but really extreme,” replied Colin.

“I wonder what it was really like,” said the same little girl, whose name was Tanya.

“Hmm, it’s hard to imagine.” Colin was thinking aloud, when the magic phoenix bookmark had given its customary,

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