Adventure in Athens by Caroline Lawrence

Author:Caroline Lawrence [Caroline Lawrence]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2020-05-06T16:00:00+00:00

31

The Gritty City

Crina saw me at the same moment I spotted her.

‘Oh, Alex!’ She jumped up and threw her arms around me and squeezed so hard I could barely breathe. ‘Thank God you’re all right!’

At last she pulled back. ‘I saw those strange archers grab you and Dinu and I thought they might have taken you to jail or even the silver mines! Can you ever forgive me for hiding when the guards came? Wait! Where’s Dinu?’ She looked over my shoulder.

‘He’s fine. And of course I forgive you. Hiding was the best thing you could have done. But why didn’t you stay in the temple, where you were safe?’ I tried not to stare. She looked so different with short hair.

‘I had to find you and try to save you.’

‘Didn’t you get the message from a slave? To wait in the temple?’

She shook her head, her eyes brimming.

‘Crina, did something happen? Did someone hurt you?’

‘No,’ she sniffed, ‘but it’s horrible here! People poo and pee in the streets. And they kill animals and just leave them bleeding on the altars. And there are flies everywhere. And Alex! I saw a dead body just lying in the road!’

‘But apart from it being ancient Athens, you’re OK?’

She nodded and looked up at me with liquid brown eyes and then she finally gave in to tears.

I pulled her back into a hug and patted her back as she sobbed.

This was a side of Crina I had never seen. Comforting her made me feel protective and strong.

And that was a side of me I had never seen.

Kid Plato was talking to Socrates in a low voice and they were both glancing at us.

‘She’s never been this far from home,’ I said to Socrates in my best Greek. ‘And she doesn’t understand the language.’

Crina stopped crying and stood back and wiped her nose with her forearm, a very un-Crina like thing to do. Strangely, the short hair made her seem prettier than her girlish plaits had done.

Socrates raised his eyebrows at me. ‘Your friend sought refuge with me this morning and begged to be allowed to come to the Agora with me.’

Crina said, ‘Will you tell Socrates I want to thank him for looking after me? And also his wife? They were both very kind. She agreed to cut my hair to make me look like a boy. And she gave me this old chiton.’

‘My friend Crina says thank you for your hospitality,’ I said to Socrates. ‘And the chiton.’

‘She is most welcome! But our Athenian hospitality is not exhausted.’ He put his hand on Kid Plato’s shoulder. ‘Young Plato tells me you hope to meet your friend at Simon’s house. I am a frequent guest but I have not been to see him for several days. I’m due for a visit.’

‘Did he just say Plato?’ asked Crina. ‘As in “Play-Doh”?’

‘Yup. That kid picking his nose will grow up to be one of the greatest minds in the history of humanity. By the way,’ I added, ‘they’re going to take us to meet Dinu.

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