Escape from Pompeii by Jim Eldridge

Author:Jim Eldridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic UK
Published: 2016-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

9

As the night wore on, I sat with my back against the trunk of one of the olive trees and watched Julia and Fabius as they slept. I held a broken piece of branch in my hands in case any wild animals should come sniffing around. It wouldn’t be much of a weapon, but my hope was that it might keep them at bay. I’d also gathered a few rocks by my side, ready to throw at any animals that came close.

But so far there had been no sight or sound of anything or anyone. No wolves howling. No wild dogs barking. I wondered if my father had been right about animals sensing when something bad was about to happen, like an earthquake.

Vesuvius had actually settled down now. There was still the odd rumble and a slight shake of the ground, but nothing as bad as there had been before. The flakes and rocks had also stopped raining down. I wondered if the danger was passed. Was Vulcan happier now? It struck me that maybe my father had been killed, and that was why Vulcan wasn’t feeling as angry. Tears sprang to my eyes at the thought.

Please, Vulcan don’t let him be dead! I prayed. I didn’t want my last words to my father to be that I hated him. I didn’t hate him. I had just been so angry and scared.

I wished I could see him again, to tell him that I missed him. I wanted us to be back together.

In the distance I could see red, flickering glows from Vesuvius, lighting up the night sky.

In the morning, I’d take Fabius and Julia to Herculaneum. We’d find a boat and get to safety by sea until the earthquake and the volcano stopped. And then I’d try and find my father.

*

It was the rumbling and shaking that woke me up. I must have fallen asleep, even though I’d tried to stay awake to keep guard. The events of the day had exhausted me.

The noise was coming from Vesuvius. I stood up so I could get a better view of the mountain. The red glow that had been coming from it before was now much brighter. It looked as if the top of the mountain was actually bubbling red. Then, as I watched, the top of the mountain seemed to collapse – red burst out of it and began to run down the side of the mountain like a river of fire. Not a narrow stream, but a wide, fast-flowing river, travelling as quickly as any river made of water. I’d never seen anything like it before. I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing, but I knew something was terribly wrong.

In the distance, I could see the lights of Herculaneum glowing softly, and it looked as if the river of fire was heading straight towards the city.

Even in the darkness, I could see thick smoke surging upwards as the river of fire raced down the mountain, burning everything in its path, all the time getting nearer and nearer to the lights of Herculaneum.

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