The Eternal City by Paula Morris

Author:Paula Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2015-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

It took a lot of effort from Maia to get them moving again. Nobody wanted to get up, let alone start the long trudge back to the hostel. It was possible, Laura thought, creaking to a standing position and discovering that the back of her shorts were still wet as well as incredibly dirty, that Jack was actually asleep on the ground.

Although Kasper hadn’t managed to find anyone to help—the paramedic team was gone, he said, and the nearest policeman he could find just shouted at him to keep walking—Laura was relieved to see an injured Dan clamber to his feet. He was holding a balled-up wet T-shirt against his swelling eye.

“Kasper’s,” he told her when she approached.

“So, he’s not so bad after all, right?”

“Yeah, well,” said Dan. “Now he gets to walk around shirtless, like a rock star.”

He managed a rueful smile, and Laura smiled, too. But she was worried about Dan. He’d really taken a beating from the mugger. She almost wanted to hug him, but she didn’t dare. There was still some kind of tension between them.

“You need to rest,” she told him, in a tone that sounded more offhand than she intended. “When we get back to the hostel.”

Dan reached out for her, his fingers brushing her bare forearm.

“Sorry I couldn’t stop him,” he said, his voice gruff. “I mean, the guy who tried to steal your bag. After he punched me in the face I just … I couldn’t do anything. I’m glad the others helped.”

“You don’t have to apologize!” Dan’s hand still rested on her arm, and Laura’s skin tingled. She wished he didn’t have that effect on her. “He would have escaped if you hadn’t tackled him. I’m just really sorry about your eye, and your leg, and everything. You were really brave.”

Dan shrugged, staring down at the ground. His hand was still on her arm, his fingers cool against her burning skin.

“At least you got your bag back,” he said. “That’s the main thing.”

“Yeah, but only after—you know.”

“What? Did Kasper come to the rescue?” Dan sounded disappointed. Maybe he thought he’d been trumped, yet again, by the Viking. Dan was used to being the golden boy at Riverside High, Laura knew.

“It was Maia and Sofie,” she said. “And a crow. And the tortoises.”

“The tortoises?” Dan seemed genuinely confused.

“You didn’t see them?”

“After that punch in the face, I couldn’t see anything. I still can’t open my left eye. You mean the tortoises on the fountain?”

Laura nodded, not sure what to say, or whether Dan would believe her.

“I know this sounds ridiculous, but they came to life. Ask the others,” she added, in case Dan thought she was imagining things again. “They were like guard dogs, biting at that guy’s hand until he ran away. All of a sudden, the whole fountain just came to life. I know it doesn’t make any sense, but everyone saw, I promise you.”

“Okay,” he said quietly, and Laura wasn’t sure if that meant he believed her or if he just wasn’t in the mood for another argument.

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