Page 30 of Vesuvius

If the gods turned away, Loren could shoulder the mystery on his own. And he knew exactly where to start looking.

‘I meant to ask last night,’ Felix started, eyeing Loren as he changed. ‘Is that wine you were covered in? If all you do is drink, maybe Ishouldjoin your cult.’

Loren bit his tongue. He’d managed to last this long without stewing on his dismissal from the temple. No chance he would reveal that defeat to Felix.

‘Bad news if you hoped to convert. We aren’t going to the temple today,’ he said as crisply as he could muster. ‘Besides, you hardly look better, all blood-splattered and filthy.’

‘If you want me to strip, you could just say so.’

‘Grab your scarf before I let you rot in those clothes,’ Loren snapped, cheeks flaming. ‘If we don’t beat the crowds, you’ll be seen.’

Felix’s snigger chased him to the street.

For a mid-autumn morning, the heat settled in unusually early from all sides, cloaking the city in a damp, woolly blanket. Merchants worked in the shade of their awnings, though it wouldn’t be long before they pulled their wares to continue business inside. The roads swelled in the slow roast as if, at any moment, they might rupture. Sympathy panged in Loren’s chest for Felix, swaddled in his headscarf and bandages, sweat rolling off his brow.

‘Hotter than Pluto’s arse and smells like it.’ Felix fanned himself. ‘How are you not sweating off your balls?’

Sympathy gone. Loren took off at a brisk pace.

Nonna’s near-empty basket swung from his elbow as he led Felix to the eastern quarter of the city, past the cheesemonger and cobbler who both waved. By the amphitheatre, workers were busy plastering posters to brick.

‘What are they advertising?’ Felix asked as they neared.

Loren slowed. ‘We can stop to look.’

Felix shifted restlessly. ‘Just tell me.’

‘You can’t read?’

‘You can?’

‘Of course, it’s . . .’ Loren stopped. In Pompeii, he was a lowly temple attendant. In the minds of most, literacy wasn’t a given for him.He cleared his throat. ‘It’s the festival I told you about, the reason the city is busier than usual, why guards are everywhere. Gladiator games, wine, dancing. Isis has the honour of performing opening rites tomorrow morning.’

He said it so instinctively, he forgot he wouldn’t be involved until his stomach twisted in reminder.

‘Let the Priest know he can’t use my other arm as the sacrifice.’ Felix sniffed. He sounded so indignant, Loren had to laugh. For a moment, the knot eased.

They made it another block, and a rustling was the only warning Loren had before a weight dropped onto his back from a ledge above. Not so surprising. Aurelia’s favourite pastime was ambushing him. But it’d been one thing when she was eight and scrawny, and another in the middle of her growth spurt.

‘I knew you’d come today,’ she said, arms locked around his neck. Loren wrestled with her, trying to slip free, and she only relented when he pretended to choke. A satisfied grin split her face. ‘Mamma said you wouldn’t, but I know everything.’

‘It’s been one day. You can’t have missed me that badly.’

‘Miss you? Never.’ Aurelia hopped up, wiping dusty palms on her dress. She’d tied the long hem for ease of being a nuisance. ‘I only wanted to show you what I’m working on. Besides, it proves I’m right and Mamma is wrong. Who’s this?’

Sometimes she changed directions so fast it gave Loren a headache.

Felix had plastered himself to the wall, watching their exchange with some degree of horror, like he didn’t know what to make of children. When Loren introduced them, Aurelia wrinkled her nose at Felix’s grubby clothes.

‘Does he bathe?’

‘Never,’ Felix said. ‘Take a whiff.’

She faked a gagging fit.

Loren rolled his eyes. ‘Is your mother home?’

The diversion worked. Aurelia beckoned them to follow and burst into her mother’s tailor shop with a victory cry.

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