Page 103 of Hope and Happiness in Bluebell Wood
‘Oh yes, all the old fifty-pence pieces used to have Britannia on one side of them. They seem to put all sorts on the new ones now to make them more collectable. I’m surprised we have one with her on.’
Robin puts the fifty pence back and considers all the other things.
‘Roman,’ he says matter-of-factly.
‘Are you talking about the coin we found earlier?’ I ask, taking a sip of my juice.
Robin shakes his head. ‘No, all your gifts from the birds. They’re all Roman. We’ve been learning all about the Romans at school.’
I put down my glass and join him in front of the fireplace.
‘What do you mean they’re all Roman?’
‘Britan-nana – she was a Roman Goddess,’ he begins, pointing at the coin. ‘Then there’s these bits of pottery and glass – we made a Roman mosaic at school using things like this. Some of the bits went missing, though.’ He looks accusingly at me.
‘I just found them on my bird table,’ I reply. ‘I don’t know where they came from.’
‘The nurse’s watch has Roman numerals on it – remember I told you that when we found it together?’
‘Oh yes, so you did.’
‘Mars is the Roman God of War,’ he says, looking with interest at the chocolate wrapper. ‘And I’m not sure what this piece of plastic is?’ he says, looking at the Trivial Pursuit triangle. ‘But the feather you gave me for my Easter bonnet – that was just like the Romans had on their helmets, wasn’t it? That’s why I used it.’
I stare at the odd arrangements of objects on the mantelpiece.
‘You know, you’re right, Robin,’ I say, astonished that I hadn’t noticed this link before. ‘And that matches perfectly with the coin we found today. I think that might be Roman, too.’
‘What does it mean?’ Robin asks, collecting his juice from the table. ‘Are the birds doing a history project too?’
‘History – of course!’ I exclaim. ‘That’s why it’s a yellow Trivial Pursuit piece. Trivial Pursuit is a quiz game that adults sometimes play,’ I explain for Robin’s benefit. ‘The yellow triangle means you get questions on history.’
‘See,’ Robin says assuredly, wandering over to the table. ‘I told you it all matched.’
‘You did, and I think you might be on to something . . . If only I knew what, though?’ I look at the objects again and wonder why the birds had left them all. It couldn’t just be a coincidence, could it? Maybe I was getting carried away with this Roman theory for Robin’s sake. But it made so much sense . . .
‘Your coin isn’t as pretty as mine are,’ Robin says.
I turn around and see him holding the coin we’d found earlier.
‘Do you mean in comparison to your pocket money?’ I ask. ‘Your money is much newer than this – it will be a lot cleaner, for one thing.’
‘No, I mean my other coins – the ones I found in the ground.’
I walk over to the table. ‘What coins did you find?’ I ask slowly.
‘Some that look a bit like this, only they’re much shinier.’
‘Where did you find them?’ I ask, as a shiver runs through me. Could Robin’s coins be the same as this one? Were there more of them?
‘Me and Mum went for a walk one day to see the big machines.’
My mind runs through what he could mean.
‘The big yellow ones on the field.’
‘Oh, you mean the machinery that’s digging up the fields on the hill?’
‘That’s right. I like them. So Mum said we could go and have a look when no one was there.’
