Gladiator Clash (Time Hunters, Book 1) (9 page)

Suddenly, the girl who had taken the amulet cried out, “Hilarus! Help me!”

Hilarus, only feet away from Tom, swung round.

The girl was waving the amulet in the air.Isis had dismounted and leaped over the barrier. Her arrow was trained straight on the girl's heart.

The whole crowd gasped and fell silent.

“Get the amulet, Isis! You can do it!” Tom shouted.

“That's mine. Give it back!” Isis demanded, pulling the arrow back, ready to shoot.

The girl clutched the jewel close to her chest. “I will not,” she said in a shaky voice. “This belongs to Hilarus and I'm his biggest fan.”

Hilarus was charging like an angry bull back towards Isis now. The crowd were hurling insults at her and booing loudly.

Above the mayhem, Atillius's voice boomed, “Guards! Stop the games! Seize those children!”

Tom felt the colour drain from his face as a swarm of spear-wielding stewards streamed down the tiers of seating towards him. There was no time to lose.

Spying his two swords lying abandoned in the dust, Tom ran over and grabbed the hilts.
Great. At least I'm armed again
, he thought. Then, sprinting towards Isis so fast that he was sure his lungs would explode, Tom called out, “Get the amulet! It's time to go!”

The stewards were closing in, spears at the ready. Tom could feel their shadows bearing down on him.

“What are you waiting for?” Atillius barked. “Clap those children in chains! I'll feed them to the lions myself.”

The stewards lowered their spears so they were pointing right at Tom and Isis's bellies.

A voice boomed out, “No, Atillius! These two are mine!”

Hilarus pushed the stewards aside and treated the girl who was his biggest fan to a dazzling grin. With a short, sharp blow from his sword, he knocked the bow and arrow clean out of Isis's hands.

“Now, Isis!” Tom hissed through gritted teeth.

Isis reached out and swiped the amulet from the girl's hand. The girl was so distracted by her idol standing close to her that she didn't even seem to notice her trophy had gone.

Isis flashed the orange amulet at Tom and gave him a nod. Together, they started to race towards the exit.

“It was nice knowing you all,” Isis called to Hilarus and the stewards, “but we're very busy people and it's time to go.”

Tom was just about to join hands with Isis when he froze in horror.

“Er, Isis,” he said. “Aren't you forgetting something?”

Isis looked blank for a moment, and then despair spread across her face. “Cleo!” she wailed. “We can't leave without my fluffpot!”

Tom knew they had missed their chance. It was no use. The guards had caught up with them and they were surrounded on all sides by tall stewards with mean-looking faces and glinting spears. How would they get to Cleo now?

Tom noticed that the stewards' togas were dazzling white and draped in careful folds, and the men wore beaded sandals on their feet.

“Great sandals, guys,” Tom said, trying to say anything that might distract the stewards long enough for him take a swipe at them.

A couple of the stewards actually looked down at their feet and smiled, but it wasn't enough to make them drop their spears.

“Nice try, prison scum!” one of the stewards said, shaking his spear. “Throw down your weapons or I'll skewer you like a kebab.”

“We need to get past them,” Isis cried. “I've got to get to Cleo!”

The men were closing in on them.

Tom looked about him. Guards were everywhere. He held out his two swords even though his tired arms were shaking with the weight.

“Just try to push them back towards the prisoners' quarters,” Tom said to Isis.

“How? They took my bow and arrows, remember?” she said.

Tom racked his brains for a solution.

“Kick sand at them,” he shouted.

Isis grinned and nodded. Together they started to kick sand at the stewards. Clouds of dust billowed round, making them cough.

“I can't see!” a steward gasped.

Tom slashed at the stewards with his left sword. There was a clash of metal as he tried to force their spears aside.

“Take that!” he yelled. He swung his sword low, chopping the long wooden shafts of five spears clean in half.

Isis aimed a few brutal kicks at the shins of several of the stewards and they buckled over, groaning and clutching their legs.

“Sounds like that hurt!” Isis cried, grinning mischievously.

Then she grabbed handfuls of dust and flung them in the men's faces. She snatched up one of the spear heads from the ground and slashed at the brooches that held the men's togas together. The stewards were soon tangled up in their own clothing, cowering with embarrassment before the guffawing spectators.

Tom saw their chance. “Run!” he shouted to Isis.

They made good progress back towards the entrance to the prisoners' quarters, but more stewards appeared from the rows of seats and chased after them.

Tom and Isis sprinted down the stone stairs and pelted down the corridors that led to the animals' enclosure, hurdling anything that stood in their way.

“Did we lose them?” Isis gasped.

Tom looked behind him. “No! Faster!”

The men were gaining on them.

Ahead, Tom spotted Josephus fetching a bucket of water.

“Help us!” he shouted.

Josephus looked round, startled. He nodded as Tom and Isis skidded to a halt by the heavy wooden door.

“This thing weighs a tonne. Push together,” Josephus said.

They all wedged their shoulders up against the door and put their full weight behind it until it began to inch inwards.

“Quick! They're coming!” Tom wailed.

“There they are!” the stewards bellowed.

Five men bowled along the corridor towards Tom and Isis. There was a
whizz!
as a spear shot through the air towards them.

“Duck!” Josephus barked.

Bedoinnng
! went the spear as it impaled itself into the wood of the door. It was a near miss but they had the door open now.

“Take us straight to Cleo!” Isis commanded Josephus.

They sped past the alligator and a cage full of tigers to Cleo's special spot. She was sound asleep, curled up on a cozy bed of hay at the back of the lion's cage. The lions were huddled in a far corner, whimpering.

“Fluffpot!” Isis cried. Cleo woke up and stretched lazily. The men were almost upon them now. Josephus threw a bale of hay in their path to slow them down.

“It's no use,” Tom said in frustration. “They're going to capture us! There's nowhere left to run!” His heart was beating so wildly, he could hardly hear himself think. Next to him, Isis was trembling like jelly. Tom searched his mind for a last-ditch escape route.

“Hang on!” he said to Isis. “Aren't the wild animals terrified of Cleo?”

Isis nodded frantically. “Yes! Yes!” she said. “Somehow they know she's a ghost!”

“I've got it,” Tom said. He turned to Josephus. “Release the animals!”

Josephus was wide-eyed. His forehead glistened with sweat. “Are you mad?” he cried. “They'll eat you alive.”

A spear landed with a rattle at their feet.

“We've got no other choice, Josephus,” Tom said. “As long as we've got Cleo on our side, we should be safe. It's the only way we can escape the stewards!”

Josephus still didn't look convinced. The alligator started snapping its enormous jaws. It thrashed its tail from side to side. The tigers paced in their cage, growling. The lions started to roar and fling themselves against the bars of their enclosures.

The men were almost upon them with spears and swords.

“Give me the key!” Isis shouted, wrestling it out of Josephus's hands.

Isis held up the key and taunted the guards. “Time for walkies!” she cried, unlocking the cages.

The animals bolted out of their cages. Cleo trotted out after them, her tail held proudly in the air. But instead of attacking, the alligator and the lions backed away nervously from Cleo. The little cat hissed at them, then the animals fled down the corridor leading to the arena – trying to get as far away from Cleo as they could. Terrified, the stewards screamed and ran the other way.

Josephus shook his head in amazement. “I've seen some strange things in my time, but this is the strangest yet.”

“Will you be OK?” Tom asked him.

“Hilarus will deal with the animals,” Josephus said. He held up a bucket of meat. “And if you give them some of this, they're tame as kittens.”

Cleo jumped into Isis's arms and nuzzled her mistress. She pawed at Isis's tightly closed fist. Isis unfurled her fingers to reveal the orange amulet she still held in the palm of her hot, sweaty hand.

“What should we do now?” she asked, fixing Tom with wide, puzzled eyes.

Tom reached out and touched the amulet. It began to glow bright orange.

Wind started to whip around the animals' quarters. The gust furled around his ankles, quickly turning into a tornado that twisted around Tom, Isis and Cleo. There was a sucking sensation and Tom just had time to say, “Thank you and goodbye,” to a bewildered-looking Josephus before he felt himself being whisked into a tunnel. Then the wind blew so hard that Tom was forced to squeeze his eyes shut as he flew through space and time…