Vacation Under the Volcano (5 page)

In the distance, fire burst from Mount Vesuvius. Burning rocks and fiery ash fell from the sky.

The hot, dusty air smelled like rotten eggs as Jack and Annie rushed down the street. In the forum, everyone—shoppers, soldiers, gladiators, fruit sellers—was running in every direction.

Stalls had collapsed. Carts were sliding.

Jack froze. He didn't know where to go.

“That way!” shouted Annie.

Jack followed her as they ran past the Temple of Jupiter. Its mighty columns had fallen, and its walls were crumbling.

They ran past the Public Baths just as its roof caved in.

“Which way now?” shouted Annie.

“The tree house is in the olive grove!” Jack said as they kept running.

“The olive grove and the bridge are near the street with all those open shops!” said Annie. “Remember the bridge?”

Jack looked up at the erupting mountain. A red-hot cloud billowed over it. Fires burned on its slopes.

“Head in the direction of Mount Vesuvius!” he said. “It was behind us as we came into Pompeii.”

“Right!” cried Annie.

So while others ran
away
from Mount Vesuvius, Jack and Annie ran
toward
it.

On the street with the open shops, baskets and broken jars rolled over the cracked stones.

Jack and Annie ran past the bakery and the shoe shop. They ran past the butcher shop and barbershop. All the shops were empty. Their owners had fled.

The closer they got to the volcano, the more the ground trembled. The darker and dustier it got.

“This is just like my nightmare!” cried Annie.

Jack choked on the rotten fumes. His eyes watered.

“Look! The olive grove!” shouted Annie. “The tree house is just over there! Come on!”

Jack could hardly see, but he followed Annie. They left the street and ran to the dried-up stream near the olive grove.

“Where's the bridge?” cried Annie.

They looked around wildly.
The bridge had vanished
.

“The bridge must have caved in!” cried Annie.

They stared at the dried-up stream. Pumice had piled up in huge drifts, like snow.

“We'll have to get through that stuff to get across!” said Jack.

He and Annie slid down the bank onto the piles of pumice. As they started to move across it, more and more fell.

Jack tried to move through the millions of warm, grayish white pebbles. But he was trapped.

“I'm stuck!” cried Annie.

“Me too!” said Jack.

“Remember what Morgan said!” said Annie.

At the moment, Jack couldn't remember anything. He was too tired and dazed.

“ ‘In your darkest hour, only the ancient story can save you!' ” cried Annie. “Where's your bag?”

Jack lifted his bag into the air, above the sea of pumice. Annie grabbed it and pulled out the ancient scroll. She held it up to the dark sky.

“
Save us, story!
” she shouted.

Jack felt himself sink deeper and deeper into the pumice. Suddenly he heard a deep voice say, “Rise, son!”

Then someone lifted Jack up into the air.

A great flash of fire lit the dusty darkness. In the red light, Jack saw the biggest, strongest man he'd ever seen in his life. The man looked like a gladiator—but even bigger than the ones they had seen earlier.

He held Jack with one hand and Annie with the other. He placed them both on the other bank of the stream.

“Run!” the giant gladiator boomed. “Before it's too late!”

Jack and Annie didn't stop to ask any questions. Together, they charged through the olive grove.

They jumped over fallen branches. They leaped over great cracks in the earth. Finally they came to the tree with the magic tree house.

They grabbed the rope ladder and scrambled up to the tree house.

“Where's the Pennsylvania book?” Jack shouted. He was too blinded by ash and dust to find the book that always took them home.

“I've got it!” cried Annie. “I wish we could go there!”

Jack felt the tree house start to spin.

It spun faster and faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely, wonderfully, peacefully still.

Jack didn't move. He had never been so tired in all his life.

“Breathe,” said Annie.

Jack gulped in cool, clean air. He opened his eyes. He couldn't see a thing.

“Take off your glasses,” said Annie. “They're filthy.”

Jack took off his glasses. The first thing he saw was his backpack. The white tunics and lace-up sandals were gone. So were their pillow hats and the leather bag.

Jack let out a long, deep breath. As he cleaned his glasses on his shirt, a voice came from behind him. “I'm
very
glad to see you safe and sound.”

Morgan le Fay stood in the corner of the tree house. She looked as lovely and mysterious as ever.

“Happy to be home?” she asked.

Jack nodded. The sound of the erupting volcano still echoed in his ears.

“It—it was pretty scary,” he said in a hoarse voice.

“I know. But you were truly brave,” said Morgan. “You witnessed a famous event in history. Nowadays, scientists study the remains of Pompeii to find out more about Roman times.”

“I feel bad for all those people,” said Annie.

“Yes,” said Morgan. “But most of the people of Pompeii
did
escape. The city wasn't completely buried by ash until the next day.”

“We were almost trapped,” said Annie. “But we asked the ancient story to save us. Then a huge gladiator helped us.”

Jack reached into his pack. He breathed a sigh of relief. The scroll was still there! He took it out. It was covered with dust and ashes.

“Here's the story,” said Jack.

He handed it to Morgan.

“I am deeply grateful,” she said softly. “You risked everything to bring this to me. I can never thank you enough.”

“Don't worry about it,” said Jack. He didn't want Morgan to know how scared he had been.

“Yeah, no problem,” said Annie.

Morgan smiled. “You are amazing Master Librarians,” she said. “Do you think you're up to rescuing another ancient story?”

“Yes!” said Annie.

“Now?” said Jack. Actually he was a little tired now.

Morgan laughed. “No. Take a nice vacation. Come back two weeks from today. Then you will take a trip to ancient China,” she said.

“Ancient China? Wow,” said Annie.

“Oh, man,” said Jack.

“Go home now and rest,” said Morgan. She handed Jack his pack.

“Thanks,” he said. “Bye.”

“Bye,” said Annie.

Morgan gave them a little wave. Then Annie and Jack left the tree house and headed down the rope ladder. When they reached the ground, Jack looked up.

“Morgan,” he called. “What is that story about—the one we just rescued?”

“It's called
The Strongest Man in the World
,” said Morgan. “It's a lost tale about Hercules.”

“
Hercules?
” said Jack.

“Yes, he was one of the heroes of the Greeks and the Romans,” said Morgan. “He was a son of Jupiter.”

“Oh, wow.
Now
I get it,” said Annie.

“I'm taking it back now to Camelot's library,” said Morgan. “Everyone will be so excited to read it, thanks to you.” She waved to them. “Good-bye for now!”

As she waved, the wind began to whirl. The tree house began to spin. In a blur of shadow and light, Morgan and the magic tree house were gone.

Jack and Annie started walking through the woods.

“Get it? Get it?” said Annie.

“Get what?” said Jack.

“We were saved by Hercules!” said Annie. “We asked the story to save us—and
Hercules
appeared!”

“That's not possible,” said Jack. “It was just some gladiator guy. The story of Hercules is a
myth
. That means he never really lived.”