Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 AUGUST 24 7:00 A.M. THE MOUNTAIN VESUVIUS They took the twisting path that wound up the mountain. The sun was barely up, but already it roasted their backs. Tata kept stopping to look around. He seemed to be taking the mountain apart with his eyes, inch by inch. He kept crouching down, scooping up handfuls of soil, rubbing it between his fingers. He ripped up pieces of grass, sniffing them, and even touching them to his tongue.

"Do you notice the quiet?" he asked at one point. "There are no birds or insects anywhere." Tata was right. Normally at this time of morning, the air would be alive with chirping and singing and chattering. But Marcus had not seen one creature since they came up on the mountain, not a deer, a squirrel, nor even a fly. No people, either. There were pastures on this side of Vesuvius, and they'd passed two shepherd shacks. But they hadn't seen a soul. "Where did they all go?" Marcus asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "It might be that there's not enough water," Tata said. "It could be the heat drove them off." They'd already discovered that the streams higher up on the mountain were mysteriously dried up. They'd managed to find just one that still ran. And the trickle of water tasted so foul they could barely choke it down. Peg wouldn't go near it, even though she'd barely had a drink since before they'd slept last night. Maybe that was why she was walking so slowly, why she kept stopping and stamping her feet.

But now, as they passed through a cluster of pine trees, Peg stopped short. Tata pulled at her rope, but she refused to move. Marcus gave her a pat. "Come on, Peg," he said. The mare refused to budge. She looked at Marcus with wide, fearful eyes. Neigh! Was she trying to warn them about something? Marcus found the answer when he peered through the trees, into a meadow. The first thing he noticed was the grass was brown, as though it had been burned. Then he saw the sheep — at least twenty of them — all splayed out on their sides or backs. Marcus knew right away that they were all dead. "Good Jupiter," Tata whispered in shock, stepping slowly into the field. Once again, Marcus had to force himself to follow his father. Tata crouched down next to one of the sheep. "There's not a mark on her," Tata said, laying a gentle hand over the poor creature's head.

It was true — there was not a speck of blood, no bite marks, no wounds at all. But her tongue bulged out of her mouth and her eyes were wide in agony. All the sheep looked the same. What could have killed them? Tata said a prayer in his old Germanic language and then stood up. "I've seen enough," he said. "We must leave here. Now." But as they turned, there was a low rumbling from deep inside the earth. It quickly rose to a roar as the ground started to shake. Marcus half expected a great beast to burst through the soil, for a giant clawed hand to grab him around the throat. What he saw next was almost more horrifying. As the ground boiled, the field suddenly ripped apart right in front of them. The gaping crack looked like an evil smiling mouth, ready to devour them. Great chunks of earth and dead sheep tumbled into the blackness. Marcus and Tata staggered back. And then — Boom!

An explosion shattered the air. Fire leaped out of the crack, a massive flaming tongue that seemed to lick the sky and then disappear. The force of the blast knocked them over, and sent Marcus tumbling down the steep slope. He rolled and twisted, his neck cracking, his arms tangling, his face scraping the rocky dirt as he slid down the hill. He crashed into a tree, which knocked every bit of air out of his lungs. Finally the ground stopped shaking. The fire was gone. But now ash rained down on them, a silent blizzard of hot flakes. Marcus sat there, numb with terror, dizzy from his fall. Tata came hurtling down the hill with Peg. "Are you hurt?" he gasped, dropping to his knees next to Marcus. Marcus shook his head dumbly, slowly rising to his feet. Moments later, they were speeding down the mountain on Peg. The mare ran like she had the day before, her hooves barely touching the ground.

Finally, Tata spoke. "A terrible fire is burning under the mountain," he warned. "I believe the entire mountain will explode." Marcus was too stunned to speak, or even think. All he could hear was a ragged voice whispering in his mind. The beggar woman's voice. "This world will burn."