by Teri Barnett
Frederick raised his eyebrows as he handed the ebony walking stick to his daughter. “Say now, where did you come by this?”
Valerie stumbled as she grabbed the cane out of his hand. Catching her balance, she turned it over and over in her hands. It was the one Christos had made for her! That meant she hadn’t dreamt him!
Dear God in Heaven! If the cane was in there, maybe Clarus was too! “Please,” she called to the workmen. “Is there anything else in the tomb?”
After a few moments of searching, they returned to her empty handed. “Mi dispiace. Sorry. Nothing else.”
Valerie let out her breath, her heart aching. Clarus didn’t survive either. But she had been real. Christos had been real, too. She had the cane to prove it.
The last time she saw them, they had both fallen in the ashes of Vesuvius, suffocating to death. She began to shake, as tears spilled down her cheeks.
“What is it, child?” Frederick asked, his voice threaded with alarm.
“Oh, Papa.” Valerie wiped at her eyes. “I wish there was a way I could tell you.” She took a deep breath to compose herself and forced a smile. “I’m just overwhelmed with emotion. I’m so happy to be home.”
Frederick smiled and nodded as he took Valerie by the elbow and led her from the Necropolis. “Fill in that hole so no one else gets trapped in there!” he shouted over his shoulder to the workmen.
Valerie held tight to the beautifully wrought handle on her cane and began to cry again.
She had traveled through the mists and found her true love…
But he is forever lost to me.
“You should have seen her, Mama!” Reggie exclaimed as he tossed a stick into the fire. “When she walked into camp, she wasn’t wearing that birdcage under her dress and was as filthy as a gutter dog.”
“You will watch your language, Reggie,” Jacqueline scolded. “It isn’t polite to call your sister a gutter dog.” She put her arm around Valerie’s shoulders and pulled her close. “I was so worried about you when you didn’t come home yesterday. We were all frightened for your safety. I only wish I hadn’t been with the other search party looking in the opposite direction when they found you today.”
Valerie pulled away from her mother. “Yesterday? What are you talking about, Mama? I’ve been gone for almost two months.”
Jacqueline exchanged a worried look with her husband. “I promise, dear. It’s been only a day.” She caressed Valerie’s head. “You must have taken a worse bump than we imagined, though, for the life of me, I can’t find a single lump.”
Lucy appeared from out of the shadows. “Here’s a nice poultice fer ye.”
Valerie tugged at the strings of her dressing gown. No sooner had she returned to the campsite, than she was being fussed over like a baby chick in a hen house.
Lucy had seen to it she had a hot bath and a change of clothes. Then went to work on her poultice. Lucky clucked as she tied the heavy cheesecloth around Valerie’s forehead. It reeked of mud and soured herbs.
“I’m all right, Lucy. I don’t need a poultice.” Valerie pinched her nose, trying not to breathe in the smell.
“Nonsense. I been carin’ fer ye since ye was little and I think I know what’s best.” She patted Valerie’s shoulder.
Valerie shook her head and couldn’t help but smile. What a contrast her life here was to the one she had just experienced in the past—she had to do the pampering in ancient Pompeii, and now she was the one being coddled.
She watched her father for a moment as he moved about absently in his seat near the fire. He leaned forward and twisted and turned, trying to face his book just so in order to read by the firelight. He must have felt her looking at him because he glanced up and smiled. All was right in his world once again.
Valerie smiled back at him. “I love you, Papa. And I love you too, Mama.” She hugged her mother tightly.
“My goodness.” Jacqueline laughed. “Whatever brought that on?”
“I missed you both so much. If you only knew how badly.” Ever watchful, Lucy handed her a cup of tea. She sipped the warm, honey-sweetened liquid and stared into the campfire…
In her mind’s eye, she saw Christos once more, knocked to the ground, ash covering his body. Would her family believe her story? Dare she tell them? At the very least, they’d probably think her mad… “I think I’d like to go to bed now, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” Jacqueline stood and offered her arm. “You never did tell us where you found that beautiful new cane.”
Tears welled in Valerie’s eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me in a thousand years.” Overcome with sadness, she looked off in the distance as she spoke. “Nay, nearly two thousand.”
Lucy fussed the next morning as she packed the trunk at the end of Valerie’s cot. “Things never seem to fit back in as well once they’re taken out,” she muttered under her breath.
Valerie rubbed her eyes and sat up. “What are you doing?” she asked, following the woman’s movements.
“We’ll be leavin’ this day.” She sniffed. “And none too soon, I don’t mind tellin’ ye.”
“Leaving? But haven’t we only just arrived?” Valerie swung her legs to the floor and stood. Gripping her cane tightly, she walked to the opening of the tent. She pushed back the flap and peered out into the campsite.
She watched the workmen pass baskets of dirt to one another down a long line and dump them into a pile. Once empty, they handed them back along the same line to be refilled.
“Yer father and his lordship Smythe aren’t getting’ along. He kept makin’ noise about the investment and here you were missin.’ I thought for sure Mr. Brooks was going to punch him in the nose,” Lucy said closing the trunk. The lid popped up again. “And yer mother and father are worried over ye and anxious to get ye home to a doctor in England.” Blowing out a breath, she plopped down on top of the trunk, and with a quick flip of the wrist, fastened the lock. “There, now. I left ye some clothes over here fer the carriage ride back to the ship.”
Valerie crossed her arms and leaned against the rock and canvas wall. “I’m not leaving.”
“I beg yer pardon?” Lucy took a step toward her. “Ye took a harder blow to the head than I thought.” She motioned at the cot. “Lay yerself down and I’ll fetch ye some nice hot tea and another poultice.”
Valerie shook her head. She walked to the chair and slipped off her nightclothes. “I don’t need tea or poultices. Will you help me dress, please?”
Lucy hesitated for a moment. “Well, I suppose ye’ll have to dress sooner or later.” She scooped up the heavy corset and held it out. “Ye know the routine.”
Valerie held her arms up over her head and held her breath. As Lucy fastened it tightly into place, she slowly let out her breath, recalling days of short, comfortable stolas. She definitely hadn’t missed this piece of torture while in ancient Pompeii.
Next, Lucy placed the crinoline on the floor and Valerie stepped into it. The bloody birdcage, she cursed silently as the older woman laced it into place around her waist. Then came her stockings, blouse, skirt, and jacket, followed by a pair of ankle high shoes.
She sighed.
“Lucy, what did you do with the dress I was wearing yesterday when Papa found me?”
Lucy wrinkled her nose. “It was disgustin’, all covered in dirt and ash. I threw it away.”
“You what?” Valerie stomped her foot on the hard ground. “Where did you put it?”
“What’s the worry, girl? It’s not as if you don’t have plenty of clothing.” Lucy finished buttoning Valerie’s shoes. “If you must know, I tossed it into the dirt pile out back.”
Valerie grabbed her cane and headed out the tent in search of her clothing. Christos had touched the skirt and blouse. He had held it close and retrieved it for her after he bought her at the slave market.
Venturing into the street, her heart skipped a beat and she forgot all about rescuing her skirt and blouse. Last night, when it was dark, the town hadn’t seemed quite so empty. Now, in the light of day, the past came back to haunt her…
The streets were deserted, when only a few days ago they were bustling with activity before Vesuvius erupted.
“Valerie. Come here, child,” Frederick called.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Valerie walked to where her father was standing near one of the buildings.
“Look what I found. Signore Fiorelli said I could give them to you. A gift for all of your troubles he said. I thought they’d make lovely earrings.” He smiled. “What do you think?”
Valerie held out her hand and her father gently placed two stones in her palm. She turned them over and brushed the dirt away with her thumb. They were pink tourmalines, the exact same ones she had held in Christos’s garden. Carved intaglio with a woman’s head, they had survived the volcano intact.
Her vision blurred and her breath came in short gasps. The world was closing in around her. She clutched at her throat. She couldn’t breathe.
“Whatever is the matter?” Frederick took her hand. “Come. Sit down.”
Valerie shook her head. She looked up at the building standing before her. She took a step, stumbled, and caught herself against her cane.
“Christos,” she whispered. Leaving her father to stare after her, she entered the ruins and traced the path to the garden at the back of the house. Here, the fragments of Diana and Athena’s hunt scene were still visible. Valerie dropped to her knees and dug her hands in the ash that had yet to be excavated. She raised her eyes to the heavens.
“Why didn’t he live?” Her shoulders sagged and she dragged her hands through the dirt. Why didn’t I die?
She glanced up at the sound of children’s laughter. Looking down the corridor, she spotted Reggie and a local boy running in the street, playing a game of tag.
Life has a habit of marching on even when those you love are gone.
Valerie slowly stood and walked back down the corridor, moving her fingertips over the mosaics still clinging to the wall. A pain shot through her breast and she clutched the cane to her. Leaning her forehead against the wall, she gently traced the outline of the cool tiles as tears ran freely down her cheeks.
Without looking back, she left the remains of the once noble home and made her way through the street toward the Necropolis, taking the same path she had taken during the eruption. Valerie stopped again as she spied one of Signore Fiorelli’s plaster casts. She crouched down and studied the facial expression. A faint outline of a purse could be seen clutched in the figure’s hands.
“Gravia,” she murmured.
Valerie wiped at her tears furiously and stared at the sky. Having known the past, having known love, how could she face the future?
She stood and stumbled down the uneven pavement until she reached the gates. Slowly, she picked her way toward the tomb where Papa had found her. Would she find her love among the casts of the other bodies? She searched the area nearby. There it was. The heavy column that Christos had fallen next to.
Terrified of what she’d find, but unable to stop herself, she approached the scene before her. Several people had been uncovered. But, to her amazement, none lay under or even close to the column. She dug frantically in the scattered rocks until her fingers were torn and bloody. Where had his body gone?
“Buongiorno, Signorina Brooks. I am very glad to see you are well and moving around.”
She looked up, glaring. Fiorelli took a step backward. “Tell me what you have done with him!” she demanded, her voice raspy.
“With who?” He leaned over and followed her digging movements with his eyes. He considered her for a moment. “Perhaps I should take you back to camp so that you may lie down for a while.”
“No. I’m not going anywhere until I find Christos.” She looked wildly from side to side. “He was here. I know he was. Right near this column.”
“If you are speaking of the bodies, Signorina, some did not survive the casting process. We had difficulty in the beginning, when we were perfecting our methods, and lost several of the forms.”
“You mean he’s gone forever?” she whispered.
“I don’t think you will find what you are looking for among the statues of the dead, Signorina.”
Valerie got to her feet, tears running freely down her cheeks. “How could you destroy him?” she sobbed. “He was my love!”
Fiorelli gripped Valerie’s arm. “You must come with me, Signorina. Your mother will be worried about you.”
Suddenly exhausted, Valerie fell against the older man. Fiorelli steadied her and she followed along next to him, moving numbly. She ventured one last slow look at the debris at her feet then allowed Fiorelli to lead her out of the Necropolis and back to the city.
Chapter 33
Valerie watched in silence out the window of the carriage as it pulled away from Pompeii and headed north to the harbor. After visiting the Necropolis and finding no trace of Christos’s body, she had decided it would be better to leave. She couldn’t live with the ghosts that haunted the site. Besides, Christos would always be in her heart, so it didn’t really matter if she was in Pompeii or London, did it? At least, that’s what she tried to tell herself.
Valerie’s eyes met Jacqueline’s. She read the concern on her mother’s face. She’d overheard her parents whispering about her, how pale and drawn she was. How they had hoped this trip would do her some good, not push her further into melancholia. But, after everything that had happened with Thomas Smythe and then being trapped in the tomb, it probably would have been for the best if they had all stayed home.
“Tell me, Val, what are you thinking?” Jacqueline asked.
Valerie shrugged and looked back out the window. “Nothing,” she murmured.
“The expression on your face tells me otherwise. Is it Thomas?”
“Heavens, no.”
Jacqueline leaned back as the carriage bumped and swayed over the dirt road.
Valerie returned her attention to the passing countryside, but her ears were still attuned to her parents’ conversation. Jacqueline patted her husband on the shoulder and whispered, “I tell you, Frederick, she’s not right. Something’s terribly wrong with her. It’s almost as if she’s pining away.”
“She’s had a terrible fright,” he answered, keeping his voice low. “Trust me. She’ll be fine in a few days.”
“Well, I think she’s gone crazy!” Reggie declared loudly. “And I think she should be locked up until her mind comes back!”
Valerie glared at her brother for a moment, then relented with a smile. She ruffled his hair and tweaked his nose. “You know something, brother? I missed you, even if you are a little lizard.” Valerie leaned back into the padded leather coach seat.
Reggie grinned and went back to working on his sailor’s knots. “I want to be ready for our trip home,” he said. “Just like a real sailor.” While he worked, he glanced out the window. “Papa! I think that other carriage is going to hit us!”
Valerie and Jacqueline both ignored him, but Frederick closed his book and leaned out the window. The driver of the other coach waved at him. Frederick sat back into his seat and tugged at his jacket to straighten it. “Nothing to worry about.”
Reggie poked his sister in the side. “Take a look, Val! I say we’re going to wreck for certain!”
“No, we’re not, because I know who it is,” their father reasoned. “And because I know who it is, I know precisely where they’ll be stopping so there’s no chance of an accident.”
Valerie opened her eyes, her curiosity piqued for the moment. She looked at her father. Always one for a good mystery, he was. “All right, Papa. How about you share your information with the rest of us?”
“Ye
s, Papa,” Reggie chirped in. “I demand to know what’s going on.” He slammed his fist into his thigh, imitating his father.
Frederick chuckled. “A friend of Fiorelli’s, one of the locals, asked if her nephew and his daughter could travel with us. Seems the man has business in England but has never been there. She was hopeful we’d show them around.” He shrugged. “So, I agreed. Seemed harmless enough to honor the old woman’s request. Besides, I understand the man’s something of an expert in Roman antiquities. Should make for some interesting conversation for you, daughter.”
Valerie nodded slightly and closed her eyes. Let the man talk all he wanted to—she wasn’t about to have anything to do with him. Once she got on that ship, she was going to lock herself in her cabin for the rest of the journey home. She struggled to rein in her emotions. Her parents would follow Reggie’s suggestion and lock her up for sure if she didn’t stop weeping at the drop of a hat.
Jacqueline smiled and patted her husband’s hand. “Your father does have a soft spot, you know, hidden beneath all that gruff.”
Valerie opened her eyes as their coach drew to a halt, having arrived at the shipyard. It listed to one side as the driver stepped down and opened the door. Frederick eased out the narrow door and helped Jacqueline disembark, then Valerie. Reggie hopped out last.
“We should greet our new traveling companions,” Frederick announced.
The driver was assisting a small woman, bent with age, down the steps of the other carriage.
Frederick greeted her warmly and introduced her to Jacqueline.
Valerie froze. “Hekate?” she whispered.
“Did you say something?” Jacqueline asked.
Valerie nodded toward the old woman. “I—uh—I believe I know that woman.”
“And how do you know her, Val?”
“Yes, Val. How do you know her?” Reggie echoed.
“I, um, I met her at the site, before the accident.” Valerie’s next thought escaped her as a tall, dark-haired man stepped out of the carriage after the old woman.
