The day of the eruption.
I nearly kicked the whole thing into touch right there and then.
Vesuvius didn’t suddenly erupt, right out of the blue. The eruption was preceded by a series of violent seismic tremors, which, in those days, nobody associated with imminent volcanic activity. We landed right in the middle of quite a strong one. The pod shuddered a little, but the locker doors remained closed. Nothing fell out. We sat quietly and waited for what seemed a very long time for it to be over.
All throughout the tremor, Leon very pointedly said nothing.
To make it easy for them to find me, I was wearing clothes they’d seen me in before. The first century was about to be gifted with its first sighting of yellow-and-white-spotted PJs, over which I wore my blanket, poncho style. I could use it to cover my head when things started dropping from the sky. The inhabitants of Pompeii would soon be walking around with pillows tied to their heads for protection, so I didn’t have to worry too much about fashion statements.
I tucked the bottoms into my wellies, because I would soon be wading through layers of hot ash and pumice.
I half expected the tremors would cause Leon to change his mind, but he kept his attention on the screen and called me over.
‘Memorise this street. This is where I’ll pick you up. I can’t guarantee when, but certainly not longer than a few hours. Remember, they usually turn up after an hour or so. Find somewhere safe and stay there. Be aware that as well as being pursued by the Time Police, a volcano is about to erupt, so don’t concentrate on the one to the exclusion of the other.’
‘I’ll lead them away from here, show myself, and then double back.’
‘At least take the pod remote. If things get bad, you can call the pod.’
‘No. You’re taking as much of a risk as I am. I’m not going to call the pod when you might need it yourself.’
He hesitated.
‘It makes sense, Leon. If you’re not able to come back for me then I’ll die here, so the priority is to keep you safe. And we’re running out of time. Just a few short hours and then our problems will be over.’
‘In that case, make sure you’re here when I get back. Don’t make me come looking for you.’
There was an awkward pause, which I broke by saying, ‘Good luck. Don’t forget the Jaffa Cakes.’
He smiled and put out his hand, just as we always used to when I was setting off on assignment and we were surrounded by milling crowds of techies and historians. Memories crowded my mind. As always, his hand was warm and rough.
‘Good luck. Don’t forget the eruption.’
He opened the door and I slipped outside into the heat of the day. I walked to the deep purple shadow of a high wall and turned back.
He had already gone.
My heart knocked against my ribs. I’d been alone before but this was the first time I had ever been alone with no way to get home. Just to cheer myself up, I reminded myself I didn’t have a home any longer. If anything happened to Leon then I’d die here, along with most of the inhabitants. I was more alone than I’d ever been in my entire life. Out of my own world. Out of my own time. I’ve been in some dodgy situations before, but, always, St Mary’s had been in the background, somewhere. Eventually, Peterson or Guthrie or Markham or someone would explode out of the woodwork and I’d be saved. This was different.
I stared at the place where the pod had been. I’d tried to avoid thinking too much about my previous life, and thanks to the cluster-catastrophe that was our existence at the moment, I’d been largely successful. Now, typically, just when I needed to keep all my wits about me, a great surge of sadness for my loss rolled right over me. No matter what happened, there was no way I’d ever see any of my St Mary’s again.
Actually, if I didn’t get a move on, I’d never see anyone again. Think cheerful thoughts, Maxwell.
We’d argued for ages over where, in a doomed city, would be the safest spot in which to land, and finally fixed on the south-east quarter – somewhere between the Porta Stabia and the Porta Nocera. Of course, the pod had its own ideas and plonked us in the north-east corner, between the amphitheatre and the palaestra. It could have been worse. Vesuvius was to the north-west and the high walls of the amphitheatre would offer some protection. I hoped.
The ground shook again, slightly. I moved into an open space and looked around. From the position of the sun, I judged it to be about noon – later than I would have liked. The first eruption – a big one – would occur in about an hour.