A Day of Fire: A Novel of Pompeii by Kate Quinn, Ben Kane, Stephanie Dray, Michelle Moran, E. Knight, Sophie Perinot, Vicky Alvear Shecter Read Free Book Online Page B

to … by staying away from Prim—from Pompeii,” I said, clearing my throat. I had come to love the city nearly as much as the girl I went to visit there—Pompeii and Prima would forever be intertwined in my mind. I couldn’t risk the danger of going near either of them again. “Probably for a long time.”
    He nodded. “Good. Only a man who understands his weakness can master it.”
    “And I plan on taking on some translation work to pay you back for the loss—“
    “I lost nothing,” he cried, pointing to the scroll and ring I’d set on the small round table between us.
    “I have lost your trust,” I said, hoping the quaver I felt in my throat did not spill out into my voice. “And I must earn it back.”
    “You already have,” he said. “It took balls of bronze to march up here and tell me the truth. A boy is not capable of such a thing. Only a man is.”
    The shock of his words was swept away by the alarmed voices floating up from the lower terraces. My mother came scrambling up the steps. “Brother!” she called. “Have you seen what the mountain is doing?”
    “The mountain?”
    I helped him up and we walked to the edge of the terrace where we stared agog at a strange vision from across the bay.
    “What mountain is that?” Mother asked. “And why is it spewing dirt?”
    “I cannot tell,” Uncle said. “What in Vulcan’s world could have caused such a cloud?”
    A thick, whirling, billowing column of ash and dirt climbed eerily and silently into the sky. Several stades high, the gray-brown cloud began spreading out as if it had grown tired. “It looks like an umbrella pine,” I said.
    “Extraordinary,” Uncle mused in that curious way of his. Then he sent the order to prepare a boat for us to take a closer look at the strange phenomena across the bay.
    “Do you think it is like the fire mountain in Sicily?” I asked as we continued staring.
    He shook his head. “Impossible! And Aetna actually has fire when it erupts,” he said. “I’ve seen it. Here, there is no fire, no lava. Only clouds, as if the fire is deep inside the mountain.”
    “Fascinating,” I mumbled.
    “Indeed!” agreed Uncle, his eyes shining. “It is hard to tell from here, but it looks like Vesuvius is responsible. Pompeii and Stabiae will lie beneath that cloud.”
    My mother turned to her brother with a worried expression. “Are you two going to explore the edges of the cloud? Or will you go all the way to Pompeii?”
    Staring into that strange dark cloud, I tried to imagine what Prima must be feeling. Gods, she must be terrified. I saw myself running through the panicked city until I found her. How she would throw her arms around my neck in relief and beg my forgiveness for her cruelty. How she would say she lov—
    “Gaius,” my uncle called, and I jumped. “Are you joining me on this journey? The winds will probably take us straight into Pompeii.”
    Why was he asking? Normally he would just order me to accompany him and I would do so without question or complaint. And then I understood. He was testing me. Hadn’t I j ust promised to stay away from Pompeii and Prima?
    I raised my chin and looked at my uncle in the eye. “I am keeping my word and staying here,” I said. At the look of confusion on my mother’s face, I added, “To finish my studies.” Even I could hear how weak that sounded, but my mother did not say anything.
    “Good man,” my uncle said, smiling proudly at me. “A Roman always keeps his word.”
    When an ash-coated messenger came barreling up the cliff and into the house bearing a message from a dear friend of Uncle’s begging to be rescued near Pompeii, the investigative excursion turned into a naval rescue mission. The fleet was put on high alert. All of Misenum, it seemed, came to the docks to bid farewell to the heroes of the day, led by my uncle.
    Just as he was about to board, my mother grabbed his hand. “Brother, perhaps you shouldn’t go. I have a terrible feeling