MEETING THE ROMANS
(c) A short story written by children from England and Catalonia.2004

'Oh come on Clare, we're going to be late for our Meet the Teacher evening,' called her mother.
'I'm coming, I'm coming.' Clare raced downstairs so quickly she was in danger of falling.
Together they hurried to the car and drove off to school. Typical of January, it was a cold and blustery Tuesday evening and there were flecks of snow in the air.
'What did you learn in school today?' asked Clare's mum as they drove along the dark lane to school. Clare answered in great excitement, her words rushing out like a waterfall.
'Oh, Mrs White told us about the Romans and the old villa that was built and about the secret door from the school library to the old villa and……………'
'Slow down Clare.' said mum as she drove through the traffic lights.
'……..and the Roman helmet which was in our school hall and how it was stolen …….'
The car slowed as it turned in to the school car park and mum tried to find a place to park. 'Now we are late,' sighed mum as she led Clare into the school building along with the other parents and children who were due to 'Meet' their teacher.
Clare sat patiently in the brightly lit corridor alongside her mum, still telling her about the exciting lesson on Meeting the Romans. Suddenly she remembered that she had left her reading bag in the school library with all her homework on the Romans. Clare's mum suggested she went to find the Caretaker Mr Jakes so that she could collect her bag.
'I won't be long,' said Clare as she set off down the corridor towards the library.

The corridor towards the library and hall were unlit - no parents or children were meeting here. They were all in the classroom areas. Behind her, Clare could hear the noisy babble of excited children and parents waiting to share their work with the teachers.
A door banged. Clare jumped. What was that? Was it Mr Jakes? She didn't think so because she thought she could hear him whistling at the other end of the corridor. Out of the silence, she heard steps. Somebody was coming closer. Somebody or something was coming down the corridor. Nearer. Clare stood still in a doorway, so still that even the tables and chairs froze with her. Carefully, she peered out. A shadow slipped by and quick as a knife, into the library.
Clare clenched her fist around the door handle, her heart racing fast.
Clare was shocked and surprised. Suddenly she remembered to fetch her books. When she got into the library, she heard voices and noises and then noticed her reading bag was empty.
Quickly Clare ran away to tell Ben Fearful and Katie Brave what had happened. They stole some of Mr. Jakes torches and went back to the library.
Sounds and voices again! A secret door appeared behind a bookshelf and the shadow got through without opening it.
By chance, at the same time, the secret door opened itself and the library door shut. Clare, Ben and Katie decided to have a look at the secret door together. They joined hands and when Clare got into the secret corridor ... they all slipped. There were no stairs: there was a slide.
Clare, Ben and Katie gazed as far as they could down the slide. Unable to see any end to the darkness, questions raced in their minds. 'Where would it lead? How far down? Who or what was there?'
The slide was made of a smooth, well worn, grey stone. One by one, Katie, Clare and Ben lowered themselves onto the slide. After a short while they hit a tiled floor, landing in a heap. Standing up painfully, the three of them dusted themselves off and peering through the dark, Katie spotted the outline of a door.
With one look at each other and a single nod, they approached the door. After several, tiring tugs the door opened halfway - just enough space for them to slip through.
Once they got through the door, they found 3 corridors, on the left, right and in the middle. They agreed to try the corridor on the left first. Approaching cautiously, it was as black as the night, but they felt their way into a room or chamber. Lit by flaming torches, all the children could see was four blank walls. They returned to their starting point and tried the corridor on the right. Cautiously, they crept along the darkened walls and opened their way into another chamber. This had no exit either but the walls were covered in old graveyard tombstones. It was a burial chamber. Terrified, they ran back to their starting point and were left with only one more choice - the middle way.
Immediately they came upon a stream, murky and uninviting. Suddenly a boat appeared, gliding up alongside them. A shadowy figure called out from the boat, 'Climb in.' It was Mr Jakes ........
The boat took them to "Thorntonus Villae", a Rom an town in the year 33 B.C.
As the boat arrived at a pier the shadowy figure of Mr Jakes, the caretaker, jumped out and merged into the crowd in the busy street. By the time the children had all got off Mr Jakes was nowhere to be seen. They suddenly realised it was daylight. The town was bustling with people. Then, the children looked at each other; they were dressed in fine silk tunics! Where were their normal clothes? And where had Mr Jakes disappeared to?

So they had arrived at a Roman market. It was lunch time and they were hungry. They asked for some bread from the baker's stall and ate it quickly. In the search for money to pay for their food, they turned out their tunic pockets and found none. The children were looking for a solution to their problem when suddenly, the plump, angry looking baker stepped from behind his stall and shouted, 'Guards. These little thieves are trying to get away.'

The children tried to get away, but were stopped by three powerful Roman soldiers.

With a thud the three children found themselves lying on the floor looking up at the soldier's tunics and 3 menacing swords. Unable to resist they were arrested. The guards asked the baker what he wanted to happen to the children. The baker replied. 'They look harmless to me - perhaps I could make use of them, to tidy my bakehouse. Let me have them.'
When the baker had finished with them the children were exhausted, dirty and fed up. What would happen next?
As the baker was shutting up his shop and it was beginning to go dark, the bakehouse door opened and in walked Mr Jakes!!!!
The baker spoke first. 'Good evening Senator Centurious - have you come for your bread?'
'No, I hear you have some children working here.'
After some quiet, whispered discussion, the Senator paid the baker to buy the children. Who had bought Ben, Katie and Clare? Senator Jakesum Centurious did. It was obvious that Mr Jakes was a Senator - back in Roman times. He took them home to have supper and also gave them a present - the helmet which had disappeared from their school!

Next day, in the morning, Senator 'Jakes' took the children back to the pier to travel back home by boat through the channel.
As they travelled in the boat, their old clothes reappeared and Mr Jakes made the children swear a secret that they would not tell a soul of their adventure. If they did they would never find their way back to Roman times again.
Clambering off the boat, carrying the helmet carefully, they climbed back up the slide and back in to the Library. With Mr Jakes' help they returned the helmet to its rightful place in the Hall. - and found Clare's book bag.
When Clare returned down the corridor, she sat down by her mother and passed her the reading bag. 'You found that quickly - did Mr Jakes help you? Come on it's our turn next to see your teacher.'

COMENIUS BOOKS
English Publishers:

English Publishers: Gemma Griffiths, Daniel Carolan, Charlotte Reed, Lewis Downes, Alice Taylor, Matthew Keith.

Catalan Publishers: Mª Loreto Aguilera Faura, Juan SebastianArango Duque, Laura Clotet Pérez, Carla Conejo, González, Belén Devesa Rojas, Ferran Escarmena Nuño, Albert Estévez Vela, Irene García Martínez, Nagore García, Platón, Minerva Gil Bonilla, Soraya Hijazo Tejada, Miriam Huguet Esteve, Cristina Martínez Martínez, Marina Negre, Cano, Joel Pérez Planchat, Irene Riquer Novell, Adolfo Rodríguez Padilla, Laura Sole Melero, Andrea Teres García,
Beatriz Torres Herrera, Nerea Vega Calvet, RamiroVidal Maria,

First Published 2004-03-26
Childer Thornton Primary School
In England
Copyright 2004