Vacation Under the Volcano Read Online Free Page A

streets.

In the distance, fire burst from Mount Vesuvius. Burning rocks and fiery ash fell from the sky.
    The hot, dusty air smelled like rotten eggs as Jack and Annie rushed down the street. In the forum, everyone—shoppers, soldiers, gladiators, fruit sellers—was running in every direction.
    Stalls had collapsed. Carts were sliding.
    Jack froze. He didn’t know where to go.

    â€œThat way!” shouted Annie.
    Jack followed her as they ran past the Temple of Jupiter. Its mighty columns had fallen, and its walls were crumbling.
    They ran past the Public Baths just as its roof caved in.
    â€œWhich way now?” shouted Annie.
    â€œThe tree house is in the olive grove!” Jack said as they kept running.
    â€œThe olive grove and the bridge are near the street with all those open shops!” said Annie. “Remember the bridge?”
    Jack looked up at the erupting mountain. A red-hot cloud billowed over it. Fires burned on its slopes.
    â€œHead in the direction of Mount Vesuvius!” he said. “It was behind us as we came into Pompeii.”
    â€œRight!” cried Annie.
    So while others ran
away
from Mount Vesuvius, Jack and Annie ran
toward
it.
    On the street with the open shops, baskets and broken jars rolled over the cracked stones.
    Jack and Annie ran past the bakery and the shoe shop. They ran past the butcher shop and barbershop. All the shops were empty. Their owners had fled.
    The closer they got to the volcano, the more the ground trembled. The darker and dustier it got.
    â€œThis is just like my nightmare!” cried Annie.
    Jack choked on the rotten fumes. His eyes watered.
    â€œLook! The olive grove!” shouted Annie. “The tree house is just over there! Come on!”
    Jack could hardly see, but he followed Annie. They left the street and ran to the dried-up stream near the olive grove.
    â€œWhere’s the bridge?” cried Annie.
    They looked around wildly.
The bridge had vanished
.

“The bridge must have caved in!” cried Annie.
    They stared at the dried-up stream. Pumice had piled up in huge drifts, like snow.
    â€œWe’ll have to get through that stuff to get across!” said Jack.
    He and Annie slid down the bank onto the piles of pumice. As they started to move across it, more and more fell.
    Jack tried to move through the millions of warm, grayish white pebbles. But he was trapped.
    â€œI’m stuck!” cried Annie.
    â€œMe too!” said Jack.
    â€œRemember what Morgan said!” said Annie.
    At the moment, Jack couldn’t remember anything. He was too tired and dazed.
    â€œÂ â€˜In your darkest hour, only the ancient story can save you!’ ” cried Annie. “Where’s your bag?”
    Jack lifted his bag into the air, above the sea of pumice. Annie grabbed it and pulled out the ancient scroll. She held it up to the dark sky.
    â€œ
Save us, story!
” she shouted.
    Jack felt himself sink deeper and deeper into the pumice. Suddenly he heard a deep voice say, “Rise, son!”
    Then someone lifted Jack up into the air.

    A great flash of fire lit the dusty darkness. In the red light, Jack saw the biggest, strongest man he’d ever seen in his life. The man looked like a gladiator—but even bigger than the ones they had seen earlier.
    He held Jack with one hand and Annie with the other. He placed them both on the other bank of the stream.
    â€œRun!” the giant gladiator boomed. “Before it’s too late!”
    Jack and Annie didn’t stop to ask any questions. Together, they charged through the olive grove.
    They jumped over fallen branches. They leaped over great cracks in the earth. Finally they came to the tree with the magic tree house.
    They grabbed the rope ladder and scrambled up to the tree house.
    â€œWhere’s the Pennsylvania book?” Jack shouted. He was too blinded by ash and dust to find the book that always took them home.
    â€œI’ve got