Rome in Flames by Kathy Lee Page A

could ask Tiro to run away with us? But no, he would never do that. He had told me that after he became a Christian, he stopped trying to escape from his master. Instead, he worked hard and saved up his money in the hope of buying his own freedom. In another year or two, he might have enough.
    In any case, Tiro would never feel at home in Britain. Even the mild Roman winter had felt chilly to him. He would hate our cold, wet, foggy weather.
    But it was hard to talk to him of Conan’s plans, remembering to say ‘he’, not ‘we’, and pretending to feel sad that Conan was leaving. Did Tiro guess the truth? He never asked me. I don’t think he wanted to know.

– chapter xvii –
    No goodbye
    Â 
    â€˜Where does the master keep his money?’ I asked Clemens, trying to sound casual.
    â€˜In the strongbox in his study,’ said Clemens. ‘Haven’t you ever seen it?’
    Rufus said, ‘Are you thinking of helping yourself to some cash? Because you needn’t bother. There’s only one key to the strongbox, and Pallas takes care of it.’ Everyone knew that Pallas, the secretary, was fiercely loyal to the master – he probably slept with the key under his pillow.
    â€˜Why do you want to know?’ Clemens asked me.
    â€˜I told you – Bryn’s planning a robbery,’ said Rufus.
    I felt my face start to go red. The only thing to do was to make a joke of the whole thing. ‘That’s right. I’m going to run off to Britain with the master’s strongbox!’
    â€˜Then you’ll need the strength of Hercules,’ said Clemens. ‘That box is made of metal and chained to the floor.’
    Rufus said, ‘If I wanted to steal something, I’d forget the money. There’s so much other stuff just sitting around asking to be taken. See that carved ivory figure?’ He pointed to a little statue in a niche on the corridor wall. ‘That must be worth quite a bit. And the big Greek vases in the dining room . . .’
    â€˜Don’t be stupid,’ said Clemens. ‘How would you get them past the doorman? Small things are better. I’d have that silver statuette of Mercury from the atrium.’
    â€˜Would you? How very interesting,’ said Theon. He had appeared round the corner of the passage and walked right in on our discussion. ‘I wonder if the master knows of your new interest in art collecting.’
    â€˜I was only joking,’ Clemens said hastily.
    â€˜Joking? Of course you were,’ Theon said, in that hateful, smooth voice of his. He smiled at us as he strolled past.
    â€˜I hate Theon,’ Rufus muttered. ‘Always hanging around, listening in on other people.’
    â€˜Because he hasn’t got any friends of his own. No one likes him,’ Clemens said loudly. Theon must have heard this, but he didn’t even turn his head.
    I wondered how much of our conversation he’d overheard. He could have been listening around the corner for ages. Had I said anything that Theon could use against me?
    Next day, when Conan met me outside the school, I told him what had happened.
    â€˜Then it’s time we made a move,’ said Conan. ‘We’ll leave tomorrow.’
    â€˜Tomorrow!’ I gasped. I felt it was too soon. I wasn’t ready.
    â€˜Or have you changed your mind? Maybe you want to stay here. Maybe you’re a Roman now, not a Celt,’ he said mockingly.
    â€˜No! I do want to go. It’s just that I haven’t had a chance to say goodbye to anyone.’
    Conan looked alarmed. ‘Forget saying goodbye. We don’t want anyone to guess what’s going to happen – not even Tiro. So just act normally. Take Manius to school tomorrow, and then slip away. I’ll meet you at the corner there.’
    This was a sensible idea. It meant I would be able to leave the house without anyone suspecting me. But I longed to see Tiro just one more time.