Kidnapped by Time Wasters

By Graham Read

The Time Wasters have done something really evil this time.
Naomi has just found a message from one of her sisters in a pot that was sealed 2000 years ago, and now she discovers that she is an only child. Who has been kidnapped and which part of history are they trapped in?
This is your chance to learn a little history from Roman Britain to the Second World War.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Graham Read
• Release date: May 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310338694

Book preview

Kidnapped by Time Wasters

A story intended for ages 9 - 14

By Graham Read

Published By Graham Read at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Graham Read

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents

Chapter 1 - A Message from History

Chapter 2 - The Roman Wall

Chapter 3 - London’s Burning (for the 2nd time)

Chapter 4 - The Little Man with a Feather in his Hat

Chapter 5 - Lost in the Old City of London

Chapter 6 - The Long Road Home

Chapter 7 - London Underground

Chapter 8 - London’s Burning (for the 1st time)

Chapter 9 - Naomi to the Rescue

Chapter 10 - The Roman Road

Chapter 11 - Mr Samuel Pepys

Chapter 12 - Chronos Shows the Way

Addendum

About the author

Other books by this author

Chapter 1

A Message from History

Naomi was working in the garden, digging the little square of land that her Daddy had said she could have to plant whatever she wanted. She thought that a banana tree would maybe take too long to grow, so she had settled on strawberry plants instead.

The ground was quite hard and it was difficult to dig into it with a trowel, so she decided to get the large garden fork from the garage. She plunged it into the ground, and then stood on it to drive it in deeper, but it simply would not go in any further – and even worse, it was stuck. She pulled and pushed until it finally came free, bringing a clump of earth with it, and leaving a large hole in the ground.

When Naomi looked into the hole she was surprised to see what looked like an ancient earthenware pot, and, although it was covered in dirt, she could see faint writing scratched on the side. She lifted the pot gently from the ground, because it was obviously very old, and washed it under the garden tap before examining the writing on its side.

It was quite difficult to read, but the message was truly amazing. It said,

‘Please deliver this pot to Naomi,’

and underneath was her full name and address.

How was it possible that the pot should be addressed to her when it had clearly been buried for hundreds of years? Even the house could not have been built when this pot had been placed in the ground.

The lid of the pot was sealed with wax, but it rattled when Naomi shook it, so there was certainly something inside. She chipped the wax away with her trowel and then lifted the lid, but the pot was empty apart from a small flat piece of metal. Naomi shook it out into her hand and realised that it was a thin sheet of lead with writing scratched onto its surface.

What it said was an even bigger surprise,

‘Help!

I am stuck in Roman Britain.

XXX Beth.’

It was clear to Naomi that this was some kind of silly joke. You simply don’t get strange messages from one of your sisters delivered in an ancient pot buried in the garden.

So she decided to find the other girls and to tell them all, that she didn’t find their little jokes at all funny. It was only when she went back into the house to find them that things began to get really odd.

It comes as something of a surprise when you are used to having three sisters and then you suddenly discover that you are an only child.

And it doesn’t help if your parents seem to have lost their memories.

She was horrified when she found that they had no idea who she was talking about when she asked them where Bethany, Phoebe and Lydia might be. Naomi was almost in tears as she tried to explain that she really did have three sisters, but her parents just looked at each other with knowing smiles. They obviously thought that she was playing a game involving imaginary friends. No amount of arguing would change their minds, so Naomi rushed upstairs and searched every room, but there was no trace of the other girls and no sign that they had ever existed. Even their clothes and toys had completely disappeared. It was just as if she really was an only child.

Something was certainly very wrong, but Naomi was not exactly sure what it was. She sat on her bed and tried to make sense of the events of the morning. The small piece of metal might hold a clue, so she examined it again. This time she turned it over and noticed some tiny writing on the back.

‘I don’t know how I got here and I don’t know the date, but it is the middle of summer and the Emperor Hadrian has just died. (The new one is called Antoninus Pius.) Don’t just sit there! Come and rescue me, you idiot!’

Naomi stared at the message and one thing was immediately obvious. Bethany may never have existed, but she was still as pushy as she ever was.

It was all very well to say, ‘Come and rescue me,’ but how was it to be done?

It was helpful to know roughly when she was stuck, but why hadn’t the silly girl said where she was stuck?

Naomi read the message again, and then she decided that she could at least discover when the Emperor Hadrian died. She switched on her computer and searched for 'Hadrian’, and after a few seconds some information appeared on the screen.

Publius Aelius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, known as Hadrian, was Roman Emperor from the year 117 to July 138. He re-built the Pantheon