Free Greek Warriors by Chris Blake Page B

She giggled as it bounced off him.
    â€œYes. That’s exactly what I mean!” Tom said.
    â€œFetch me a packet of fish fingers, will you, Tom?” said Mum. “And do stop talking to yourself. You sound like Dad.”
    Tom leaned over the freezer, and gasped as the ground began to shake. Shoppers carried on pushing their trolleys down the aisle as if nothing was happening, but Tom knew it could mean only one thing…
    â€œAnubis!” Isis yelped. She clutched Cleo close to her.
    â€œI guess we’re off on our next adventure!” Tom said, gulping. “Look!” He pointed at the jackal’s head that was emerging from beneath the frozen vegetables.
    Isis peeped into the freezer. “I d-d-don’t care where he sends us,” she said through chattering teeth, “just please let it be somewhere hot!”
    The god of the Underworld, with his human body and jackal’s head, rose up.

    His furry face sparkled with frost and his red eyes glowed hot, melting all the frost and ice in an instant. He let out a long, low growl.
    â€œA-Anubis,” Isis said. “Nice of you to drop by.”
    â€œAre you ready to begin your next adventure?” Anubis shouted.
    â€œBut we haven’t been up the sweets aisle yet,” Tom moaned. “Mum always lets me open a family-sized chocolate bar before we get to the till. I was looking forward to it!”
    â€œSilence!” Anubis shouted. “Prepare to leave immediately!” A tornado of icy wind and frozen peas whipped up round Tom, Isis and Cleo. Tom felt himself being sucked into the tunnels of time. They were on their way to a whole new place and era.

Tom, Isis and Cleo shot out of the time tunnel. They floated down, down, down… it was as if they had jumped out of an aeroplane wearing invisible parachutes.
    I love this bit
, Tom thought.
    The air that whooshed past his cheeks was hot. Through barely open eyelids, Tom spied the ground below rushing up to meet them.
    Thump! Flump! Kerplump!
The three travellers landed on something hot and soft.
    Tom sat up. The sunlight was blinding. The heat was fierce. Their last two time-travelling adventures had taken them to cold places – King Arthur’s medieval England and Scandinavia in Viking times.
    â€œWhere are we?” he asked, shielding his blue eyes from the glare. The fingers on his left hand pushed down into powdery white sand. He and Isis were both wearing short tunics and sandals.
    â€œI don’t know, but it’s glorious!” Isis said, leaping to her feet and jumping up and down with glee. “It’s the first time I’ve been warm since we went to Ancient Rome!” She stretched out her arms and kissed the bronze skin that now covered them. “Hello, body! So nice to have you back.”
    Cleo mewed loudly and rubbed up against Isis’s legs. She was covered in the furry stripes of a tabby cat once more.
    â€œWe need clues,” Tom said.
    He looked round. To his right, as far as he could see, were pale stone walls reaching up to the blue sky. To his left, the green sea was fringed by dazzlingly white sand. The beach was teaming with…
    â€œSoldiers!” Isis cried.
    Tom held his hand over her mouth and dragged her behind a sand dune. “Shh!” he said. “Not so loud. Let’s work out who these guys are before—”
    â€œFirst of all,” Isis scoffed, “it’s my job to talk loudly. I’m a princess! Second of all, they might be able to tell us where my amulet is.”
    Tom squinted at the soldiers’ uniforms. On top of bright red tunics they wore bronze breastplates that made them look as though they had rippling muscles. On their legs, they wore sandals with straps that held metal shin pads in place. They carried round shields with pictures on the front – some showed winged horses and some had the letter V upside down. But best of all…

    â€œSee those plumed