“What the—”
Four big guys had jumped Luke, David, Isabel, and Julia before they had the chance to react, overpowering the kids. With a muscular arm wrapped around each of their throats, the kids were helpless. It wouldn’t take much for any of these guys to give one good yank and snap a neck.
“Owww!”
“Get your filthy hands off me!”
“That hurts!”
“What’s going on?”
Their attackers didn’t say a word. The Flashback Four struggled to bite and kick, but it didn’t take long to realize it was useless to fight back. Before they knew what was happening, the kids were being dragged down the street and around the corner.
“What did we do?” David asked. “We didn’t hurt anybody!”
“Where are you taking us?” said Luke. “What are you doing?”
“We don’t have any money!” Isabel shouted. “We don’t have anything at all.”
“Shut your mouth, slave!” Isabel’s attacker yelled at her.
“Slave?” said Isabel. “We’re not slaves!”
“This is a big mistake!” Julia shouted. “My father works for Verizon!”
“Shut up!” one of the thugs shouted.
Julia managed to get one arm free. Her attacker grabbed her roughly and slapped her.
“How dare you!” she screamed.
The Flashback Four were dragged across a bumpy stone street, trying to keep their wits about them. Luke tried to memorize the street they had turned on, so he would be able to retrace his steps when—and if—they were able to get free. His attacker smelled bad. He was overpowering in more ways than one.
Luke, David, and Isabel stopped protesting, but Julia was indignant.
“I have my rights!” she shouted. “You’re going to be in serious trouble, mister! This is a free country!”
It actually wasn’t truly a free country. It was a republic, and Emperor Titus had the final say. But let’s not get bogged down with that stuff. The Flashback Four are getting kidnapped!
There were other people out and about, but nobody seemed to pay any attention to the fact that four kids were being dragged through the street in broad daylight. It was nothing unusual. Slaves received this kind of treatment all the time.
“Call 911!” Julia shouted out to anyone who might be listening. “Hey, aren’t we allowed one phone call?”
“There are no phones here, you dope!” Luke muttered to her. “They won’t have phones for centuries!”
“Not even landlines?” Julia asked.
Isabel had begun to cry. Of the four kids, she was the one who was the least prepared to handle stressful situations like this. Her parents had raised her very carefully, protecting her from the dangers of the outside world. So when she did encounter a problem or crisis, she was the most likely to freak out or shut down completely.
“They’re going to whip us,” Isabel sobbed, “just like they whipped that slave on the street!”
“You will not be whipped if you do as we say,” the guy with his arm around her neck told her.
“Where are you taking us?” David demanded of his attacker. “We haven’t done anything wrong, and we aren’t slaves.”
“Didn’t you hear me the first time, slave?” the thug replied, slapping David in the face. “I said shut up!”
It was a hopeless situation. Luke knew it would be up to him to get them out of it. He leaned over and tried to whisper to Isabel.
“If you can get a hand free,” he whispered, “try to send a text.”
Of course! If they could let Miss Z know the situation they were in, she could zap them back to Boston. They wouldn’t get the photo of Mount Vesuvius, of course, but at least they would be able to get away from these thugs. Isabel struggled to get an arm free to pull the TTT out of her pocket.
“I can’t reach it!” she groaned.
David saw what was going on. He figured a diversionary tactic might give Isabel the chance to get out the TTT.
“So,” he said to the thugs, “could you guys use some money? I have a hundred gold coins that are yours if you let us go.”
Luke shot David a look. He knew that David didn’t have any coins.
The thugs stopped.
“Where are these coins of which you speak?” one of them said.
“I’ll bring you to them,” David said. “Just take your arm off my neck.”
The four thugs shot each other glances, and one by one loosened their grip on the Flashback Four.
“That’s better,” David said, rubbing his neck.
“Now take us to the coins,” one thug demanded.
“Yeah, uh, sure . . .” David looked around. “Now let me see. I think I left them around the corner over there. . . .”
While David was trying to distract the thugs, Isabel hurriedly reached into her pocket for the TTT. She got it out, but in her haste to send a message, she lost her grip and it fell, clattering to the stone street below.
“What’s this?” one of the thugs asked, snatching the TTT up off the ground before Isabel could grab it.
“Nothing,” Isabel told him. “Please can I have it back?”
“Sure,” the thug said, putting the TTT on the ground again. Then he stomped on it heavily with his boot heel, crushing it.
“No!” shouted the Flashback Four in horror.
“You broke it!” Isabel shouted. “I can’t believe you did that!”
The thugs laughed. One of them picked the TTT up off the ground and handed the pieces to Isabel as if he was giving her a gift.
The TTT was destroyed. Once again, the Flashback Four had managed to lose their link to contact Miss Z in Boston. Isabel started bawling, and who could blame her?
“Where are the gold coins?” one of the thugs demanded.
“I . . . uh . . . give me a minute to think . . . maybe . . . ,” David stammered.
“These slaves have no coins,” shouted one of the thugs. “We are not fools!”
Now angrier than ever, they grabbed the kids, even more roughly this time, and dragged them down the street.
“What
