Chariots in Rome

Orin Story, Chariots in Rome

By

Jan Skarzynski

Version 1, June 2008







“Now Andrew and James, your cousin Alice is coming for lunch today and I want you to be on your best behaviour and play nicely with her.”
“Oh no! She’s so bossy Mum! Last time we had to play ‘houses’ with her dolls and teddies,” remarked Andrew pulling his glummest face.
“I liked playing ‘houses’,” added James.
“Oh, you would,” retorted Andrew.
“Now boys, your cousin Alice is a little older now and I have heard that she’s into tennis and will probably bring her new tennis racket so play nicely with her, please.”
“OK Mum, but we haven’t got any tennis balls,” answered Andrew.
“We gave them to out Indian friends when we went to see the buffalo with Orin,” added James.
“I’m sure that our Alice will bring balls with her,” said Mum ignoring the remark about bison.

“Hello Alice,” said Andrew in the most welcoming voice he could muster. “I like your tennis racket, is it new?”
“Hi Andrew and James. I haven’t seen you two for ages. I brought my racket because Mum said you played. I have also brought you a present. Some American baseball caps. I got them especially for you when we were in New York. Hope you like them.”
“Oh how kind Alice. You will love them won’t you boys,” quipped the boy’s mother and added, “As long as you don’t wear them back to front. You know I hate that.” With that, both James and Andrew donned their new caps and pretended to swivel them around.
“That Australian tennis star wears his that way Mum,” said James with a cheeky grin on his face.
“Yeah Mum and he wins all the matches with his cap turned around. It’s cool Mum.”
“It may be cool as you say Andy, but I still don’t like it,” answered Mum. “Why don’t you take Alice into the garden for a knock about? You’ve brought some balls, haven’t you dear?”
“Yes Aunty Meg. Dad bought me a whole tube full.”






Alice without her tennis racket
“I overheard Aunty Meg saying to my Mum that you two still believe in fairies?” questioned Alice, once they were in the back garden.
“Of course we do and in Father Xmas. Don’t you Alice?” answered Andrew with a sly wink to James.
“Yes Alice, I believe in Santa Claus because he brings us all nice presents,” said James adding, “and the tooth fairy, who puts money under my pillow.”
“You two are just kidding me! You’re having me on, aren’t you?”
“Cross my heart and hope to die!” retorted Andrew. DELETE
“Come Alice, We’ll show you our fairy if he’s there,” shouted James as he ran off to the bottom of the garden with Andrew and a reluctant Alice following.






Could it look like this….?????



“Now Alice, shout ‘Orin’ as loud as you can. Go on. Do it,” ordered Andrew, “OK, we will all shout if you won’t do it by yourself.
“Orin, are you there? Orin, show yourself! Orin, Orin!” they all shouted.
“Stop making that infernal racket. I can’t be doing with this noise. How am I to concentrate on an important task when I have to put up with you children yelling away like that? Be quiet and go away!” said a grumpy voice and a head suddenly appeared, hanging in the air.
“Orin, we have a visitor to meet you,” said Andrew.
“Yes, its cousin Alice and she wants to say ‘Hello,’ Orin,” added James as the body of the head appeared and then his short legs.




No, No, No. This isn’t Orin….




“Oh, hello Alice pleased to meet you,” said Orin and approached Alice with his hand out to shake in greeting. Astonished Alice could hardly compose herself and uttered, “How did you do that? How did you appear out of thin air? Are you a fairy? The fairy Andrew and James talk about to their mum?”
“Come on Alice, say ‘Hello Orin.’ Don’t be rude. Don’t just stare like that,” scolded Andrew.
“I’m not a ‘fairy’ I’m a traveller,” retorted Orin. “Whose been calling me a ‘Fairy’?”
“It’s only Mum, Orin,” answered James, “Don’t take any notice. She just doesn’t believe that you take us on such wonderful trips. Don’t you Orin? Alice. Say ‘Hello’ to Orin. Go on, shake his hand. He’s our friend.”
“Hello Orin, pleased to meet you,” said Alice looking rather shy and gingerly holding her hand out not knowing what to expect from this strange little man with a scruffy beard.
“At last,” answered Orin shaking Alice’s hand in a tight grip. “I though only boys were rude in this world.”
“Sorry Orin but I was so surprised to see you. I thought the boys were just having a joke with me,” answered Alice meekly, putting on her most gracious smile and tilting her head.
“I suppose you lot want to see the inside of my machine and now you have such a nice visitor you no doubt want to go on a trip?” said Orin in a more friendly manner.
“Yes please!” shouted James, “Orin, Alice’s dad is in Rome at the moment. Can we go to Rome but in another time?”
“Yes please,” said Alice, “I would love to see the Emperor Hadrian in real life if you could do that Orin.”
“No problems Alice. Now follow Andrew and do exactly what he does. And remember you scallywags, don’t touch anything inside.” Andrew stuck his hands out and felt for something in the air then suddenly started pushing and seemed to fall forward and disappear out of sight.
“Go on Alice. Shut your mouth and do the same as Andrew did,” shouted James as Alice looked amazed and puzzled. She stretched out her arms and suddenly felt something, pushed and also disappeared from view. James followed in a rush and tumbled through.
“James, I wish you would be more careful. You can’t just enter somebody’s room like that. Where are your manners?”
“Sorry Orin, but it’s the only way I can push through the rubber sheet stuff.”
“Now children, sit on the bench there and I’ll plug in the directions,” ordered Orin. “So you want Rome at the time of Emperor Hadrian?” said Orin talking to himself as he pushed a few buttons and set the course. “Oh dear, I’ve been rather vague with my directions. Not sure where we have landed, so do take extra care children!” added Orin stroking his little beard in thought.
“Are we there yet Orin?” asked Alice.
“Of course we are my child. You are as bad as these two boys with your impatience,” answered Orin rather crossly.
“Don’t mind Orin, Alice. He gets a bit grumpy at times,” said Andrew and asked, “Can we have the necklaces Orin?”
“What do you want necklaces for?” questioned Alice still not sure that they had gone anywhere.
“So we can understand and speak to the locals Alice. I don’t suppose you speak Roman or do you Alice?” said James with a smirk.
“Don’t tease her James. She still doesn’t believe we have landed in Rome,” answered Andrew. “Can I go out Orin?”
“Yes Andrew, but be very careful. I don’t know what to expect out there. Alice you follow Andrew and we will be along shortly, after I’ve given the machine some instructions.






Coliseum in Rome


Andrew pushed out into the open and Alice followed. They were met by a deafening roar of people shouting as if at a football match. The heavy dust obscured their view. Andrew suddenly grabbed Alice’s hand and pulled her along, shouting, “Let’s get to the side here, there’s a bunch of horses galloping our way.” He dragged Alice towards the safety of a wall as a mass of horses dragging chariots careered past them. “Phew, that was close. I hope Orin and James are OK. Oh look, there they are. ORIN! JAMES! Get over here quick. It’s not safe out there!” shouted Andrew still clutching Alice’s hand firmly. “We are in the middle of a chariot race and I think we landed on the track, Come on!” Orin and James joined them breathless, at the side of the track against a high wall.
“Oh dear, I shall have to be more careful,” said Orin apologetically. “Look, there’s an arch just along there. Let’s get off the track it might lead us somewhere safe. Come on Alice, don’t look so scared. You wanted to be in Rome, didn’t you?” and Orin led them off to safety. Once inside the archway they looked around and found steps leading upwards. Andrew led the way as they climbed upwards on the wide stone staircase.






“What on earth were you people doing down there on the race track?” shouted a young boy at them, dressed in a white cotton shift with a gold belt and open leather sandals.
“Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be down there?” said a young girl dressed in a similar manner. She was softer spoken and had long hair.
“Sorry,” said Andrew, “We just lost our way. Where are we? Is this Rome?”
“Of course it’s Rome. You must be strangers here by the funny clothes you’re wearing, and those hats. Haven’t seen any like that before. They are cool,” continued the girl. “We are just about to go and join the Emperor’s party to watch the main event.”
“Can we join you?” asked James, “Please, we don’t know our way around here and if we can join you, you can have our caps,” continued James offering the girl his baseball cap. Andrew offered his to the boy who accepted gratefully and Alice gave the girl her tortoise-shell hair band that she was admiring.
“Oh thanks, these are great. Yes, you can come and join us but you mustn’t disturb the Emperor’s group. He is entertaining some important people so we have to be quiet and keep out of the way,” said the girl and beckoned for them to follow.
“Is this the coliseum?” asked Alice. “Is the ruler here Emperor Hadrian?”
“You must be from far away if you don’t know that,” said the boy as he tried on the cap and Andrew swivelled it back to front for him. “Come on, hurry or we will miss the main event.” They followed the boy and girl down some steps and along a terrace pushing and shoving through a throng of people until they reached some guards armed with spears and short swords.
“We are with the Emperor’s group,” said the girl, “And these people are our visitors from some distant part of the Empire. Please let us through quickly or we will miss the main race.”








Halt! Who goes there?



“Go on,” said the guard making way for them, “I recognise you two but you will have to vouch for your visitors. What’s with the funny head gear? Go down to the second level and don’t disturb the main party above!” as he pointed the way. They hurried down to the lower terrace and found themselves in an envious position in the coliseum with a grandstand view of the proceedings in front of them.
“Now that we are here, let’s introduce ourselves before the final race. I’m Ophelia and this is my brother Pontius. Our parents are up there with Emperor Hadrian.”
“I’m Alice and these are my two cousins Andrew and James, and Orin here is our guardian who has brought us to Rome.” There was a huge roar from the crowd as six chariots, each pulled by four magnificent horses, entered the arena. The driver was dressed in a full suit of shiny armour and was accompanied by a guard similarly dressed and holding a clutch of javelins. Pontius explained that normally the guard was the driver but in this race the chariots were now being driven by the officers. At each end of the arena were straw targets and the guard would throw his javelin as they passed. The driver would have to steer as close to the targets as possible to give the guard the best chance. There was a prize for the first chariot past the winning post and a prize for the guard who speared most targets. Each officer hoped to win both prizes and then they would be presented to Emperor Hadrian as the highest honour.
The race was both furious and dangerous as drivers drove their chariots at break-neck speeds weaving in and out trying to position their team as close to the target as possible then galloping off to the next to the other end of the arena. Chariot teams forced away from the target by opponents would still cast their javelins and these would fly too close to their opponents for comfort. Chariots were frequently involved in violent collisions, with the chariots spinning through the air and overturning. The occupants were obviously practised and swiftly righted the chariot and sped off giving chase. The overall winner was an Officer and driver from the Province of Gaul. The team won by some spectacular driving and the accurate javelin throwing arm of the guard.
“Come on, come on, quickly,” shouted Pontius. “We can ride on the chariots on their final procession around the arena. Come on quickly or we will miss out.”
“You go off, I’ll just stay and watch,” said Orin as Andrew grabbed Alice’s hand and dragged her down the steps to the dusty arena. Pontius was already herding James and Ophelia towards the slowly advancing chariots. Andrew was dragging Alice between two chariot teams, following Pontius when suddenly he was plucked in to the air by his arm and found himself plonked in a chariot, followed by Alice next to him.
“Hold tight!” shouted the driver giving then a brief smile of welcome. The huge guard ushered them to the rail of the chariot on either side of the driver who now had taken off his helmet, holding it under his arm and driving his team of horses one handed. As they passed the Emperor’s stand the Officer and guard saluted. At this moment Alice chose to point at the Emperor asking if that really was Hadrian when the driver put on a spurt to make way for the following team to make the salute. Caught by surprise, Alice found herself sliding past the guard and off the end of the chariot with her dress tearing on the sharp edge. Fortunately Andrew noticed and shouted in alarm and the guard snapped up Alice before she came to much harm although extremely frightened. She held on tight after that and enjoyed a few circuits of the arena nodding to the appreciative crowd.
They finally met up with James as the teams exited the arena. He was covered in dust and elated. He managed to tell them that they were to meet up with Orin at the archway beneath the Emperor’s stand where they had landed and that Pontius and Ophelia had gone to get ready for the banquet that evening. They carefully made their way along the track trying to avoid other chariots, horse riders and spectators joining in the celebrations.

Back in the machine Orin fussed over them like a mother hen, very concerned that they had been exposed to so much danger and trying to brush down their dusty clothes. He seemed most concerned about Alice and about her mishap. Alice assured Orin that she was quite alright and spent some time thanking him profusely for the adventure. He told them about his experience at meeting Hadrian himself and hoped that he would see Alice another time.







Don’t be cross mum!


“Look at the state of you! Alice, what have you done to that dress? It’s torn and dusty and just look at your hair? What have my monsters been doing to get you in such a state?” asked the boy’s mother looking cross.
“It’s alright Aunty Meg. It was my fault for falling off the chariot. I was pointing out Emperor Hadrian rather than holding on tightly. Andrew and James really looked after me. They were marvellous, honestly Aunty.”
“They are never ‘marvellous’ my boys. Look at them, all covered in dust. Where have you been to get in such a state? At least you’re not wearing those silly caps back to front!”
“We’ve been to Rome Aunty.”
“Yes, to the coliseum to watch a chariot race, didn’t we James?”
“Yes Mum and we saw the real live Emperor Hadrian. We didn’t actually meet him but Orin was introduced to him Mum.”
“What? Not this fairy Orin of yours again? You’re not using that ploy again? It’s getting a somewhat tired excuse! You were supposed to be having a nice game of tennis!”
“But Aunty it’s true. Look, Orin managed to get some silver coins for my dad’s collection. Look they are Dinari with Emperor Hadrian’s head on this side. Look Aunty. Dad will be thrilled with these.”






Dinari… I don’t think so….



“Alice you shouldn’t be handling your dad’s valuable coins like that. What’s happened to their plastic envelopes? They should be protected. Alice what have I to tell your Mother? She’s just next door visiting friends.”
“Come on Alice, come on James. Let’s go upstairs and get cleaned up before lunch. Mum never believes us. Come on Alice and we’ll tell you about our other adventures we have had with Orin.”
“Don’t be too long children! And don’t leave the bathroom basin dirty.”
“No Mum!”