‘OK, so it’s not a book,’ Sam whispered.
‘What is it?’ Gabriella asked, her eyes still closed.
‘A box,’ Sam said, taking out a rolled piece of creased parchment and a little leather-bound journal. ‘With a smaller book and a map inside.’
‘Map? What map?’ asked Gabriella, her eyes springing open.
‘Not sure …’ Sam replied absently. He was studying the book carefully, angling it as best he could to catch the light as he untied the strap around it.
‘We’ll have to get this back to the Academy, get the Professor and Jedi to look at it,’ Sam said as he gently leafed through the pages.
Gabriella reached over and took the map from Sam, unrolling the parchment and looking at the diagram while he flipped through the pages of the journal.
‘Um, Sam,’ she said, pulling at his sleeve, ‘Sam, this map …’
‘You know, it looks like this journal is written—’
‘Sam! Maybe it is not the book we need, perhaps it is the map.’ Gabriella looked at it closely. ‘I remember now, this was in my dream also. The one I had a couple of nights ago when I saw you. This is the map that will lead us to what you need.’
‘Sounds good,’ Sam said, and looked around, wary. ‘We’ve been here long enough. Let’s move—’
Sam stopped cold at the faint sound of footsteps echoing over the cobblestones.
‘Sam?’ Gabriella’s voice wavered.
THWACK! THWACK!
Two stun darts landed in the peeling paint of the wooden door, close to Gabriella’s arm.
‘Go!’ Sam screamed, pulling Gabriella up with him and running back into the piazza. Sam could make out three Agents on foot at the other end of the alley behind him.
At the corner of the square a car was pulling up with Lora and Eva practically hanging out the doors. From the left, Guardians roared in on motorbikes as two vans screeched into the square at full speed. A battle with the pursuing Agents erupted behind them as Sam and Gabriella sprinted towards the car. They jumped in the open side door when the car slowed for a moment and collapsed onto the backseat as it sped away from the battle.
‘Eva, Lora, this is Gabriella,’ Sam gasped as the car lurched sideways around a corner.
They could only nod to each other as the high speed forced them to brace against the car doors.
The squeal of tyres and accelerating engines could still be heard behind them. The faces of concerned onlookers at windows, woken by the sudden noise, flashed by as they flew through the winding streets.
‘Are they gone?’ Eva asked, looking out the rear window.
‘Not for long,’ Lora replied, then spoke to the lead Guardian. ‘We’ll head back to the Academy, but we need to lose this tail first.’
‘No,’ Sam said, showing the map to Lora, ‘change of plan. We need to decipher this and go there.’
‘Right. OK.’ Lora could see by the look on Sam’s face that this was not the time to be asking questions.
For the second time that night Sam heard an ear-piercing crack followed by the shattering of glass, as the back window of the Academy car broke, pieces flying in a million different directions.
‘Get down!’
Yep, definitely not just darts anymore.
The driver manoeuvred their speeding vehicle through narrow lanes and into the melee of Rome traffic. Sam held onto Gabriella as they were thrown around the back seat of the car. Although it was late, the main thoroughfares were still busy with the cars and buses of tourists and late-night revellers. Peering over the edge of their seats, Sam could see two Enterprise cars hot on their heels. Shouts of disapproval from bystanders occasionally rang out over the noise of the engine.
Their car continued to swerve wildly through backstreets and alleys, trying to lose their unwanted company.
Sam turned to Gabriella. ‘You know where we have to go now?’
‘I don’t, I can’t remember!’ she cried.
‘Concentrate, your dream took you there,’ Sam said. ‘Think back, look for a clue that will help us read the map.’
Gabriella closed her eyes, trying hard to concentrate as she was buffeted around the careening car. A minute later, she started to smile.