Rome Alone

Marcus has a growing suspicion that Antonius is the Masked Rebel, so he rents Toadie a neighboring villa with orders to keep an eye on Antonius and try to find the hidden passageway that apparently allows Antonius to come and go from his home unseen. Aware of the surveillance, Antonius must curtail his nocturnal activities. And now that he has some spare time, he notices that Felix is being shunned by the other boys because he’s mute. So he tells the boy the story of Bartimaeus, an old blind man whom Jesus picked out of a crowd to help. Meanwhile, Absolom encourages Macky to take on Antonius’ mantle while Antonius is lying low. Macky is reluctant – those are mighty big sandals to fill – so Absolom tells him the story of Saul, a seeming non-entity who eventually became king. Macky decides to go out on a rescue mission solo, while at the same time, Toadie causes the kids’ dog to run away, and Marcus imposes a long and tedious dinner on Antonius. Toadie thinks he has Antonius’s house all to himself and that he can search it for the hidden passageway, but he has a surprise coming: when the others left to find the dog, Felix remained behind, and now the boy must find a way to get the very determined Toadie out of the house, and keep him out.