* * * * *
"That's it, everyone," Mr. Campbell announced, stepping from the ladder in the basement and laying his toolbox on the floor. "The circuit breaker's just not working. I think the power lines must be down. We'll have to use lamps and batteries until the power company sends someone out to fix the lines."
"When will that be?" Caera demanded.
"I don't know," her father replied. "Now off to bed. There's nothing more we can do." Mr. Campbell pointed in the direction of the guestroom and headed toward his bedroom. Caera, Claudia, and Ana trudged through the house, back to the guestroom.
"Guess this means we can't watch the end of Cleopatra tomorrow morning." Caera sighed. "And I wanted to see that scene when Cleopatra leaves Antony alone to face Augustus Caesar in the sea battle!"
"Caera likes the guy who plays Antony a lot, doesn't she?" Ana observed.
"She likes the way he talks," Claudia said.
"Can you imagine how people survived without electricity?" Ana wondered, thinking about ancient times."
"Pretty scary thought." Caera agreed. "No television, no DVD’s, no lights— No computers, either." Ana said with a shiver.
"No washing machines. No electric stoves, no stereos, no video games." Claudia added. "It must have been boring."
"I don't know." Caera said. "Cleopatra had torches in her pyramid, and she had everyone in the world at her feet. Not bad, huh?"
"She didn't live in a pyramid." Claudia said.
"Pyramid, temple, whatever you call it." Caera shrugged. "She had a lot of things and riches we'll never have, and everyone did what she told them to do."
"True." Ana agreed. "But look what happened to her! Augustus Caesar invaded Egypt and she went and killed herself by putting her hand in a basket with a poisonous snake in it."
"An asp, I know, it's so sad!" Caera sighed. "You know, the people who built this house didn't have electricity, either."
"I wonder how they made it through the winters?" Ana asked. "There couldn't have been many people living in this area back before electricity."
"And I'll bet pirates used to maraud the coast." Caera added, in growing excitement.
"I'll bet they didn't," Claudia said.
"Use your imagination, Claudia!" Caera threw back gruffly.
Claudia didn't answer.
When they got back to the guestroom, they tumbled into bed and slept until well past sunrise.
Caera dreamed about Antony in battle, Ana dreamed about skiing, and Claudia was relieved not to dream at all.