 Flavia and Nubia look over the devastation of Mount Vesuvius.Their friend Jonathan Ben Mordecai is in a coma, and Nubia and Flavia search for a type of flowering plant that his father (who is a doctor) needs for medicine for Jonathan.Flavia's dog, Scuto, finds the precious flower, as well as a little girl, Julia, who says that her big brother Rufus had been kidnapped by some “scary men.” He'd told her to hide in the cave while he drew them off, but had not returned.