The chief shouted angrily, and stripped off his cape, challenging Prasutagus in person.
'Don't you fucking dare[' Macro hissed.
'Sir!' Cato pointed at the compound. The man they had seen earlier had re-emerged from his hut and was walking towards the compound gate, a purse swinging from his hand.
Just before he turned into the narrow gateway he stopped and looked over towards the cabin. He shouted something, waited, and shouted again. When there was no response, he headed over towards the cabin, tying the purse to his belt.
Macro switched his gaze back to the village gate, where Prasutagus still stood, head raised haughtily, apparently considering the chief's challenge. Macro thumped his fist down on the ground.
'Get moving, you fool!' f In the compound the Durotrigan warrior had reached the cabin. He called out again, angrily this time, hands on hips, cloak swept back behind this elbows. Then he happened to glance down at the ground..An instant later he was crouching, fingers probing something by his feet. He looked up, and his hand went for hi sword. Rising to his feet, the Durotrigan cautiously crept round the cabin. He stopped when he saw the body wedged into the corner by the hut.
'That's done it,' muttered Cato.
Back by the village gate, Prasutagus finally gave way and pulled on his tunic and cpe. The crowd shouted theft contempt. The chief turned to his people and punched his fists into the air triumphantly, now that his. foe had backed down. In the compound, the Durotrigan unbarred the cabin door and went inside. A moment later he burst out and ran towards the compound gate, shouting for all he was worth.
'Prasutagus, you bastard, get moving!' Macro growled.
The Icenian, swung up onto the back of the horse Boudica held ready for him. Then, amid jeers from the villagers, the two of them rode out through the village gates, trying not to look too hurried. They were fifty paces down the track towards the forest when the Durotrigan warrior sprinted into the crowd and pushed his way through to the chief. Moments later the chief was bellowing out orders. The crowd fell silent. Men hurried towards the compound and the chief strode after them, then halted, whipped round and pointed through the gate after Prasutagus and Boudica. Whatever he shouted, it was heard by the Icenians and immediately they kicked their heels and galloped for their lives into the forest.
Chapter Twenty-Five
'Someone bloody well told them!' Macro snapped. 'I mean, it's not the kind of trap you set up on the off chance. And if it's him, I'll have his balls! for breakfast.' He jabbed his finger at Prasutagus, who'was sitting on a fallen tree, chewing a strip of dried beef.'
Macro glared at Boudica. 'Tell him.'
She raised her eyes in,:weary frustration. 'Tell him yourself. You really want a fight? With him?'
'Fight?' Prasutagus stopped chewing and his right hand casually slipped down to his sword belt. 'You fight me, Roman?'
'You're beginning to get your tiny little mind round the world's greatest language, aren't you, sunshine?'
Prasutagus shrugged. 'You want fight?'
Macro thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. 'It can wait.'
'It doesn't make any sense;' said Cato. 'Prasutagus is in as much danger as the rest of us. If anyone told the Durotriges that we were coming, it has to be someone else.
That farmer, for instance. Vellocatus.'
'It's possible,' admitted Macro. 'He was a shifty looking sod. So what now? The enemy knows what we're up to.
They'll be on their guard everywhere we go. Numbskull here won't be able to go anywhere near any of the locals to pick up news of the general's family. I'd say that we've almost no chance of finding them now. Mounting a rescue is out of the question.'
Cato had to agree. The rational side of his mind knew they should abandon the mission and return to the Second Legion. Cato was confident that Vespasian possessed enough intelligence to see that they had done all they could before turning back. It would be foolhardy to continue while the Durotriges were hunting for them. As things stood, it would be dangerous enough trying to make it back into friendly territory. But as the thought of danger sidled into his consciousness, Cato could not help thinking of the vastly greater danger the general's family was in. Cursed with a vivid imagination, he could picture Plautius's wife and children living in daily terror at the prospect of being tied up inside one of those giant wicker effigies the Druids liked to construct. There they would be burned alive, and the mental image of their screaming faces struck Cato with such sharpness that he flinched. The general's son, whom he had never met, assumed the features of the blond child he had seen in the well…
No. He couldn't let that happen. To turn back and live with the knowledge that he had not acted to prevent the child's death would be unbearable. This was the irreducible truth of the situation. No matter how much he chided himself for being prey to his emotions, for being too sentimental to act according to objective reasoning, he could not swerve from the course of action demanded by some perverse instinct so deep inside him that it evaded any kind of analysis.
Cato turned towards Macro. 'Are you saying we should turn back, sir?'
'Makes sense. What do you reckon, Boudica? You and him.9'
The Icenians exchanged a few words. Prasutagus did not appear very interested in the centurion's proposal, and only Boudica seemed to have a point of view, apparently urging him towards one course of action. At length she gave up, and looked down into her lap'.
'Well? What's the opinion o'f our resident Druid?'
'He doesn't care either way. It's your people we're supposed to be saving. Makes no difference to him if they live or die. If you want to leave them to burn then that's up to you. Says it'll be an interesting test of character.'
'Test of character, eh?' Macro stared coldly at the Icenian warrior. 'Unlike you lot, we Romans can make difficult decisions. We don't just charge, in and die out of sheer stupidity. Look where your dumb heroics have got you Celts over the years. We've done what we can here. Now we get some rest and start marching back to the legion once night falls.'
Macro looked towards Cato. The optio returned his gaze without expression. It unsettled Macro.
'What is it, lad?'
'Sir?' Cato stirred, as if from some kind of trance, and Macro recalled that they had had little sleep over the past few days. That must be it. 'I was just thinking…'
Macro felt a heavy weight drag his spirits down; when Cato started sharing his thoughts, he had a tendency towards complication that made it very wearing for those trying to keep up with him. Why the hell Cato refused to see the world as plainly as it appeared to other men was one of the great frustrations Macro had to suffer in his dealings with his optio.
'You were thinking what, exactly?'
'That you're right, sir. Best thing for us to do is turn tail and get as far away from those Druids as possible. No sense in taking any unnecessary risks.'
'No. There isn't.'
'The general's sure to understand your line of thinking, sir. He'll make sure no one accuses you of lacking – how can I put it? – lacking moral fibre.'
'Lacking moral fibre?' Macro didn't like the sound of the phrase. Made him sound like some civvy idler. Macro was the kind of man who resented being described as lacking anything, and he glared accusingly at his optio. 'None of your high-flown nonsense now, lad. Just speak your mind nice and clear. You say we might be accused of cowardice once we get back to the legion? Is that it?'
'We might be. It'd be an understandable mistake, of course. Some people might say we had one near scrape and that was enough for us. Naturally the general will appreciate the implications of having Prasutagus's cover story blown.
Even though it meant the certain death of his family he'd be sure to try and persuade others that we had no alternative. In time everyone would see the point and come round to your way of thinking.'
'Hmmm.' Macro nodded slowly, pressing a thick knuckle to his forehead as if that might help him concentrate his tired mind. He neede
d time to think this through.
'We'll be tiding light, won't we, sir?' Cato continued cheerfully. 'I suppose I'd better offload anything we don't need. Anything that might slow us down when we run back to the legion.'
'Nobody's running back anywhere!'
'Sorry, sir. I didn't mean it to sound that way. Just keen to get moving.'
'Oh, are you? Well, you can lust stop tight there. Leave the packs alone.'
'Sir?'
'I said leave 'em. We're n0! going back. Not yet at least.
Not until we've searched a little longer.'
'But you just said-'
'Shut it! I've made my decision. We keep looking.
Anyone else got any objections.?' Macro turned to the Icenians, jaw thrust out, dating them to challenge him.
Boudica struggled to hide a grin. Prasutagus, as usual, grasped the wrong end of the stick and nodded his head vigorously.
'We fight now, Roman?'
'No. Not now!' Macro snapped, exasperated. 'When we've got a little more time on our hands, and only if you're a good boy until then. All right? Better make sure he gets that clear, Boudica.'
Prasutagus looked disappointed, but his natural good humour overcame any inclination to sulk. He reached over to Macro and gave the centurion a hearty slap on the shoulder with his huge paw.
'Ha! You good man, Roman. We friends, maybe.'
'Don't count on it.' Macro smiled as sweetly as his scarred veteran's face would permit. 'Meanwhile, we need to decide what to do next.'
Cato coughed. 'Sir, it occurs to me that the Druids might have some sacred place, somewhere secret, known only to themselves.'
'Yes. So?'
'So we might want to press Prasutagus on that point.
After all, he was a novice once. You might want to ask him if the Druids have such a place, somewhere where the general's family could be held safely.'
'True.' Macro eyed the Icenian warrior thoughtfully.
'Strikes me our man might just have been holding outon us.
Ask him, Boudica.'
She turned to her kinsman and translated. The warrior's expression changed completely. He shook his head.
'Someone's not very happy. What's the matter?'
'He says there is no such sacred place.'
'He's lying. And he's no good at it. You better tell him.
And tell him I want the truth, fight now.'
Prasutagus shook his head again, and started to shuffle
Simon Scarrow away from Macro, until the centurion's hand shot out and trapped the Iceni warrior's wrist in an iron grip.
'No more of your bullshit! I want the truth.'
For a while the two men stared at each other, faces taut and uncompromising. Then Prasutagus nodded, and began to speak quietly, his tone resigned and fearful.
'There is a sacred grove,' Boudica translated. 'He was trained there for a while… It's where he failed the initiation into the second ring. The Druids call it the grove of the sacred crescent. It's the place where Cruach will rise and reclaim the world for himself one day. Any day. Until then his spirit hangs like a black shadow over every stone, leaf and blade of grass in the grove. You can hear the cold rasp of his breath through the limbs of the trees. Prasutagus warns you that Cruach will sense your presence at once and will show no mercy to the enemies of his servants. No mercy.'
'I've seen enough of this world to know that the only thing anyone needs to be afrai of is other men, said Macro.
'If your cousin's afraid, tell h]m I'll hold his hand for him.'
Boudica ignored the last comment and continued with Prasutagus's warning. 'He says that the grove is on an island at the centre of a large marsh two days' ride from here.
There's a small causeway leading to the main entrance, and that's always heavily guarded. We'd never make it in that way.'
'Then there's another way in;' Cato guessed shrewdly. 'A way in that Prasutagus discovered?'
'Yes.' Boudica glanced quickly at her kinsman, and he nodded for her to continue. 'He used it to visit the daughter of the man commanding the Druids' guards. She got pregnant and as soon as the Druids discovered he had broken his oath of celibacy he was thrown out of the order.'
Macro roared with laughter, causing the others to glance anxiously around, but nothing stirred in the surrounding trees.
'Oh dear!' Macro wiped his eyes and grinned at Prasutagus. 'You just can't resist a bloody challenge, can you? You got kicked out on account of a piece of tail – what a prat! You know, I think we might just get on after all.'
'This way in.' Cato leaned closer to Boudica. 'Does anyone else know about it?'
'Prasutagus doesn't think so. It's a series of shallows through the water. It ends in a thicket on the bank of the island close to the grove. Prasutagus says he marked it out with a line of coppice stakes, placed quite far apart.'
'Can he find it again? After all these years?'
'He thinks so.'
'I'm not reassured,' said Macro.
'Maybe not,' said Cato. 'But it's the only chance we've got left, sir. We take it or go home empty-handed. We face the consequences either way.'
Macro stared at Cato a moment before replying. 'You've got such a cheerful way with words, haven't you?'
Chapter Twenty-Six
'Your Druid friends have found a good place to hide from the world,' Macro muttered as he squinted through the dusk.
At his side Prasutagus gruntdd conversationally and cocked an eye at Boudica, who whispeLed a quick translation of the centurion's words.
'Sa!' Prasutagus agreett vigorously. 'Safe place for Druids. Bad place for Romar..'
'That's as maybe. But we're going in there all the same.
What d'you think, lad?'
Cato's dark eyes took in the scene through the tangle of coppice branches. They were ona slight rise, looking across a wide expanse of brackish water towards a large island.
Some of it appeared to be natural, the rest was manmade, and held in place by substantia! log tresses and stout piles driven deep into the soft bottom of the lake. A thick growth of mixed willow and ash towered up a short, distance from the shore of the island. Under their boughs a tall stockade was visible. Beyond that, their gaze could not penetrate.
Away to their right, a long, narrow causeway stretched out across the lake towards a substantial towered gate leading into the Druids' most sacred and secret grove.
'It's a good set-up, sir. The causeway is long enough to keep them out of arrow and sling range and it's narrow enough to restrict any attackers to a two- or three-man front.
Even against an army, with the right men the Druids could hold out for several days, maybe a month or so.'
'Good assessment.' Macro nodded approvingly. 'You've learned a lot over the last year or so. What would you recommend, in the absence of an attacking army?'
'The main entrance is out of the question under any circumstances, now that they've been alerted to the presence of Prasutagus. Looks like we've no choice. We have to try his way in, sir.'
Macro looked at the gloomy water between them and the Druids' island. There was no shore on the near ground, only a tangle of reeds and low trees rising above dark peaty mud.
If they were caught wading through that lot there would be no chance of escape. He wondered at the Iceni warrior's confidence that he could find his trail again in the dark. Yet Prasutagus had sworn by all his most sacred gods that he would lead them safely across to the island. But they must trust him, and follow him precisely.
'We'll go as soon as it's dark enough,' decided Macro.
'The three of us. The woman stays.'
'What?' Boudica turned angrily towards him.
'Hush!' Macro nodded towards the island. 'If we find the general's family but don't make it back, someone has to ride to the legion and let them know.'
'And how precisely would you let me know?'
Macro smiled. 'You don't make centurion unless you can be heard at a distance.'
'He's right enough there,' muttered Cato.
'But why me? Why not leave Cato here. You'll need me to translate.'
'There won't be much need for talking. Besides, Prasutagns and me are coming to an understanding of sorts.
He can speak a few words now. A few words of a proper language, that is. Ain't that right?'
Prasutagns nodded his shaggy head.
'So, keep your ears pricked. If I call your name, or if any of us does, that's the signal.! We've found them. You don't wait a moment. You get back to.the horses, take one and ride like the wind. Report everyth'ing to Vespasian.'
'What about you?' askokt Boudiea.
'If you hear any of us s.bout, chances are those will be our last words.' Macro raised a hand and gently held her shoulder. 'Are you clear alJout all that?'
'Yes.'
'Right then, this is as g0oda place as any to wait. Stay here. As soon as it's dark enough, we'll strip down to tunics and swords and follow Prasutagus over to the island.'
'And just for a change,' said Macro softly, 'we're up to our balls in freez.ing water.'
The smell of decay that rose from the disturbed waters about their legs was so pungent that Cato thought he might throw up. This was worse than almost anything he had ever smelt before. Even worse than the tannery outside the walls of Rome he had once visited with his father. The hardy tanners, long immune to the stench, had laughed themselves silly at the sight of the small boy in the neat livery of the imperial palace heaving his guts up into a tub of sheep entrails.
Here in the mangrove the pungency of decayed vegetation combined with the odour of human waste and the sweet stench of rotting flesh. Cato covered his nose with his hand and swallowed the bile rising in his throat.
At least the darkness concealed the detritus floating about his knees. Ahead of him, beyond the broad dark bulk of Macro, he could just see the tall figure of Prasutagus leading the way through the rushes. The stalks rustled as the Briton slowly waded from one coppice stake to the next. Most were still in place, and Prasutagus had lost his way only once, suddenly splashing down into deeper water with a sharp cry. All three had frozen, ears straining for any indication of alarm from the dark mass of the Druids' island above the slopping of the water. When the disturbed water had stilled again, Prasutagus gently eased himself back onto more solid ground and flashed a dim grin at the centurion.
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