by John Salter
“There,” she said, pointing, “there’s something ahead of your men.” He looked to the direction indicated and frowned, Decimus and Marcus were still slowly moving away from them.
“I can’t see a thing I think this snow has……”
“Shhhhh,” she replied. “Look at Decimus and then go right and up, there’s something darker in the trees on the bank near that outcrop.” He moved his head towards her to try and get a better view.
“It’s not natural, not a part of the wood.” She said slowly placing an arrow on her bow.
He moved his head forward and strained, “I can’t see a……wait, yes I can see it now.” He looked at Decimus and Marcus who were oblivious to the danger. They still had their backs to them but had reached the oak and had gone to ground. Whatever was waiting there in the trees must have had a clear view of them as they had approached.
“I can hit it from here.” Brenna said sighting the arrow to the small target about eighty paces ahead of them. Varro looked at his men Decimus turned and saw that he was holding a fist up. He angled his wrist to the right and Decimus tapped Marcus on the shoulder and both of them got as low as they could. Decimus had recognised the signal and knew there was danger ahead of them to the right.
“Wait we don’t know what it is, there could be more hidden beyond the trees.” He said but she didn’t lower the bow, he realised he was now talking as if the mysterious object were the enemy. He turned to Lucius, “Go back and come around to the left,” he said pointing, “let’s see if we can surprise whoever or whatever it is. Take my bow just in case.” Lucius nodded and picked up the weapon and quiver and moved off. Varro looked back to the front and saw that Brenna had released the pressure on the bow string but still held the arrow ready. He could hardly see Decimus and Marcus now, they must be lying flat he thought.
“We can’t stay here, we’ll freeze.” She whispered.
“Just give Lucius time to get around them, it won’t take long. Once he’s gone far enough back so as not to be heard, then he’ll quickly flank up to the left.” He fidgeted with his feet now frozen again and tried to get some blood into them and waited. It seemed to take forever for Lucius to flank the target. In the meantime they could do nothing but wait and get colder, not daring to move.
Decimus and Marcus had crawled forward to the bank below the large oak tree and were now lying against it, head to foot parallel to the rise. From the position they were in they couldn’t see what was above or their comrades behind them due to foliage, low branches and snow. They lay there getting colder and colder straining their ears for any sign of what was going on. They both knew that Varro would not have told them there was danger to the right if he didn’t fear for their safety and they also knew he wouldn’t be idly waiting for something to happen without doing something positive to rectify the situation.
After what seemed like an age, Varro saw something in the corner of his vision, move to the left. As soon as he saw it his eyes moved to its location, whatever it had been had moved behind a tree.
“Left side forty paces from Decimus and Lucius.” He whispered. Brenna looked but couldn’t see anything. He saw her screwing her eyes up trying to see what it was concentrating, “Went behind that fat dark tree at the base.”
“Was it Lucius?” She asked.
“I can’t be sure, I only just caught it as it went to ground behind the tree.” He answered. “I’m sure it wasn’t a deer, thinking about it, it couldn’t have been because it wouldn’t get that close to those two hiding by the bank, it would have picked up their scent long before getting that close.”
She looked at him, “I can’t lie here anymore.” She put her hands under her chest onto the ground, “if I don’t move I’ll never bear children.”
“Don’t get up.” He pleaded but it was too late she was already on her knees peering forward.
“Nobody move.” A voice shouted, everyone froze, almost literally. The voice was clearly that of a Briton with an unusual accent. “Come out where we can see you.” He ordered, no-one moved. “If you don’t come out, the men lying below us will die.” He shouted.
Brenna stood up hesitantly, “Who are you,” she shouted back, “why are you hunting on our land?” She said bluffing. There was no reply, just silence.
She whispered to Varro, “Stay low, he is Silures, I can tell by the voice. I can see Lucius to the left of the tree he’s aiming your bow towards him.
“If you kill my friends or injure them you will not leave these woods alive.” She shouted. “I will ensure you will die here and you will be left hanging naked upside down from a tree with your entrails open to the wolves and crow.” There was silence.
She shouted again, “I am Brenna of the Dobunni, whoever you are you are not from these lands, come out to where I can see you clearly. I will order my men to stand and return to me, do not hurt them or you will die.”
She shouted at Decimus and Marcus but they didn’t move. She whispered down to Varro, “They’re not moving, I can see them now but they’re just lying there.”
He looked up, “They do not know your words Brenna, remember.” She had got so used to talking to the Romans in their own tongue that she had forgotten that not all them could talk to her in her own language. As her mind raced to try and think of something a man dressed in deerskin appeared from behind the trees above the bank, he was pointing at Lucius who was aiming the bow at him.
“Don’t shoot Brenna of the Dobunni.” He shouted over the snow. “I am Sadgem of the Silures,” He stepped forward to the edge of the slope and looked down at the two prone men.
“You can go.” He said and gestured waving with his hand for them to return to their friends. Decimus and Marcus slowly got to their feet, they didn’t have to understand his words to know what the gesture meant.
“Why are you in our territory, you have broken the treaty.” She shouted attempting to take the emphasis from the two retreating men.
“We come in search of a common enemy.” Other men then appeared at his sides from behind trees, there were a lot of them. “We hunt Romans and heard they are here on your land, have you seen any?” He said.
“Romans,” She answered, “there are no Romans here, they haven’t moved from the Exe in months. They are in the fort by the water and won’t come out until the leaves turn green and the frost goes. They don’t like to venture out in the cold you should know that.”
He smiled. Decimus and Marcus were almost back to them now, still walking slowly backwards, she had lost sight of Lucius who she thought must have slipped back into the undergrowth. She could see at least ten men with the one who called himself Sadgem, there were probably more still hidden from view.
“Our army fired the fort and sank their boats a few days ago, we thought they would come out and follow us to our lands. We meant no offence to you or your people but are merely safeguarding our own.” He said.
“There are no Romans here, if there were, they would be hanging from trees. They may have subdued some of my people but not all.” She replied, the two men were now with her and moved beyond where she stood, the relief on their faces evident.
“Go in peace Brenna and we will return to the mountains. Your people, those who are free should join us, together we a stronger than standing alone and can defeat this common enemy.” He said not waiting for a reply. He moved backwards still facing Brenna then he turned as did the men with him and disappeared from sight.
Varro let out a breath that he didn’t realise he had been holding and slowly got to his feet. “That was too close,” he said to her, “come on let’s get the horses and get out of here.”
She walked with him quickly turning to make sure the Silures were gone and weren’t following one last time, there was no sign of them. When they got back to their mounts they had eaten all the grass that they had uncovered previously and they found Lucius was waiting for them.
“Well done,” Varro said, “if you hadn’t come out from cover with that
bow anything could have happened.”
“No problem sir.” He said. He untied his horse and jumped up, “There were at least another ten of them behind that Sadgem hiding below the bank.” He said. Varro exchanged a look with Brenna they had been lucky, very lucky.
“It’s a good thing you were with us Brenna. They would have known that I wasn’t a Briton if they had heard my voice and with that my men we wouldn’t have stood a chance.” Varro said and got onto Staro.
“It doesn’t matter now, what matters is that we are alive and we know the Silures are on Dobunni land.” She climbed up onto her own horse, “It was probably just a scouting party, the main force is probably already in the mountains to the west but they aren’t afraid to come south and into other territory.”
“At least we know where they are now.” Varro said.
“You don’t understand Varro, the lands of the Silures are mountainous and the area is huge.” He looked at her with a surprised expression as they cantered away.
They found the way back to the overnight camp and told the others what had happened. Even with all of them, they would still be outnumbered nearly two to one if the Silures found them again. They knew the next time, they probably wouldn’t be so fortunate to hide their true identity. Varro decided that he would run the risk of Vespasian’s anger and broke camp. At least they knew the Silures were probing the countryside of the Dobunni and would try to ally any Britons to their side, that information alone was invaluable.
They packed their equipment away quickly and dismantled the low shelters that Quintus and his men had made from branches and logs, small and triangular in shape. Each would have only housed three people lying flat next to each other but that would have created body heat for them and shelter from the falling snow. The wood was thrown onto the fire to burn itself out. After the next snow fall there would be little sign that anyone had ever been there but it didn’t really matter now.
They left the smouldering wood piled up on the fire and headed in a south easterly direction. They were unhappy to see that the skies were still grey and full of snow but it held off as they travelled. For the first time in a while they were suddenly aware of the cold again and welcomed the feeling after the day’s events and the meeting with the Silures. They were alive, that was what mattered most.
The journey back to the fort was fairly uneventful except for the snow that had already fallen. It made it hard going for the horses and in places the riders had to dismount to get through the deeper drifts. It made movement difficult and in some places the snow was four to five feet deep but where it had drifted was substantially deeper. The terrain looked very much the same everywhere they went which at times made their direction of travel difficult and twice they realised they were heading too far west.
Eventually they found tributaries of the Exe the smaller streams were a welcome break to the solid white they had been used to seeing. A few hours after midday the fort came into view and all amongst them felt a real sense of relief. The front wall had already been replaced entirely and work was continuing on the new watch towers. The palisades looked deeper and wider and were clear of snow where soldiers still worked to carry out the last elements of engineering work. Legionaries now patrolled the tracks around the roundhouses and a check point had been set up. Any future attackers would find it a lot harder to get so close again. Wagons laden with freshly fallen tree trunks, were still being brought from the local woods, no doubt to strengthen the garrisons defences even more. The enemy had been underestimated, it wasn’t a mistake that would be repeated.
Chapter Nineteen
As they entered the new gates of the fort, the Centurion of the watch acknowledged them from above and raised a hand in greeting. He was silhouetted against a bright blue winter’s day sky and they all had to squint as they looked up. Varro smiled more from the relief of being safe and in familiar surroundings than anything else. He looked forward to being comfortable and under cover and most importantly, to being warm again. He wouldn’t have exchanged his role for any other in the military but being exposed to the elements during a harsh winter and in a hostile environment, was not something he enjoyed. Even little things became a major problem and not just the cold; the damp and permanently wet clothes, food, even water when the frosts came, it wasn’t natural to be outside and isolated. He was eager to thaw out properly and to submerge himself in a hot bath, to have the wilds of Britannia scrubbed and scraped from his skin.
Unknown to Varro and unseen from the local village, further down the track at the edge of a small group of roundhouses, Sadgem watched from the side of a house where locals went about their daily business. No-one around them noticed the stranger or the man standing next to him, looking at the group of shabbily dressed riders as they entered the fort. Outsiders often came to the area to use the waterways or to trade and since the arrival of the Romans other visitors just came to satisfy their curiosity and to look upon them as they would at a rare or strange animal.
“I knew there was something different about that whore.” Sadgem said under his breath as he turned to the man beside him. It had been easy for them to follow the group unseen from the woods as they had trekked through the snow, leaving their foot and hoof prints behind to follow. The rest of his men were well outside the settlement a few miles away dispersed in a forest where they wouldn’t arouse suspicion or be seen. It was one thing for a couple of strangers to appear near a Roman encampment but a group of so many heavily armed men was a different matter altogether, unless of course they were their allies.
“It’s traitors like that who make places like this, possible.” He said waving an arm at the fortress. “We should have killed her when we had the chance.” His face was screwed up in hate. “Her day will come when she regrets this and any others who betray our lands to the invader.” He turned, “Let’s get out of here, the putrid stench of this place is making me want to vomit.” The two men untied their horses climbed aboard and kicked their animals into a gallop, no-one turned or noticed them leave.
Inside the fort Varro saw that the damaged buildings from the attack had been levelled and new ones had already been built to replace them or were under construction. Troops were digging and excavating areas for underground heating, it was apparent that Vespasian intended to keep a permanent presence here. The air was full of sawing and banging as other construction continued, it looked as if the attack of a few days before had actually encouraged a growth spurt inside the installation.
Soldiers wore just their white Second Augusta tunics as they worked, laughed and joked, it appeared that the assault by the Britons of a few days before had done little to damage morale. Armour and weapons were lined up nearby against the internal wall, in the event of another attack. He looked up and saw that the guard was still doubled on the high walls, the chance of the enemy striking again with such success was remote. When the better weather came, these soldiers and others would move out and seek those who caused such destruction and death.
The watch centurion climbed down a ladder and approached as Varro dismounted and the two men clasped arms in greeting, “Good to see you all present, how was it out there?” He asked.
“Freezing cold, wet and damp, the snow is a lot deeper further north than it is here and it made for hard going. My balls are like frozen plums and my feet will take days to thaw, as will my hands.” He answered stamping his boots and rubbing his hands together, half smiling as he removed his hood.
“I’ll escort you to Vespasian’s headquarters building, the new praetorian, it’s nearly finished already. In a couple of months this place won’t be recognisable. There are already plans to expand the fort to accommodate fresh troops, this place will be fucking huge.” He continued talking as they passed busy soldiers sawing, digging, mixing concrete, laughing and talking to each other.
“The wrecks in the river were sunk after we recovered any supplies from them and the water is virtually clear, some of the rotten hulls were swept along in the cu
rrent of the river. I’m sure when its warmer weather in the spring what’s left will be dragged out. Until then we’re carting in goods from the south.” The centurion said happily chattering away, he turned to the others in the group, “You can go and get cleaned up, get warm and get some food inside you.” He pointed to a canteen area covered with a leather awning where a few cooks toiled over large bubbling pots preparing food for the hungry legionaries.
“I’d like Brenna to come with me,” Varro said, “if that’s alright? She can elaborate on specific details especially concerning the Silures we encountered.”
The centurion paused, thought for a second and then smiled, “Good yes, anything we know about them and their whereabouts will certainly help. Those goat fucking, sheep poking bastards will be getting seen to in a different way soon enough, with Roman iron.” He laughed to himself touching the hilt of his sword as he led them on. They walked along the path that ran along the centre of the fort that was to become the main street to the forum where on the other side, construction was already underway and large foundations were being dug.
“Our men can do most of the work but specialists have been brought in to survey the land and for more permanent structures in brick and stone. You should see the sand that has been brought in, cartloads of the stuff in rows over to the rear.” He pointed. “It won’t be long until we have decent baths, proper baths not those wooden fucking tubs and all the comforts of home, just you wait and see.” The centurion continued as he led him to the building beyond the digging, where Aulus Plautius no doubt waited. He exchanged a glance at Brenna raising an eyebrow the duty officer was obviously getting on his nerves.
The two officers returned salutes to the sentries that stood guard at the entrance to the large wooden structure, it was the focal point of all military and civil activity in the area. The high ceiling corridor was dimly lit by oil burners along the walls compared to outside and it took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust as Varro was led into a substantial room. Plautius was standing talking to a group of men dressed in togas, as they got closer he saw they were studying plans and designs of buildings, they waited.
