Chapter 18
Chara's declaration seemed like complete madness in the harsh light of the morning. She wasn't sure how, but she had managed to fall asleep at some point. It was late in the morning when she woke; her father had already gone to the fields. She wondered if he found the work soothing as he continued even though they would not be here for the harvest.
Anger had left her today, but she knew it would return. Doros did not deserve the fate he’d been given—none of the people here did. Doros had been right in that regard, they didn't deserve such treatment. She might not be able to achieve the scale of defiance she touted in her anger, but she would try her best to take anyone who wanted to come, particularly any young boys who might meet their death at the end of a Spartan's sword.
She felt driven. She needed to get these boys to safety and to a new life of freedom without oppression. Granted the Athenians weren't the guardians of Elysium, but they were nowhere near as bad as the Spartans.
Della seemed to think going by ship was the best way; it couldn't be a worse solution than travelling through Megara at the moment. The only drawback was that they needed funds to do so. She needed to talk over the idea with Della, returning into the village again after breaking her fast with some bread—bread that had appeared at their doorstep through someone's act of kindness and sympathy. The gesture made her tear up again, but she had to pull herself together, she had too much to do to sit here and cry. Doros would much prefer that she did something to help, to fight. It was insane that such a task would fall to her, but they were so depleted and deflated, she wasn't sure there was anyone else.
"Who has indicated that they could pay?" she asked when she found Della.
"Well, there is Stefano's boy and the other one—the cousin—who is younger, but his parents are desperate for him to leave. My mother has offered to sell her jewellery."
Chara felt a twinge of guilt thinking about taking Della's mother's jewellery, but this was a good cause—perhaps the best of causes if it meant these boys would get the chance to grow and have their own families one day. Jewellery could always be replaced, their boys couldn't. She nodded and Della went to tell her mother.
"Do we know anyone in Scione?" Chara asked when Della returned.
"I will ask around. I do recall someone saying they went there to visit a relative, but I can't recall who it was."
Chara felt concerned again at the sheer number of people who were aware of what they were up to. "We have to urge people to keep knowledge of our activities safe. We will be in as much danger as Doros if anyone finds out what we are doing. They will show no mercy to us and it is likely that we will meet the same fate."
"We better work fast then," Della affirmed.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Are you?"
"Yes," Chara replied after a moment. She didn’t know if she could forgive herself if she backed down and didn't do this. She also felt like it gave Doros' loss some meaning.
"Then let's do it. Are you sure we are safe in Scione?"
"I think we can make a reasonably good excuse for why we are there, and if we split into two groups, we will look like anyone bringing their produce to market."
"Maybe we can even do some selling while we make our inquiries."
Chara thought it over for a while. They would have to think of a good excuse if anyone was wondering why they were away from the market place. Scione had a large market place and they took produce from everywhere; it wasn't inconceivable that they should sell any excess they could muster after the Spartans took their 'cut'. "We'll have to bring something with us to sell. The grain isn’t ready, but some of the vegetables perhaps."
They quickly parted and Chara wanted to return to the woman who had so desperately beseeched Chara to take her son. She wanted to try to find a place for the whole family, but wanted to give the woman some assurance first.
Della provided Chara with a name in Scione of someone who could help them secure passage and Chara set off immediately. She took one of the boys with her as they travelled with the ox and cart. Once she had set something in place, she would leave him there while she returned for the others.
It was an uneventful journey if not for the constant encounters with the Spartan supply lines which fortunately paid her little heed. Chara has no idea how long the campaign would last. Ideally she would be gone by the time Nicias returned; although the campaign could take months like it had in Pylos. Unfortunately she didn't know enough about their business to say. She should have asked Nicias before he left, but it hadn't occurred to her at the time. She recognized that she needed to consider things more carefully. She couldn't just think of the immediate plan, but also of the things that could go wrong so she could react when things needed to change.
There were obvious signs of unrest in Scione as well. No one seemed immune to this war between Sparta and Athens. She felt anger in the people. Everybody had to pick a side and Scione was no exception, no matter how much they wanted to stay out of it. They were particularly unlucky being controlled by Athens but bordering their powerful neighbor, Sparta.
Chara had no doubt that there would be Spartan spies everywhere, but hopefully they would pay little attention to someone like her. She decided that the best course of action was to delude herself into thinking that everything was just normal and she should just get on with her business. If she started thinking about it, she would start looking for suspicious characters, probably giving herself a more suspicious appearance in the process.
Finding passage took a bit of effort, but it wasn’t impossible as ships sailed from there to many parts of Greece. The least expensive option was to sail to Aegosthena, which then led to the well-travelled road between Delphi and Athens. It was the option that would allow them to take all the boys as well as the ox. The boys would have to make themselves useful and get the cart onto the ship. I might be unusual to take and ox and cart, but it wasn’t unheard off. Chara hoped it wouldn’t draw undue notice. They would have to work quickly, maybe very early in the morning. Once she had the information and contacts she needed, she left the boy in the care of the friend they had and charged him with the responsibility of selling the cucumbers they had with them at the market. Chara immediately set off on the two days journey back to collect the others.
She wasted no time collecting her father, the boys and Della without stopping for anything else. There were more boys than she could take. There seemed to be boys everywhere—boys Chara had never seen before and she suspected that they were brought from neighboring villages. She couldn’t take them all as it would look too suspicious, but she ended up promising that she would come back and collect them if she could secure a place for them. She left some very disappointed people behind. She had to make good on her promise. It would mean returning, but she felt she owed it to Doros to try.
Chara sought out Elphia as soon as they arrived at the farm. She held the little baby tight revelling in how desperately she had been missing the little girl. She’d grown and she was obviously thriving in her grandmother’s care. They all stayed outside while her father conveyed the sorrowful news to her mother. Chara felt her heart break all over again.
“Come on, let’s go for a little wander,” she said to Della. Chara brought Elphia as they walked away from the house leaving the group of boys standing awkwardly by a tree. “We will be back shortly,” she said to them.
“What do you think?” Chara asked after a while.
“The farm in certainly big enough. And the soil looks fertile.”
“There are lots of deserted farms, you can take one and we can bring your whole family.”
“What are we going to do about the boys?”
“I think we need to keep them here—they’re not old enough to manage on their own. Father will direct them, then when this one is restored, perhaps we can start with a neighboring one.”
“I think we should persuade their families to come as well,” Della said tentatively.
“I think you’re right,” Chara said after a pause. “It would mean going back again.” This had been something that had sat in Chara’s mind from the moment they’d left. She had to go back for the boys, but she wanted to take more—to take anyone that wanted to come. It meant returning, heading back into risk and danger. It also meant leaving Elphia behind yet again. She looked at her lovely baby and she felt love rush around her whole being. But the knowledge of other mothers who felt the same thing, were suffering from the despair she had seen weighed heavy on her. How could she not do something when she had the means? She also knew what Doros would say.
“I will go speak to Klenias,” she said after a while. “Discuss the possibility of bringing the families over.”
Klenias was glad to see her. “I am glad you made the journey back, I expected that you would change your mind. And you have brought your family too?”
“Yes, and a few boys. Sadly my brother was murdered by the Spartans shortly before we left, but I took some other boys in his stead.”
Klenias frowned at the news and Chara wondered how much he actually understood about how they were treated across the sea amongst their enemies. She understood very keenly why the Athenians would want to contain the Spartans and their policies—their way of life was in stark contrast with the Athenian beliefs in democracy.
“The reason I am speaking to you is that I would like to bring the families of the boys that I have with me. They are skilled farming people and they could restore some of the fields to fruitful condition.”
“Oh,” Klenias said with surprise. “I do have farms that need keeping—many actually—else farms that are struggling with too few people. I am at the point to beseech Athens for slaves to run the farms, but slaves know nothing about farming. It would be a desperate measure, but our need is great. Experienced farmers would be a better choice. How many are we talking about?”
“Perhaps many.”
Klenias mentioned something about policy and planning. “Perhaps over a number of years…” he muttered. Waiting a number of years was not something Chara wanted, but it also didn’t make sense due to the number of unattended farms she had seen—and that was just the area she had travelled through. Chara got the distinct impression that he was uncomfortable with giving her encouragement. She suspected that he could not give her an answer, that she would have to refer to the administrator in Athens. He would have to make decisions on anything more than the odd family moving into the district.
Chapter 19
Chara arrived to a city in distress. The people were in the streets and they were angry and dismayed. She quickly gathered that the Athenian army had withdrawn from Megara without a fight. Some were lamenting the cowardice and the resulting embarrassment to the city while others were saying that the Megarans were never worth their sons’ deaths. All around there were calls for General Cleon to be held to account.
Chara continued straight to the Administrator’s office. She’d spent the entire trip pondering what she would say to him. He wasn’t there so she had to wait on one of the benches along the wall by the door. It gave her time to think. The Spartans had obviously been successful at Megara and driven the Athenians back, just like Nicias had anticipated. With success, she wondered how long the main Spartan army would stay in Megara. If they withdrew back to Sparta, there was a good chance that Nicias would go back to his father’s estate, if he wasn’t on his way there already. It gave her an uncomfortable feeling. The parting between her and Nicias would either happen now, or she would have to rush to get back. She didn’t know what to do. There were benefits to keeping the status quo. It meant that she didn’t highlight to any Spartan yet that she was missing and something was afoot. There was also a part of her that wanted to see him again—a part she had tried to squash and it would be outvoted against more dire needs, but it was still there.
Chara looked up and saw the administrator walking toward the office. He seemed to notice her and raised his eyebrows.
“I did not expect to see you back, girl. Come to complain about the estate Klenias provided for you?” he said looking down his long haughty nose at her. She had not expected that he would be aware that Klenias had given her an estate. Perhaps he was assuming—else Klenias was reporting his activities to the man in front of her.
“No, it’s a handsome estate. It needs a great deal of work, but my family is very happy. I have come to talk to you about bringing more.”
He considered her for a while; she felt his sharp eyes evaluate her. “Come inside,” he said with a small wave of his hand. She noticed that he leisurely step with assured movements, and didn’t exert energy unless he had to. She followed him into his office, past the two clerks and to his desk at the very back.
He sat down behind the desk and arranged his toga to ensure it draped well. “So you want to bring more?”
“Others have heard what we are doing and they are begging me to take their sons. Young men are of particular threat to the Spartans and they find reasons to rid themselves of any they can find,” Chara started.
“I am aware of the Spartan attitudes,” he said with annoyance.
“I have taken some and have promised to take more.”
“And now you seek me to make good on your promise?” She could hear the derision in his voice.
“No, well yes, but the true reason I am here is that I want to take their whole families. The boys need guidance by experienced farmers. I want to take anyone who wants to come. In fact, I want to take anyone who I can convince to come.” She saw the administrator frown. “There are enough unattended farms in Attica to bring more families.”
“And how do you know this?”
“I saw them as I travelled through the lands.”
“And you would have me fill Attica with Helots.”
“Yes, you would gain people to bring Attica to full harvests and we would get a new life—away from Spartans.” She could tell that he wasn’t entirely convinced.
“And this is something I should leave to a cumbersome girl?”
“Who else shall do it? Have you had other volunteers? The Spartans would never expect a cumbersome girl. They will notice eventually when the harvest starts rotting in the fields.” She knew she was exaggerating; she may not be able to convince that many families, but she needed to get this man’s endorsement and if it took a bit of exaggeration, she was prepared to do it. It seemed to work as he got a gleam of curiosity in his eyes.
“If I were to believe you in what you are proposing—and I am not saying that I do—it would undermine the Spartan harvest and food supply,” he said. She knew this man was intelligent, she could see it in how he approached things and the conclusions he drew.
“If sufficient families chose to come, it will do so.”
“If families do defect to a large degree and you are responsible, you will undermine their capabilities in this war. You will be viewed as an enemy to the state.”
“They have acted like an enemy to my people for a very long time; we’re just changing the stage of combat.”
He narrowed his eyes and looked her over again. She could tell that he saw her differently. “A declaration of war then. This is a fantastical tale,” he said. “I would be foolhardy to place belief in such undertakings by a young, ignorant girl—a slave no less.”
“I am not a slave,” she said. “I am a free resident of Attica.”
He chuckled. “And our gain to have such a dreamer.”
“A dream I want to turn into reality—one in which you have nothing to lose, and only gain.”
“If they get any notion of what you are doing, they will hunt you down,” he said with more seriousness.
“I know, they already go my brother.”
“You would be wise to not tell anyone of this, there are spies everywhere.”
She nodded. “I will bring people.”
“As you please. I fear your life will be short, girl.”
“Perhaps, but if I succeed
, then others’ will be longer. There will be a place for families I bring over?” she pressed. She needed his explicit approval before she went back and touted to all and sundry that there was a place for them in the North.
He arched an eyebrow, then made a succinct single nod.
“I must to return quickly,” she added, feeling light with relief and joy. “The Spartans are marching back, I believe.”
“They are,” he confirmed.
“Then I should be there when they get back.”
“They will notice your absence?”
“One will.”
“You are playing a foolhardy game.”
“But a much better game than revolting.”
“It is much more cunning, I admit.”
“Any chance you could give me some funds for passage back? I have better chances of being back in time if I sail,” she said him bluntly. She knew she was pressing her luck, but she had no choice. If the Spartans were marching back from their confrontation in Megara, then she needed to hurry. His arched eyebrow confirmed it.
“I must fund this venture now?” he asked with mocking tones.
“It is not that you must, you will just increase the chances of success. I am only asking for funds to sail to Epidaurus—Nauplia if the funds extend so far. An act of charity if you will.”
He leaned back in his chair. She expected that the answer was not going to be in her favor, which meant that she needed to rush. She wasn’t ready to give up the game with Nicias yet by letting him know something was afoot. It would be better in the meantime if he noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
Truth and Sparta Page 11
