Danger in the Wind

by Jane Finnis

  I could see this line of talk going on far too long, so I changed the subject.

  “Do tell me something,” I said. “I’m afraid I was born nosey, and as I came out just now I couldn’t help hearing you telling Chloe that Philippus has had some sort of a fight. He wasn’t hurt, I hope?”

  “Oh no, he just had a tiny flesh wound, nothing serious. It was months ago anyway, it’s all healed up now. He tells everyone it happened out on patrol, but actually he had a fight with Terentius over gambling debts. It was all hushed up at the time, but I think Trebonius suspected something. He didn’t want to have a full-blown enquiry because both Philo and Terentius are good soldiers, so he sent Terentius off to Londinium and gave Philo his posting at Cataractonium. Oh, look, Aurelia,” she gestured up towards the house. “That’s your maid, isn’t it? Trying to attract your attention?”

  “I’m expecting a visitor,” I said. “He must be here. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and see.”

  But I was disappointed. Baca hadn’t come to tell me that Quintus had arrived. Instead she brought a note for me from him, a few words apologising that he wouldn’t be able to visit us this morning, but adding that he’d try to look in later.

  “I’ll leave an answer for him at the fort,” I said. “Have you got all our things unpacked? What are our rooms like? I may as well see mine now.”

  It was small but comfortable, a single room too, which was a pleasant surprise.

  “Miss Vitellia’s room is next yours, and I’m in the servants’ quarters sharing with Miss Chloe’s maid.” Baca giggled. “She’s a bit of a wild horse, that Miss Chloe, isn’t she?”

  “You’re right. And her brother’s a rascal too. Listen, Baca, can I tell you something in confidence? Something you won’t pass on to anyone, not even Miss Vitellia?”

  “Of course, Mistress.”

  “You’ve presumably seen the way Master Philippus is flirting with Vitellia?”

  She nodded. “He’s a real charmer, though, isn’t he?”

  “He’s attractive, yes. But I don’t think he realises that Miss Vitellia is betrothed, or maybe he does realise and doesn’t care. Now a bit of harmless fun is fine, but…”

  “You don’t want him to go too far? I daresay he’ll try, but don’t worry, I’ll see he doesn’t get anywhere. She’s a lovely young lady, Miss Vitellia, but not very wise in the ways of the world, as you might say. She thinks it’s just a game, letting a handsome young officer pay her attention.”

  “Exactly. But Master Lucius is her man now, and she’s got his reputation to consider as well as her own. If you think there’s a danger of things getting out of hand, I want you to tell me straight away. Can I rely on you?”

  She nodded. “You can, Mistress. You and the master have always been good to me. I’ll not let you down.”

  We ate a pleasant meal in the dining room when Jovina joined us, and I was relieved that Philippus and Chloe appeared to have put aside their bickering. They could both be very entertaining company when they chose, and Jovina was in high spirits by the time we set off for the fort. Vitellia excused herself because she wanted to stay with Chloe, who had invited a couple of young friends over for the afternoon.

  The open carriage gave us a welcome breath of air, but I didn’t enjoy the journey much. I picked up the same unpleasant feeling of tension I’d experienced before, with soldiers everywhere, very few natives on the streets, and several VVV scrawls on walls. As we crossed the empty marketplace I smelt smoke on the breeze. Though I tried to tell myself it was someone’s cooking fire or the public bath-house furnaces, I couldn’t help thinking it was probably caused by something more sinister.

  The gate guards waved us straight through, though we had to slow down as we drove up to the headquarters building. Two soldiers were carrying a stretcher with a third man on it, his body motionless and his head running with blood. I wondered whether there’d been a barrack brawl, or maybe he’d been injured patrolling the village. He looked in a bad way. I hoped the Greek doctor could help him.

  An orderly showed us into Trebonius’ office, and he welcomed us warmly. I noticed how Jovina went to him as if expecting a kiss, and how he contrived to shake her hand instead without actually backing away.

  We weren’t his only visitors that afternoon. Quintus was there before us. When Trebonius began to introduce him, I explained that we were old friends, though of course we were very surprised to find that our paths had crossed so far from home.

  “In that case, you must come to our party tomorrow,” Trebonius said to him. “Any friend of Aurelia’s is very welcome.”

  “Thank you,” Quintus said gravely. “I’d be honoured to accept. That is…” he hesitated. “I couldn’t help wondering, with all this unrest in the village, whether you might be considering postponing the party for a day or two. I hear it’s to be a distance away from the fort, by the river. You’re not worried about trouble from the natives, in view of Lucius Aurelius’ report, the message intercepted when one of your men was murdered?”

  Trebonius shook his head and smiled. “This party’s been arranged for a month, and we’ve invited all sorts of people. There’s no chance I’d consider cancelling it now. But we have brought it forward by a day, just to be on the safe side. Then we can all be available and on maximum alert for midsummer day itself.” He glanced at me. “Terentius was murdered at your mansio, I believe, Aurelia?”

  “He was. A sad business, and frightening too, to have someone killed under our own roof.”

  “I can believe it. But you mustn’t worry about the party, my dear. Thanks to you and your brother we’re prepared for anything, well prepared. Some of the hot-headed young native boys would like to scare me a little, and I’m afraid Eurytus…well, no matter. We’re ready for whatever comes. I’ll have plenty of men on guard tomorrow, including some out of sight covering the road leading to the field, and the river bank. We’ll be quite safe.”

  Quintus asked, “How many guests will there be?”

  “Thirty of us altogether,” Trebonius said, and then added smiling, “that is, thirty-one now. And it’s an interesting mixture of people, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. We thought we’d make it an extra special celebration, didn’t we, Jovina?”

  She smiled. “You’re doing me proud. I’m so looking forward to it. Now the only thing we can’t control is the weather. Have you got all the tents organised?”

  “I have. There’ll be five very large tents and four smaller ones. Ample room for the cooks, and for everyone to take shelter inside if it rains.”

  “You’re leaving guards there overnight, presumably?” Quintus asked.

  Trebonius nodded. “Better to be safe than sorry.”

  They went on to discuss some of the guests by name, and I recognised Brennus and Eurytus. One could only hope Eurytus’ party manners were better than his behaviour yesterday.

  I watched the two of them as they sat together, poring over the list of guests, then checking the menu. Jovina was eager and excited, Trebonius calm and slightly reserved. I wondered whether Jovina’s desire for this relationship was stronger than Trebonius’, but decided it was probably just that he was more discreet by nature.

  Eventually they’d got everything settled satisfactorily, and we took our leave. As we walked towards the gate of the fort, Jovina turned to Quintus.

  “I’m very pleased to have met you after hearing so much about you from Aurelia.”

  “I’ve heard plenty about you too,” Quintus smiled. “You and Aurelia were friends as children, I believe?”

  “Yes, though we didn’t see that much of one another. But the twins and Albia came to stay with us for a while after Pompeii was destroyed…oh well, it was all a long time ago.”

  “Sometimes it feels like yesterday,” he said. ”I was in Pompeii myself the day Vesuvius erupted.”

  “Really?” They began reminiscing about Pompeii, but I didn’t join in. I was too busy trying to think of a way to get a private word with Quintus
.

  As we came to the gate, I had an inspiration. “By the gods, Quintus, I’ve just remembered. When I saw you yesterday you said you had a letter for me from Regulus, but you hadn’t got it with you. I suppose you haven’t got it now either?”

  “Regulus?” he looked at me sharply.

  “Yes. I’d really like to have it. Would you be able to send it round to Jovina’s tonight? Or perhaps I could drop in at the mansio on our way home and collect it.”

  At last he got the point. “Yes, that’s the best idea. Why don’t you let me buy you a quick beaker of wine to make up for my absent-mindedness? You, too, Jovina, of course.”

  Jovina smiled. “My dear, I’d love to, but I can’t. I’m expecting another guest to arrive any time, and I should be there to welcome him. Statius Severus, the man who’s to marry my daughter Chloe. But Aurelia’s got no plans until dinner tonight, have you?”

  “No, unless you need me at home.”

  “Then go off and have a quiet drink, the pair of you.” She gave me a conspiratorial wink to show she was enjoying playing Cupid. “But Antonius, you’ll escort her safely to our house, won’t you? The village is restless today.”

  “I’ll keep her safe and sound, never fear. And she’ll be there in plenty of time for dinner.”

  We walked the few yards to the mansio. It was quiet at this time of the afternoon, but we still chose to sit outside as we’d done last night. Judging by the innkeeper’s warm welcome and the fact that he brought out our jug of Falernian himself, Quintus was now a favoured customer.

  Quintus grinned as he poured it. “A letter from Regulus…Not bad for the spur of the moment, Aurelia. Or had you been planning that little tactic for hours?”

  “I’ve a couple of important things to tell you before tomorrow. You might even have something important to tell me, unless you’ve been sitting round in the bar all day.”

  “Not quite all day. At least Jovina’s well enough for you to stay with her. That’s good news.”

  “She’s putting on a brave face, but she’s worried about tomorrow.”

  “She seemed happy just now.”

  “That’s because of the company she was keeping. Trebonius makes her feel happy, and probably she doesn’t want to seem ungrateful for the party. But she said earlier she’s dreading it. There are several quarrels going on, and she’s afraid some of them may come out into the open.” I gave him a brief summary.

  “Did you discover why she wrote to you for help?” Quintus asked.

  “Her immediate reason was to do with her son. She found a certain very recognisable bronze brooch among his things quite recently. One decorated with three letters. Want to guess which three?”

  “Aurelia, you’re brilliant!” He jumped from his chair and came round the table to give me a big bear hug. “Well done. This is just the sort of evidence I’ve been hoping for. I must admit I wasn’t sure whether Philippus should be on our list of possible candidates, but that confirms it. So that’s three Greeks we’ve found so far: Mallius, Philippus, and Nikias the doctor.”

  “Four,” I corrected. “Don’t forget the doctor’s assistant Pythis is Greek, a nephew or cousin or something.”

  “I wondered if I’d find you here.” Titch was heading for our table, carrying a beaker of beer and a dish of olives.

  “He’s been checking over the area where the party will happen tomorrow,” Quintus explained. “He’ll be on patrol in the woods.”

  Titch made a comic-tragic face. “While you’re all eating and drinking, I’ll be hard at work.” He ate several olives and took a good swallow of beer. “I checked the other side of the river, but I don’t need to cover that as well as the bank where all the guests will be. The river’s too deep there to cross without swimming, nobody’s going to get into the party that way. So I’ll stay on the near side. There’s plenty of scrubby bushes close to the water, and a few decent trees. So I can keep out of sight, but then so can other folks too, if they’ve a mind to.”

  “Will there be any soldiers patrolling there too?”

  “Yes, a dozen or so, according to one of the lads I’ve got to know. Name of Gambax.” He glanced at me. “He said he’d met you already.”

  “Yes, he’s the boy who’s in love with Chloe, and sends her secret messages by way of Philippus.”

  “Aye, so I gather. Anyhow, he says he’ll warn the lads from the fort that I’m on duty too, in case they catch sight of me and wonder what I’m at.” He drank more beer. “He’s hoping for a quiet little interlude with Miss Chloe, if he can get it. I told him I’d make sure he wasn’t disturbed, if he’d help me in return by telling me about anything suspicious his lads come across.” He finished his beaker. “By the gods, that hardly touched the sides. I’m going for another. Shall I get more Falernian while I’m at the bar?”

  “Better not,” I said. “Sorry, but Jovina will be expecting me soon. Before I go, just tell me, what’s the plan for tomorrow? Titch will watch the woods. I’ll watch Jovina, I can do that easily because I think she’ll be happy to have me near. And I should be able to keep an eye on the rest of the family if they don’t wander away too far.”

  Quintus nodded. “I’ll concentrate on the military guests, Mallius and Philippus and Trebonius, and of course this Greek doctor, if he comes.”

  “He’s not coming,” Titch said. “Gambax told me. Seemingly he was invited but he said he’d be too busy. And there’s a wounded lad at the hospital now, brought in this afternoon. He was badly hurt in the village on patrol, so our Nikias can use that as his excuse. ’Course, he could still come secretly. I’ll be watching out for him.”

  “What about Eurytus?” I asked.

  “He’ll have his own bodyguard present,” Quintus said. “I hope they behave themselves.”

  Quintus delivered me home safely and declined an invitation to dinner. I didn’t blame him. There was a strained, nervous atmosphere you could have cut with a spoon. Once Statius had arrived safely, Jovina had taken herself off to bed, saying the trip to the fort had tired her, so Chloe was acting as hostess and not enjoying it much. Philippus had excused himself because he was dining with friends at the fort. Presumably he was at one of his gambling sessions, and I was sorry he wasn’t there, because we could have done with his cheerful company.

  Statius, the derided older man, did indeed look ancient, grey and stooped, and with several teeth missing, which gave him an old man’s lisp when he talked. But he had sharp black eyes like a bird’s, and a sharp tongue, too, when he chose. He barely spoke to me or Vitellia. He was too busy either trying to engage Chloe in conversation or bickering with Mallius, who was still quite sober but probably would rather have had a drink or two inside him to deal with his crabby guest.

  I don’t remember much detail about the next few hours, except that I did my best to lighten the uneasy atmosphere but without much success. Tension was even reflected in the weather, which was no longer clear and warm, but stifling and sticky. I had a headache, which for me is often the sign of a thunderstorm to come.

  We ate dinner early, so that Mallius could leave while there was plenty of light. The unrest in the village was growing, he explained, and he was ordered back to the fort overnight. On his way out, I heard him giving strict instructions to the servants about keeping doors and windows locked, and telling them to post a night watchman to the rear of the house, as well as the man who usually guarded the front door.

  I was glad when the sky began to darken and I could make my headache the excuse for going to bed.

  Chapter XVI

  I stood waiting in the centre of the arena. I was quite alone. The seats all around teemed with people, I could see them and I could hear their excited shouting. But none of them would lift a finger to help me. Their yelling rose to a howling cheer as the iron gates clanged open, and the lion rushed out.

  I heard it growl even above the people’s demented baying. It was coming towards me, slow but unstoppable, and I was completely terrified. I wan
ted to stand there bravely, but I couldn’t. My body was numb, only my feet would move and they were out of my control. They started carrying me backwards, away from…away from…

  The monster slowed down as it approached, and I heard it speak. “Yes, I’m a lion. A big bad hungry lion, and I’m going to eat you for my dinner.”

  “No!” I screamed. “Get back! Don’t touch me!”

  With my last shred of self-control I tried to look into its eyes, willing it to stop. But I couldn’t see its eyes, I couldn’t see its face at all. Its whole head was swathed in bandages.

  “Get back! Don’t touch me!” I screamed again as it loomed over me. My feet went from under me and I felt myself falling…

  “Aurelia, wake up! Wake up, Aurelia. You’re safe, it’s all right. It’s me, Vitellia. Oh, please, Aurelia, wake up. Everything’s all right, really it is.”

  I was trembling and sweating as I flung the blanket from me and sat bolt upright in bed. I didn’t know where I was at first, all I knew was the fear that filled my body and mind. I looked round the room. There was no lion, just two worried-looking people.

  “Where am I?” I asked. It came out more like the croak of a bird.

  “You’re all right, Mistress,” Selena said. “You’re at Mistress Jovina’s house. You’ve had a bad dream, but it’s gone now, and you’re safe.”

  She spoke as if she were soothing a child. I felt like a child, weak and frightened and disoriented. But there was something important I had to remember, something from that dream.

  “I met a lion,” I said, forcing the words out although my lips felt stiff and cold. “It was going to kill me.”

  Vitellia came to my bedside and took my hand. “It was just a dream. There’s no lion here, only Selena and me. We heard you calling out and came to see what was wrong. Don’t think about it any more. You’ll feel better soon.”

  But I had to think about it, and I had to make them understand. “Listen, this is important. I knew that lion, I recognised its voice. It was Portius.”

  They gazed at me with concern but without comprehension. How could they understand? How could they know it terrified me to realise that Philippus’ growling lion-voice which had so amused the children yesterday was the same as the hoarse, gravelly tones used by the murderer Portius?