by Jane Finnis
Chapter XXVII
I walked blindly on through the fort, not knowing or caring where my feet took me. I found myself near the main gate, and as I headed towards it, I heard someone call my name.
I felt an enormous wave of relief engulf me as I recognised the group riding towards me: Quintus and Lucius, Titch and Gambax…and Gambax was carrying Baca in front of him on his saddle!
But Chloe wasn’t with them, and neither was Vitellia.
There was a flurry of greetings, everyone talking at once except Baca. Gambax carefully helped her dismount and supported her with an arm round her waist. She was shivering, hardly able to stand, and her eyes were swollen with crying. As I went to her she said sadly, “I’m sorry, Mistress. So sorry. I couldn’t stop it. I know Master Lucius must be angry with me, and Master Mallius, and I should have been able to do something…”
“Baca, you poor thing. It’s all right now, you’re safe.” Selena took the girl in her arms. Baca let her head fall onto the older woman’s shoulder and began to cry.
I looked at her closely. She appeared unharmed, but she’d obviously been badly frightened. “Don’t worry, Baca. We know you did your best, and you didn’t run away. We won’t forget that.”
“Don’t cry, my dear.” Selena stroked her hair softly, as if she were comforting a tiny child. “You’re quite safe now, and you’ll help us find the girls. But what you need first is a hot drink and something to eat.” She looked enquiringly at Quintus. “Is that all right, sir? I’ll bring her to you later.”
“Not yet.” Baca raised her head and gently disengaged herself. “I want to tell you what happened before I do anything else. There isn’t much time.” She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “I’ll take a drink of wine, if you’re offering, but I’ll sip it while I tell you.”
“Good girl.” Quintus smiled at her. “Come with us into our office, and tell us everything. We won’t need you for long, and we can certainly find you a hot drink and some food. Gambax, you can fetch us something to eat and some warm wine, can’t you? Good. Enough for all of us. Titch, get someone to see to the horses please, and then join us.”
As we walked to the office, I drew Quintus to one side. “Nikias has confessed to killing Jovina and trying to kill Mallius, after we confronted him.”
“Gods alive!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Was that your doing?”
“Some of it.”
“Well done.”
“It doesn’t feel very well done. After he confessed, he took poison. He’s dead.”
“But Jovina is avenged, and that’s what we wanted. I still say well done, Aurelia. You can brief us all when we’ve talked to Baca.”
We sat around the table, and Quintus drew out a note-tablet from his pouch. “First I’ll read the message the kidnappers left with Baca for us—for Trebonius really. It’s in good Latin, an educated hand I’d say, and it’s got the usual letters VVV at the end.
To Tiberius Trebonius, fort commander Isurium, from Prince Venutius of the Brigantes
We, the Brigantes of Isurium, demand that you release your hostages immediately. We are not responsible for the death of Eurytus. We have taken hostages of our own, two young girls. If you kill any Brigantian hostages, they will die.
I felt even more sick and cold than before. “Gods, I should never have come here. I should never have brought Vitellia. I should never have…”
“Enough, Relia,” Lucius said, firmly but without anger. “None of us blame you for this. Don’t waste time and energy blaming yourself. We’ve got to work together, and we’ve got to move quickly.”
Gambax and Titch came in with food and drink. They offered some to Baca, who ate and drank eagerly, and they helped themselves, but the rest of us only picked at the food, though the wine was welcome.
“Well, now, Baca,” Quintus said, “we must thank the gods that someone as sensible as you was there to try and look after the girls. Tell us what happened this morning. Why did they decide to leave the house?”
“Miss Chloe got a note from Gambax asking her to meet him by the river, where they had the party yesterday…”
“I didn’t send a note,” Gambax protested. “I swear I didn’t!”
“I know that now, but this morning she thought…we all thought, it was from you. It was only short, something like ‘Come and meet me by the river one last time. Your father says you are to marry Lord Statius tomorrow.’”
“That’s not true either,” I said. “In fact according to Selena…”
“It seemed true to Miss Chloe. It’s what she’s been dreading, even more since her mother died. So she was determined to go for one last meeting, and nothing Miss Vitellia or I could say would make her change her mind. So we decided we’d go with her, and at least make sure she didn’t try to run away or anything silly. Then we could all go to the fort together.”
“And when you got to the river there was nobody there,” I said.
“Nobody we could see. We were waiting by the water quite some time. Miss Chloe was getting impatient and we were trying to persuade her we should go back to the fort. Then we heard horses, and we looked round, and three natives came down to us and grabbed us. Miss Chloe was very brave, she stood up to them and ordered them to let us go. They just laughed and said they were taking her and Miss Vitellia for a little ride in the country. They only had one spare horse, I suppose they hadn’t reckoned on Miss Vitellia being there too, so they tied the two girls onto the one beast. And one man said he’d take me along on his horse, but the leader told him I’d be more use left behind with a message. So…” She stopped abruptly and drank some wine. The mug shook in her hand. “They tied me up, and the leader wrote out that message and left it with me to give you. And they rode away. That’s the last I saw of them.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I was frightened after they’d gone. I thought you’d never find me.”
“We’d have kept looking until we did,” Quintus said. “Just as we shall keep looking for the girls until we bring them home safe.”
“Were any of you hurt?” Lucius wanted to know. “Or molested at all?”
She shook her head. “The leader said the girls would be safe for today if they did what they were told, and after that…after that it would depend on what happened here.”
“Did you get any idea where they were taking the girls?” Quintus asked.
“Not really. There was only one mention of it. As they were about to set off, the leader said to one of the others, ‘The usual place will do nicely to hide them. How long will it take us to get there?’ And the other one said, ‘An hour if we use the main road most of the way, more if we avoid the road and go through the woods.”
“‘The usual place…’” Quintus repeated. “We’ll have to ask around, see if it means anything to people here. It doesn’t sound as if this leader was a local man, at least not from Isurium.”
“I don’t know. I did hear his name, though. Venutius.”
She had nothing further to add, so we sent her off to her hot bath, with our heartfelt thanks and promises that we’d find the girls, come what may.
“Now,” Quintus said, “the first thing I must do is go and brief the commander. I’ll show him the note and see if I can talk him out of this madness. If we could get him to send out messengers announcing that the hostages won’t be killed, the word would get back to Venutius, and they’d spare Vitellia and Chloe.”
“They might,” Lucius said grimly when Quintus had left. “On the other hand they might start asking for a ransom instead, or just decide to keep the girls anyway.”
“Stop it, Lucius!” I said. “Don’t even think it. We’ve got to stay hopeful however bad things look.”
“And I’m afraid they do look bad. Trebonius has handled the situation all wrong, ” Lucius said. “He’s completely over-reacted. I’ve spoken to some of the lads on patrol. The Brigantians were fairly quiet this morning. A few of them were disposed to celebrate when they heard Eurytus was dead, and there’d
have been some drinking and loud talk, but the soldiers could have contained it. There are only a handful of real rebels, and most of them would rather not confront the army, whatever Prince Venutius would like them to do. But now with this threat to the hostages, they feel they’ve got nothing to lose and they’re spoiling for a fight, any fight.”
“But even Venutius won’t risk an outright battle. Our boys are too well armed and trained.”
“We can only hope not, and battles aren’t their style anyway. You know how they operate, fighting in small bands, setting fire to anything Roman, and picking off any isolated settlers or soldiers they find.”
“Have they burned Jovina’s—I mean Mallius’ place?” I asked.
“Probably. In the end we didn’t leave anyone behind to guard it. All the servants begged to come with us to the fort; they could see which way the wind was blowing. If we’d insisted they must stay, they’d simply have run off as soon as we’d left.”
The door opened and Quintus came in, stony-faced and angry. Lucius asked, “No joy?”
“No.” He sighed as he sat down, and reached for a beaker of wine. “The executions start at dawn tomorrow.”
We were all silent. There really was nothing to say.
“I told Trebonius how things are,” Quintus went on. “I told him we’ll have to go out and search tonight, and he appreciates it’s urgent, but he absolutely refuses to alter his decision about the hostages. He says it’ll be seen as weakness by the rebels. ‘I’ve great faith in you and your colleagues, Antonius,’ he said to me. ‘You’ll find those girls if anybody can.’ If anybody can…and he won’t even give us an escort. He says we can’t take any men from here until his reinforcements arrive. Which may not be till this evening, or even tomorrow.” He took a long drink, and put down his empty mug with a bang. “I told him we must go anyway.”
Titch nodded, and Lucius said, “I agree.”
I felt torn in two. Part of me wanted to argue, to tell them it was far too dangerous to set out when the Brigantians were so hostile. But they wouldn’t have listened. And the other part of me knew that they were right. It was now or never. So I said, “This time I’m coming too.”
Quintus and Lucius started to protest, but I ignored them. “I’ll dress as a lad and carry a dagger. I can look after myself. You need to convince the rebels you’re too strong a patrol to be attacked. Five is stronger than four.”
“No, Aurelia, it’s out of the…”
“Don’t argue with me, Quintus. Or any of you. I’m coming, and that’s that. Let’s not waste any more time discussing it.”
Titch suddenly smiled. “I remember a long time ago when you did something like this. At Oak Bridges it was. I didn’t come with you, but I heard about it. You were like a tiger.” He looked at Quintus. “Wasn’t she? And she would be again.”
Quintus smiled too. “She was. She is. I’d like her to come. But this isn’t my decision. Lucius, you’re the head of the Aurelius family.”
“Fat lot of notice she takes of me,” Lucius grumbled.
“I’ll take notice. If you forbid Aurelia to come with us, she won’t come.”
“So, Relia, will you let me decide for you this time?”
“Yes, Lucius, I will. If you think my coming will endanger the rest of you, then I’ll stay behind. But be honest. Do you think that?”
He sat in thought for what seemed like a long time. Then he grinned, and I saw excitement flash in his eyes. “I think you’ll do more good than harm by coming, Sis. And a woman’s presence might be useful, if Vitellia and Chloe have been hurt or frightened.”
Quintus smiled again. “Now that we’ve done the really difficult task, all we have to do is plan how best to search, so we can cover as much ground as possible with just the five of us.”
Gambax spoke up. “Sir, I think I know where to start searching.”
“You do? Where?”
“Baca said the kidnappers talked about their ‘usual place.’ I’ve an idea where that is. And if I’m right, it’s somewhere well hidden, but not too far. We could get there by tonight easily. It’s an hour’s ride, no more.”
Quintus looked at him thoughtfully. “And how do you come to know anything about any ‘usual place’ used by native rebels?”
“It’s a bit awkward to explain, sir. It involves another soldier. It’s not my secret, but I swore I wouldn’t tell. But I didn’t dream they’d use the place for hostages. Anyway he’s not here now, and if he were….”
“Who’s not here?”
“Philippus.”
“Ah. We already have some information about Philippus which we’re not making public. We know he’s in regular contact with the Brigantian rebels, and he may be implicated in Eurytus’ death. I want your promise that you’ll keep that confidential, Gambax. In other words, we share each other’s secrets, but only among ourselves. Understand?”
“I promise.”
“So tell us about this ‘usual place’. That’s an order. First of all, where is it?”
“Roughly five miles away. Four miles north up the main road, then a mile or so west through the trees. There’s a small farm and a roundhouse, a couple of outbuildings, and a very large barn, much bigger than you‘d expect to find on what’s really only a smallholding.”
“You’ve been there?”
“Once, with Philippus. I didn’t see inside, it was closed and bolted. The peasants who owned it told me they store grain in it for paying their taxes, but they were very reticent about it, and they had a long private talk with Philippus while I stayed in the house. I’m pretty sure they use it for hiding goods they buy from him.”
Quintus nodded. “Do you know what he’s selling them? Presumably something illegal, otherwise why keep it a secret?”
“Yes, sir,” Gambax said miserably. “Military supplies from Cataractonium, the tannery there. Tanned leather, heavy-duty stuff for body armour and shields, and some finer leatherwork for clothes and shoes. They pay good money for that, and Philippus is always broke.”
“You’re certain of this?” Quintus was implacable.
“Yes, sir.”
“Then why haven’t you reported it?”
He said nothing, simply sat there looking thoroughly ashamed of himself, as well he might. But I remembered my first night at the mansio, and I knew the answer. “It was because of Chloe, wasn’t it? Philippus used to act as a go-between for the pair of you—he’d pass messages and help you arrange to meet her without her parents knowing. You didn’t want to antagonise him, so you kept quiet. Is that right?”
He blushed. “I love her.”
Quintus said, “You’re a disgrace to your unit, Gambax. I ought to have you dismissed here and now.”
“I know, sir. But that wouldn’t help Chloe and Vitellia. At least let me show you where I think they are.”
“All I can say is, you’d better be right about this meeting-place. If you are, and if we get the girls back safe, I’m prepared to overlook the fact that you didn’t report Philippus. We can deal with him on his own later. But if we don’t find them, you’ll be thrown out of the army so fast your feet won’t touch the ground. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. I’m sorry.”
“You will be, Gambax, if you lead us on a wild goose chase. Still, if you’re right, it makes the task of searching very much easier.” He got up and went to the window to look out at the sun, which was still quite high. “We’ve got probably four hours of daylight, and an hour’s ride, you say…better allow two, because we’ll have to go under cover for the last stage. We can’t just ride up to the door. We’ll leave here an hour from now. Does everyone agree?”
Everyone agreed enthusiastically. Suddenly there was an atmosphere of hope among us. We all felt that though the situation was far from good, things might have started to look up at last.
Quintus began issuing orders. “Gambax, your first job is to find clothes for Aurelia, and then get horses ready for all of us, and a small
carriage for bringing the girls back. We can use it to carry a few necessary items: some supplies in case we find ourselves stuck out in the wilds all night, or in case the girls haven’t had any food today. An axe…some rope…We may as well be prepared.”
He nodded. “I’ll pack blankets as well, and the makings of a fire.”
“Fine. Anything you think we’ll need. Now, what else must we do before we go? Aurelia, we need to brief you on what little we managed to discover about Eurytus’ murder, and see if you’ve picked up anything at this end which ties in with it. But first you need to brief us.” He smiled at the others round the table. “She’s found Jovina’s murderer, who also tried to kill Mallius.”
“Who?” Lucius and Titch asked simultaneously.
“Nikias.” I told them how I’d worked out Nikias’ role in my cousin’s life, and her death, and about Mallius’ evidence. They asked a few questions, and they were impressed. That pleased me, I don’t mind admitting it. When I concluded my report with Nikias’ death, Lucius remarked, “Probably the best solution,” and the others nodded in agreement.
“You’ve done good work, Aurelia,” Quintus said. “Very good indeed. I only wish we had time to celebrate it properly with a good meal and a jug or two of wine.”
“It’s too soon to celebrate yet,” I said. “Let’s wait till we’ve found the girls and stopped the killings. Then we’ll have something worth celebrating.”
“You’re right. So in between tracking down Nikias, did you pick up anything useful about Eurytus’ death?”
“A little, yes, but I don’t know how much weight to give it till I hear what you discovered in the village this morning. All I know is that he was stabbed near Brennus’ house.”
“His body was found not far from there, by the side of the road. But we don’t think that’s where he was killed, because there was no blood to speak of on the ground, and yet we could see from his wound that he must have bled heavily. I don’t suppose you’ve had a look at his body, have you?”
