by Griff Hosker
“If we ride over there we should be able to see how easy it is to spot.”
“We will just wait until they get further ahead. I don’t want to make our friends jumpy.” When they did leave the safety of the woods they walked their horses down to the parting of the ways. Livius’ sharp eyes easily picked out the olive.
“The track sir or another inspired guess?”
Livius looked back along the tack and then ahead. “We have come what five, six miles?”
“About that.”
“I can’t see them doing more than fifteen to eighteen miles so we will follow slowly. We know that we can see sign and so far there is nowhere for an ambush.”
Livius could see that they were skirting the edge of an upland area, not a steep slope but one which led, eventually, to the road and then the high divide. This was new country to Livius and he knew that his Explorates would have to become familiar with it if they were to be able to give the right intelligence. “Have you noticed Agrippa how few rivers there are?”
“Yes sir. In the east they cross the whole land. We have not seen many at all apart from that little one to the north and the one near Mamucium.”
“The Seteia?”
“I’ll take your word for it. Well they are the only two. Is that important sir?”
“To the legions? Yes. It means they haven’t got natural points to block an invasion. That little river in the north, the Belisama, why a child could wade that which means that if Morwenna comes over she can go anywhere. There are no barriers. Glanibanta and the new fort will, effectively stop anyone going north or south but down here well they could cross the divide and raid the rich lands near Eboracum at any time. I think she is coming.” Agrippa looked at the younger man and thanked, not for the first time, the Allfather for not giving him the ambition to be anything other than a trooper. He could just do his job and not worry, as his decurion did, about the bigger picture.
*
Centurion halted them one more time and gave them more water. They had not deviated from the path but their run had almost exhausted them. “You have done alright for a bunch of unfit rabble and we have finished with running. We are nearly at the camp and we will now walk. Rest over. Let’s go.”
As Cassius stood up he let fall four olives. Although not a fork he wanted to warn his friends, if they were still following, that they were approaching danger.
Agrippa was on point and he waved over Livius. “Sir four olives but there is no fork in the path.”
“There has to be a reason but I can’t think what it could be. Search around and see if they left any sign.” A few minutes searching revealed that they had indeed continued along the path. “Let’s just take if steady then. Perhaps he was warning us.”
“Could have been dropped accidentally?”
“Agrippa do you think Cassius would have done that?”
“Not really.”
“Then onwards.”
*
Metellus and his companions approached the dune filled area with apprehension. They had seen increasing tracks both of horses and men and yet they had not seen a sign of civilisation neither civilian nor military. Metellus halted them. “Someone has been here recently and there were a lot of them. Look around. See what you can find.”
“Metellus, droppings, from horses.”
“Well done Rufius. Nice to know you are still the shit master. That rules out the Brigante over here and makes me think cavalry. Is it ours?”
Rufius knelt down to examine the spoor. “Don’t think so this is just grass fed.” Roman cavalry, certainly Marcus’ Horse and the Exploratores liked to supplement grass with grain. It gave their horses and edge in terms of stamina and strength.
“Well that is a worrying thought. “ He looked over at the pine forest which grew out of the straggly grass flecked dunes. “The tracks head over there. Let’s follow. But boys, let us be careful. Especially you Decius.”
The young man bridled a little. “Why me?”
“Let us just say, that, as the only trooper wounded so far in this maniple, that you are sometimes a little impetuous, one might even say headstrong. Remember the cave and the almost fatal incident?”
“One little…”
“Seriously Decius, in our line of work one mistake can mean your death so do me a favour and think before you gallop eh?”
It was the smell of wood smoke which made them halt. Metellus waved them back towards the edge of the woods. Once they were in the dunes he dismounted. “Wood smoke suggests a camp. I think we have found something. Decius you need to go back to the meeting point and wait for the others. This is valuable information.”
Decius stuck his chest out belligerently. “Why don’t we wait until we have found something a little more important than what could be charcoal burners?”
“He’s right Metellus. This is just the kind of place charcoal burners would come or it could be hunters we don’t know. It would be a mistake to send a message back and find that we were at the wrong place.”
In his heart Metellus knew that he was right and that this was the deserter’s camp but he could also see their argument. They had to be certain. “Right. Let’s find somewhere to hide the horses and then we will investigate that smoke.”
*
Centurion halted them at the edge of the wood. The sandy soil showed that man feet both human and animal had passed through before them. “Right we are close now. You need to follow me in single file and follow exactly where I go. We have put a few traps around in case anybody sticks their nose in here.”
Cassius was glad that he had only dropped a few of his valuable fruits and nuts. He would need them all now. He held them in his hand as he followed Mocius through the pine forest. Once again he placed a handful at the spot where they entered the pine trees.
Almost immediately they turned left and only went forwards for ten paces before jinking right. Cassius began to worry that he would run out of fruit. After another three sharp turns they found themselves on a broad track which Cassius could see led to a clearing. As he stepped out in the light the sight almost took his breath away. There was a camp albeit without a palisade. There was a Praetorium and stables and a watch tower which just peeped above the surrounding pines. He had found the camp and he just hoped that Livius was close behind.
Like Metellus, two miles away on the other side of the wood, Agrippa and Livius smelled the wood smoke when they reached the small pile of fruit. “Looks like this is where they went in then sir?”
“Why the small pile?”
“Eh?”
“Why not one or two? You wait here with the horses I will go in on foot.” Agrippa could not understand his superior’s caution but he respected him enough to stay silent. Livius walked gingerly and when he saw the next pile of fruit, only three pieces this time, he paused. There was no discernible path; the floor uniformly even. He knelt down and he could just see the faint imprint of a footprint leading left. He took out his dagger and scored three lines in the bark of the tree to his right, the resin oozing slowly out in the cool of the evening. This time he crawled on hands and knees; when he found the next fruit he became more confident and, again marked the tree with three lines. He turned right, confident that this was the correct path. After two steps he began to doubt himself and dropped to the ground to examine the footprints. As he did so the dead fall was trigged and the branch, with nails embedded in it, flew over his body to where his head would have been and thudded into the tree. Realising he had come the wrong way he backtracked. He heard the loudly whispered, “Sir! Sir” You alright?”
“Stay there Agrippa I am fine.” He backtracked to where he had marked the tree and looked around, he found the footprints and saw that he had not gone far enough right. He stood and retraced his footsteps to Agrippa.
“What happened sir? I heard a crash.”
“This is the camp alright. They have deadfalls and the path twists. I was lucky the trap missed my head by an uncia. We’ll c
amp back up the path a ways and watch for people coming and going. Cassius has only just arrived and if he does escape it will be in the night. I am hoping that he has the route in his head and will come out here.”
*
On the other side of the wood the three troopers had also discovered the traps, fortunately it was the smallest one, Decius , who had triggered one and it had only stunned him. Metellus and Rufius helped him back to the horses while they returned to the path. Like Livius they had marked the trail with bark marks but Metellus had the advantage of the sharpest eyes and the best tracker in Rufius who was able to find the main, trampled route easily. Rufius waved Metellus to the ground and they crawled. Rufius held his hand up again and they waited in silence. When their ears became attuned to the sound of the woods they heard the unnatural noise of talk, just a low murmur and then the clang of metal on metal. Rufius signalled for Metellus to remain where he was while he crawled forward, disappearing from view. Metellus had to wait in silence, listening for the cry of discovery. He suddenly started as a hand appeared from behind him to tap him on the shoulder. Even as he dragged out his pugeo he saw, to his relief that it was Rufius who led him to the edge of the wood.
“You nearly made me jump out of my skin back there. Where in Hades did you learn to move so quietly?”
“Hunting when I was a kid. If I was noisy we didn’t eat.”
“Well?”
“That is it alright. A full camp with barracks and stables.” His face suddenly became serious and worried at the same time. “If I didn’t know better I would have said it was one of our camps.”
“Why?”
“Everyone was wearing Roman armour, helmets. Gladii, everything.”
They had reached Decius and Metellus checked the wound which was superficial. “How are you feeling?”
“Stupid.”
“Don’t worry about it. One of us was bound to have tripped those traps; the Allfather was watching over us for he made sure it struck you, the smallest of us. Had it struck either of us it would not have been the branch which connected but the nails and I do not think we would have survived.”
“Well. Is it the right place?”
Grinning Metellus said, “It is. Now this is what we will do. Decius you find the Prefect. Head back to Glanibanta and stay on the road. That is the route he will be taking. Tell him it is a huge camp. How big Rufius?”
“Almost a cohort and fully armed.”
“Got that?” Decius nodded realising the import of the message. “Tell him we think that boats have brought others ashore so there may be a second camp or even an army here.” He paused before continuing. “Tell him I think that the Queen may be back causing more mischief.”
Rufius looked at him. “Sticking your neck out a little aren’t you?”
“Just doing what we are supposed to be doing gathering intelligence and making intelligent guesses. If I am wrong they can laugh at me. But if I am right… We will go back to the meeting place.” The three of them wasted no time in goodbyes but, fearful of discovery rode swiftly away.
*
Cassius and Mocius found themselves at the centre of the camp on an area which had been cleared to form what was in effect a parade ground. Cassius was impressed by how military it looked. The man, who had brought them, Centurion, had obviously held that office in a previous life. What intrigued Cassius was the reason for his desertion. It was rare for someone of that rank to do so. That would be an interesting story.
The object of Cassius’ speculation Centurion just barked, “Wait here!” and he disappeared into the Praetorium. Most of the other soldiers they could see ignored them making Cassius think that this was not an uncommon event. He quickly took in the layout. He needed to know where the tower was and the barracks if he was to slip out later on. He could easily remember the route out. He had already decided to wait until dark and then head to the point where he had left the pile of olives. He would expect the decurion to be there if he had succeeded in following and if not then Cassius would have to make his own way north to the meeting point. He almost smiled to himself. It looked like the assignment, which had once seemed impossible, was going to be a success.
When Centurion came out of the Praetorium he was accompanied by the biggest legionary Cassius had ever seen; a huge scarred warrior but what took his breath away was not the size of the man but what was revealed when they parted and he saw their leader for the man was the double of Livius, his decurion. He quickly hid the shocked expression from his face; it could not be Livius and, as he peered more closely he could clearly see the differences: the hair was too short and there was something about the sneering smile and the cold dead eyes that marked him as different. He also noticed the way he walked; there was arrogance about this man that marked him as different from the decurion.
When he spoke the voice too could have been that of Livius. “Thank you gentlemen for joining our little enterprise. I am Decius Lucullus Sallustius and my men call me General. You will address me as such. Centurion, you have met and you will meet my friend here I can assure you. “Tiny gave a suitable lopsided and rather frightening grin. “You have left the Roman army with its rules, regulations and er poverty.” The men all laughed for the smile on their new leader’s face told them that he had made a joke. “You have joined an army which looks out for itself. We are a private enterprise army. We raid where we want and we take what we want. Soon we will raid even further and be joining another army to fight the Romans. The same Romans who I don’t doubt flogged all of you many times.” The nods were reassuring for Decius. It confirmed their implicit acceptance of his putative rebellion. You will be given a uniform, similar to the ones you wore when in the service of Rome and you will be assigned to a century as with Rome. There the training ends. Tomorrow you begin to earn your first salary.” He nodded to Tiny who disappeared into the Praetorium. “We do not have many rules however one of them is that you do not leave. We will not call it desertion we will call it, termination of contract. Your contract can only be terminated when you die. Here,” Tiny dragged a man who had obviously been beaten badly, “we have someone who only joined yesterday and tried to leave us last night.” Tiny pulled back the head and Cassius realised, with a sinking heart that it was Seius, one of Drusus’ men. The eyes were almost closed and Cassius prayed that he would not open them and give away his secret. “You will now see what the punishment is for desertion.”
Centurion nodded to two legionaries who brought out a sharpened stake cut from a young pine tree. It was as long a man’s body. They brought it to the centre of the parade ground where Cassius noticed, for the first time, a hole which was surrounded by stained soil and sand. The men planted the stake in the hole so that it protruded with the spike uppermost, and suddenly Cassius had a sickening vision of what the punishment was to be.
Seius could not see what was coming and he looked exhausted as he was dragged by Tiny to the stake. “This is the punishment for desertion!” Tiny lifted the trooper up as though he was a piece of wood and then placed him slowly onto the sharpened point so that the spike began to enter his lower body. He did it gently at first so that Seius did not know what was coming, however as the point drove deeper upwards he uttered a scream, a scream so loud that Livius and Agrippa heard it, on the edge of the wood and shuddered. Tiny then let go of the prisoner and Seius’ own body weight drove him down onto the staked which ripped up into his body. His feet flailed around which merely aggravated the effect of the stake. It went further into his body and Cassius watched in horror as the man’s bowels opened and joined the blood which was seeping from his body. After what seemed an age but must have only been moments Seius’ head slumped forward as death and the Allfather mercifully claimed him.
“Now that you have seen the punishment, go and claim your uniform and the rewards of fighting in this army.”
As they trudged slowly away each man’s eyes were drawn to the horror that squatted on the parade ground. Cassius would have to reth
ink his escape attempt. He had more to tell Livius than he had expected. He had found his brother; all of the Exploratores knew the story and knew the anger which burned inside their leader. There was now an even greater reason for him to escape. The problem was how for it was now obvious to him that they watched for those who wished to leave the camp.
Later that night after they had tried on and adjusted their armour and made sure the other equipment, including swords and daggers were in good shape Mocius and Cassius strolled around the camp. They were mindful of the stares that they drew when they approached the perimeter but both men made sure they did not incur the wrath of Centurion or any of the other tough looking officers. They both found their eyes oddly drawn to the monstrosity that had been Seius.
“Horrible way to go.”
“You are right Mocius. Not that I was thinking of running but that would certainly stoop me.”
“Really?”
“A man would be stupid to run.”
Mocius bent down to pick up a stone which he casually tossed in the air. He caught it and stared hard at Cassius. “Then why were you leaving a trail when we came into the woods?”
Cassius felt a cold child race through his body. “What do you mean? I wasn’t leaving a trail.”
“You weren’t dropping olives and nuts?”
“What makes you think I was?”
“The fact that I watched you and I saw you do it were fairly big clues. Listen Cassius, you were considerate and kind today and I won’t forget that. Whatever you did and for whatever reason your secret is safe with me. Just be careful. I would hate to watch you die like that.”
“Don’t worry Mocius you won’t.” Even as he was warned by his new friend Cassius was planning his desertion. After they had been given their uniform and food Centurion had told them of their first patrol. They were going on a raid the following day and, marked as a cavalryman, he had been assigned the role of scout. Once out in the open he would defy anyone to catch him. On foot he was a fish out of water, on a horse and he was like a centaur. He just hoped that Mocius would not suffer repercussions for his actions.
