if it had come from the House of the Vestals. I rapped on it politely with my foot. When there was no answer, I rapped again.
'I wonder what sort of reception we should expect,' said Eco, casting a wary eye at the nearby stable and the silent courtyard. There was not a person or animal in sight. 'Where is everyone?'
'Fulvia told me she's shut the villa for the time being.' 'You mean there's no one here?'
'A place as big as this can hardly have been abandoned entirely; there must be some staff in residence. No, I took her to mean that she's cancelled construction, closed the kitchen and shut off the visitors' quarters. I'm sure we'll find someone here.'
I had no sooner spoken than the door to the stable opened and a boy stepped out, carrying a heavy basket with both arms. He saw us, let out a scream and ran back into the stable, dropping his burden behind him. The basket tipped over, spilling its contents. I tried to make out whether it was millet or oats…
Then a giant wasp buzzed by my head. That was what it seemed like, at least, for a brief, paralysing instant: a sudden, malicious whirring in front of my face, so close it tickled my nose with the wind of its passing and left a sharp rushing sound in my ears. Then there was a thud of collision and the music of vibrating wood, and the sight of a shuddering spear in front of my face, impaled in the door.
XX
Which surprised me more — the spear from an unknown quarter that barely missed my nose, or the blinding speed with which Davus reacted?
However stiff-muscled and slow-witted he might appear, Davus had the reflexes of a chasing hound. He was across the courtyard and scrambling over a pile of bricks before I had time to blink. Even Eco, as quick and nimble as I was in my prime, was left looking after him like a dazed runner left at the starting block.
Davus reached the top of the brick pile and leaped open-armed into space. An instant later there was a sound of two bodies colliding and a sharp exhalation that turned into a yelp of pain. Then Davus called out, 'Master! Come quick, I can't hold him!'
Eco raced across the courtyard. I followed behind. He went one way around the brick pile, I went the other. I heard another collision, a grunt, a spray of flying gravel. I came upon Davus on the far side of the pile, just getting to his feet Together we ran to find Eco, who stood clutching his middle, the breath knocked out of him. Lying flat on his back in front of Eco, his eyelids flickering, was a boy who could hardly have been more than ten years old.
'I didn't touch him,' saidEco, catching his breath. 'He ran straight into me, almost knocked me down. He fell back and must have hit his head…'
The boy was dazed but not seriously hurt. He gradually came to his senses and gave a start when he saw the three of us peering down at him. His first reaction was an attempt to scramble to his feet rendered impossible by the fact that Davus stood with a foot on each sleeve of the boy's tunic, pinning him down.
'You needn't struggle, young man,' said Eco. 'It doesn't look like you're going anywhere.'
The boy stuck out his jaw and narrowed his eyes, but his mask of defiance was all too easy to see through. His chin quivered and his eyes shifted constantly from face to face.
'We have no desire to hurt you,' I said, in a gender tone than Eco had used. 'What's your name?'
The boy squinted up at me. From his point of view on the ground, we must have looked like giants, especially Davus. The squint was clearly for show, another way of masking his fear; his eyesight had to be perfect to have thrown a spear with such accuracy. 'My name is Mopsus,' he finally said. His voice shook.
'And your friend? The boy in the stable, the one who screamed when he saw us. That's why you threw the spear, wasn't it, because he screamed and you thought he was in danger?'
The boy's squint relaxed a bit. 'My little brother, Androcles.'
'Ah, your brother. No wonder you were worried for him.' I looked towards the stable. The door, which was barely ajar, gave a little jerk. 'Androcles must be quite worried for you right now. But he needn't be. As I said, we have no desire to harm either of you.'
'Then what are you here for?' His gruff voice rose to a squeak. Davus laughed. The boy turned red with anger. He thrashed helplessly on the ground, which made Davus laugh again.
'Tell this big elephant to get offme!' Anger finally drove out fear and lent a surprising authority to his voice.
'Certainly, as soon as you've answered a few questions. Why does no one come to the door? Where is everyone?'
The boy shifted and wriggled, straining against his confinement. There was no way for him to escape from his long-sleeved tunic as long as Davus stood on the sleeves. Nor could he kick high enough to strike Davus.
'You really are stuck, I'm afraid,' I said.
'We could string him up, Papa. Perhaps start a fire under him, roast him like a pig — '
'Eco, don't joke! He'll take you seriously. Something tells me this young fellow has seen awful things done to helpless men. That's why he's so afraid of us. Am I right, Mopsus?'
The boy said nothing, but the look in his eyes answered for him.
'My name is Gordianus. This is my son, Eco. And that elephant, as you call him, is my bodyguard, Davus. We come to this house in peace, just the three of us. We did nothing to your brother. He saw us from the stable door, screamed and ran back in.'
Mopsus wriggled in a paroxysm of disgust. 'Stupid Androcles! He always was a little screamer, afraid of his shadow!'
'I am not!' squeaked a voice from the breach of the stable door.
'Androcles, you fool! Get out of there! Run to the mill! Wake them up, tell them — ' Mopsus bit his tongue.
Davus and Eco looked to me. I put a finger to my lips. I walked in a circle around the brick pile, retracing my earlier steps to the courtyard, then approached the stable door from a direction that couldn't be seen from the breach. I yanked the door open, thrust out my arm and put my hand gently but firmly on the shoulder of a little boy who looked up at me with eyes like moons.
'Don't be afraid, Androcles. You're not a screamer, like your brother says, are you?'
The child looked at me solemnly and shook his head.
'I thought not. Here, take my hand. Good. Now, let us go and talk some sense into your silly older brother.'
Mopsus writhed in disgust. 'Androcles, you idiot! Now they've captured you, too.'
Androcles looked up at me solemnly, then at Eco and Davus in turn. 'I think they may be all right, Mopsus. Not bad, like the others.'
'The others probably sent them, you stupid ass, to ambush us and finish us off' Mopsus's voice squeaked out of control again, making Davus laugh.
'The big elephant is funny.' Androcles gazed up at Davus with a look of awe.
'You won't think it's very funny when they flay us alive, like they did to Halicor!' said Mopsus.
Androcles shuddered at the idea, but when I squeezed his hand he seemed reassured. 'Halicor was the tutor of young Publius Clodius, wasn't he?' I said.
'How would you know that, unless they sent you?' Mopsus practically spat the words. Having his little brother for an audience gave him the courage to keep up a pretence of toughness.
'By they, you mean the men who killed Halicor?' 'Who else? Milo's men! Maybe Milo himself sent you — ' 'No!' The sternness in my voice silenced him. 'Look at me, Mopsus. And you, Androcles. I swear to you, by the shade of my own father, that Milo did not send me here and I have not come on his behalf.'
'Who did send you, then?' said Mopsus warily.
'The day before I left Rome, I had a long talk with your mistress. Fulvia asked me to do some work for her.' It was true, after all, if not the entire truth. I saw no need to complicate matters by mentioning the Great One.
Mopsus softened a bit. 'The mistress sent you?'
'Fulvia asked me to investigate a certain aspect of your late master's death. I'm called the Finder. I have experience in such matters.'
