idea what they get up to?’
‘No.’
‘Well, that’s what I want to know.’
‘And you can’t go yourself because the others blocked your way.’
‘How do you know that?’
For the first time the boy smiled. ‘You can see a lot from up here. You can see that they turned north once they were over the crest of the hill and out of sight of the stable door.’
‘Come down here,’ snapped Flaccus, angry at the way, with his calm response, this boy was besting him. Aquila dropped from the hayloft, landing softly and bending his knees to break his fall. The dog chose a different route, jumping down into a pile a straw, and once there, it lay down to watch.
‘Do you think you could follow them?’
‘Easily. We’re in the country, not some town. I’ve never heard or seen an elephant, but Toger must sound just like one in the undergrowth.’ He jerked a thumb towards the dog. ‘And Minca will pick him up a mile off.’
Flaccus took him by the ear, tugging it gently, ignoring the dog, which had stood up and was watching them carefully. ‘You’re a cocky little bastard, ain’t you. I want to know where they’ve gone and what they do. Find out and I’ll pay for your board, fail and you and that hound can start walking back to Dabo’s farm, ’cause that mare of his will be forfeit.’
Aquila did not flinch or cry out as Flaccus tugged his ear harder, he just stared at the centurion, refusing to be cowed. ‘I can only do that if you let go of my ear.’
Flaccus smiled, releasing him. ‘You’re nothing like Clodius are you?’
Aquila turned and was halfway out of the window, the dog eagerly following, but his reply was clear enough. ‘Why should I be?’
The road was built on a causeway, with culverts running underneath at intervals to aid irrigation. Aquila headed in the opposite direction to that taken by Toger, crossed the paved highway, slid down the other side and ran north out of sight of the other men outside the post-house. With Minca at his heels, he slipped through the first arched channel and made his way to the small defile that he had seen the trio take. Turning north again, he ran swiftly and silently, dodging round the gorse bushes and skipping over any loose twigs. The dog was ahead, stopping occasionally to sniff the north-west wind, whimpering softly if he detected some strong odour. Aquila heard them well before he saw them, since his description of Toger was not over-stated, and soon he had all three in view, with Toger well in the lead, blundering along, parallel with the road, making no attempt at silence, as they strode on in the fading light.
Aquila slowed down, called Minca to heel and dropped to a crouched position, using the bushes for cover as he trailed them. They were still heading north, clearly with a destination in mind. Toger stopped, threw out his arm, indicating something off to his right, and they turned that way. Aquila let them go, waiting till they were a fair way off, before shinning up one of the few wild olive trees in this sparse and barren landscape. The lamps from the main room of the villa shone out clearly in the twilight and the purposeful way that the three men were walking towards the place identified it as their destination, so Aquila dropped back down and ran after them, still keeping out of sight. He stopped dead at the sound of the barking dogs, grabbing Minca and forcing him to sit, his blood freezing as he heard Toger speak, not more than ten paces away. The wind had carried his scent away from Minca’s nose and they had nearly blundered into them.
‘Dogs bark at anythin’, you know that.’
One of the other men spoke, his voice angry. ‘We came at the place from the wrong side. They’ve picked up our scent on the wind. Besides it sounds like a pack of them. They’ll tear us to pieces if we try and sneak in.’
The third one interjected. ‘You’re forever rushin’ at these things, Toger.’
There was a slight scuffling sound, then a gasp as though one of the men was in pain and Toger’s voice, never gentle, was truly threatening now. ‘You mind what you say, you bastard.’
The voice that replied had a strangled quality. ‘I was only trying to tell you.’
‘You don’t tell me anything, Charro. I tell you. Understand!’
The third voice had a note of fear. ‘No more killing, Toger.’
‘You going soft, Dedon?’
‘Sense. We’ve already done murder on this road, if we do another a magistrate would need to be as thick as pea soup not to make the connection. We can’t leave bodies all the way from Rome to Sicily.’
Toger’s voice was angry. ‘What are you suggestin’, that we go dry of wine and women for the whole journey?’
‘No, but if we can’t steal without bloodshed, it’s best left. An’ I can’t see how we can rob a farmhouse without hurting someone. It was a daft idea.’
‘What if I was to say this farmer had a pair of prime daughters.’
‘You can keep that as your wishful thinkin’, Toger. I say we wait until we’re stopped in another town.’
‘I’m as dry as a Vestal’s tit, an’ I need a woman.’
‘I’ve never known you not to, mate. Why don’t we ask Flaccus for an advance on our wages?’
Toger’s voice became angry again. ‘I’ll not crawl to that sod.’
‘Like it or not, Toger, he’s the boss now.’
Another strangled gasp accompanied Toger’s reply. ‘Maybe we’ll see about that, one day. Maybe he’ll order me about once too often.’
‘Then don’t turn your back, mate,’ growled the third man. ‘Without him there’ll be no food or drink, let alone women.’
Toger snorted. ‘What? One of you lot try to kill me? That’ll be the day.’
‘Well, I say this is never going to work. We’ve either got to go in there and kill everyone, including the dogs, or give up and go back to the post-house.’
‘I vote we leave it.’
‘An’ I say we go in,’ growled Toger.
For the first time Dedon’s voice matched that of Toger in determination. ‘Then you’ll be doin’ it on your own.’
Aquila heard the sound of a sword being dragged across a rock, a sound that had the dogs barking furiously again, and this time it was loud enough for a faraway door to open.
‘What d’you do that for?’ snarled Toger.
‘Just to help you make up your mind, mate.’
A stream of curses followed, accompanied by the scrabbling sound as they stood up to leave. Aquila was up and away before the three men had turned round, running fast in the moonlight to put as much distance between them as he could. He took the same route home, arriving at the back of the post-house, unobserved by the men searching the road for some sign of their returning companions. He shoved Minca in the stable and went to find Flaccus, breathlessly explaining everything he had heard. The centurion looked thoughtful and questioned him about the talk of bloodshed, but Aquila could tell him no more than he already knew.
‘Well you earned your bed and board, lad.’ He pointed to the table. ‘Help yourself to some food.’ Having not eaten properly for days, Aquila was ravenous. He stuffed bread and cheese into his mouth and helped himself to a mixture of wine and water. ‘You can bed down with the others in the bunkhouse.’
‘Minca?’ asked Aquila, through a mouthful of food.
‘Can stay in the stable,’ snapped Flaccus. ‘And make sure you tie him up!’
The dormitory was full of sleeping travellers. The mercenaries, including Toger, sat outside, talking quietly, falling silent whenever anyone approached. The centurion had paid for Aquila’s cot, plus the right to use the pump, and he took advantage of this privilege to launder his smock and his small clothes, all caked with dust from his days on the road. He stripped off everything, including his amulet, gently stroking the eagle as he pumped water into the stone trough, thinking of the dead Fulmina and Clodius, recalling happier times with the latter, when, as a toddler, they had swum together, engaged in mock fights, and the sadness of his departure.
Washing quickly, sluicing water everywhere, he threw his clothes into the now murky water, rubbing them vigorously. He was wringing the excess water out of his smock when, sensing that he was being watched, he turned round. Toger was standing in the doorway, with what passed for a smile on his brutal, ugly face. His piggy eyes dropped to Aquila’s groin and the smile widened.
