There was a brief hesitation, but thenhe nodded before turning back to address the others, and this time,the roar of noise was one of joy, and that was all I waited for. AsI passed by Saloninus, I told him to let the men sheathetheir gladii, then send themup above to change places with their comrades. Hopefully, Ithought, that will be the last of the problems until we get toland.
As the time where we expected to see landdrew nearer, the tension naturally increased, but in a way, ourmisery helped dull the edge a bit. I was certain I had never beenthirstier than I was for the last day, as the oars dipped, stroked,lifted, recovered, and dipped, over and over, but never seeming tomove us. The sea was still and glassy; Motius had been correct inhis prediction that it would be as hot and as windless, althoughmany of the men swore that it was worse than the day before.Honestly, I think that while it was the same as the day before, wewere simply more parched, and therefore more miserable. Men hadgiven up even attempting to amuse themselves, choosing instead tosprawl out on the deck during their time above or swing gently intheir hammocks. I was certain it would not be a popular decision,but I ordered that when it was the time for my men to sit on abench and row, the slaves would be allowed the use of the hammocksin order to give them a better quality rest. To my shock, the mendid not object, although they did not look happy about it.
It was Gemellus who summed up the collectivemood, explaining, “We’ve already caught all the vermin from themwe’re going to, and we need them just as much as they need us tosurvive. Besides,” he shrugged, “if letting one of them sleep in myhammock means he’s able to take a few hundred more strokes, it’sworth it.”
Another disadvantage of not having thehigher vantage point offered by the perch on the mast was that wewould not see land sooner, but that was more than just aninconvenience, which Motius explained.
“It will mean we have to get muchcloser to the coast so that we can recognize the landmarks that areon the map, and there may be all manner of dangers that are notmarked on it.”
“What kind of dangers?”
“Sandbars,” he answered my question,extending one finger, followed by another, “rocks, exposed reefs,and the wrecks of other ships. And,” he finished,“pirates.”
“Pirates?” I exclaimed. “I thought yousaid the Britons don’t have the ability to sail the opensea.”
“They don’t,” Motius agreed, thenjerked a thumb over his shoulder in a generally easterly direction,“but the Gallic tribes all up and down the western coast do. TheMorini in particular, but the Menapii are not much better.” BeforeI could reply, he went on, “But, this close to the coast, the shipsof the Britons, while they are much smaller, are also very, veryswift, and they have many of them. If they see an opportunity, theywill not hesitate to try their fortune.”
“That’s a cheerful thought,” I saidsourly. Returning to the original warning, I asked, “How close doyou think we’ll have to be?”
“Just to see the land,” he answered,“perhaps ten miles. Unless,” he did offer, “I am very wrong and weare near the white cliffs. But I do not think I am. To sight thelandmarks we need?” He thought for a moment, then said, “About halfthat distance.”
His mention of white cliffs triggered amemory, except this time I did recall where I read it; mygreat-grandfather had talked about how they had seen them as Caesarwas leading their fleet to a landing spot, but I knew that was muchfarther south. Motius left me then, and I sat there, vaguely awarethat I had stopped sweating, which I knew was not a good sign.
Motius’ navigational calculations turned outto be almost perfect, but it was Ivomagus who actually proved to bemost valuable because, not surprisingly, he knew this area of theBriton coast better than Motius, although he told us he had onlybeen in a boat on the river that created the estuary that he calledthe Abis (Humber).
“But,” he assured us, “I have heardmen talking about finding it when approaching from the sea. If weare north of the Abis and in Brigantes territory, we would knowbecause there are hills in their lands that are in sight from thesea, and we will need to head south. If we are south of it, we willknow it because the water changes color, and there is a point ofland that sticks out partway across the river that is not visibleif we come from the north.”
I suppose seeing my blank expression waswhat prompted Cador to offer, “When some rivers empty out into thesea, they carry dirt that the water has absorbed, and you can tellif the water looks more brown than blue.”
“And,” I addressed Motius, “you knowwe are somewhere in the right area of this river, but not whetherwe are north of it, or south.”
Motius shook his head, his face grim. Insome ways, sighting land, which had occurred a watch earlier,whereupon we allowed the men onto the deck to see for themselves,created more problems than it solved. One did not need to have anyexperience in such matters to see that every man aboard that ship,slave and free, was at the end of their collective tether. Insimple terms, we could not afford to be wrong; if we were alreadynorth of the Abis, then heading north searching for the river’smouth meant putting us deeper in Brigantes territory, and the sameheld true for the opposite direction, though not with a danger fromthe Brigantes, but the Iceni. We stood, silently, and I am certainthey felt the weight of this decision as much as I did.
“What do you think?” Motius addressedthis to Ivomagus, and I had noticed a subtle but unmistakable shiftin how the Parisii was treated.
He
