Hostage to Fortuna

attention to the southern bank as the northernas the river inevitably narrowed as it moved inland. It was stillabout a half-mile wide, which was well out of range of anyBrigantes missiles as long as we were not forced to move away fromthe southern bank because of a sandbar or submerged tree that woulddamage the hull even more. Now that Motius had asked the question,I turned my attention to the landscape sliding by, and as Fortunawould have it, we passed by a small village, even smaller than thefirst one, and their dock was no more than ten feet long. What wasnotable, however, was the children of this village had come rushingto the edge of the river and were standing there, wide-eyed, as westroked past. At first, they were clearly frightened at the sightof my men, helmeted and wearing their armor, who I had given leaveto lean on the side or settle down on the deck, but once it becameapparent we had no intention of attacking, they began shouting,waving, and laughing as some of my boys made faces at them. Theybegan running along the riverbank while I turned my attention toMotius’ question, looking out into the countryside that wascompletely flat. At first, I was puzzled, not really understandingwhat Motius wanted me to look for. Only gradually did I realize itwas not anything that was present; it was what wasnot present that was theproblem.

“I don’t see any forests,” I saidslowly. “At least, nothing that isn’t scrub trees that are maybeten feet high.”

“Exactly,” Motius confirmed, thentouched me on the shoulder as he turned about to face the northernbank. “But,” he pointed to a stand of trees that were at leastforty feet tall from the look of them, “there are overthere.”

“Pluto’s balls,” I muttered, but I wasnot quite ready to surrender to the idea we would have to go acrossthe river into Brigantes territory, so I just said, “I’m sure thatthere’s something on this side of the river that will supply whatwe need.” This did make me think of something, and I asked, “Doesit matter what kind of wood the mast is?”

“Ideally,” Motius admitted, “yes. Pineis best because it is lighter and more supple. And,” he went on,“it would be better if it was seasoned and most of the sap hasevaporated. But it is not absolutely necessary.”

“I doubt that they have something thelength we need that will be seasoned, but it shouldn’t be hard togo out and find a tree the right size,” I said with an optimism Idid not have, but a couple of my men just happened to be standingat the water barrel immediately below the upper deck, doing farmore listening than drinking, so I did not want to communicate mytrue feelings.

“We will see,” was Motius’ reply, buta glance at his face told me more than his words, and deep down, Iwas fairly certain he was right.

Growing bored, I went down below andstretched out in my hammock, and fairly quickly I fell asleep.

“We’re here,” Alex’s voice brought meback to wakefulness, and I swung out of the hammock, then glancedout the window now that there was no need to keep itshuttered.

The sun was about a hand’s width abovethe horizon, which told me I had gotten about a watch’s worth ofsleep, but I could not see the southern riverbank because the shiphad started to turn towards it. Donning my armor, I took my helmetfrom Alex as I exited the cabin, scrambling up the ladder beforetying it around my chin. I had tried to caution myself aboutgetting my hopes up, but the instant I saw the town, and mostimportantly what passed for a dock and shipyard, it felt as if Ihad been punched in the stomach. Even worse, when I scanned thearea around the town, which actually had a wooden wall on all butthe river side, I could not see the tops of any trees, whilefarther afield, all I saw was more of the same: small clumps ofscrubby brush and trees that were not suitable for our use. Thiswas all the attention I could pay, because, as expected, Cogidubnuswas already there, although his chariot was nowhere to be seen, theking standing on what was a much larger dock that extended morethan ten feet out over the river, and was perhaps a hundred feetlong. However, there was no structure that was a part of otherdocks that I had seen, even the one that was created outsideUbiorum and built by the 21^stto help construct the fleet that we used against Arminius.While I do not know much about shipbuilding, or in this case shiprepair, although I understand more now than I did, I was aware thata crane and winch are necessary, both to help lift a heavy ship upout of the water and to set a mast. Neither of them was there, andI believe this was the moment the idea entered my mind that wemight have to build one ourselves as I also wondered if theimmunes sprinkled between the twoCenturies would be up to the job. Once the ship was moored, thewide plank that is used for embarking and debarking was lowered,and Ivomagus was allowed to leave the ship first, but while he andhis brother embraced, it was without the emotion of their firstmeeting. Thankfully, Cogidubnus did not require me to salute himagain, but with Saloninus, who I introduced as my second incommand, I learned that Cogidubnus was a quick study, because afterI did so, I saw him frown, then turn to Ivomagus and rattle offsomething.

“Forgive me, Centurion,” Ivomagusaddressed me, “but my brother is confused. He,” he indicatedSaloninus, who looked like he would rather be somewhere else, “is aCenturion, yes?”

“Yes,” I affirmed. “He is the QuartusPilus Posterior, while I am the Quartus Pilus Prior, which makeshim my second in command.”

“Then,” Ivomagus pointed to Saloninus’helmet first, then to his armor, “why is he attired differently?Cogidubnus has noticed that you Romans are normally very strictabout your uniforms, but he is not wearing the same helmet or thesame armor as you are.”

I was surprised at his keen eye, but Ianswered honestly,