“You’re going to have to pick a couplefrom where we’re standing, Acisculus,” and the Immune nodded glumly in agreement.
He began walking along the edge of theforest, moving among the scrub trees and undergrowth along theedge, while the rest of us trailed behind him. It probably was nomore than a count of two hundred before he stopped the first time,though it seemed much longer, pointing to an evergreen of somesort, with a light gray bark that was devoid of branches for muchof its lower part. It was about twenty paces deep in the forest,and I followed him as he approached it, curious about how heintended to determine whether it was perfectly straight its entirelength. I learned very quickly, because he pulled his square out ofhis bag and laid one edge of it against the trunk, then placed hiseye next to it, looking upward. It only took a matter of aheartbeat before he shook his head.
“It bows near the top,” he saidflatly, and we continued moving along the edge of the forest, and Iwas beginning to think that we would have to press more deeply thanwe intended, when Acisculus came to a stop once more. While it wasdeeper into the woods, it was only a few paces, and we watched ashe did the same thing. Then he straightened up, and despite thegloom, I could see the smile. “This one,” he announced, “isperfect.”
We set to work immediately, with three mentaking turns chopping, but Acisculus was already moving, wanderingamong the other trees as the air filled with the sound of chopping,as the men brought it down quickly and in the proper direction,although it did bounce off the tree next to it, shearing offseveral branches, which made sharp, cracking sounds that I worriedmight carry. Once on the ground, the men began trimming off thebranches, and it was as they were doing this that Acisculus foundanother suitable tree. By the time this one was felled and thebranches trimmed, it was dark, but this was when brute strength wasrequired because we had to drag both of them out into the open towhere the sledge was waiting, so there was not much need for light.The half-moon had just appeared as the men lashed both trees to thesledge, placing them so that about five feet of both trunks hungoff the front edge, and about ten feet off the rear. Acisculus laidout the rigging, which were nothing but padded loops of rope thatwere attached to the thicker cable that was fastened to the sledge.With four men on each side, it took some effort to get the sledgemoving, but fairly quickly, the men learned the benefit of thatimperceptible slope.
Naturally, we switched out more often thanwhen carrying the sledge, and this time, I took part. And, evenunder the circumstances, I confess I was unable to refrain fromshowing off a bit; when it came time to switch out, which was aboutevery quarter mile, I pronounced I was fine. I was not, however; mythighs were on fire and my tunic was soaked in sweat, but I refusedto relinquish my place nonetheless, another time where my stubborn,and as my mother loves to point out, foolish pride got in the way.We reached the spot where the farm was within sight, and this time,it was easy to see because of the light from what I assumed wastheir cooking fire, and this time I relinquished my spot. I calledSextus Cocles and Bibaculus, neither of whom had participated yet;I was holding Bibaculus in reserve for the last push, and whilethis was slightly earlier than I wanted, I felt certain I wasmaking the right decision.
We had gone perhaps a hundred paces when,out of the gloom, Gnaeus Dorsuo called out, “Pilus Prior! Off toour left! I see lights!”
I managed to avoid snapping at him that itwas just the farm, registering just in time his use of the plural,yet when I looked in that direction, I saw nothing; the light fromthe farm was still visible, but farther to my left when I wasfacing in the downriver direction. Then, as I was about to open mymouth to tell Dorsuo he was seeing things, I saw not one, or two,but three pinpricks of light seemingly appear out of nowhere, and Iremembered seeing a patch of scrub trees that we had passed, whichobviously had been shielding them.
“Keep going,” I ordered, but I hurriedover to where Dorsuo was standing, and we kept our attention onthose lights.
It was obviously torches, but what I wasattempting to determine was whether the men holding them were onhorseback or on foot, and whether or not they were heading in ourdirection. This was how the next period of time passed, as I walkedalongside the men pulling the sledge, rarely taking my eyes offthose lights, but I fairly quickly determined one thing.
“They’re heading in our direction,” Icalled out. “My guess is they’re looking for us.”
I desperately wanted to pick up the pace,but I knew that whatever speed we gained over this last mile wouldbe squandered because we would have to switch the men out moreoften, which formed my decision.
I did call a halt, but when I trotted overto the sledge, I told Acisculus, “You need to pick the best one ofthose two trees, because we’re dumping the other one.”
There did not need to be much light to seethat Acisculus did not like being put in this position, but he wasa veteran, and he knew me well enough to understand by my tone thiswas an order. It was certainly a risk, but I had determined thatnot only were these unknown torchbearers heading in our direction,they were close enough for me to be fairly certain that they weremounted.
It was the work of a moment to unlash thesecond tree, while I took the opportunity to switch the men out,and once we were ready to resume, I said, “All right, boys, while Idon’t know for sure, my guess is those are those Brigantesbastards, and they’re on horseback. We have to
