When Gaius appeared the following morning, an older soldier was given the job of looking after him. The soldier apparently knew where Timothy lived, so when Gaius secured the property he had brought with him by lodging it safely with the military camp, they set off. It was a pleasant walk around the coastline, Gaius thought, as he looked towards the sea and the small fishing boats busily going about their day's work. He could see why someone would find pleasure living there.
Timothy, it appeared, lived alone in a large stone cottage on the side of a hill overlooking an attractive little bay. Gaius approached the cottage as a man emerged. He was of average build, he walked with a slight stoop, his hair was greying and quite dishevelled, his clothes looked old and tattered, but Gaius was drawn towards the pair of the most penetrating eyes he had ever seen.
"Excuse me, sir, but you are Timothy?"
"I am," came the slightly bored reply.
Timothy was about to continue walking, so Gaius was forced to explain, "I was sent to you by Tiberius."
"You were, were you."
"Tiberius gave me orders."
"I gather he's rather good at that," Timothy shrugged, and continued to walk.
"I am ordered to learn from you," Gaius said, feeling irritated that he had to almost run after this Greek. "So I ask, will you teach me?"
"No."
"I see," Gaius remarked evenly.
"And what do you see?" Timothy stopped and turned towards Gaius, and this time gave him a more penetrating stare.
"The Princeps indicated that you might be difficult," Gaius replied.
"And what are you going to do about it?" Timothy said in a slightly amused tone.
"Obey the Princeps. What else?" Gaius said flatly.
"That will be interesting to watch," Timothy remarked with a droll smile, then he turned on his heel and walked on.
"You want me to deal with that Greek scum!" the soldier asked.
"No!" Gaius stared helplessly at the retreating figure. This had all the makings of a disaster before he even began. "Unless you want to feel Tiberius' wrath, you'll treat the Greek with respect. No, what I want is for you to get me a tent. I'll erect it around here somewhere."
* * *
"And just what exactly do you think you're doing?" Timothy demanded, as Gaius was busily hammering in tent stays. "You're spoiling my view."
"Settling in," Gaius replied. He had to show confidence, even if he did not have it. "You said you would find my attempts at persuading you to teach me interesting, so I thought I'd make your days as interesting as possible. If I keep right in front of you, you can watch me as much as you like."
The Greek stared at him, thought about saying something, then thought better of it. He strode away. Two hours later he stormed back. "Are you going to be there all day?"
"All week, all year, as long as it takes to obey the Princeps," Gaius said with a fake earnestness. "What choice do I have?"
"And what have you learned so far?" Timothy scowled.
"The sun is warm, the sky is clear, and the stream over there has good water."
"And you think that's what Tiberius wants you to learn?" came the mystified response.
"Maybe he wants me to learn patience," Gaius replied evenly. "We shall see."
Timothy stared, then turned away.
As expected, as evening came Timothy did not offer to share a meal, so Gaius made a small campfire and cooked some fish he had obtained from the port. He offered the soldier the right to leave, but the soldier had been ordered to stay so, to pass the time, he and Gaius began playing dice.
There was a full moon that evening, so when the soldier tired of dice, Gaius lay back on the grass and stared upwards. It was so peaceful, such a pleasant place, he thought. .
A muffled scream came from the direction of the cottage. Gaius rolled over to look, and he saw a young servant running from the cottage in the direction of the port. He leaped to his feet and ran over to intercept her. When she saw him, she froze, almost petrified. Gaius raised both hands, palms outwards and said in as soft a voice as he could manage, "Please, don't be frightened."
She stared at him. At least she did not scream.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"Robbers!" she gasped.
"How many?"
"Four of them. They've got the master, and. ."
"Shshsh!" Gaius put his index finger on her lips.
"What's the matter?" The soldier asked, and when Gaius explained, he said, without enthusiasm, "I'd better go over there."
"No! There're four of them. Run down to the barracks and get help."
"It's my job to protect you," the soldier protested.
"It's your job to obey orders," Gaius replied harshly. "Do so. Now!"
The soldier was uncertain of what to do, or of to whom he was responsible, but he could not stay without flagrantly disobeying someone who might be an immediate superior, and no matter what the consequence, in the Roman army disobedience would be punished with extreme severity. He turned and ran as fast as he could in the direction of the barracks.
Gaius walked back towards his tent. Self-doubt returned; perhaps getting rid of the only help was not the brightest move, but what was done was done. Now, with the soldier gone, there was no need to hurry. If the thieves escaped, they escaped. Otherwise, the best he could do would be to delay the robbers until help came. He sat the young lady down, then he slung on his armour. He tied his greaves in place, then put on the helmet and grasped a shield with his right hand. He turned towards the servant.
"Show me where they are," Gaius said slowly, hoping to instil confidence that he did not have into the young lady. "You must be very quiet, and when we find them, you should leave at once. Do you understand?"
The young girl nodded, unable to say anything through fear.
Gaius led the way towards the cottage. A dim light could be seen from the back doorway, and he headed towards it, the girl helping by leading him around a pile of wood. He reached the doorway and peered in. Ahead was another doorway with sounds coming from it. Gaius crept forwards and carefully put his head around the left doorpost. A few large candles placed unevenly on large objects provided the dim light, although none seemed to be secured, and Gaius' first fear was that at any moment one might slide away and start a fire. Some light and heat was also provided from the fireplace in the right wall. At the far side of the room Timothy was lashed to a post, his mouth gagged by a rather disgusting-looking piece of cloth. Four men were rummaging through the room, laughing and taunting Timothy, and throwing belongings around the room. Gaius pulled back from the doorway and turned towards the girl, and whispered to her that he wanted her to find the soldiers who were coming and lead them to this room. She nodded.
Gaius could hear what was going on, as the robbers kept up a non-stop commentary about what they had found, what they were doing, so he felt he could safely sit behind the wall and wait. He did, for quite some time until he heard one of the robbers laugh, and say, "Oh, look at this! A valuable scroll!"
"Valuable? What for?"
"It'll burn well! I'm getting cold."
"That'll last long!"
"Ah but there's a pile of them here!"
He had to do something! He was about to leap out and challenge them when the words of Libo came back to him. "If you can, deceive!" Gaius carefully placed his shield against the wall so that he could grasp it in an instant, he adjusted his helmet so that it looked as if it was about to fall off, then, putting both hands on the gladius, he stepped into view. "You mustn't do that!" He held the gladius in front of him, and allowed the tip to shake, as if he was petrified.