Later he found another body, that of a young man. He was lying in a ditch face up, his arms tucked in at his sides. His chest and stomach were stained in blood, a deep hole had perforated his chest, probably from a javelin he judged from the size of it. His face was pale and there was no longer any sign of life. He had been stripped of weapons and placed in the ditch.
“You could be my brother.” Tevelgus spoke as he studied the young face. Just then something alerted him to activity nearby, a noise that indicated something was close, his other senses instantly came alive. Something had made him look round quickly, his heart beat faster as he stood and his horse cried out and whinnied rearing up. He grabbed the reins and tried to keep it quiet but it was too late. Five men stared down at him from a ridgeline only fifty paces away.
“Who are you?” One shouted from the middle of their group. They were all armed with spears and swords, wearing no tunics or robes. The rain made their woad covered upper bodies shine, their hair wet.
“I’ve found a body in this ditch.” He shouted in reply pointing at the corpse, trying to gain some time to think out his next move. The men looked at each other and began to walk down the slight slope. Tevelgus felt his heart pounding through his body and he thought they would see his panic. He tried to stay calm but he knew that every moment he stood still, was a moment wasted when he could be escaping. He looked at his horse, now scraping at the damp surface with its front leg, kicking up mud. He knew that by the time he got onto him he would be as dead as the man in the ditch but if he didn’t run he would surely be as dead if they recognised him as Cantiaci.
It was too late to run, with his heart beginning to calm slightly they got closer and he shouted out, “Did you kill him?”
“What? No. Romans!” Shouted the leader in the middle. “Romans killed him. They’ve landed in force to the east on the coast, thousands of them. They’re invading the land intent on killing and stealing everything.” He looked around as if seeing if he was alone. “Who are you, where are you from?” He placed a hand on the handle of his sword examining the face of the stranger.
“Romans, Romans? Why would Romans invade our land? There’s been peace for years. We trade with them, why would they want to kill us?” He asked still trying to find time to think of something even just to delay them.
“Where are you from friend?” Asked the leader as the others stood around him, his tone had changed from curiosity to almost challenging. Tevelgus felt his heart begin to beat quicker once more.
“A days ride south.” He turned pointing in the direction he had come from. The man examined him again, “Is this,” he gestured at the dead man, “the first body you have seen? We have had to leave many behind in the past few days.”
“I’ve been looking for elderberries not dead bodies.” He looked at the dead man. “This is the first I’ve seen yes.” He answered wary that this could go either way now. Just as he got the words out one of the men pointed shouting suddenly behind him, “Romans.” They all ducked down, Tevelgus included who turned and saw Varro walking slowly towards them.
“Quickly friend, come with us or they’ll cut you down.” The leader said as he and his companions turned and scurried away scrambling back up the slope the way they had come. Tevelgus stood briefly watching them, “I’ve got to get my horse. I can’t leave my horse.”
The other Britons weren’t listening, the quickest of them had already vanished over the rise. Tevelgus walked quickly to his animal, mounting it quicker than he ever had before he turned and raced off in the other direction.
Examining the punctured cold body in the ditch, Varro listened as Tevelgus related his encounter with the Catuvellauni looking up at the ridge.
“Your certain they were with Togodumnus?” He asked of Brenna’s brother.
“There’s no doubt in my mind.” Tevelgus answered. “They didn’t even suspect who I was but if you hadn’t arrived when you had, I probably wouldn’t be breathing anymore and would be dead along with our friend here. I had visions of being skinned alive and would have been if they’d realised who I was and what I was doing.”
His sister patted his shoulder. “We should stay together from now on. We can’t risk losing anyone and I don’t intend losing you.”
Varro looked in the direction indicated by Tevelgus, they were too close. “I think your right, we’ll stay together. I don’t think we could lose them now even if we tried. Let’s withdraw and let them get further ahead. If those men were scouts staying behind the main group there’s bound to be more. I don’t want to let them get that close again, come on let’s go.”
Brenna took a final look at the young face in the ditch. He wasn’t the first to die and he wouldn’t be the last. She wondered how many more would also cross the river and spend time with the ferryman in the days and months to come.
Two days later Togodumnus had led his army to a position north of the river Medway. Crossing the water through shallows the day before at a position that few people knew of, he had given orders for his people to make camp. From this location they could see the open sea and a gentle warm salty breeze blew in every now and again.
“If only things were different brother?” Caratacus said.
Togodumnus looked at him, “If things were different we would be at home trying to resolve disputes of a different nature.” He gazed out to sea. “I hope our scouts are right about there being no Roman ships along this stretch of the coast. I’m sure the river will delay them for a while but we don’t want any of their reinforcements flanking us. I’m sure they’ll try and cross the river close to us and when they do it will give us the opportunity to stop them.”
Caratacus viewed the scene around them. They had positioned the chariots at the rear and those on foot nearer the water. Beyond the chariots there were wooded areas and marshland. They knew the Romans wouldn’t be familiar with the area and had chosen this land because it would be hazardous to the enemy whilst giving them a place of escape if things didn’t go according to plan. The brothers had now amassed an army of over eighty thousand warriors, mainly on foot. The next highest contingent being mounted of sorts with just over two thousand and the rest, fifteen hundred were war chariots.
“Do you think Adminius has any regrets about pledging his allegiance to the Romans?” Caratacus asked.
Togodumnus frowned, “He was exiled for good reason, he always tried to argue that we should submit to them, that paying them to be here on our ground was not a problem to him. He thought it was acceptable for us to be subservient to them.” Anger rose as he thought back to all the conversations and arguments they had been involved in with their brother. Their father had initially accepted that trading with the Romans was good for all concerned until they realised that it wasn’t an equitable deal. The Romans didn’t want a partnership, they wanted to envelop the Catuvellauni and slowly strangle them and their resources as they found out when they started asking for taxes. That could not be agreeable to an independent kingdom and one of the strongest tribes of the island and something had to be done as the men from the east asked for more and more.
Adminius had argued that it was better to be a client of the known world’s strongest people rather than be dead or worse made their slaves. Their father and other brothers didn’t agree, they argued it was better to have pride in life and to be able to stand on their own feet rather than suckle from Rome’s breast and do its bidding. As the arguments grew more vocal their father raged at his son’s weakness and had finally given him a simple choice; live his way or go across the water and become one of them.