They left the smouldering wood piled up on the fire and headed in a south easterly direction. They were unhappy to see that the skies were still grey and full of snow but it held off as they travelled. For the first time in a while they were suddenly aware of the cold again and welcomed the feeling after the day’s events and the meeting with the Silures. They were alive, that was what mattered most.
The journey back to the fort was fairly uneventful except for the snow that had already fallen. It made it hard going for the horses and in places the riders had to dismount to get through the deeper drifts. It made movement difficult and in some places the snow was four to five feet deep but where it had drifted was substantially deeper. The terrain looked very much the same everywhere they went which at times made their direction of travel difficult and twice they realised they were heading too far west.
Eventually they found tributaries of the Exe the smaller streams were a welcome break to the solid white they had been used to seeing. A few hours after midday the fort came into view and all amongst them felt a real sense of relief. The front wall had already been replaced entirely and work was continuing on the new watch towers. The palisades looked deeper and wider and were clear of snow where soldiers still worked to carry out the last elements of engineering work. Legionaries now patrolled the tracks around the roundhouses and a check point had been set up. Any future attackers would find it a lot harder to get so close again. Wagons laden with freshly fallen tree trunks, were still being brought from the local woods, no doubt to strengthen the garrisons defences even more. The enemy had been underestimated, it wasn’t a mistake that would be repeated.
Chapter Nineteen
As they entered the new gates of the fort, the Centurion of the watch acknowledged them from above and raised a hand in greeting. He was silhouetted against a bright blue winter’s day sky and they all had to squint as they looked up. Varro smiled more from the relief of being safe and in familiar surroundings than anything else. He looked forward to being comfortable and under cover and most importantly, to being warm again. He wouldn’t have exchanged his role for any other in the military but being exposed to the elements during a harsh winter and in a hostile environment, was not something he enjoyed. Even little things became a major problem and not just the cold; the damp and permanently wet clothes, food, even water when the frosts came, it wasn’t natural to be outside and isolated. He was eager to thaw out properly and to submerge himself in a hot bath, to have the wilds of Britannia scrubbed and scraped from his skin.
Unknown to Varro and unseen from the local village, further down the track at the edge of a small group of roundhouses, Sadgem watched from the side of a house where locals went about their daily business. No-one around them noticed the stranger or the man standing next to him, looking at the group of shabbily dressed riders as they entered the fort. Outsiders often came to the area to use the waterways or to trade and since the arrival of the Romans other visitors just came to satisfy their curiosity and to look upon them as they would at a rare or strange animal.
“I knew there was something different about that whore.” Sadgem said under his breath as he turned to the man beside him. It had been easy for them to follow the group unseen from the woods as they had trekked through the snow, leaving their foot and hoof prints behind to follow. The rest of his men were well outside the settlement a few miles away dispersed in a forest where they wouldn’t arouse suspicion or be seen. It was one thing for a couple of strangers to appear near a Roman encampment but a group of so many heavily armed men was a different matter altogether, unless of course they were their allies.
“It’s traitors like that who make places like this, possible.” He said waving an arm at the fortress. “We should have killed her when we had the chance.” His face was screwed up in hate. “Her day will come when she regrets this and any others who betray our lands to the invader.” He turned, “Let’s get out of here, the putrid stench of this place is making me want to vomit.” The two men untied their horses climbed aboard and kicked their animals into a gallop, no-one turned or noticed them leave.
Inside the fort Varro saw that the damaged buildings from the attack had been levelled and new ones had already been built to replace them or were under construction. Troops were digging and excavating areas for underground heating, it was apparent that Vespasian intended to keep a permanent presence here. The air was full of sawing and banging as other construction continued, it looked as if the attack of a few days before had actually encouraged a growth spurt inside the installation.
Soldiers wore just their white Second Augusta tunics as they worked, laughed and joked, it appeared that the assault by the Britons of a few days before had done little to damage morale. Armour and weapons were lined up nearby against the internal wall, in the event of another attack. He looked up and saw that the guard was still doubled on the high walls, the chance of the enemy striking again with such success was remote. When the better weather came, these soldiers and others would move out and seek those who caused such destruction and death.
The watch centurion climbed down a ladder and approached as Varro dismounted and the two men clasped arms in greeting, “Good to see you all present, how was it out there?” He asked.
“Freezing cold, wet and damp, the snow is a lot deeper further north than it is here and it made for hard going. My balls are like frozen plums and my feet will take days to thaw, as will my hands.” He answered stamping his boots and rubbing his hands together, half smiling as he removed his hood.
“I’ll escort you to Vespasian’s headquarters building, the new praetorian, it’s nearly finished already. In a couple of months this place won’t be recognisable. There are already plans to expand the fort to accommodate fresh troops, this place will be fucking huge.” He continued talking as they passed busy soldiers sawing, digging, mixing concrete, laughing and talking to each other.
“The wrecks in the river were sunk after we recovered any supplies from them and the water is virtually clear, some of the rotten hulls were swept along in the current of the river. I’m sure when its warmer weather in the spring what’s left will be dragged out. Until then we’re carting in goods from the south.” The centurion said happily chattering away, he turned to the others in the group, “You can go and get cleaned up, get warm and get some food inside you.” He pointed to a canteen area covered with a leather awning where a few cooks toiled over large bubbling pots preparing food for the hungry legionaries.
“I’d like Brenna to come with me,” Varro said, “if that’s alright? She can elaborate on specific details especially concerning the Silures we encountered.”
The centurion paused, thought for a second and then smiled, “Good yes, anything we know about them and their whereabouts will certainly help. Those goat fucking, sheep poking bastards will be getting seen to in a different way soon enough, with Roman iron.” He laughed to himself touching the hilt of his sword as he led them on. They walked along the path that ran along the centre of the fort that was to become the main street to the forum where on the other side, construction was already underway and large foundations were being dug.
“Our men can do most of the work but specialists have been brought in to survey the land and for more permanent structures in brick and stone. You should see the sand that has been brought in, cartloads of the stuff in rows over to the rear.” He pointed. “It won’t be long until we have decent baths, proper baths not those wooden fucking tubs and all the comforts of home, just you wait and see.” The centurion continued as he led him to the building beyond the digging, where Aulus Plautius no doubt waited. He exchanged a glance at Brenna raising an eyebrow the duty officer was obviously getting on his nerves.