“What did he say?” Wayne asked.
Ishihara switched to English. “He won’t let us borrow his wagon. Instead, he suggested that he take us to the baggage train and we can earn our keep.”
“If Hunter saw us, we’d be helpless. He would take Jane and me.”
“I cannot allow it, anyway. The danger to Jane is too great in that sort of company.”
“Yeah.”
Ishihara changed languages again. “We dare not take Jane to the baggage train. We need to find our own wagon or mounts to ride.”
“I understand,” said Emrys. “And you want to be able to return on your own, as well, without having to walk.”
“Yes.”
Emrys looked across the slope. Then, without a word, he shook the reins and drove the cart at an angle up the tor. They left the road leading up to the village.
Ishihara saw the paddock and two other buildings ahead of them. Only two animals remained in the pen and he supposed they had been left behind because they were not suitable to ride. He did not see any small carts similar to Emrys’s.
As Emrys drew up in front of the paddock, a short, stocky man wearing a ragged leather tunic walked on a wooden crutch under his left arm from one of the buildings.
“If you want to sell something, you’re too late,” said the man with the crutch. “You’ll have to catch up to the baggage train.”
“No, no. We wish to buy,” said Emrys. “Are you the master of horse?”
“Of course not.” The man scowled. “The master of horse has gone with Artorius. So has the armorer. I am Antonius.” He hesitated. “What do you want to buy?”
“A couple of horses,” said Ishihara.
“The price of a good horse goes up this time of year,” said Antonius.
“Nonsense,” said Emrys. “Every good horse has already been taken. You have none at all.”
“Then what do you want here?”
“I will dicker with the man who can sell,” said Emrys. “If you are not the master of horse, who makes the decisions here now?”
“Well, until Artorius returns, I do.”
“We want two or three mounts to ride on the road.”
“Just to travel? Not to join the cavalry or to pull a wagon?”
“No.”
“All right. Come and look.”
Emrys and Ishihara got down and followed Antonius into the paddock. Wayne hopped down and watched but did not bother to enter the pen. Jane stayed where she was.
Antonius led Emrys and Ishihara to a pair of small, brown mules standing quietly. Ishihara noticed their long ears and white noses. Both animals placidly watched them approach.
Emrys looked over the mules carefully. He patted them and stroked their legs and necks as he walked around them. Then he examined their teeth.
Finally, Emrys took some coins out of a pouch and held them out to Antonius.
The other man leaned on his crutch and frowned, shaking his head.
Without speaking, Emrys took out one more coin and held it out.
Antonius shook his head again.
“That is all he is worth,” said Emrys.
Antonius said nothing.
Emrys dropped the coins back into his pouch and walked away. Ishihara followed him. Just as they reached the gate of the paddock, Antonius began hustling after them awkwardly on his crutch.
“All right,” Antonius called. “He is yours.”
Emrys turned and spilled the coins carefully into his palm again. He dropped them into Antonius’s outstretched hand. Then Antonius walked back to the storage building and came out with an old bridle and a long rope. In the paddock again, he tossed them to Emrys, who slipped the bridle on one of the mules and tied the rope to rings on the bridle to use as reins. Then he led the mule out of the paddock.
“I ask only that you return it to me when you come back,” said Emrys, holding the reins out to Ishihara.
“That might not be possible,” said Ishihara, without accepting the reins. “If we have to act quickly, returning it could endanger me.”
“I know the campaign could be dangerous. Please take care of yourselves.” Emrys placed the reins in Ishihara’s hands. “You are…unusual friends.”
“Thank you. We shall bring the mule back if we are able.” Ishihara turned” and related this to Wayne, knowing that Jane could overhear him.
“All right, but it’s only one mule for three of us,” said Jane.
“What else can we do?” Ishihara asked.
“Nothing,” said Wayne. “We have no money.”
“What’s wrong with this mule?” Jane demanded.
“What do you mean?” Wayne asked.
“Why didn’t they take him to ride? Or for the baggage train? Is he old or something?”
“Antonius explained,” said Ishihara. “This mule is young and healthy but too small to put in harness. The warriors disdain riding a mule into battle and they have enough food, so no one would want to eat it.”
“I have another suspicion, too,” Wayne added, lowering his voice.
“What?” Jane asked, concerned. “Something bad about the mule?”
“No, nothing like that.” Wayne shook his head. “Since Antonius is in charge here for now, I think he’s going to pocket the coins Emrys paid him. So if he sells a cavalry mule and keeps all the profit, he’ll be happy enough.”
“I am sure that Emrys cannot buy another,” said Ishihara. “However, you and Wayne can ride this one together, bareback. He will tire more quickly than a horse carrying one rider, but the teams pulling the baggage train will tire quickly, too. We should be able to catch up tonight after they stop to make camp.”
Jane nodded. “And you’ll jog along beside us.”
“Yes.”
Jane climbed out of the cart. Emrys handed her the bag of bread and mutton. She accepted it.
“Thank you, Emrys,” Jane said, in Latin. “Farewell.”
Emrys understood her meaning, if not the words, and nodded politely.
“This won’t last us very long,” said Jane, turning to Ishihara. “What else are we going to eat on the way? This might last us two small meals, but tomorrow morning, we’ll be on the road somewhere.”
“If necessary, we can always use the belt unit to jump to another time and place for food,” said Wayne. “But if we’re lucky, we’ll find MC 6 tonight, get him to come with us, and be done with the whole mess.”
“All right,” said Jane reluctantly. “I know you don’t want to starve, either. But now that I think about it, what about getting through the night? If you don’t get MC 6 to follow you tonight, we’ll freeze out on the road without some kind of bedrolls.”
“We must find blankets in the village,” said Ishihara. “However, without money to buy them, we can only ask for Emrys to help again. I do not know how much more he will be willing and able to help.”
“Maybe he can afford old ones, “ said Jane. “Their condition won’t matter, as long as they don’t have bugs or anything. Please ask him.”
Ishihara turned to Emrys again. “Can we buy old, inexpensive blankets in the village? We can return them, too, with the mule.”
“Of course,” said Emrys. “I know which booth to visit. I can help with that. You will need a small pot in which to heat water, too.”
“We will go to the village,” said Ishihara. “Then, if our search for blankets succeeds, we will hurry on our way up the road.”
Steve enjoyed riding out with Artorius’s cavalry, in a column of four abreast. He rode on the far right of his rank, with Hunter on his immediate left and Cynric on Hunter’s other side. Another member of their squad rode on the far left, with the remainder in the ranks behind them.
All of Lucius’s troop of green recruits rode in the rear. No dust roiled up, however, because of the dampness in the earth. Overhead, gray clouds drifted across the sky.
Around him, Steve could see the excitement in the young faces of the other riders. The thought of going to war against the hated Saxons dominated their attention. None of them spoke now.
Up ahead, as the column drew away from Cadbury, the squads in the van cantered ahead of the rest. When the vanguard had opened some distance, the entire column was ordered to canter. Steve understood and kicked his mount; Artorius, already a veteran leader, wanted his men to vent their tension.