I will always live life on the edge, she thought contentedly, gazing down on the saucers below. I cannot help it.
Here, at the top, the channel was narrow and surprisingly deep. Two portly gentlemen discussed oil prices as the blue-green waters gushed over their chests, and upstream Tulola’s Negroes laughed and joked and chased each other like elvers.
‘I’ve changed my mind about your henchman.’
‘Tulola! For gods’ sake, you nearly gave me heart failure.’
One carefully painted eyebrow rose provocatively. ‘Then I’d follow through with mouth-to-mouth.’
Dear Diana, was there no stopping this woman?
‘I’ve decided I want your delicious young Gaul after all.’
Even standard-issue shifts could not escape the Tulola treatment. She’d chosen a size too small to ensure her breasts and her hipbones stood out, leaving no one in any doubt that it wasn’t only her fingernails that had been hennaed. Her nipples looked like poppies through the thin, white cotton.
‘Despite his deficiencies?’
‘Because of them, sweetie.’ She brushed away a troublesome fly. ‘I rather like the idea of making him watch while I perform with a real man.’ A furrow appeared in her lovely brow. ‘Where is he, by the way?’
‘Around,’ Claudia replied airily, and counted to six before adding, ‘You recognized Fronto as the peeper, didn’t you?’
Tulola unleashed her throaty laugh. ‘My, my, you catch on quick, so I’ll let you into a secret.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I did recognize the face at my window but it wasn’t Fronto.’
‘Then who-’
‘Claudia! Claudia, for gods’ sake, is it true?’ Sergius came racing up the steps, wet hair plastered over his forehead. Salvian followed hot on his heels. Alis brought up the rear.
‘Is what true?’
Naked apart from a loincloth, Pictor’s physique was that of an athlete. Who could blame Alis for staying close? Far too many feminine eyelashes fluttered as he passed-and one or two masculine ones besides. Was that it? Was marriage to Alis a cover for his true orientation, good old Greek love?
‘This idiot says you’re under house arrest, he’s to watch you day and night.’
‘I have no idea what his instructions are, but I rather think following me into the changing rooms goes beyond the call of duty.’
The boy’s eyes bulged in alarm. ‘I didn’t kn-kn-know it was for w-women,’ he protested, his face once again matching his tunic. ‘Honestly Claudia.’
But when they looked round, she had vanished.
Launching herself into the cascade was one of the most exhilarating experiences of her life. The force of the torrent coupled with the utter helplessness was one of the most powerful feelings on earth. All too quickly it deposited her in a deep, warm pool that tasted faintly of mint and whose currents pummelled and massaged every inch of your skin. Breathless, she surged upwards out of the foaming waters and felt the spray dance on her face.
‘Good of you to drop in.’
On a rock at the edge of the waterfall, his legs swinging nonchalantly, sat the most infuriating policeman she had ever had the misfortune to meet. Dogged was not the word. In future she would need to trail aniseed.
‘You have the adhesive qualities of a leech, Orbilio, and only two-thirds of the charm.’
As fast as an otter she dived back down, but there was nowhere to go. As he well knew, because when she surfaced for air he hadn’t moved so much as one well-developed muscle.
‘Do you like children?’ he asked, his eyes fixed on a small boy, naked as nature intended, holding his sister’s head in an armlock as he tried to kick her legs from under her.
‘Too chewy,’ Claudia snapped.
‘How many should we have, do you think? Three? Four?’
Godsdammit, he was doing it again. Using sex appeal as a decoy. Except last night, what she’d mistaken for lust had been nothing more than a tweak of guilt at leaving her under a shadow. How could she have been so stupid?
‘Orbilio, do me a favour. Hold your head underwater till nightfall, will you?’
‘Come on, admit it. Admit that you love me. Admit you didn’t mean what you said last night! I didn’t.’
‘About me being accused of murder?’
‘No. About you keeping hold of your precious underwear.’
After splashing around like a demented tadpole for ten minutes, she realized there was no alternative but to accept the offer of that irritating outstretched hand. Slooop! She was out of the water like a cork from an oil jar.
‘You know, it could have been Junius,’ he said, passing her a towel.
I like a thrill, Orbilio, but I don’t employ homicidal maniacs simply to avoid the odd spot of boredom. Claudia rubbed her wet curls vigorously. ‘Yes, I heard it was a hobby of his, carving up strangers with a kitchen knife.’
‘He could have killed Fronto to protect you.’
Claudia lifted the cloth and peered underneath. ‘His job, my clever investigative friend, is to protect me. If he felt I was being threatened, I rather think he’d have mentioned it.’
Orbilio’s toes splashed in the water. ‘Not if the motivations weren’t entirely straightforward.’
Slowly Claudia lowered the towel. ‘Meaning?’
‘Let’s suppose, for the sake of argument, there was a green-eyed monster prowling around at the same time.’
‘Junius? Grow a brain, Orbilio. The boy’s a slave.’
‘He’s not a boy, and as for slavery, I recall he was offered his freedom and refused. Unusual behaviour, wouldn’t you say?’
Downright peculiar, now you come to mention it. ‘That was ages ago. He helped me out of a jam and in return my husband offered him a straight choice between money and freedom. Under Seferius rules, you only get one bite at the pomegranate.’
Orbilio’s gaze continued to rest on the children. Three more bare-bottomed toddlers had come to join them, and they were chasing each other round the saucer rims, squealing and squeaking, last one standing the winner. Their mothers might fuss and fret and turn grey with worry, but when you’re eight years old, there is no such thing as danger and the slippery, slidy basins were just one more piece on the board.
‘It never occurred to you why he might have taken the money?’
‘Why does anyone take the money?’ Claudia didn’t bother to hide the exasperation in her voice. ‘Look, we’re doing the same thing as those kids down there, going round and round in circles. Junius serves as my personal bodyguard because he’s trustworthy and he’s loyal. I haven’t forgiven him for running off to you, but I’m damned sure he didn’t do it because his conscience was at risk.’
‘Why not? He sees Fronto, a complete stranger, knocking at your door and suddenly he thinks, why him? Why not me? So-’
‘That’s a damned good question, Orbilio. Why would I invite Fronto into my bedroom an hour before dawn?’
‘-racked with jealousy, Junius runs off to the kitchens-which, incidentally, are in close proximity to your bedroom-grabs a knife and wallop. How’s he supposed to know you would fall under suspicion?’
‘I repeat, why should Fronto come to my room? Do I look desperate?’
‘Claudia Seferius, you know full well what Fronto was doing there.’
She slapped her hand against her forehead. ‘Does nobody listen to me? I have never-never, ever, ever-seen the dung-beetle before in my life!’
His eyes homed in on hers. Is that the truth, they signalled.
Shame on you for asking, hers flashed back.
Then I can safely assume it’s all a pack of lies, his replied, dancing with laughter.
Claudia snapped her gaze away. Down on the riverbank, a group of musicians was setting up to entertain the hordes and overhead a kestrel was being run out of town by a flock of starlings. The urge to run with it was overwhelming, but he would only follow. Boy tribunes were easy to shake off-create a diversion and go-but Orbilio was no Salvian.