"And?"
"The ship sank. Or pirates got it. Either way, it makes no difference to me. Nesca took everything I had. "
"How long were you in the navy?"
"Fifteen years. Got out when I was thirty. "
"And after fifteen years, you risked everything on one shipload?" He smiled, without humour. "No, on two, but the second one didn't arrive within three months of its expected date. By the time it did, it was Nesca's. "
I felt a stab of sympathy. "He wouldn't wait any longer?"
"He wouldn't wait at all, the fat son of a whore. He paid the second shipmaster to take a tour. I found out afterwards. That was seven years ago, so you can keep your money, it's too late to do me any good. I'll get my satisfaction out of cheating that fat pig out of his. Are you hungry?" Suddenly I was ravenous. I nodded.
"Good, " he said. "Let's eat. There isn't much, and it isn't epicurean, but it'll fill our bellies. I'm Tertius Pella. "
I gripped his outstretched arm. "Publius Varrus. " He produced bread and cheese and onions pickled in sour wine and we devoured them, and then he brought out a jar of truly wondrous wine, rich and red as blood, and I stopped with the cup halfway to my lips.
"What's the matter?"
I lowered the cup. "Guilt. You're giving me your hospitality and I've brought you more trouble than you know. "
"How so?"
"There are two dead men in your stable, under the hay. "
"Ayee!" He twisted his face. "That's awkward. Two of Nesca's?" I nodded. "I'm sorry. "
"So am I! They're bound to come back this way and search again. We'd better move them. "
"Move them? Where to?"
"Dump them into the cellar under the floor and cover the door with straw. I'll bury them later. "
"What about the blood stains? If they search, they'll see them. "
"Are they bad?"
I nodded. "They bled like pigs. "
"Not inappropriate. But where are they? I didn't notice them when I was out there. "
"You weren't looking, otherwise you couldn't have missed them. "
"Damnation! I can't claim ignorance, even though it's the truth. They'll never believe I didn't know the bodies were there when I wouldn't let them search. They'll haul me in front of Nesca, and as soon as he sees my face I'm done for. He knows I know he robbed me. This will be a perfect chance for him to silence me for good. "
He stopped and looked at me strangely.
"Where will you go when you get away from here? Where do you live?"
"On a villa, about forty miles south of here. "
"A villa, eh? You own it?"
I shook my head. "No, it belongs to a friend of mine. You'd like him. "
"Can I come with you?"
He had surprised me again. "Come with me? You mean for good? What about your business?"
He looked around the shop. "What business? Nesca can have it, as a shrine for the bodies in the cellar. I'm sick of it. " I laughed, quietly. "Tertius Pella, " I said, "if we ever get out of here alive, you will be welcome at our villa. "
"Excellent!" He lifted his cup in a toast. "Here's to new friendships, new futures and a lingering, evil death for fat thieves!" We emptied our cups, and he rose and went again to the shutters and stood there for a time, peering out through the cracks. The noise in the street outside had died away almost completely. Finally he spoke over his shoulder.
"You said you had a wagon being loaded with hemp. Is your driver a big, red-haired fellow, wearing a blue tunic?"
I was at his side in a second, and there was my own wagon, outside in the street.
"That's it! Get him in here! Can you do that? His name's Cerdic. "
"Cerdic. Give me a minute. "
It took him about three minutes, and then they were both back, Cerdic as glad to see me as I was to see him. My men had recognized me from the description they were given by the searchers, although they had said nothing to any of them. They had split up then and were now combing the town looking for me. Cerdic had stayed with the wagon, unwilling to abandon it. They had planned to reassemble at our camp outside of town and spend the night there before renewing their search for me tomorrow. Cerdic was in a fever to get me into the wagon and covered up from sight. He had just been searched, he said, at the end of the street, and if we moved quickly, he thought he could go back the same way without being searched again. It was time for a quick and dangerous decision. Tertius showed him the back entrance and I waited there for them, opening the door when I heard them returning. Cerdic backed the wagon in immediately and I dived into the evil-smelling hemp and burrowed deep. I could feel Tertius Pella rearranging the load to hide all signs of my entrance. We pulled out again immediately and within ten minutes we were back at the checkpoint where Cerdic had been searched. I heard the watchman's challenge.
"Come on, man!" Cerdic roared. "You've just searched me! You've been through the whole whoreson wagon! I went to the end of the street to pick up my friend, here, at the mansio. Do you want us to strip for you? Want us to empty the whole whoreson lot right here on the road? If you're going to search, get to it! I've got better things to do than waste my time squatting here while you shed your fleas all over me. " I couldn't hear the answer he received, but we sat there for long, long minutes. I felt somebody's weight moving around on the wagon bed, standing on the cargo piled above me. I imagined whoever it was to be stabbing at random among the hemp with a spear, and my mouth dried up as I waited for the point of it to find me. It was hot and uncomfortable under there, and I started to have difficulty breathing. My throat grew dry and raspy, and I began to develop an urge to cough. I worked my tongue frantically, trying to generate saliva to kill the dryness. And then the wagon lurched forward and we were moving again, for a few paces. I heard Cerdic shouting something else, but I couldn't hear what he said. After a few more minutes, we moved on. The relief was overwhelming, and I lost the urge to cough.
As the wagon rattled through the cobbled streets, I found I was protected from the jarring by the springiness of the hemp, and I was almost lulled to sleep. Strangely, I thought, we were not stopped again for a long time, and when we did stop it was only for a second. I heard Cerdic shout goodbye to someone and wondered what was happening up there. Had Tertius Pella changed his mind about leaving after all? I knew that Cerdic would call me when we were safe and not before, so I made the best of my enforced idleness by going over the list of supplies that I would not be taking back to the Colony this time.
Suddenly we stopped again. There was a commotion above me, and I felt cool air on my face.
"Publius? Are you all right?"
I spat hemp out of my mouth and sat up. "I'm well. Are we safe?" Cerdic laughed. "Aye. We're out of it. Thank the gods you kept your mouth shut. I didn't know if that first guard had killed you with his spear, but there was nothing I could do about it until we were safely out of the town, beyond the gates. "
"What happened to Tertius Pella? Why did he leave?" He looked puzzled, standing there staring down at me. "Leave? He didn't. He's here. "
"Then who got off the wagon?"
"Oh, that!" He laughed. "That was the centurion who was riding with us. He got us through all the guard posts and we dropped him at the gates. That's why I was glad you kept your mouth shut. If you had squawked, I'd have had to kill him, and we'd really have been in trouble. Let me help you out of there. "
Half an hour later we were at our camp. All of the other wagons had arrived ahead of us, and only two men were missing. They had stayed in Aquae Sulis, lodged at the mansio in the hope of hearing news of my escape or capture. They would rejoin the others in the morning. I introduced Tertius Pella to his new neighbours. When I told them all the story of my misadventures that day, and how he had befriended me, they welcomed him as one of themselves.