‘The problem with most hypotheses,’ I wearily said, ‘is the presence of facts that don’t fit within them but can’t be ignored. We could agree that Edward was deceived earlier today. And it was a time when the eye can see much that isn’t there.’ I raised a hand to silence Edward’s objection. ‘But I do think it was Brother Joseph on the deck of that Imperial battle ship. This raises difficulties that I will neither outline nor attempt to resolve. But they indicate that we must either reject our present hypothesis outright, or elaborate it to the point where it breaks down for want of further supporting evidence.’ I stopped and thought. ‘There is another possibility that I do not yet think worth exploring – though it does begin to trouble me.’ I stopped again. Yes, it was troubling. But I would have to think more about that one.
‘One thing is for certain, however,’ I concluded. ‘It’s unwise to continue on our present course. There is nowhere safe for us in these waters. We must find some way of getting back to the west. England remains our most likely place of safety. If, as I suspect, the Narrow Straits are closed to us, we shall need to choose between hoping for a change of wind so we can break through, and travelling overland across France. If this latter, we need to consider how well the crew will take to being abandoned.’
I put my hand on a plate of hardened bread that had risen several inches in the air with another roll of the ship. I was now uncontrollably tired. In a while, I had a meeting here with the man who served as pilot. The only map he had was in his head and didn’t correspond with any recollections I had of the maps I’d seen in Constantinople. And, regardless of how we’d get back to England, there was the increasingly pressing matter of supplies. If there was a renewed price on my head, it might make no difference if I turned pirate. But that might bring difficulties of its own…
‘Go,’ I said, waving the boys out of the cabin. ‘I must rest a while.’
Chapter 15
It was two days later. A mixed blessing, the wind still blew strongly from the west, though the sun now also shone from skies of unbroken blue. I stood unaided, my hands resting on the stern. I looked westward at the setting sun.
‘So they are still back there?’ I asked.
Edward nodded. He’d spent much of the day aloft and kept me informed of the ships that, unable to catch up, had remained on our tail.
‘Well, I’m still servant enough of the Empire to rejoice that the navy is being kept at full efficiency,’ I muttered in Greek. ‘So long as we control the seas, the Saracen fleets must stay in their Syrian and Egyptian ports, and can’t assist the land-based invasion of Africa.
‘But I do assure you, they can’t keep this up much longer,’ I said, louder now and back in Latin. ‘Those ships aren’t built for this sort of pursuit. Their water must be running out even faster than ours. With short rations, and the removal of all unnecessary hands, they might be able to keep going another day – perhaps two…’ I trailed off and thought of our own situation. There was still food of a sort. But much of the water was spoiled. Somewhere, and soon, we’d need to put in for supplies.
I turned and looked at the rowing boat. The moment it was plain we were being followed, I’d had it pulled out of the water. That had given us a slight improvement in speed. Now, it was being used as the container for a mass of inflated water skins. I’d had these tied together and topped with a little mast and sail. I thought again of the angle the sail needed to be to the line of the bladders. Would the tiller I’d designed be enough to keep the line straight? Hard to say. None of the crew, I was annoyed to learn, had been of the slightest use. The pilot plucked anxiously at my sleeve. According to his calculations, he whispered, we’d be approaching Carthage in the next day. I smiled encouragingly at the man. It was plain that, whatever his abilities in the northern seas, he was now out of area. Even I could tell that, on our present course, the most likely land we’d see was Italy – and that would be days of fast sailing yet to go. I thanked him for the news and looked back at the setting sun.
‘We’ll do it once the light is about to go completely,’ I said loudly. ‘Until then, I will lie on my daybed.’ Without looking round, I lifted my arms and held them out. Unknown hands lifted me from behind and laid me down with reasonable gentleness. Wilfred stood forward from nowhere and pulled my blanket into place.
‘What is that noise?’ I asked Edward. The chanting had started down in the hold shortly after lunch. I’d so far decided to ignore it. However, it had now been going on and on, and the volume of sound might, if prolonged, get in the way of my cunning plan.
‘It’s something to do with their religion,’ came the pretty near worthless answer.
I’d hardly supposed they were rehearsing an entertainment for the Exarch of Carthage. I scowled at the boy and pointed to the patch of deck just before my daybed.
A troubled look on his face, he gave up on his latest trip aloft and stood where directed. ‘I spent a summer in their land with Hrothgar,’ he said after a little prompting. So that was where he’d picked up their language. ‘I don’t understand the words of what they’re singing – I think it’s very old. But they did this for days at a time when they thought a sorcerer had spoiled their crops. Eventually, I saw them grab the eldest son of a chieftain and burn him in a wicker cage.’ He brightened at this recollection. ‘It was a slow fire, and he screamed until his lungs melted.’
‘Interesting,’ I said drily. ‘Which one of us do you think they’ll burn first?’ That wiped the smug look from his face.
He opened and shut his mouth, and looked nervously round at the few grunting creatures who hadn’t joined the prayer meeting below.
‘Do you believe in sorcery?’ I asked. Even in Jarrow, he’d never shown much enthusiasm for Christian prayer. That didn’t make him a philosopher, of course. But I thought the question worth asking.
He stared at me for a moment, then nodded.
‘Then you’re as big a fool as everyone else!’ I snapped. It may have been silly to expect more, but I was disappointed. I closed my eyes for a nap. But I could feel the boy’s continued presence.
‘Very well,’ I said, reopening my eyes. ‘If you assume that we are surrounded by invisible beings of immense power, some of them good, some of them evil, it makes sense to believe that we can, by using the right words, or making the right offer, acquire some of that power for ourselves. That was the view of Plato and his followers. With the added claim that all these beings are evil, such is the view of the Church. I have never come across a barbarian race that didn’t generally agree. However, the basic assumption of a spirit world is unsupported by credible direct evidence. It is only made to explain events that would otherwise be inexplicable. If, on the other hand, you take the view of Epicurus, that everything that happens is a product of natural laws that can be investigated and understood through the use of our reason, the assumption may not be disproved – it is, nevertheless, made superfluous.’
I hadn’t lost Edward. I simply hadn’t convinced him. ‘Take it from me,’ I said again, ‘that words and fanciful actions cannot change the natural order of things. There is no sorcery. Now, boy, go about your business.’
I no sooner waved him away than he was back up that mast. This time, he went right up to the top and clung there. I’d not have seen much from this distance at any time. In the fading light, it was harder still to see anything. I had the impression, though, that he might have been crying. Of course, my lecture had been beside the point. Just because there is no sorcery doesn’t abolish the fact that everyone believes in it, and acts on the belief. And most of their acts are demented. I smiled grimly and glanced at the evil faces turned in my direction.