The Sacrifice Stone (14 page)

‘About what?’ I asked gently.

‘Stealing your horse. Going off without telling you.’ He shrugged, as if he had so much to be sorry for that it was hopeless even to begin.

‘You brought the horse back,’ I pointed out. I hesitated, then went on, ‘As I knew you would.’

He looked up at me. ‘How did you?’

‘Never mind. I was right, wasn’t I?’ I grinned at him, and he smiled faintly back. ‘Are you going to tell me where you’ve been?’

There was a long pause. He sat, head bowed, tracing the line of the dolphin’s smile with his finger. Then he said, ‘I went to see if my mother was all right.’

The hunch had been right. Trying to keep my voice calm, I said, ‘And was she?’

‘Dunno.’ I knew him well enough to realize he always sounded surly when he was trying to cover emotion.

‘Did you speak to her?’

‘No. I watched her for a while from the rushes.’

Poor boy. No wonder he’d been crying. ‘How did she seem?’ It was something you might ask an adult, who would probably understand and answer in the way you wanted. To expect a boy to understand was unrealistic. ‘I mean, was she carrying on as normal? Doing what she usually does?’

‘S’pose so.’ Then: ‘She looked sort of hunched. As if she was tired.’

‘Ah.’

‘Do you think she’s anxious about me?’

The light eyes were on mine. He was desperate for me to reassure him, for me to say, great Jove, no! Of course not! But I couldn’t. Anxious about him! It was the understatement of the year.

‘Theo, she will undoubtedly be worried about you,’ I said carefully. ‘You said she seems to like this Gaius man?’ He shrugged, then nodded. ‘Well, even if she does, you’re her son, and —’ I’d been about to say that she loved him, but I stopped. Some women didn’t love their children, not enough to prevent them coming to harm. Not enough to chase after them when they ran away, pleading with them to come back. It would be wrong for me to put some idealistic picture into his mind that wouldn’t stand up to the harsh light of day.

I was mentally scratching my head to come up with some way of encouraging him to let it all out when abruptly he began to do just that. ‘We had to have somewhere to go when Dad was lost — we’d lived by the sea, at the Saints’ Village,’ — I nodded, recognizing the local name for the little port — ‘but without Dad we couldn’t pay the rent, and the only work down there’s fishing.’ He didn’t need to point out that fishing wasn’t woman’s work — I knew the superstitions about women going to sea as well as he did. ‘So me and Mum moved off inland, and she met Gaius, and he offered her a house in exchange for working for him. She can do anything,’ he said proudly, ‘cook, sew, grow things. He was nice to both of us at first, I really liked him.’ His face twisted as if in disgust at the duplicity of men.

‘But then he turned nasty.’

‘Not towards Mum! I’d have killed him if he’d hurt her.’ Somehow I didn’t doubt it: he’d have had a damned good try, anyway. ‘He treats her like a lady. Brings her stuff, stands up when she comes into the room. Creep!’

I hadn’t so much as clapped eyes on this Gaius, but I had to agree with him. My opinion of Theo’s mother was falling by the minute — I couldn’t understand how she could have been fooled.

‘That’s why I ran away,’ he said wearily. ‘He makes her happy, but if she’d found out about — if she’d found out I hate him, she’d have taken me away, then she’d have been sad and worried like she was before. She once said it was great that I could eat as much as I wanted again. After she’d started working for Gaius, I mean.’

I had a stab of sympathy for the wretched woman. I knew how Theo ate, and to have had to watch him scraping up a meagre supper, clearly desperate for more when there was no more, must have hurt even a half-hearted mother.

If she found out, she’d have taken me away, he’d said. Was that just wishful thinking, or was he right? If he was, there could just be a way out of this difficult situation: if she was prepared to abandon a home, security and a man who, to quote Theo, brought her stuff and treated her like a lady because her son wasn’t happy, then there was hope. It all depended on how much this Gaius meant to her: I’d known women ignore the needs of their children because they rated their relationship with a man as more important, and Theo’s mother might be that type. I said casually, ‘What does your mother do when he brings her presents and treats her like a lady? Does she like it?’

‘Dunno. I think she does. But she frowns a lot when he fusses round her.’

What did that mean? That she didn’t like the attentions, or that the presents weren’t grand enough? ‘Does she —’

I stopped. Theo was in the middle of an enormous yawn, and it seemed cruel to grill him further. ‘Go to bed,’ I said. ‘You’ll fall asleep where you are if you’re not careful, and although my dolphin is nice to look at, he’d make a hard couch.’

Stiffly he got to his feet. Through another yawn, he wished me goodnight.

I’d had an idea. After his door had closed, I sat on by myself, working out whether or not it was a good idea.

I’d been into Arelate for several days out of the last week, and there was no work left outstanding on my desk. No reason, from that point of view, why I shouldn’t take a couple of days’ holiday.

And, I had to admit, my curiosity was so thoroughly roused that I wasn’t going to have any peace till I’d at least attempted to answer a few questions. If Theo’s mother loved and missed him, and wanted what was best for him, then perhaps there might be some way of getting the two of them back together, of spiriting them away from Gaius. To reunite them was surely the best possible solution, and certainly worth a try. But would the lad be willing to make that try?

At last I got up and headed for bed: I’d decided I’d ask Theo in the morning, and let his reaction decide me.

*

He was overjoyed at the suggestion. Of course, I didn’t say ‘Let’s go down and spy on your mother and this Gaius bloke and see if there’s anything we can do to resolve this mess.’ I prettied it up, saying I’d always wanted to get to know the great Rhodanus delta better and, with some leave due and the perfect guide now available, when was I going to get a better chance?

When we’d agreed on what a good plan it was, I added casually, ‘We could look in on your mother.
If
we’re in the vicinity.’

Equally casually he said, ‘Yes, I suppose we could.’

14

After only a few hours on the road, I’d all but forgotten that our expedition had such a serious purpose. Riding out in the clear morning with Theo beside me — we’d hired a better horse for him than the one I’d had the previous day, which I thought was quite likely to have expired in the night — I felt as if years had rolled off me and I too was a boy again. Well, possibly that was an exaggeration. But I did feel incredibly happy.

And, burying the real aim even more deeply, Theo had taken me at my word and was performing his job as my guide most conscientiously. At times, too conscientiously — he would stop every so often and give me a little test, earnest in his anxiety that my ability to tell an egret from a peewit should be foolproof. I’ve never been much of a one for birds: when he spotted a bittern in the reeds, it was as much as I could do to pretend to share his delight. The damn bird was so well camouflaged and so coy about revealing itself that I wanted to shout, Suit yourself! What’s so special about you, anyway?

We made camp for the night on a stretch of sandy ground beside the Great Pond in the middle of the delta. Down there, getting close to the sea, the water was brackish, but we had brought our own supplies of food and drink. The mosquitoes threatened to ruin the pleasure of our night under the stars, until Theo produced an oily liquid which we rubbed on our exposed skin: he said his mother had made it. It smelt foul, but fortunately the mosquitoes thought so too and left us alone.

All my army training came back to me; if I didn’t exactly show Theo the ropes (he knew them adequately already), at least I held my own. He was impressed when I told him I could have made us a leather tent, given the skins, and even more so when I told him how, stranded out on patrol one filthy night up on Hadrian’s Wall, our lives had been at risk from the blizzard and the icy winds till I’d hit on the idea of killing some sheep and wrapping ourselves in their skins. Their owner hadn’t been best pleased, but that’s another story; his anger, which in retrospect was entirely justifiable, melted away in the face of a fully armed Roman legion who just couldn’t see what he was bellyaching about.

When he’d got over being impressed, Theo remarked bluntly that it had been a bit hard on the sheep!

The romance had faded by morning. I didn’t tell Theo, but every one of my bones was aching; my mind might have leapt skittishly back to being eighteen, but clearly my body hadn’t been persuaded to go too.

The morning sun soon took the worst of the pain away, and we set off again for another day’s nature-spotting. But somehow the spontaneous joy of the previous day had diminished. It had nothing to do with my bones — the cloud was hovering over Theo.

I’d guessed what was coming before his announcement: he’d been acting with increasing wariness, stopping every time we emerged from cover to look right and left before going carefully on. It was quite obvious he was afraid, and I knew exactly what he was afraid of.

Entering the shade of a clump of tamarisks circled by dense reeds, he slid off his horse and led it up to the largest of the tamarisk bushes, where he tethered it. I did the same. Then, grasping my wrist, he led me forward, finger to his lips.

Pulling me down with him, he crawled through the reeds until we were able to push the last of them aside and look out. About thirty yards away was a small house, thatch-roofed, against which huddled a couple of ramshackled outbuildings.

Theo spoke right into my ear. ‘That’s my home.’

I nodded. ‘I guessed.’

We watched and waited. There was no apparent sign of life, but he was right to be cautious — Gaius might have been inside, busy with some task. Asleep, even.

After a very long time, we saw someone coming along the track behind the house. It was a woman, dressed in a clean but shabby gown. Her veil had slipped back and I could see her bright hair, a few shades darker than Theo’s. She walked as if she were carrying a heavy load, yet, apart from a wicker basket over one arm, she was empty-handed.

I didn’t need his reaction to tell me this was his mother.

She went into the house. There was no sound of voices — either Gaius was ignoring her return, or he wasn’t there.

I put my mouth to Theo’s ear to ask him what he wanted to do, and saw tears streaming down his cheeks. He had made no sound: I hadn’t realized he was crying.

Somehow, I felt it was time I took a decision.

‘I’ll keep watch,’ I whispered. ‘If anyone comes, I’ll holler and you can race out of the back. There
is
a back way out?’

He nodded, swallowing.

‘Go on, then.’

He turned to stare at me. There were questions and doubts in his eyes. Then he looked back at his house, and he knew what to do.

I watched him race across the open ground. Skidding to a stop, he reached the door just as his mother came out to see what the noise was.

I was close enough to see her face; my distance vision has been improving steadily over the years. In turn, she looked overjoyed, angry, tearful, then overjoyed again. I saw her grip his shoulders to shake him, then her arms went round him and she hugged him so tightly to her that I saw him flinch.

Then, looking anxiously all around, she hustled him inside.

I’d said I’d keep watch and I should have kept my word. But curiosity got the better of me: looking in each direction in turn, I hurried over to the house.

I heard their voices as I approached. She said something, he answered, then they were both laughing. She had a musical laugh, as if she were about to burst into song.

I stood in the doorway. They must have noticed the sudden reduction in the light: she spun round, leaping to stand in front of Theo, and I realized she’d mistaken me for someone else.

‘It’s all right,’ I said quickly, ‘I’m a friend.’

‘It’s Sergius,’ Theo said at the same time. ‘It
is
all right, Mum, he’s been looking after me.’

She didn’t move from her protective position, so Theo got up and moved in front of her.

‘He’s been living in my villa north of Arelate,’ I explained. ‘He ...’ It was going to be difficult to tell her what had happened without sounding self-congratulatory. She might even think I’d come to collect my reward for saving Theo from the lions.

‘I got nicked in Arelate,’ Theo said. ‘This fat storekeeper accused me of thieving and was taking me to the magistrate’s office when Sergius rescued me. Then he took me out of the city in case the fat bast — the fat man got the officials to charge me. I’m a wanted man,’ he finished with relish.

She said, ‘And were you thieving?’ Her voice was as musical as her laughter.

‘No!’ He caught my eye. ‘Well, a bit.’

‘Theo, you —’

‘I needed food! Mum, I didn’t take much, and anyway the fat man got his necklaces back!’

‘Necklaces? You can’t eat beads!’

‘I was going to sell them. Except for one, which was for you.’ He sounded surly again.

She put her arms round him. ‘Theo, Theo, what am I going to do with you?’ She closed her eyes, turning her head away. I’d already seen the glint of tears before she wiped them surreptitiously away with the back of her hand.

Then, looking at me, she said, ‘He’s not normally a thief.’

‘I know. Only under dire need, eh, Theo?’ I smiled at him.

‘Will he go on trial?’ Her voice was urgent.

‘Not if he doesn’t get caught.’

‘And will he?’ Now the light eyes were fixed to mine, and I felt as if they were boring holes in me.

‘If you mean am I going to turn him in, of course not.’

‘But you work in the administration! You must, Theo just said you were in the magistrate’s office, and —’

‘I’m a financial secretary,’ I interrupted. ‘I have nothing to do with law enforcement.’ I felt angry suddenly — why did the silly woman think I was going to all this trouble if I was going to take her son back to Arelate and shop him?

She must have worked that one out for herself. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly, ‘that was a stupid thing to say. But what happens now? Do we —’

It was my fault. I was meant to be look-out. And I was certainly the most experienced of the three of us — it was more of a crime for me to have forgotten all about the need for one.

Heavy footsteps pounded along the track outside from the direction of where we’d left the horses. Before there was time to slip out of the back entrance, he was on us.

‘Zillah, there are horses in the tamarisk grove — what’s happening?’

He appeared in the doorway, a thickset man with black hair and deeply tanned skin. He was long in the body, with heavily muscled arms that seemed to be too short. He was clad in a leather tunic and leggings, and he looked well fed and prosperous.

It had to be Gaius.

She stood there with her mouth open. Theo tried to stand in front of her while at the same time she was attempting to push him behind her: it would have been comical if it hadn’t been so poignant.

The look Gaius shot at Theo before he disguised it behind a smile confirmed that the boy had told the truth. Not that I’d ever doubted it. I wondered if she’d seen, too.

But her head was bent over her son — maybe she hadn’t.

I could appreciate his dilemma. He must be furious as a three-headed dog at the sight of the returned runaway, just longing for a chance to take a belt to him, yet, with Theo’s mother present, he had to keep up his act of loving tolerance. Unless he had other plans ...

He breathed deeply a few times, presumably to show us that he was controlling himself with difficulty. Then he said, ‘Theodore, you have come back.’ Icily, he went on, ‘And have you any idea whatsoever of the anguish you have caused your poor mother? And me, what about me? I’ve been searching high and low for you, I’ll have you know.’ He was obviously more upset over that than over the woman’s grief. And it was probably all pretence, anyway — wherever he’d been, I was prepared to put money on him not having been out hunting for Theo.

Theo said nothing. He didn’t even look at Gaius.

‘Theodore, I’m speaking to you.’ Now the threat was in his voice. ‘Have you nothing to say in return?’

But Theo seemed to have frozen solid. So did his mother.

I thought about it carefully — for all of the space of a couple of heartbeats — then spoke. ‘The lad is in my custody,’ I said grandly. ‘In protective custody, in fact,’ — I was making it up as I went along — ‘since a citizen of A — of the town has made an accusation which the magistrate has serious doubts about. We ... I ...’

‘Why doesn’t the magistrate just dismiss the case, then?’ Gaius asked, reasonably enough, I had to admit.

‘Because ...’

‘It’s an important citizen who’s accused me, and the authorities don’t want to offend him,’ Theo piped up. I silently thanked good old quick-thinking Mercury for coming to our aid.

‘That’s right,’ I agreed. ‘These matters are complicated.’ I made it sound as if they were outside the understanding of a rural hick like Gaius. It was a mistake.

‘Who is this important citizen, then?’ he asked nastily. ‘I have contacts, I can exert some influence. More important, I can give the magistrate my word that I’ll keep the boy here. He won’t escape me.’ The look he gave Theo made me convinced of that.

‘Impossible!’ the woman burst out. ‘He’s the subject of an official inquiry, he has to stay in custody.’ She added quickly, ‘That man says so.’

‘I do, I do.’ She was as quick-thinking as her son. But it was time to call a halt before one of us tripped up. ‘I’m taking him back now. I wish you both farewell.’ I bowed in the best tradition of dignified Arelate officialdom.

I reached out a hand to grasp Theo. He came willingly, almost running out of the house. It would have been better if he’d put on a show of reluctance.

‘Just a minute,’ Gaius said ominously.

I turned to face him. By my side Theo held his breath.

We stared at each other. I could feel his suspicion, his latent anger at someone ordering him about in his own home. Feel his resentment at being made to appear the weaker man in front of the woman.

I’d met men like him before. I stood there, waiting for him to make a move.

I thought we’d got away with it. I began to turn away, then a hand like an iron clamp fell on my wrist.

‘The boy stays here,’ he stated. ‘Until I see your written authority for taking him away.’

I was trying to estimate his strength and his reaction time and assess them against my own. He was younger than me, broader and probably fitter, yet I’d have the advantage of surprise. Probably.

As I used to tell the smaller of my legionaries: When you’re up against a stronger opponent, you’ve got to make the first blow count. Because you won’t get the chance of a second one.

‘You can read, then, can you?’ As his fury flared at the insult, I punched him on the point of his chin. The shock loosened his grip on my wrist, and I swung the other fist up into his belly.

He slumped to the ground, a gout of blood on his lower lip where a tooth had been driven into the flesh.

‘Get going!’ the woman hissed. ‘Quick, before he comes round!’ She didn’t have much faith in the long-lasting effects of my punch.