Truth and Sparta (15 page)

Chara felt a twinge of guilt thinking about taking Della's
mother's jewellery, but this was a good cause—perhaps the best of
causes if it meant these boys would get the chance to grow and have
their own families one day.  Jewellery could always be
replaced, their boys couldn't.  She nodded and Della went to
tell her mother.

"Do we know
anyone in Scione?" Chara asked when Della returned.

"I will ask
around. I do recall someone saying they went there to visit a
relative, but I can't recall who it was."

Chara felt
concerned again at the sheer number of people who were aware of
what they were up to.   "We have to urge people to keep
knowledge of our activities safe.  We will be in as much
danger as Doros if anyone finds out what we are doing.  They
will show no mercy to us and it is likely that we will meet the
same fate."

"We better work fast then," Della affirmed.

"Are you sure
you want to do this?"

"Are you?"

"Yes," Chara replied after a moment.  She didn’t know if
she could forgive herself if she backed down and didn't do this.
 She also felt like it gave Doros' loss some
meaning.

"Then let's do
it.  Are you sure we are safe in Scione?"

"I think we can make a reasonably good excuse for why we are
there, and if we split into two groups, we will look like anyone
bringing their produce to market."

"Maybe we can
even do some selling while we make our inquiries."

Chara thought it over for a while.  They would have to
think of a good excuse if anyone was wondering why they were away
from the market place.  Scione had a large market place and
they took produce from everywhere; it wasn't inconceivable that
they should sell any excess they could muster after the Spartans
took their 'cut'.  "We'll have to bring something with us to
sell.  The grain isn’t ready, but some of the vegetables
perhaps."

They quickly parted and Chara wanted to return to the
woman who had so desperately beseeched Chara to take her son.
 She wanted to try to find a place for the whole family, but
wanted to give the woman some assurance first.

Della provided Chara with a name in Scione of someone who
could help them secure passage and Chara set off immediately.
 She took one of the boys with her as they travelled with the
ox and cart.  Once she had set something in place, she would
leave him there while she returned for the others.

It was an uneventful journey if not for the constant
encounters with the Spartan supply lines which fortunately paid her
little heed.  Chara has no idea how long the campaign would
last.  Ideally she would be gone by the time Nicias returned;
although the campaign could take months like it had in Pylos.
 Unfortunately she didn't know enough about their business to
say.  She should have asked Nicias before he left, but it
hadn't occurred to her at the time.  She recognized that she
needed to consider things more carefully.  She couldn't just
think of the immediate plan, but also of the things that could go
wrong so she could react when things needed to change.

There were obvious signs of unrest in Scione as well.  No
one seemed immune to this war between Sparta and Athens.  She
felt anger in the people.  Everybody had to pick a side and
Scione was no exception, no matter how much they wanted to stay out
of it.  They were particularly unlucky being controlled by
Athens but bordering their powerful neighbor, Sparta.

Chara had no doubt that there would be Spartan spies
everywhere, but hopefully they would pay little attention to
someone like her.  She decided that the best course of action
was to delude herself into thinking that everything was just normal
and she should just get on with her business.  If she started
thinking about it, she would start looking for suspicious
characters, probably giving herself a more suspicious appearance in
the process.  

Finding passage took a bit of effort, but it wasn’t impossible
as ships sailed from there to many parts of Greece.  The least
expensive option was to sail to Aegosthena, which then led to the
well-travelled road between Delphi and Athens.  It was the
option that would allow them to take all the boys as well as the
ox.  The boys would have to make themselves useful and get the
cart onto the ship.  I might be unusual to take and ox and
cart, but it wasn’t unheard off.  Chara hoped it wouldn’t draw
undue notice.  They would have to work quickly, maybe very
early in the morning.  Once she had the information and
contacts she needed, she left the boy in the care of the friend
they had and charged him with the responsibility of selling the
cucumbers they had with them at the market.  Chara immediately
set off on the two days journey back to collect the
others.

She wasted no time collecting her father, the boys and Della
without stopping for anything else.  There were more boys than
she could take.  There seemed to be boys everywhere—boys Chara
had never seen before and she suspected that they were brought from
neighboring villages.  She couldn’t take them all as it would
look too suspicious, but she ended up promising that she would come
back and collect them if she could secure a place for them.
 She left some very disappointed people behind. She had to
make good on her promise.  It would mean returning, but she
felt she owed it to Doros to try.

Chara sought out Elphia as soon as they arrived at the farm.
 She held the little baby tight revelling in how desperately
she had been missing the little girl.  She’d grown and she was
obviously thriving in her grandmother’s care.  They all stayed
outside while her father conveyed the sorrowful news to her mother.
 Chara felt her heart break all over again.

“
Come on, let’s go for a little wander,” she said to Della.
 Chara brought Elphia as they walked away from the house
leaving the group of boys standing awkwardly by a tree.  “We
will be back shortly,” she said to them.

“
What do you think?” Chara asked after a while.

“
The farm in certainly big enough.  And the soil looks
fertile.”

“
There are lots of deserted farms, you can take one and we can
bring your whole family.”

“
What are we going to do about the boys?”

“
I think we need to keep them here—they’re not old enough to
manage on their own.  Father will direct them, then when this
one is restored, perhaps we can start with a neighboring
one.”

“
I think we should persuade their families to come as well,”
Della said tentatively.

“
I think you’re right,” Chara said after a pause.  “It
would mean going back again.”  This had been something that
had sat in Chara’s mind from the moment they’d left.  She had
to go back for the boys, but she wanted to take more—to take anyone
that wanted to come.  It meant returning, heading back into
risk and danger.  It also meant leaving Elphia behind yet
again.  She looked at her lovely baby and she felt love rush
around her whole being. But the knowledge of other mothers who felt
the same thing, were suffering from the despair she had seen
weighed heavy on her.  How could she not do something when she
had the means?  She also knew what Doros would say.

“
I will go speak to Klenias,” she said after a while. “Discuss
the possibility of bringing the families over.”

Klenias was
glad to see her.  “I am glad you made the journey back, I
expected that you would change your mind.  And you have
brought your family too?”

“
Yes, and a few boys.  Sadly my brother was murdered by
the Spartans shortly before we left, but I took some other boys in
his stead.”

Klenias frowned at the news and Chara wondered how much he
actually understood about how they were treated across the sea
amongst their enemies.  She understood very keenly why the
Athenians would want to contain the Spartans and their
policies—their way of life was in stark contrast with the Athenian
beliefs in democracy.

“
The reason I am speaking to you is that I would like to bring
the families of the boys that I have with me.  They are
skilled farming people and they could restore some of the fields to
fruitful condition.”

“
Oh,” Klenias said with surprise.  “I do have farms that
need keeping—many actually—else farms that are struggling with too
few people.  I am at the point to beseech Athens for slaves to
run the farms, but slaves know nothing about farming.  It
would be a desperate measure, but our need is great.
 Experienced farmers would be a better choice.  How many
are we talking about?”

“
Perhaps many.”

Klenias mentioned something about policy and planning.
 “Perhaps over a number of years…” he muttered.  Waiting
a number of years was not something Chara wanted, but it also
didn’t make sense due to the number of unattended farms she had
seen—and that was just the area she had travelled through.
 Chara got the distinct impression that he was uncomfortable
with giving her encouragement.  She suspected that he could
not give her an answer, that she would have to refer to the
administrator in Athens.  He would have to make decisions on
anything more than the odd family moving into the
district.

Chara arrived
to a city in distress. The people were in the streets and they were
angry and dismayed. She quickly gathered that the Athenian army had
withdrawn from Megara without a fight. Some were lamenting the
cowardice and the resulting embarrassment to the city while others
were saying that the Megarans were never worth their sons’ deaths.
All around there were calls for General Cleon to be held to
account.

Chara
continued straight to the Administrator’s office. She’d spent the
entire trip pondering what she would say to him. He wasn’t there so
she had to wait on one of the benches along the wall by the door.
It gave her time to think. The Spartans had obviously been
successful at Megara and driven the Athenians back, just like
Nicias had anticipated. With success, she wondered how long the
main Spartan army would stay in Megara. If they withdrew back to
Sparta, there was a good chance that Nicias would go back to his
father’s estate, if he wasn’t on his way there already. It gave her
an uncomfortable feeling. The parting between her and Nicias would
either happen now, or she would have to rush to get back. She
didn’t know what to do. There were benefits to keeping the status
quo. It meant that she didn’t highlight to any Spartan yet that she
was missing and something was afoot. There was also a part of her
that wanted to see him again—a part she had tried to squash and it
would be outvoted against more dire needs, but it was still
there.

Chara looked
up and saw the administrator walking toward the office. He seemed
to notice her and raised his eyebrows.

“
I did not expect to see you back, girl. Come to complain about
the estate Klenias provided for you?” he said looking down his long
haughty nose at her. She had not expected that he would be aware
that Klenias had given her an estate. Perhaps he was assuming—else
Klenias was reporting his activities to the man in front of
her.

“
No, it’s a handsome estate. It needs a great deal of work, but
my family is very happy. I have come to talk to you about bringing
more.”

He considered
her for a while; she felt his sharp eyes evaluate her. “Come
inside,” he said with a small wave of his hand. She noticed that he
leisurely step with assured movements, and didn’t exert energy
unless he had to. She followed him into his office, past the two
clerks and to his desk at the very back.

He sat down
behind the desk and arranged his toga to ensure it draped well. “So
you want to bring more?”

“
Others have heard what we are doing and they are begging me to
take their sons. Young men are of particular threat to the Spartans
and they find reasons to rid themselves of any they can find,”
Chara started.

“
I am aware of the Spartan attitudes,” he said with
annoyance.

“
I have taken some and have promised to take more.”

“
And now you seek me to make good on your promise?” She could
hear the derision in his voice.

“
No, well yes, but the true reason I am here is that I want to
take their whole families. The boys need guidance by experienced
farmers. I want to take anyone who wants to come. In fact, I want
to take anyone who I can convince to come.” She saw the
administrator frown. “There are enough unattended farms in Attica
to bring more families.”

“
And how do you know this?”

“
I saw them as I travelled through the lands.”

“
And you would have me fill Attica with Helots.”

“
Yes, you would gain people to bring Attica to full harvests
and we would get a new life—away from Spartans.” She could tell
that he wasn’t entirely convinced.

“
And this is something I should leave to a cumbersome
girl?”

“
Who else shall do it? Have you had other volunteers? The
Spartans would never expect a cumbersome girl. They will notice
eventually when the harvest starts rotting in the fields.” She knew
she was exaggerating; she may not be able to convince that many
families, but she needed to get this man’s endorsement and if it
took a bit of exaggeration, she was prepared to do it. It seemed to
work as he got a gleam of curiosity in his eyes.