A Body In The Bath House

XLVII

there was no sign of Verovolcus and his men, and I had no great hopes of results from their search. I found our horse and set off back to Noviomagus with Helena myself. We were already tired. Anger made it worse. We travelled the long road almost in silence, yet being together apart from others was refreshment for us both.

At one point, Helena began dozing against my back so for safety I stopped and took charge of Favonia. Swapping a baby between two drowsy parents on horseback, when the baby is wide awake and wants to throw its weight about, takes time and courage.

"Maybe we should swaddle her, after all," I muttered. Helena had vetoed this for both our children. She believed in exposing the girls to exercise and danger; she called it training, so they could one day deal with men. On the other hand, she said if we had boys, she would keep them in straitjackets until they left home on marriage.

"Swaddling you wouldn't keep you out of mischief," she told me. "Have you got her?"

I had somehow tied Helena's stole around the baby and knotted it to hang around my neck.

"She's got me." My offspring was now gripping the front neck of my tunic hard. Half throttled, I rode on.

When we reached Noviomagus, I decided we would follow the King's example from yesterday: we would rest here and stay overnight at Helena's uncle's house. Another mile to the palace might not seem too much, but it was a mile along a road frequented by men from the site. I was exhausted and ill-placed to tackle trouble. Besides, I was in no mood to restrain myself with any fool who tried to take me on.

Helena wanted to see her brother Justinus too. Rather to my surprise, he was actually at home; I thought hard living must have paled. But I was wrong; his hard-living cronies had merely come to him. Once it was clear that Helena and I were not in transit but staying, Aelianus and Larius both sneakily emerged.

"It's been a long day, with some bloody episodes," I warned them.

i _ 245I was past even berating them for breaking the rules and leaving base. I could not face a noisy group discussion about recent developments. I had thought things through on the long ride here, but still had some pondering left to do- the kind I could accomplish best when fast asleep.

All three young men volunteered with great courtesy to go out for the evening. They might be home-loving types, but felt they could amuse themselves at some respectable venue so Helena and I might have some peace. The trio promised to return to the house with extreme care and quietness.

"And don't be late," ordered Helena. They solemnly nodded their heads. "Who is looking after Maia Favonia?" she then enquired. The lads assured her Maia Favonia was well able to look after herself.

We had to hope it was true.