The Fateful Day

NINE

Tenuis looked at him with startled eyes. ‘Why, captain, the wood-piles that you told them to build up yesterday. You know, all the dead boughs and fallen branches from the wood …’ He saw the expression on the overseer’s face and trailed off into silence. ‘At least, they said you told them …’

‘I did no such thing. I did give them instructions, but my orders were specifically for jobs to do elsewhere: pruning and weeding and working in the fields. Surely you heard me. I make these announcements in front of everyone!’

Tenuis shook his head. ‘But … wasn’t that countermanded afterwards?’

Georgicus let go of the boy, stood up and frowned at me. ‘Did our intruders contrive this, do you think? Just to make sure that there was nobody about to see them come and go?’

I had been busy bolting up the gates and struggling to put back the heavy wooden bar. ‘It’s possible,’ I said addressing Georgicus over the head of the boy, who had his back to me. ‘But your land-slaves wouldn’t take orders from a stranger, do you think? Especially not if they contradicted yours.’

Tenuis whirled around to stare at me with startled eyes. ‘Strangers? Intruders? What …? Oh!’ He clapped a startled hand across his mouth. ‘Has there been some sort of problem overnight? Is that why the back gate was all locked and barred with no gatekeeper on duty to let anybody in?’

Georgicus turned impatiently to him. ‘Never mind that now. Though we do have a problem, certainly. I’ll tell you in good time. Meantime, you can tell me about my land-slaves and who it is that they’ve been talking to. The citizen is right. I had given them orders for the day. Who told them otherwise?’

The boy shrugged skinny shoulders. ‘I don’t really know. I thought that it was you. If not, it must have been the chief steward, I suppose.’

I would have come to that conclusion in his place, I thought. The chief steward was officially in charge of everyone, including the land-slaves, while the master was away. He would have authority to overrule any orders which Georgicus gave — though to do so without informing him would be discourteous at best.

The captain of the land-slaves clearly thought so, too. ‘Did they just receive a message? Or did the steward come himself?’

Tenuis shrugged. ‘I wasn’t there when the new instructions came. The others were all over working in the fields, but I was out there in the forest anyway, picking up kindling, like you told me to. Then they came rushing over, saying that they had this urgent job. I didn’t ask who gave them orders to do that. They wouldn’t have answered me in any case, but they certainly did not seem to think they’d disobeyed.’

The story was so startling that I joined in as well. ‘Urgent? What made a simple wood-pile so urgent all at once?’

Tenuis looked at me distrustfully. ‘I don’t know, citizen. You’d better ask the steward about that. Something about a provisional contract that the master had agreed, where the conditions had unexpectedly been met. The slaves were to pull all the big dead branches and logs that they could find into the clearing in the middle of the wood. That much I can tell you because I saw them doing it. There was a lot of private grumbling, in fact, because it had to be done as fast as possible and it was very energetic work’

Georgicus exchanged another glance with me. ‘I’m sure it was. No doubt it kept them fully occupied for several hours.’

A nod. ‘And they weren’t slacking either, captain, they worked right through till dusk. They had to take the leaves and little twigs off every branch — which took a lot of time — and then they were to sort the wood according to its size, different kinds of wood in different piles, ready to take away and sell. And if they hadn’t finished by the time that it got dark, they were to carry on this morning until someone came for it so that the master’s profit was as large as possible. Then they were to help to load it on the carts — that was supposed to be about an hour after dawn today. But nothing’s happened.’

‘And nothing’s likely to!’ Georgicus snorted.

The slave-boy stared at him. ‘What do you mean?’ His eyes were very wide. ‘You think all this was nonsense? You don’t believe the steward really ordered this at all. And you didn’t either? Is that possible?’

‘Listen!’ Georgicus had grasped the youngster by the elbows now. ‘I always give out my instructions for the day first thing in the morning. Everyone knows that. So even if people mistakenly supposed that those instructions yesterday had somehow come from me, don’t you think I would have mentioned it today, instead of giving everybody other jobs to do? And the chief steward would have sent me word last night if he had countermanded what I’d ordered my labour force to do — especially if he wanted them to go on doing it. But you were there. You know no message came.’

A shake of tousled curls. ‘But it was supposed to be a secret. That’s what we were told. In case the other slaves were jealous of us having earned a tip, and thought they should’ve been relieved of other jobs so they could come and help. Only there wasn’t enough profit for everyone to share.’

‘A tip?’ Georgicus shot a disbelieving glance to heaven. ‘For collecting fallen timber in the wood? You believed that? When did you ever know the master give a land-slave anything? Much less a gratuity for just doing what he’s told?’

An embarrassed shuffle of the enormous boots. ‘We thought that things were different this time, captain. It might be the last time we ever worked for him. And it was a rush, you see. The master had arranged a contract for the wood with whoever it was he bought that villa from in Gaul. But only if there was enough room left over on the ship after all the household goods were loaded on. And it turned out unexpectedly there was. But of course the ship is due to sail for Gaul today, if the wind allows. So if we got the timber on the carts and it reached the docks in time, there would be an as or two for everyone out of the profits as a small reward. But we weren’t to breathe a word to anyone who hadn’t been involved.’

Georgicus shook his head. ‘Especially not to me?’

‘It was a secret, as I said before. And of course, we thought you knew about it anyway.’ He gazed at his overseer with eyes that brimmed with tears.

‘But they told you, of all people — although you weren’t involved, I think?’

‘I couldn’t help but know about it, captain. I was there when they came over to the forest to start to the pile.’ The voice was tremulous. ‘Though, anyway, I was a little bit involved. I brought a branch of pine-wood for the wood-pile, just in case.’ The tears were spilling over and running down his cheeks, but his arms were still imprisoned and he could not dry his face. ‘But now it seems there wasn’t any tip in any case.’

‘You really believed that, didn’t you, you poor little idiot!’ Georgicus released him, stood up and spoke to me. ‘Citizen, it’s clear that Tenuis is telling us the truth, as he understands it. And it’s true that the steward might have over-ridden me if he thought he was serving the master’s interests. But it’s preposterous. Who on earth would want to pay a contract price for bits of fallen wood, which anyone could go into the forest and collect up for themselves? Let alone pay extra to the land-slaves doing it?’

Tenuis had been listening. ‘That’s just what one of the older land-slaves said,’ he blurted, through his tears. ‘But one of the new men told us that he’d known such things before. His previous owner traded wood with buyers overseas, he said, because timbers from Britannia are good for different things. And then somebody said that … oh …’ He trailed off in embarrassment.

‘Said what?’ Georgicus urged.

But the boy had turned unwilling, suddenly. ‘Nothing!’ He shook his head.

‘Tenuis!’ The overseer’s voice was dangerous. ‘What did the fellow say? Tell us before I have to beat it out of you!’ I don’t believe he flogged his land-slaves very much, but he looked as if he meant it this time, certainly.

The slave-boy looked down at his ugly boots and gulped. ‘He said … that the master does have sudden fads, sometimes, and perhaps if we were wise we shouldn’t query it. It wasn’t me. I didn’t say it — he did. But everyone agreed. It’s not up to us to question anything, they said. We’re only land-slaves, we just do as we are told.’

It was so nearly what Georgicus had said to me himself, it almost made me smile. But the overseer was not amused at all.

‘Then — not content with speaking so disrespectfully about His Excellence — they disobeyed my orders and sent you here today? When I had specifically told everybody they were not to come up to the house?’

A nod.

‘So why, when you did come running, did you go round to the back? Surely the front gate is much the quickest route.’

Tenuis turned scarlet and looked about to cry again. ‘I’ve never been through that front gate in my life,’ he muttered tearfully. ‘I didn’t even try. The gatekeeper would have given me a clout around the ear. Though I was beginning to think that I’d have to brave him after all when I came round here and hammered and there was no reply.’

It was my turn to raise a brow at Georgicus. Another death that Tenuis didn’t know about. ‘We didn’t hear a knock,’ I murmured to the slave.

‘Oh, I knocked,’ the boy said eagerly. ‘Perhaps not loud enough. I was afraid those people might still be loading up the carts. And then I heard you calling, captain, and realised you were here. So I started rattling for you to let me in. I didn’t want to have to dodge those wagoners again …’ He tailed off into silence.

Georgicus glanced at me. He stooped again and took the boy more roughly by the arms. This time he shook him as he looked into his eyes. ‘Again?’ he echoed. ‘You mean that you have seen them? You’d been up here before?’

Tenuis turned scarlet and tried to look away. ‘I didn’t say that,’ he muttered. ‘I didn’t see anything. I don’t know what I’m saying. I wasn’t here at all.’

‘Little liar!’ Georgicus exclaimed, yanking the child upwards by his arms until his boots fell off. He put him down again. ‘You saw these people. It’s obvious you did. You must have come here yesterday, though I had explicitly forbidden it. And the place was full of strangers. Isn’t that the case?’

The boy refused to meet his overseer’s gaze. ‘It was only for a minute.’ He sat down and started to pull his dreadful footbags on. ‘It hardly counted as coming here at all. I didn’t have a chance to notice anything.’ His voice was quavering with fright, but his face was mutinous and there was clearly something he wasn’t telling us.

‘If you did see someone, it might be fortunate,’ I put in, as gently as I could. I have often found that kindness loosens tongues where fear does not.

Tenuis looked up doubtfully at me. ‘I didn’t see intruders. There were just the men with carts. The ones we were expecting. Or perhaps you didn’t know — the master wrote and told us that they were going to come.’

I shook my head. ‘They were intruders all the same. The master did not send them. You have been deceived. They were not honest carters, they were thieves — and murderers.’

‘Murderers?’ The boy was horrified.

‘It rather looks like it. Several of the household slaves have been found dead. You can see it’s serious. So you won’t be punished if you just tell us the truth.’ I saw that he was hesitating still. ‘And nor will anybody else.’

Tenuis looked at Georgicus, who gave the slave-boy a reluctant nod.

The slave-boy put his boot on and scrambled to his feet. ‘Well then, I did come to the villa. Not for very long.’ A sniff. ‘I only came to see the kitchen slaves.’

I should have guessed. The boy was skinny to the point of being partly starved. ‘Because they give you food?’

‘Occasionally,’ Tenuis said, unwillingly.

Georgicus reacted sharply. ‘What for? You have your slave-ration like anybody else!’

‘But I’m only little, captain. Sometimes the bigger land-boys bully me and take away my lunch. The cook once saw it happen — he came into the orchard when we were working there — and ever since then all the kitchen slaves have been very good to me. If someone takes my food away I come and tap the door, and they generally find a stale crust or something else that I can have. Something that would otherwise have gone out to the pigs — not stealing anything. But I’m grateful just for that. I sometimes think I’d die of hunger otherwise.’

Georgicus was frowning. ‘Who is it takes your lunch? Tell me the culprit and I’ll see that he is flogged.’

The slave-boy shook his head. ‘I don’t know, captain,’ he said, then added, with more truth, ‘and if I did, I wouldn’t tell. They would only beat me and hold me in the well. They say that I don’t deserve the meal because I am no use. But I get awfully hungry, that’s why I came up here even though I knew that I was disobeying you. I’d made up a story to tell the gatekeeper, pretending I had a message about sending down some scraps. But I didn’t see him anyway …’ He trailed off. ‘Great gods! It isn’t him that’s dead? Is that why there wasn’t anyone today to open up the gate?’

I thought of the sorry pile of headless corpses that we’d left lying in the orchard. ‘We don’t know what’s become of him,’ I said. ‘He wasn’t at his post when we arrived today. Nor yesterday, from what you say of him. So how did you get in?’

He made a comic face. ‘The gate was wide open. I was quite surprised, but the court was full of carts, so I suppose that there was lots of movement in and out. They must have been nearly ready to depart. There were a lot of people rushing round with lists, and coming and going into the house with packed-up goods. They were all so busy that they didn’t notice me. So I did a silly thing. I made a dash for it and rolled underneath the nearest cart, thinking I could wiggle over to the arch one wagon at a time and get into the kitchen that way. But when I popped my head out, I realised there were escort guards as well, standing by the wall and watching everything.’

‘Escort guards? With weapons?’ Georgicus looked at me. ‘We thought there must have been. But that did not surprise you?’

It seemed to be the question which surprised the child most. He shrugged. ‘Not really, captain. Of course there’d be an escort for the master’s goods — and he’d taken his own usual bodyguards with him. And that’s clearly what they were. Ugly-looking creatures with clubs and swords and things, all dressed in some sort of livery. Some of them were huge. I hadn’t seen them from the gate — the wall had hidden them. But when I did, I realised that I’d have to give it up. They were keeping a close watch on everything going on, and if I wasn’t very careful they would notice me. I backed off hastily and was just about to shuffle myself round and creep back to the lane, when I saw the little kitchen-boy come out through the arch. He was carrying a jug, obviously going to get something from the storage yard. He-’

I interrupted him. ‘Was this Pauvrissimus, by any chance?’

He looked at me, amazed. ‘That’s right, citizen? How do you know his name?’

‘He was a friend to my own slave, Minimus, who was once a servant here. But go on with your tale. You saw Pauvrissimus …?’

He nodded. ‘He bent down to tie his sandal strap and saw me hiding underneath the cart, though — thank Juno — no one else had done. He put his finger to his lips and gestured to the side wall of the court, obviously meaning I should come round there and he would bring some food. But then the chief steward saw him and shouted at him for taking such at time, so he got up and hurried to the storage courtyard with his jug and when he came back he didn’t look my way again.’

‘So you went to the orchard?’ I glanced at Georgicus.

Tenuis looked puzzled. Then he shook his head. ‘Not the side wall that way, citizen. The other one — beyond the storage yard. It’s high, but there’s a field the other side and a gate a little further down so you can get there from the lane. I knew that’s what Pauvrissimus had meant.’

‘And I suppose he could find a reason to back get into the yard,’ I mused. ‘So that is what you did?’

He nodded. ‘I managed to sneak out again went round into the field, over to where I thought the storage court might be. The wall is high. You can’t see over it, especially if you’re me. But after a while, I heard a whistle from the court the other side. I tried to whistle back, though I can’t do it very well, and a moment later a crust of bread came flying through the air. I picked it up and ate it. And that’s all I know.’

That explained the cut loaf on the bench, I thought. It had not been cleared away. So it could not have been long afterwards that everyone was killed. ‘You were lucky no one saw you!’ I told him. ‘Luckier than you know.’

‘No one except Pauvrissimus, though I expect he told the cook.’ For the first time I saw Tenuis give a shadow of a smile. ‘He couldn’t have smuggled that bread out to me otherwise. All the same, I’m afraid he got a beating over it. I had just started on the bread when I heard a lot of shouting and then a muffled squeal — probably the steward catching up with him.’

‘A squeal?’ That confirmed what I’d been thinking. ‘Oh, dear gods!’ I exchanged a startled glance with Georgicus, who had clearly come to much the same conclusion for himself.

Tenuis misinterpreted my expression of dismay. ‘I couldn’t help him, citizen. I would only make it worse, so I went back to the woods and tried to help the others with collecting up the pile. But I’ll thank him when I see him. He took a risk for me. I just hope he didn’t get into too much trouble for my sake.’

I turned to Georgicus. ‘I think it’s time we told him. We’ll show him what we found — and then we’ll go and get your other land-slaves from the wood.’

The overseer nodded, grimly. ‘I’ll send somebody in with you to tell the Funeral Guild. Then I suppose we ought to find the missing heads. Some of the male land-slaves can institute a search. In the meantime I’ll have some women start on a lament. And there’ll have to be a pyre. There are quite a lot of corpses to be burnt. So there may be a use for that wood-pile after all.’

I shook my head at him. This was not the way I’d meant to break the news to Tenuis. But it was too late. The poor little lad had been listening to all this, and his white face told me that he’d understood exactly what had happened to his friend.

‘Funeral? Heads? Corpses? Oh, dear Juno …’ It was a strangled sob. Blank as a sleepwalker, he took a stumbling step.

I darted forward and was just in time to catch him in my arms before he fell crashing to the paving in a faint.