Rosemary Rowe - The Fateful Day

‘Soldier!’ the centurion gave a warning bark. ‘None of this information has been made public yet.’

‘Oh, the citizen knows all about the Emperor, sir,’ Hairy-Knees replied. ‘The commander made that clear to me when I was ordered to assist.’

‘Knows all about it, does he? I rather thought he did. It wouldn’t surprise me if he knew a great deal else, as well.’ Cerberus came forward and — rudely ignoring Alfredus Allius — stuck his chin an inch from mine. ‘We’ve suddenly got rebel raids on travellers again today — quite a coincidence, wouldn’t you agree? You’d almost think that someone had warned them that the troops were likely to be off the roads, and that the commander had other problems on his mind. Or perhaps it isn’t a coincidence at all. What do you think, citizen? You come from this direction, you — and only you — appear to know the news from Rome, and you’re a Celt yourself. You wouldn’t know anything about this Druid raid, I suppose?’

‘Druids?’ Beside me, Alfredus Allius drew in a sharp breath. ‘I thought the Silurians had finally been quelled.’

There had been trouble a year or two ago when bands of dissident Silurians — still resisting the presence of the Romans in the land — had roamed the neighbourhood, mounting raids on army transport and harrying patrols, though lately these attacks had largely ceased. The rebels had been driven back into their secret hideaways in dense areas of forest where there are wolves and bears and where ordinary people do not go — even woodcutters and charcoal burners rarely venture there.

‘Not these rebels, citizen,’ the centurion replied. ‘And as to being Druids, there’s no doubt of that. We’ve had a report of a brand-new sacred grove … stumbled on by children collecting kindling. There were none of the usual patrols today and the commander wasn’t seeing visitors, so it took a little time for the news to reach us at the fort. But, of course, whatever problems there might be overseas, the army could not ignore a rebel raid. I was told to take a party and investigate at once.’

‘And you discovered … what?’ the councillor demanded. ‘You have found the culprits?’

The centurion shook his head. ‘No trace of them, I fear — though we’ll catch them in the end. But the evidence is there. There’s been a massacre. Killed the whole family, by the look of it — the males at any rate. Children too, it made no difference.’ He squared up to me again. ‘Doesn’t it make you proud to be a Celt?’

I didn’t answer him.

‘No doubt we’ll find another oak tree somewhere else with all the female heads displayed on it — unless they took the women off as slaves. We haven’t found out who the family were, or what they were doing on the road, as yet, so we don’t know how many people were involved. So if you’ve any information, tradesman-citizen, we’d be glad of it.’ He was standing dangerously close to me again.

I should have stood my ground, but instead I took a few steps back and stared at him. ‘A sacred grove? That means decapitated heads.’

‘Perceptive of you, citizen,’ he sneered.

But I was no longer listening. Heads. Of course! I hadn’t looked for them. Dear gods! I must be getting old.

‘How many heads?’ I asked him. Why had I not asked myself that question earlier?

Cerberus looked astonished. ‘About a dozen so far, I suppose. What difference does it make?’ He turned to stare at me. ‘You know something about this. I can see it in you face!’ He seized me roughly by the arm. ‘I knew that there was something about you which I didn’t trust. Let’s see what a little questioning-’

‘Centurion! What are you thinking of? Release the citizen!’ Alfredus Allius’s monotone had taken on an unexpected ring. ‘Whatever’s happened, he is not involved in it. He’s been in my company or my warehouse all the afternoon.’

Cerberus shook his head and gave his horrid grin, but he did release his grip. ‘I’m sorry, councillor. That’s no defence at all. No one suggested that the raid took place this afternoon. This morning, possibly. Certainly not very long ago. I’ve seen a few dead people in my time, and these heads were fairly fresh. None of them had even started to decay.’

I think he hoped to shock me, but he did not succeed — after all, I’d seen the victims of the atrocity.

‘I’m almost sure it happened yesterday,’ I said. ‘And I think that I can tell you where the matching bodies are …’ I trailed off. Matching bodies? I was an idiot. There was only one reason for removing heads. What was it the wise woman had said? ‘It is whatever you expect to see.’ And I’d fallen straight into the trap!

Cerberus was smiling at me nastily. ‘Perhaps you’d like to accompany me to the commander, then — and you can tell him who the victims are.’

I shook my head. ‘He already knows. This is the very crime I came to warn him of — though at the time I didn’t know about the heads. Ask him when you go in to report.’

The councillor was frowning at me, doubtfully. ‘You think the heads are from the villa slaves? I suppose it’s possible. But why on earth remove them and hang them in a grove? To make it look like rebels …?’ he broke off suddenly. ‘By all the powers of Dis,’ he cried. ‘Perhaps it was the rebels! They would have seen Marcus as a special enemy — a wealthy Roman, friendly with the Emperor …’ He put his hand up to his throat and clutched his amulets. ‘And I’m a friend and dining-intimate of Marcus.’ He stared at me, his toneless voice full of emotion, suddenly. ‘Great gods, citizen — you think I might be next?’

I shook my head again. ‘I don’t think that these killers will strike round here again. I believe they have accomplished what they meant to do.’ I turned to Cerberus. ‘I didn’t kill these people, officer, but I think I know who did — though I don’t see how to prove it, even if I’m quick enough to find the murderers. So I daren’t make accusations — I’ll find myself in court, facing serious charges of injuria . But for the sake of my dead servant, I shall do my best — if you will permit me to be on my way. You can put that into your report as well. And earn yourself a commendation, too. Assure the commandant that no Celtic rebels are involved.’

For a fleeting moment Cerberus looked nonplussed. Then he gave a snorting laugh. ‘You really expect that I will simply let you go, when by your own admission you know something of these deaths? You must be moon-struck, citizen. What do you think my superiors would say?’

Villosus cleared his throat. ‘I don’t think you should hold him, sir. My orders were quite clear. I was to assist him in any way I could, and I was to tell the other soldiers just the same. My understanding was that it applied to all of us, including — if you’ll pardon me for saying so, sir — officers like yourself. I should not like to think that because I didn’t speak, you’d accidently dis-obeyed the commandant.’

‘I don’t recall that I gave you leave to speak, Auxiliary!’ Cerberus snapped, clearly furious, but unable to contest the truth of this. ‘I’ll have you on a charge as soon as you get back — insubordination to a senior officer. That should be a flogging at the least. And you …’ he turned to face me ‘… you have leave to go, this time. But next time that I find you meddling …!’ He left the threat unfinished ‘Now, stand aside. You’re blocking the road. Don’t you know that it’s illegal to impede the army on the march?’

It was totally unjust. The soldiers were not moving and if anyone was blocking the roadway, it was the centurion himself. But his little outburst had improved his self-esteem. He tucked his baton underneath his arm and swaggered off to organise his men.