Ruth Downie: Terra Incognita

“Everybody saw him,” pointed out Ruso, pushing aside the memory of Tilla crying out, “Cernunnos!” “He was nowhere near the wagon.”

“Somebody’s put a curse on me. The Stag Man said a spell and made the team bolt and the brake give way.” Tears began to spill down the slave’s cheeks. “Oh, holy Jupiter! My master’s going to kill me!”

Ruso eyed the battered and tearstained face. The slave had chosen to take a vehicle creaking under the weight of lead down a long and difficult hill while the road was still crowded with travelers. He should have known better.

“Sir!”

A horse was following them up the hill at a shambling half trot. The rider was kitted out like an ordinary member of the infantry, and instead of steering he seemed to be using both hands to cling to the horns of the saddle.

“Sir!”

“Albanus? What are you doing on my horse?”

“I’m having a very uncomfortable time, sir!” cried Albanus, bouncing to one side and adding “Whoa!” as the animal showed no signs of slowing down.

“Sit back,” suggested Ruso. “Use your reins.”

“I’ve tried that, sir. It just ignores me.”

The horse finally slowed to a walk, although it was doubtful whether Albanus had influenced its decision. It seemed that, with uncharacteristic deviousness, he had managed to avoid the riding lessons that were supposed to be the lot of every well-trained soldier.

“Sir, I thought I’d better come and tell you Centurion Postumus wants to talk to Tilla.”

Ruso frowned. “To Tilla? What about?”

“I don’t know, sir, but he doesn’t look very happy. That’s why I thought I ought to tell you.”

“I can’t deal with it now,” said Ruso, not bothering to add that Postumus never looked very happy.

“So what shall I say to the centurion, sir?”

“You’ll have to find her,” said Ruso, wondering what Tilla had done that would interest Postumus during the current crisis. “She was helping the civilians the last time I saw her. She might be with a mother and a baby. And when you find her, tell her I said she’s to do exactly what she’s told for once, will you?”

“I’ll tell her that, sir.”

“I’ll keep the horse,” said Ruso. “Hitch her to the carriage and walk back.”

When a relieved Albanus had dismounted awkwardly and headed back toward the scene of the accident, Ruso turned to the miserable slave. “Where was your wagon parked overnight?”

“In the yard at the inn, officer, sir. All secure. I always look after my master’s property, sir.”

Ruso sighed. He didn’t know how Postumus had found out, but he could guess why the grimfaced centurion wanted to talk to Tilla.

The rain had stopped now, thank the gods, and all around people were busy clearing up the mess made by the accident. Baggage was being reloaded onto righted vehicles. A mule had been fetched from the army post down the hill and was being persuaded into the harness vacated by the one lying at the roadside. A family rounded up from the nearest farm were struggling to shift the carcass of an ox while a couple of legionaries leaned on their shields and watched. Other soldiers were standing guard on the top of the bank and facing outward down the valley, as if they were expecting followers of the mystery rider to burst out of the woods and attack.

The civilian victims of the accident, closer to the wagon’s slow start, had mostly gotten away with bumps and scrapes. Tilla had been trying to clean gravel out of a small girl’s knee when the medicus’s weedy clerk had arrived with the summons from the centurion. She might have ignored it, but the weedy one had also brought very firm instructions from the medicus that she should do as she was told. She could see how much Albanus enjoyed passing that on. So now, again, she was standing in damp clothes at the roadside under the guard of soldiers.

The nose poking out beneath the metal rim of the centurion’s helmet made her want to laugh, but the black stones of his eyes suggested that this conversation was not going to be amusing.

He said, “You were seen at the inn last night. Not the sort of place slaves usually sleep.”

“I fell in some mud, sir. My master takes me to the baths to clean myself.”

“But you didn’t go to the baths, did you?”

How did he know this? More worryingly, why did he care? “The baths are full of men,” she explained. “And not clean. I take water and wash privately.”

Farther down the road, they had managed to move the first animal. There was no sign of the medicus, who had rushed up to her, hugged her, and then looked embarrassed and hurried away to deal with the injured. “If you will just tell me what you need to know, sir…”

“What were you doing in the yard?”

“I went to look for a friend. But she is not there.”

“And then?”

“Then I went back inside, sir.”

“You’re lying.”

“I am not!”

The stick moved so fast she barely saw it coming. Just felt the blow and the pain flowing into her shoulder as the shock died away. She tried to steady herself. “I pray to the gods of the storm, sir. That is all. Then I go back inside with my master.”

The eyes assessed her while the mind seemed to be thinking over the next question. “How long were you alone out there? I’ll be asking your master as well.”

She was confused. She wished they would let go of her arms so she could rub the pain out of her shoulder. “I was not alone in the yard, sir.”

The eyes betrayed a flicker of interest.

“I think I am alone but then I see…” She stopped. How was she going to explain to this foreigner that she had brought the god upon them with her prayers?

“What?”

“A man.”

“If you’re lying, you’ll be sorry.”

“I am not lying, sir. I was praying. He was there. I saw him.”

“Describe him.”

She frowned. “I do not know him.” It was true, she did not know him, but every time she pictured the faintly quizzical dark brows and shadowed eyes, she had the feeling she had seen them somewhere before. She dared not say so. The centurion would only hit her again for failing to remember where. Perhaps it was in a dream. The gods visited people in dreams. Everyone knew it.

“Tall, short, fat, thin, young, old? What were his clothes like?”

She closed her eyes and murmured a prayer to Cernunnos for courage.

“Speak up, girl. What did he look like?”

She opened her eyes. “He is the man-god we saw on the horse, sir. He is the god with the antlers.”

This time she had braced herself for the stick, but the pain of the second blow on top of the first still made her gasp.

“I don’t want to hear that rubbish. Was there a man or wasn’t there?”

“It was the god Cernunnos, sir, I swear. I felt him brush past me.”

“Tell me what he looked like.”

“He had antlers!” What more could anyone need to know?

The centurion gave an exaggerated sigh. “Try telling me what he was doing.”

“He is standing with his hand on the wheel of a wagon. One moment he is there, the next he is vanish in the dark.”

The centurion glanced at his men. “All right. Let her go.”

The grip on her arms was released.

“Stay where I can find you,” he ordered. “I’ll be talking to your master later. And if you’ve lied to me, I’ll have you flogged.”

"The hospital, sir? ”

Ruso had unfastened his armor, slung his riding breeches over one shoulder, and was clad in a creased and sweaty tunic whose edges were splattered with mud and bloodstains. The Batavian soldier from whom he had just asked directions looked at him with mingled concern and confusion, then glanced up and down the busy street of the fort in the apparent hope that he might spot a building he had failed to notice before. Since the stronghold at Coria had turned out to be extremely small-an energetic sentry atop the timber turret of the east gate could have held a shouted conversation over the clang of the smithy with one on the west-this did not seem likely.