R. Peake - Marching With Caesar - Conquest of Gaul
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- Название:Marching With Caesar: Conquest of Gaul
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“This would have been a good time to warn us boy,” griped Calienus. I suppressed a smile, turning my attention to bracing myself as someone tried their best to kill me.
We managed to stop the second attack. By this time the sun was disappearing over the horizon, apparently prompting the Lusitani to decide that their best course was to withdraw and rest for the night. Having the advantage of numbers, they could afford to actually build fires and eat, while keeping a small portion of their men on guard at any given time. Unfortunately, we did not have that luxury, instead being forced to keep half the men on watch, with the rest of us chewing our cold rations then trying to get some sleep before relieving the men on guard. The Pilus Prior ordered no fires, both because there was little enough wood and any light could silhouette one of us who might fall prey to an opportunistic slinger. By this time Didius, his new nickname Achilles now an open joke in the Century, helped along by Remus’ spirited retelling of the event that earned it for him, regained consciousness, if he had truly ever been out. Scribonius came to sit next to Vibius and I while we chewed on some salt bacon, quietly discussing our predicament, and we glanced at him curiously; it was not like Scribonius to horn in on others' conversation unless he had something to say, but when he did he was not usually shy to say it, yet this time he seemed to struggle to find the right words.
Finally, he whispered, “Did either of you happen to look at Achilles at all while we were fighting?”
We both shook our head; the last time I remembered glancing his way was right after they dragged him to the breastworks.
“Why do you ask?” At first Scribonius did not answer Vibius’ question, instead staring intently at the ground, his face faintly illuminated by the half moon and the usual cloudless sky. Finally, he shrugged and replied, “It’s just that I could have sworn that I looked his way and he was watching us fighting, just like he was lying in his bunk.”
This caused me to straighten up; so I was not mistaken. Excitedly, I whispered back, “I saw it too. I thought I must have been seeing something, but I swore I saw him peeking at us.”
Sitting there for a moment, all three of us were clearly unable to speak. The implications were enormous; if Didius was accused by us and was found guilty, he would be crucified in front of the entire army, but not before he was scourged first as an example to all of what happened to cowards. As much as I despised him, I was not sure that I wanted the burden of such a horrible death on my conscience.
With that in my mind, I looked at Scribonius and asked, “What do you think we should do?”
He thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t think there's anything we can do.”
This did not sit well with me, or Vibius for that matter and we both spoke up in protest, which Scribonius silenced with a wave of his hand.
“Think about it Pullus. It’s well known that you hate him, and he you. And it’s well known that he threatened you. I went and got Vellusius to split with him as close comrade, so there'll be suspicions about me as well.”
He paused to let this sink in, and I realized he was right.
However, I still did not feel right about it. “There has to be something we can do.”
Vibius spoke. “There is. But we can’t do it now. We’ll have to wait until we get back to the main camp.”
Searching his face in the gloom, it bore no hint of what he had in mind, so I accepted this idea with a shrug, as did Scribonius. With that matter temporarily settled we lay down, pulling our cloaks from our packs to keep out the evening chill, aware that getting as much rest as possible under the circumstances was vital. It was not until I lay down that I was struck by a thought, sitting bolt upright with a curse, startling Vibius and the other men around me.
“What in the name of Dis has gotten into you?” Vibius demanded.
Ignoring him, I quickly undid my harness instead, then climbed to my knees, shaking my armor until something dropped out. Vibius obviously heard something plop on the ground, and asked curiously, “What was that?”
I did not answer; instead, I picked up the finger then held it close enough for him to see what it was. He squinted as I moved it almost under his nose, then his eyes shot open in shock and he recoiled.
“You bastard!”
He said this loudly enough for others to drown him out with orders to shut his mouth, and I don’t think I had ever laughed that hard in my life. Throwing the finger out over the parapet and still chuckling, I lay back down, falling asleep immediately.
Suddenly awakened by the call “To arms!” I opened my eyes to chaos. Men on relief were scrambling to their feet, fumbling for their weapons in the dark, while all around us was the crashing din and cries of men fighting.
“What’s happening?” Vibius called out as we tried to make sense of the situation.
Out of the dark, the answer made our hearts drop.
“The wall's been breached!”
Whirling around, I tried to determine where the danger was coming from, but doing so was extremely difficult because of the gloom. Consequently, it took a moment before I could determine where the sounds of battle seemed to be emanating from, and I turned to Vibius who had just finished pulling on his helmet. Indicating he was ready, we began making our way to the sounds of the battle, but the bulk of the Pilus Prior suddenly appeared from the dark, and I felt his rough hand grab my arm.
“Where do you think you’re going you big oaf?” he growled.
“To the fighting Pilus Prior.”
I could barely make out the crest on his helmet moving as he sneered, “And what if this is just a diversion? That’s just what the cunni want us to do.”
“But I thought the wall was breached.”
He laughed. “That’s just some woman posing as a Legionary saying that. They attacked all right, but they haven’t breached anything yet and aren’t going to, unless you fall for a trap like that.”
Chastened, I turned back in the direction of where I thought my position was, with him giving me a helping shove to get back to my post. Stumbling back over to our designated area, where those comrades already on watch were still standing, Vibius and I joined them to peer into the dark. A short distance away, we could see the winking lights of the enemy campfires, the Lusitani camping far enough away where it was impossible to determine whether there were men gathered around it.
“Figures those bastards would pull a stunt like this and put us on full alert so we won’t get a wink of sleep. Or a bite to eat.”
Vaguely I recognized the voice of a man in the second section, since the first five had drawn first duty, and I sympathized, but sleep was now out of the question, at least for me so I spoke up, “How about we take over and you boys go get your rations, as long as you promise to come back here quick so we all don’t get on the punishment list for deserting our posts?”
I sensed a movement as someone turned to peer in my direction in the gloom, trying to make out who their benefactor was. “Pullus, is that you? That’s a splendid idea. May Fortuna smile on you for thinking of us and grant you long life.”
I flushed with pleasure as they hurried by, proud of myself for what I had done.
“You do realize that when he’s wishing you a long life, it just means that he’s wishing the same for himself, since if you live the chances are good he will too,” this came from Vibius, who always had a knack for finding the rat turd in the honey.
“You don’t know that,” I responded indignantly, “because I may die a week from now, and he might die tomorrow.”
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