At my signal Tacitus advanced and crouched beside me. Aurora and Grillus stayed behind us. Grillus did not look comfortable with a sword in his hand. Brennus might have been a better choice for a fight, but, knowing someone was injured, I had to bring Grillus down here.
I stood up and stepped into the opening of the cave, with Tacitus on my left and Aurora and Grillus behind us but in view. “Drop your weapons!” I ordered the kidnappers.
Both men jumped. One of them raised his hands, but the one who had thrown the rock grabbed Livia by the hair. She let out a muffled yelp.
“I think it’s you that’ll be dropping your weapons,” the man said, brandishing his sword over Livia’s head. The mask gave his voice an eerie quality. I could almost believe I was talking to a skull in a cave.
Livia’s eyes bulged as she tried to plead with me. I had no choice but to drop my sword and signal for Tacitus and Grillus to do the same.
“That’s better,” the man said. “Now, we’ve got us a standoff here.” He clearly had not considered what he might do if his plan went awry. I hoped to take advantage of his uncertainty.
“We can settle this,” I said, “as long as no one else gets hurt.”
“I didn’t hurt nobody,” the other man said plaintively. “It was all him. The man in the wagon, her finger—all of it—it was him.”
“Shut up, you fool!” his partner barked.
To my surprise, Aurora pushed past me, her hands out to show that she held no weapon. “We need to take care of Procne’s wound,” she said. “She’ll die from the bleeding if you don’t let us help her. This man is our doctor. If you’ll let her come over here, I’ll trade places with her, so you’ll still have two hostages. You’ve already killed one person. Don’t make it worse.”
“I didn’t kill nobody,” the second man snapped. “I told you, that warn’t my doin’.”
“Then, please let us take care of her before she dies. She’s losing a lot of blood.”
“All right,” the more timorous man said. “You come over here, behind us.”
“You fool!” the man who held Livia said. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Tryin’ to get us out of this alive.”
“Wait! No!” I reached out for Aurora but she was already beyond my grasp.
The man holding Livia looked at me. “Oh, she means something to you, does she? All right, girl, get over here.”
As Aurora walked toward him, the kidnapper shoved Procne in our direction. Grillus put an arm around her and took her to the entrance of the cave, where the light would let him see what he could do for her.
The men took one appreciative look at Aurora as she walked past them, then turned their attention back to us. They did not see Aurora, taking up a position behind them like a sentinel, nod slightly at me and place her hand on her thigh, where her knife was strapped. She had managed to do what I wanted to do—get someone in the enemy’s rear.
“I know you don’t want to hurt anybody else,” I said, trying to keep their focus on me. I didn’t know exactly what Aurora was planning, but I knew it was important to keep them looking forward. “You don’t have to. Whatever you’re being paid to do this, I’ll give you twice that amount if you’ll just release my wife and my servant.”
The kidnapper shook his skull head. “You know what we want.”
“You don’t want it. Whoever is behind this wants it. I swear, whatever they’re paying you, I’ll double it. No, I’ll triple it.”
The two men looked at each other. The second man, who seemed to be the weaker, less resolute of the two, might have agreed, but the stronger, bigger man shook his head. “We got orders. There’s not enough money to take care of us if we don’t do what we’re told. You know what you have to do to get her back.” He gave Livia’s hair a sharp tug. “And this other one here.” He jerked his head toward Aurora. “She is right pretty. You’ve got a good eye, sir.”
I’d have given anything if a nonexistent god could have struck the man dumb. Livia’s face turned malevolent, her eyes burning into me. That was the look Medea must have given Jason when he announced he was leaving her to marry someone else.
“But I don’t know where the document is.” I had to rein in the genuine frustration in my voice and keep talking calmly. “How can I give you something I don’t have and can’t find?”
“That’s your problem. And hers, too, I guess.” He lifted Livia by her hair until she was standing and slowly raised his sword toward her throat. “Maybe seeing her bleed a little will convince you that we’re serious.”
Livia’s eyes bulged in terror. She stretched her manacled hands out to me in supplication, trying to say something, but could only moan through her gag.
In one swift, fluid motion Aurora reached under her gown, pulled out her knife, and stabbed the man in the back. His body arched forward into a bow, his sword hand flailing backwards and punching Aurora in her stomach. She held on to her knife as the man’s sword clattered to the floor of the cave. Livia collapsed as he let go of her. Aurora pulled her knife out and reached around the man to plunge the weapon into his chest. Blood spurted and she pushed him away from her. As he fell to the ground he tumbled over Livia and his hand flopped into the fire, but he didn’t notice. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled the cave.
Tacitus and I lunged at the other man, who was frozen in shock. Before he could raise his sword we had him on the ground and disarmed. “Please don’t kill me!” he screamed. “Please don’t kill me!”
“Do you have him?” I asked Tacitus, who nodded and sat on the man, pinning his arms behind him and snatching off his skull mask. I turned my attention to Livia.
The dead man’s blood was in Livia’s hair and starting to run down her face. She was trembling, as though about to have a seizure. I removed the gag, although I knew her screaming would be ghastly, and it was, heightened by the echoes in the cave. I held her close and her terror dissolved into wrenching sobs and incoherent babbling.
“It’s all right,” I said softly, rocking her like a baby. “You’re safe now. It’s all right.”
I looked over her head at Aurora, who was searching the body of the man she had killed. She would not meet my eyes so I could mouth my thanks. From under the dead man’s tunic she extracted a small leather pouch and tossed it to me. I opened it to find gold coins and keys. I used the keys to free Livia and took her in my arms again. Tacitus placed the manacles on the other kidnapper, with his hands behind his back, then unshackled Procne.
“How is she?” he asked Grillus.
“I need to cauterize her wound,” the freedman said. He handed his sword to Tacitus. “Could you put that in the fire, sir?”
Tacitus shoved the dead man aside with his foot, knocking off his mask, and laid the tip of the sword in the fire. The man’s hand was black where it had fallen against the hot stones.
“This will hurt,” Grillus told Procne, “but we must do it to stop the bleeding.”
Procne pulled back from him, and Grillus tightened his grip.
“We don’t have any choice, girl,” he said. “That fellow did a brutal job of cutting off your finger. I don’t have any other way to stop the bleeding. Hold on to me, as tightly as you need to. It’ll be over in just a moment.”
I saw Grillus wince when Procne grabbed hold of his arm and began to squeeze. Her eyes had the wild look of one of Dionysus’ Maenads, but inspired by terror instead of by wine.
“Now, sir,” he said to Tacitus, “can you take her injured hand and hold it out as straight and steady as possible?”
Tacitus knelt beside Procne and did as Grillus asked him. The freedman lifted the sword out of the fire and touched the glowing tip to Procne’s injury, in spite of her efforts to pull away. Her skin sizzled and Procne screamed and fainted. Livia vomited in my lap.
“We need to get back home as soon as possible,” I said, smoothing Livia’s hair.
Aurora wiped her knife clean on the dead man’s tunic and put i
t back in its sheath. “Why don’t we go to Eustachius’ house?” she said. “It’s only a short distance from here. I’m sure he and his wife can help us take care of Procne and clean everybody up.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan,” Tacitus said, untying the horses’ reins. “Let’s get everyone loaded up. We could make our work easier if we just threw this bastard over the ledge into the quarry.” He kicked the dead man.
“No,” I said. “I want to know if anyone in Comum knows him or knows who his friends are. That could lead us to the man behind all this.”
We hoisted the kidnappers over two horses like bags of wheat. The three of us men would lead the animals in our little caravan. Grillus had the horse carrying the dead kidnapper. I led the horse Livia was riding—uncomfortably. Tacitus led the horse with the second kidnapper, who was chained and gagged, draped over it. Aurora rode a horse with Procne sitting in front of her.
When we had made our way up the narrow trail and were on level ground, Brennus joined us with our own horses. As we mounted and spread out a little, I gave the reins of Livia’s horse to Brennus and dropped back to ride alongside Grillus. Placing a hand on the dead man’s back, I leaned over to Grillus and said softly, “Just to be sure you understand, I killed this man. Tacitus will swear to it, and I’d better not hear you telling anyone otherwise.”
“Why would I, sir? That’s exactly what happened.”
Then I grabbed the second kidnapper’s head and turned it up so he could see my face. “If you try to say anything to the contrary,” I snarled, “it will be the last words you ever utter, and no one would believe you.”
* * *
Our arrival at Eustachius’ house set off a flurry of activity. The quarry owner and his wife seemed undaunted by the sight of a missing finger. When I noticed Eustachius’ missing arm, I realized they must treat the loss of fingers and limbs on a regular basis. They cleaned Procne’s wound, put an ointment on it, then made Livia and Procne drink something to calm them, and put them to bed. With everyone tended to, they sat us down to some bread and wine and listened to our story of the kidnapping and rescue with open mouths.
“Well then, let’s take a look at this lot,” Eustachius said. “Who’s this you’ve got trussed over the horse with the wound in his back?” He pulled the dead man off the horse and took in a quick breath when he saw the gaping hole in his chest.
“He was threatening my wife.”
“That I can understand, sir,” Eustachius said. “But vicious blows, front and back?”
I now realized how improbable a story I was trying to concoct. “There was a scuffle. The fellow was quite strong.”
“Then we’ll just leave it at that, sir.” He pointed to the blood on the front of Aurora’s gown. “Was she injured? Do we need to tend to her?”
“No. That’s just from Procne’s hand and the general confusion. We’ve all got some blood on us.” Aurora had said hardly a word on our short ride to Eustachius’ house. I could see that she was shaken by what had happened. She almost seemed to be in pain, and I wanted to hold her in my arms and comfort her—and be comforted by her—but…
“Well,” Eustachius said, “however it happened, sir, you’ve done the world a favor by taking this scoundrel out of it.”
“You know him?”
“He used to work for me. Name’s Publius Aurelius. He’s a freedman from Comum.”
“Used to work for you?”
“Yes, sir. He was an all-around troublemaker. I sent him away about five years ago.”
“So that’s how he knew about the cave.”
“The one on the north side of the quarry?”
I nodded.
“He and some other rascals used to hide out there, I believe.”
“Is this one of them?” Tacitus asked from where he was standing guard. “Before we gagged him, he said his name is Doricles.”
Eustachius stood over the second kidnapper, who lay shackled hand and foot. “Can’t say that I’ve had the misfortune to know this one. Shall we hear his story?”
Tacitus removed the man’s gag. “I suspect he’ll say anything to save his skin, but we’ll try to sort the wheat from the chaff.”
I met the fellow’s eyes and rested my hand on the hilt of my sword to remind him of my threat. As he took a deep breath I asked, “Who hired you to kidnap my wife and my servants?”
“I don’t know, sir, and that’s as true a word as I’ve ever spoken.”
“How can you not know who hired you? Somebody gave you a lot of money.” I was carrying the pouch of gold coins Aurora had taken from the dead man under my tunic.
“Lutulla give us the job.”
“Lutulla? The owner of the taberna in Comum?” Tacitus and I exchanged a glance. The taberna where we had lunch with Romatius? What could she have to do with this business?
“Yes, sir, that very one.”
“Why would she want to kidnap my wife?”
“She didn’t, sir.” The man squirmed against his chains.
“But you just said—”
“She told us to go to a certain place and meet a man who had a job for us. He had left half the money with her, and we would get the other half when the job was done.”
“Where did you meet him?” Tacitus asked. When we question someone, we often alternate between us, to keep the person off-balance, to make him look back and forth, uncertain where the next question is coming from. And different questions occur to each of us. Sometimes Tacitus pretends to be more friendly while I press hard; at other times we reverse the roles.
“Out at a temple, on the east side of town. It’s been tore down, maybe never finished.”
My father’s temple!
“Who was he?”
“I’m telling you, sir, I don’t know. He had on a skull mask, like the ones Publius and me was wearing. We never saw his face. He told us what to do. We rode with him and kidnapped the people in the raeda. He took one of the women off with him and we took the others to the hut.”
“Who killed the driver?” Tacitus demanded.
“That were Publius, sir. I swear it, by all the gods. The man in the mask was furious when it happened. I think he’da killed Publius on the spot if he didn’t need him. He told us we wasn’t to lay a hand on any of the others, just wait to hear from him.”
I took my turn. “Did you lay a hand on any of the others?” Even if I didn’t love Livia, I would kill this bastard on the spot if he had done anything to her.
“No, sir! By all the gods! Publius wanted to have some fun with your servant girl, but I wouldn’t let him. She can tell you that. And so can your fella, the one that escaped. I wouldn’t let Publius touch any of ’em.”
Tacitus landed a solid kick in Doricles’ back. “Because you’re such a nice fella.”
“No, sir,” Doricles said, grimacing. “I was just afraid of what the man in the mask would do to us. And I needed the money.”
“You’ve lost the money,” I said, “and the only thing you have to be afraid of now is what we’re going to do to you.”
“Yes, sir, I know.” He began to cry. “Please have mercy, sir.”
With his one arm Eustachius grabbed Doricles by the shackles and lifted him like a child. “I’ve got a place where I can lock him up until we can get him to the magistrates.”
“Is it hot and stinking?” I said.
“Like the lower levels of Tartarus, sir.” Eustachius smiled grimly.
“Well, if you don’t have anything worse, that will have to do.”
* * *
Eustachius’ wife managed to find clean clothing that fit most of us reasonably well, for which I paid her. She and Aurora did a hasty job of removing the equestrian stripes from my tunic and Tacitus’ and stitching them onto our new garments. There was no sense trying to clean the clothes we’d been wearing when we arrived.
I was sitting beside Livia’s bed a couple of hours later when she awoke. She looked around the small, dimly lit room in confus
ion, then sat up in fear, breathing rapidly, her eyes wide.
“It’s over,” I said, putting a hand on her arm. “You’re safe now.”
She clutched my hand tightly. “Where am I?”
“We’re at Eustachius’ quarry.”
She looked down at herself. “What is this rag I’m wearing?”
“We had to find some clean garments. These were the best we could do under the circumstances.” I touched her hair. “We cleaned you up as best we could. We’ll go home whenever you feel like you can travel and you can get a proper bath then.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever feel clean again.”
I wondered if Doricles had been telling the truth. “Did they—”
“No, the little one stood up to the bigger man. But they touched me when they chained me and gagged me. That’s enough.” She shivered and drew the bed covering around her. “Where is Procne?”
“She’s asleep in the next room.”
“And those awful men?”
“One’s dead, and the other is locked up. They’re not going to hurt you.”
“What about the third man? There were three.”
“We’ll find him. He can’t get to you now.”
Knowing where everyone was seemed to settle her. She took a deep breath. “Oh, Gaius, it was horrible. They held poor Procne down and cut off her finger. He sawed at it with his knife.” She raised her hand and made a sawing motion, back and forth. “She kept screaming. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that scream.”
“I promise you, it’s all right,” I said. “Procne’s been tended to. No one can harm you.”
Livia sat quietly for a moment, then scowled at me. “Where’s Aurora?”
“She’s resting outside.”
“Bring her in here.”
For a moment I thought Livia might want to thank Aurora for saving her life, but I wanted to keep up the pretense that she hadn’t been involved in what happened. I needed to convince Livia that she hadn’t actually seen a servant woman plunge a knife into a man’s heart.
“Why don’t we just try to forget what happened in that cave—”
“Bring her in here, Gaius. Right now.” The accustomed edge returned to her voice.
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