The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection

by Lawrence, Caroline

  ‘None. Gladiators aren’t afraid of the dark!’

  Everyone laughed and then Jonathan said, ‘And neither are we! Are we?’

  Fifty voices shouted ‘No!’

  ‘Look! I think the moon is rising!’ It was Flavia’s voice.

  Jonathan could just make out pale ripples undulating towards him on the black surface of the water. Gradually the ripples grew brighter and a faint, milky pink light began to infuse the cave. Within minutes he could see their faces, pale globes in the darkness.

  Flavia stood up, and gave her hand to Jonathan and then Lupus.

  ‘This is it,’ she said. ‘Let’s get out of here and go to the Villa Limona! Come on, everybody, follow me!’

  ‘You really are bossy, aren’t you?’ said Pulchra, and smiled as Flavia whirled to face her. ‘Almost as bossy as I am.’

  ‘Don’t be silly.’ Flavia lifted her chin. ‘I’m far bossier than you!’

  Jonathan couldn’t help smiling.

  Because Flavia’s only thought was to get the children out of the grotto and away as quickly as possible, she didn’t think to check the cliff top first. She led the children up the narrow steps towards the rosy light of a cherry-red moon. As she emerged from the secret entrance and stepped out onto the cliff top an arm roughly circled her shoulders and chest. She felt cold, sharp metal hard against her throat and heard Lucrio’s voice snarl out to the others coming after her:

  ‘Get back down, you miserable lot, and if there aren’t fifty of you waiting when I come back down, I swear I’ll cut her throat. Do you hear me? I said I’ll kill Knobbly-knees.’

  This time no one laughed.

  His teeth chattering and his heart pounding, Lupus clung to a rough, wet stone and bobbed in the dark water just outside the mouth of the grotto. Luckily he had been the last in line. When he had heard the man’s voice at the top of the stairs, he had slipped back into the sea. He had surfaced to see a large merchant ship lying at anchor in the moonlit cove and its rowing boat coming straight towards him.

  The men on the rowing boat hadn’t seen him. Hiding behind his rock, he had watched the boat make several trips from the grotto to the ship and back. Now he saw the boat come out again. By the light of a torch held by the man at the front, he could see a dozen children, Flavia and Jonathan among them. This must be the final load.

  Lupus knew the merchant ship would probably set sail with the dawn breeze. And once the ship sailed, his friends would be gone forever.

  He must return to the Villa Limona quickly to get help.

  As he pushed out through the skin of silver moonlight on the surface of the inky water, Lupus prayed that Pulchra was right and that her father hadn’t gone to Rome. There was no one else he could turn to now. He knew Felix would do anything to help his daughter, if only he could be reached.

  ‘Please God,’ Lupus prayed. ‘Let him be there.’

  The moon was high in the sky by the time Nubia followed Kuanto and the other runaway slaves down onto a crescent beach. A fisherman and his rowing boat were waiting to take them to a large merchant ship which floated close to shore.

  Kuanto was the last into the rowing boat. He pushed the boat into the water and jumped in, making the small boat rock. As he and the old fisherman pulled at the oars, Nubia shivered and hugged Nipur tightly. She was taking a dangerous step towards freedom. The journey might end in death or punishment.

  She thought of all the things she would miss about this country called Italia. She would miss mint tea and stuffed dates and inner gardens and fountains. She would miss Scuto and Tigris. Most of all she would miss Flavia and Jonathan and Lupus. Especially Flavia, who had been so kind to her.

  Nubia gazed up at the moon. It seemed to stare back at her coolly. It was smaller now, and more remote, and its silvery light washed the sea and shore and ship, and made everything seem unreal.

  She would miss Mordecai and Alma and Flavia’s father and uncle. And beautiful Miriam. Nubia had no family to go back to. What if she and Kuanto couldn’t find her clan? What if all her relatives had been captured by slave-dealers?

  She remembered her father, lying on the blood-soaked sand, and her mother screaming and . . . no. She refused to think about that. She had Kuanto now. He would protect her. He would protect her as her eldest brother Taharqo would have protected her.

  Presently they reached the ship. Its wooden side towered over them now, rocking and creaking gently. One by one, the others went up the rope ladder. Kuanto handed Nipur up to a pair of reaching hands and went up himself, as nimbly as a monkey. Then he helped Nubia up the ladder and over the ship’s rail. As he lowered her gently onto the deck Nubia turned. And stifled a gasp.

  Before her stood fifty children, bound and trembling with fear. Beside them men were binding the hands of Socrates, Phoebus and her other new slave-friends.

  It was then that Nubia realised she had made a terrible mistake.

  When Flavia saw the dark-skinned young man lift Nubia’s puppy over the rail and put him on the deck she almost cried out. But she bit her lip and waited. Then he was helping Nubia over the rail and Flavia heard him say to the others, ‘Don’t tie this one up. She’s with me.’ He put his arm around Nubia’s shoulder and Flavia heard him say, ‘You are with me, aren’t you?’

  Nubia nodded, her face solemn and composed. She was looking around the ship at the bound children. For a moment her eyes locked with Flavia’s but then passed on, betraying no recognition.

  With his arm still around Nubia, the dark-skinned young man addressed the prisoners.

  ‘My name is Fuscus,’ he said. ‘This is Crispus, the Patron’s right hand man, and his brother Lucrio from Pompeii. Those are Sorex and Actius. That’s Captain Murex at the helm. We are the pirates,’ here he laughed, showing straight white teeth, ‘and you are the booty! Behave yourselves and we’ll treat you well. But I warn you. If you make the least trouble we’ll toss you overboard.’

  The Kalends of September dawned hazy and bright. The water was as smooth as milk and a gentle breeze filled the red and white striped sail, carrying the pirate ship sweetly towards the island of Caprea.

  In the dark hold of the ship, the captive children stirred and groaned. The baby cried insistently, and Sperata tried to soothe him through her own tears.

  Nubia came silently up the rough wooden stairs from the hold and stepped onto the deck, shivering a little in the cool morning air. Nipur followed, his claws tapping softly on the wooden deck.

  She looked at the pirates, still asleep on their cloaks near the prow: Kuanto hidden under a blanket, Actius snoring on his back, Sorex curled up like a baby, Lucrio next to his brother Crispus. They had let her sleep on the couch in the cabin but it had been one of the worst nights of her life.

  How could she have been so wrong about Kuanto? Since coming to this new land her instincts had never failed her. Until now. She had been tricked by someone from her own country.

  Perhaps it was because the more words her head understood, the less truth her heart saw.

  ‘And where have you been?’ The quiet voice in her ear made her jump. Kuanto was not cocooned in his blankets. He was standing behind her.

  ‘I was looking for the latrine.’ She gave him her most solemn gaze.

  Kuanto grinned. ‘It’s at the very front of the ship. There’s a place you can sit over the water and do your business. But if you don’t want everyone watching, I suggest you find a dark corner in the hold. It stinks down there anyway.’

  Nubia nodded. ‘I did.’

  Kuanto showed his beautiful white teeth again. ‘Come, let’s celebrate with some spiced wine!’

  He took her hand and led her back towards the helm. Captain Murex lay asleep on a folded blanket beside the open cabin. One of the crew held the steering paddle while another heated a pot of wine over a small brazier.

  Nubia made herself smile at the sailor stirring the wine. He had a large red birthmark across one cheek.

  ‘Here, let me,’ she said, t
aking the spoon. She stirred the wine and when she thought no one was looking, she did what she had to do. Presently she ladled some of the dark, fragrant liquid into four ceramic beakers near the pot. She handed them to Kuanto and the two sailors and hoped they didn’t notice her trembling hand.

  ‘To freedom,’ she said, and pretended to sip from the fourth beaker.

  ‘To us!’ said Kuanto, and drained his cup.

  ‘Who are you really?’ Nubia asked Kuanto in their native language, refilling his cup. ‘Are you a slave?’

  ‘Most of what I told you was true. I was a slave at an estate in Pausilypon. What I didn’t tell you was that the estate is called Limon and it also belongs to the Patron. He owns several, you know. He’s as rich as Crassus.’ Kuanto sipped his spiced wine and stared at her.

  ‘So you’re one of Felix’s slaves?’

  ‘I’m his freedman. The Patron recruited me to be one of his soldiers, so now I work for him. Crispus is his second-in-command. Our job was to keep law and order among his many clients. That mainly meant catching runaway slaves and returning them to their owners, usually to be crucified. But it seemed such a waste that we made a few changes. We started selling some of the slaves we caught to passing slave-dealers. That way we make money, the slaves aren’t executed, everybody’s happy.’ Kuanto drained his cup. Nubia refilled it.

  ‘The Patron knew there would be plenty of runaways after the volcano. He told us to recruit a few extra boys for the clean-up operation. So we brought in the three actors. Lucrio is Crispus’s brother, but until now he lived in Pompeii. The actors are from Pompeii, too. They lost everything in the eruption, and they were out of work anyway, so they were ready for a change of career.’

  ‘But they aren’t just taking runaway slaves. They’re taking freeborn children.’

  ‘That was Lucrio’s idea. In all the confusion, who’s going to know? They took the daughter of one of the Patron’s clients by mistake but even that worked to his advantage. We returned her, and now the old farmer’s forever in his debt. It was my idea to hold the rich ones for ransom. That’s where the real money is.’

  ‘So Felix doesn’t know about any of this?’

  ‘Not a clue,’ said Kuanto. ‘He’s lost touch of operations since he took up residence at that floating palace. Too busy composing poetry, if you ask me. But he built a good command structure. When Crispus says the Patron has given him an order people tend not to question it.’

  Nubia stirred the wine thoughtfully and when little Sorex and big Actius came up, yawning and rubbing their eyes, she ladled some into beakers and handed them each a drink.

  ‘What a nice start to the day.’ Sorex slurped his drink noisily. ‘Being served spiced wine by a dusky beauty. Lucrio! Wake up! It’s time to have your morning cup and take inventory.’

  As Nubia served Lucrio and Crispus, Sorex and Actius led the kidnapped children and the runaway slaves up from the hold.

  ‘Over there! Stand by the rail!’ squeaked Sorex, and pushed them across the deck. Soon they stood, wrists bound, shivering against the ship’s starboard rail.

  Captain Murex was awake now, too. He and his crew sipped their wine and watched the show.

  Crispus went to the end of the line, wine cup in one hand and a birch switch in the other.

  ‘Name?’

  ‘Jonathan ben Mordecai.’

  ‘Where are you from?’ growled Crispus in his deep voice.

  ‘Ostia.’

  ‘Are your parents or relatives rich enough to pay a ransom for you?’

  ‘I think so . . . we own a house . . .’

  ‘Good enough. Stand on the other side.’

  Jonathan stared at him blankly. Lucrio shoved him roughly across the deck to stand by the opposite rail.

  ‘Name?’ said Crispus, taking another sip of his wine.

  ‘Flavia Gemina, daughter of Marcus Flavius Geminus, sea captain.’

  ‘Sea captain, eh? He should be able to afford your ransom if he charges as much as Captain Murex. Stand over there . . .’ He gave her a push towards Jonathan.

  ‘Name?’

  ‘Leda.’

  ‘Where are you from?’

  ‘She’s just a slave,’ said Lucrio.

  ‘Right. You stay here.’ He moved on to the next in line. ‘Name?’

  ‘Polla Pulchra, daughter of Publius Pollius Felix, your patron.’

  Crispus’s dark head jerked up and he peered at the grubby, blood-smeared girl who stood before him. Then his long-lashed eyes opened wide in horror.

  ‘Lucrio! You blockhead!’ he bellowed. ‘You’ve kidnapped the Patron’s eldest daughter!’

  Nubia heard Kuanto curse under his breath.

  ‘You idiot!’ Crispus was saying to his brother. ‘How could you have made such a blunder?’ His face was pale with fury.

  ‘It can’t be her,’ said Lucrio. ‘I’ve seen the Patron’s daughter. She’s a prissy little blonde.’

  ‘And what colour do you call this?’ roared Crispus, holding up a lock of Pulchra’s hair.

  ‘I call it filthy,’ said Lucrio with a smirk.

  ‘It is her!’ Kuanto went over to them. ‘I’m sure of it!’

  ‘Anyway, it wasn’t me who took her!’ said Lucrio. ‘It was Sorex and Actius.’

  ‘She wasn’t acting like a noble-born girl,’ grumbled Actius.

  ‘Don’t blame us!’ said Sorex, licking his small red lips. ‘You told us to grab as many kids as we could and we did. Those two were rolling in the dust, fighting like a pair of wildcats! How were we to know?’

  ‘You fool!’ Crispus ignored the actors and thrust his face close to Lucrio’s. ‘Do you realise the power the Patron has? Have you seen that thug Lucius Brassus? He’ll crack your head like a pistachio shell!’

  ‘So we give her back like you gave back the other one. Earn his undying gratitude.’

  ‘We can’t do that,’ said Kuanto to Lucrio. ‘Pulchra’s not some timid farmer’s daughter. She’s bound to talk. Then Felix will discover what we’ve been doing all these years.’

  ‘Pollux!’ cursed Crispus. ‘He’ll hunt us all down. And he’ll never forgive me. He’ll have that giant Lucius Brassus chop me up into tiny pieces and throw me to the fishes!’

  In the silence that followed, Nubia could hear the hiss of water against the keel, the creak of the rigging and the persistent cry of Sperata’s baby.

  ‘Shut that thing up!’ Crispus screamed at Sperata. ‘I’m trying to think. Shut him up or I swear I’ll throw him overboard.’

  Crispus had drawn the others aside for a conference. While they were occupied, Jonathan managed to catch Nubia’s eye. He raised his eyebrows. Had she put the sleeping powder in the wine?

  Nubia gave the merest nod of her head and looked away in case Kuanto noticed. Earlier that morning when she had gone down to the hold, Jonathan had told her about the powder in his neck-pouch and she had taken away the twist of papyrus.

  Now, standing on the gently rocking deck, Jonathan couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. The pirates should be snoring like babies by now. He knew because he had helped his father administer the sleeping powder many times before.

  Flavia gave him a sideways glance, raising her own eyebrows in question. Jonathan shrugged, then frowned. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

  The pirates had come out of their huddle and were moving towards him.

  They looked grim.

  Lucrio gestured at Jonathan and Flavia. ‘You might as well join the others.’ His narrow face wore a sour expression. ‘Go on! Back over to the other side!’

  ‘But aren’t you going to hold us for ransom?’ asked Flavia.

  ‘Not any more,’ he muttered.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Nubia asked Kuanto, as he rejoined her. He folded his arms and scowled at Lucrio.

  ‘It’s too risky to ransom them now, even though it means losing hundreds of thousands of sesterces. We’re going to have to sell the whole lot cheap to the buyer. On condition that he sell
s them in the furthest corner of the world, Britannia maybe.’ He glanced at her. ‘If the Patron finds out what we did he would hunt us down, even in Alexandria.’

  ‘What will you do with his daughter?’

  ‘We can’t let her go,’ said Kuanto. ‘She’d lead Felix straight to us. I voted to cut her throat and throw her overboard but Crispus refuses. So she’ll be sold with the rest of them.’

  ‘Where are we going now?’ asked Nubia.

  ‘To meet the buyer near the Blue Grotto in Caprea. As soon as we’ve collected the money we’ll pay Captain Murex to take us to Alexandria. If we’re lucky . . . if we’re lucky . . . By the gods!’ His eyes widened in horror.

  ‘What?’ asked Nubia, alarmed.

  ‘Don’t move!’ he whispered. ‘Right beside you . . . sand cobra! The biggest one I’ve ever seen!’

  Nubia’s heart skipped a beat. Of all desert creatures, the sand cobra was the deadliest.

  ‘Where?’ Her voice caught in her throat.

  ‘Right there!’ Sweat beaded his forehead and his pointing hand was trembling. ‘Don’t you see it? It’s huge!’

  Nubia followed his gaze, but all she could see was a rope coiled on the deck beside the rail.

  Suddenly there was a cry from the rigging. Nubia and the others looked up. One of Captain Murex’s crew was flapping his arms. It was the one with the birthmark who’d been heating the wine.

  ‘I can fly,’ he yelled.

  Then he leapt into space and plummeted to the deck below.

  At first Nubia thought the flying sailor was dead, but then she heard him groan. He tried to lift himself, then slumped back, unconscious. She noticed he wore a knife in his belt.

  ‘What in Hades . . .?’ said Crispus, looking down at the man.

  Suddenly Kuanto clung tightly to Crispus. ‘Cobras! Cobras!’ he shrieked.

  Crispus rubbed his long-lashed eyes, then widened them, as if he, too saw the snakes. ‘Great gods!’ he cried, ‘In the rigging! And there! And there! They’re everywhere . . .’

  While they gazed up at the sail, Nubia bent and swiftly removed the knife from the unconscious sailor’s belt. None of the other sailors noticed; they were also beginning to point and scream. Suddenly there was a splash. One of them had jumped overboard.