The Roman Mysteries Complete Collection

by Lawrence, Caroline

  ‘I am Magnus,’ said the giant in a surprisingly light voice, ‘Please be seated. And please excuse me for remaining behind this screen. I must retain my anonymity.’

  Jonathan tried not to laugh. What was the point of an eight-foot giant keeping his face hidden?

  ‘Tamar, give our guest some refreshment.’

  The beautiful serving-girl moved silently to a low brass table and as she poured out a steaming liquid Jonathan smelled the familiar comforting scent of mint tea. Tamar set the small glass beaker on a copper tray beside a dish of green almonds and carried it to Bato, who sat cross-legged on the cushions.

  Behind the sandalwood screen, the giant remained standing, and it occurred to Jonathan that he wanted to intimidate Bato with his size.

  ‘Tell me,’ said Magnus, when the serving-girl had retreated, ‘who are you and why have you come to see me?’

  Bato cleared his throat. ‘My name is Titus Flavius Pharnaces,’ he lied. ‘I’m a freedman, a banker. Until recently, I lived and worked in Neapolis. Last summer a volcano exploded. It killed almost all my debtors but it spared my creditors. Since then, life has become very difficult for me. I managed to pay my debts and scrape together enough money for the fare to Athens. From there, I found a boat to Cos, where I have a distant cousin named Timoleon, a fisherman. My cousin went out fishing two days ago and found these four children clinging to wreckage some distance from the coast.’

  ‘Fascinating,’ said Magnus. ‘It sounds as if the children were victims of a shipwreck. Did your cousin see the remains of any ship?’

  ‘No ship,’ said Bato, ‘but as Timo was rowing them back to shore he saw another man clinging to a floating mast. This man’s injuries were much worse; he had lost his legs and was dying. Timo took him on board and the man said his name was Zosimus. Before he died, he told my cousin that if he took these children to a certain Magnus on Rhodes, he would be greatly rewarded.’

  ‘Died, you say? This Zosimus died?’

  ‘I’m afraid so. Timo and I burned his body on the beach and placed his ashes in an urn.’

  Jonathan kept his eyes lowered. He knew that Zosimus was still alive in prison on Cnidos, awaiting trial.

  ‘I hope this Zosimus was not a relative or close friend,’ said Bato politely.

  ‘He was a most useful client,’ said Magnus from behind his screen, and then, ‘Why did your cousin not come himself?’

  ‘He’s a humble fisherman. He has never travelled further than Symi to the south and Calymne to the north. I was still in need of money, so I volunteered to go.’

  ‘And you realise these are freeborn children?’

  ‘Yes, they have told me so repeatedly. You can see that I had to strike one of them, the boy with the black eye. Since then I’ve had no trouble.’

  ‘Do you also realise that what you are proposing is highly illegal?’

  Bato lifted the small glass beaker and nodded, ‘I hope it will also be . . . rewarding,’ he said carefully. ‘For both of us.’

  ‘It will be,’ said Magnus. ‘Very rewarding. But first I must tell you how I do business. I never barter. I will make you an offer. You either accept or reject it.’

  ‘Very well,’ said Bato, taking a sip from the small gilded glass.

  ‘My offer is this,’ came the voice behind the screen: ‘Forty thousand sesterces for the lot.’

  Bato almost choked on his mint tea. ‘That’s very generous,’ he said, putting down his glass and starting to rise to his feet. ‘I must consider your kind—’

  ‘No,’ said Magnus. ‘Make your decision now. Either keep the four children, or take the forty thousand. Once you leave this place you will never return.’

  Bato slowly sat down on the cushion and Jonathan knew his mind must be racing.

  In all their planning they had not foreseen this.

  Bato had only brought the children here as a pretext to see Magnus and the inside of the house. But how could Bato take them away without arousing suspicion? He had presented himself as a man desperate for money, and here was someone offering him an enormous sum, far more than they had ever imagined.

  ‘I can’t accept less than a hundred,’ said Bato at last. ‘One hundred thousand sesterces.’

  Jonathan heard the serving-girl stifle a gasp, and next to him Flavia stiffened. He himself was finding it hard to breathe. He knew Bato was taking a huge gamble. Magnus said he never bartered. By asking for one hundred thousand sesterces, Bato was showing himself to be greedy and arrogant. Magnus should now refuse, which would allow Bato and the children to leave without arousing suspicion.

  But if Magnus had been bluffing – if he was open to barter – and willing to humble himself by giving in to this enormous demand, then Bato would have no choice but to leave them all behind in the clutches of this evil giant.

  Magnus only paused for a moment, but to Nubia it felt like hours.

  ‘I told you,’ he said. ‘I never barter. Tamar, please show our guest the way out.’

  Bato rose.

  ‘Oh, and by the way, Pharnaces . . .’ said Magnus in a pleasant tone.

  ‘Yes?’ said Bato.

  ‘If you come back for any reason, I will have you killed.’

  Bato gave a stiff nod and as he turned to lead them out Nubia saw his face. Although it betrayed no emotion, it was as pale as parchment.

  As the double doors closed, Flavia’s trembling knees gave way and she almost fell down the marble stairs.

  Bato caught her and jerked her roughly to her feet. ‘Get up, you brat!’ he shouted, giving her hand a secret squeeze. Flavia knew he was reminding her to play the role, so she let him shove her forward. Down the stairs, past the heavy door with its terrible secret, through the rose-filled courtyard, down more stairs, then under the vaulted ceiling of the vestibule and finally out through the double doors onto the sunlit street. Although she was only pretending to be a slave, she felt frightened and humiliated.

  She turned her head and saw Nubia behind her, walking gravely and with dignity, and Flavia felt a sudden rush of affection for her friend.

  ‘If Magnus is as brilliant as they say he is,’ said Bato under his breath, ‘one of his men will be following us right now. Keep pretending you’re captured and frightened children.’

  Flavia nodded. That wouldn’t be hard.

  At first Lupus couldn’t see his ship among the others docked in the harbour. Then with a start, he recognised the hated black-and-yellow striped sail of the Vespa.

  In just a few hours, Flavia’s father and his crew had disguised the Delphina. Apart from replacing her old sail, they had taken away the sail from the front and they had painted a new image on the stern post – a wasp.

  When Flavia’s father saw them trudging up the gangplank, he ran forward.

  ‘Don’t hug me, pater!’ Flavia hissed. ‘Spies might be watching us!’

  He nodded. ‘Follow me,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I have something amazing to show you!’ He disappeared down into the hold.

  Bato untied their hands and pretended to shove them down the stairs. As Lupus’s eyes adjusted to the dimness, he saw someone standing beside one of the water barrels. A big man with a good-looking face and bad teeth.

  ‘Sextus!’ cried Flavia, then clapped her hands over her mouth. ‘We thought you were dead!’

  ‘I thought so, too, Miss Flavia,’ he said. ‘When that giant wave capsized our ship last summer, I thought I was going to Hades. But here I am in Rhodes.’

  ‘Sextus has agreed to come back as a member of my crew,’ said her father as he untied the rope around Flavia’s neck. ‘And he’s told us where the Medea is. She docked three days ago in the eastern harbour, about half a mile away, and she’s still in her berth.’

  ‘Excellent,’ said Bato, who was untying Lupus. ‘Magnus’s house is almost impregnable. It’s hidden in a warren of alleys and has stone walls a foot thick. But if our information is correct, and he plans to transport some children tonight, then that’s the perfec
t opportunity to catch him – while he’s taking them from the house to the ship.’

  ‘You could hide near the slave-ship Medea!’ said Flavia. ‘And then just as Magnus and his men are about to drive the children up the gangplank you could leap out and catch them!’

  Lupus nodded.

  ‘Precisely,’ said Bato, moving on to Jonathan. ‘Now that I have personally witnessed Magnus’s illegal methods, I can go straight to the Roman governor of this province. I believe he lives in the house with the seven palm trees in front of it, the one we passed this morning, just inside the town gates. With his permission and a dozen of his soldiers, we should be able to overpower Magnus’s men and free not only the children on the ship but also those left behind at the house.’

  ‘Why hasn’t the governor tried to stop Magnus before now?’ asked Jonathan.

  ‘I’m sure he has,’ said Bato drily.

  Captain Geminus had finished untying Flavia and her friends, and he was automatically coiling the cord which had bound them. ‘Did you actually see the captive children at Magnus’s house?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ said Flavia. ‘I only caught a glimpse into a dark room but I saw some children sitting at looms. We saw Magnus, too. He’s a giant.’

  ‘A real giant?’

  ‘At least eight feet tall,’ came Flaccus’s deep voice, and the light in the hold dimmed as he filled the hatchway. They all turned to watch him come down the stairs.

  ‘Master!’ cried Zetes and ran forward to kiss Flaccus’s hand. ‘Don’t do that,’ said Flaccus with an angry flush. ‘You’re freeborn, remember?’

  Zetes hung his head and nodded.

  ‘Quickly, Valerius,’ said Bato to Flaccus, ‘Tell us what you saw when you were waiting at the back entrance of Magnus’s house.’

  ‘About an hour after you left me – maybe less – the door opened and the giant came out. He was wearing a hooded cloak so I couldn’t see what he looked like, just that he was huge. I’m almost six foot, but he was a good two feet taller. His hobnailed boots rang out on the cobbled streets and I was able to follow him for quite a while. I used your piece of chalk to scrawl a wavy “M” for Magnus on the walls. But then I lost him.’ Flaccus moved forward and shook his head. ‘He disappeared into a tavern. It wasn’t very crowded but I couldn’t see him anywhere. I’m near-sighted, but even so, I don’t know how I could have missed a man that big. There wasn’t even a back door. I hurried back out the front door, but by then he had gone. I’m sorry.’

  ‘Never mind,’ said Bato.

  ‘We should go back to the tavern and look for secret tunnels,’ said Flavia.

  ‘Wait,’ said Flaccus, ‘there’s more. When I was following Magnus I noticed some men painting a house. On my way back here I saw the same house, with the ladder leaning against it, but no workmen. So I borrowed it and followed my chalk marks back to Magnus’s house. I was able to climb the ladder and look through some small high windows I had noticed earlier.’

  ‘Did you see the children?’ said Flavia.

  Flaccus nodded. ‘I saw them. When I looked in I must have blocked some light from the window. Every one of their heads turned to look up at me.’

  ‘How many?’ asked Bato.

  ‘About fifty or sixty. I couldn’t see very well, but I think some of them – maybe all of them – were chained to looms.’

  ‘Great Neptune’s beard!’ cried Flavia’s father. ‘We must take action immediately. Sextus told us that the Medea is leaving tonight at an hour past moonrise.’

  ‘Then you agree with my plan to enlist the governor’s help and lie in wait by the Medea?’ said Bato. ‘And you’ll help me?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Flavia’s father.

  ‘Yes,’ said Flaccus.

  ‘Yes,’ said Sextus.

  ‘Yes,’ said Flavia, Jonathan and Nubia. Lupus and Zetes nodded too.

  ‘NO!’ said Bato and Flavia’s father added, ‘This is far too dangerous for children. You five must stay here on the ship with Sextus and promise not to interfere. If they plan to set sail an hour past moonrise, my guess is that they’ll move the children under cover of dusk.

  Bato nodded. ‘But we’ll have to be in place well before then.’

  ‘Oh, pater!’ cried Flavia. ‘You could be in danger!’

  Captain Geminus nodded grimly. ‘And that’s why I want you to stay here. Sextus,’ he added as they moved up the stairs, ‘if we’re not back by moonrise, alert the authorities.’

  ‘This is called Monkey Harbour?’ asked Nubia.

  ‘That’s what some of the locals call it,’ said Sextus. He blew some wood shavings from the figurine he was whittling, a small deer.

  It was late afternoon, the hottest time of the day. Because the air in the ship’s hold had become unbearably stifling, Sextus had allowed them to crawl up on deck. The four friends and Zetes sat in the shade of the deckhouse, with their backs against the polished rail where they wouldn’t be seen. The waxy smell of fresh paint was stronger up here, but there was a cooling breeze.

  ‘Why do they call it Monkey Harbour?’ asked Jonathan, who was searching for ticks in Tigris’s fur.

  ‘Is it because there are many monkeys on this island?’ suggested Nubia hopefully.

  ‘No monkeys,’ said Sextus. ‘But there are deer. Miniature deer.’

  ‘I wish we could have gone with pater and Bato and Floppy,’ said Flavia.

  ‘Miniature deer?’ said Nubia. ‘Deer that are being most small?’

  Sextus nodded. ‘Many years ago there was a plague of snakes here on Rhodes. That’s why Rhodians wear boots and never sandals. The islanders tried every means to rid themselves of the plague, but nothing worked. There were snakes everywhere.’

  Nubia shuddered.

  ‘Finally,’ said Sextus, ‘they sent their wisest men to that famous oracle. You know, the one at Delphi. She told them to bring some little deer back with them. It worked. The deer sucked the snakes right out of their holes. Ate them all up.’

  ‘I hate waiting and I hate not knowing what’s happening,’ said Flavia.

  ‘Of all creatures, I do not like the snake,’ said Nubia.

  ‘Lupus doesn’t like monkeys,’ said Jonathan, ‘Remember we got you a monkey for your last birthday? What a disaster that was!’

  Lupus nodded.

  ‘Have you seen the deer?’ asked Nubia.

  ‘Once or twice,’ said Sextus. ‘They live up there on the acropolis. The best time to see them is dawn or dusk. They often gather in the grove around the Temple of Apollo. They’ll eat right out of the priestess’s hand.’

  Beside Nubia, Lupus stiffened.

  ‘Have you seen the Colossus?’ asked Zetes shyly. ‘My master said he would take me to see it.’

  ‘Of course I’ve seen the Colossus. One of his arms lies on the ground and there is a shiny band on the narrowest part of his thumb where men have tried to reach around it. Most men aren’t big enough,’ he added, ‘but I am.’

  ‘Where are you going, Lupus?’ asked Jonathan.

  Lupus stopped crawling towards the hatch-cover and looked at them. Then he stuck his bottom in the air and mimed wiping it with a sponge-stick.

  ‘More than I needed to know,’ said Jonathan, and turned back to Sextus. ‘Is it true that you can walk around inside the statue’s legs and arms?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Sextus, ‘but you have to be careful. The legs are still full of the huge rocks they used to keep it weighted down. Of course, that’s just his thighs. The feet and lower legs are still standing.’

  ‘The statue broke off at the knees, didn’t it?’ said Flavia.

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘I wonder if the legs fill up with water when it rains,’ mused Jonathan.

  ‘Then maybe ducks are swimming in his knees,’ said Nubia.

  ‘Sextus,’ said Flavia presently. ‘Please can you look and see if pater and the others are coming yet? The sun will be setting in less than an hour and I’m worried about them.’

&
nbsp; Sextus sighed and stood up. ‘By Castor! That little scamp!’

  ‘What?’ said Flavia. ‘What is it, Sextus?’

  ‘It’s Lupus. He wasn’t going to the latrine at all.’

  Lupus had gone down into the hold but only long enough to put on his sandals. Then he had crawled across the deck and down the gangplank. Now his sandals slapped on the hot stone pier as he sprinted towards the town.

  Apollo. There was a temple of Apollo with priestesses up there on the acropolis. And his mother had made a solemn vow to that god.

  The temple of Apollo on the acropolis of Rhodes: that’s where his mother would be. He was sure of it.

  Lupus slowed to a walk as the hillside grew steeper.

  There were only a few people up here, coming down from the sanctuary. They were dwarfed by the colossal statues on either side of the path. The sun was low in the sky and it bathed the whole hillside in golden light. Further up the hill, twists of smoke rose from the evening sacrifices inside the sacred precinct.

  The fallen Colossus was not visible from this angle – probably blocked by the theatre or one of the temples – but he could see a towering statue of Poseidon with his trident, and nearby a giant sea nymph or goddess. Lupus remembered that Poseidon was the father of the sea nymph Rhoda, after whom this island was named.

  His heart began to pound as he caught sight of a colossal Apollo holding bow and arrows. But this Apollo stood on the exposed hillside, and there were no buildings near it. His temple must be the massive one right up there on the peak of the acropolis.

  Presently Lupus stopped for a moment to catch his breath, then turned to look down. From up here he could see the whole of Rhodes Town spread below him, golden in the light of the setting sun. Further off he could see the lighthouse, its plume of dark smoke rising into the sky, and four of the five harbours, including Monkey Harbour. He could not distinguish his ship from the others and he wondered if Captain Geminus and Bato were back. Had they succeeded in freeing the children?

  Then, as he turned to go back up he saw what he had not noticed before. An enormous full moon was rising in the east, to his right. If he looked straight towards the harbour, he could see both sun and moon in the sky together, one on his right, one on his left, one setting, one rising, but both above the horizon.