“Yes.”
Emrys looked across the slope. Then, without a word, he shook the reins and drove the cart at an angle up the tor. They left the road leading up to the village.
Ishihara saw the paddock and two other buildings ahead of them. Only two animals remained in the pen and he supposed they had been left behind because they were not suitable to ride. He did not see any small carts similar to Emrys’s.
As Emrys drew up in front of the paddock, a short, stocky man wearing a ragged leather tunic walked on a wooden crutch under his left arm from one of the buildings.
“If you want to sell something, you’re too late,” said the man with the crutch. “You’ll have to catch up to the baggage train.”
“No, no. We wish to buy,” said Emrys. “Are you the master of horse?”
“Of course not.” The man scowled. “The master of horse has gone with Artorius. So has the armorer. I am Antonius.” He hesitated. “What do you want to buy?”
“A couple of horses,” said Ishihara.
“The price of a good horse goes up this time of year,” said Antonius.
“Nonsense,” said Emrys. “Every good horse has already been taken. You have none at all.”
“Then what do you want here?”
“I will dicker with the man who can sell,” said Emrys. “If you are not the master of horse, who makes the decisions here now?”
“Well, until Artorius returns, I do.”
“We want two or three mounts to ride on the road.”
“Just to travel? Not to join the cavalry or to pull a wagon?”
“No.”
“All right. Come and look.”
Emrys and Ishihara got down and followed Antonius into the paddock. Wayne hopped down and watched but did not bother to enter the pen. Jane stayed where she was.
Antonius led Emrys and Ishihara to a pair of small, brown mules standing quietly. Ishihara noticed their long ears and white noses. Both animals placidly watched them approach.
Emrys looked over the mules carefully. He patted them and stroked their legs and necks as he walked around them. Then he examined their teeth.
Finally, Emrys took some coins out of a pouch and held them out to Antonius.
The other man leaned on his crutch and frowned, shaking his head.
Without speaking, Emrys took out one more coin and held it out.
Antonius shook his head again.
“That is all he is worth,” said Emrys.
Antonius said nothing.
Emrys dropped the coins back into his pouch and walked away. Ishihara followed him. Just as they reached the gate of the paddock, Antonius began hustling after them awkwardly on his crutch.
“All right,” Antonius called. “He is yours.”
Emrys turned and spilled the coins carefully into his palm again. He dropped them into Antonius’s outstretched hand. Then Antonius walked back to the storage building and came out with an old bridle and a long rope. In the paddock again, he tossed them to Emrys, who slipped the bridle on one of the mules and tied the rope to rings on the bridle to use as reins. Then he led the mule out of the paddock.
“I ask only that you return it to me when you come back,” said Emrys, holding the reins out to Ishihara.
“That might not be possible,” said Ishihara, without accepting the reins. “If we have to act quickly, returning it could endanger me.”
“I know the campaign could be dangerous. Please take care of yourselves.” Emrys placed the reins in Ishihara’s hands. “You are…unusual friends.”
“Thank you. We shall bring the mule back if we are able.” Ishihara turned” and related this to Wayne, knowing that Jane could overhear him.
“All right, but it’s only one mule for three of us,” said Jane.
“What else can we do?” Ishihara asked.
“Nothing,” said Wayne. “We have no money.”
“What’s wrong with this mule?” Jane demanded.
“What do you mean?” Wayne asked.
“Why didn’t they take him to ride? Or for the baggage train? Is he old or something?”
“Antonius explained,” said Ishihara. “This mule is young and healthy but too small to put in harness. The warriors disdain riding a mule into battle and they have enough food, so no one would want to eat it.”
“I have another suspicion, too,” Wayne added, lowering his voice.
“What?” Jane asked, concerned. “Something bad about the mule?”
“No, nothing like that.” Wayne shook his head. “Since Antonius is in charge here for now, I think he’s going to pocket the coins Emrys paid him. So if he sells a cavalry mule and keeps all the profit, he’ll be happy enough.”
“I am sure that Emrys cannot buy another,” said Ishihara. “However, you and Wayne can ride this one together, bareback. He will tire more quickly than a horse carrying one rider, but the teams pulling the baggage train will tire quickly, too. We should be able to catch up tonight after they stop to make camp.”
Jane nodded. “And you’ll jog along beside us.”
“Yes.”
Jane climbed out of the cart. Emrys handed her the bag of bread and mutton. She accepted it.
“Thank you, Emrys,” Jane said, in Latin. “Farewell.”
Emrys understood her meaning, if not the words, and nodded politely.
“This won’t last us very long,” said Jane, turning to Ishihara. “What else are we going to eat on the way? This might last us two small meals, but tomorrow morning, we’ll be on the road somewhere.”
“If necessary, we can always use the belt unit to jump to another time and place for food,” said Wayne. “But if we’re lucky, we’ll find MC 6 tonight, get him to come with us, and be done with the whole mess.”
“All right,” said Jane reluctantly. “I know you don’t want to starve, either. But now that I think about it, what about getting through the night? If you don’t get MC 6 to follow you tonight, we’ll freeze out on the road without some kind of bedrolls.”
“We must find blankets in the village,” said Ishihara. “However, without money to buy them, we can only ask for Emrys to help again. I do not know how much more he will be willing and able to help.”
“Maybe he can afford old ones, “ said Jane. “Their condition won’t matter, as long as they don’t have bugs or anything. Please ask him.”
Ishihara turned to Emrys again. “Can we buy old, inexpensive blankets in the village? We can return them, too, with the mule.”
“Of course,” said Emrys. “I know which booth to visit. I can help with that. You will need a small pot in which to heat water, too.”
“We will go to the village,” said Ishihara. “Then, if our search for blankets succeeds, we will hurry on our way up the road.”
Steve enjoyed riding out with Artorius’s cavalry, in a column of four abreast. He rode on the far right of his rank, with Hunter on his immediate left and Cynric on Hunter’s other side. Another member of their squad rode on the far left, with the remainder in the ranks behind them.
All of Lucius’s troop of green recruits rode in the rear. No dust roiled up, however, because of the dampness in the earth. Overhead, gray clouds drifted across the sky.
Around him, Steve could see the excitement in the young faces of the other riders. The thought of going to war against the hated Saxons dominated their attention. None of them spoke now.
Up ahead, as the column drew away from Cadbury, the squads in the van cantered ahead of the rest. When the vanguard had opened some distance, the entire column was ordered to canter. Steve understood and kicked his mount; Artorius, already a veteran leader, wanted his men to vent their tension.
When the column slowed to a walk again, Steve could see the difference. The riders around him relaxed, breathless, and began talking and laughing among themselves. Under the hooves of the horses ahead, the soft road quickly turned to muddy slop, but no one cared. The road wound east and sometimes northeast around rolling hills covered
with lush green grass; clumps of trees lined the hollows among the hills.
“I hear word from up ahead,” said Hunter. “A rumor of our destination is slowly passing back through the column, from one man to another.”
“Well, what is it? Where are we going?”
“To the River Dubglas in Linnuis,” said Hunter. He lowered his voice and leaned toward Steve, switching to English.” According to the library data I took before we left, that is the Douglas River in modern Lincolnshire.”
“River Dubglas, you say?” Cynric, riding on the far side of Hunter from Steve, nodded. “That sounds right.”
“So I heard,” said Hunter.
“We fought them by the banks of that river late last season,” said Cynric. “If we hope to drive them back this summer, we’ll have to attack their territory. Last year’s campaign penned them on the far side of the river, but I suppose they look to cross it again, with their reinforcements from across the Channel.” His face tightened as he considered this.
“How long will we take to reach River Dubglas?” Hunter asked.
“If we ride without a break to the same site as last year’s battle, three days. Our scouts will ride back with word as we draw closer, though, to tell Artorius exactly where on the river to go. We might spend some time moving up and down the bank. Artorius will make his final plans according to how many of our veterans join us quickly.”
“You feel he may order us to wait and gather his troops before moving into battle?” Hunter asked.
“Anything is possible. We will find out his plans when we are close enough for our scouts to bring fresh information.”
Steve understood the real questions in Hunter’s mind, behind his spoken words. Hunter wanted to take Steve away from the column before any battle began. Ideally, they would find MC 6 and simply return together to their own time before the fighting started. Now Hunter could estimate that they had a minimum of three days before Artorius could reach the Saxons.
14
Wayne and Jane rode the mule. He held the reins while Jane sat behind him with her arms around his waist. Even at a walk, the mule’s long legs moved faster than a human’s legs would walk.
Ishihara had to stride quickly to keep up. He moved at a pace that no human could maintain for long, but of course had no trouble with it himself. Because the road had been churned to a deep muddy soup by the horses ahead, Wayne rode through the long grass by the side of the road.
Inlate morning, they caught up to the camp followers hiking after the riders. Ishihara led Wayne on a long detour around the camp followers, far enough to avoid conversation. Then they moved back to the side of the road again.
At midday, Wayne stopped for a break. He and Jane ate part of their bread and mutton in silence. Then they mounted again and continued on their journey.
Late in the afternoon, Ishihara suddenly trotted about twenty meters ahead of the mule, then stopped. As Wayne caught up to him, Ishihara raised a hand for him to halt. Wayne saw that Ishihara was listening to something.
“They have stopped to make camp,” Ishihara said finally. “The noises are faint, but we will come within sight of the camp soon. We must decide how to proceed now, before anyone in the camp sees us.”
“Well…I don’t know exactly what to do,” said Wayne. “What do you suggest?”
Ishihara looked up the road, which still wound through rolling hills ahead. “That long line of trees suggests a river or at least a stream that provides water for Artorius’s camp. We will need water, too, so we might as well go close enough to see what the camp looks like.”
“Yeah. Maybe we can see MC 6 from a distance.” Wayne kicked the mule forward.
As Wayne passed, Ishihara looked behind him, at Jane. “You are still well?”
“Yeah,” Jane muttered.
The troops halted to make camp by a small stream. Hunter saw new scouting patrols ride out, crossing the stream. He understood that by stopping with plenty of daylight left, the main column allowed the baggage train time to catch up before darkness fell.
The squads split up and fanned out from the road. The riders tended their horses first, unsaddling them and hobbling them to graze. Then the men were ordered to gather firewood to make separate campfires for the night.
“There’s dead wood among those live trees, all over the place,” said Steve, glancing at the trees lining the stream. “We don’t need everybody to gather it.”
“Every man does his share,” growled Cynric. “Come on, you two.”
“Hold it,” called Bedwyr, with a big grin. He walked briskly among the other men and horses toward them. “I have business here, Cynric. How did my green friends fare on their first day of march?”
“Very well, thank you,” said Hunter.
“You told me you lead a scouting patrol,” said Steve. “Do you have any news? We heard a rumor about going to River Dubglas.”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Bedwyr. “But none of the patrols today have made contact with the Saxons. Fresh patrols rode out a few minutes ago, but we’re still a long way from Linnuis.”
Steve nodded.
“I have a serious reason to speak with you,” said Bedwyr. “Artorius is worried about having so many green recruits and so few veterans. The rest of our veterans should join us during the next day or so, but he wants to mix some quick-witted new recruits with his veterans to give them some experience. I want you two to join my patrol.”
“Really?” Steve grinned but glanced uncertainly at Hunter. “That sounds exciting.”
“It can be,” said Bedwyr.
Hunter considered the offer quickly. On the face of it, scouting could be more dangerous to Steve than riding in the body of the army, since the patrols would make the first contact with the enemy. They could even be ambushed. However, Hunter also had to prepare for them both to leave the area before any fighting began, ideally without witnesses. Slipping away from the rest of the patrol momentarily would be much easier than leaving the main column. He knew that scouts occasionally were killed and never accounted for on campaigns of this sort, so no one would question their disappearance. In fact, when he and Steve had to return for Jane, they might claim simply to have lost their way or to have been caught behind the enemy lines for a short time.
“We accept,” said Hunter.
“Ah! I’m glad. We’ll do well together. Get your gear and your horses.”
Cynric sighed loudly. “All right.” He jerked a thumb toward Hunter. “His weight is rough on a horse, but he’s good with both his horse and his weapons.” He glanced at Steve and Hunter. “Watch yourselves out front, there.” Then he trudged after the men going to gather firewood.
Steve looked toward the rear, where the baggage train had rolled into view down the muddy road. “Bedwyr, would you help us with a personal matter? After we move our horses and belongings up to join your patrol?”
“What is it?”
“We, uh, have to confront a man in the baggage train. We don’t want him to get away, and the wagonmaster stopped us from seeing him before we left.”
“The same man you were looking for in the palace, when we met?”
“Maybe. He…owes us a little money.” Steve grinned. “We want it back.”
Bedwyr laughed. “You told me before he did not owe you any money.”
Steve had forgotten what he had told Bedwyr before, and now had to explain the discrepancy. “Well, you and I had just met. I, uh…”
“You wanted to be careful until you learned what kind of friend I might be.” Bedwyr chuckled. “Of course I understand. And on this matter of finding your friend, I will be glad to help you. But what do you want me for?”
“Maybe you will know some of the men. We won’t be total strangers.”
“Yes, that would be good. I will go with you. And I know Gaius, the wagonmaster. But first they will have to catch up and break formation to make camp.”
“I promise we will commit no violence,” said Hunter. “We onl
y wish to speak to him, preferably alone. We need just a moment.”
By the time Hunter and Steve led their mounts to the place where Bedwyr’s patrol had stopped, the baggage train had halted behind the main column. Bedwyr introduced Hunter and Steve to their new companions in the patrol. Then they walked back through the camp to the baggage train…
The men in the wagon crews jumped off to unload. Hunter spotted MC 6 just as he hopped from the wagon; when he reached the ground, he was hidden by other wagons. Teamsters began unhitching the teams.
“I saw him for a moment.” Hunter pointed in the direction of MC 6.
“Good,” said Steve.
Bedwyr moved up to lead the way.
“Hey, you there! Halt.” Gaius blocked Bedwyr’s path. “What do you want here, Bedwyr? Shouldn’t you be out looking for Saxons?”
“Easy, Gaius.” Bedwyr smiled pleasantly. “My friends and I have business with one of your men. It won’t take long.” He started to Walk around the other man.
Gaius stepped sideways to block his way. “I remember them from this morning. Get back to your places, all of you. We have work to do.”
“We have no wish to disturb anyone,” said Hunter. “Our business will take only a moment.”
“Not while we’re making camp, it won’t.” Gaius glanced west, up at the sun. “We barely have the daylight we need now. Go on!”
Some other men had come up behind Gaius.
“Easy, friend,” said Bedwyr, still smiling. “No one will interfere with your work. We only want a quick word with one man.”
“Get out!” Gaius shouted, pointing back the way they had come.
Hunter considered forcing his way past the wagonmaster and taking MC 6 by brute strength. Bedwyr might not join him, but Steve would. However, even if they were successful, that move would force Hunter to flee back with Steve and MC 6 to their own time in front of many witnesses, risking a significant change in the tales they would tell. Obviously, Steve and the men of this time might be unnecessarily injured in the altercation. In addition, Hunter had to consider that the sheer number of men in front of him might prevent him from pushing his way through, since he would not display more than human strength to them. He might simply create bad feeling without apprehending MC 6. Hunter decided to postpone their approach to MC 6 again.
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