Ruso and the Root of All Evils

by Ruso

  Ennia’s curtailed squeak of ‘No –!’ might have referred to the identity parade or to some new threat from Stilo.

  ‘She poisoned her brother to get his money, and she was going to make sure Claudia got the blame.’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Except he died in my house. She didn’t plan that.’ Ruso turned to the diggers. ‘You can keep on digging if you like. At least it’ll make them go away. But Ennia’s not really worth much as a hostage. She’s going to be sentenced to death for murder anyway.’

  82

  ‘It was Zosimus!’ shrieked Ennia.

  Everyone had stopped to listen now. Stilo, curious at last, moved the knife a fraction to let her talk.

  ‘Tell them, Zosimus!’

  The steward rammed his spade into the mud and stared at Ennia. In the silence, one of the diggers shifted position, and the mud squelched beneath him.

  ‘Tell them about my lovely brother.’

  ‘You knew all about it?’ demanded Claudia. Ruso motioned to her to be quiet.

  Zosimus looked at Ennia. ‘Which lie would you like me to tell this time?’

  Ennia swallowed. ‘No lies. Tell them what he did.’

  Zosimus looked round at the faces all turned towards him in the lamplight. ‘Ennia was engaged to a man in Rome.’ There was no expression in his voice. He might have been reading a list of calendar dates. ‘Severus didn’t think he was suitable. The man died of a fever. Ennia moved here with Severus.’ He cleared his throat.

  ‘Tell them what you told me!’

  ‘I wasn’t happy about the way Severus did business here. He said that, if I refused to back him up, he would get rid of me like he had got rid of Ennia’s boyfriend.’

  Stilo was the first to speak. ‘Very sad,’ he said, gesticulating with the knife towards the mud. ‘Now dig.’

  ‘Wait a moment,’ said Calvus. ‘Which of you did do it?’

  ‘She did,’ said Zosimus at the same moment as Ennia said, ‘He did.’

  ‘Who cares?’ demanded Stilo.

  ‘Dig,’ ordered Calvus. Zosimus sighed and heaved his spade out of the mud. Calvus moved across to murmur to Stilo, who glanced at the door and muttered something back.

  ‘I want to know who it was!’ insisted Claudia to no one in particular. ‘I’m the widow. I should be told.’

  When nobody else seemed inclined to answer, Ruso said, ‘Ennia bought the honey. Zosimus must have put it in the kitchen. Afterwards he went there saying he was investigating the death, got rid of the medicine and cleared the rest of the honey out before it could do any more damage.’

  A voice from behind the press cried, ‘You made us drink that medicine!’

  ‘You only had a little bit each,’ retorted Zosimus, bending to pick out a broad shard of broken pot from the mud. ‘It wasn’t dangerous.’

  The voice said, ‘You didn’t drink any.’

  ‘I had to keep my head clear.’ Zosimus waved the pot towards Ruso. ‘Everything would have been fine if he hadn’t interfered.’

  Claudia was on her feet, one hand gripping Ruso by the shoulder. ‘He killed my husband and –’

  She was silenced by an exclamation from Zosimus. He reached down and hauled a dripping bag out of the quagmire, resting it on the broken curve of pot. Something inside chinked as it settled in a pool of mud.

  Calvus beckoned it over, peered inside and nodded to Stilo. He tied the muddy bag to his belt and lifted the bar off the door. He ordered the diggers to get back against the far wall with the others. Then, turning to Ruso, he said, ‘You go first.’

  Ruso manoeuvred himself to his feet and gathered up the crutches. The pain flooded into his foot with an intensity he had not experienced since the day of the accident. At least he supposed it meant his mind was fully clear now.

  His eyes, accustomed to the lamplight, could see nothing out in the blackness of the yard. ‘Tilla?’ he called before venturing out, just in case she had overheard his threat of the scythe.

  ‘We are here,’ replied Tilla.

  As he blinked, Ruso could make out human shapes in the darkness. To his left, the prongs of a pitchfork rose in silhouette against a light patch of sky.

  ‘Tell those murderers,’ said Tilla, ‘that there are thirty strong men out here. All loyal to the Senator.’

  Ruso limped out into the yard. ‘She’s not lying,’ he confirmed.

  From inside the winery came a fresh shriek of ‘Gaius!’

  There was a scuffle behind him and a gasp from some of the farm slaves as a bedraggled figure appeared in the doorway with Stilo’s arm around her throat. Instead of Ennia, he could just make out the cropped head of Claudia. ‘Anybody tries to touch us, and her ladyship’s dead,’ announced Stilo, dragging Claudia sideways so he had the winery wall at his back. ‘This one’s a proper hostage, doctor. Happy now?’

  Calvus emerged to stand beside him. ‘We don’t want to hurt anybody.’

  ‘But we will if we have to,’ put in Stilo.

  ‘All we want,’ said Calvus, ‘is three horses. You men stand back and let us out, and once we’re clear we release the hostage.’

  ‘Four horses,’ corrected Ennia, remarkably calm. ‘You don’t think I’m sharing with her, do you?’ She dragged the winery door shut and turned the key in the lock, leaving the diggers trapped inside.

  As Zosimus shouted, ‘Ennia, let me out!’ through the door, Tilla’s voice rang out from somewhere in the darkness.

  ‘We will give you nothing. You are trapped. As soon as you kill the hostage we will kill you.’

  There was an indistinct squeak from Claudia and a chuckle from Stilo. ‘I’m not going to kill her, Blondie. Not yet. I’ll just take her fingers off. One by one.’ His voice hardened. ‘Get the horses.’

  There was movement out in the darkness. The pitchfork wavered.

  ‘Do not do it!’ said Tilla. The movement stopped.

  Ennia called, ‘Acratus, are you out there?’

  ‘Yes, miss,’ came the automatic reply just before someone else hissed, ‘Shut up, you fool!’

  ‘Acratus, fetch the horses straight away.’

  ‘Do not do it!’ insisted Tilla.

  ‘All of you slaves out there,’ put in Stilo, ‘are going to be dinner for the lions once word gets out you was told to do something to help this lady and you didn’t do it. Who wants to catch the first finger?’

  ‘Do not listen to him,’ urged Tilla over Claudia’s squeal of terror. ‘We have them trapped.’

  ‘Just get the horses,’ put in Calvus, clearly tired of arguing.

  ‘I’m in charge here,’ said Ruso, not sure that he was. ‘They’re not bluffing. They’ve already murdered Probus’ man and Ennia’s poisoned her brother. Do what they ask. Fetch the horses.’

  In the ensuing silence, all he could hear was Tilla’s sigh of exasperation.

  ‘I think I’ll take a thumb first,’ said Stilo. ‘Which d’you want to lose?’

  There was a muffled shout of, ‘Do it, Acratus!’ from Zosimus behind the winery door. ‘I’ll answer to the Senator. Go across to the stables and bring out four good horses.’

  There was more movement out in the darkness. Ruso took a deep breath, then reached across and gently began to turn the key in the winery door as Calvus said, ‘Three would have done.’

  ‘I told you,’ said Ennia, ‘I’m not sharing.’

  ‘We don’t need you.’

  ‘What?’ Ennia grabbed Calvus’ arm, only to be elbowed roughly aside. ‘We had a deal!’

  ‘Not now,’ said Calvus, chinking the coins. ‘I’ve got the cash.’

  ‘There is a lot more money!’ she cried. ‘In Rome. It belonged to my fiancé. I know where it is.’

  The key finally reached the end of the turn. ‘She’s lying,’ said Ruso, who had no idea whether she was or not.

  ‘It’s the truth. It’s why I always wanted to go back there. Ask anybody.’ Ennia paused. ‘I’m the only one who knows how to find it. Get me out of here
, Calvus, and I’ll make you rich.’

  83

  Ruso and Tilla stood amongst the bewildered household, staring into the darkness after the four figures who had ridden away towards the gatehouse: one horse’s reins in the hand of another rider.

  Tilla was complaining about him giving way and handing over the horses, but the pain in his foot was making it difficult to concentrate. He wished it would also take his mind off what might be happening to Claudia. Calvus had repeated his promise that she would be released unharmed, but that could have been a lie to ease their escape. No matter what excuses he made for himself, the truth was that he had failed her. This was how things had always been with Claudia. No matter how hard he tried, he could never quite –

  Shouting. Coming from the gatehouse. Screams. Everyone else rushed towards the sound, leaving Ruso slow and exasperated, swinging dangerously far forward on the crutches as a horse whinnied and there was a yellow flare of torchlight beyond the wall. Moments later he heard the thud of hooves cantering away down the track towards the road.

  By the time he pushed his way to the middle of the melee, two bodies were being held down with hoes and pitchforks while jubilant slaves jeered and shouted encouragement and argued about what to do with them. Calvus and Stilo had not escaped after all.

  He said, ‘Where are the women?’ but the only answer he got was from a delighted Flaccus. ‘Nobody can say we didn’t defend the family now, sir, can they?’

  Tilla appeared at his elbow. ‘We have did this because I expect you will let them go,’ she announced, confusing her tenses as she did when she was excited. ‘So I send some men to wait for them on top of the gatehouse.’

  He said, ‘What have they done with the women?’

  ‘Are you not pleased?’

  ‘I’m impressed. I’m amazed. I’m very tired. Where are the women?’

  She said, ‘I think the horses bolt.’

  Ruso sighed. Claudia was not a practised rider, on the grounds that horses had sharp hooves and big teeth. If her horse had stumbled or swerved, she would probably have fallen off in the dark. He glanced across to where one of the recovered mounts was being led back in through the gates. ‘Ask them to light me a torch, Tilla. I’ll go and have a look.’

  Somewhere ahead of him along the darkened track a voice was saying, ‘Nice horse. Nice horse, please …’

  ‘Claudia?’

  ‘Gaius! Is that you? Have those men gone? Oh, Gaius, I thought I was going to die out here!’

  ‘You’re safe now.’

  The torch picked out the shape of the animal steadily munching on the dry grass at the side of the track. He could make out the line of a rein as the figure on its back was trying to haul its head up. He moved alongside, bending down to take the bridle. ‘Did you see what happened to Ennia?’

  ‘Oh Gaius,’ she sobbed. ‘It’s all been so horrible. Ennia just rode off and left me on my own in the dark. First it wouldn’t stop and now it won’t go! Why did you let them take me on a horse?’

  84

  ‘It’s all right,’ said Lucius, shuffling back across the hot tiles in his bathing shoes. ‘I’ve locked the door. Not even the bath-boy can get in now.’

  ‘Excellent.’ Ruso stretched out on the bench and closed his eyes, relishing the peace and quiet before he had to ride back into town to visit Tertius. The hoped-for relaxation did not come. Instead, he remembered something else he needed to do.

  ‘I ought to warn Tilla to keep quiet about the Christians.’

  ‘Are they really a problem? Cass seems to think they’re harmlessly eccentric.’

  ‘As far as I can make out, it’s a religion full of women, the poor and the ignorant. I don’t think Tilla will stick with it for long. She’s not very keen on loving her enemies.’

  ‘But we’re definitely in the clear over poisoning Severus?’

  ‘Ennia admitted it in front of witnesses. And Fuscus turned up and had his men arrest Calvus and Stilo and the steward. I’d imagine he’s planning something ghastly for them at the next games.’

  Lucius said, ‘Ouch.’

  Ruso shifted to get comfortable and flinched as his arm came into contact with the heated wall. ‘You know, even after everything she did, I almost hope they don’t get their hands on Ennia.’

  Lucius said, ‘I’d like to. If she’s got a pot of gold stashed away down in Rome, she ought to give it to us.’

  ‘At least the Senator will be too busy sorting this lot out to bother with the bankruptcy case.’

  ‘Good. I knew once I’d rescued the girls and worked out who those investigators were, I could leave the details to you.’

  ‘I see,’ said Ruso. ‘Actually, I thought it was Tilla who worked that out.’

  ‘I let her think that,’ said Lucius. ‘Women like to think they’re needed.’

  Ruso had expected Lucius to ask more questions, but evidently all he wanted to know was that, whatever other threats were out there, his big brother had dealt with them. The monsters were safely back in the cupboard.

  He sniffed and opened his eyes. ‘What the hell are you putting on your head now?’

  ‘Something I picked up in Arelate.’ Lucius was massaging a thin brown dribble into his scalp. ‘It’s the latest thing. I’m surprised you didn’t know about it. Burned hooves of she-goats in vinegar.’

  Ruso, who could think of nothing to say, sank back on to the bench and closed his eyes again.

  ‘Now that we’ve got a minute,’ said Lucius, ‘I suppose I should mention something. It’s a bit embarrassing, but Cass says if I don’t tell you, she will. We tidied up the study and had another run through the accounts last night. When we came to balance them – oh, what now?’ He waited until the thumping on the outside door had stopped, then shouted, ‘We’re busy, come back later!’

  ‘But Papa,’ came a small voice, ‘there’s a cross old man come to talk to Uncle Gaius.’

  The brothers exchanged a glance.

  ‘Name, Polla!’ shouted Lucius. ‘Go and ask the cross old man what his name is.’

  Before she could reply, a familiar voice demanded, ‘Are you in there, Ruso? This is Probus. Doesn’t anyone in this family have any manners?’

  Ruso considered asking Lucius to pretend he was out, but then thought better of it. He would have to face Claudia’s father sooner or later. No doubt the man had come to complain about the previous night’s events.

  Leaving Lucius to stew under his hair tonic, Ruso offered his former father-in-law a bench in the warm room next door. ‘There’s towels if you want to bathe,’ he offered, feeling at something of a disadvantage since Probus was fully dressed while he was wearing nothing but a hastily grabbed towel around his waist and a bandage around his foot.

  To his surprise, business was not the very first thing on Probus’ mind. Neither was Claudia.

  ‘The sister’s dead. I thought you’d want to know. Found at first light, about five miles out on the Arelate road. Earrings ripped out, most of her clothes stolen. They took the horse, of course.’

  Ruso shook his head. ‘So she never got to Rome.’

  ‘It’s some sort of justice, I suppose.’

  Ruso wondered if Ennia had really had the misfortune to run into robbers, or if some of the estate staff had slipped away and taken matters into their own hands. Even so, it was a kinder fate than she might have suffered had she been convicted of murdering her brother. ‘Claudia was right,’ he said. ‘She said it was Ennia. I didn’t believe her.’

  While Probus was speculating on the gruesome end that awaited Calvus, Stilo and Zosimus, Ruso was wondering whether Severus really had done away with Ennia’s fiancé down in Rome, or whether that had just been a boast to keep Zosimus in line. And whether there really was a hoard of cash in Rome that nobody now knew how to find, or whether that had been another lie. He said, ‘How’s Claudia?’

  ‘She’s over at my house, confined to bed. I’ve been across to the Senator’s place. The winery looks as though there�
��s been an earthquake. I’ve never seen such a mess.’

  ‘And the gatekeeper?’

  ‘I don’t know, Ruso. I’m not here to give health reports on all the staff.’

  For once, Probus had a good excuse for being bad-tempered. ‘Now that I can speak freely,’ he said, ‘I’d say Severus got what he deserved. He was implicit in the murder of my steward, he was unfaithful to my daughter and he tried to swindle me out of a very considerable sum of money.’

  ‘And your investors.’

  Probus cleared his throat. ‘Naturally, now that the truth about the sinking of the Pride of the South has been brought to my attention and a proportion of the stolen money has been recovered, my investors will all be fully reimbursed and compensated. In the circumstances, it’s the honourable thing to do.’

  It was the only thing to do if Probus were to salvage his business. For a moment Ruso almost felt sorry for him.

  ‘Of course, I still don’t condone you allowing your sister-in-law and that woman –’

  ‘Tilla,’ prompted Ruso.

  ‘I don’t condone your allowing them to go to Arelate when I had specifically asked for the whole business to be kept quiet.’

  ‘Cass was making inquiries about the loss of her brother,’ said Ruso, not pointing out that they had not sought his permission anyway. ‘You gave her reason to believe he might still be alive and then told her nothing more. What was she supposed to do?’

  ‘I was doing everything I could to trace him!’ snapped Probus. ‘I’m not inhuman, Ruso. Justinus was a good man.’

  ‘You did give the appearance of only being interested in your cash flow.’

  Probus’ eyes met his own, and for a moment Ruso almost thought he caught a hint of contrition.

  ‘Now, about this business last night.’

  ‘There wasn’t time to get reinforcements,’ Ruso explained. ‘I did my best, but –’

  ‘No need to be modest. I’ve come here to thank you. You’ve been loyal to Claudia all along. Last night she tells me you saved her life.’

  ‘It was Zosimus who finally got the staff to cooperate. By the time I got to her she wasn’t in any danger. The horse had stopped.’