"The Pink Elephant is decent," the doctor replied, "You will find it on the corner of the next block beside the clothes washers’ house. I would have offered you accommodation here but I see patients every day and there is little privacy or space."
Corbulo nodded and reached into his pocket to pay the surgeon but as he retrieved his money pouch the doctor stepped forwards and laid a hand on his shoulder. "I love my work," the man said quietly, "Looking after the soldiers was what I always wanted to do and it was a sad day when you lot departed. Sure you ridiculed me and you weren't an easy bunch to get on with but you were my heroes. My all-conquering warriors. So I have some news, which I think you would like to hear. The Procurator, Classicus, arrived here in Viroconium yesterday from Londinium. He is staying at the Magistrate's house."
Corbulo did not reply as he straightened up and looked the doctor in the eye.
"What concern is that of mine?" he said carefully.
The doctor smiled. "There is no need to keep on pretending," the man said quietly, "I will not say a word, you can trust me on my oath as a doctor and as a freeborn man. I have heard that the Procurator is here because he is searching for a band of Christians who fled Londinium a few weeks ago. He thinks that they have come north."
"So what?" Corbulo growled as his fingers came to rest on his sword pommel.
The doctor turned and pointed a finger at Petrus. The boy was sitting on the ground with his arms folded across his chest and his back leaning against the wall. He looked sullen and in a rebellious mood. His large wooden cross-hung from his neck and over his tunic on full display for everyone to see.
"If I am not mistaken," the doctor said, "These are all Christian children. Maybe they are the Christians that our Procurator is looking for? I thought I would warn you before you happen to run into him and his thugs. There is talk that the Procurator is going to offer a reward for their capture."
Chapter Thirteen - The Pink Elephant
Corbulo cast a glance over his shoulder as he hastened through the street but there was no sign of anyone following him. The Pink Elephant had looked decent enough and they had a room, not a very large room, but it would have to do and he'd paid the tavern owner up front for a week's rent. He came to halt beside the doctor's door and idly turned to look around him. It was nearly noon but the sky was covered by a mass of grey clouds. What bad luck had brought the Procurator to this very town. Corbulo sighed as he struggled to make sense of it all. How had he managed to get himself into a position where the two most powerful men in the province were both out to get him? It was bad enough having the Governor of Britannia, through his agent Bestia on his trail but now the Procurator, the province's finance minister, had also joined the hunt. Corbulo spat onto the ground. The gods were stacking the odds against him.
Why had Classicus personally joined the hunt for the Christians? Was he working in cooperation with the Governor or against him? How had he known to come north? Had Falco talked? Had the banker betrayed him? But he'd told Falco that he was heading south and Falco did not know about the children. It didn't make sense. The doctor had promised to try and find out what was going on and Corbulo had decided to trust him. After all he didn't really have much choice. He could have murdered the man to keep him silent but that was something, which he really didn't want to do. He muttered something to himself and picked at one of his five remaining teeth. And as for Petrus and his wooden cross, the boy was beyond infuriating.
"Allright, it's fine, let's go," Corbulo muttered as the young doctor opened the door. The surgeon was silent as the first of the children slipped out onto the street. Corbulo waited until they were all there before marching quickly up the street in the direction of the tavern. The children followed obediently with Efa bringing up the rear carrying the sick boy in her arms. The boy seemed to be asleep. The passersby in the street hardly gave them a second glance but that did not stop Corbulo from dreading the sudden appearance of the Procurator. It was a short walk to the tavern and as they approached Corbulo noticed the washers’ house. The owner had placed three large barrels at the front of the building alongside the street. The barrels were open and designed as public urinals for the clothes washers used the piss to disinfect the clothes they were washing. As Corbulo drew level a sturdy looking woman with long flowing red hair came out of the house and picked up one of the barrels. She was about to disappear indoors when she made eye contact. Corbulo blushed as he recognised her. It was Lucilia, his old girlfriend. The woman hesitated as she peered at him. Then as she recognised him she opened her mouth in shock.
"Is that you Corbulo, is that really you?" she exclaimed in a loud voice.
Corbulo could not move and for a moment he was unable to reply. Behind him the children and Efa came to a halt in the street. Lucilia placed the barrel of piss on the ground and came towards him.
"Do you still have that tattoo on your arse?" Corbulo said at last mustering a desperate grin.
"I do and its larger than ever," Lucilia replied with a laugh. For a moment she examined him in silence taking her time to absorb every detail. Then a broad smile appeared on her face and she raised her arms.
"Well are you going to give me a hug and kiss or what?" she cried.
Corbulo embraced her, giving her quick peck on her cheek. Then he quickly glanced up and down the street. A few people were looking in his direction.
Lucilia raised her eyebrows. "What, that's all I get, after all these years," she exclaimed. "I remember that you knew how to use your tongue once. Come here and give me a proper kiss."
Then she froze as she caught sight of Efa.
"So is this your wife?" Lucilia said giving Efa a careful and cautious examination. "The one who was not supposed to know about us?"
"No that was the other one, she died," Corbulo muttered uncomfortably.
Lucilia turned to look at the children, then back at Efa.
"So you are the new wife," she said with a little smile. "I can understand him," she said crooking a thumb in Corbulo's direction. He would never say no to sex but you, you look a bit young to have had ten children."
"You need to learn to mind your own business," Efa retorted looking Lucilia straight in the eye.
Lucilia shrugged, "You are right, it's none of my business darling."
She was about to say something else when a tanned man with a black eye appeared in the doorway to the washer’s house.
"Who are you talking to?" the man growled glancing at Corbulo and the children with restless, suspicious eyes.
"Just an old friend," Lucilia said, "Corbulo here is a soldier in the Twentieth and this is his wife and family. I knew him when he was based here. Corbulo, this is my husband, Seisyll."
Seisyll stepped out of the house and into the street and Corbulo immediately sensed an aggression and hostility in his manner. A knife hung from the man's belt and the black eye looked to have been recently inflicted.
"So you are a Legionary are you?" Seisyll said in a thick Briton accent.
"I am retired," Corbulo replied stiffly.
Seisyll turned to glare at Lucilia, "So this was your boyfriend? You preferred to fuck this old man?"
Lucilia rolled her eyes and wearily shook her head.
"Forgive my husband," she said, "He can be such an arsehole sometimes."
"I saw your father's grave along the road," Corbulo replied turning to her and ignoring Seisyll.
Lucilia nodded. "Yes, he died a year ago." She gestured in the direction of the Wrekin. "He wanted to be buried with a view of that mountain over there, so that he could be with his mates who died during the assault." She sighed. "They are all the same these veterans," she sniffed, "They would rather be buried with their comrades than with their own families."
An awkward silence descended. Corbulo glanced at Seisyll. The man was looking at the children and Efa.
"Where are you staying Corbulo?" Lucilia said.
Corbulo hesitated and glanced at the Pink Elephant sign above the taver
n door that was only a few yards away. He couldn't lie. Lucilia was bound to see them enter the place.
"We have taken a room in the Pink Elephant until my boy is better," Efa said icily. "After that we will be heading south towards Londinium. Come husband we must go, the children are hungry and tired."
Lucilia turned quickly to Corbulo.
"Come and say goodbye before you leave, Corbulo," she said quietly. "It will be good to catch up, it's been a long time."
***
Corbulo glanced out of the small window on the second floor of the tavern. The night was pitch black and moonless. The street outside was quiet and deserted but below him Corbulo could hear the noise of the tavern's revellers, the raucous laughter and the hum of dozens of conversations. He turned away from the window and noticed Efa mopping the brow of the sick boy with a cloth. The boy had his eyes closed and she was talking to him in a quiet voice just like she did when she was telling Dylis bedtime stories. The rest of the children lay slumped across the floor occupying every available inch of space. Most of them seemed asleep. They'd had a long and exhausting journey and it had taken its toll. Efa had spent most of her evenings soothing blisters and cuts, repairing shoes and clothes and fending off the endless stream of questions.
A solitary wall fixed oil lamp bathed the room in a dim reddish glow. Corbulo leaned back against the wall. The owner of the Pink Elephant had asked no questions when Corbulo had shown up with ten children in tow. The man, a retired veteran from the Fourteenth, had seemed uninterested in his guests but Corbulo had slipped him a few extra coins nevertheless with the request that he warn him if strangers came asking questions about the occupants of his tavern. The man had taken the money without saying a word.
Dylis lay huddled close to the door beside Christiana who was clutching her straw doll and resting her head on her leather satchel. The two girls were covered by a single mud stained blanket and were whispering to each other. Corbulo caught his daughter's eye and winked and received a wink in reply. The two girls seemed to have grown close friends during their journey north and it comforted him to think that Dylis had someone she could talk to, for he'd had very little time for her since they'd left Londinium. Corbulo sighed. Had that not been the case with Marcus, his adult son? He'd never had any time for him either.
Carefully Efa picked her way across the room until she was beside him. She looked exhausted.
"How is he?" Corbulo muttered quietly gesturing at the sick boy.
"I don't know. He is resting, the doctor did all he could, we will have to wait and see what happens," Efa replied leaning her head against his shoulder.
"Maybe you should take Dylis and the other eight north to my father's village," Efa whispered, "I could remain behind with the boy until he is fit to travel. It would be safer for all of us. If what the doctor says is true, the Procurator is here to announce a reward for our capture. Everyone could give us away if they suspect that these are the Christians the Procurator is looking for. I don't trust anyone in this place."
Corbulo shook his head. "No," he whispered slipping his arm around his wife's shoulders, "We will stay together, I am not leaving you behind. We will sit it out and stick to the original plan. It will be allright."
Corbulo felt Efa's body relax.
"I don't understand," she whispered at last. "Why are they still looking for us? It's been weeks since we left Londinium. What does the Procurator of all people want with a group of Christian children? Hasn't he got more important things to deal with? What threat do these children pose? What harm can they possibly have done?"
Corbulo remained silent. It was exactly the same question he had been wrestling with all day.
A little knock on the door startled him and in an instant Corbulo was reaching for his sword. The room went silent. Then the knock came again.
"It's me, the doctor, it's allright. I have some news," a man said quietly.
Corbulo stepped across the room and opened the door and the doctor quickly slipped into the room. He was holding a small oil lamp. For a moment he looked around at the children on the floor before turning to Corbulo.
"So I made some enquiries," the young man said earnestly, "the good news is that the Procurator has left Viroconium. He and his staff are heading north up the road towards Deva, Chester."
The doctor paused to catch his breath. "The bad news I'm afraid is that a reward has been issued for the capture of a band of Christian children. It's all over town but not only here, the Procurator and his men have been visiting every town in the province and instructing them about the reward. The whole province will know about it by now and it gets worse. The Procurator is looking specifically for nine Christian children. He is telling people to look out for nine children travelling together."
"How by Jupiter's cock do they know that there are nine of them?" Corbulo cursed.
The doctor shrugged. "You should also be aware that the local magistrate has posted armed men at each end of Watling Street where it enters and exits the town. They have orders to keep an eye on the traffic."
Corbulo muttered something to himself and turned away. For a moment he was silent. Then he turned to look at the doctor.
"Thank you friend," he said quietly, "I will remember what you have done for us. I can pay you..."
But the doctor shook his head and a little smile appeared on his face.
"No," he said quietly, "I don't want your money." The doctor glanced around at the sleeping children and sighed with sudden emotion. "I never liked bullies who pick on the weak and the poor," he gasped, "These children deserve a chance, give them that chance, Corbulo, tell that pompous tax official to pick on someone his own size."
Chapter Fourteen - No Time for a Piss
The children were bored and restless. Three days had passed since the doctor had last come and during that time Corbulo had not allowed them to leave the room on the second floor of the tavern. It was just too dangerous he'd told them, but the confinement was beginning to tell. Corbulo sat slumped against the wall watching Efa spoon-feed the sick boy. The boy seemed to be recovering and his coughing fits seemed to have become less and less but the fever still persisted as did Efa's concern. His wife's devotion to the little boy was touching. Efa might be stubborn, pig- headed and have little regard for the consequences of her actions but she was an honest, loyal girl and she had a heart of gold.
A gentle but urgent knocking on the door brought Corbulo up onto his feet. The children's chatter ceased abruptly. Corbulo glanced at Efa as he strode towards the door and bent his ear against the wood. He could hear nothing. Then the knocking came again, louder this time. Corbulo opened the door. Beyond in the small landing beside the ladder leading down into the tavern he saw the towering bulk of the tavern owner. He opened the door wider and stepped out onto the landing.
The tavern owner was balding and slightly overweight. He looked at Corbulo with a perplexed expression.
"Your horse died during the night, heart attack I think," the man blurted out. "There was nothing that my stable hand could do about it. I am sorry."
Corbulo rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Ah fuck," he muttered, "which one was it?"
"The stud," the tavern owner replied. "He's in the barn. Do you want to have a look at him?"
Corbulo nodded and closed the door behind him. Despite the bad news the relief at leaving that room was intoxicating. Without a word the two men descended the ladder. The tavern was empty at this hour and Corbulo followed the tavern owner out onto the street. It was morning and the sun was still low on the horizon. The barn was next to the tavern and consisted of a small simple stable that could hold up to four horses. Corbulo paused as he caught sight of the dead animal. The black horse lay on its side, its head half covered in hay. The brown mare stood beside the body. A nervous looking stable boy stood to one side. The boy had been crying.
"I am sorry," the tavern owner said," What do you want me to do with the carcass?"
Corbulo stared at the dead h
orse.
"The carcass is yours," he said quietly.
The tavern owner nodded and turned to look at the dead beast. For a long moment no one said a word.
"Which Legion did you serve in?" the tavern owner said at last.
"The Twentieth," Corbulo replied.
"Ah," the man said with a little smile," I served twenty-six years in the Fourteenth. I knew you were a veteran." He paused and gazed at the horse. "Were you there at that place along Watling Street when we defeated the Barbarian Queen?"
"I was," Corbulo said.
A distant look seemed to appear on the tavern owner's face. He turned to Corbulo.
"You don't need to pay for your stay or for your horses feed. It's on the house," the man said. "You and your woman and children are welcome to stay as long as you like."
And with that he strode out of the barn.
***
The tavern was beginning to fill up with customers. It was late in the afternoon and Corbulo sat alone with his back against the wall at a small corner table holding onto a half finished cup of wine. The temptation had been too much after all the days cooped up in that room. It was a guilty pleasure for the children and Efa were still up there but hell, he deserved a drink and he was going to have it. He glanced at the two men across from him unable to stop listening to their conversation. One of the men, a sea captain was telling his companion, a master builder about his experiences upon the western ocean. Unable to resist any longer Corbulo leaned towards them.
"Sorry to interrupt lads," he said in a friendly voice, "I was just curious, if a man wanted to flee to Hibernia, how would he go about it?"
The conversation between the two men ceased abruptly and they turned to look at him.
"Why do you want to know?" the sea captain said.
"I have a friend," Corbulo replied, "He fled to Hibernia a few weeks ago. It's a long story."
Hibernia (Veteran of Rome Book 2) Page 10