Caledonia

by William Kelso

  "We must run," she whispered turning to Bones.

  Emogene tore across the crest of the hill. Bones was ahead of her bounding through the colourful heather. For such a huge dog he moved incredibly fast. Men ran past her. Some in their haste and terror bashed into each other or tripped and went tumbling along across the ground. Emogene dashed through a clump of trees. Two men were climbing up the branches.

  The thunder of hooves was drawing closer. She didn't look back. The only men still riding horses would be Romans. A warrior ahead of her tried to grab Bones by his collar but the big war dog snapped his jaws into the man's hand and flung the screaming warrior to the ground.

  "He's my dog!" she yelled as she stormed past.

  The warrior was howling in pain and staring at his hand from which Bones had ripped three fingers.

  The horsemen were very close now. Behind her she heard the screams of men being cut down as they ran. She was starting to tire and her breath came in ragged gasps. No, she was not going to be caught. She was going to stay alive. She was going to see her husband again. These Roman demons were not going to stop her. They were not going to prevent her from seeing her husband. Her eyes were fixed on the thick forest just a hundred yards away. If she could get in there she would have a chance. The horsemen would not be able to follow so closely. Come on, run, she willed herself, come on, just a little further.

  Suddenly a dark shape loomed over her and too late she saw the sword flash. The blow caught her on the shoulder and sent her spinning to the ground. A man clad in armour cried out in a strange language. The sun reflected on his armour blinding her for a split second. She tried to scramble to her feet. From behind her she heard a deep throated growl. A grey object shot past her and with a mighty leap, Bones went for the horses head. The force of his charge and jump was so great that the horse screamed in terror and rose up on two legs throwing her rider to the ground. Then the horse was bolting away across the hill. Bones, his snout covered in blood had attacked the fallen rider. The Roman was screaming in panic as the war dog went for any exposed flesh that he could find.

  Emogene was on her feet and running again.

  "Bones, Bones," she cried.

  A moment later the big war dog was at her side, his flanks heaving. His snout was drenched in blood and a strip of meat, horse or human had got stuck in his jaws. There was a wildness in his yellow eyes. Then they burst through the trees and into the cover of the forest.

  ***

  Wearily she stumbled the last few yards to the stepping stones across the stream. It felt like she had been running and walking for hours. Her long black hair was tangled and filled with dirt, twigs and sweat. She had discarded the wooden staff that her father had given her and taken a knife from a corpse. Sometimes, as she had picked her way up the long wooded valley she had heard the thunder of hooves and the cries of the enemy echoing off the barren highlands. She had run into a small band of fugitives who had told her to go west. They were off to the western islands to hide and regroup. She had asked about Calgacus but they had not known what had happened to him.

  She paused as she reached the stream with its flat stepping stones. Bones barked and idled up to her side, panting lightly. Her husband and the men who lived in his house and that of her father had agreed that if things went badly they would try and meet back at this place before deciding what to do. Bones barked again and it was then that Emogene noticed the man across the stream. He was sheathing his sword and was about to set off up the valley. She recognised him at once.

  "Bodvoc, it's me Emogene, what of the others? Have you seen them?" she cried.

  Bodvoc was a young man, a year older than herself. He was her husband's cousin. He turned and stared at her but he didn't move from his side of the stream. A bloodied rag had been tied around his left arm.

  "I saw your man fall," he replied lowering his eyes, "We will honour him when we get home Emogene."

  Emogene shook her head fiercely. "He is not dead," she shouted.

  Bodvoc raised his gaze and looked at her. Then slowly he shook his head. "He is dead Emogene, the spear went straight through him. I saw his body myself."

  Emogene's voice was shrill and emotional, "He is not dead!" she screamed.

  Her scream echoed across the hills.

  Bodvoc's face hardened. "He is not coming home Emogene. You must accept that. The Romans are killing the wounded."

  She ignored him with an irritated shrug of her shoulders. Bodvoc glanced up the path leading out of the valley.

  "Arlen and the others came through an hour ago," he said. "We are going home. We all fought together but in the rout I got separated." He paused. "Devlin is dead and Jodoc was wounded but alive when I last saw him. His boy decided to stay with him. That's all I know."

  "Emogene's eyes widened.

  "Conall? You left them on the hill?" the words shot out of her mouth before she could think. Bodvoc nodded.

  "Come Emogene," he said stretching out his hand to her, "we must get back home. The battle is lost. The Romans will be looking for survivors."

  Emogene felt a sudden chill as if something invisible had just touched her. She bit her lip.

  "You know my father's law," she said sharply. "We are all sworn to obey his law. You know its importance. We die in battle or we come home. We do not leave one of us behind alive. My father warned us specifically about that. We must go back and find Jodoc and Conall."

  "Yes I swore to obey his law," Bodvoc snapped, "But to go back now is suicidal. That hill will be crawling with Romans. They will catch us. No, we cannot risk being caught Emogene. Jodoc and Conall will be dead by now. The Romans are killing our wounded. The dead cannot talk."

  Emogene clenched her hands into fists.

  "Bodvoc," she cried out, "We must go back to make sure. The Romans must never discover what we know. That is why my father made you swear to obey his law. Now obey him!"

  Bodvoc shrugged, "Come with me Emogene, I am going home. Don't stay here. You know what the Romans are doing to our women."

  Once again he extended his hand and once again Emogene felt a chill pass through her body. This was wrong she thought.

  "Tell my father that I obeyed his law," she snapped.

  Bodvoc stared at her for a moment. Then he turned and started up the path.

  Chapter Nine - The war dog

  Emogene watched him disappear. When he had finally vanished from view she slumped to the ground beside the stream and bowed her head. What was going to happen now she thought? Part of her ached to go after Bodvoc, to return to the comfort and security of her father's house, to shelter behind his protective power and to make herself as small as possible but it would be the wrong thing to do. If she did that she would know in heart, forever, that she was a coward. She had to go back to that nameless hill. She wrenched herself back up onto her feet and turned to examine her shoulder. There was just a bruise from where the Roman had hit her and a little blood but nothing serious. The Roman must have struck her with the side of his sword. Her eyes widened. He had meant to capture her. The thought of captivity made her stomach turn. They had all heard the stories of what the Romans had done to women from the tribes to the south. She glanced down at the knife that she had taken from the dead man. Once more she bit her lip. She would end herself before she allowed these foreigners to catch her. Her father had made her swear to obey him for a reason. She would obey. The thought of her father suddenly seemed to give her new strength and hope.

  She turned to look at Bones until she had eye contact with the dog. Bones lay stretched out on a boulder, panting slightly, his large red tongue hanging from his mouth. His yellow eyes looked back at her.

  "Come here," she commanded.

  The dog obeyed instantly. She grabbed him by his collar, crouched and dipped her other hand into the stream and began cleaning the blood from his snout. He whined and tried to back away but she silenced him with a sharp command.

  "We are going back to the battlefield," she spoke
quietly to him as she washed away the worst of the gore. "We are going to look for Jodoc and Conall. They must not be taken alive you see. That is what father says. You understand don't you."

  The war dogs yellow eyes stared back at her.

  She stood up and turned to look in the direction from which she had come. She would return when it grew dark. The night would protect her. The Romans liked to live in towns and camps she knew. They would not venture out at night. Her people still owned the night. She turned to look to the north west in the direction of home. The sun was already low on the horizon. Soon it would be gone. For a moment she thought she could hear the dull boom of the waves breaking onto the rocky shore. She closed her eyes and pictured her father's face. Long ago before she was even born he had made every man, woman and child in his village swear an oath of silence. Out there in the ocean was something that had to be kept secret from everyone who did not live in her village. Not a word was to be uttered. The people of her village had understood the reason and none had argued against her father, for he was a clan druid and such men were always obeyed. Her father had devised a simple and effective law and all had sworn to obey him. Until now she thought. Two of her kinsmen were missing. She had to find out what had happened to them.

  ***

  Emogene crouched on the ridge of the hill watching to see if anything was moving in the darkness below her. It was night and the moon cast its pale light across the land. In the distance she could see the myriad of Roman camp fires. The enemy were feasting their victory inside the huge fort they had built. The size of their camp had stunned her. With what magic had these foreigners built such a thing in such a short space of time? The battlefield below her had fallen silent. For a while she listened to the noises of the night. The soft call of an owl. The distance howling of a wolf in the mountains. The Romans may be the masters of the day but we still own the night she thought. The night held no fears for her apart from on Samhain when no one went outside. She glanced up at the moon and muttered a silent prayer to the spirits of the rocks who lived on this nameless hill. Then she pulled her cloak closer around her body and turned to look down the hill to the spot where she thought she had last seen her husband. He would be alright she thought. He would have managed to escape. He was probably hiding in the forests before he made his way back home. She would see him soon enough.

  For a long time she crouched on the ridge letting her eyes and ears probe the darkness. At last she seemed satisfied.

  "Bones, come," she whispered.

  The war dog padded up to her side. She fumbled for his collar and then pressed a rag into his nose.

  "Find them," she whispered.

  Bones bounded off into the darkness. Her husband had trained him well she thought. He was good at training dogs. She remembered the warrior who had tried to grab Bones's collar on their mad flight earlier that day. Yes, the war dog would be worth a lot. Bones had been trained to fight against two armed men at the same time. He had been trained to bring down horsemen and of course he was an excellent hunter and guard. Bones had been her husband's most prized possession, even more valuable than his chariot.

  She crouched and waited feeling the tension grow. Her shoulders started to ache and she could hear her heart beating inside her chest. She would need to find some food soon. She strained to catch any signs of movement but the night was silent. Time began to drag. Her eyes began to grow heavy with tiredness. She bit her finger and pulled at her ears in an effort to keep herself alert. She would need to find a hiding place before it grew light. That meant she may have to walk for miles to find a suitable place. Tiredness and despair began to conspire to lower her spirits. She was just about to whistle for Bones to return when suddenly he appeared from out of the darkness. He padded slowly towards her and sat down. She brought her face close to his so that she could just about see his eyes. Normally she could read the dog's reactions quiet well but Bones seemed indifferent and uninterested by what he had found.

  "Show me," she whispered taking a firm grip of his collar. Bones smacked his lips together and emitted a deep throated growl. Then he started off down the hill into the night. She followed at his side.

  Corpses began to litter the grass and rocks and she had to tread carefully to avoid tripping over them. Bones led her onwards down the slope. She was heading straight for the Roman camps. With her right hand she drew the knife from her belt. Then at last Bones stopped and sat down on his hind legs. She crouched and looked around her. The dead lay everywhere. The fighting seemed to have been particularly fierce here. Amongst the dead lay horses, weapons of all kinds and... her eyes widened in shock... the bodies of Romans! She moved over to one of them. The corpse was nearly entirely clad in armour. She bent down so that her face was nearly touching the dead man and peered into his eyes. It had been the first time she had seen a Roman this close up. She straightened up. They were not giants or magicians she thought with sudden contempt. They were not invincible. They were just men, like her husband. The sight of the enemy dead brought her some comfort. These Romans could be killed just like any other man.

  Bones whined. The dog had not moved but she could sense his impatience. He was hungry. He wanted to hunt. She laid her hand on his neck and stared around at the mass of tangled corpses. Bones was never wrong. He had brought her here for a reason. Then she saw him. It was Jodoc. He was half sitting up and his open eyes were staring straight at her. There was a long dark gash down his side. Emogene yelped in shock. Jodoc was her brother in law. She squatted down beside the dead man and touched his forehead. Stone cold. Gently she closed his eyes and muttered a prayer to help his spirit find the path to the next world. She had never gotten on with Jodoc but as she crouched beside him for the last time she felt her lower lip quiver. Quickly she rose to her feet. Bodvoc had said that they had all fought together. Where was the boy, Conall?

  In the pale moonlight she searched the dead men one by one, rolling corpses onto their backs to get a good view. Slowly she widened her search. When she finally gave up she was exhausted and weak from a lack of food. She sat down beside Bones and closed her eyes. There was no sign of the boy. He was not amongst the dead.

  The mystery unsettled her. She needed to get away from the battlefield before dawn came. The night was already well advanced. She needed to find food and shelter but somehow she couldn't leave. Some stubbornness was holding her back. What had happened to the boy? Think. What had happened to the boy? The question refused to go away. Had he managed to escape? If so why had he not made it to the stepping stones like they had agreed? Was he a corpse further up the hill? Was he even now making his way back home? She glanced up at the moon willing the spirits to give her a clue.

  The Roman camp fires within their huge fort were still glowing. There were hundreds of them. She blinked and stared at the Roman camp and he answer was suddenly there. They had taken him. Conall was alive. The Romans killed the wounded but took the unhurt prisoners as slaves. Slaves were valuable. That's what the men in her village had told her. She stared in the direction of the Roman camp. She was right, she always knew when she was right.

  "Bones, come," she whispered urgently.

  Chapter Ten - Governor Agricola's victory feast

  Agricola frowned. The tent had fallen silent after Vellocatus had finished recounting his tale. He had been expecting that the slaver had come to complete the purchase of the slaves. He had just been about to reprimand Vellocatus but the slaver had surprised him. Agricola did not like surprises, especially from a man like Vellocatus, and his irritation was clearly visible. Vellocatus however seemed not to have noticed. His face was glowing with excitement. Agricola grunted and clasped his hands behind his back.

  "So you believe the boy's story?" he growled.

  Vellocatus nodded. "He was speaking what he believes is the truth."

  Agricola glanced down at the paperwork on his desk. "A man will say anything if he thinks it will save his life. Fear makes people talk," he snapped.

  V
ellocatus nodded again and a gleam appeared in his eye. He glanced around at the opening to the tent but the two men were alone.

  "Governor," he said lowering his voice, "What if the boy is speaking the truth. Think about what that could mean for men like you and me. Think what we could do. Think about how it could change our lives."

  Agricola tensed. He stared at Vellocatus with a stony expression. Vellocatus smiled. His eyes gleamed. "The boy says that many men guard his village. I do not have the resources to go there myself but if we acted together, if we came to some sort of agreement on how to share the spoils, then it would be possible wouldn't it?"

  "What would you need?" Agricola said sharply.

  "A single Cohort of cavalry should be sufficient," Vellocatus replied instantly. He paused and examined Agricola from across the desk. "With such resources a man may even be able to buy the loyalty of the Rhine Legions. Domitian is not very popular in Rome these days I hear..."

  Agricola grunted. He had heard enough.

  "A Cohort of cavalry is out of the question," he said, "I cannot spare the men. I will need more proof that the boy is telling the truth before I can authorise an expedition."

  "Then may I suggest that you question the boy yourself?" Vellocatus replied.

  Agricola nodded. That seemed fair enough.

  "Did the boy tell you where his village is?" he asked.