by V. M. Sang
Having had the details of the plan explained to them, the group parted company to meet again the next morning to go to the ambush point.
Soon after dawn, the Raiders approached the designated area. Ailbert set them up in their allotted places and waited. Soon, he heard the familiar sound of marching feet. The patrol was coming. Up trees and behind rocks, the eight young men waited patiently. Each had his bow at the ready, with an arrow nocked.
The patrol marched into view. It seemed a smaller one than those Ailbert had seen leaving Eberacum recently. Perhaps the Romans had decided there would be no more raids. It had certainly been a long time since they had attacked a patrol.
As they came within shooting range, Ailbert drew the string of his bow back to his ear and trained it on one of the men. Each of the Raiders had been instructed which man to target so that they would not all end up shooting the same man.
Now came the time to release. His arrow flew through the air, followed immediately by seven others. Every one struck true and eight men fell.
Ailbert grinned. They had practised during every spare minute and now they were deadly accurate with their shots. He did not waste time thinking, though. Immediately, he strung another arrow and let it fly before the Romans could form their testudo. Eight more men, including the leader, fell. Sixteen men dead or seriously injured.
This patrol had only been two contubernia, half the size expected, and Ailbert and his men had downed them all. Sixteen men. He rubbed his hands gleefully and prepared to loot the downed soldiers. They would not take the soldiers' clothing, as that would lead to them being eventually caught. No one could get rid of Roman army uniforms without having questions asked.
When Ailbert arrived at the patrol, he found Rees carefully killing the men that had been alive.
“Stop!” Ailbert ordered. “We don't kill helpless men. If they die before help gets here, that's one thing, but we don't kill for the sake of killing.”
“Isn't that what this is about?” Rees drew himself up to his full height, facing Ailbert. “Killing Romans?”
“Yes, but not in cold blood. We attack armed men who can defend themselves.”
Rees reluctantly sheathed his dagger and began to search the bodies.
Ailbert went to the leader and turned him over. He was still alive, but wounded. He had taken an arrow in the thigh. Ailbert removed the man's helmet. He was not sure why he did this. He was not going to take it, but when he looked at the injured man, he realised he knew him. It was none other than Flavius, the Roman who had helped him the previous winter, and whose daughter he found so attractive.
Flavius had not seen him. He had his eyes closed in pain. Ailbert stood and backed away before Flavius opened them.
“Go. Disappear,” he told his men. “I'll see you back at the village.”
The men melted into the landscape and Ailbert stood out of sight, wondering what to do. He owed Flavius for his kindness and help when he had broken his leg. If it had not been for the Roman, he would have likely been a cripple, but how could he help the man without giving himself away as a member of the Phantom Raiders?
Then he had an idea. Pen Coed was only a half hour's walk directly over the hills, so he set off as quickly as he could.
Once there, he found he had arrived before his men, much to his relief. He did not want to explain himself to them just yet.
He hitched Eira to his wagon and started back towards where they had ambushed the patrol. Once out of the village, he urged Eira into a trot; although the way was slightly farther along the roads, he made good progress.
A mile or two before the place where he had left the dead and injured, he spotted two soldiers hobbling along. They were two whom he had left at the scene, alive but injured.
When he got alongside of them, he asked, “What happened to you?”
“Those blasted Phantom Raiders,” replied one man grimly. “There must have been at least a couple of dozen of them. They attacked our patrol and killed most of us.”
The second man, who now leaned on the wagon, continued. “There are only four of us left alive. The bastards were killing those they'd downed. Cowards to kill helpless men. Then, suddenly they all disappeared. Don't know why.”
Ailbert looked from one to the other. The men did not look too badly injured. They were tired from loss of blood, but their injuries would mend.
“You said there were four of you alive. Where are the other two?”
The first man sank onto the ground. “One is our commander. He gave us orders to leave them and take the news back to Eberacum. They'll send help. We left them some water. I hope it'll be enough.”
The second man coughed, then said, “The commander's a good man. Never asks his men to do something he wouldn't do himself. I'll be sorry if he doesn't make it.”
The first soldier nodded his agreement.
“I'm going that way,” Ailbert told them. “I'll see what I can do for them when I get there. I've stuff in my wagon I can use for bandages.”
The soldiers thanked Ailbert and continued limping towards Eberacum. Ailbert shook the reins clucked to Eira, and set off again at a trot.
Soon he saw bodies in the road ahead. When he drew near, he pulled Eira to a halt and got down from the driving seat. He ran to where he had left Flavius. He was not there, but the young man looked round and saw him sitting at the side of the road, with the arrow still sticking out of his thigh.
Ailbert ran to him and feigned surprise. “Flavius, it's you!”
Flavius opened his eyes, which widened when he saw Ailbert in front of him. “Are you real, or are you in my dying imagination?”
Ailbert ran back to his wagon where he retrieved bandages. When he returned, he replied to Flavius' question. “I'm real, Flavius. I happened to be travelling this way. I saw your men down the road and they told me what had happened. I've things in my wagon I can use as bandages.”
Flavius began to squirm as Ailbert tried to bandage the wound as best he could; he found this difficult due to the arrow still lodged in Flavius's thigh. “Hold still.”
“Take that blasted arrow out,” Flavius snapped as Ailbert knocked it. “You'll find it easier to bind the wound.”
“Sorry, Flavius,” Ailbert replied firmly. “I daren't do that. The arrow might have penetrated a blood vessel and if I remove it, you could bleed to death. Anyway, some hunting arrows are barbed and if I pull it out, it'll tear your muscle at the very least.”
When he had finished the binding, Ailbert looked around at the other men. None moved. “Your men said one of the others was still alive.”
“Yes, young Maximus was alive when they left, but he died not long ago. There's only me here now.”
Ailbert brought his wagon close to the commander and knelt down beside Flavius. He put his arm under that of the older man and managed to heave him up onto the wagon bed.
“It won't be a comfortable journey,” he advised the man, “but I'll get you to a place where someone can tend you better than I can.”
He climbed onto the driving seat and turned Eira back towards Pen Coed. He considered taking Flavius to Eberacum, but decided against it. It was a much longer journey, and Ailbert thought the man needed tending as soon as possible. There were healers in Pen Coed who could at least start the healing process.
It was a bumpy journey and when they arrived at the village, Flavius had lost consciousness. Ailbert pulled his wagon up before Awena and Rhodri's home. He got down and entered. The sun had started setting and so Rhodri was home.
“I've a wounded man in my wagon. Can I bring him in here?” he asked.
“Of course,” Awena replied. “Rhodri, go and help Ailbert bring him in.”
Between them, the two young men carried Flavius into the house. When she saw a Roman soldier, Awena gasped. “Why a Roman, Ailbert? I thought it would be one of our men, not a Roman.”
Ailbert explained to her who this particular Roman was. “I owe him, Awena. If it hadn't been for him
and his kindness, I might be a cripple today.”
“I'll go and get Dera,” the girl stated. “She'll know what to do. She's good with wounds.” She ducked out of the house, leaving Ailbert with Rhodri.
“A Roman, Ailbert? You hate Romans, especially soldiers.”
Ailbert sat down and put his head in his hands. “I know, but this man's different. He's not a typical Roman. He's more like us.”
Just then, the baby began to cry and Rhodri went to pick him up. “He's hungry. I hope Awena's not too long.”
As he said this, Awena and Dera appeared in the doorway, Dera carrying a bag with her.
She looked around and saw Flavius. “This is the man, I take it?” She knelt and opened her bag, and pulled out several smaller bags, each filled with various herbal preparations. Dera then carefully removed the bandage Ailbert had put on. It had become soaked with blood and she passed it to Ailbert with instructions to throw it on the fire.
Dera looked at the arrow, then at Ailbert. She knew where the arrow had come from. “Is this arrow barbed?”
Ailbert nodded. Dera looked at Flavius. He had regained consciousness and was looking at her.
“This is going to hurt,” she advised him. “I need to push the arrow through to the other side of your thigh. I daren't pull it out as the barbs would tear the muscle, and you would likely not be able to use your leg properly again.”
Flavius grunted. “Get on with it then. The sooner the better.”
Dera turned to Ailbert. “I want you to boil some water and make this into a tea.” She handed him a bag containing some kind of bark.
Ailbert looked at it and his brow puckered.
“It's willow bark,” she told him. “It'll help with the pain.”
Ailbert boiled water and poured it onto the bark. He left it to steep for a while and when it had cooled, he handed it to Flavius to drink.
In the meantime, Dera examined the wound. When she thought it had been long enough since Flavius had drunk the willow-bark tea, she proceeded to push the arrow. Even with the willow, Flavius winced in pain, and once cried out, but he managed to keep still throughout the ordeal.
A brave man, thought Ailbert favourably.
Once the head of the arrow appeared, Dera cut it off and pulled the shaft back out the way it had entered.
The wound bled profusely. Dera mopped it up as much as she could and put on a poultice of yarrow leaves. Then she bandaged it again.
She turned to Flavius. “You did well. I've put on a poultice to stop the bleeding, but you must stay here for a few days. I need to change it until it's stopped, and to make sure no infection gets in or you'll lose your leg.”
Flavius flopped back. “Ailbert, will you go to tell my family where I am? Octavia will worry, especially when the men get there and she hears what happened.”
Ailbert nodded and left the house. He got Eira and mounted her, calling to Huw, who appeared in the doorway of his house; he told him he had to go to Eberacum to tell Flavius's family what had happened. Then he kicked Eira into a canter and set off for Eberacum, thinking how strange fate was. He had needed to stay in Flavius's home because of an injured leg, and now Flavius needed his help in the same way.
22
Ailbert pulled Eira up outside the domus where Flavius lived. He had stopped cantering after a while because he did not want to hurt his horse and thus, he continued at a trot and walk, interspersed with the occasional canter. Darkness had fallen by the time he arrived and he took Eira round to the back of the domus, where he handed her to a slave before going back to the front to knock on the door.
The same slave as before opened the door and stood back to let Ailbert enter, recognising the young man. As Ailbert entered the atrium, Quintus saw him and ran over.
“Ailbert, what are you doing here? It's too dark for an archery lesson.”
“I came to see your Mater. Is she here?”
Quintus called to a passing slave to find his mother, and continued to question Ailbert. “You can't be here for the market at this time of night. What do you want to see Mater about? Pater will be back soon. Do you want to talk to him too?”
“Quintus,” Ailbert told the boy patiently, “what I have to say is for your mother.”
As Ailbert began to field off another barrage of questions, Octavia appeared and sent the boy away. She led Ailbert into the tablinum and indicated he sit on one of the chairs.
She sat in the other, facing him. “What do you want to see me about, Ailbert?” She held herself rigid as she spoke.
Ailbert ignored her attitude. “I don't quite know how to put this, but I was driving my wagon along the road this morning when I met two soldiers. They were from a patrol of two contubernia. They told me they had been attacked.”
Octavia's rigid stance disappeared as her hand went to her mouth and her eyes widened. “Flavius?” she whispered.
“The men told me he was alive but wounded. I went on and found him. I managed to get him into my wagon. He was the only one left alive and he'd told the soldiers to go back to Eberacum to tell of the attack. I took Flavius to Pen Coed, where I live, and our healer Dera tended him. He asked me to come and tell you.”
“How badly is he hurt?” Octavia asked as she moved her hand from her mouth.
”The arrow went through his thigh. There's a lot of muscle damage, but nothing major. It missed the main blood vessels.”
“Your healer has tended him, you say? I expect he's bandaged up. Can you bring him home tomorrow? You can stay here tonight and leave first thing.”
“I'm sorry,” Ailbert replied, “but Dera said he can't be moved for a while. Moving him might aggravate things and make it worse. I'm sorry to have been the bringer of such difficult news.”
Octavia drew herself up straighter. “I am the wife of a soldier. I've lived with the possibility of Flavius being injured or killed all my married life. Risking his life is what he does. I can do no less than accept his injury. At least he's still alive.”
Ailbert's eyes grew dark as she said this. How dare she imply Dera was not good enough? He managed to keep his temper though and followed the slave to the room assigned to him.
He lay in bed thinking of how close he was to Sylvia. He wanted to see her before he left the next morning and was not looking forward to travelling with Octavia.
Early the next morning, Ailbert mounted Eira alongside the carriage that would carry Octavia. A slave harnessed two horses to it and they waited for the Domina to emerge.
Octavia came out accompanied by Sylvia. The girl smiled at Ailbert and, to his surprise, entered the carriage alongside her mother. Octavia gave the order to move off and Ailbert kicked Eira to follow behind.
It would take most of the day to travel to Pen Coed. It had only taken Ailbert half a day to get to Eberacum, travelling as fast as he could and pushing Eira as much as he dared, but the carruca, as the carriage was called, would take nearly twice as long.
As Ailbert had thought, it was dusk when they pulled through the gates of Pen Coed. He found someone to look after the horses and then escorted Octavia and Sylvia into the house where Flavius lay.
On entering, Octavia coughed and took out a handkerchief, which she held to her mouth. She looked at the firepit burning in the middle of the house and wrinkled her nose, but , she said nothing.
She hurried across to where Flavius lay. “Flavius, how are they treating you? I asked Ailbert to let you come home with us, but he tells me the healer here said you must not be moved. We've brought the carruca and can easily fit you in.”
“You didn't need to come all this way, Octavia. I'm being treated very well. These people know quite a lot about medicine. Dera has given me tea made from some bark or other, and it's marvellous for pain. I have every confidence her other treatments will work just as well.”
“Oh, Flavius, dear,” Octavia said , “surely you don't think they can be as good as our own doctors? Sylvia, come and help me tell your father he should come back with
us.”
Sylvia had been standing near the door, watching Ailbert. He, on his part, had been watching her. If either of them caught the other looking, they quickly glanced away. She turned her attention to her parents, and Ailbert left the family to themselves.
“Pater,” said Sylvia, bending and kissing her father on the cheek, “Ailbert tells me the healer here has been treating you. Don't you think you ought to return to Eberacum, where you can be tended by a Roman doctor?”
“Sylvia, dearest,” Flavius replied, “the healer has told me that if I'm moved, it might start the bleeding again.” He hitched himself up in the bed and winced. “The treatment Dera has given me so far has stopped the bleeding, and quicker than I would have thought. I trust her judgement when she says moving me would start it off again. No, I'll stay here until the wound begins to heal.”
“But, Flavius,” Octavia began.
“Don't try to persuade me,. My mind is made up. I will do as Dera instructed and stay still. It makes sense to me. I've learned a little from watching the army doctors and they say the same. Men have died because we moved them against the doctor's orders.”
Octavia took a deep breath. “As you wish, Flavius, but I still think our own doctors would do a better job than these barbarians.”
Ailbert came back in and spoke to Octavia. “We've been building a house for two people who have just moved here. It's nearly completed and my sister and her family have agreed to move in there for tonight so you can stay here.” He looked at Sylvia who looked back and did not look away this time. “The house is complete, except for the firepit. We'll be quite comfortable there; it's not a cold night. I'll escort you to Eberacum in the morning.”
“Thank you.” Octavia began to cough. “But can we not go to the new house? All this smoke is making my eyes sting and making me cough. And I’m sure Flavius would be more comfortable out of this smoky atmosphere. Really, how you live in it I don’t know.”
Ailbert regarded the older woman and remembered how he had felt on first entering a Briton's house. Yes, he had hated it too. Since then, however, he had become so used to it he no longer gave it a second thought, but a woman like Octavia would hate it even more than he had. He agreed to the proposal, but not to the suggestion that they take Flavius too.