Get Out or Die (20 page)

“How dreadful! They were punished, presumably?”

“No. Nothing was ever done.”

“Why ever not?” But there could only be one reason, some kind of fairly serious corruption. “Somebody senior got them off?”

She nodded. “The camp prefect, their commander, owed us a lot of money. We’d let him have too much on credit—you have to with these important people. His two daughters got married, and they’d ordered enough pottery and glass to hold an imperial banquet. He couldn’t pay our bill, and every time Aulus went to see him about it, he got more and more abusive. Bastard!” she muttered bitterly. “After the shop was smashed, we went to complain to him, and he told us that he’d organised the gang of drunks to do it, and they’d do it again unless we co-operated.”

“Co-operated? Let him off his debt?”

“That’s right. We had to agree, he even made us sign a paper cancelling his debt. And yet in public he was so generous, so sympathetic! He got us a grant from military funds, to pay for the damage and rebuild, provided we’d move on somewhere else and wipe his slate clean. And that’s why we came here. So much for Roman justice!”

“Oh Ennia, how terrible!” With all our own troubles, hers seemed even worse. If you’ve been bullied by powerful men who can put themselves above the law, you must feel as if you’re sinking in a quicksand. What’s the point of law and justice, if it doesn’t stop the stronger people bullying the weaker ones?

But could an experience like that turn a man into a traitor? “When love feels itself betrayed….” Was that what the old Druid had meant?

“Well you know, don’t you,” Albia said, “that everyone in Oak Bridges is glad you’re settled here. You’re among friends now. It couldn’t happen again.”

With an obvious effort Ennia smiled. “Don’t mind me, I’m being silly. And don’t mention to Aulus I’ve told you about this. He prefers to try and forget it. Anyway, he says Clarus’ meeting has come up with some good plans to fight this Campaign of Terror, so things will get back to normal soon.”

We made reassuring noises, and drank more wine. “You and Aulus,” I said, “you’ve got quite a lot of friends among the old native families, haven’t you?”

“I suppose we have, yes. I’ve never thought much about it. If you like someone, you become friends, whether they’re citizens or not.”

“Have they any idea what’s behind all this killing?”

“It’s hard to say.” She fiddled with a grey curl that had fallen across her face. “Of course they don’t admit it to us, but I think some of them do know who’s stirring up the young warriors, and even sympathise with the idea of getting rid of Roman settlers—though I’m sure they wouldn’t openly take part in any violence themselves. We’ve noticed the natives in general are edgy just now, even our own workshop slaves. Something, or someone, is making them resent us. Our foreman is drinking too much….Let’s hope it’s just a phase. He’s a good worker usually. Have your own natives been behaving oddly at all?”

“Not really. One of our horse-boys ran off, but that’s not such a rare occurrence, and we’ve got a bright lad to replace him. What do you think, Albia?”

“Two of the maids are enjoying being miserable because their men have gone away into the hills hunting,” she said thoughtfully. “Otherwise nothing, unless you count Cook’s temperaments.”

Ennia smiled. “Ah now, if we’re talking about cooks.…” The conversation turned to domestic gossip, and we left soon after.

Chapter XVIII

As we were getting into the carriage, I said to Albia, “Why don’t we pay a quick visit to Felix while we’re here?”

“Good idea. So you noticed that too—Balbus saying he’d bought some of the green paint?”

“Yes. Odd he didn’t mention it to me, but it’s no wonder he was so quick to recognise the colour. Let’s see what he has to say about it.”

“And he always keeps a good drop of Campanian white,” Albia added.

Felix’s house was on one of the main streets, set back a little, with a large garden to the rear It was on a smaller scale than Silvanius’ humble abode, but it had the same feel of well-designed luxury. Not surprising, as the same combination had gone into building it—Felix’s artistic flair, and Clarus’ money.

The door was answered by the huge manservant, who told us that the master was in, but had company, and he went off to enquire if he would receive us.

In no time at all Felix himself came bounding across the hall, and gave us each a huge hug and a kiss.

“The two most beautiful women in Britannia! You’ve quite made my morning. Come in, my dears, and tell me all the gossip. Vitalis is here.”

“Vitalis?” Now that was a surprise. I hesitated. “If we’re interrupting something, we can call back another time….”

Fortunately he brushed aside my half-hearted attempt at politeness. “Nonsense, Vitalis won’t mind. He and I are just hatching an interesting little conspiracy.”

Felix led us to his study, which was at the rear of the house, overlooking a large and lovely garden. The room was a typical bachelor’s retreat; it had two whole walls lined with book-scrolls, a shelf full of exquisite ivory carvings, two comfortable couches, and several beautiful little tables.

Vitalis got up as we came in. He was in his warrior clothes, which looked even odder than usual alongside Felix’s flamboyant apple-green tunic with matching accessories. Looking at them together, it struck me how handsome they both were, and in a similar sort of way, both thin and lithe, with regular features and fair hair. See them naked in the bath, they might be brothers. See them with clothes on, and they were as different as figs from fish sauce.

“Hello, Vitalis,” I said. “I’m sorry if we’re disturbing you. Felix says you’re concocting a conspiracy.”

Vitalis gave us his radiant smile, and Felix said, “Oh yes, a deep dark secret! You must promise never to admit you’ve seen him here.”

“Of course we shall promise,” Albia smiled. “Do tell us what it’s all about.”

There was a pause while two young girls brought in refreshments. They were pretty and properly trained. They served us the good Campanian and some fruit, and I thought, whatever Felix may say about how he dislikes living on Silvanius’ bounty, he does pretty well for himself.

When they’d gone, Felix said in a conspiratorial stage whisper, “Vitalis is going to help his father with the rituals at the temple dedication ceremony. There’s quite a lot to learn, and I’ve been taking him through his lines.”

“Only it’s a surprise,” Vitalis added, with an embarrassed little laugh. “I shan’t tell Father till the day before. He’s been wanting me to take part, and to start with I said I wouldn’t. But…Well, I don’t like to disappoint him.”

“I’m sure he’ll be delighted.” I was genuinely touched to find Vitalis had some family feeling after all.

Albia giggled. “He will—as long as you don’t go dressed like that.”

Vitalis laughed, and said, “We’ve finished our rehearsal for today, so if you’ll all excuse me, I’ll be on my way. I’m meeting my friends at the Oak Tree, so I’ll see you ladies later.” And with a wave and a smile, he was gone.

“He’s not a bad lad,” Felix said. “For all his nonsense, he wants to be a credit to his father.”

“I’m pleased to hear it. And he couldn’t have a better tutor for the ceremony. Talking of rehearsals, did you enjoy your theatre trip to Eburacum?”

“Oh yes, very much. The play was pretty dreadful, but Dardanio was there, in fact all my friends were, so I caught up with the latest actors’ gossip. Some of the soldier-boys at the garrison are getting very keen on the theatre—rather sweet really. They’re always so grateful when I introduce them to the professional actors. And my dears, I did hear one very juicy piece of scandal….” He reported a wonderfully entertaining bit of gossip, which we enjoyed even though we didn’t know the people involved. It may even have been true. But it’s not relevant to this report.

Eventually he said, “Now, before I die of curiosity. Have you been to Balbus’ shop yet—and did you see
it
?”

He listened excitedly as we told him about the paint, and how Balbus had boasted of doing business and socialising with some of the old Brigantian aristocrats.

“I told you,” he crowed. “Didn’t I?”

“You did,” I agreed. “But Balbus says he isn’t the only person who’s used that green paint lately.”

“Does he? Who else?”

“Vitalis bought some for Silvanius,” Albia said slowly.

Felix shrugged. “It’s possible. They’re still putting the finishing touches to the humble abode.”

“And Balbus told us you’ve bought some too, Felix.” I paused, watching for his reaction.

He was unperturbed. “Oh dear. Caught red-handed, or should that be green-handed?”

I felt a leap of excitement. “Felix, you admit it! So you could be the one who painted the horrible message on our wall?”

He laughed. “I suppose I could. All right, I deserve a slap on the wrist for not mentioning it. Sheer vanity, I confess—I wanted to impress you with my powers of observation when I recognised the colour. I own up, I bought the paint. Come and see what I’ve done with it!”

We followed him out into his garden, and headed for a small summer-house at the far end, half hidden by climbing roses. It was a lovely little outdoor room, just large enough for a couch and a writing-table, and a carved ebony scroll-rack. And the inside walls were pale green. The table was a clutter of reed pens, papyrus, and ink-pots, but what took the eye was a wooden plinth nearby, holding a marble statue.

“My pride and joy,” he said, indicating the room. “Especially my Apollo, with the features of dear Nero. He gave it to me himself, and I’ve always treasured it. I like to look at it here when I’m writing my plays.”

It was a beautiful piece of work, about two feet tall, carved by a master. Nero was handsome physically, whatever the faults in his nature, and he made a good-looking Apollo.

“So that’s why I needed the paint,” Felix said. “As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the right colour for this little writing-room. Fortunately,” he joked, “I had just enough left over to daub on your wall, Aurelia dear!”

We went indoors for another beaker of Campanian, and then Felix sighed and said, “Well, I’m afraid I must leave you, and get ready for this afternoon’s entertainment.”

“Entertainment?” I asked. “Not another play?”

He gave an elaborate shudder. “Alas no. I’m afraid there will be a dearth of any sort of drama, tragic or comic. I’ve got to attend Publius’ dreary town council meeting. You can imagine how much I’m looking forward to
that!”

As we set off for home, I told our three guards to ride a short distance behind the carriage, so we could talk privately. There was certainly a good deal to discuss.

“I was hoping,” I began, “that once we’d confirmed whether the paint was in Balbus’ shop, things would become clearer. Instead of which, they’re more muddled than ever. We’ve answered one question, and now we’ve got to answer a whole lot more.”

“Three main ones, I suppose,” Albia said. “Who painted the threatening message on our wall—Vitalis, Balbus, or Felix? Why? And how?”

“You’ll be comforted to know, or maybe you won’t—but Quintus thinks that the Shadow of Death must have been at Silvanius’ villa the day of his meeting. So we’re not just looking at Vitalis, Balbus, and Felix. We have to add Vedius and Silvanius as well.”

I told her about “L’s list,” and predictably she wanted to know all about the code. She’s always fascinated by puzzles.

“We ought to have a code between ourselves, Relia. There’s one that Julius Caesar used to use….”

“Gods, you’re starting to sound like Titch! No, let’s not get side-tracked into codes. If you and I need a way to tell each other discreetly that something’s fishy, we can fall back on our old favourite, the customer from Arpinum.” Arpinum was our private code for trouble. Most innkeepers use variants of this—a word that sounds innocent to customers, but warns the staff to be on the alert.

“Fair enough, but….”

“No, no buts! Let’s get back to your three questions.”

“I think I listed them in the wrong order,” she said. “Because to answer the first one, who painted the wall, we need to solve the next two—why and how did they do it?”

“As to why, that’s easy—to give me a good fright, which it did. Especially as they added the remains of my cloak, to make sure I realised it was personal.” I shivered in spite of the warm sunshine. “As to how, that’s easy too. Given a dark night and a half-decent horse or mule, anyone could ride over from Oak Bridges to the mansio, collecting the cloak on the way, and ride back again, with plenty of time to spare. Gods, you could even walk it, if you thought riding made you too conspicuous.”

“Not Vedius, surely?” Albia objected. “He’s too old.”

“He’s still tough. He could do it on horseback, if he had to.”

“But he’s the only one who didn’t buy any green paint.”

“Perhaps that’s significant. He begged or stole or borrowed it secretly, to avoid attracting attention, knowing other people were using it openly. And don’t forget he’s in charge of the watch patrols, even if he’s too old to lead one himself. He’s in the perfect position to know when it’s safe for him to travel at night, and when others will be travelling as well….Look, we’ve got to start somewhere. Let’s put Vedius at the bottom of the list of suspects, which is where Lucius put him anyway.”

She nodded. “It looks as if Balbus is the most likely to have painted the message, in person or using one of his people—perhaps his foreman. I don’t like the thought of a friend doing something like that, but he’s rich, he travels a lot, he socialises with the natives….”

“…But he seems happy to brag about that,” I put in. “You’d expect him to be more discreet about meetings with Brigantians, if he spent them plotting treason.”

“No, if he’s being really clever, he’ll make everything look open and above board, won’t he? And from what Ennia told us, the way they were treated in Gaul obviously still rankles. An injustice like that could turn a man into a traitor.”

“But whatever else Balbus is, he isn’t a fool. And it does seem foolish to use a shade of paint which is there for the world to see on his shelves. He could so easily have chosen another colour.”

“Well…” She pondered for a little. “Say he wanted to distract suspicion from himself by throwing it on other people who he knew had bought it. Like Vitalis, for instance.”

“He said Vitalis bought the paint for Silvanius,” I pointed out.

“Well, perhaps he did. Or perhaps Vitalis was lying. Yes, that could be it! If he’d bought it, intending to paint graffiti with it, he’d hardly admit it was for himself.”

“No. And to my mind, Vitalis is most likely to have painted the message,” I said, “and left me my torn-up cloak as well. Of all of them, I think he’d make the most effective Shadow of Death, with his warrior training and his father’s Roman connections. And he’s got the best possible reason to be anti-Roman, if he feels he’s lost his future as a warrior chief. He’s also young and impulsive enough not to care who knows it. But then, what about this morning’s revelation that he’s going to help his dear papa dedicate the Marble Monster?”

“That could be a bluff, to make everyone think he’s a true Roman at heart,” Albia answered. “Or it could be genuine, I suppose. What if he did actually buy the paint for his father, and handed it over, and then forgot all about it. So he’s completely innocent!”

“Dear gods, Albia, that opens up a whole new box of beetles! It means Silvanius himself used the paint, with or without Vitalis’ knowledge.”

“He
is
at the top of L’s famous list,” Albia answered thoughtfully. “He’s powerful enough, and rich and well-connected; and his family are natives, even if he appears completely Roman now. But he’s done so much to promote Roman ways and ideals in this area. Look at the Marble Monster.”

“Quintus would say that’s just a bluff.”

“It’s a far bigger and more expensive bluff than he’d need, though, isn’t it? If he seriously means to drive all Romans out, would he be spending huge amounts of time and money building a temple to Roman gods, just as a bluff? He could get the same result with a lot less trouble. A good statue, or a small shrine, would be enough to impress Oak Bridges.”

“I agree. Despite what Quintus thinks, I still feel Silvanius is a friend, and if every man in the Empire stood in line to paint a message telling all Romans to leave or they’d be killed, Silvanius Clarus would be the very last in the queue.”

“Well then—” Albia pushed some loose strands of hair out of her eyes— “what about Felix? He’s clever—probably the cleverest of all of them. With his aristocratic background, he could have all the contacts he needs. He has the paint, but he only admitted it when he had to. He didn’t tell you straight away.”

“He explained that, and I believed him—he’s as vain as a pen of peacocks. But still, there’s the story he told me about being tired of having to live on Silvanius’ bounty, and I believed that too.”

“What was it the old Druid said to you? When love feels itself betrayed, it turns to hate, and it is the bitterest hatred of all. I thought that meant Vedius, but….”

“It could apply to Felix and his grudge against Rome. And he used to be an actor, which would be useful for someone playing the part of a Roman in the daytime, and a rebel after dark.”

“He made sure you knew that the paint came from Balbus originally,” Albia said, “and told you all about Balbus’ native contacts. Both those things could be Felix trying to cover his own tracks, or just being malicious, because he doesn’t like Balbus much. Or they could be true.”