Buried Too Deep by Jane Finnis Page B

slightly-built dark lass, looking very boyish in trousers and a short cloak, and carrying herself with a swagger.
    “Oh, gods,” Cattos muttered under his breath. “It’s Balca. She’s a kind of distant cousin of ours. She’s all right, but she bosses me about something awful.”
    “I know the feeling,” Lucius winked at him. “My sister orders me about all the time.”
    “Only when you need it, ” I pointed out.
    “But remember, the bossy ones are always the best in a fight,” my brother added magnanimously. “The nice meek little girls who never argue just turn tail and run if trouble starts.”
    The boy smiled. “That’s true. Balca’s not afraid of anything or anyone. She’d be brilliant in a fight.” He waved as the girl rode up to us and dismounted.
    “Hello, Tom-cat,” she greeted him. “I hear you’ve been having some trouble?”
    “Hello, Bossy-boots,” he answered cheerfully. “Yes, I have. I was just saying to my friends here, I could do with someone who’s not afraid of a fight.”
    “Well now you’ve got someone. My father heard the Long-hairs had been here, and he sent me to visit Belinus and Illiana this morning. That’s when I found out what’s happened. I’m so sorry. ”
    “Thank you. He was like a father to me.”
    The boy was nearly in tears again, but she pretended not to notice, and went on briskly, “Who are your friends? I presume they aren’t anything to do with the Long-hairs?” She addressed us in Latin. “Good day. I’m Balca. My father is Coriu, the Captain of Chief Bodvocus’ Guard. May I ask who you are?”
    “Lucius Aurelius Marcellus at your service, and this is my sister Aurelia, who runs the Oak Tree Mansio at Oak Bridges. The doctor who treated Belinus’ wounds lives there.”
    “I’m pleased to meet you.” It was Lucius who had her attention. “You came to see Chief Bodvocus a few days ago, didn’t you?”
    “I did, yes.”
    “You’re the government investigator Belinus was working for, aren’t you?”
    “You’re well-informed, Balca. He was one of my informers, but his work was supposed to be a secret. How did you hear about it?”
    “Everybody knows. Even the Long-hairs must have found it out, mustn’t they? And are those your men camped on the Headland? Half-a-dozen cavalry?”
    He nodded. “I’m on my way back to them now.”
    “Then I don’t suppose you’ve heard about the shipwreck there? In the storm last night…”
    “Oh yes, I’ve heard about the Sea Horse. A Roman ship carrying government papers and stores, wrecked at the northern bay of the Headland. We’ll salvage the cargo tonight or tomorrow.”
    She looked slightly disappointed that he’d already received the news, but she said gravely, “You’re well-informed also.”
    “I try to be.” Lucius smiled. “Look, Balca, I’m going to catch these accursed pirates or raiders or whoever they are. I need all the help and information I can get. So I’ll ask you, as someone who obviously has the ear of the Chief: will he and your father agree to help me, or do they prefer to keep out of it and leave it to us Romans?”
    “They’ll help, of course they will. But presumably he told you that when you visited him?”
    Lucius shrugged. “We only had a short conversation, and I got the impression he was unsure of me, and hadn’t made his mind up about me.”
    She laughed. “He likes to take his time, sizing up new people. But he wants the raids stopped, and he wants Ostorius Magnus put in his place, and if that’s why you’re here, then he’ll help.”
    “Good. The Headland is his land, isn’t it?”
    “Partly his, partly Ostorius Magnus’.”
    Cattos said, “Can the Chief send anyone to the farm to help us? I don’t know how we’re going to manage now.”
    “He will soon, I think. It’s difficult just now, because the raiders are still about, and that swine Magnus is up to his tricks again. But we’ll stay with you, till either you can move the sheep,