unusual arrangement suited everyone tonight. It not only allowed my wife to show her care for me but also freed Kurso to help his fellow slaves.)
‘Now,’ Gwellia said, when we travellers were all fully dried and clad. She spoke in a hushed voice so as not to wake the child. ‘You can tell us what you have been doing since we met. I had a garbled message which put my mind at rest, saying you had some sort of contract in the town. I did not know that you had any work in hand.’
‘Neither did we,’ I whispered, with one eye on the babe. I squatted on the stool beside the cooking fire and warmed my hands and feet while Gwellia stirred the pot. Junio stretched out close by me on the sleeping bench, and together we explained how the unexpected commission came about. ‘He agreed a splendid price, provided that I finished it by the Agonalia,’ I finished. ‘I managed to do it, but he was not there to see that for himself, though fortunately I have witnesses to the fact.’
Gwellia nodded. ‘Well, that is a good omen for the new year,’ she murmured, as Cilla passed her a pile of wooden bowls and she began to ladle out the meal. ‘The money will be useful, certainly, after all this snow. Things in the garden plot are wilting with the frost.’
I shook my head. ‘It is to be hoped the fellow pays me, that is all. He was expected back in Glevum a day or two ago, but he has not arrived – though it is possible that he has gone to Dorn instead. Marcus knows about it. We are awaiting news.’
Gwellia shrugged. ‘This man is wealthy, from what you say of him, and a member of the curia – or he wants to be. People like him don’t perish in the snow, as poorer folks might do. He will have found some sort of shelter in an inn, or foisted himself upon some private house by boasting of his rank. Well, let’s hope he turns up with his payment soon. In the meantime, eat your food before it spoils.’
I didn’t persist in saying any more. I did not want to spoil either my dinner or the mood. For now it was time to pull more stools around the fire and enjoy the luxury of huge bowls of steaming stew. Maximus and Minimus, who had been given bowlfuls too, and were sitting on straw pillows a little further back, were almost tearful in their gratitude at not being required to wait until their master had consumed his own.
The Romans talk about ambrosia, but give me Gwellia’s chicken stew, with turnips, leeks and barley – and flour dumplings on the top! From the first tasty morsel I could feel the warmth suffusing my whole body like a magic charm, and with every mouthful strength came seeping back.
‘Wonderful!’ I murmured to my wife – and everyone agreed, with such enthusiasm that the infant stirred. After that we were content with smiles and nods, but they expressed our satisfaction as well as any words. In companionable silence we finished off the stew and followed it with cups of steaming mead.
Then Cilla said to Junio, ‘Husband, I think that we should leave. You and your father are in need of rest.’
I would have protested, on my wife’s account – Gwellia dotes on our adoptive grandson as if he were her own – but she caught my eye and shook her head, so I commanded Kurso to reignite the brand and light the young family and their slave boy up the short path to their home. ‘And when you have finished bring the torch back here!’
Delighted by his new importance – everyone agreed it was not his normal role – Kurso took the torch, held it to the fire and brandished it with such gusto that I feared briefly for the thatch.
The child half-woke when his father lifted him and wrapped him gently in a corner of his cloak, but an instant later he closed his eyes again and there was scarcely a whimper as he was carried out into the dark and cold. The little party set off up the rise and I gave my red-haired slaves permission to retire in turn, to their own little sleeping house beside the outer door. Then I
‘Now,’ Gwellia said, when we travellers were all fully dried and clad. She spoke in a hushed voice so as not to wake the child. ‘You can tell us what you have been doing since we met. I had a garbled message which put my mind at rest, saying you had some sort of contract in the town. I did not know that you had any work in hand.’
‘Neither did we,’ I whispered, with one eye on the babe. I squatted on the stool beside the cooking fire and warmed my hands and feet while Gwellia stirred the pot. Junio stretched out close by me on the sleeping bench, and together we explained how the unexpected commission came about. ‘He agreed a splendid price, provided that I finished it by the Agonalia,’ I finished. ‘I managed to do it, but he was not there to see that for himself, though fortunately I have witnesses to the fact.’
Gwellia nodded. ‘Well, that is a good omen for the new year,’ she murmured, as Cilla passed her a pile of wooden bowls and she began to ladle out the meal. ‘The money will be useful, certainly, after all this snow. Things in the garden plot are wilting with the frost.’
I shook my head. ‘It is to be hoped the fellow pays me, that is all. He was expected back in Glevum a day or two ago, but he has not arrived – though it is possible that he has gone to Dorn instead. Marcus knows about it. We are awaiting news.’
Gwellia shrugged. ‘This man is wealthy, from what you say of him, and a member of the curia – or he wants to be. People like him don’t perish in the snow, as poorer folks might do. He will have found some sort of shelter in an inn, or foisted himself upon some private house by boasting of his rank. Well, let’s hope he turns up with his payment soon. In the meantime, eat your food before it spoils.’
I didn’t persist in saying any more. I did not want to spoil either my dinner or the mood. For now it was time to pull more stools around the fire and enjoy the luxury of huge bowls of steaming stew. Maximus and Minimus, who had been given bowlfuls too, and were sitting on straw pillows a little further back, were almost tearful in their gratitude at not being required to wait until their master had consumed his own.
The Romans talk about ambrosia, but give me Gwellia’s chicken stew, with turnips, leeks and barley – and flour dumplings on the top! From the first tasty morsel I could feel the warmth suffusing my whole body like a magic charm, and with every mouthful strength came seeping back.
‘Wonderful!’ I murmured to my wife – and everyone agreed, with such enthusiasm that the infant stirred. After that we were content with smiles and nods, but they expressed our satisfaction as well as any words. In companionable silence we finished off the stew and followed it with cups of steaming mead.
Then Cilla said to Junio, ‘Husband, I think that we should leave. You and your father are in need of rest.’
I would have protested, on my wife’s account – Gwellia dotes on our adoptive grandson as if he were her own – but she caught my eye and shook her head, so I commanded Kurso to reignite the brand and light the young family and their slave boy up the short path to their home. ‘And when you have finished bring the torch back here!’
Delighted by his new importance – everyone agreed it was not his normal role – Kurso took the torch, held it to the fire and brandished it with such gusto that I feared briefly for the thatch.
The child half-woke when his father lifted him and wrapped him gently in a corner of his cloak, but an instant later he closed his eyes again and there was scarcely a whimper as he was carried out into the dark and cold. The little party set off up the rise and I gave my red-haired slaves permission to retire in turn, to their own little sleeping house beside the outer door. Then I
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