reached out a lazy hand towards the pan and poured myself the remnants of the hot spiced mead.
‘I don’t know if you heard about the sacrifice today …’ I began, ready to share the scandal with my wife.
‘Not now, husband!’ she murmured at my side. ‘This is no time for telling tales and drinking mead. You are very tired and you forget that you are old. You should go to bed. Kurso and I will finish the last chores and then I’ll come myself.’
I would cheerfully have helped to rake out the fire and set tomorrow’s bread and cakes to bake, but Gwellia would brook no argument. I took off my outer tunic and lay down sleepily on the mattress of fresh reeds, under the woollen blanket and the furs.
‘I’m sorry you were worried,’ I murmured drowsily. ‘I hoped to spare you that. But at least you got the message, saying I was safe?’
She nodded, pausing in the act of kneading dough. ‘Several days ago. That farmer, Cantalarius, came here with his mules. He was full of grumbles, as he always is, boasting about some sacrifice he’d promised to the gods. I didn’t take it in. But I was glad to hear from him. I could not be sure you had not set off on the Kalends and been caught out in the cold – but once I knew that you were safe in town I was reassured.’
‘I’m not like Genialis,’ I said sleepily. ‘If I set off, I generally arrive.’
‘Husband, you know it’s not an idle fear,’ she said, not smiling at my teasing. ‘I’ve already heard of two people who have died. Poor old Lotta, who used to come round selling herbs, was found up at the spring – slipped in the ice and broke her leg and hip, and died of cold before they discovered her. Kurso saw the body when he went up with the pail. And you know that bit of marshy pond down in the woods?’
I did. There was a place in the forest where the land had once been ground, but the land was too waterlogged to support a crop and the effort was abandoned, leaving an area of swampy pools. It was a little distance from the track and in the summer it was screened by leafy trees, but it was easily visible at this time of year. ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘We passed it just today.’
‘There was a tragedy down there the other day as well. When that Cantalarius was here, he told me that he’d seen it from the road. Half a dozen people trying to retrieve a body from the lake. He almost stopped to help them, but it was getting dark. Some poor man who’d slipped and fallen in head first – either drowned or knocked his head and froze to death. The ice had formed around him and they were having to break it up to get the corpse.’ She shuddered. ‘What an awful way to go. And that’s just the two fatalities that we have heard about.’
I made a sympathetic noise. Of course she had been worried. Every winter there are several deaths like that – and this winter had been particularly cruel. ‘Never mind,’ I said. ‘It has begun to thaw.’
She gave a rueful laugh. ‘As soon as I saw that I was concerned again. I knew that you would try to come as soon as possible, but the paths are terrible and I’ve heard wolves howling in the forest on several nights. And Cantalarius said that something had been gnawing at that corpse.’ She shook her head at me. ‘Time we bought a mule, ourselves, so you don’t have to walk – it would make your life a great deal easier. It would save me nightmares, too.’
‘But what about poor Junio and the slaves?’ I said. ‘Or are you suggesting we buy mules for them as well? And what should I do with the animals while I’m in the shop? Leave them with a hiring stables and pay fees for them?’
She didn’t answer – usually a sign that she knows I am right.
I pressed my advantage. ‘Besides, how many times since we’ve been living here have you known the roads to be impassable with snow – let alone for them to stay that way for days?’
‘Cantalarius seems to manage to afford a mule,’ she said,
‘I don’t know if you heard about the sacrifice today …’ I began, ready to share the scandal with my wife.
‘Not now, husband!’ she murmured at my side. ‘This is no time for telling tales and drinking mead. You are very tired and you forget that you are old. You should go to bed. Kurso and I will finish the last chores and then I’ll come myself.’
I would cheerfully have helped to rake out the fire and set tomorrow’s bread and cakes to bake, but Gwellia would brook no argument. I took off my outer tunic and lay down sleepily on the mattress of fresh reeds, under the woollen blanket and the furs.
‘I’m sorry you were worried,’ I murmured drowsily. ‘I hoped to spare you that. But at least you got the message, saying I was safe?’
She nodded, pausing in the act of kneading dough. ‘Several days ago. That farmer, Cantalarius, came here with his mules. He was full of grumbles, as he always is, boasting about some sacrifice he’d promised to the gods. I didn’t take it in. But I was glad to hear from him. I could not be sure you had not set off on the Kalends and been caught out in the cold – but once I knew that you were safe in town I was reassured.’
‘I’m not like Genialis,’ I said sleepily. ‘If I set off, I generally arrive.’
‘Husband, you know it’s not an idle fear,’ she said, not smiling at my teasing. ‘I’ve already heard of two people who have died. Poor old Lotta, who used to come round selling herbs, was found up at the spring – slipped in the ice and broke her leg and hip, and died of cold before they discovered her. Kurso saw the body when he went up with the pail. And you know that bit of marshy pond down in the woods?’
I did. There was a place in the forest where the land had once been ground, but the land was too waterlogged to support a crop and the effort was abandoned, leaving an area of swampy pools. It was a little distance from the track and in the summer it was screened by leafy trees, but it was easily visible at this time of year. ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘We passed it just today.’
‘There was a tragedy down there the other day as well. When that Cantalarius was here, he told me that he’d seen it from the road. Half a dozen people trying to retrieve a body from the lake. He almost stopped to help them, but it was getting dark. Some poor man who’d slipped and fallen in head first – either drowned or knocked his head and froze to death. The ice had formed around him and they were having to break it up to get the corpse.’ She shuddered. ‘What an awful way to go. And that’s just the two fatalities that we have heard about.’
I made a sympathetic noise. Of course she had been worried. Every winter there are several deaths like that – and this winter had been particularly cruel. ‘Never mind,’ I said. ‘It has begun to thaw.’
She gave a rueful laugh. ‘As soon as I saw that I was concerned again. I knew that you would try to come as soon as possible, but the paths are terrible and I’ve heard wolves howling in the forest on several nights. And Cantalarius said that something had been gnawing at that corpse.’ She shook her head at me. ‘Time we bought a mule, ourselves, so you don’t have to walk – it would make your life a great deal easier. It would save me nightmares, too.’
‘But what about poor Junio and the slaves?’ I said. ‘Or are you suggesting we buy mules for them as well? And what should I do with the animals while I’m in the shop? Leave them with a hiring stables and pay fees for them?’
She didn’t answer – usually a sign that she knows I am right.
I pressed my advantage. ‘Besides, how many times since we’ve been living here have you known the roads to be impassable with snow – let alone for them to stay that way for days?’
‘Cantalarius seems to manage to afford a mule,’ she said,
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