Time to Depart (20 page)

XL

There was much less commotion at the Saepta than we had seen at the Emporium. Goldsmiths are a more secretive lot than merchants. They were wary of making a fuss about their stock even after it had been wrenched from them. None of them wanted to confess, especially to each other, exactly what they possessed let alone what they had lost. They merely stood around the ground floor and the upper balcony looking deeply glum.

Petronius made sure he reminded them that Vespasian had said he was compensating the Emporium merchants as an exceptional measure. The goldsmiths had been warned to take care, Petro declared. If they had failed to secure their premises despite the formal notification of a need for extra vigilance, they would have to stand the loss.

This went down like a gladiators' strike at a five-day festival. Hoping to avoid inflated claims, Martinus started trooping around the jewellers to make up another of his lists. Maybe the Emperor would agree token compensation after all. More likely he would confine himself to issuing a strict reprimand to the Prefect of the Vigiles for neglecting to prevent another robbery. The Prefect would take it out on the tribune of the Seventh Cohort, who was responsible for the Saepta, and on Marcus Rubella, tribune of the Fourth, who was in charge of the special initiative for catching the gang. Rubella would land on Petronius like a barrel of bricks from a great height.

I absorbed the size of the raid, which was phenomenal. That was all I needed to know. The next stage of action would be routine: taking endless details and asking questions of hostile witnesses whose information would probably prove pointless. Spotting my father, I dragged him into his office. 'There's enough grief here! Let's keep out of the way.'

Pa had lost nothing this time. The robbers had stormed through the building swiping jewels and precious metalwork.

They had had a strict menu of items to lift. Furniture and fancy lamps were off their agenda. Pa looked miffed.

'No bloody taste!'

'Be grateful, you villain.'

'I like to put it about that my stuff is desirable.'

'Any connoisseur of mock-marble tables with one foot missing can see yours are up with the best! Any collector who wants twenty identical statuettes of a muse on Mount Helicon - one or two with chipped noses - will come rushing straight here... Did you get my message?'

'Some garbled jabbering from my steward.'

Pa's steward was perfectly competent, as I happened to know. Like Pa's stock, his staff turned out to be better quality than you thought at first glance. I reiterated patiently, 'We found one of the glass jugs.'

'Oh?' He could hardly force himself to express an interest. I knew why it was. He would rather claim the Emperor's compensation, cash in hand, than enjoy owning and selling the treasures we had taken so much trouble to bring home. He made me furious.

'You give me a pain in the brain, Pa! What about what I said about a present for Helena?'

'That was a gorgeous piece you got her.'

'You mean you found it?' I was beside myself

'I had a very good look at the glass in the boxes that first night. I thought I told you.'

'Then I wish you'd taken it out and kept it safe for me!' 

'How was I to know it was a present for Helena?'

'It was wrapped up in one of my old tunics. You should have realised.'

'I thought you were secreting away a bribe for some fancy bit.'

'Oh for heavens' sake! I hate to flirt and fornicate.' 

'Jupiter, that's new!'

'Don't judge me by your own low behaviour!' I felt so annoyed with him I could not bear to stay and haggle over a replacement, even though I needed a present by the next morning. With a brief curse - my usual salutation - I brushed aside Pa's offer of a drink and stormed off home.

By the time I returned to Fountain Court it was dark. I put aside my anger; I had to give my attention to keeping alert. A loose chicken scuttled across my feet in a panic, frightening me too. There were the usual feeble lamps flickering like extremely tired glow-worms on the porches of the bakery, the basket shop and one or two others. Only the funeral parlour was ablaze with cheerful strings of lights; offering a brilliant welcome was their idea of comforting the bereaved. In one deeply shadowed doorway two figures were locked together; hard to see whether it was a pair of lovers steadfastly taking their pleasure or a mugger throttling a victim. In keeping with the traditions of our area, I did not enquire. I had once helped a youth who was being raped by a carter, only to have him steal my purse while his attacker was giving me a black eye. Not a set-up; just a typical Aventine reward for my overfriendliness.

I was walking up the laundry side of the lane, which was normally quieter. This brought me to the ground-floor lockup alongside the barber's, the set of rooms that had previously been advertised to let. The new tenants had made fast work of moving in. There was a dim lantern with a dirty horn shutter swinging from an awning support, by the light of which I could make out masses of intriguing stuff for sale. A faint chalked sign above the entrance now advertised: The Lumber Room: BarGaius Aplenty and Gifts Full of Charm.

This was my last hope of acquiring a birthday present for the girl I adored. Even better, I could possibly get something cheap. I had nothing to lose, so I rapped on a cauldron hanging by the doorway, and went in.

XLI

If you liked jumble, it was a wondrous glory hole. As soon as I squeezed in through the folding doors, which had been nearly closed, I knew this was the sort of cavern that cried out for half a day's perusal. It all looked extremely casual. There were enough mixed sacks of pictures and crocks to give the impression the proprietor had lost any chance of knowing his stock - holding out the tantalising hope of unsuspected valuables for which the sharp-eyed browser could offer a copper, intending to sell on to a more discerning dealer at twenty times the price. My father always called these places rubbish dumps; his disdain only made me like them more.

By the light of a few tiny oil lamps I tried to familiarise myself. Dust filled the air. There was a smell which I recognised from the house sales my father organised after people had died, that faintly upsetting aroma of old things newly disturbed. The confined space was very warm. From the rear of the building came a succession of muffled noises, not quite domestic in character.

I brushed through a strung-up cascade of belts, some with extraordinary buckles. Then I nearly stepped on a dismantled chariot wheel. Sandals and boots were knotted on ropes like onions. They bulged on the walls amidst hookfuls of skillets and drainers that hung in colonies like shellfish on a groyne. Around my feet were teetering piles of bowls and platters. To reach the gloom where the counter groaned under mounds of cloth items - old clothes and household drapes, apparently - required steering a path through the tableware; huge baskets of ironmongery that leant against the serving island, keeping you at a distance. Little stands dripped bead necklaces. Caskets stood open to show off glittering finger rings. There were bronze flagons, black metal cups that could well clean up into silver, and an astonishing candelabra that reached the roof.

I wondered where the proprietor got his stuff. On the off chance, I kept an eye out for Syrian glass.

A figure emerged suddenly from the rear, making me jump. He looked flustered and suspicious, as if I had invaded a shop that was really closed for the night I stuck one thumb in my belt and applied an unthreatening air.

'Evening. This is quite a collection! I bet you don't even know what you've got.' It was intended as a compliment; he took it as an insult, I could see.

The man was slight and seedy-looking. I had seen this type in many a dark boothful of paraphernalia before. I never know how they live. They never seem to want to part with any goods from their untidy selection, and if you bring anything to offer for sale, they despise that too.

This one had lanky strings of hair covering his ears, though the dome of his head was bald. His skin was Like old cheese rind, the sort at which even sparrows turn up their beaks when you find it behind a cupboard and throw it out. He looked insignificant. I tried to tell myself he was a pent-up ball of energy and intelligence. I failed.

'Mind if I look around?'

He condescended to allow it, but appeared about as happy as if I had told him I represented the aedile in charge of licences. 'Anything special you're looking for?' he forced himself to demand. He definitely had the gloom of a man whose credentials were being checked -- one who knew he had not paid the right bribes to be in the clear.

'I'll know it if I see it.'

I wanted to browse; he just wanted me to leave. The fact that he stood there watching meant that things which had once looked attractive rapidly lost their interest. I started noticing chips and dents the minute I picked up an item, then I felt embarrassed about putting it straight down. He had no idea how to sell. Even if he suspected I was an evening opportunist looking for goods to lift, he could have watched me without letting it show, Anyone would think I had slouched in with a hook on a stick or a large swag bag.

I lost myself for a long time in a basket of handles, brackets and hinges. Eventually I straightened up. 'Do you sell any decent-quality jewellery?'

'I don't have much in stock at the moment.' He meant, if any ever came in he sold it straight on to a specialist jeweller who could present it on a pretty display and charge more. 'My partner reclaims precious metal, and we have a good crafstman who can make it up into anything you want. We could commission you a piece.'

'In gold?'

'Oh yes.'

'Would you guarantee the purity?'

'All our work goes out with a certificate.'

Anyone who 'reclaims' metal can probably forge documents too, but it sounded a reasonable offer. That only made me feel more worried. This was a prime opportunity for them to pinch the materials, if I supplied any, or for me to pay a lot of money for work that entirely lacked artistry.

'What's your name?'

'Castus.'

'Maybe we can do business, Castus.'

I hated the normal class of jeweller. I hated their prices and the stuck-up way they sneered at me. I really would have liked to give some smaller firm a chance. But Helena was special. Feeling like a louse, I promised to decide more clearly what I wanted and come back later with instructions. Then I left the shop. Poor Castus obviously knew I was just a time-waster.

Back at home, Helena was in bed. I knew pregnant women have to rest a lot. When I suggested this, Helena retorted that she had just decided I was an unreliable wanderer it was no use waiting up for.

I sat on the edge of the bed, holding the skip baby, who had been awake when I came in. He gazed back with his normal, quiet, trusting expression. I had a bad conscience about this one. I kept forgetting him. I kept forgetting my niece Tertulla too. There was madness on the Aventine, a two-way traffic in youth. Some children were being abandoned; some were being snatched. I tried to make a connection, but nothing jumped out at me.

I pushed Nux off the end of the bed; she crept closer along the floor, and since she was shy of fussing me while I was acting stern, she licked the baby's foot instead.

'That's a good sign.' Helena smiled.

'She's good with children!' We both giggled, thinking of Gaius Baebius making this wild claim as he fought to hold his struggling hound, Ajax.

Helena told me the brothers-in-law had achieved nothing in the search for little Tertulla (no surprise). The last sighting of her must have been soon after Marius had left her, in a street only two away from Fountain Court. Gaius Baebius had offered to come again tomorrow to continue searching. He and Junia had no children of their own, but he was a good-hearted soul. That had never made him easier to like.

I sighed. Trying to think what I could do about this, I stretched on top of the coverlet alongside Helena. I was still holding the babe. Next thing, the damned dog started creeping up over the edge too, one paw at a time. There was hardly room for all of us. At this rate we would need a bigger bed.

Tertulla might have to wait. She had been missing most of the day, and we were now into the night. I knew what that meant. I was perfectly aware of the dangers she might be in. She was certainly frightened. She might be hurt. Or dead. But without a lead to follow, I had little chance of doing anything.

I was her uncle. I was head of her mother's household, since Pa was an absconding scoundrel and the child's own father was a complete deadbeat whom even Galla threw out whenever possible. It was my role to find the child. Dear gods, I hated this kind of responsibility.

'Let me try,' Helena urged, snuggling up to me. 'I'll speak to the parents of the other so-called missing children. Marcus, you can't do everything.'

I turned my head and gazed at her sadly. 'You're beautiful!' 

'What's that for?' She was suspicious at once. 'What's happened?'

I closed my eyes wearily. This had to be confession time. 'I can't do anything right. I bought you a wonderful present for once - and it's been stolen from me.'

'Oh no! Oh my darling.'

'It was marvellous. Something I'd probably never be able to better.' I was really depressed. 'I've been trying to replace it, but I can't find anything I like as much.'

'Ah Marcus... It doesn't matter. Come to bed properly.'

'I didn't want to have to tell you this.'

'It's not your fault.'

'I'm supposed to be catching the bastards. I thought I'd get it back.'

'You will,' she said. I loved her faith, but it was terrifying. Helena put her arms around me. I began to feel drowsy straight away. That was no good. I had too much to worry about. If I dozed I would have bad dreams. I might as well just stay awake and ruin my chances of sorting out anything by making myself completely exhausted for tomorrow.

Tomorrow was going to be a difficult day. 'Helena Justina, what are we going to tell your mother when she asks you what you had from me?'

'I shall just smile mysteriously and say it's a secret.'

Helena's mother would take this for a salacious reference to the child we were expecting. Once she knew of it. 'Well what, if it isn't too much to ask, are we going to tell your mother about starting a family?'

'Don't worry.'

'I do worry. I've bungled enough things. I'd like to handle this with decorum and tact.'

'I'll tell her that was my birthday present.' Exactly as I feared: 'He's made me pregnant. What more do you want?'

What a wonderful household. A hopeless informer, a girl he should not be living with, a strange little foundling baby, and a dog I didn't want. And somehow between the four of us, we were trying to solve half the conspiracies in Rome.

By next morning there was another crime for us. During the night Alexander, the doctor who had told Nonnius he was dying, was found by the watch lying in his open surgery. The place was a wreck and he was surrounded by scattered instruments and spilled medicines. His throat had been cut with one of his own scalpels. Various disgusting experiments had been perpetrated on him first. His brother, Scythax, the Fourth Cohort's medico, happened to be out with the night patrol that came across the corpse.