Free Buried Too Deep by Jane Finnis Page A

Roman road. It ran through gently rolling fields, most of them pasture for sheep and goats, and a few cultivated, with green shoots of grain well up in the chalky soil. Every now and then there were small native farms with their mud-walled roundhouses. Occasionally we passed new foursquare brick or stone buildings, announcing a Roman settler. Every time I travelled this way, which I admit wasn’t often, I was aware how the number of Roman properties was increasing.
    I smiled at Lucius. “I feel guilty for saying so, but I’m enjoying this ride. I don’t get into the hills often enough.”
    Lucius smiled back. “I know. We should be feeling gloomy because of poor Belinus. Of course I’m sorry for him, but I must admit this shipwreck of the Sea Horse puts a different complexion on things.”
    “So it seems. You did promise to tell me the details, didn’t you? You know I’ll keep them secret if you want me to.”
    “I do, at least for now. I was involved in getting that ship ready to sail from Londinium. It’s part of some sensitive diplomatic negotiations, and it’s vital the cargo doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”
    “Is that why the Fleet are helping to guard it? That only happens with important ships, doesn’t it?”
    He nodded. “The Sea Horse is important all right, and extremely valuable. That box it’s carrying is full of gold.”
    “Gold? Gods, then there’ll be a reward for its recovery?”
    “Bound to be. A hundred gold pieces for the cargo intact, or my name’s Julius Caesar.”
    “That’s a huge amount of money!”
    “Isn’t it? But then it’s a huge amount of gold. We’ll give some to the fishermen of course, and my men on the coast will expect a share, but most of it will come to me.”
    “To us ,” I corrected. “Don’t forget I’m helping you with the transport.”
    He laughed. “I haven’t forgotten, and if I do, I’m sure you’ll remind me. The best part of a hundred gold pieces, just to pick up a box from a wrecked ship! Money for old rags, wouldn’t you say? And thanks to you, I haven’t had to waste a day organising army transport. By tomorrow night I’ll have brought the gold back to the mansio, or even maybe all the way to headquarters at Eburacum.”
    “Who’s it for? Some barbarian the Governor’s trying to bribe?”
    He put on a pained expression. “Bribe? What a horrible word! The Governor’s simply sending a gift to an important tribal chieftain in Caledonia. A token of eternal friendship and esteem.”
    “A bribe, in plain Latin.”
    He laughed. “We don’t use plain Latin much in this diplomatic game.”
    “I suppose it’s a sweetener for some native chief who’s supposed to be Rome’s ally, but his loyalty is wavering a bit?”
    “Exactly so. He’s always been an ally, and helped to keep down some of the wilder tribes up there who prefer to be our enemies. We need to keep him on our side, so we give him expensive presents and lots of flowery compliments. It’s a tried and tested policy, after all. If we don’t want to conquer an area by force of arms, we can still control it for the Empire through its tribal rulers, if we make it worth their while. It’s a cheaper option than sending in the legions. As for this particular barbarian, our agents have put a lot of time and effort into making sure he stays loyal to us, and the box of gold is all that’s needed to seal the bargain. Then Caledonia won’t be a problem, at least for a while.”
    “Assuming somebody eventually manages to deliver it. Didn’t the Governor even consider the possibility of a shipwreck? Sailing’s always risky, especially this early in the year. It beats me why he didn’t send the gold by road in nice safe wagons.”
    “Actually I agree with you, and several of us tried to persuade him to use land transport. But he said it attracts less attention to send a cargo like this by water. And attention’s what we don’t want. When we give handouts to barbarians, we