Free The Legion by Simon Scarrow Page B

growled.

    ‘Twelve,’ Cato responded to Hamedes. ‘It’s a fair price. Tell him.’

    The headman shook his head.

    ‘Fifteen. He says he’s robbing himself. But he can see that you are a good man, so he makes this price just for you.’

    ‘Fifteen obols,’ Macro puffed irritably. ‘Does he think we’re complete fools?’

    ‘Shhh,’ Cato hissed. ‘Fifteen it is.’

    He counted out the coins and handed them over. The headman palmed them quickly and shoved them into a dirty linen haversack on the nearest of the boats.

    ‘Tell him there’s another five obols for him if he can tell us if he has heard anything about the location of the men who have been raiding the coast. Ask him if he has any idea where they might be hiding.’

    The headman thought for a moment before responding.

    ‘He says he will tell you what he knows if you pay him ten obols.’

    ‘Cheeky bloody sod!’ Macro chuckled. ‘Cato, do you want me to persuade him to offer us a discount?’

    ‘No. We need all the goodwill we can get. Let’s not do Ajax’s work for him, all right, Centurion?’

    ‘Yes, sir.’

    Cato handed over some more coins and waited for Hamedes to interpret.

    ‘He says that a village was attacked on the next tributary to the west two days ago. Most of the villagers managed to escape, and fled to his village. That’s why there are many more mouths to feed.’

    ‘We must have missed something,’ said Macro. ‘Perhaps he didn’t slip by us after all. Sir, we should turn back and search to the west.’

    Cato was silent for a moment. His ships had scoured the coastline between Alexandria and here at the Mendesian mouth of the Nile. Every bay and inlet had been explored. Aside from the occasional evidence of one of Ajax’s earlier raids, there had been no trace of the fugitives. It was possible that they had scuttled their ship and ventured deeper into the delta but Cato felt convinced that his enemy would not risk abandoning the warship, his only means of escape to sea. If the headman’s information was accurate, that left two possibilities. Either Ajax had abandoned the delta and sailed north across the Mediterranean, or he had concealed his ship well enough to escape the eyes of Cato’s flotilla.

    ‘We’d better get back to the ships. Hamedes, give him my thanks, and tell him that we will not rest until we have destroyed Ajax. Then his people will be free to live in peace.’

    The headman shrugged. ‘He says that between the danger of Ajax and the burden of Roman taxes, what peace can a man hope for? There is no freedom. Not for the fellahin.’

    ‘Not much we can do about that,’ Macro said dismissively. ‘Here, give me a hand with this basket.’

    Hamedes made their farewells and took up the woven handle on one side of the basket while Macro took the other. Then, with Cato following, deep in thought, they made their way back down the narrow beach towards the point where the skiff and the marines lay out of sight.

    ‘At least we’ll have fresh meat on the menu tonight,’ Macro mused happily as he glanced at the fish.

    ‘They’ll make good eating,’ Hamedes grunted as he adjusted his grip.

    ‘They’d better. I’d wager they’re about the most expensive fish ever caught in Egypt,’ Macro concluded ruefully.

    That night, the crew of
Sobek
ate fried Nile carp, while the men of the other ships drawn up on the beach sullenly chewed on their hard tack. Cato and Macro were eating from their mess tins by the light of a cheery blaze of palm logs. Hamedes sat cross-legged on the far side of the fire, reading a prayer scroll he had borrowed from a temple in Alexandria. The fish, roasted over the fire, had been delicious, Macro reflected happily as he lowered his mess tin and licked his fingers. He glanced at Cato, and saw his face in profile, washed in a warm red glow, in deep concentration. Macro patted his chest and burped. ‘Excuse me.’

    ‘Hmmm?’ Cato looked round