pain and sorrow and you probably will not even listen to me now because I have no father. Will you hear me, then, for the sake of my mother and this other fatherless child in the shed and deliver us from certain destruction?”
Nothing.
Then I saw Gaius. He looked terrible. His luck had run out and he had become a candidate for an early grave, as were the other six standing with him, as sorry a lot as you will ever see. Then I knew exactly what I must do.
“Thank you, god of my mother,” I said under my breath.
Luckily, it was a pitch-black moonless night. I slipped back into the shed and removed the copperware and carefully put it into sacks I found lying on the clay floor of the shed. I thought how very convenient of Darcas to leave them lying about after she unpacked her loot. Dinah watched wide-eyed and wondering. It was a struggle, but I got the best pieces away and hidden. I piled some kindling against the shed to cover the mess I made of the wall. I greeted Gaius and his pitiful squad of cutpurses. I had a proposition for them.
Chapter Twelve
I went back for Dinah. Once out of the shed and safely on my way, I signaled to Gaius. His flock of spotted goats descended on the other sheds and within moments they were looting Darcas’ life savings. I rushed into the atrium out of breath and sounded the alarm. Darcas and her bodyguards rushed out the door, headed toward the backcourt. Gaius and his band had managed, by then, to wreck half of it. How much they had stolen I did not know. They had time enough to make off with quite a lot but their greed was a match for Darcas’ and so they had stayed, trying to grab everything. Others had joined in the looting and a riot began. I threw the lamp onto a pile of dry straw near the cookhouse doorway and it burst into flames, casting an eerie glow on the melee in the backcourt. In the midst of the noise and smoke, the cursing, and the sound of clubs striking skulls, Dinah and I slipped away. We were going to the city—to Corinth.
***
I found the temple of Aphrodite but only after stumbling about in the dark on a dozen streets. Finally I remembered I had to climb to the Acrocorinth. I let my feet find the grade upwards. I promised myself I would pay closer attention the next time I wandered through a city. I stopped in front of the temple. It loomed over us, even bigger than I remembered.
We stood in its shadows for a moment while I wrestled with what I should do next. I led Dinah up the marble steps and onto the portico. I hesitated, reluctant to enter, when the biggest Ethiopian I had ever seen stepped out in front of us. He asked what business I had in the temple. I stammered, momentarily tongue-tied, and wondered if the prudent thing might be to reverse and get as far away as fast as I could. I steeled myself, figuring I had not come all this way to turn and run.
“I bring a gift for the goddess,” I said in my best Greek. My accent was that of Amelabib and sounded local and country. The Ethiopian glared at me and at Dinah. She moaned and scurried around behind me. The Ethiopian motioned us to follow him.
He led us along a path that circled the temple to a low building at the rear. He knocked and had a conversation with someone inside. In a moment, an old woman came out carrying a torch. It burned as brightly as the absent moon. I pushed Dinah forward and whispered to her for the one-hundredth time, “You will be safe here. It is going to be all right.”
Something about the old woman seemed to touch Dinah. She stood still and stared straight ahead. The old woman circled her and then gazed into Dinah’s face for a long time. She murmured something to the Ethiopian. Their voices were so soft I could not hear what they said. The old woman looked up abruptly and said something to me in Latin.
“She says she has been visited,” the Ethiopian translated. “The goddess knows this child.” She said something else to the Ethiopian who turned back to me.
Nothing.
Then I saw Gaius. He looked terrible. His luck had run out and he had become a candidate for an early grave, as were the other six standing with him, as sorry a lot as you will ever see. Then I knew exactly what I must do.
“Thank you, god of my mother,” I said under my breath.
Luckily, it was a pitch-black moonless night. I slipped back into the shed and removed the copperware and carefully put it into sacks I found lying on the clay floor of the shed. I thought how very convenient of Darcas to leave them lying about after she unpacked her loot. Dinah watched wide-eyed and wondering. It was a struggle, but I got the best pieces away and hidden. I piled some kindling against the shed to cover the mess I made of the wall. I greeted Gaius and his pitiful squad of cutpurses. I had a proposition for them.
Chapter Twelve
I went back for Dinah. Once out of the shed and safely on my way, I signaled to Gaius. His flock of spotted goats descended on the other sheds and within moments they were looting Darcas’ life savings. I rushed into the atrium out of breath and sounded the alarm. Darcas and her bodyguards rushed out the door, headed toward the backcourt. Gaius and his band had managed, by then, to wreck half of it. How much they had stolen I did not know. They had time enough to make off with quite a lot but their greed was a match for Darcas’ and so they had stayed, trying to grab everything. Others had joined in the looting and a riot began. I threw the lamp onto a pile of dry straw near the cookhouse doorway and it burst into flames, casting an eerie glow on the melee in the backcourt. In the midst of the noise and smoke, the cursing, and the sound of clubs striking skulls, Dinah and I slipped away. We were going to the city—to Corinth.
***
I found the temple of Aphrodite but only after stumbling about in the dark on a dozen streets. Finally I remembered I had to climb to the Acrocorinth. I let my feet find the grade upwards. I promised myself I would pay closer attention the next time I wandered through a city. I stopped in front of the temple. It loomed over us, even bigger than I remembered.
We stood in its shadows for a moment while I wrestled with what I should do next. I led Dinah up the marble steps and onto the portico. I hesitated, reluctant to enter, when the biggest Ethiopian I had ever seen stepped out in front of us. He asked what business I had in the temple. I stammered, momentarily tongue-tied, and wondered if the prudent thing might be to reverse and get as far away as fast as I could. I steeled myself, figuring I had not come all this way to turn and run.
“I bring a gift for the goddess,” I said in my best Greek. My accent was that of Amelabib and sounded local and country. The Ethiopian glared at me and at Dinah. She moaned and scurried around behind me. The Ethiopian motioned us to follow him.
He led us along a path that circled the temple to a low building at the rear. He knocked and had a conversation with someone inside. In a moment, an old woman came out carrying a torch. It burned as brightly as the absent moon. I pushed Dinah forward and whispered to her for the one-hundredth time, “You will be safe here. It is going to be all right.”
Something about the old woman seemed to touch Dinah. She stood still and stared straight ahead. The old woman circled her and then gazed into Dinah’s face for a long time. She murmured something to the Ethiopian. Their voices were so soft I could not hear what they said. The old woman looked up abruptly and said something to me in Latin.
“She says she has been visited,” the Ethiopian translated. “The goddess knows this child.” She said something else to the Ethiopian who turned back to me.
Similar Books
