Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 00.5] Ulpius Felix- Warrior of Rome (17 page)

“You could be right but why don’t you wear the patch?”

“I don’t know sir.  Its like the patch means I am ashamed of my wound and I’m not.”

“And how do you like this army.”

“I am glad I joined sir.”

“Well so am I and the Decurion Princeps thinks highly of you too.”

Ulpius Felix did not take praise well.  Praise was for others.  He stared at the land around him, the road north was new, he could see it was not word at all and it cut line a burn mark though the green fields. Even the roads at home had been worn.  This was the real frontier and yet it looked so peaceful.  “Where are we off to then sir?”

“Always impatient eh? We might just be enjoying the scenery.”

Wolf laughed, “Sir we never enjoy the scenery.  The scenery is just stuff hiding the bastards who want to kill us.”

“You may have a point.  We are seeking a scout. Just ahead there should be a hut.”

“I can see it sir.”

“You may only have one eye Decurion but it works. Come on let’s see if he is at home.”

The hut was little more than willow branches covered with a couple of deer hides. There was no sign of the occupant but there was a pile of smoking ash.  They dismounted and walked around calling. “Ho, the camp.”

No-one answered. Marius wandered over to the ashes.  He was about to kick them with his foot when Wolf stopped him.  “Don’t do that sir?”

Curious the Prefect asked, “Why not Decurion?”

“Well first off it will piss off the warrior in the bushes who is aiming his bow at you and secondly it will spoil the food.”

“What man?  What food?”

The warrior suddenly appeared, the bow by his side.  “The young one is right.  It would annoy me and it would spoil my food.” Wolf grinned at the expression on Proculus’ face. “You are new Romans.  Are you from the fort?”

“Yes we have just arrived.” The man put down his bow and then began scraping the ashes away. “Decurion Spurius Ocella sent us.”

The man began to dig at the burnt earth with his dagger. “How is his leg? Is he still as bad tempered?”

Marius was so intrigued that he almost didn’t answer.  “Er yes he is and he is getting better.  We hoped that you might scout for us.  What are you doing?”

Wolf answered for the man who shook his head at the stupidity of the Romans who could build fine roads and buildings but could not survive in the wild. “He is digging up the meat he put there to cook slowly.  We do the same in Pannonia.”

“I knew you were not Brigante.” He held out his arm, “I am Osgar.”

“And I am Decurion Lupus Ulpius Felix.”

The Brigante put his head to one side and said, “That is a Roman name. You are a wolf.”

Both Wolf and the Prefect stepped back.  “How did…”

“Tell me Osgar, he was called Wolf, but how did you know?”

“He has the lean and hungry look of an animal which takes what it wants and I saw the charm around his neck.”

Somewhat relieved they relaxed. “Well will you scout for us?”

“We will eat first and then I will decide.” As he unwrapped the rabbit from the bark he nodded at Wolf.  “Him I like, you I am not sure yet.  You smell too clean.”

Bemused the Prefect sat down and they shared the rabbit which literally fell from the bone. “At home we put dried plums in with it.”

“If I had had them I would have put them in too.  It is still good though.”

“Oh yes still good.”Wolf gave him a sly grin, “It just could be better.”

“I will not bathe Roman and I sleep out of the fort.”

“That is not a problem. And pay?”

“If I need something I will ask.”

“Right well, I suppose I will get back to the fort.  We will be riding tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there.” He looked at Wolf.  “I will talk more with you then Wolf.”

As they rode back to the fort the Prefect shook his head.  He was not certain who had offered who a job there. “One thing is obvious Decurion.  He will be attached to your turma!”

They had a whole six days to make the camp comfortable and to begin to build wooden barracks. Their time in Germania Inferior had shown them the benefits of a roof which kept out rain.  Osgar took Wolf and the other officers on a tour of the surrounding land. Even Aulus Murgus was impressed at the speed with which he could run.  He took them to within twenty miles of the hills which rose in the west.  The others found it amusing that, even when Flavius was with them Osgar would insist upon speaking to Wolf as though the others were unnecessary.  “Those hills run the length of the country.  To the north I have never seen their end and to the south,” he shrugged as though it was not important for it was not the land of the Brigante/

“Who lived around here? The Brigante?” They had all noticed that there were fewer farms. 

“No it was the Corieltavi. They live no longer.”

“Who killed them?  Did our people, the Romans do it?”

“Some yes but the Brigante killed them when they tried to attack our people.  They thought that, because we had a Queen we were weak.” He grinned.  “They found that we were not.  Out Queen is a warrior queen.  She can fight as men do.  She can drive a four horse chariot. Were it not for her tits she would be a man.”

They all laughed and Osgar affected a hurt expression. “They mean no offence Osgar. I look forward to meeting the Queen.”

“That you will not do.  She lives far to the north.  If we had to go to her then it would mean that she was in great danger.  No she is safe.  The snake Venutius sits in the land of the Carvetii and licks his wounds but you and your men will have to kill him one day.  Until he is dead there will be no peace in my land.”

The Legate arrived with the Tribune and his turma of cavalry.  Marius was supervising the deepening of the ditches and he looked up.  “That is strange Flavius. I had heard that he had taken a cohort of infantry with him. I wonder where they are?”

His question was answered when he was summoned to the fort for a meeting. The Tribune Gnaeus greeted him at the gate. “Good to see you Marius.  Spurius has been telling me all that you have done.” The Prefect gave him a puzzled look, “His old comrades have been singing your praises and the other men you have promoted.  You have an interesting collection of warriors there.”

“And you Gnaeus how is life treating you?”

“This is good cavalry country.  I have long been asking the Legates for your ala and luckily our new man is a cavalryman and he sent for you immediately.”

“I thought he had a cohort with him.”

He lowered his voice conspiratorially, “He will tell you of course, but he left them in the north.  Venutius is flexing his muscles again.  His defeat by the Legate’s brother was some time ago and he has forgotten the lesson. We are going to campaign in the north while the weather is good and then we will winter in camps.  They are harsh winters here.”

Legate Cerialis was a cavalryman at heart but his family connections meant that he was too high status to command an ala of auxiliaries and a turma of regular cavalry did not give him the numbers he wished to command.  He longed for the time of Caesar when Caesar’s cavalry commanders had controlled thousands of warriors.  At least he now had an ala to command.  It was a start. His elder brother had begun the defeat of the rebels such as Venutius and he would finish it. He looked again at the map. Venutius had brought his army to the south of the Queen’s hill fort at Stanwyck.  He knew that he had placed it on the high moors so that he could strike in any direction.  To the south west lay Deva and the Silures tribe.  There the Twentieth Valeria was hard pushed to control them. If Venutius joined the Silures then the Twentieth would cease to exist.  Equally they could also attack Lindum.  His Legion was the only force between the Brigante and the soft hinterland of the Province. The Catevellauni and the Iceni were pacified but they had not turned their swords into plough shares. They were becoming Roman, far quicker than the Emperor would have hoped but they were no yet converted.  The only bright spot was the veterans who were retiring just north of Londinium.  They would provide a stable core of hard working men who would resist change.

There was a knock on the door.  “Come.”

The Tribune entered, “This is Prefect Marius Ulpius Proculus.”

The Legate beamed, “Delighted.  You cannot believe how long I have waited for some cavalry.  The Tribune here does his best but one hundred and twenty men are hardly an army.” Marius felt his friend bristle next to him.  “How many men do you have then Prefect?”

“We have thirty Turmae and most have thirty two men including Decurion and aquilifer. We have no ancillary staff such as blacksmith and cooks.  But we normally do not need them as we share the facilities of whichever legion we are near.  By the same token we have no clerical staff.  My officers double up on most of the duties normally performed by civilians.”

“That won’t do.  You will not be stationed close to the Ninth.  When we have dealt with Venutius you will divide you ala into two halves and each one will have their own fort.  I intend to control this province by the use of small forts.  The Ninth has already done so.  There will be just one cohort here at Lindum. However that is for the future.  I will get my aide to deal with that whilst we are on campaign. Make sure you have all the equipment you need.  We will not be able to be supplied on the road.“ He laughed, “For a start where we are going there is no road. And you and your men will have to range far and wide to find this elusive Venutius.”

Chapter 9

As they rode at the head of the column heading for the Tungrian Cohort and the three cohorts of the Ninth, the Prefect discussed how best to organise the ala into two halves. “My thoughts, Flavius, are to give one to you and I will take the other.  Wed divide the other five troopers from the Ninth so that I have three and you have two and then divide the new officers and turmae up.”

“That would work sir but why divide us at all. We are the only cavalry; it would have made sense to use us as one large group.  We could split up as and when we were needed.  If we had met the Chauci in the woods with half the men we would have lost.”

“I know Flavius but the Legate’s aide gave me the written orders before we left.” Marius had not liked the pompous young man.  Perhaps it was something to do with aides. Gaius Cresens was different from Decimus Bucco but he had the same effect on the Prefect.  He had a pudgy soft face and looked as though he might be inclined to fat. As with all aides he seemed to exude an undeserved superiority. The Tribune had told him that Cresens fani8ly had been friends of the Legate’s and they had fallen on hard times.  As much as Marius sympathised with his family’s plight it did not make his conversations with the young man any more palatable. He dismissed the odious man from his mind.  As long as he did his job and found a smith, a clerk and a couple of cooks he would be happy.

They were heading for the hills which rose steeply towards the west.  They were hardly mountains although Marius could see the steep and rocky sections which would be impassible to all but mountain goats.  The smoke from the fires of the legion and the auxiliaries marked their destination.  At least there were no mighty rivers like the Rhenus.  It looked like his men would be able to cross all the rivers they had seen by swimming for they were less than fifty paces wide.  At least their experience against the Chauci would stand them in good stead.

Cerialis gestured him forwards, “You get your men to build a camp over there, close to the river.  You will need an early night for I want your two wings to spread out and find me the Brigante.”

Marius would have to rely on Osgar and his knowledge of the land which meant that it would be Decurion Lupus Ulpius Felix who would have to take the point and, despite the Legate’s intentions, they would have to stay within close proximity.

Wolf and Gerjen were staring to the west.  “It looks different from anything I have ever seen before.”

“I know Gerjen.  The Allfather has made all the lands different.  The Prefect told me that there are lands to the south of the Roman sea which are made up of nothing but sand, no grass, no water, just sand.”

“What do horses eat?”

“I know not but he told me they have a beast there called a camel which is bigger than a horse and carries its water inside it on its back and they have another beast which is taller than the gatehouse at the fort and it has two mighty teeth and a long snake coming from its head and it can crush men.”

Had it been anyone but Wolf telling him this then Gerjen would have doubted the words but the Prefect and Wolf did not lie.  The world they lived in was strange indeed.  “I hope there are none of those beasts here.”

Wolf nodded his agreement.  He pointed to the tendril of smoke coming from beyond the fort, close by the river.  “If there are any then Osgar will smell them out.”

“He is a strange one but I like him.  He reminds me of the shaman from the village.”

Wolf suddenly remembered the old shaman. “You are right I had forgotten him.  Yes and he seems to have the same ability to see into the mind.” He told him about the Wolf and Gerjen looked up proudly at the Wolf standard which he had made and carried still.

It was dark when they dismantled the camp. Marius and Flavius stood with Wolf and Horse.  “You need to sweep the land before us and spot the enemy before they spot you.  Wolf will have Osgar and that may give us an advantage.  If you see the enemy then send a man here and trail them.”

Cava looked troubled.  “I am sorry sir but if these Brigantes are dressed like Wolf’s scout they will see us with all this red, a long time before we see them.”

“I know Decurion but this is not the forests of Germania and I do not think that we are in as much danger of ambush.”

“Yes sir.” As they left to join their men Horse rolled his eyes heavenward. “That is the trouble with this army, not flexible enough.”

“Don’t worry old friend.  My Osgar will sniff them out believe me.”

Osgar trotted ahead of Wolf like a dog.  He would pause and look at the ground and then shake his head.  He took them, not up the faintest of trails but across the rough moor land.  Behind him Wolf hear Gaius cursing. “Don’t worry Gaius we will find them.”