In time, the street became empty and the food-sellers’ cries stopped. Everyone was inside the arena and the roar of the crowd told Mary that the races had begun. Even the street sellers had deserted their stalls to watch.
Mary collected two ants from the dusty earth and set them to run. She would have her own races to keep herself amused.
One ant raced out from under the stall and into the sunlit street. Mary lifted the cloth a little and that’s when she saw a pair of feet walking past. And she knew at once that all the dangers of Rome were just a cubit away from her frightened face.
There was something wicked about those dusty feet in the dustier sandals. The crowd in the arena was roaring like a thousand lions, yet the feet seemed to be trying to walk on tiptoe. They took two steps and stopped. The ankles twisted as if the owner of the feet was looking around. Then they moved on, silent and snake-like.
Mary pulled the cloth back further and blinked out into the glare of the street. The feet rose into hairy legs and the legs went into a tunic with a green belt. But the man was too tall for her to see his face… unless she pushed her head right out.
“I’m not doing that,” she thought. “My life’s worth double nothing – but it’s the only one I’ve got.”
Again the man twisted to look around. Then he leaned forwards and took a sausage pan from the top of the stove. He threw the fat from the pan onto the wooden wall of the arena.
Then he took a wooden spoon, opened the stove door and scooped hot ashes into the pan. The hot ashes set the remaining fat alight.
The man seemed to panic. He threw the burning mess at the wall and at once the sausage fat started to blaze.
The sandals began to run back towards the city and Mary could see the man’s back now. She stuck her head out from the stall to see more clearly. The man stopped at the corner and turned. The serving girl saw the beard and the eye patch, and she gasped.
The thief did a curious thing – he lifted the patch from his eye to get a better look at the arena. Then he gave a cruel grin and hurried out of sight.
Mary tumbled out from under the stall. She snatched the cloth from the table and beat at the flames that were steadily climbing the arena wall.
But the fat was burning fiercely and she only managed to set fire to the cloth, which scorched her hand. She dropped the cloth and watched in horror as the greasy sausage table burst into flames.