– chapter xvii –

No goodbye

 

‘Where does the master keep his money?’ I asked Clemens, trying to sound casual.

‘In the strongbox in his study,’ said Clemens. ‘Haven’t you ever seen it?’

Rufus said, ‘Are you thinking of helping yourself to some cash? Because you needn’t bother. There’s only one key to the strongbox, and Pallas takes care of it.’ Everyone knew that Pallas, the secretary, was fiercely loyal to the master – he probably slept with the key under his pillow.

‘Why do you want to know?’ Clemens asked me.

‘I told you – Bryn’s planning a robbery,’ said Rufus.

I felt my face start to go red. The only thing to do was to make a joke of the whole thing. ‘That’s right. I’m going to run off to Britain with the master’s strongbox!’

‘Then you’ll need the strength of Hercules,’ said Clemens. ‘That box is made of metal and chained to the floor.’

Rufus said, ‘If I wanted to steal something, I’d forget the money. There’s so much other stuff just sitting around asking to be taken. See that carved ivory figure?’ He pointed to a little statue in a niche on the corridor wall. ‘That must be worth quite a bit. And the big Greek vases in the dining room . . .’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ said Clemens. ‘How would you get them past the doorman? Small things are better. I’d have that silver statuette of Mercury from the atrium.’

‘Would you? How very interesting,’ said Theon. He had appeared round the corner of the passage and walked right in on our discussion. ‘I wonder if the master knows of your new interest in art collecting.’

‘I was only joking,’ Clemens said hastily.

‘Joking? Of course you were,’ Theon said, in that hateful, smooth voice of his. He smiled at us as he strolled past.

‘I hate Theon,’ Rufus muttered. ‘Always hanging around, listening in on other people.’

‘Because he hasn’t got any friends of his own. No one likes him,’ Clemens said loudly. Theon must have heard this, but he didn’t even turn his head.

I wondered how much of our conversation he’d overheard. He could have been listening around the corner for ages. Had I said anything that Theon could use against me?

Next day, when Conan met me outside the school, I told him what had happened.

‘Then it’s time we made a move,’ said Conan. ‘We’ll leave tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow!’ I gasped. I felt it was too soon. I wasn’t ready.

‘Or have you changed your mind? Maybe you want to stay here. Maybe you’re a Roman now, not a Celt,’ he said mockingly.

‘No! I do want to go. It’s just that I haven’t had a chance to say goodbye to anyone.’

Conan looked alarmed. ‘Forget saying goodbye. We don’t want anyone to guess what’s going to happen – not even Tiro. So just act normally. Take Manius to school tomorrow, and then slip away. I’ll meet you at the corner there.’

This was a sensible idea. It meant I would be able to leave the house without anyone suspecting me. But I longed to see Tiro just one more time. And what about money?

‘I still haven’t managed to steal anything,’ I said.

‘Just take whatever you can find tomorrow,’ said Conan. ‘But be careful. Don’t get caught.’

I decided to steal the little ornament that Rufus had pointed out. It was carved out of white stuff called ivory, in the shape of a horse and rider. The carving, which was beautifully detailed, looked foreign somehow. Perhaps it had been made in a far-away land, then brought to Rome by traders and sold for a high price.

I wouldn’t take it until the last possible moment. Eventually, someone would notice the empty shelf – but if the gods were with me, I would be well out of reach before that happened.

If the gods were with me . . . There was one god who definitely would not approve of my plan – Tiro’s god. But I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. I had to steal something. How else could we get money for our journey?

Waking up early next morning, I slid out of the dormitory before anyone else had even stirred. No one saw me take the ivory figure from the shelf. It was small enough to slip easily into Manius’s leather schoolbag.

Although I was far too nervous to feel hungry, I forced myself to eat a good breakfast. It might be a long time before my next proper meal. Looking around, I realized that if all went well, I would never see any of these people again. I would miss Rufus and Clemens. And Tiro – where was Tiro?

When I asked, Pallas said, ‘He drove the master to Laurentum yesterday. They’ll be back tonight.’

So there was no chance of seeing Tiro again. Well, perhaps it was better that way.

Manius and I left the house as usual. By now, there was no need for a candle to light our way, for the days were getting longer. Conan was right – we shouldn’t delay. Summer would be the best time of year for our journey.

‘Why are you walking so fast?’ Manius complained. ‘There’s no hurry. You know I don’t like school.’

I slowed my pace a little, wondering just how much time I had before someone noticed the missing statue. When they did notice, who would get the blame for it? Theon might report what Rufus had said. Rufus would deny everything, and probably put the blame on me.

At last we reached the school. I gave Manius his writing things, keeping hold of the bag – it might come in useful on the journey. I sat down in my usual place on the steps outside. As soon as the lessons were under way, I got up again. ‘Just going to the toilet,’ I muttered to one of the other attendants.

Conan was waiting at the corner of the street. He looked relieved to see me. I showed him the ivory carving.

‘I know someone who’ll pay good money for it,’ I said.

‘Do we have time?’ Conan asked. ‘Maybe we should take it with us and sell it later. I’ve got a bit of money already – Crispus gave me some.’

‘If we sell it in Rome, we’ll get a better price,’ I said.

Conan didn’t argue, even though I could see he just wanted to get out of Rome at once. He let me lead him to the street of goldsmiths, and the shop where I’d sold the bracelet.

The two brothers remembered me. They came forward, all smiles, but when I took out the ivory horseman, the smiles turned to frowns.

‘Sorry. We do not buy ivory,’ the older one said.

‘Only silver and gold,’ said his brother. ‘Ivory is no use to us. We can’t melt it down and make new, you see.’

‘But it must be very valuable,’ I said. ‘Look how fine the carving is. I bet there isn’t another like this in the whole of Rome.’

The brothers raised their eyebrows. ‘So we buy it and try to sell it. Then the real owner sees it. Then what?’

‘Sorry,’ said the other. ‘We can’t buy it. Bring us some gold instead.’

I tried to hide my dismay. ‘Oh well, if you don’t want it I’ll find someone who does.’

We went up and down the street, asking at every shop, but no one wanted to buy the statue.

‘Come on,’ said Conan, ‘forget it. We can sell it somewhere else, where they’re not so fussy. It’s time we got out of this city.’

But already it was too late.

‘There he is!’ someone shouted. ‘Stop, thief! Catch him!’

I darted out of the shadowed alley into the bright, sunlit square. My eyes were slow to adjust to the light. I saw Theon and dodged him, only to run right into Pallas and Maximus, the gardener. Maximus, a great big bear of a man, grabbed me and held me tightly.

Theon opened the schoolbag and took out the ivory figure. ‘Aha! Here it is! I told you, didn’t I?’

Pallas looked shocked. ‘Wait till the master hears about this,’ he said, grimly.

By now, a small crowd had gathered round us. I could see Conan on the edge of it, wondering what to do. I called out to him in our own language. ‘Conan! Don’t try anything. Just get away!’

He looked as if he wanted to help me. But it would be useless – he couldn’t possibly take on Maximus, Pallas and Theon. And if they caught him, he would be punished along with me.

‘Go on – get out of here!’ I shouted. ‘I’ll follow you as soon as I can. See you in Britain!’

Theon had heard my words, but he didn’t care about Conan – it was me he wanted to hurt.

‘I wonder what the master will do,’ he said, with a gloating smile. ‘I expect he’ll sell you. I hope you go to a cruel master who’ll beat some sense into you. That’s what you need, you thieving barbarian!’