Hosker, G [Sword of Cartimandua 05] Revolt of the Red Witch by Griff Hosker Page A

was Britannia by the spring thaw and then they would enjoy the heat and opulence of Rome.
     

Chapter 4
    The three hunters caught up with the tail end of the retreating Caledonii. Gaelwyn had found their camp and reported back to the others. “There are no captives and they are well armed although few in numbers.”
    “You mean if we had a turma we could dispose of them?”
    “Yes Gaius but we do not want to dispose of anyone do we?”
    The three of them were camped downwind and upstream from the raiders.  It had been an easy ride to catch them for Marcus was keen to conserve their mounts until they needed to ride them hard. “So we have a dilemma; do we follow these or move on and catch up with the others.”
    Gaelwyn spat the gristle from his meat into the trees. “It is obvious isn’t it?  We keep going until we find some captives.”
    “Good but what about this band?  Are we going to be looking over our shoulders?”
    “Gaius is right and what do we do when we find captives?”
    Gaelwyn shook his head and gave a quiet chuckle. “The trouble is you think like Romans and not barbarians. This bunch of barbarians is making so much noise that we will easily hear them and we are mounted, moving much faster than they are.   When we find some captives then we cut out a guard and find out if they were the ones who raided your farms.”
    “What if he won’t talk?”
    Gaius you are thinking like a Roman.  I will make him talk.” The evil leer on the old scout’s face left them in no doubt that whoever they captured would gladly tell them anything. “I know you both speak a little of the language but let me speak as though I am the slave master.  That way we may live through the negotiations.”
    “When we do find Ailis and the boys what then?” Gaelwyn looked at Marcus quizzically. “Well you seem to be making all the decisions.”
    “It looks like I have to for you two are too busy thinking with your hearts and not your heads. When we find the band with the captives then we approach them further along the trail, heading south, and ask if we can buy some captives.  If they agree then we win for we will have what we want if they do not then we follow them and rescue them.”
    “Isn’t that a huge risk?”
    “Life is a huge risk Gaius.” There was no answer to that and the three of them went to sleep knowing that they could be on a fruitless and ultimately heartbreaking quest.  All of them could die because they were all beyond the land controlled by Rome.  Up in the far north there were no rules. They went to sleep early for they would have to leave in the middle of the night if they were to put some distance between the band commanded by Manus and find their loved ones.
     
    Many miles up the Roman road, for the raid on the farm had been one of the first, Ailis and the boys appeared to be the only ones amongst the captives who were taking the journey well.  Ailis had told the boys that it was a game and their fathers would judge, at the end of it who had been the winner.  The boys loved games and took pride in being stoic.  The Caledonii guards, for their part, were impressed by the bravery of the young boys and took to calling them ‘the little warriors’.
    Ailis had been worried for the first few days that some of the warriors might have decided to use her but it appeared they were under strict instructions from Lulach to bring the captives whole and unharmed back to his homeland. Ailis was not comforted by this order for it merely meant Lulach wanted the goods to be perfect he intended to sell to be in the best condition. She had not let on that she could speak their language; having been a captive before she was fluent and understood all that she heard. She knew that they would have a long journey if they were to return to the land north of Veluniate and, in a way, that helped her for it meant her husband had more opportunities to rescue her.  She never doubted for one moment that he and