couldn’t stop it. Then it ends abruptly.”
“Hippias was exiled twenty years before he died.”
“There’s a spare slot in the case. You’re thinking what I’m thinking, aren’t you?”
“There’s another scroll. I wonder where it is.”
T HAT AFTERNOON , D IOTIMA and I rode to Brauron. Or rather, she rode and I walked. To my surprise, Blossom proved capable of pulling the cart over a long distance. He was stronger than he looked. There was only room for my girl on the driver’s bench. I tried riding Blossom, but from the way he staggered it was soon apparent Blossom was more likely to need me to carry him. I got off and walked alongside and thought longingly of the high-performance racehorse.
The wheels on the cart had creaked and squealed with every turn on the way home from the rental yard. I’d turned the cart over with the help of a slave and coated the axle with lavish amounts of the pig fat we kept in barrels for the statuary sledge. If there was one thing our family knew about, it was how to move large blocks of stone, for which we kept a heavy sledge and many barrels of grease to ease its way. By the time I’d finished, both I and the cartwheels had been smothered in grease. Which is probably why Blossom was able to pull it. The rims ofthe wooden wheels were chipped, but sturdy enough to get us to Brauron and back. While I worked on the cart, Diotima had washed the donkey and then fed him so much hay I thought he might explode.
At first Blossom wasn’t in any hurry, possibly because of his full stomach. I prodded him a few times and discovered he had more spirit than appearance suggested. But then, if someone called me Blossom, I’d probably bite him too.
I grumbled all the way. I’d spent much of the last six months out of Athens, but I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the place until I returned. Now here I was leaving my city once again, though it was the job I’d accepted, and we weren’t going far. Still, I hated the idea.
Diotima, who had made this trip with her birth father when she was a girl, treated it like a happy outing. She took great delight in pointing out the sights she remembered and prattled on like a delighted child. I grunted from time to time in reply.
She eventually became exasperated by my surliness.
“You should have more appreciation for nature, Nico. There’s so much to see: the birds and the flowers—they’re pretty, aren’t they? The trees and the small animals and—”
“And the naked woman running through the woods,” I said.
“And the naked woman running through the … what?”
I pointed. Diotima gaped.
Running alongside the road, weaving between the bushes and moving at impressive speed, was a naked woman. At least, if she was wearing a shred of clothing, I couldn’t see it. She ran like an athlete in training, slim and trim and in tip-top condition. She leapt a fallen log with an easy stride, and her breasts bounced.
“You’re right, Diotima, the local wildlife is fascinating. I’m looking forward to seeing more of it.”
The running woman turned away from the road and sprinted out of sight, back amongst the trees, without slackening her pace for even a moment. She’d shown no sign of noticing us.
Diotima whispered, “Dear Gods. What’s she doing here?”
“I assume that’s not the girl we’re looking for.”
“Did she look fourteen to you?” Diotima said.
“Not even close,” I said happily. Her hair had been long and straight, not at all like a pampered lady’s, but her skin had been as clean as could be while running through the forest. “Do you think there might be a flock of women in the hills around here somewhere?” I asked in hope.
Diotima didn’t deign to answer.
The road split ahead of us. The main road curved right. It would soon take us to Brauron if we stayed on it. Our path, however, was to the left, down the narrow, tree-lined road, where we would come to the sacred sanctuary.
I heard the arrow
“Hippias was exiled twenty years before he died.”
“There’s a spare slot in the case. You’re thinking what I’m thinking, aren’t you?”
“There’s another scroll. I wonder where it is.”
T HAT AFTERNOON , D IOTIMA and I rode to Brauron. Or rather, she rode and I walked. To my surprise, Blossom proved capable of pulling the cart over a long distance. He was stronger than he looked. There was only room for my girl on the driver’s bench. I tried riding Blossom, but from the way he staggered it was soon apparent Blossom was more likely to need me to carry him. I got off and walked alongside and thought longingly of the high-performance racehorse.
The wheels on the cart had creaked and squealed with every turn on the way home from the rental yard. I’d turned the cart over with the help of a slave and coated the axle with lavish amounts of the pig fat we kept in barrels for the statuary sledge. If there was one thing our family knew about, it was how to move large blocks of stone, for which we kept a heavy sledge and many barrels of grease to ease its way. By the time I’d finished, both I and the cartwheels had been smothered in grease. Which is probably why Blossom was able to pull it. The rims ofthe wooden wheels were chipped, but sturdy enough to get us to Brauron and back. While I worked on the cart, Diotima had washed the donkey and then fed him so much hay I thought he might explode.
At first Blossom wasn’t in any hurry, possibly because of his full stomach. I prodded him a few times and discovered he had more spirit than appearance suggested. But then, if someone called me Blossom, I’d probably bite him too.
I grumbled all the way. I’d spent much of the last six months out of Athens, but I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed the place until I returned. Now here I was leaving my city once again, though it was the job I’d accepted, and we weren’t going far. Still, I hated the idea.
Diotima, who had made this trip with her birth father when she was a girl, treated it like a happy outing. She took great delight in pointing out the sights she remembered and prattled on like a delighted child. I grunted from time to time in reply.
She eventually became exasperated by my surliness.
“You should have more appreciation for nature, Nico. There’s so much to see: the birds and the flowers—they’re pretty, aren’t they? The trees and the small animals and—”
“And the naked woman running through the woods,” I said.
“And the naked woman running through the … what?”
I pointed. Diotima gaped.
Running alongside the road, weaving between the bushes and moving at impressive speed, was a naked woman. At least, if she was wearing a shred of clothing, I couldn’t see it. She ran like an athlete in training, slim and trim and in tip-top condition. She leapt a fallen log with an easy stride, and her breasts bounced.
“You’re right, Diotima, the local wildlife is fascinating. I’m looking forward to seeing more of it.”
The running woman turned away from the road and sprinted out of sight, back amongst the trees, without slackening her pace for even a moment. She’d shown no sign of noticing us.
Diotima whispered, “Dear Gods. What’s she doing here?”
“I assume that’s not the girl we’re looking for.”
“Did she look fourteen to you?” Diotima said.
“Not even close,” I said happily. Her hair had been long and straight, not at all like a pampered lady’s, but her skin had been as clean as could be while running through the forest. “Do you think there might be a flock of women in the hills around here somewhere?” I asked in hope.
Diotima didn’t deign to answer.
The road split ahead of us. The main road curved right. It would soon take us to Brauron if we stayed on it. Our path, however, was to the left, down the narrow, tree-lined road, where we would come to the sacred sanctuary.
I heard the arrow
Similar Books
