Part 13 (1/2)

Though they could not be certain, enquiries about the three Britons with whom the girl had been travelling had given rise to a series of shaken heads. Certainly the old man of whom Vicki had spoken as her grandfather had been seen to collapse in the crowd. There were also rumours that a man who fitted the description of Vicki's Uncle Ian had attempted to fight with a Roman soldier and had been skewered for his pains. Of the aunt, Barbara, there was no news at all.

Vicki was crestfallen.

As the sun set, and darkness fell across the house, Evangeline lit a fire and a new arrival came. Papavasilliou was an aged friend of Georgiadis whom Iola had mentioned earlier in the day. He was a wise and ancient man who acted as a genial giver of advice to many members of the Greek community.

Following a gentle tap on the door, Georgiadis admitted him and he seated himself beside the fire with a groan of discomfort. 'These old bones ache so in the chill of night,' he said.

'It is good that you honour us with a visit to this humble abode, good father,' said Evangeline. 'You will take bread with us?' Papavasilliou indicated that he would as Iola happily skipped across the room and sat herself beside the old man and how is my angel of the stars?' he asked. Iola giggled and rested her head on the old man's shoulders.

Vicki, feeling rather left out of all of this, coughed from her uncomfortable corner seat, hoping to attract a smidgen of the attention that everyone else was getting except her.

Old eyes turned towards her. 'And this, presumably, is your gift from the G.o.ds?'

Vicki didn't quite see herself as that, but she was flattered by the suggestion.

'Her name is Vicki,' said Evangeline with an amused scowl. a strange child.'

another from the stars,' said the old man with a bewitching smile. 'Good daughter, I am usually to be found at the base of the foothills, where the lambs gamble and frolic in the water meadows,' he continued. Vicki wondered why he was telling her this. 'There may come a time when you are in need of a friends.h.i.+p. Of an ear for whatever woes that you may have. Remember me at these times and whence I can be found.'

There was something about the way in which he said it that made Vicki certain that one day (perhaps quite soon) she would, indeed, be sitting in the water meadows with this gentle soul pouring out all of her as-yet-unknown troubles to him 'I will remember,' she whispered. Papavasilliou stood and hobbled towards the door.

'Be tolerant of her,' Vicki heard him tell Georgiadis. 'Her ways are not our ways, but they are no less valid for all that.

There may be many misunderstandings and clashes ahead in the relations.h.i.+p between this girl and the family, but you must strive to overcome all of them. She is a child of the universe. Treasure her.'

He turned to Evangeline. 'Good daughter,' he said, with a nod of the head. 'May the G.o.ds look kindly upon all of those who dwell within this good house.'

Iola let out a long sigh after the old man had left. 'I wish he could stay here, with us, always,' she said.

I should like that also, but Papavasilliou has his own roads to travel,' replied Georgiadis The little exchange confirmed what Vicki had already suspected. Georgiadis was a kindly, sensible man whom it was easy to trust.

A few moments after the old man had departed, there was yet another knock on the door, this one louder and more insistent. Vicki sighed, expecting someone else ready to view her. 'Why don't you just poke me with a stick and see if I squeal?' she muttered.

'Tax collector. A rare and dubious honour,' said Georgiadis as he opened the door to a tall and serious-looking man who had to stoop to get through the door frame.

'Good evening, shopkeeper,' said the new arrival. 'Thank you for allowing me into your home.'

Georgiadis gave his visitor a look of utter contempt which indicated to Vicki that, if he had the slightest excuse to do so, he would have thrown the tall man bodily into the streets and kicked him while he was down. Then Georgiadis indicated towards Vicki. 'There she is, tax collector. Another mouth to feed. I should have known that within hours of her arrival, you would be knocking upon my door for your share of her.' He crossed the room to the wall opposite Vicki and withdrew from a hole in the rock a small wooden box that rattled as he opened it. Removing a handful of coins, Georgiadis threw them onto the stone floor at the tax collector's feet. 'Your tribute, Luke Panathaikos. Count it all. Employed by the Romans and mistrusted by everyone else, not least your own people.'

This was something that Vicki had not heard before in the voice of Georgiadis - a weary yet bitter hatred of the man standing before him. The tax collector bent to the floor and retrieved the coins from the dusty cobbles, pocketing them after first counting them, slowly, from one hand to another.

'Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's,' he said when he had finished. 'That is The Law, shopkeeper. You know this. And you know what fate shall befall you, or anyone, who fails to abide wholly by it. You have given me too much.' He held out his hand with a single copper coin in it.

'A penny for your thoughts, tax collector. You may keep the change,' said Georgiadis dryly 'Get out,' continued Evangeline. 'And take your Roman law with you, parasite.'

The tax collector did so, without another word, and Georgiadis slammed the door after him, turning to his wife and shaking with anger. 'I might have known that such a horse-leech as that man would not be long in claiming his flesh of our flesh.'

'This would probably be a bad time for me to say something, right?' asked Vicki, about to make an equally unkind observation about the recently departed tax collector.

Three heads turned in her direction. Iola seemed astonished that Vicki had spoken at such a moment. She shook her head and found something interesting on the floor to look at.

You are correct,' said Georgiadis through gritted teeth. 'It a.s.suredly would.'

Vicki nodded silently, rolled over and pretended to go to sleep in her corner while she felt the stares behind her back.

Chapter Sixteen.

True Faith and Brotherhood

Take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name Mark 13:5-6

As Ian Chesterton walked the corridors of the Villa Villa Praefectus Praefectus lost in his own thoughts and memories, a woman's voice cut through the mind-fog. Startled, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of his Hillman Imp on the North Circular Road, Ian snapped to attention and sought out the direction from which her voice had come. lost in his own thoughts and memories, a woman's voice cut through the mind-fog. Startled, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of his Hillman Imp on the North Circular Road, Ian snapped to attention and sought out the direction from which her voice had come.

'What would a rabbit be doing on the North Circular Road? Come to that, what would I I be doing on the North Circular Road?' Ian asked out loud. It brought a curious expression to the face of Antonia Vinicius. be doing on the North Circular Road?' Ian asked out loud. It brought a curious expression to the face of Antonia Vinicius.

I know not of that which you speak,' she replied, genuinely puzzled.

'The question was rhetorical,' Ian mumbled and turned to resume his lonely circ.u.mnavigation of the villa.

But he wasn't getting away that easily.

'You are a very complicated man, Briton,' said Antonia.

'So different from the other men of Byzantium.'

I should say that I am a man of Byzantium now,' Ian noted with a tinge of regret in his voice. 'There are worse places to be, I suppose.'

'Do you think so?' the n.o.ble woman asked with a haughty laugh as she moved closer to him. 'I would suggest that of all of the benighted, G.o.dforsaken and depressing holes in the backwaters of the great empire, this is by far the worst. And I have seen Antioch.'

Ian suspected that this should mean something to him and he nodded accordingly. 'At least the weather's better than London,' he mitigated. He felt Antonia place her hand on his bicep and pulled away from her, sharply. 'If you want to talk geography, darlin', then fine,' he said as his face flushed with embarra.s.sment. 'Not my subject, but I'll give it my best shot.

But if you're looking for somebody to warm your bed for you then you can think again.'