Part 29 (1/2)

'It is my experience that one should be careful what one wishes for,' noted t.i.tus. 'For what is a man to do if he should get exactly what he wants?'

Marcus liked this clever and dangerous little man. The ambitious t.i.tus, it was known, craved Hieronymous's position and, according to rumour, had attempted to use a recent incident of alleged indiscretion with a gentile woman to compromise the old man. Now, seemingly, he was happy that the Romans had finally decided to crack down on the Zealot problem, and to help them behind Hieronymous's back. His implications that Hieronymous himself secretly supported the insurgents was just the kind of poison that Marcus would need when control of the city was his.

Still, Fabius seemed edgy and mistrustful. 'What we really need,' he interjected, 'is the location of Basellas's base.'

'Nothing could be simpler,' t.i.tus told the Romans. 'I shall provide you with that, if I have your solemn guarantee that you will remember my help when the purges begin.'

Chapter Twenty-Nine.

One Man Clapping

Watch ye and pray. lest ye enter into temptation.

The spirit truly is ready but the flesh is weak.

Mark 14:38

The tap on the solid wooden door was nervous and timid, almost apologetic.

'Who goes there? What do you want with us?' asked a woman's voice through the door.

'h.e.l.lo,' said Barbara, looking quickly around in the cobbled streets of the Greek quarter. She prayed that she had found the right house at last, after three previous attempts and various confused directions had stolen most of the day from her. 'I wonder if you could let me in, please, I'm not comfortable with talking to wood.'

The door swung open and Barbara found herself facing a man and woman, both of them with badly bruised faces and worried expressions. In the corner behind them, half-hidden in the shadows, cowered a young, anaemic-looking girl. 'I hope you can help me,' said Barbara. 'I've been told that you have a child staying with you. A Briton.'

'You were misinformed,' snapped the man and moved to close the door on her. Barbara put her foot in the way like a pushy vacuum-cleaner saleswoman and tried a different approach. 'Look,' she said, 'I'll have you know that I've had a very trying day. Where is she?'

'There is no one here such as you describe,' the woman told her. 'Now please leave before you are observed.'

Barbara looked to her right, to the several Roman soldiers entering a neighbouring house. The couple followed her gaze and shrank back into their home, pulling Barbara with them.

The man closed and barred the door and, for a second, Barbara was unsure of what to say next. 'You are Georgiadis and Evangeline, yes?' she asked, suddenly realising that she might just have come to the wrong house yet again.

'We are.' answered the woman, to Barbara's relief. 'And what business is our ident.i.ty to you?'

'I've already told you,' Barbara replied. 'I'm interested in the girl that you rescued.'

'What girl?' asked the man, throwing his arms wide. 'We know of no girl save our own fair daughter...'

Barbara looked at the timid teenager poking out her head from behind an upturned chair. Glancing around the room, she also noticed various pieces of broken furniture and a general disorder that seemed incongruous with the house-proud nature of most of the Greek dwellings that she had seen.

'You've had visitors?' Barbara asked. 'People who would not take ”no” for an answer, seemingly?'

Evangeline gave her husband a tired look. 'We wish for nothing more than to be left alone to get on with our lives,'

she said. 'One act of kindness and this is our reward.'

The couple and their daughter were clearly terrified and hesitant to speak to strangers after their bruising encounter with authority. And, outside, the place was crawling with just such authority.

'What's their game?' Barbara asked, changing the subject.

'Our neighbours were murdered in their beds last eve,'

Georgiadis told her. 'No one is safe from tyranny and foul deeds.'

'Well, it's obvious Vicki isn't here,' Barbara said in resignation, giving the home a final once-over. 'If you do see her again, tell her that Barbara is looking for her.'

There was a momentary pause and then Barbara turned and headed for the door.

'Are you Barbara?' asked Evangeline, as Barbara prepared to step back into the street.

Yes. Barbara rested her head on the door, smiled, and mouthed a silent thank you to the G.o.d of timely interventions.

'Yes,' she said, turning around. 'I'm Barbara Wright.'

'And what is Vicki to you?'

'Family,' said Barbara, simply.

'Sit down,' Evangeline said, after a nod from her husband.

'We have a story to tell you that may interest you greatly.'

The praetorian guards returned to the Vinicius villa with expectation. Many of them knew Antonia from the time that she was married to the praefectus praefectus.

A few of them knew her wel wel . .