Buried Too Deep Read Online Free PDF Page A

lives depending on it.’ He repeated it two or three times and got quite worked up, and then he felt dizzy and passed out.”
    “Send for Lucius?” Suddenly I began to see a possible reason why this stranger had wanted to see me: it was my brother, not me, he really wanted. Lucius was an investigator on the staff of the Governor. Could this Belinus be one of his informers?
    Timaeus must have been thinking the same. “If he’s working for Lucius, that could explain why he was attacked, perhaps?”
    “It certainly could, if whoever he was informing on found out.”
    “Can you reach Lucius? Are you in touch with him?”
    I never know how to answer that. A definite “yes and no” is the best I can usually manage. My brother is sent on assignments all over Britannia, but I rarely know the details. All I have is the name of a contact who’ll take messages for him, but he can’t guarantee how long they’ll take to arrive.
    “I’ll have to send to the garrison at Eburacum. There’s a centurion there called Petreius who takes messages for Lucius. But how easily Petreius can get hold of Lucius to deliver them… anyone’s guess is as good as mine. I’ll do what I can. I’ll send a note today.”
    He nodded. “Right. Now I must look after Coriu. It’s quite an honour, being asked to treat one of Bodvocus’ captains.”
    “You’re treating quite a few natives now, aren’t you? When you first came here, apart from people in Oak Bridges who knew you, it was mostly settlers who consulted you, wasn’t it?”
    “I suppose it was. I don’t really think about what tribe or country they comes from. If they’re sick or hurt, I treat them. That’s what I was taught, and that’s what I do.”
    It didn’t take me long to write a short note to my brother, simply saying “the man from White Rocks” had met with a serious accident, and wanted to see him urgently. I wrote it on papyrus rather than a note-tablet, partly so I could tie it securely and seal it, but mainly because that made it appear somehow more important. I didn’t want some clerk at headquarters thinking it was just a party invitation.
    I went to the stables, and asked Secundus to send someone to deliver it as fast as he could.
    “It’s for my brother, and it’s urgent. I could wait for an official courier to come through, but I don’t want to risk a long delay. It’d be just my luck if all the couriers today were heading east instead of west. So I’d rather one of our own lads rode over with it. It’s to be delivered to a centurion named Petreius at garrison headquarters in Eburacum.”
    “Right. The lads’ll be fighting over who goes, they always enjoy a visit to town.”
    “It needs someone sensible, though. It’s not easy finding your way round a big fortress, and I want this delivered personally, preferably into Petreius’ hands, not just left lying about.”
    “Understood. Malchus can go. He’s got cousins in the army, so he knows his way round a military base.”
    “Fine, a good choice.” Malchus was an experienced rider and had a calm head on his shoulders. “Make sure he knows it’s urgent, and I don’t want him fobbed off by some officious pest at the fortress gates if Petreius isn’t there. In that case he’s to leave the scroll with the duty gate commander, and get a receipt for it.”
    Secundus grinned. “Aye, so you said. It’s something important. I’ve got the message.”
    “Sorry, Secundus. You of all people know what the army’s like, it’s just that I’m worried. One of the injured men who was brought in yesterday has information for my brother. He says it’s life or death.”
    I’d wandered back to the forecourt, my steps slowing as I gloomily contemplated the paperwork still waiting on my desk, when a party of four rode in, two well-dressed Romans with a couple of muscular bodyguards in attendance, Gauls to judge by their haircuts. They were all well mounted, and though the Romans wore civilian travelling