Chapter 14

"The boys were not given a choice. I don't want them to be slaves for the rest of their lives. Either you help me or you don't, but I am going to see what I can find."

Fálki said with a worried voice, "There's a Roman official here from Scipio. He has three escorts."

I tried to think of a way to take this man for intelligence purposes but the timing was wrong. If this were late at night with most of the camp asleep then there was a chance. Doing what I had already done was nearly impossible.

"We will have to take care of the Roman another day." I saw two men come to the barrier but thirty metres away and they took a piss. I looked around for a latrine that all Roman camps would have and found none. They may have a simple trench but this would be hard to see. I added, "You better get into the clothes I provided. We may get others soon."

Fálki had to be helped to the pile of clothing and I helped to get him dressed. This was difficult because he picked up a short spear and didn't want to release it.

When he was dressed, we walked back toward the captives and found a Gaul pissing on them. He didn't know that one was his own men. I was very worried because I figured that either Albrecht or the Frisian would jump up in indignation and try to kill the Gaul with their knives.

Albrecht was the one I feared more because he had little training but he was also more hurt. In a moment, the Gaul finished taunting the men and left for his tent mates. Fálki said, "I don't know if I could have stayed there and took it."

"You would have been dying or dead now if you had got up. You would have been the cause of all our deaths."

"I know that."

I looked to one side and saw a man leave the large tents but instead of going into the camp he circled the tents.

I said, "I'll be back. I see an officer."

Fálki whispered frantically, "Leave him alone."

This was not an option and I hurried toward the man but stayed close to the barrier and the slight shadows it provided from the moonlight. When I got close I took out my small knife and got ready to throw it. The man was taking a dump. His uniform I studied and deduced that he was a Roman and not a Gaul. His face was not to me to tell for sure.

I slipped the knife back and took out the k-bar and moved closer as noise came from the camp. The man was done and just started to get up. I moved the last few metres quickly. The man must have heard something because he tried to move faster but his foot slipped on the loose dirt beside the trench. I brought the large pommel down instead of the blade.

A quick movement of his head made this only a graze and I saw him fill his lungs for a yell. My foot streaked out and the heal hit just below his rib cage. He was thrown backwards and instead of a yell came a belch of expelled air. He fell to the ground and he could not gain his breath. He was still a soldier and fished for his knife. I was already moving and my foot deflected his arm while the pommel came down one more time. He sagged immediately this time.

Fálki was coming to help and stepped into the shallow ditch and almost fell. When he got close he said, "His uniform feels like what a Roman would wear."

"This uniform has less blood. You know more about our enemy. Do you care to change clothes?"

"The man is still breathing," Fálki said incredulously.

"I was thinking of asking him some questions later."

"Kill him quickly."

"Take his clothes, soldier. You can tie a captive so he neither gets away or calls out." Another idea came to me. "If you have the uniform on you can leave the camp with some horses. We will be waiting for you."

"Kill him."

"You let him live. Do as I say and strip him then bind him. Will you try for the horses or will I have to try to steal them?"

He said dejectedly, "I will try it."

The Roman had his gladius and I could use it for a club. It had more reach than the k-bar pommel. A hardwood club would be better yet. I was fair with the nunchaku but I could use the tonfa that many police departments used to supply their officers.

The Roman was dragged to the opening I had come through and now that I knew that we would not be heard, I opened the area and we dragged the unconscious man through. When we came back a leafy branch was put over the opening to hide it.

Fálki asked, "What are you doing now?"

"Find more men to take the captives place. Then try to save the children."

"Your father will be angry at me if you die."

"I will be angry at me if that happens too."

Men wandered around all the time and in twenty minutes I had come up behind two of them. The gladius was used but I may have hit too hard the first time. The second doppelganger would probably live. Fálki and I dragged them to the trees and substituted them for Albrecht and a man by the name of Oeke.

We bandaged up Oeke and Albrecht as best we could and it would not seem odd to see this especially after a battle.

I recovered my bow and the quivers of arrows and put them near our escape tunnel. If we were followed I could slow down the pursuit.

We heard a man call a Roman name loudly and I got Fálki to reply. Fálki said, "He wants a man to come to him. It doesn't sound urgent."

"Then go," I said as I handed him the gladius. This was the tent with the two guards out front. I turned to Oeke and said, "Go with him. Albrecht follow behind and the three of you try to take the two guards. I will take out the guard on the left with my bow then go in the back of the tent. Kill if you have to but keep it quiet. If there is noise, curse in Latin as if you were drunk and fell."

They seemed incredulous that this would happen. Fálki got them to stand upright and gave his own directions. I retrieved the bow and one quiver of arrows. Fálki gave me enough time to get into position and they walked toward the tent from the front. When they were close I loosed the arrow. I had time to see the other Roman gasp at the unexpected death when a gladius went into his abdomen.

I hurried to my position and I could only hear one person breathing inside. Fálki talked in Latin so his voice would drowned out some of the noise I would have to make. I used the sharp blade of the k-bar to slit the lacing at the bottom of the wall. The voice hid most of the noise.

Peering into the darkened tent before entering I saw a man's feet directed my way. They were evenly spaced so I figured he was ready for me.

I whispered to nobody, "This is not the tent with the wine. It's probably the other one."

The man then fell to his knees and then his head hit the wall of the tent. I heard another blow and Fálki whispered, "We have him. What do we do?"

"You get a promotion and his uniform. Make sure you wear the cape. I want this man taken with us."

"It is better to kill them."

"Maybe so but they know information we may need desperately. Perhaps he knows about my father."

I sliced the rest of the stitches and then the leather itself to make a large opening. The two men were stripping the man then Oeke took some decorative rope from the tent and tied the man very well.

Albrecht had dragged the two dead men into the tent and left to take one of their places. Oeke soon followed.

We dragged the bound and naked man through the barrier and put him with the other Roman. Fálki ran back for intelligence while I left to get the boys.

The largest tent had the sound of laugher and drinking. I also heard the sniffle of somebody young. Fálki hobbled over to me and whispered, "I found some official pouches and a bit of gold too. What is your plan?"

"Five men are in the tent. Their voices are slurred so some are at least partially drunk. There are no guards. If three Romans come to the tent they could get in. I will be going through the back again. If you talk loud and say the word 'Roman' I can slice the tent quickly with my sword. We will catch them between us."

"We kill them? Right?"

"Fine with me but I would like to take the Gaul that is in charge."

"You may want to rethink that. He's big and mean."

"I will have to be meaner. If we survive we will have to tidy up the bodies. I will get the boys out the back and you three demand your horses. There are no sentries outside the camp so if you can take all the horses do so. At least try to get them to run."

"Is that all?"

"We take out the leadership of the camp then steal the horses. That sounds like enough to me."

"But... but."

"I know. It is a long shot but I want to try it. If you get out and we don't make it, give the pouches to my father."

"He may give me his sword in my guts if I do."

"I don't think he is that cruel."

The three men left and approached the other tent from further away. Fálki was talking Latin but there were no replies. Fálki too sounded drunk and the voices in the tent stopped. Fálki must have called to them because they were ready to get up. The word 'Roman' was heard and I brought my Katana down hard on the leather. The leather was not supple and I had to use two more strokes before I could get in.

There was a fight already started and I moved in and just attacked from the rear. One went down to my sword and I picked up my k-bar. One man turned to me and I used this weapon to gut him. Fálki and Albrecht were taking on one big Gaul. I moved in and the man knew I was there. He now had to fight three opponents and I could see him preparing to yell. My Katana moved quickly and stabbed him through the chest and the blade came out the other side. The k-bar slashed sideways and blood fountained from the man's neck.

Fálki turned quickly and struck the last man on the head with his gladius.

The three men and I were breathing hard. I heard a noise and turned quickly to see a young girl. She was going to scream and I quickly threw the k-bar at her. The blade turned over and over but it was the pommel that hit her small belly.

I was at her in a flash. She was hyperventilating and I said, "We are not here to hurt you." I rubbed the part where the knife had hit. Her eyes were still wide because she didn't believe me or didn't understand. I laid her on the floor and said sternly, "Stay here."

From the side of the tent I saw seven more pairs of eyes. One set got up and ran towards me. Forni was naked. He put out his hands to hold me as he ran. When he came into my arms he hugged me tightly. I heard him say, "Jón," over and over again.

The men rushed to the sides and pulled back the blankets. There were no more men. I was surprised for there were no women either. I expected a wife but there were none. Then again a woman in a military camp would be like a woman on a sailing ship. Klaasje and Tiebout ran to me too and they started to cry.

I pushed them away and said, "Find some clothes. We're leaving." Forni just wanted to hug me again and I pushed him back. I would have slapped his face but I had a weapon in each hand. "Get dressed or you will be left behind." He looked shocked at me but then turned to find something to wear.

I turned to the rest, "I want you to get dressed too. You are coming with me." They didn't move but that was to be expected from slavery and the conditions they had been under. I took some blankets and slit them in the middle like a Mexican serape. I had to sheath the weapons with the sword going into the scabbard hanging over my shoulder. I had to get the blankets over the other four and the one I had hit with the pommel of my knife.

The three men pulled the bodies aside then went looking for loot. This was why men fought and I let them continue. They found leather sacks which were soon dumped then they put their booty into the sacks. I found my own because there were the two saddles in the corner and three of our lances. One still had the wood sphere at the end that was used for practice.

I had to pull Fálki from his task and said, "Take your loot to the barrier and put it with the Romans. You better take the saddles and lances too. See if you can find the knives I gave you. I don't want the enemy to find much."

Forni went back to going through the piles of valuables. There were some bolts of cotton and even some silk. I called the boys over to load them up. They had not found their clothes and were still naked. There was enough material for more serapes and I put them on them then put the things I wanted them to carry on their shoulders or in their arms.

The first girl was trying to sneak out and I caught her and was ready to put my hand over her mouth but it was not necessary. She was very frightened of me. She had seen me kill and then I remembered that I was black and dressed in black too. That was why the boys took so long to come to me.

"You will not run or if you do, you will be punished. I pulled her over to the pile I wanted and gave her a job. There were lengths of leather rope in a few places and I gathered this up as well as a whip I had seen. It had been used on our men and may give the children something to guide them into doing what they were told.

Fálki and the men had what they wanted and we trekked toward the opening. The boys went through first then the one new boy then the four girls. The men came next and the boys dragged the booty out of the short tunnel. The men went back for the saddles and lances. In a few moments I saw that they were making a third trip then a forth. I could not yell at them but as yet our luck was holding. At least the one man that was not killed was pushed into the opening.

Fálki turned to me and said, "How will I know how to find you?"

"I will find you. See how far you can get this stuff from the camp."

"Good. We need that, it's valuable."

I was not sure if he just had gold fever but he had to do this because he was still a barbarian. Soldiers in my time were not much better.

The men left to get the horses and I crawled through he hole. I found eight children staring at me. "Forni, you are in charge. I want all of the children kept safe. There is a game trail behind you. It takes only a minute to get to it. Take everything here to it but don't put it on the trail. Horses will be coming. We load them up and we leave."

"What about these men?"

"We are going to take them with us to be questioned."

"Why?"

"Forni, now is not the time to ask questions. Follow your orders. If anybody doesn't want to do as you command you can bind them and put a leather thong across their mouth to keep them quiet. If you have to you can spank them."

"Me?"

"Yes you. Now I am going back. I have the bow and I may need it."

"But we need you."

"Do you want horses to ride away with, or to have the Gauls find you on foot tomorrow morning?"

He hung his head and said, "I will do what you want."

"You will make a good soldier one day. Now follow your orders. Klaasje and Tiebout will do as you command."

"Ok."

"If you hear yelling and a fight just continue with what you had to do and wait for Fálki to come. If they have to go the other way to take the Gauls away, then just lead the children down the road toward the quarry. It is not that far from here."

"Yes, Jón."

Turning to the rest I said, "You will obey Forni or I will be the one to punish you. I have the whip." I wasn't sure if this would work but it was the best I could do. Forni got them going and I had to whisper how to change course because they were not heading quite in the right direction. I said to Forni, "Watch out for them but they may run, especially the girl."

I could not worry about the children now. If we didn't have horses then the chances of getting far were slim.

I gathered up the bow and the quivers and added to them with what was in the two tents. Fálki would have the most problems getting out because nobody rode at night for fear of breaking a horse's leg. One man was taking a dump but I was in a hurry and put the archery equipment down and used the katana.

In a dark area between tents I watched the three men pretend to be Romans and approach the horses. There were three pickets but they didn't seem to be worried. I put the bow and arrows down again and approached the one closest to me. My training had included what strikes to make to keep the kill quiet. I had to use only those that required the least energy. I was not in the prime of my life but in the weak body of a boy.

When I got close enough I killed this man. His body twitched and shook but I was ready and lowered him to the ground. Fálki was talking to the picket when a man came to the edge to relieve himself. I just crouched down and waited, hoping my costume would be enough.

There was an argument going and the man coming my way turned to listen. I was only four metres away and hurried towards him. He was caught completely unaware as my sword took his life. Fálki took out his sword and ended the argument. The last picket ran towards them but I threw my small knife. The man stumbled and fell and I was there with the katana to make sure he stayed quiet.

Albrecht was almost on us and I said, "He's dead."

Albrecht was shocked and stopped then glared into the darkness. "I can barely make you out. What about the rest?"

"They're all dead. Try to take all the horses. I'll stay in the shadows with a bow. There is a game trail to the left as you leave. The children will be waiting. Bring the captives too."

"What about you?"

"I will stay for a while and keep them from following. You once questioned my methods. I can kill my enemies and they cannot see me."

"It doesn't seem so wrong now."

"Good. Now move the horses out. The camp will know something is wrong when all the horses leave. I will try to make an opening in the barrier."

"I can stay with you."

"And your shiny armour makes a good target. I will be fine."

He left and in a moment the men gathered up the horses. The horses had been hobbled and these had to be removed. This took time. The reigns had to be put on then secured. The camp was starting to become aroused. I pulled open a narrow section of branches then ran to help the men gather the horses. I tied the reigns to the bridle of the one ahead.

The men didn't have to be informed of this because they were doing the same thing. There was little light to see what to do but I got the small strings tied together as one. There was just too much noise and men were coming this way.

"Oeke, take what we have now and leave. I opened the barrier. Fálki, Albrecht send the other horses through. I will hold the Gauls off."

The horses started to jerk one after the other like a train starting up but I didn't wait to see what was happening. I was back at my bow with my sword in the scabbard. A group of four men were hurrying this way and I took out the last and worked my way forward. The second man gave a yell that he was hit and then everybody knew that they were under attack.

I didn't stay in one place and didn't take all the arrows with me. When I used up some I shot from another position. I heard Fálki yell at the horses, trying to get them to flee.

It was dangerous to stay in one position and shifted to the other side of the camp. Shields were up and I could only have a few clear shots before the shields shifted. Some of the men were calling in pain to be helped and I left them alone. It took more than one man to tend an injured soldier. A dead soldier took nobody.

I had been shooting for a long time and heard from one side, "You can come out now. The children are safe."

"Walk the horses," I said as I moved. "I am going to stay with my men to kill these Gauls or take them captive. There is only a few left. It's almost even odds now."

"What?"

"I will kill or capture all of those here. If we can't, we will fade away into the forest."

It was Albrecht's voice that said, "Do you want my help?"

"There are more than enough of us here to take care of this small group."

I loosed an arrow and herd a man scream. "Link up with the main army. We can rid this area of Gauls and Romans in a few days."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," I said as I hit another Gaul with one of my arrows.

It was getting near morning. The Gauls had lit fires but that only gave me more light. They then doused all their fires and I could still see better than they could. Arrows had flown thick and fast a few times and I had been hit but not bad. A crease across my left arm had to be bandaged but it didn't impair my shooting.

There was only a dozen unhurt men left and that many more again that were hurt. I said to them as I moved, "Gauls, surrender now and you will be treated well. Clovis is known for his kind treatment of slaves and prisoners." Arrows whizzed by me but I had expected this. There were more than enough shields laying around and they protected me just as well as a Gaul.

"We will kill one of you now." I hurried back the way I had come and used one of the few remaining arrows to hit between two shields. A man screamed but I could have got two.

"Are you going to surrender?" More arrows came and I said again, "I will have another killed now."

It was like shooting fish in a barrel and when it was down to eight men they agreed to surrender and be my slaves. This was said formally and I accepted. Their shields were put down and they stood. Some of them had to support those that had been hurt.

"Build a big fire in the centre of the camp. Carry all the weapons and armour away from the fire. I don't want any of you to forget that you belong to me now. Make room for your wounded. I do not want any to die that don't need to."

They were hesitant to do this but since they were not hit by arrows out of the night, they worked faster.