Across the wide expanse of water, Atlantis shimmered like smoke from a candle, diffusing the landscape so that the building merged with the lake and the sky. There were, she supposed, worse places to lie low, but without dice? Without theatrical performances and dazzling displays in the arena? Atlantis had got off to a promising enough start, but without leopards pitted against tigers or dancing elephants to cheer, it looked like being a bloody long break from civilization.
Tying the little boat to a stem of wild cane, Claudia waded ashore and stripped off her pink cotton robe, draping it over a juniper bush. Now about that babbling brook…
Soft sandals made no sound on leaf litter moist from prolonged humidity, it was like walking on sponge, and the woods were eerily still. No birds, no rustle of leaves, no scamper of squirrels, just the incessant sawing of crickets. Even bees would wait until the sun angled low before raiding the brambles and banks of wild mint. Amplified by the heat, the fragrance of white clematis and pines scented the air, and the oaks and the beech wafted out waves of tranquillity.
What was that?
Claudia paused by a poplar and listened. There it was again. A scuffling sound. Like a barrel rolling through scrub. And again.
‘Hello?’ Her voice sounded thin, even to her own ears. She lowered the pitch. ‘Anyone there?’
The shuffle ceased, and then she remembered the boar. Good! Now it had heard her, it would either retreat or stand still and idly she wondered whether it would be lonely out here or whether the yobs, in their ignorance, had released it among a herd of its kind.
Pulling a leaf from a sweet bay, Claudia rubbed its scent into her fingers. How long, she wondered, need she keep clear of Rome? A week? Two? Before the furore over Tullus’ money died down? She’d need to return soon, to find out how her vineyards were faring in the drought. Heaven knows, the business her husband bequeathed was not doing well. A poor harvest would finish it off.
The raucous chatter from a magpie made her jump. Goddammit, that’s enough! First I suspect Cal of being a military spy, now I’m spooked by the woods. Time to head back to the lake. But Claudia hadn’t retraced more than a dozen paces when her ears picked up the sound of heavy breathing. The hairs on her scalp prickled. There was something moving behind her…
Oh, grow up. Since when have wild boar begun stalking their victims? The laugh of a woodpecker mirrored her sentiments, and Claudia was ashamed of her mindless stupidity.
Then she smelled it.
‘Holy shit!’
For a moment, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Wild boar be buggered. This was the biggest BEAR she’d ever clapped sight on!
Unable to comprehend the message which her eyes transmitted to her brain, Claudia merely goggled as it reared on to its hind legs, its paws splayed, mesmerizing her with claws which could surely disembowel with one swipe. In the sunlight that slanted through the trees, bright metal glinted off the ring through its nose and off the length of stout chain which swung from the ring.
From deep in its throat, the beast growled.
She retched from fear, then the instinct to run superseded. Sweet Juno. Mighty Queen of Olympus. Don’t you think now might be a good time to help? As she sped across the forest floor, the bear lumbering behind, Claudia wished she knew more about them. Should she, for instance, stop and face it down on the principle that, like a dog, Bruno would hesitate to attack a stationary figure? A quick glance over her shoulder suggested that might not be prudent…
With sweat blinding her eyes, Claudia skidded on the damp leaves. Nearly there, nearly there, I must be close to the shore! But the stumble had cost precious ground. She could hear every stertorous sound the brute made, smelled the stench of its fur, caught every harsh jangle of chain.
She ducked to the left, and gained five valuable strides. She swerved right, but the bear cut the corner. The precious seconds were lost.
Breathless from fear and weak from exhaustion, she tried to think up a plan. Shin up a tree? Don’t be daft, bears can climb. Heft a fallen branch and swing out? Even more stupid. She had neither the strength to offbalance the bear or the time to scurry around for a branch which had not rotted through. Water! Head for the water! Somewhere she had an idea bears could swim The ground levelled out. Shrubs and bushes passed by in a blur. Where was this bloody lake? Then a clearing appeared and Claudia felt the chill of the truth. She’d been running parallel to the shore, not towards it.
Her breath was ragged, her limbs disjointed. Yet still the bear shambled behind…
Near the edge of the clearing, Claudia’s legs finally began to turn traitor. The strength in them failed, her lungs were on fire and one bramble was all that it took.
One tiny bramble, arching over the grass.
Claudia screamed as her ankle became trapped in thorns which tripped her headlong on to her face. The bear reared. She saw its shadow on the grass, smelled its foetid breath on her back, and she curled herself into a ball.
Merciful Jupiter, let death be quick! Don’t let it rip me to shreds. Louder it howled. A roar mixed with panting, and Claudia prised open her eyelids. I must know. I must know how it’s going to kill me -
She blinked the tears and sweat from her eyes. This cannot be! She blinked again. The bear thrashed on the grass and the bellows, she realized, had not been of rage, but of pain.
Small wonder.
From its eye protruded a spear.
Time lost all meaning. As though tracing a sculpted frieze, she watched as if the events had been frozen for ever in marble.
A figure, sprinting across the clearing. A man. His hunting knife drawn.
The bear. Clawing the air, mad with pain and with rage. Blinded, tormented, yet not giving in.
In the speed of slow motion, she had time to take in the swarthiness of the man’s skin. His dark hair, falling long over his shoulders. She watched him circle the beast and, when the sun caught the serrated blade of his knife, it blinded her with its brilliance. The bear’s yowl chilled her blood, but still the hunter held back. Cascading from a central parting, his long hair concealed his expression, though tight sinews gave him away. Stealthily he circled the bear and the brute’s howlings grew pitiful. With a lunge, he brought the knife down. A rumble came from deep within as blood oozed from its muzzle and snout. The bear twitched once, it twitched twice, then with one final growl it expired.
With a satisfied grunt, the young hunter wiped his blade back and forth on the grass. She was shaking, she noticed, from her curls to her blue leather shoes-which, apart from a skimpy breast-band and thong, was all the clothing she wore.
Someone had ripped out her tongue, she was mute. Slipping off a bangle, the gold one set with pearls, Claudia’s trembling hand offered it to him in gratitude.
Dark eyes, the darkest she had ever seen, bored into hers. ‘Thank you,’ growled a voice with a thick, Spanish accent, ‘but I doubt it would suit me.’ There was a pause. ‘Look away,’ he said, and it was not so much a suggestion as a command.
Claudia looked away, and when he gave the all-clear, he was cleaning the point of his spear on wild elecampane. She closed her eyes until the waves of nausea had passed.
Suddenly he clamped a hand round Claudia’s wrist and in one liquid movement, she was swept upright and on to her feet. For what seemed an eternity, his hand remained clamped and black eyes burrowed into the depths of her mind, reading every last secret, unravelling her past and travelling the route of her fears. The smell of woodshavings and pine drifted between them, then he released her and the moment was gone.