I said, “Why do I hear all these reports of bear sightings, yet no one knows it was you who lost him?”
Egesis sighed. “It’s like this. I reckon he was stolen, but I can’t prove it. So if my bear did damage on someone else’s property, I’d be liable; they’d make me pay, right?”
“That’s fair enough.”
“All right. So if anything goes wrong on any farm anywhere near here-every goat that goes missing, every chicken that gets taken by a fox, every fence that gets damaged-they’re gonna blame me, aren’t they? Whether my bear did it or not, they’re gonna look for every excuse to blame me, ’cause they’ll squeeze me for every drachma. And I’ll have to pay, ’cause if I took it to court, the jury would find against me anyway, ’cause I’m a Macedonian and they’re Athenians. You see?”
“I see.”
“So I figured the only safe thing was to lie low, you know?”
“Didn’t you try to recover the bear?” Diotima asked.
Egesis spat again. “Of course I did. I staked out a goat in a couple of places and waited. Nothing. The accursed beast must not be hungry, or it really is eating the local livestock. I dunno. I figure it’ll be easier to go back home and catch a new bear in the mountains, where they still got some. That’s where I’m headed: back to Macedonia. But first I gotta make some money, or I’ll starve on the way.” He paused. “With any luck my dad’s died by now. That’s why I left, you know. The bastard wanted me to work on-” He shuddered. “On a farm.”
“Sickening for you.”
“You’re telling me. Get up in the morning? No bloody way. How can I gamble all night and get up at dawn?”
“You could give up the gambling?” Diotima suggested.
Egesis looked at her in incomprehension. “Give up blood sports? What sort of a man are you?”
“How do you train a bear?” I asked, intrigued.
“With patience, and a big stick. You whack it when it doesn’t do what you want.”
“Is that a good idea?”
“It works for me. Of course, that’s how I got the scar, so maybe it doesn’t work all the time. Now shut up. The fight’s about to start.”
Egesis turned away from us. I didn’t particularly care if animals fought, but like Diotima, I didn’t need to see it either; I’d seen enough human blood to lose my taste for the sight of it. Instead I looked around at the crowd and-
“Uh oh,” I said quietly to Diotima.
“What is it?” she whispered back.
“The two men who kidnapped me and took me to that meeting … they’re over on the other side of the room, and they’re circling. I think they’re searching for me. They must have followed me here.”
“What do they want, Nico?”
“Well, since I didn’t give up the job, and I didn’t deliver any names to the crazy man, I imagine they want to kill me.”
There was only one door out of the room, and two routes to reach it. I looked along the other one. Two other men were heading our way, and though I didn’t recognize them, I doubted they were here for the gambling.
We couldn’t go right. We couldn’t go left. There was only one other route.
The cocks were fighting furiously. Men shouted as the battle swayed one way then the other. They wailed or cheered, according to their bets, as one cock got in a good blow, and again when the same one struck again. The other cock staggered back but kept on clawing. He was game, but it seemed he couldn’t last long.
I jumped onto an overturned crate, pointed at the bet taker, who crouched at the front, and shouted, “He’s cheating! Him! I saw it! He threw poisoned grain into the ring!”
I had no idea what I was saying, but it didn’t matter. With men’s money on the line, tension was already running high. Everyone who’d bet on the injured cock was ready to believe me.
The bet taker stared at me in stupefaction for the briefest moment, then he stood to shout, “That’s a lie!”
His denial instantly made everyone think he was guilty. Men waved their fists and demanded their money back. Other men waved their fists and demanded their winnings.
With so many fists waving, two of them connected.
That caused a scuffle.
The scuffle spread like spilled wine.
In the blink of an eye, every man in the room was fighting every other man.
I hauled Diotima up onto the crate beside me, so she wasn’t accidentally caught by a flying fist, and stood ready to defend her. Across the sea of bobbing heads and swearing men, I could see our four pursuers. The two I knew had their backs to the wall; they edged toward us, pushing away any brawler who stumbled their way. The other two had been caught up in the fight; they stood back to back in the middle of a melee and threw punches. They’d certainly forgotten about us. That was our path, then.
“Come on.” With my left hand I grabbed Diotima firmly by the wrist and dragged her along, keeping my right free to hit anyone who came at us. I pushed hard, keeping my left shoulder against the wall, until we came to a knot of men who’d forced another group against the wall and were beating them soundly. No way through.
“Keep your head down!” I shouted to Diotima, and pulled her toward the center.
We ducked under fists and made good progress. “I can see the door. Hold on, Diotima; we’ll soon be there.”
“Nico, wait!” Diotima broke free of my grasp. She ran into the ring, scooped up the fighting cocks, one under each arm, and turned back to me.
Except she couldn’t return. A man jumped in front of her. The bet taker, who’d promised to take the balls of anyone who interfered with the fight. He came at Diotima with an evil grin and a sharp knife upraised.
He was going to be so disappointed when he lifted her chiton.
I couldn’t save my girl; there were too many men between us.
Diotima stared at her attacker, retreating the few steps she had available until she was up against the wall on the opposite side.
She did the only thing she could. She threw the fighting cocks at him.
Two very angry cocks wearing metal spurs flew into the face of the bet taker, claws out.
The bet taker screamed. He shielded his face with his hands and backed off.
The cocks fell off him and at once strutted about in search of other victims to destroy, crowing their victory. The bet taker was still walking backward. I could see the blood seeping between his fingers. He tripped on a prostrate body and went over backward.
“Run! It’s the Scythian Guard!”
Every head turned to the entrance. There, trying to push their way in, were two of the Scythian Guard of Athens, whose job was to enforce the peace. With batons if necessary.
The Scythians carried unstrung bows with which to beat unruly citizens, and they were known for their willingness to apply some stick. Right now, this gambling den looked like a good place for them to be doing business, and where there were two Scythians caught in a fight, you could bet there would soon be more.
Men scattered. Cockfighting wasn’t illegal. Nor was gambling. But brawling was a serious misdemeanor. Anyone caught in this riot faced a court summons, followed quickly by a huge fine, one big enough to bankrupt a man; and that was after the Scythians had finished beating him senseless.
With everyone else worried about the brawl and the guardsmen, I saw Egesis break into the center ring, club a man out of the way, and shovel handfuls of coins into the material of his tunic. He tied a knot to stop the coins from falling out, then jingled his way toward the exit. Now he had enough money to get home to Macedonia. But his escape too was stopped by the mass of panicking men.
I grabbed Diotima by the arm. “Come on!”
She scooped up a rooster. I grabbed the other one.
“There’s no way through!”
She was right. The jam of men struggling to get out now had to fight the Scythian Guardsmen struggling to get in.
I pulled her in the other direction, where lay workmen’s tools. Among them was a mallet.