The Golden Acorn - Catherine Cooper [81]
‘What’s inside that open square behind him?’
‘It’s a shrine, dedicated to their goddess of wells and springs.’
‘Like Jennet?’
‘Not quite. This is a Roman Goddess; they call her Appias. They think she’s a beautiful maiden, a bit like the statues in Nora’s garden. When the commander left he gave Maximus instructions to make sure he honoured the goddess. He’s supposed to throw gold into the shrine so the water never dries up. He won’t because he’s too greedy to part with any of his gold. I’ve even seen him fishing out the offerings other soldiers have thrown in too.’
‘Why isn’t the centurion we saw this morning with the rest of the legion?’
‘I don’t know, but he’s the one who’s been killing the Druids and torching the groves in this area. He brings back any valuables he can find from the local shrines and give them to Maximus; I think he gets a share.’
Jack could see the centurion’s armour flash and his red plume bobbing up and down through a clump of trees in the distance.
‘They’ll be a while yet,’ said Camelin. ‘Are you hungry?’
‘Every time I transform I’m hungry,’ confessed Jack.
‘Well I might just know where we can get fed.Follow me.’
Camelin led the way round to the far end of the camp. They used the trees and stayed hidden. Eventually he stopped opposite a group of long buildings.
‘These are the barracks. I used to fly over when they were cooking. Each barrack has its own bread freshly baked every morning.’
Camelin nodded towards a group of beehive-shaped ovens near the perimeter wall.
‘They won’t be using many of them today because there aren’t many soldiers in camp.’
Jack could smell cooking but it smelt more like bacon than bread. He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what it was, just in case it was barbecued raven.
‘Somebody’s having a fry up,’ Camelin said excitedly.
‘Is that bacon I can smell?’
‘Yes, course it is. Each barrack has its own frying pan. They won’t be short on rations at the moment; looks like pig’s on the menu.’
‘So they might not be interested in raven if they’ve got bacon,’ said Jack hopefully.
For a few minutes they enjoyed the delicious smells, then Camelin puffed out his chest feathers, which was always a sign he had something important to say.
‘Stay here. I’ll go and get our breakfast.’
He was off before Jack could answer. It wasn’t long before he came back with what looked like a rather large flat bread cake in his beak.
‘Mind you don’t burn yourself, it’s only just come out of the oven.’
It wasn’t quite the kind of bread Jack was used to but it tasted good and he was grateful that Camelin’s speciality was finding food. It didn’t last long but at least they’d eaten. Camelin was keeping a keen eye out in case they were disturbed but Jack was more interested in what he could see through an open doorway.
‘Is that a wolf’s skin in there?’ he asked.
‘It is,’ confirmed Camelin. ‘It belongs to one of the standard bearers. There are three of them; they go at the front of the legion. They each carry poles with different things on top and either wear a bear, lion or wolf skin over their helmet. It’s an honoured position.’
‘Why haven’t they taken this one with them?’
‘It’s an old one,’ replied Camelin. ‘I know about this skin. It belonged to that wolf I told you about, you know, the one who ate Dagbert, King of the Sparrows. He stole a chicken and choked on one of the bones; everyone thought it served him right.’
Jack wasn’t sure if Camelin was making it up but it seemed a fitting end for a wolf that liked eating sparrows. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud noise.
‘What’s that?’
‘It’s a horn. You get used to it. It means the soldiers have arrived,’ explained Camelin. ‘Come on, back to the gate.
‘Look!’ exclaimed Jack excitedly as the fort sprang into life.
Soldiers appeared and lined the walkway above the gatehouse.
‘Titus Antonius Agrippa,’ the centurion shouted up to the guard.
The gate began to open and soldiers saluted as Titus Antonius rode into the fort. He dismounted and