If you all plan to thrash Theopompus into offal, Pa, don't tell me." Pa looked cheerful. I am sure the young man will respect our point of view, son."
Oh yes. Six or eight of you back him into a dark alley, and give your opinions in the customary manner, he'll hand her back as quick as spit. The problem will be making the love lorn girlie see her predicament."
Fathers know how to explain things." From mine, that was rich.
Posidonius is a kindly fellow. He won't push her too hard, he brought her up very nicely, and she will see his reasoning." I laughed bitterly. Plainly you know nothing about daughters!"
Don't be like that, son." As usual, my father was shocked to find anyone criticising his past behaviour. He really had convinced himself that abandoning a wife and infant children was fine. Now he was hurt and I was angry. Some things don't change. I noticed his silent companion watching us with a kind of reserve. He was older than Pa by as much as a decade, if the entire crowd supporting Posidonius were of this type, the vigilantes were hardly in their prime. This man was overweight too, flabby and hook shouldered. I wondered if he was another auctioneer, like Pa; I could imagine him fingering fine art objects with those chubby, rather white fingers. He wore what must be a valuable cameo ring, vivid white glass over deep lapis blue, which appeared to show a miniaturised pornographic scene. It was the kind of thing that appeals to men who call themselves connoisseurs, men with cold eyes, who subject their wives to buggery and then talk openly of their perverted streak, as if vicious taste makes them better than the majority. Pa was completely different; he had simply fathered too many children then could not endure the domestic results. In despair at him, I tried to drink up quickly. The wine had been flavoured with spices and honey; it was too sickly to knock back in a hurry. As a distraction, I mentioned the builders" guild. This pair must have noticed the noisy display. Petronius has a house on loan from their president, one of their three presidents. I gather they do nothing as a singleton that can be a triplet."
They act as if they own the streets," said Pa.
Maybe they really do, public works are the main activity at Ostia. I reckon they are trying to take over." I licked my lips, agitated by the honey's stickiness. This is a sick town."
What do you think?" Pa asked the man with him.
Marcus is right." Cheek. Calling me Marcus was too damned informal. But with my father always ready to see me as prudish, I bit back my irritation. Sons are treated as children by their fathers" friends. Arguing about it gets you nowhere. Never one to be outnumbered in a vote, Pa changed the subject.
Marcus is chasing Cilician pirates."
I am looking for a missing scribe," I corrected patiently for the other man. Pirates, I am reliably informed, do not exist, and absolutely not in Cilicia nowadays."
So who's doing the kidnaps?" scoffed Pa, while the other man looked on in silence. This time I grinned. Ex-pirates." Pa's companion finally allowed himself to be drawn. Only to be expected." He spoke in a dry, depressed tone, which chimed in with my own attitude more than I had expected. Having made the statement, he stopped. He seemed to enjoy leaving his listeners hanging.
How's that?" I prompted. I was still being polite, but something about him was getting on my nerves. He gave the impression he enjoyed being controversial.
They had a way of life," he said. Some called it piracy; to them it was their natural mode of business. If it was all taken away from them, they were bound to find a new occupation. People have to live."
You sound sorry for them."
I understand their position." He seemed detached, yet added, We had the same thing here, with the dispossessed farmers. It caused absolute misery." I could remember my grandfather, the one on the Campagna, sounding off about old land reforms', which drove countrymen out of tenancies where they had farmed for decades. Gramps kept his farm – but we all thought he had done it by tricking someone else. All his neighbours thought so too. So you view the Cilician pirates as unfortunate displaced persons?"
Naturals for a life of crime," Pa sneered. He hated most other nations. He would say that was because he had done business with them and learned what they were like.
Naturals to be blamed for everything, anyway," his friend said. So what do Cilician pirates have to do with your missing scribe, young Marcus?" Once again I tried to ignore his over-familiarity. Diocles may have been writing memoirs for one of them, but my hunch is that he was really interested in this kidnap racket. Theopompus and Posidonius" silly daughter may yet gain a mention in the Daily Gazette."
We won't be the only ones chasing Theopompus!" growled Pa.
His comrades won't thank him for publicity."
You have tied the kidnaps to the Cilicians?" asked the other man of me.
They have inadvertently let me identify a couple of their group."
