'Centurion Cato and I have made plans for the coming fight. There's plenty of work to be done before Bannus arrives. My clerks will bring your orders to you. Dismissed!'

The officers filed out of the hall. Postumus looked at the prefect sourly. 'What do you want me to do, sir?'

'I haven't decided yet.' Macro smiled.'Since you are so keen to get stuck into the enemy I want you right at the thick of things when it comes to the fight. Now wait for me outside.'

'Yes, sir.' Postumus saluted and left the hall.

'You really want him at your side in a fight?' muttered Cato. 'That's asking for trouble.'

'I can handle him. There's no way I'm going to let that scum run out on us. He's the one who turned the villagers against us. Now he can take his full share of the consequences.'

Cato nodded approvingly. 'Still, I'd watch him closely.'

'I will, believe me.' Macro said firmly. 'Do you think he was right about the Governor?'

'Yes. It makes sense. We can't expect any help from that quarter.'

'If only we had more men. I checked the morning strength returns before the meeting. The cohort's down to fewer than seven hundred effectives. It's not looking good.'

'No, sir. It's not. What are my orders?'

'I need a good pair of eyes out there. I want you to command the scouts. Take ten men and ride out towards Bannus. Send back regular reports on his progress.You are not to engage with any of their scouts. No heroics, Cato. Do you understand?'

'Yes, sir. There'll be time enough for that later on.'

Macro laughed. 'That's the spirit! Now, I'd better get on with the preparations.You'll need to leave as soon as you can.'

'Yes, sir.' Cato replied, but did not move towards the door.

'What is it?'

'Those people at Heshaba. I think I owe it to them to offer shelter in the fort. They saved my life.'

'No. They'll be safer in their village, especially if Bannus does take the fort.'

'I'm not sure about that. The Parthians aren't exactly famous for their kind treatment of non-combatants. Besides, I got the feeling that there's not much love lost between Bannus and those people. If we leave them out there, then they'll be at the mercy of the brigands and those Parthians.'

Macro stared at him for a moment before he made a decision.'Very well. Offer them shelter. But if they accept it, they must come to the fort by nightfall. I don't want them getting caught up between the two sides when the fighting starts.'

'Thank you, sir.'

'Cato, you can ask them, but I doubt whether that woman, Miriam, or her followers, will take up the offer. Those are their people marching on us. It's more likely they'll join them in the attack on the fort.'

Cato shook his head. 'I don't think so. There's something different about Miriam and her followers. I don't think they want to fight us. Or anyone for that matter.'

'Fine.' Macro waved his hand towards the door. 'Then make your offer and be done with it. But get moving. There's not much time.'

As Cato's column of scouts trotted out of the fort there were already many parties of men hard at work, swinging their picks into the ground as they excavated small pits all round the fort. Under the glare of the sun it was exhausting work, but there was no question of rest breaks.These men were digging for their lives. Anything that would stem the tide of the approaching enemy might help to save them. So, with the single concession to comfort of their straw hats, the men swung their picks in the sweltering heat in a desperate effort to prepare for the attack in the short time still left to them.

The villagers of Heshaba were resting inside their houses when Cato and his men rode into the small square at the centre of the village. The man that Scrofa had ordered crucified still hung from his cross. Or at least, what now passed for the man. The sun had baked and desiccated his body so that it had visibly shrunk beneath the dried skin. Crows and other carrion had plucked at the most tender parts of his flesh and lidless, empty eye sockets stared out over the village. Cato ordered the column to dismount. He handed his reins to one of the scouts and ordered the men to water the horses and wait for him in the square. Then he walked into the nearest alley, approached a door and rapped on the frame. A moment later the door creaked open and an anxious male face peered out into the sun-washed street.

'Find Miriam,' Cato said in Greek.'Tell her Centurion Cato must speak to her on a matter of great urgency. I'll be at the reservoir. Do you understand?'

The man nodded, and Cato turned away and strode up the hill, past the last few houses of the village, until he reached the shade of one of the dusty palms that grew beside the reservoir. There was less water in it than ever, a mere pool surrounded by cracked earth, and he wondered how any people could survive in this arid land. The god of the Judaeans, Yahweh, must be cruel indeed to subject his believers to such a harsh existence, thought Cato. There had to be a better life than this. Perhaps that was why these people were so intensely religious – out of the necessity of finding some kind of spiritual compensation for such a hard and unrewarding physical existence.

The soft crunch of gravel alerted him to Miriam's approach and Cato quickly rose to his feet and bowed his head respectfully.

'I was told that you wished to speak to me.' Miriam smiled. 'You don't need to stand on my account, young man. Sit.'

Cato did as he was told and Miriam knelt down opposite him and made herself comfortable.

'We've been told that Bannus is heading this way with an army. I came to warn you.'

'We already know. A rider came to the village this morning. We are to offer his men every assistance they require, or we will be deemed to be collaborators and treated accordingly.'

Cato stared at her. 'What will you do?'

'I don't know.' She shook her head sadly. 'If we resist Bannus he will destroy us. If we go along with him, then you Romans will treat us as his accomplices.Where is the middle path, Cato?'

'I don't know. I don't even know if there is one. I came here to offer you and your people shelter in our fort.'

Miriam smiled. 'A kind offer, I'm sure. Tell me, what are your chances of surviving this attack by Bannus?'

'I won't lie to you, Miriam. We're outnumbered, and there will be no outside help. We may well be overrun.'

'In which case it would be as well for my people not to be discovered sheltering in your fort.'

'I agree. If we are overrun. But if you stay here, you will surely fall foul of one side or another.'

Miriam looked down at her hands. 'We came here to escape such conflicts. All we wanted was peace and a chance to live our lives as we wish.Yet it seems that there is no escape from the conflicts that afflict men. They will carry them even here, into the wilderness. Look about you, Centurion. What is there here that is worth having? What is there here to excite a man's avarice? Nothing.That is why my people settled in this forsaken place. We removed ourselves from any land a man could covet. We disowned any possessions that might inspire envy or desire in others.We are all that we are, and nothing more.Yet still we are blighted by the attentions of others. Even though we mean them no harm, they would destroy us.' She reached a hand up and clutched it to her chest. 'That was the fate of my son. I will not let that be the fate of my grandson. Yusef is all that I have left now. That, and the fading memories of an old woman.'

Her head dipped forward and Miriam was silent. Cato could not offer any honest words of comfort and sat and waited. Her shoulders heaved once and a tear dropped on to the sand between her knees and left a dark stain. Cato cleared his throat.'Will you accept our protection, such as it is?'