‘That’s the new ramp,’ Rufus said, ‘or will be.’ Ferox could see that the ditch was wholly filled in, and on top of it, stretching to within ten feet or so of the wall was a wide shed with an angled roof rising up in the centre. As he watched, a stone smacked hard against it, throwing up a plume of dust, and then slid off to the side.

‘The Nics burned the old ramp, wrecking the whole right-hand side and tumbling it into the ditch. Too hard to repair and we were going to start again, when the thought came that we could use the left-hand side and built a new one out from it. So that’s what we’ve done.’ Rufus’ pride was obvious, and Ferox suspected that he had had a lot to do with this bright idea. ‘And Caecilius wants to make the most of the rest of the ramp in timber, hence the wide sheds. We’ll do as much as we can under cover. We’re also adding an extra storey to the tower to save us time building here.’

Again, Ferox could not help thinking that ‘we’ meant Rufus had thought of it. He glanced towards the wall itself and saw that along one section at its foot were the ruins of some mobile sheds. There were corpses among the debris, the flesh bloated and the skin turned such a dark red that it was almost black. He could see chips around the wall’s stonework, and a few fragments broken away where they had been attacked with crowbars and picks. There were also far bigger chunks of pale stone among the ruin, far more than had been prised away, so he crouched a little to see up. A long section of parapet was missing from the wall just above, and the gap was covered with sacks filled with sand and bits of timber.

‘Ah, you’ve seen where they tipped their own wall down?’ Rufus said. ‘Not one of our best plans, at least in hindsight. Lost some good men, and we haven’t been able to get the bodies back, which is hard on the men. Still, shows how desperate the Nics are becoming, doesn’t it?’

‘How long until the ramp and tower are ready?’ Ferox asked, not wishing to give his opinion on that.

‘These ones? Fifteen days for both? Might shave a half a day or even a day off that, but then we might not. The eastern one wasn’t attacked, so has made good progress. It’s higher that side though. Be ready in eleven or twelve days.’

‘You making that tower taller as well?’

There was silence for such a long time that Ferox turned around. Rufus had his hands over his face, like a child who has just realised that a baffling mystery was simple after all.

‘No,’ he said sheepishly. ‘I don’t think anyone has thought of that. Still, have to be careful, don’t want it to become unstable. No sign of the legatus. We’ll check the sheds on the ramp itself, but I suspect he has moved on from there. May have to leave you to it after that, old fellow. Think I’ve got some calculations to make.’ He grinned.