‘I - I don’t know. But they’re riding fast. They’ll be here any minute.’

‘Damn! Miriam, we must hide.’

‘I’m not hiding. Not any more.’

‘Not you! Me and the Roman.’

‘Oh! All right. Quickly, come this way.’ She hurried into the room and pointed to Cato. ‘Get him up.’

Symeon squeezed past her, and thrusting his arms under Cato’s shoulders he hauled him up and supported him on his feet. Miriam rolled the end of the mattress back to reveal a small wooden hatch. She lifted it by a metal ring and slid it to one side.

‘In there! Both of you, quickly.’

Symeon dragged Cato over to the opening and dropped him down. Cato fell four or five feet beneath the floor and landed heavily. He had just enough strength to roll to one side as Symeon lowered his feet and followed him in. A moment later Symeon cursed as Cato’s kit dropped on his head. Then Miriam replaced the hatch and rolled the bedding back. A thin slit over by the front of the house let in a shaft of light and the two men crawled cautiously towards it. The space was narrow and as Cato’s eyes adjusted to the gloom he saw that it stretched from the front to the rear of the house. It was empty, apart from a small, plain casket towards the back. They heard the sound of horses approaching and shuffled the last few feet to the slit. It was no wider than a finger and sparse tufts of grass grew in front of it, and since it was just below the level of the floorboards Cato had to tilt his head to one side to see out of the slit.

He was staring up the street towards the track that led to the junction. A party of horsemen was riding into the village, and Cato’s heart sank as he recognised Bannus at the head of his brigands. Bannus slewed his horse to a halt just in front of Miriam’s house, kicking up a small cloud of dust that momentarily obscured the view. They heard a crunch as his booted feet landed on the hard earth.

‘What do you want?’ Miriam stepped out into the street. ‘You’re not welcome here.’

Bannus laughed. ‘I know. That can’t be helped. I have wounded men who need treatment.’

‘You can’t leave them here. The Romans patrol the land round Heshaba. If they find them we’ll be punished.’

‘Don’t worry, Miriam. I just want their wounds cleaned and bound and we’ll be on our way.They’ll never know we were here.’

‘No.You have to leave. Now!’