Cato nodded. With a last careful look at the Roman, Yusef turned and ran off, disappearing round the corner of the nearest building. Cato glanced round and saw that there was no one else in sight. The village was as quiet and as still as the vast necropolis that spread out to either side of the Appian way outside the gates of Rome. Not the happiest of comparisons, Cato thought wryly, and turned his attention to the pile of belongings in the street. Aside from the bundles of clothing and cooking pots there were several baskets of scrolls, and the small casket that Yusef had been sitting on. Something about the casket struck Cato, and then he remembered that he had seen it in the hiding place beneath Miriam’s house. What could be so precious about it that it had to be hidden from sight? His curiosity aroused, Cato glanced round to make sure that he was unobserved. After a moment’s hesitation he approached and squatted down to examine it more closely. The casket was quite plain, with no ornamentation and a simple catch fastening.

He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and hurriedly stood as Miriam and Yusef turned the corner and saw him squatting down by their belongings. Miriam’s eyes went immediately to the casket as she strode across towards the centurion.

‘I’ll thank you to leave my property - what remains of it - alone. My son made that for me. That, and the contents, are all I have to remember him by.’

‘I’m sorry. I . . . ‘ Cato stared at her helplessly, then hung his head in shame. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘My grandson says you wish to speak to me?’

‘Yes. If you will permit me.’

‘I’m not sure that I want to speak to you. Not after . . . ‘ Miriam swallowed as she gestured towards the scorched remains of her house.

‘I can understand that,’ Cato replied gently. ‘The prefect was wrong to do it. I tried to stop him.’

Miriam nodded. ‘I know, but it made no difference.’

‘What happens to you now? Where will you go?’

Miriam blinked back the tears that glistened at the corners of her dark eyes and nodded vaguely towards the street she had emerged from. ‘One of my people has provided a room for me and the boy. The villagers will build us a new home.’

‘That’s good.’ Cato tilted his head slightly to one side. ‘You said your people. Are you their leader?’

Miriam pursed her lips. ‘In a manner of speaking. They hold me in some regard as followers of my son. It’s almost as if I was their mother as well.’ She smiled weakly. ‘I suppose they’re just sentimental.’

Cato smiled back at her. ‘Whatever the reason, you clearly hold some power over them, as well as Symeon and Bannus, it appears.’

Miriam’s smile froze, and she looked at Cato suspiciously. ‘What do you want of me, Centurion?’