The Arrows of Hercules

One of Bomilkarth's Sons' ships was to sail three days later. Evnos reserved passage and reported back to his comrades. The master of the house had chosen to stay home that day, checking accounts with his steward. He looked up from his work to say:

"Tomorrow comes the harvest festival. Since you have nought else to do, I thought I would show you the religious procession."

"Thank you, sir," said Zopyros. He glanced across the courtyard, to where Evnos and Segovax had their heads together. Presently they went out, saying:

"We would shop a bit in town, my masters, for pretty things to take home to our womenfolk."

Zopyros spent the afternoon playing in the courtyard with Ahiram. The boy—a sturdy, swarthy, black-haired child—had gotten used to the visitors. Aside from the fact that he tended to talk too much, Zopyros liked the boy—as well as he liked most children.

Ahiram was well developed for his age. When Zopyros played ball with him, he was appalled to find that the child was almost as good at throwing and catching as was he himself. Zopyros was awkward, whereas the child was precociously agile, slinking and pouncing like a cat.

Once, when he thought nobody was listening, he asked Ahiram: "Would you like to see your mother?"

"Father says Mother is bad. She went away."

"But would you like to go to see her?"

Ahiram considered the question soberly. "Yes, I should. When can we go?"

"I know not. If you say no word to anybody about it, peradventure something can be clone." When Segovax and Evnos came back that afternoon, the former said: "We have a bit to talk about with you, Zopyros; and I'm thinking we'll disturb himself less if we do it outside."

Elazar glanced up from his papyrus rolls and back again without a word. The three travelers went out and strolled among the olive trees. Farm workers were striking the boughs with poles and gathering into baskets the olives that fell. Evnos said:

"During this parade tomorrow, do you think you could slip away with the boy?"

Zopyros' jaw dropped. "Wh-why, I hadn't thought. What is it? What are you planning?"

"If you can, Segovax will be waiting at the corner of Shadapra and Bes—that's a couple of blocks from the route of the procession—with a mule. You can be out of the city with the lad before anybody misses him."

"Oi! But—I thought you wouldn't have anything to do with this?"

Segovax grinned through his mustache. "To be sure, now, you didn't think we'd let our friend down, and him so romantical and all?"

"I—I don't know how to thank you. But what will happen to you?"

"It's all fixed," said Evnos. "Segovax and I are leaving, not on Bomilkarth's ship, but on a Greek ship that sails a day earlier. Of course Elazar won't know that."

"Where do I go when I get out of Carthage?"

"Now, that called for fast work on my part! Luckily I know unsavory characters in all the big cities. You'll follow the coastal road to Cape Utica. There's a ford across the Bagrada near its mouth."

"Do I go up to Utica?"

"No, no. You're going to visit a witch who lives in a cave on Cape Utica."

"A what?"

"A witch. Saphanbaal the witch. She'll hide you for a few days until you're picked up."

"Zeus on Olympos! Will she turn me into a spider, or what?"

"Good gods, no! This is a simple matter of hiding a wanted man. Don't let her profession bother you. Here is the hospitality token by which you shall identify yourself to her."

Evnos held out a length of bone—a piece of human thighbone, Zopyros guessed. It was about half a foot long. One end was a smoothly rounded joint, while the other was jaggedly broken. Zopyros took the object and eyed it doubtfully, asking:

"What about my rescue?"

"Three nights hence, a Captain Bostar will sail past on his way to Sicily and Tyre."

"What sort of man is he?"

"Not the best, I fear. He's a smuggler—one who secretly loads off open roadsteads and shaves his prices by evading harbor fees. But, if you will do desperate deeds, you can't be fastidious."