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Come and have a drink, Gaius."
Steady on, Marcus; I have to be at my post."
You're the supervisor. Give your staff an opportunity to make mistakes. How can you put them right otherwise? This is for their own good The underlings gazed at me with mixed feelings. A small queue of traders let out an ironic cheer. Oh Hades. Junia had made Gaius have Ajax for the afternoon. When I pulled him from his seat behind the tablets and money caskets, the dreadful dog came too. An uncontrollable tail knocked over two inkwells, as Gaius lifted off his wide-beamed backside and stood up reluctantly from his stool. That enormous wet tongue caught the back of my knees as the loopy creature bumbled after us. Every time we passed a porter with a handcart, Ajax had to bark.
Leaving the desk is bad practice, Marcus."
Have a breather. Enjoy bumming off for once, like everyone else."
Ajax! Drop it! Good boy…" Portus was Elysium for an excitable dog. The harbour walkways were stuffed with bollards to pee against, sacks to jump on, amphorae to lick, cranes to wind a lead around. Short men who looked suspicious lurked everywhere, begging to be harassed with growls and bared teeth. There were wild smells, sudden loud noises, and unseen vermin scuttling in dark corners. Eventually the dog found a bit of ragged rope to carry, then he calmed down.
He needs discipline, Gaius. My Nux would be walking sedately at my side now." Gaius Baebius was a
So give me directions to the incomer's villa, Gaius."
You'll never find it. I'll have to take you there."
I wouldn't hear of it."
Oh it's no trouble," declared Gaius [implying it was enormous trouble, so that I would feel guilty. As you said so wisely, Marcus, my work can wait. They very much rely on me, but I should take time off occasionally." I was stuck. My dead-weight relation was now looking forward to a leisurely seaside day out. There was no alternative. I had no other clues to the whereabouts of Diocles. The mysterious Damagoras was my sole lead.
XIII
Once I prised him from his desk, Gaius decided to make the most of it. He suggested we take picnics, sunhats and our families. I said that would look unprofessional. Respecting the work concept, he agreed even though he had always thought my sphere of activity had all the glamour of the mighty mound of horse manure outside the Circus Maximus. I managed to persuade him we still had enough daylight to hire donkeys, visit the villa, and be back before di