CHAPTER 12

The days of endless drudgery turned into weeks and no way of escape or hint of help was to be found. The spring proved as dry as the last few years and with the prospect of drought looming, the nonfunctioning aqueduct again became the number one topic of conversation.

"We could possibly help."

"You think the overseer is a fool, he would never allow both of you to go traipsing about in the hills."

Jack spoke up. "I could repair the aqueduct, the stone work – the arches. Carter…ah…Sam could work here on the valves, channeling the flow."

Jack saw it as a perfect opportunity to get the lay of the land and plot their escape.

Within the week a trip was planned with the overseer and Jack and another slave to follow the course of the aqueduct to find the point at which the water flowed through it. Before they left the slave and Jack saw their mates manacled lest they get any ideas about escaping. Jack was insensed at the thought of her chained but was stopped from objecting by Sam, looking into his eyes, reassuring him it would be alright.

As soon as they were gone Leda freed Sam, claiming that she could not do her work chained up. And she, Leda, could not and would not do everything by herself; oh no, they could all starve as far as she was concerned. So to allow for harmony in the villa and assure regular meals the second in charge, Crassus, let it slide but he bristled at the usurping of some of his authority.

The men walked miles and miles into the foothills, finding most of the aqueduct in relatively good shape. On the evening of the second day they found the trouble. The water had been purposely diverted and two rather low arches destroyed. The stones lay in a tumbled heap. A difficult but not impossible puzzle.

"Can we restore our water supply with out the other villa noticing? Their lord is very powerful and vindictive and our lord barely acknowledges our existence."

"We can try. First we rebuild then we try to reconnect. If we're not to greedy they may never know."

The overseer slapped Jack on the back and all of them set to work. Seeing the overseer in such good spirits Jack asked a favor.
"If this works…"

"You have doubts?"

"Ah…ah no, no, it's going to work. When it works do you think I could have one of the cottages?"

"You mean live in it with you mate."

"Yes. Well, I'll fix it up first."

"We'll see."

When they were ready to reestablish the flow of water the overseer offered prayers to the numina.
So they traveled back to the villa to procure or produce the pipes they needed to tap into the main water course. Sam was called in to trace the path of the water once it arrived at the villa and check for frozen valves and leaks.

The group that trudged to the water source was twice as large as the initial party. They brought spears and bows and arrows as well. They went under the guise of a hunting party and hoped that if all else failed they could procure some meat for the table. Incredibly the fix was amazingly simple and water, although not a torrent, flowed down the hill to the villa. The journey home was productive as well, many hares were found in the snares they had left in their wake and a hart nearly barreled into Jack. He raised the spear he was carrying and killed it cleanly. The overseer was so pleased at the outcome of the adventure he awarded Jack the antlers.