Book I: Chapter 4 | Templum

“Agemus”

“Ago”

“Equito Equus.”

Barbara is riding the horse with the two gentlemen.

“Bene” the bearded figure responded.

“Quo cum Pompanianus equitat?”

Equito.

As Barbara is enjoying her learning adventure, they’re reaching the encampment with the torches.

Pliny and Pampanianos look up and see a collection of very makeshift tent buildings, suspended by spider silk on the trunks of trees with rope nets connecting them together.

He looks a bit surprised—and hopefully a tad disappointed.

“Is this your house?”

Barbara smiles. “Yes.”

Barbara then realizes that she has no way to actually get up to the house, and neither do they, because of her ruined leg. Fear wells up inside her: Am I going to die here, like Berry Picker?

As they are walking, however, they hear a rustle in the trees. Pompeii and Pliny look around, trying to catch the notes. Pompanianus is tackled by an elf from one of the trees. He gets knocked off his horse, which panics and starts running off.

Pliny runs after the horse to calm it down and to rescue Barbara, who is gripping on for dear life.

Pompanianus is wrestling with the child. The elf puts up a good fight, bites into Pompanianus’s arm, and hurts his teeth on the armor.

He’s quickly subdued by Pompanianus, who is forced to bind him up. Pompanianus then grabs his torch before it extinguishes.

Once that’s done, he turns to Pliny, who has gathered the horse and returned Barbara—still clinging for dear life.

The boy growls and shouts something the Romans don’t understand.

Barbara shouts back, “Hunter, stop, please! They’re helping me. They saved my life.”

The Romans point to him. “Is he an elf? Is he a friend?”

“Yes. He is a friend. He… he saves.”

Pliny corrects her with the proper conjugation. Pompanianus shouts, 

“Not now!”

Pompanianus looks at the situation. “We could try to climb the trees. However, that clearly won’t solve anything. Let’s do this: we’ll make a space.”

The elves, as they gather, set up a kind of encampment—an area surrounded by torches. They lay Barbara down there.

The incident draws other elves, climbing over and looking curiously.

Barbara tries to calm them down despite her leg, assuring them they are all friends.

Pliny and Pompanianus talk quietly amongst themselves. We don’t hear what they say, because Barbara is busy speaking with Bird Catcher.

Bird Catcher asks, “What happened?”

Barbara says, “I fell. I was almost killed. They helped me. They killed many monsters. When I fell, the man with the beard rescued me and fixed my leg.”

Berry Picker is interested. She looks at the cast and the plants around it. “The plants helped you.”

She leaves and rushes up the tree again.

Pliny and Pomponianus set up torches. Clearly, they are planning something.

Pliny takes a javelin and marks a square in the dirt. Barbara comes over to talk, but he pushes her aside.

Pliny asks, “What is he doing?”

“I am consecrating a temple. Making a templum,” Pompanianus answers.

He sets up the space, then takes a cup of wine. From his pack, he produces a small image of three figures and places it in the square. He pours wine around it, chanting words Barbara cannot make out.

Meanwhile, Bird Catcher returns, carrying a boy with similar hair to hers. She calls him Twin. His name is Cook. He is breathing badly.

Bird Catcher goes to Barbara. “Can he help too?”

She walks into the sacred space with her brother. Pompanianus draws his sword.

She freezes, then bows and points to her brother.

Pompanianus instructs Barbara: “Tell her to take soil and give it to me.”

Barbara explains, “He wants you to give him the soil.”

Confused, Bird Catcher complies.

She offers the soil to Pompanianus. Suddenly, Barbara sees three figures. They speak to her in a voice she understands: I accept your gift.

“What happened?” she asks.

Pompanianus can now speak to her in a language she understands. “You are now under my house. You have surrendered authority by giving me this tutelary soil. This is my house. What do you want?”

Bird Catcher explains, “I’m worried about my brother Cook. He is sick. I saw what happened with your leg, and wondered if you could help.”

Pompanianus turns to Pliny. “Please look at her brother.”

In the sacred space, Pliny asks questions, and Bird Catcher answers. Cook too, as best as he can.

Barbara is confused. “How are you able to speak Latin?”

Pompanianus explains: “We are within the sacred space of my household gods. They are allowing us to communicate.”

Barbara: “Why didn’t you do this before?”

“This isn’t a trick. This is my house. I must protect it, or risk the wrath of my gods. I am tied to this space—and to you.”

Pliny examines Cook. He asks where it hurts. After listening, he says it sounds like pneumonia.

He gathers leaves from his pack. “Do you have water?”

He boils the leaves in his canteen.

Pliny asks, “Has he been near cold weather or smelly gases?”

Bird Catcher: “We’re not sure. Our parents said diseases are caused by tiny animals, but we don’t have the magic to cure it anymore.”

Pliny: “Tiny animals?”

Barbara: “Yes, tiny animals in your blood. That’s what our parents told us.”

Pliny: “I’ve never heard that, but interesting. Scholars taught me cures come from imbalances in blood.”

He asks Barbara, “Do you know of leeches?”

“What are those?”

“A worm like creature that sucks blood.”

“Oh, stickers. Yes.”

"Fetch some."

Bird Catcher protests, but Pompanianus says, “You are under my house. You accepted. You must obey.”

She reluctantly agrees, still nervous.

Pliny: “We will try our best. Get clothing, sticks, and wood for a fire.”

He asks Hunter to help. “Cut wood and bring it here. Do not let the fire go out.”

Another girl says, “Shouldn’t we hide? Monsters will come.”

Pompanianus : “Monsters fear fire. Stay here, keep the fire burning.”

Barbara returns with leeches. Bird Catcher brings blankets. Pliny boils water.

While tending the fire, Pompanianus calls other children to join. They emerge: emaciated, filthy, but dressed in tattered, elaborate clothes.

“You are now in our campsite,” Pompanianus declares. “Stay with us. Help build a camp. Tonight we work; tomorrow we sleep.”