Shadow of the Centaurs by Saviour Pirotta

Author:Saviour Pirotta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

For Your Eyes Only

Thrax missing? I struggled to sit up in my cot.

‘A boy who sells snails at the market came to tell us,’ said Gaia. ‘He’s a friend of Thrax.’

‘Thrax has many friends at the market,’ I said. ‘Did this one tell you his name?’ It was a silly question to ask, but my mind was reeling.

Gaia shook her head. ‘No he didn’t and I forgot to ask. The boy said he was looking for snails in the scrub outside the Dipylon Gate when he came across Thrax hiding behind a bush. He thinks Thrax was shadowing someone and had sprung into the hiding place when he heard him coming.’

‘What made him think that?’ I asked.

‘The boy was about to call out a greeting when Thrax raised a finger to his lips and stopped him. The boy hurried on without saying a word but on his way back home, he found Thrax’s himation caught in the bush. Oh, Nico, it had been ripped to shreds by a lion.’

‘How did he know the himation was definitely Thrax’s?’

‘I’m not sure,’ replied Gaia. ‘Perhaps he recognised it. The boy brought it here and Master Ariston identified it.’

I swung my legs over the side of the cot and stood up slowly to put on my chiton. ‘Have the police been informed?’

‘Yes, but it seems they are too busy with other crimes to look for the remains of a slave. Apparently two other people have been killed by a lion outside Athens recently – they were guards who looked after the Acharnian Gate. Mistress said their cloaks were found ripped to shreds outside the gate.’

‘How long has Thrax been missing?’ I asked.

‘Two days,’ said Gaia. She started sobbing. ‘Oh, Nico, what are we going to do?’

I put my arm around Gaia to console her. ‘Don’t cry. I know Thrax very well, and I can assure you he’s a match for any lion. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that he is not really dead. I think something else has happened to him and it’s got to do with the mystery we’re trying to solve. We need to find out what.’

Gaia looked at me with sudden hope in her eyes. ‘Do you think so? Shall I tell Master Ariston? He’s been crying ever since we got the news. He’s even chopped off some of his hair to show he’s in mourning.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.