Julius Caesar by Tony Bradman Read Free Book Online

moaned. ‘And with the very dagger that helped to kill you…’
    Pindarus threw down the blade and ran. But not long after, Titinius rode up, with Messala beside him. The two men jumped from their horses.
    â€˜Cassius is no more,’ groaned Titinius, looking down at the blood-soaked corpse. ‘Our day is done … he must have thought that I had been captured.’
    â€˜I’d better go and tell Brutus,’ said Messala. He climbed back into the saddle and galloped off, but Titinius was kneeling by Cassius now, and took no notice.
    â€˜I met our friends, Cassius!’ moaned Titinius. ‘We were coming to meet you, but now we’re finished, and I can stand it no more.’ He picked up the weapon from beside Cassius’s body. ‘I’ll plunge this dagger into my own heart…’
    Messala came thundering back with Brutus and several other officers, but it was too late. Titinius lay dead, his body across that of Cassius. ‘Oh, Julius Caesar, you are still mighty!’ said Brutus, looking down at the two bodies, his horse restless beneath him. ‘Your spirit must be haunting us, making us take our own lives. Are there two Romans as great as these who lie before us?’
    â€˜Come, sir, we must get back to the battle,’ said one of his officers.
    â€˜Yes, you’re right,’ said Brutus. ‘I don’t have time to mourn you now, friend Cassius, but I will, I promise.’ He wheeled his horse around and held up his sword, the steel blade glinting in the afternoon sun. ‘Follow me, men!’ he roared. ‘The day is not over yet, not by any means. We can still win this!’
    But Brutus was wrong. His men were outnumbered now, Antony’s legions having come over from their flank to support those of Octavius. Soon Brutus’s men were being pushed back across the battlefield, men dying with every bloody backward step, until finally Brutus’s legions broke, too. They ran, and were hunted down in the ghastly red twilight, like rabbits fleeing from hunters.
    Brutus fled on foot like the rest, his horse having been killed. Only a few men were with him now – Dardanius, Clitus, Volumnius, Strato – and they hurried into the hills, keepingto the shadows, looking for somewhere to hide. Brutus, however, knew there was no escape. ‘Let’s rest here, by this rock,’ he said at last, and the fugitives huddled in the shadows, grateful for some rest.
    But Brutus had a rather longer rest on his mind – one that would last forever. He quietly asked Dardanius and Clitus if they would help him to die, but they were horrified and refused. So then he turned to Volumnius.
    â€˜You know, I saw the ghost of Caesar last night,’ he said. ‘I should have known then that we were going to lose. The hour of my death has come.’
    â€˜That’s not true, my lord,’ said Volumnius, tears on his battle-stained cheeks.
    â€˜Oh, but I’m sure it is, Volumnius,’ said Brutus. Trumpets sounded in the distance, and they could hear the men hunting them calling to each other. ‘Our enemies have pushed me to the edge of the grave,’ Brutus murmured. ‘And it would be far better if I leap myselfrather than wait for them to push me in.’
    â€˜I just can’t do it, my lord,’ said Volumnius. ‘It’s not a job for a friend.’
    â€˜Quick, run, my lord!’ Clitus hissed suddenly. ‘They’re almost upon us!’
    â€˜You go,’ said Brutus. ‘Don’t worry, I will follow you in a moment.’
    Dardanius, Clitus and Volumnius ran off, but Brutus stayed where he was, and held Strato’s arm. ‘Stay with me, Strato,’ he said. ‘You’re a good man, an honourable man. Will you hold my sword for me so that I can run on to it?’
    â€˜Very well,’ said Strato. ‘But give me your hand first.’ Brutus did as he asked, and then handed