Pompeii by Robert Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

But even in the time it had taken to row from the steps the flow had dwindled. It was scarcely more than a trickle.
    Corax gave a soft whistle. 'I never thought I'd live to see the Augusta dry. You were right to be worried, pretty boy.' He looked at Attilius and for the first time there was a flash of fear across his face. 'So what stars were you born under, that you've brought this down on us?'
    The engineer was finding it difficult to breathe. He pressed his hand to his nose again and moved the torch above the surface of the reservoir. The reflection of the light on the still black water suggested a fire in the depths.
    It was not possible, he thought. Aqueducts did not just fail – not like this, not in a matter of hours. The matrices were walled with brick, rendered with waterproof cement, and surrounded by a concrete casing a foot and a half thick. The usual problems – structural flaws, leaks, lime deposits that narrowed the channel – all these needed months, even years to develop. It had taken the Claudia a full decade gradually to close down.
    He was interrupted by a shout from the slave, Polites: 'Aquarius!'
    He half turned his head. He could not see the steps for the pillars, which seemed to rise like petrified oaks from some dark and foul-smelling swamp. 'What is it?'
    'There's a rider in the yard, aquarius! He has a message that the aqueduct has failed!'
    Corax muttered, 'We can see that for ourselves, you Greek fool.'
    Attilius reached for the plans again. 'Which town has he come from?' He expected the slave to shout back Baiae or Cumae. Puteoli at the very worst. Neapolis would be a disaster.
    But the reply was like a punch in the stomach: 'Nola!'

    The messenger was so rimed with dust he looked more ghost than man. And even as he told his story – of how the water had failed in Nola's reservoir at dawn and of how the failure had been preceded by a sharp smell of sulphur that had started in the middle of the night – a fresh sound of hooves was heard in the road outside and a second horse trotted into the yard.
    The rider dismounted smartly and offered a rolled papyrus. A message from the city fathers at Neapolis. The Augusta had gone down there at noon.
    Attilius read it carefully, managing to keep his face expressionless. There was quite a crowd in the yard by now. Two horses, a pair of riders, surrounded by the gang of aqueduct workers who had abandoned their evening meal to listen to what was happening. The commotion was beginning to attract the attention of passers-by in the street, as well as some of the local shopkeepers. 'Hey, waterman!' shouted the owner of the snack bar opposite. 'What's going on?'
    It would not take much, thought Attilius – merely the slightest breath of wind – for panic to take hold like a hillside fire. He could feel a fresh spark of it within himself. He called to a couple of slaves to close the gates to the yard and told Polites to see to it that the two messengers were given food and drink. 'Musa, Becco – get hold of a cart and start loading it. Quicklime, puteolanum, tools – everything we might need to repair the matrix. As much as a couple of oxen can pull.'
    The two men looked at one another. 'But we don't know what the damage is,' objected Musa. 'One cartload may not be enough.'
    'Then we'll pick up extra material as we pass through Nola.'
    He strode towards the aqueduct's office, the messenger from Nola at his heels.
    'But what am I to tell the aediles?' The rider was scarcely more than a boy. The hollows of his eyes were the only part of his face not caked with dirt, the soft pink discs emphasising his fearful look. 'The priests want to sacrifice to Neptune. They say the sulphur is a terrible omen.'
    'Tell them we are aware of the problem.' Attilius gestured vaguely with the plans. 'Tell them we are organising repairs.'
    He ducked through the low entrance into the small cubicle. Exomnius had left the Augusta's records in chaos. Bills of sale, receipts and