Chasing Blue- The Final Saga (Book 4)

Chapter 15: The Hunger Streets

The sun was slowly setting to the west. As long as there was still a glimmer of light, life still breathed through the narrow cobblestone streets. The marble was soon replaced with stone and wood tenements that resembled the insulae back in Apathia. The shopkeepers were still stationed along the road luring stranglers with a bargain with their crooked grins. You could even hear mothers scolding their children to come inside as the youngsters were running around chasing each other without a care in the world.

One young boy skirted past us before a woman swooped in and grabbed him. As she led the boy to the front steps of the tenement dwelling she looked back at me and Clitus with cautious eyes. I blinked away the image of her scowl and the little boy who shuffled along under her prodding. I had other things to worry about.

Smells of roasted meat mingled with spices wafted to the evening air causing my nose to tingle; my mouth to water. Errgh. Was that me? I looked to my side as Clitus clutched his loose tunic over his stomach. His cheeks flushed bright red before looking away.

"We will get something to share soon," I assured with a smile. Clitus merely nodded as he kept to my side. There was one food vendor still open across the street and the smells of what appeared to be roasted lamb were growing stronger with each step. I fiddled with the bronze and silver coins that still lay clutched in my fist.

Our noses led us to one of many ground level shops. A man leaned over the counter, resting his paunch over the stone surface. "Welcome young men. I was just about to close shop for the day."

"Greetings. We just wanted to buy something to eat for the both of us. It will be our dinner."

"Ah. Would you need a whole lamb?" he said, pointing to a small roasted lamb hanging upside down from the suspension of ropes and pulleys behind him. I could eat a whole lamb right about now.

"How much is it?"

"Well each libra of meat will cost you about 10 denarii. It depends on what piece you choose. I can weigh the whole meat for you on the scale," the butcher replied. I gulped. A huge chunk of our money was going towards one meal! I perused the empty holes in the counter where pots of stew or other foodstuffs should have been. The only choice left was the beheaded lamb.

"What about just a piece then?" I sighed.

He gestured to the suspended meat. "What piece would you like?"

"The breast." The man nodded and took out his butcher knife to cut the meat into five pieces. He plopped the breast into the scale.

"I am willing to give you the breast for ten denarii. That is my favorite part by the way," the man said giving me a wink. I held back a snicker as he wrapped the meat in cloth.

I thanked the man for his service before he disappeared inside the interior of the store.

"You still have your knife right? I forgot to ask the man to cut it for us."

Clitus shrugged. "Just use your hands." He grabbed one end, and I grabbed onto the other. The crackle of bones popping could be heard as we snapped the ribcage in half with our bare hands. The meat was tepid but that did not stop us from tearing into the meat like a pack of hungry dogs. The manners I was taught to have as a prince quickly flew out the window. I was busy gnawing the tender meat off the bones. Within a few minutes our meal was gone into our bellies. Still dissatisfied, we threw the bones on the side of the road for the alley dogs to gnaw on. As the meal began to settle in my stomach, nightfall was encroaching and we still had not found a place to sleep.

My eyes darted from storefront to more storefronts. "You see any inns?"

Clitus sniffed. "No. Some of these look like taverns," he replied. Boisterous laughing spilled out from the open windows. With Clitus' coins he salvaged earlier and the coins I received from Marcus we had 12 coins left.