17:06 (Central Asia Time)
Sunday, August 4, 61 B.C.E.
Main road to Prayaga (modern-day Allahabad)
Thirty kilometers east of Mathura
Seeing that the Sun was low on the horizon and would set in about one hour, Hiram ordered his caravan to leave the road and to use as a night bivouac a zone that had been deforested years ago next to a stream and in which dense long grass grew. He then had his camel drivers and horse riders tie their animals to iron pikes hammered into the ground, using long ropes so that they could eat grass at will. Next, he had the beasts unloaded and their precious bundles of merchandises gathered in the center of the bivouac, where they would be easier to watch. Finally, he had tents erected and a campfire prepared. The Sun was about to set when Hiram went to see Nauca, who was showing to Babita how to brush her horse and give her water.
‘’So, Nauca, are you finally going to tell me why you got those blocks of wood and those nails in Mathura?’’
‘’Can I wait until I have checked out something first, Hiram. I would hate to cover myself with ridicule in front of the men if my idea proves to be worthless. I should be ready to tell you by tomorrow morning.’’
‘’As you wish!’’ replied Hiram, not insisting and turning around to go speak with Askhat, their cook.
Igrid and Talya, also curious about what Nauca had in mind, refrained from asking questions but watched her at intervals as Nauca first used a knife to shave slivers from a pair of wood blocks, to smoothen their edges, then nailed one block to the inside of the lower part of the leather strap attached to the left side of her saddle. Igrid scratched her head when Nauca did the same thing to the right-side leather strap loop of her saddle as Nauca flattened the tip of the nails protruding from the block and piercing the leather strap.
‘’Nauca, you really lost me there. What are you doing?’’
‘’Testing an idea that came from Babita.’’
‘’From Babita? But she is the first to say that she knows little about horses and riding.’’
‘’True! However, you often can apply ideas to different purposes. In this case, this should improve tremendously our stability on the saddle…if it works. There! I believe that this will do. Time to try it now.’’
Nauca then put her left foot in the ‘reinforced’ leather loop attached to the left side of her saddle and lifted herself into the saddle with ease and speed. However, she then kept her foot inside the loop and put her right foot inside the right-side loop before pushing her horse to a full gallop, surprising Igrid. The Germanic girl then opened wide eyes as she watched Nauca gallop in zigzag around the tents of the camp, bending sideways at the same time to a degree that would have made anyone fall off the saddle. Iman, the horse trader, as well as Hiram, also watched her go with incredulity, then ran to her when Nauca stopped her horse near Igrid and jumped to the ground.
‘’It works! You must try this, Igrid! Get on my horse and then slip your feet in the loops but keep them there: they will allow you to stay in the saddle even when you bend sideways.’’
Igrid was mounting Tamat when Hiram and Iman arrived at a run and stopped next to Nauca, with Iman being the first to ask her a question.
‘’By Mithra! How did you manage to stay in the saddle while bending sideways like that, Nauca?’’
‘’With the help of these modified feet loops, Iman. We all use one such foot loop to make it easier to pull ourselves up and onto our saddle but, by using those modified feet loops on both sides and keeping our feet in them while riding, then your position in the saddle is made a lot more stable. Igrid will now try these feet loops, then you will be able to try them yourself.’’
Nauca then patted hard the rump of her horse, making it go to a gallop. Igrid, quickly getting the feel of the new loops, then zigzagged around the tents, even making abrupt stops and pivots on the spot which would normally have sent her down to eat dust. Iman watched her performance with growing excitement and could barely restrain himself when Igrid returned to the group and jumped out of the saddle. Hiram looked at Nauca as if she was a witch as Iman yelled in delight while galloping around the camp.
‘’By Ahura Mazda! Those new feet loops are amazing! Where did you get the idea for them?’’
‘’From Babita, believe it or not. She was complaining that it was difficult to put her foot in a normal loop and then suggested that we fix a wooden block to the inside bottom of the loop, to keep it open and rigid. That prompted me to go get wooden blocks and nails in order to test her idea. As you can see, these rigid feet loops actually make a rider a lot more secure in the saddle, allowing him or her to do tight maneuvers that would normally throw riders to the ground.’’
‘’This idea could change a lot of things about riding, Nauca. We could make a fortune selling your idea around.’’
‘’We won’t sell my idea and we will keep it a trade secret just for us, Hiram.’’ replied Nauca, her expression now most serious. ‘’Yes, it greatly helps horse-riding but it would also make cavalry charges a lot more murderous. Imagine the kind of strength with which a cavalryman could now run his lance through another horseman or through a foot soldier. Such charges by a cavalry unit would spread panic through a body of infantrymen, breaking battle lines and making war even more bloody. As a disciple of Ahura Mazda, the God of Good, do you wish that to happen?’’
Hiram was speechless for a moment, realizing that Nauca’s argument was both logical and right. He then slowly shook his head.
‘’No! I do not wish to see such carnage be caused by this. But how will we keep this a secret? Every time that we will enter a caravanserai, the stable hands will notice those reinforced loops and will ask questions about them.’’
‘’Maybe we could fit pieces of cloth over them to hide them and claim that the cloth is meant to keep our legs warm while riding in Winter and to protect them from dust and mud in the Summer.’’
‘’Nauca, that’s brilliant! So, what’s next about this?’’
‘’Could we stop here for an extra day, time to make similar foot rests for the rest of our riders?’’
‘’For that? Hell yes! Uh, how do you want to call those new foot rests, Nauca?’’
‘’Uh, I will have to think about that, Hiram.’’
‘’Maybe you should ask Babita about it? She seems to have a quick mind.’’
‘’Right!’’
Iman stopped Tamat next to them at that moment and jumped to the ground, all excited. His excitement however turned to dismay, then to disappointment when Nauca told him of the decision they had just taken. However, being like Hiram a follower of Zoroastrianism, he understood and accepted Nauca’s reasons to want to keep this idea a secret. Still, he looked utterly dejected while shaking slowly his head.
‘’Such a great idea…to be hidden to all.’’
‘’Maybe circumstances will one day force us to reveal this new idea to someone else. Then, we will at the least be able to select who will first learn about it, my good Iman. If the Romans truly becomes too pushy north of the Pontus Euxinus, I just may pass my secret to my compatriots of the Roxolani Tribe and be part of the first line of cavalry to charge those damn Romans.’’