Badger's Moon (24 page)

‘The what?’ demanded Eadulf.

‘The fairies,’ admitted the hunter. ‘There is a legend that the fairies dance here, and that if you throw a stone onto the floor it will not remain there long, for the fairies clear the floor for their dances.’

Eadulf sniffed in disapproval. ‘It seems this whole hill is riddled with legends.’

Menma did not seem perturbed by his cynicism. ‘Of course it is, Brother Saxon. Each crack and crevice of the land is filled with a thousand years of life and experience. Do not your own people have such a folklore?’

Fidelma had turned impatiently. ‘Can we lay our hands on some torches? I would look further into this place. We should have thought to bring some with us.’

‘I will do my best, lady. I should have brought lamps or a candle. I didn’t think.’

Menma’s best proved good, for it was not long before he returned with two substantial brand torches, which he had cut and made from dry grasses.

The cave revealed itself to be large, with several passages leading off. It was clear that the place had once been a place of work and there were even the remains of a forge and rotting bellows to one side.

‘This was abandoned many generations ago,’ Menma pointed out. ‘I was told that it was once a rich mine.’

Fidelma peered around. A stalagmite with a hollow top stood in one corner. There was a small pool fed by drops from a dripstone on the wall above. A few blocks of stone almost concealed a fissure at the back and she immediately felt drawn to it.

‘Careful, lady,’ called Menma anxiously. ‘There are many loose stones and objects here.’

Fidelma did not acknowledge him. She moved forward and began to squeeze through the fissure.

‘Fidelma!’ cried Eadulf in alarm. ‘For heaven’s sake, be careful!’

‘This leads into another chamber,’ her voice came back in reply, as she and her torch vanished. ‘Come on.’

Eadulf exchanged a glance with Menma, who held the second torch. The hunter motioned him to go first. Gritting his teeth, Eadulf plunged into the darkness, turning sideways and trying to hold his breath as he squeezed through the narrow fissure. But a moment later he was, as Fidelma had said, in another chamber about the size of a wealthy chieftain’s hall, with dripstones on the walls and several stalagmite columns on the floor, while the roof, in parts, was almost obscured by stalactites that were quite spectacular.

Fidelma was already crossing this dramatic chamber when Menma joined them.

‘This way!’ she called and disappeared into another passageway.

They could do nothing but follow.

The passage was not as narrow as the fissure and was tall enough to take a man walking at ease, but it led downwards. Eadulf could feel the incline. He had the impression that this passage was manmade, for it seemed rectangular and even in shape, with the sides of its walls as smooth as the floor.

‘I hope we have enough light to find the fissure again to get back into the original cave,’ he muttered anxiously.

Menma, coming behind him, did not reply but his muttered prayer suggested that he was clearly unhappy with Fidelma’s heedless forward progress.

Suddenly the passageway ended and emerged into a high circular chamber in whose centre was a black pool of what looked like deep water. It was beautiful, with stalactites descending from the roof while stalagmites grew up from the floor at various points for a height of fully eighteen or twenty feet. What made it breathtaking was that the stalagmites and boulders were encrusted with a crystalline deposit which resembled small bunches of grapes.

‘There are several galleries leading off over there,’ Fidelma observed aloud.

Menma reached out a hand to hold her arm. ‘Forgive me, lady, but you must go no further. We are not equipped to do so. These torches will last only a little while longer.’

Fidelma was reluctant but realised that Menma was making good sense.

‘This part does not appear to have been worked for metal,’ she said, looking round one more time.

‘Maybe not,’ agreed Eadulf. ‘There was a lot of working up in the main cave. No one seems to have squeezed through the fissure to come as far as this.’

‘It is time we were heading back towards the light,’ insisted Menma again. ‘These torches…’

Before they realised it, Fidelma had taken several quick steps towards the dark pool, bent forward as if to reach for something at its edge, slipped, and fallen into the black water with a splash. Her torch was extinguished and only the light of Menma’s saved them.

‘Quick!’ cried the hunter. ‘Pull her out. The water down here is icy.’

Eadulf had needed no urging. He dashed forward even as Fidelma was falling.

‘Be careful!’ Menma admonished him needlessly.

Eadulf had to watch his step on the slippery stone but he saw Fidelma splashing vainly, her breath coming in great visible gasps in the ice-cold air. He knelt down and reached out his arms to her. The water must be almost freezing for her face was very pale in the gloom. A flailing hand gripped his. He caught it and began to pull. It took several long seconds, seconds that seemed an eternity to him, before he was able to tug her from the dark wetness.

‘No time to delay,’ cried Menma. ‘Quick, we must return to the main cave where there is more light and we can get some warmth.’

Half dragging, half carrying her, Eadulf followed the hunter as he hurriedly led the way back up the inclined passage into the hall-like chamber and straight across to the fissure.

At that point, his torch spluttered and gave out.

Eadulf, with the half-conscious Fidelma in his arms, found himself in total darkness and halted, unsure whether to continue or not. Menma’s voice came out of the blackness not far away.

‘I am at the fissure. Can you continue to come towards the sound of my voice?’

Eadulf hesitated but there was no other decision to make. ‘I’ll try. Keep talking.’

‘This way, then. I can feel the opening and will be able to squeeze through it into the main cave. Can you reach me?’

Eadulf began to edge forward step by step, slowly, slowly…Menma kept talking and after what seemed a great age he bumped into an obstruction. Menma’s voice came from his right.

‘I think you are at the wall. Move towards me.’

A moment later Eadulf felt the hunter’s outstretched hand. With Fidelma, now unconscious, hoisted over one shoulder, he found the opening to the fissure.

‘Thank God!’ came Menma’s voice. ‘I’ll squeeze in first; you push her in and come behind. Between the two of us we should be able to drag her through to the main cave.’

It was easier said than done. It seemed the longest period of Eadulf’s existence before a faint grey light began to replace the blackness and suddenly they were in the main cave with its hint of daylight coming from the distant entrance. Fidelma was still unconscious and Menma joined Eadulf in carrying her. Holding her on either side, they dragged her towards the entrance and out into the pale autumnal day.

‘She needs to be stripped off and dried and have some warmth put into her,’ Menma observed. ‘The water of that underground pool is cold enough to cause frostbite. The sun is not warm enough. We’ll have to get her to my
bothán
as soon as possible.’

‘Let’s get her to her horse,’ suggested Eadulf. ‘I’ll ride with her and you can take mine.’

Menma was not one to waste words. He helped Eadulf balance Fidelma’s inert form on his shoulder and they moved down the hill towards the clearing where they had tethered their mounts. By the time they reached it, the pain in Eadulf’s muscles was almost unbearable. Menma helped him raise her body onto her horse once Eadulf himself had mounted. Eadulf immediately sent the beast into a canter, praying that his poor horsemanship would suffice to take him to the
bothán
. Menma was following close behind on Eadulf’s mount. Luchóc, the hound, was barking, puzzled at the mystery.

Fidelma was still unconscious when they dismounted, and Suanach came out to greet them with a worried expression. Menma explained what had happened in terse tones and the woman immediately took charge of matters. Under her instructions, Fidelma was carried into the second room of the
bothán
that served as the sleeping quarters and laid on the bed. Suanach ushered the two men from the room while she began stripping her and wrapping her body in woollen blankets, rubbing warmth into her cold flesh. She called for Menma to bring a hot drink of
corma
, a strong ale, and then begin to heat water for bathing the frozen body. To Eadulf, it seemed an age before Suanach called him into the bedroom.

To his relief Fidelma was sitting on the bed, wrapped in blankets but conscious, and there was colour in her cheeks. She smiled almost apologetically.

‘It appears that I owe you and Menma thanks for saving my life.’

Eadulf sat by her side and reached out a hand.

‘What possessed you to reach out into that dangerous pool?’ he demanded, trying to hide his concern in gruffness.

‘I did not mean to overbalance into it,’ she replied with dry humour. ‘The rock was slippery. Anyway,’ she held out a hand, ‘this is what I saw. When I fell into the pool, I must have clenched it tight and my hand remained grasping it, for when Suanach revived me here she found it still clasped in my hand.’

Eadulf reached out a hand to take it. ‘It’s a piece of silver chain? Why risk your life for that?’

Fidelma glanced at him and shook her head.

‘Examine it carefully,’ she instructed.

He did so. It was a broken piece of finely wrought silver chain. He shrugged.

‘What am I suppose to see?’ he demanded.

Fidelma let out a breath of exasperation. She took it back.

‘Have you ever seen such workmanship in these lands?’

Eadulf grimaced.

‘I am not an expert on jewellery,’ he replied defensively.

‘Then by time everything will be revealed,’ she said. ‘I need to go back to that cave and explore further.’

Eadulf stared at her in surprise. ‘I would have thought that you might have had enough of caves. You nearly died back there.’

‘As I did not, it is a superfluous comment.’

‘Well, at least you need to take things easy for the rest of today,’ Eadulf said sternly. ‘Do you know how long you have been unconscious?’

Fidelma brought up her jaw pugnaciously. ‘People’s lives are at risk here, Eadulf. Surely I do not have to remind you of that?’

‘No, you do not. Nor do I have to be reminded that your life is at risk. It is my duty to prevent you putting yourself in harm’s way.’

Eadulf’s stubborn resistance matched Fidelma’s when he believed himself to be right. She glowered at him for a moment and then suddenly relaxed, realising that what he said was true. She was in no condition to return to the cave that day. In spite of the compulsion to pursue the lead that she knew existed in the cave, it would have to wait.

There was a gentle tap on the door and Suanach entered with a bowl of steaming broth.

‘You should have some of this soup and then rest, lady,’ she said, with a reproving glance at Eadulf.

Eadulf rose immediately. ‘I agree. You stay here and rest.’ He glanced at Suanach. ‘That is if it is all right with you?’

The hunter’s wife agreed at once. ‘Of course, the lady must stay here until she is recovered. At least she must stay for this night. She has been through a bad experience.’

Eadulf smiled in satisfaction. ‘That settles it. I will ride back to the fortress and inform Becc of your intentions. Then I shall return here tomorrow morning.’

Fidelma looked at him suspiciously. ‘Eadulf…you will go back to the fortress and…well, you will not go off on your own and do anything foolish? I think we may be facing some evil force that is even more dangerous than we think. I don’t want you moving without me.’

Eadulf was reassuring. ‘You have that broth and rest now. I’ll return in the morning.’

He found Menma outside the hut rubbing down the horses.

‘How is she?’ the hunter enquired anxiously.

‘Recovering and in good spirits,’ Eadulf informed him. ‘I shall be returning to Rath Raithlen to say that she is staying here this night, with your wife’s approval…’

‘Of course, the lady Fidelma will be our guest.’

Eadulf glanced at the sun, observing that it was still not far after midday. There was a whole afternoon that would go to waste.

‘She wants to go back to the caves tomorrow,’ he added quietly.

Menma looked astonished.

‘The lady is tenacious,’ he replied. ‘What does she hope to find there?’

Eadulf did not reply but a thought was stirring in his mind. ‘There are some hours before daylight ends. I wonder…?’

Menma was looking at him expectantly and read his thoughts. ‘Are you intending to go back yourself, Brother Eadulf?’

‘If we had proper lamps to see with…’

‘I have such lamps. When do you intend to go?’

‘There is no time like the present,’ Eadulf replied with confidence.

‘Then saddle the horses again. We can ride back to where you left them before. It will save time. I will go to fetch lamps and some rope, for we might need it if you intend to explore the lower caves.’

A short time later they were approaching the familiar rocky outline of the Derc Crosda. Menma had brought oil lamps and two long pieces of stout hemp rope that they carried between them. He had left his small hound, Luchóc, behind at the
bothán
, feeling that the animal would be a hindrance in view of the expected cave exploration.

‘What do you expect to find here, Brother Eadulf?’ asked Menma as they reached the dark entrance leading into the rocky cavern. Eadulf had to confess that he did not know and that he was merely pre-empting Fidelma’s exploration.

Menma lit the lamps and they moved through the main cave. This time Eadulf lost no time in moving to the fissure and into the next cave, finding the passageway and descending to the cavern with the circular pool. Things were much clearer now they had proper lights to see by. The stalactites and stalagmites were rather beautiful now they could view them properly. However, Eadulf had his mind on other things.