Behold a Pale Horse
Read Behold a Pale Horse Online
Authors: Peter Tremayne
Tags: #_NB_Fixed, #_rt_yes, #blt, #Clerical Sleuth, #Crime Fiction, #Fiction, #Literature & Fiction, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Medieval Ireland
EHOLD A
P
ALE
H
ORSE
ETER
T
REMAYNE
Copyright © 2011 Peter Tremayne
The right of Peter Tremayne to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
First published as an Ebook by Headline Publishing Group in 2011
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN : 9780755377497
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For the wonderful Sister Fidelma enthusiasts
that I met in the Abbey of Bobbio, who suggested
that she travel there –
Bobbio in noir, perché no?
Et ecce equus pallidus et qui sedebat desuper nomen illi Mors et Inferus sequebatur eum …
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and the name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him …
Revelation 6:8
Vulgate Latin translation of Jerome 4th century
Sister Fidelma
of Cashel, a
dálaigh
or advocate of the law courts of seventh-century Ireland
At Genua in the kingdom of the Longobards
Magister Ado
of Bobium
Brother Faro
Sister Gisa
In the Trebbia Valley
Radoald,
Lord of Trebbia
Wulfoald,
commander of Radoald’s warriors
Suidur the Wise,
physician to Radoald
Aistulf
the Hermit
At the Abbey of Bobium
Abbot Servillius
Venerable Ionas,
a scholar
Brother Wulfila,
steward
Brother Hnikar,
apothecary
Brother Ruadán,
formerly of Inis Celtra
Brother Lonán,
herbalist
Brother Eolann,
scriptor
or librarian
Brother Waldipert,
cook
Brother Bladulf,
gatekeeper
Romuald
of Benevento, Prince of the Longobards
Lady Gunora,
his nurse
Bishop Britmund,
of Placentia, leader of the Arians
Brother Godomar,
his steward
On Mount Pénas
Wamba,
a goatherd
Hawisa,
mother of Wamba
Odo,
her nephew, a goatherd
Ratchis,
a merchant
At Vars
Grasulf,
son of Gisulf, Lord of Vars
Kakko,
his steward
May 2008 found me in Northern Italy promoting the Sister Fidelma Mysteries. One of the most exciting events was being invited to the famous Abbey of Bobbio to talk to a gathering in the ancient cloisters. The Abbey of Bobbio was one of the few places that I had long wanted to visit, but never before found the opportunity.
Bobbio, or Bobium as it was originally called, had been established in
AD
612 by the celebrated Irish saint and missionary Columbanus (
AD
540–615). He was from Leinster but had become Abbot of Bangor, Co. Down, before beginning his travels abroad. The original Irish form of his name, Colm Bán, meant ‘white dove’, but he is often confused with his Donegal namesake Colm Cille (
AD
521–97), meaning ‘dove of the church’, popularly known as Columba. Colm Cille’s most famous foundation was on Iona, a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. Bobbio became equally renowned in Europe for its great library and its scholars.
It was a privilege for me to be talking about Sister Fidelma in such a setting as the ancient cloisters of Bobbio. A member of the audience asked me why I couldn’t bring Fidelma to Bobbio, solving some mystery during a visit to this great Irish establishment in the Val de Trebbia, in the Apennine Mountains.
In
Shroud for the Archbishop
, Fidelma had already visited Rome where she solved the mystery of the death of Wighard, the Archbishop-designate of Canterbury, which took place there in
AD
664. It was a real event around which I had created a story. So, I replied, ‘Why not?’ The major Northern Italian daily newspaper
Libertà
, reporting the event, carried the story under the headline
Bobbio in noir, perché no?
The idea for the story took two years to germinate and came out in this form, but not before I made further trips to the Trebbia Valley.
The Sister Fidelma Mysteries, with the exception of the two short-story collections, follow a strict chronological order, analogous to the date of their publication. For example, the first novel,
Absolution by Murder
(1994) was set in May
AD
664. The subsequent novels cover the years through to
AD
670, the year in which
The Chalice of Blood
(2010) is set.
Behold A Pale Horse
becomes an exception. This story follows immediately on from the action in
Shroud for the Archbishop
, which was set in Rome during the summer of
AD
664. Readers may recall that Fidelma left her new friend, Brother Eadulf of Seaxmund’s Ham, in the Eternal City to return home to Ireland. She took a ship from Ostia, the port at the mouth of the Tiber, with the intention of disembarking at Massilia (Marseilles) and following the pilgrims’ route overland.
Peter Tremayne
The Trebbia Valley
he elderly man was obviously a religieux. He wore the
corona spina
, the tonsure of St Peter, and a long brown woollen homespun cloak over a robe of similar material, with leather sandals on his feet. Marking him as being above the lower orders of religious brethren, he carried a staff of office topped with a small silver hook as if it were a crozier of the type a bishop might use.
He hurried by Sister Fidelma without a glance, the soles of his sandals slapping on the cobbles of the narrow street. Fidelma was sheltering under the thatch cover of a little house in the crowded section of the old seaport where she had found lodgings. She barely glanced up as the man passed her, registering the details only subconsciously. In truth, she was bored and her mind preoccupied with the question of how she could pass the time; pass another day in this dreary harbour town where she had been stranded for several days.
It seemed a lifetime ago since she had left Rome to travel down the Tiber to the seaport of Ostia and thence obtain a passage for Massilia. Everything appeared to go well at first. The ship set sail with a blustery wind from the south-east, and the captain was confident of an easy voyage. Before the day was out, however, everything had gone wrong. The wind suddenly changed direction, a storm came out of nowhere and a sail was ripped, a spar cracked and the ship was driven against some rocks, splintering the planking around the keel. Fidelma could not blame the captain for poor seamanship. In fact, he had saved the lives of his passengers and crew by being able to bring the crippled vessel into the nearby natural harbour of Genua before it sank. The sailors seemed to consider this as a blessing from the old gods. When Fidelma inquired why, she was told that Genua was named from the two-headed god Giano, who was the protector of ships. The superstitious sailors felt the god had reached out to save them.