The Leper's Bell (29 page)

‘It is so near?’ asked Eadulf in surprise and some relief.

‘We may see it across the bay,’ replied the steward, ‘but it is a lengthy ride round the coast.’

Sure enough, from the top of the abbey’s tower, Eadulf could see across the grey waters of the bay what seemed to be a black tower in the distance, just visible against the darkness of the mountains behind. From that angle, it looked as if the tower was set on the mainland on the northern side of the bay.

‘It doesn’t look so impregnable to me,’ he remarked.

The steward shook his head quickly.

‘Do not be misled, Brother Saxon. The stretch of sand that links it to the mainland appears to be firm enough when the tide is out but there are
beo-gainneamh
to beware of. An entire army can disappear.’

Eadulf did not understand and said so. ‘Do you mean reeds?’

The steward shook his head. ‘
Gainneamh
’ he repeated.

‘Ah, sand,’ Eadulf corrected himself, now recognising the word. ‘But
beo-gainneamh!
That means living sand?’

The steward nodded. It took Eadulf a few moments to realise this must mean quicksand. He shivered slightly.

‘Even with the tide out, the tower is dangerous to approach. It is a natural fortification. And when the tide comes in, it comes in so rapidly that treacherous waters can cover the entire sandy link from mainland to island in moments. Indeed, the chief of the Corco Duibhne tried to assault the tower once and lost a dozen men in one attempt.’

‘Well, I don’t intend to attack him, only seek him out to demand information leading to the return of my child.’

The steward raised his eyebrows.

‘You do not demand from Uaman. You avoid him. You say that you want to ask him to return your child? In that case, get Colgú to raise a massive army - that is the only way that Uaman will return anything that is not his.’

Eadulf shook his head. ‘I appreciate your warning, Brother Steward. But perhaps he does not realise whose child it is? Why would such a man want to keep a baby? And sometimes a single man speaking with the tongue of logic can encompass what an army will fail to do.’

‘I will pray for you, Brother Saxon, as I have prayed for the other brothers of the Faith who have preceded you.’

Eadulf raised his brows in surprise.

‘Other brothers of the Faith? What do you mean?’

‘A week or so ago there was a brother from Ulaidh travelling with a strange brother from some distant land. I think he was a Greek. They came here asking, as you have done, for Uaman. I told them where they could find him and they went on their way. They promised to return within a few days. They have not.’

Eadulf rubbed his temple. ‘I have heard of these brothers upon the road. What would they want with Uaman?’

The steward shrugged expressively. ‘The stranger did not speak our language well but his companion told me that he was a healer from the east who had been visiting our shores and specialised in the scourge under which Uaman suffered. A message had been sent to him to bring this healer to Uaman and a reward was promised should he alleviate his suffering.’

‘Perhaps they left by some other route?’

The steward smiled sadly. ‘They promised to come back this way for the stranger promised to instruct us in the ways of the Faith as practised in his country. I fear for them, truly I do.’

Eadulf thought for a moment and then smiled without humour.

‘Well, it seems that I shall have to be careful with this lord of the passes, this Uaman. I thank you for the information, Brother Steward. As a good friend of mine would say -
praemonitus, praemunitus?
’

‘Forewarned is forearmed,’ translated the steward, still serious. ‘Be so, Brother Saxon. Be forearmed and above all be careful.’

Fidelma stared at the three armed Uí Fidgente, disguising her growing horror as she realised that they must have killed the hostel keeper and his son. She tried to maintain a commanding demeanour.

‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded. ‘You are supposed to be heading for your own country so that your friends will release my son.’

Cuirgí gave a short bark of laughter. ‘You don’t think we fell for that trick, do you?’

Fidelma was genuinely puzzled. ‘Trick?’

‘Ransom notes and the like. A ruse, that’s all, to get us out of your brother’s protection so that some of his supporters can waylay us on the road and slaughter us. That would solve a problem for your brother, wouldn’t it?’

Fidelma’s eyes widened at the fanciful suspicion.

‘But… but it is no trick. My son really has—’

Cuirgí cut her short.

‘Then what are you doing following us? We purposely took the path away from the Suir and the road to the land of the Uí Fidgente so that we would avoid ambush. We thought that we would conceal ourselves here until it was safe … but you must have been following us closely. Who else is with you?’

Fidelma was shaking her head in bewilderment.

‘I came here by accident. I did not follow you,’ she protested. ‘And the ransom demand is genuine. If you do not go back to the land of the Uí Fidgente, if you do not cross the border, your confederates will kill my son.’

‘Do you think we are fools? If this exchange - us for your son - were genuine then we would have been informed. It would have been easy enough to smuggle messages into our prison. This is some trick to lure us away and kill us.’

‘But, I tell you…’ She paused. Was there some other force at work here? Conrí had said he had been sent on behalf of the Uí Fidgente to disclaim all knowledge of the kidnap. She fell silent as she tried to reason out the possibilities.

Cuirgí glanced at his companions with triumph on his features.

‘I thought so. Her silence admits the plot. Crond, scout the paths here and see if there is any sign of anyone accompanying this Eóghanacht bitch. Cuán, help me tie her up. At least her presence will provide us with a safe passage to our own country.’

‘But—’ Fidelma began to protest.

Cuirgí suddenly reached forward and slapped her across the cheek. It was a hard, stinging slap and made her dizzy.

‘Silence! No more words from you!’

Fidelma stumbled back and, before she could recover her senses, Cuán had expertly tied her hands with cord. He began to drag her out of the stable and towards the main building.

‘Put her above stairs for the time being and make sure she is secured,’ came Cuirgí’s instruction.

‘What if she has companions?’ demanded Cuán as he half pushed, half dragged her across the main room of the lodge.

‘Then they will be given a choice. To withdraw and let us proceed in safety, or else be given her body.’ Cuirgí laughed without humour. ‘I think even Colgú will make the right choice.’

‘Listen to me. You are making a mistake…’ Fidelma cried once more but a rough hand was clamped across her mouth. Cuirgí looked on with an approving sneer.

‘Make sure she is secured and cannot cry out to alarm her friends.’

She was dragged up the staircase to the top floor of the lodge and pushed into one of the sleeping chambers. She could not help feeling it a strange irony that she was put into the very room where she had slept
as a child and felt so safe and protected. Now she was a trussed and helpless prisoner.

Cuán was no amateur when it came to ensuring that his victim was bound so as to be completely helpless. He secured her hands behind her and trussed her at the ankles. Then he tore a strip of linen from the cover of the
adart
, or pillow, and tied it firmly across her open mouth.

‘Comfortable?’ he grinned viciously, and then he pushed her helplessly back on the
lepad
, the wooden bed. She gazed back coldly.

What if Cuirgí and Conrí were both wrong? What if there was some new Uí Fidgente plot to have the chieftains released and neither knew about it? What if her son was going to be sacrificed to their mistrust and lack of knowledge?

She waited until Cuán went downstairs and then she gently tried the bonds. They were very tight. She exhaled in frustration. She felt no movement against them in her feet or wrists. Resigned, she lay back on the bed and closed her eyes, her mind racing as she tried to think of some plan of escape.

Some time later, she was not sure how long, there was a shout from downstairs.

‘Crond is coming back!’

She heard the sound of a horse arriving outside the building, and identified Cuirgí’s voice.

‘What news?’

‘No sign of anyone,’ replied another voice that she supposed was Crond’s. ‘I went up to the hill yonder, where you can see the approaches through the woods into this vale. There is no movement. I would take my oath that the woman was on her own.’

‘It is not your oath that will be taken if she is not,’ sneered Cuirgí.

‘So I would not be making a mistake when my own life is what I should lose,’ snapped back the other, apparently not intimidated. ‘We are secure here for the moment. Perhaps the woman spoke the truth, that she was alone and stumbled on us by accident.’

‘More fool her if she did,’ a third voice joined in. That was Cuán, the man who had tied her up.

‘Very well.’ Cuirgí’s assertive tone showed that he was in command. ‘If we accept that the Eóghanacht bitch came here by accident, then the fates have been on our side. All we have to do is wait awhile and then continue our journey back to our homeland.’

‘But what if some of our supporters have truly kidnapped this woman’s child?’ It was Crond who voiced Fidelma’s thought.

Cuirgí laughed. ‘You believe that tale? We would have known about it.’

‘I grant you that you have put up a good argument against it, but… but what if it were true?’

‘What if it is so? There will be one less Eóghanacht in Muman and we are still free.’

‘If it is true, Cuirgí, and the child dies, by tomorrow all the warriors of Cashel will be searching for us to redden their weapons with our blood,’ Crond argued.

‘And does that frighten you?’ sneered Cuirgí. ‘We have fought the Eóghanacht before.’

‘I am an Uí Fidgente of the same proud lineage as you, Cuirgí!’ Crond replied angrily. ‘I am prepared to shed my blood in our cause. But I am not prepared to shed it wastefully. If I am to be hunted down and killed, I do not wish to be remembered as someone who died in reparation for a child’s death. Do you?’

‘That is a point, Cuirgí.’ This time it was Cuán. ‘While we wait here, the entire countryside might be roused against us and our journey home become impossible.’

There came a chuckle from the older chieftain.

‘You forget that we have the sister of Colgú to secure us a safe passage. Anyway, I have told you before … if there was such a plot to free us we have friends who could have bribed someone to get a message to us. That old jailer used to take bribes to pass messages in and out and even bring us luxuries. We would have heard something. This is an Eóghanacht plot. I am sure of it.’

Listening to them, Fidelma groaned inwardly. She had to admit that Cuirgí was making a good point. If someone had gone to all those pains to construct the kidnapping then it would have been an obvious move to inform those involved about what was happening. But if this was not a means of releasing the Uí Fidgente, what was it? Who was behind it?

The three men had removed themselves to the room below and their voices had become muffled. Fidelma was aware that darkness was spreading across the window. The hour was growing late.

She had intended to send poor Tulcha to Cashel to inform them where she was staying. When she did not show up, and no message from her
was received, she wondered what her brother would do. Might he guess that she could be at the hunting lodge? She tried to move into a more comfortable position. The gag was making her feel sick.

She must have dozed in her exhausted state for the next thing she knew the room was lit with an oil lamp. Someone was removing her gag. She coughed and gasped for breath. Powerful hands reached under her arms and pulled her into a sitting position with her back against the wooden headboard of the
tolg
, or bedstead.

Crond was sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at her with a humourless smile on his lips.

‘What time is it?’ she finally gasped when she had cleared her throat.

Crond chuckled in amusement.

‘Not very late, lady. It is well before midnight. I thought that you might like some food. We wouldn’t want you getting weak. There is a long journey to the land of the Uí Fidgente before us.’

Fidelma blinked rapidly. ‘When are you starting out?’

Crond shrugged. ‘Whenever Cuirgí thinks it safe enough. Perhaps tomorrow; perhaps the next day.’

Fidelma glanced at the bowl of stew and drinking mug that he had placed on the side table.

‘If I am to remain bound, you will have to help me eat and drink. If not, then release my hands so that I can feed myself,’ she said.

Again Crond chuckled.

‘Oh, I shall feed you, lady. I have little else to do and we would not want you to get any foolish ideas, would we?’

‘The cords are cutting into my flesh,’ she protested.

‘I don’t doubt it,’ Crond assured her. ‘Cuán has a remarkable talent for binding people so that they stay bound.’ He reached forward and took the mug, raising it against her lips. ‘I presume you would like to drink first?’

The drink was mead. It was slightly sour but her throat was dry and irritated after the hours that the linen gag had been tied across her mouth. She sipped eagerly.

When he put down the mug she licked her lips and regarded the Uí Fidgente with speculation, wondering if she could persuade him to help her.

‘I think you are more intelligent than your companions, Crond,’ she began.

The man raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

‘I think so too, lady. But what makes you say so?’

‘I heard you arguing with Cuirgí. Truly, my brother made no plot to lure you out of Cashel to kill you. My nurse Sárait was murdered and my child stolen. We did received a ransom note demanding your release and saying that once you crossed the border then my son would be returned.’