The Leper's Bell (35 page)

‘And your baby, lady, where is he?’ asked Conrí.

Fidelma shook her head. ‘That I do not know, my friend. They denied any knowledge of abduction or involvement in abduction. If this was not a plot by some Uí Fidgente to have these chieftains released, then I am at a loss to understand it.’

‘It is as I said, lady,’ Conrí replied. ‘Unless there is some rebellious group that we do not know of, the Uí Fidgente disclaim all knowledge of this matter. We have made our peace with your brother and we will remain at peace with him.’

Fidelma stamped her feet a little to restore her circulation. She looked up at Conrí.

‘Are you prepared to come with me back to Cashel and make that statement? To return these chieftains to my brother’s authority as a sign of good faith?’

‘Will we be under your protection? The Eóghanacht will not take kindly to Uí Fidgente in Cashel.’

Fidelma nodded. ‘You will be under my protection,’ she said gravely.

‘Then we shall come and gladly.’

‘Then let us break our fast and prepare for the journey back,’ she replied. Her brother would be thinking the worst about her disappearance. Fidelma’s relief at her rescue and the recapture of the Uí Fidgente chiefs was tempered by her frustration that the only apparent reason for Alchú’s disappearance and the killing of Sárait had ended in a blank wall through which she was unable to see further. The relief at her rescue was nullified by her feeling of fear for her baby and for Eadulf. She closed her eyes for a moment to hide her inward pain. Eadulf! Where was Eadulf now?

Chapter Sixteen

E
adulf awoke from a fitful doze. It was still night. He became aware that Gormán was putting wood on the campfire that they had made earlier. He raised his hand to massage his forehead and looked round. He dimly recalled how in the darkness they had organised a makeshift camp in the forest clearing near the water’s edge. His own horse as well as Gormán’s mount had been tethered nearby. He turned. On the other side of the campfire, lying on his back with his eyes still closed in slumber, was Basil Nestorios.

Eadulf realised that he had sunk into such despair that he had not been able to concentrate on anything. Much of the organising of the fire had been done without his assistance.

Gormán, spotting that he was awake, turned and handed him a drinking horn.

‘
Corma
,’ the warrior explained. ‘How do you feel, Brother Eadulf?’

Eadulf grimaced before he took a swallow of the fiery liquid and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Then he shook his head.

‘I have lost the only chance I had of finding my baby,’ he said simply. ‘How should I feel?’

The tall warrior was reassuring.

‘You are a clever man, Brother Eadulf. You have traced the baby thus far, and you will trace it further.’

‘How did you get here, anyway?’ Eadulf demanded. ‘Were you following me?’

Gormán shrugged. ‘I was a full day behind you. As soon as I learnt from the lady Fidelma that you had ridden west to the abbey of Coimán, I knew that your path would take you through the land of the Uí Fidgente and, that being so, you might need a strong sword-arm. So I saddled my
horse and tracked you. When I came through the mountain pass near the Hill of the Stone Forts, I encountered a herbalist named Corb and his wife. They confessed that they had taken the child—’

‘You did not harm them?’ Eadulf asked quickly. ‘I believe that the part they played was an unwitting one.’

‘They were returning to Cashel at your behest. I did not harm them. I followed you first to the abbey of Coimán and thence to the Tower of Uaman. I arrived there at dusk and made my way across the sand link to the gates. I was about to demand entrance when the gates opened and, lo and behold, you and your taciturn friend there came running out. The rest you know.’

Eadulf leant forward and laid a hand on the warrior’s arm.

Thank the fates for that,’ he said reverently. ‘Had you not been there, we would not have made it this far. Uaman had marked me down for an early grave while our Persian friend was only allowed to live so long as he treated Uaman for his ailment. However,’ he examined Gormán with a side glance, ‘I find it hard to believe that you thought me so important that you chased me across Muman simply in order to protect me.’

Gormán hesitated, then spread his hands expressively.

‘You are a perceptive man, Brother Eadulf. It is no wonder that you and the lady Fidelma have garnered the reputation that you have. When I heard that you had gone to the abbey of Coimán, I knew that it must be for a specific purpose. You had gained some knowledge that sent you hurrying there. I wanted to be on hand in case you needed help in achieving that purpose.’

‘Are you so devoted to the service of Cashel?’ Eadulf could not help sounding a little cynical.

The big warrior smiled softly.

‘I am devoted to the service of Cashel, that is true, Brother. But you may recall the personal reason that brought me hither.’

‘Ah.’ Eadulf’s eyes lightened as he remembered Gormán’s confession of his feelings for Sárait.

‘I will make no attempt to disguise it.’ Gormán saw that Eadulf had remembered. ‘I want to be present when the person who murdered Sárait is caught. I have a score to settle with them. Did Uaman kill her?’

‘No. But he bought my baby from the herbalist and his wife who had picked up the child thinking it was abandoned. Therein is a mystery. Someone, soon after the child went missing, had worked out that the
herbalist and his wife had taken it without knowing its identity. That person sent a message to Uaman to tell him. That much I learnt in the Tower of Uaman.’

Surprisingly, Gormán did not look astonished at this information.

‘I do not think one will have to look far for the culprit. There have been rumours about Fiachrae of Cnoc Loinge for some time. He believes that he should be of the rightful line of the Eóghanacht kings. He also dwells too close to the border of the Uí Fidgente country.’

‘Fiachrae?’

Eadulf suddenly sat bolt upright and let out a curse in Saxon. While Gormán did not understand the meaning of the words he recognised the tone and looked at Eadulf in mild surprise.

The clues were facing me the whole time,’ groaned Eadulf. ‘Capa told us during the council meeting that riders had ridden as far west as Cnoc Loinge with the news the morning after Sárait was found. Then, when we were at Cnoc Loinge, Fiachrae pretended he knew nothing of our missing baby until I told him. Yet his manner did not suggest undue surprise. Also, he told me that no itinerants had passed through the place. I had not even raised the matter. He knew. He knew, and is the man who betrayed Alchú to Uaman! And didn’t the steward of the abbey of Coimán tell me that a messenger from Cnoc Loinge had brought the news about the missing baby? It must have been Fiachrae … but no. That can’t be. How would he know that Corb and Corbnait had picked up Alchú? Not even they knew the identity of the child.’

‘You should have spoken more closely with the herbalist Corb,’ said Gormán. ‘He told me that when they passed through Cnoc Loinge on their way here, they told one of the women of Fiachrae’s house about their discovery of the child in the hope of having the baby adopted there.’

‘Fiachrae will be tried and punished for his betrayal,’ Eadulf vowed. ‘But it doesn’t help us to find my child now, or the person who killed Sárait.’

‘I pray God I will be there when we do find the murderer,’ Gormán said with vehemence. ‘I will do what I have to do and I will have no regrets.’

‘Well, I regret that Uaman perished with his foul secret still within him.’

‘Uaman must have said something that might lead you further?’ pressed
Gormán. He suddenly started forward. ‘Perhaps the baby is still in the Tower of Uaman?’

Eadulf shook his head. ‘He has given the baby to some shepherd and his wife to raise without knowledge of his origins. The child will be raised herding sheep on some mountainside … but where? I could spend a lifetime searching the mountains of this land. Those raising him know only that Uaman provided them with a child. There will be no way of identifying him. He will bear another name.’

‘How did you learn this?’

‘From what Uaman told me.’

‘I once heard the lady Fidelma say that if you study carefully the exact words that someone says, then clues may be found there.’

Eadulf stared at the warrior in surprise. The man was right. That was precisely what Fidelma would say.

‘Think, Brother,’ urged Gormán quietly. ‘Think of the words.’

Eadulf closed his eyes and tried to recall what Uaman had said.

‘He did not mention any names of places. There were no clues. Just that Alchú would be raised by a shepherd and his wife, herding sheep in the mountains. And…’ He paused.

‘Have you thought of something?’

‘He said something about the mountains being haunted.’

Gormán gave a cynical grimace. ‘What mountain in the five kingdoms is not haunted by some wraith or other? Mountains are old and have seen countless great kings rise to lead their people and then be blown away like chaff from the wheat. They have memories, the mountains. They are haunted, right enough.’

Eadulf was shaking his head. ‘He said the daughter of someone haunted them.’

Gormán leant forward eagerly. ‘That is more promising, Brother. Whose daughter?’

The name came in a flash.

‘Dáire Donn.’ Eadulf was triumphant. He looked expectantly at Gormán but the warrior only shook his head.

‘We will have to make inquiries,’ he said. ‘Meanwhile, we must sleep. In the morning, if I have understood your friend Basil Nestorios, he has a horse and some precious objects that he left in the tower yonder. We will wait until the low tide and then go to fetch these.’

Eadulf agreed. Then another thought occurred to him.

‘We imprisoned one of Uaman’s warriors in the stranger’s cell. He might be a means of leading us to Alchú.’

Gormán was cheerful. ‘In the morning, while we are awaiting the change of the tides, I can ride up to the little settlement that I saw up in the mountains behind us. They should be pleased to hear that Uaman is no longer chieftain over them. Moreover, they might be able to help identify this Dáire Donn.’

‘Agreed.’

Eadulf realised, however, that the rest of the night was going to be cold in spite of the wood that Gormán was throwing on to the fire.

The night passed in fitful sleep. It was too cold to rest for any long periods and, as each wakened, they helped to keep the fire well fuelled. As well as the cold there were the cries of nocturnal animals, the howl of wolves and the cry of a wild cat to disturb their slumber. Eadulf was almost thankful when the sky began to lighten and grim, grey streaks started to appear from the east.

‘Tonight we find an inn,’ he announced, as Gormán set about making breakfast. ‘I will perish if I have to pass another night in the open.’

Basil Nestorios was already up and stamping his feet to restore some circulation. He seemed to guess what Eadulf was talking about.

‘I swear that I never knew it could be so cold,’ he said, reverting to Latin as their common language. ‘In my country, the icy hands of night may clutch you but as soon as the sun rises you will be warm again.’

Eadulf gestured to the thick grey clouds above them.

‘Here we do not always have a sunrise, my friend. The clouds always seem to cheat us by hiding it from us.’

Gormán had taken some salted slices of pork from his saddle bag and was turning them above the fire on the end of his sword. Basil Nestorios sniffed suspiciously and frowned.

‘I have noticed that you eat a lot of pig meat in this land. Pig is regarded as an unclean animal in our country.’

‘A strange land, this Jundi-Shapur,’ muttered Eadulf, helping himself to the drinking horn of
corma
and taking a sip of the fiery liquid before passing it to the physician. At least the alcohol gave him warmth.

Basil Nestorios sniffed in irritation.

‘I told you that Jundi-Shapur was simply a city in the land of Persia. It is also called Genta Shapirta, which means “of the beautiful garden”.
It was the king of Persia, Shapur the second of his name, who first allowed the Nestorians to teach medicine in the city.’

‘Nestorians? Your own name is Nestorios,’ Eadulf pointed out. ‘What is signified by this?’

Basil Nestorios raised his brows in surprise. ‘You have not heard of the Nestorians and yet you are a brother of the Faith?’

Eadulf admitted his ignorance.

‘Nestorios was a monk of the east. He taught the Faith in Antioch. He was a learned and wise man and was appointed patriarch of the great city of Constantinople.’

‘When was this?’ queried Eadulf, who never missed an opportunity to expand his knowledge of the Faith, even when his thoughts were only half engaged.

‘About two centuries ago. Nestorios was condemned by what the Church called a heresy. He denied the complete emergence of the divine and human natures in Christ.’

Eadulf smiled tiredly. ‘I thought that the great council at Chalcedon had agreed that Christ was born of a mortal woman but possessed two natures - that divine and human united in one person without losing any of their properties.’