I
t was a little after midday when Eadulf awoke and found the others also stirring from their exhausted slumber. Gáeth and Gáimredan were already preparing food that smelled appetising over the fire while Fidelma was also up and washed. Eadulf excused himself and went to the cold stream outside and splashed his face in a perfunctory manner before rejoining them.
The winter’s day was bright and sunny, yet the cloudless sky meant that it would be cold again. Snow lay on the mountains and there were still traces of a frost in the shadowy parts of the buildings around Gáeth’s forge. In the paddock at the back of the forge it seemed that the horses had been fed already.
To Eadulf the previous night seemed like some kind of nightmare. He mentally repeated his oath never to take to the sea again. Apart from a few greetings no one among the company spoke until after the meal was eaten and the fire was stoked and burning brightly again. Then they sat round the central hearth in a circle and finally Fidelma invited Esumaro and Sister Easdan to tell their story.
It was Esumaro who told his tale first. Of the storm that had driven his ship into the long inlet that would have led him to the safe anchorage outside the abbey of Colmán. But he described how he had been lured on to the rocky shores of the islet by a false signal and his ship dashed to pieces. He went on to graphically recount how the survivors of the
Sumerli
had been killed on the shore and how he had hidden himself before making it across a sandy strait to the mainland in the darkness and then had fallen into an exhausted sleep. He ended with being woken by a group of religieuse.
It was then that Sister Easdan took up the story of how they were on
their way to the pilgrimage shrine on Bréanainn’s mount when they came upon Esumaro. A short while later, they were taken prisoner by a band of warriors who killed the Abbess Faife.
‘Tell us who led these warriors,’ instructed Fidelma, wanting to get down to detail.
‘There was a man whom the men called Olcán,’ replied Sister Easdan immediately.
‘While my men were being killed on the shore where we were wrecked, I heard the killers speak this name - Olcán,’ added Esumaro. ‘The warriors were the wreckers and they became our captors. I owe my life to the good sisters who disguised me, pretending that I was also one of their religious brothers on the same pilgrimage. I called myself Brother Maros lest they found out the name of the captain of the ship they had wrecked.’
Sister Easdan was looking troubled.
‘While Olcán clearly led the warriors, I don’t think he was really in charge.’
‘What makes you say that?’ asked Fidelma encouragingly.
‘There was a small person among them from whom Olcán appeared to take his orders.’
‘Describe this person,’ Fidelma invited, not revealing that she had already had a good description from Ganicca.
‘We never saw his features,’ the girl replied. ‘He was on horseback but clad from head to foot in grey robes, rather like a religious, but he wore no crucifix round his neck.’
‘Can you describe him further?’
‘A slight, bent figure, speaking in a high-pitched, almost whining voice.’
‘But you never caught sight of his face once?’ pressed Eadulf. Esumaro shook his head.
‘But I can tell you his name,’ he said suddenly, making them all turn to look at him. ‘When we stopped at a village among the mountains after we had been captured, one of the villagers - an old man - pointed to him and called, in my hearing, the name Uaman.’
Eadulf sat back shaking his head.
Conrí. let out a long, deep breath.
‘It makes sense if Uaman the Leper still lives,’ he observed. ‘Now we know with whom we are dealing.’
Fidelma did not seem perturbed.
‘Esumaro, did any of the company, the warriors, ever address the man as Uaman?’
It was Sister Easdan who replied.
‘It was just as Esumaro said. The old man in the village seemed to recognise him. But Olcán was the only person who was allowed to address him. Olcán simply called him “master”.’
‘Master?’ echoed Fidelma. It was an odd form of address in the five kingdoms of Eireann for it meant more of a teacher, a spiritual guide and leader, than one of rank.
Sister Easdan nodded.
‘I think that he was an evil man for, at the village where we stopped at in the mountains, he ordered the warriors to fall on it and sack it. They killed many people.’
‘Do you know why?’
‘There seemed no reason that I could see,’ Esumaro replied. ‘It was done out of sheer ill-will.’
‘Where were you taken after that?’
‘We were marched north through the mountains until we came to the sea again,’ Esumaro continued. ‘I knew we had crossed the peninsula and had come to the broad bay with the port that lies not far from Ard Fhearta on the northern side. I had sailed several times into that bay.’
Sister Easdan reached forward and laid a hand on the Gaulish sailor’s arm.
‘But don’t forget that before we came to the bay, our party met that other ugly-looking warrior.’
Fidelma raised her head in interest.
‘What warrior was this?’
‘I don’t know,’ Sister Easdan replied. ‘But it was obvious that this man had been expecting us for he was waiting at a spot where there was a memorial stone, a large stone with a cross inscribed on it, not far from a river which we had forded.’
‘So you believe that the meeting had been arranged between your captors and this man?’
Sister Easdan nodded thoughtfully.
‘He was certainly waiting for us. He greeted Olcán like an old friend. We were halted and told to rest awhile. I saw Olcán draw the man aside to bring him to this man they called the “master”. They engaged in some conversation and then the master took a small bag from his saddlebag and
handed it to the warrior. He seemed to be thanking them and then he turned, mounted his horse and rode away. He took the western road.’
‘You seem to have a sharp eye, Sister Easdan,’ Eadulf commented. ‘Are you sure he went westwards’?’
‘Indeed, he did.’
Fidelma pursed her lips thoughtfully for a moment.
‘Can you describe anything further about this man? You called him ugly.
“Ugly is the word I think of.’ replied Sister Easdan. ’He was a tall, burly-looking man. He had a mass of red curly hair and a beard. He also wore something I have never seen before. It was a … like a picture, painted on his arm. His right arm, I think.’
Fidelma leant forward quickly with a gasp of interest.
‘Do you know what sort of picture?’
‘I can’t be sure. Only that it was something wrapped round a sword. Creatures. I think.’
Fidelma sat back and glanced at Eadulf.
‘That is a description of Slébéne’s
trén-fher
, his personal champion,’ he replied in answer to her unasked question.
‘This small bag that you say the “master” gave to this warrior … what did it look like to you?’
Sister Easdan paused and thought carefully.
‘Just a small bag, although the contents seemed heavy.’
‘Slébéne is involved in this matter,’ Eadulf said. ‘This confirms it. Perhaps he is being paid by this man … the master.’
‘I think we can agree that Slébéne has some involvement,’ Fidelma concurred. ‘His champion, whatever his name is, would not be acting on his own. He would do nothing without his chief’s permission. However, in law we cannot find a person guilty on such evidence. But the law will accept that there are grounds for suspicion.’
‘But if Slébéne is involved in this matter, it would explain a lot,’ Eadulf pointed out.
‘That is true. But first we have to find out what this matter, as you call it, is. What is involved here?’ She turned back to Sister Easdan and Esumaro. ‘What happened next? What happened after this warrior rode off?’
Esumaro glanced at his companion as if seeking permission to continue with the story.
‘It was then that this person called the master also left us.’
‘He rode off in an easterly direction along the shore and we saw no more of him after that,’ added the girl.
‘He rode away alone? None of the warriors went with him?’ asked Eadulf.
‘None.’
‘And what did Olcán do then?’ queried Fidelma.
‘He and his men took us to a sandy shore. A short way out we saw a large warship at anchor,’ replied Esumaro. ‘The women and myself were rowed out to the warship. We were brought to an island, the Island of Seanach, as I later learnt, and taken ashore. There we found a dozen or so hermits who used to live on the island. They, too, were prisoners of these men.’
‘Was nothing said to you during this time about why you had been made captive? No reason was given for your capture?’
‘Our captives spoke not a word to us except to say “do this”, “do that” or to hit us if we moved too slowly. They told us nothing of who they were or what they wanted,’ explained Sister Easdan. ‘We learnt that when we reached the island.’
‘I see. Go on, then.’
‘With the hermits, there was not enough shelter for everyone and our captors set up tents for us behind the chapel. They gave us hardly any warmth or shelter. Nights were spent in freezing conditions and it was almost joy to be given work during the day. However, it could have been worse. The hermits had built a wall around their settlement and this enclosing wall had been made exceptionally strong - it was seven metres thick in places. That, at least, stopped the harsh winds from blowing us away.’
‘There were two small oratories in which the warriors used to sleep themselves. Some of their number remained on the ship,’ Esumaro added. ‘But there was always someone on guard over us to raise the alarm if we disobeyed. Olcán slept in a
clochán,
one of the small round stone huts near where the old hermits had their souterrain for storing food. There was always someone ensuring that we worked and did not slack.’
Eadulf was puzzled.
‘What work was there to do on that small island?’ he asked.
‘It was the reason why these men, these swine, were there,’ Esumaro replied bitterly. ‘We were brought there as slave labour to cut and polish stone.’
‘Cut and polish stone?’ Fidelma’s eyebrows arched.
Sister Easdan was apparently unaware of the surprise the announcement had caused.
‘That was the interesting point,’ she said. ‘How did these men know about us?’
Fidelma looked frankly bewildered.
‘I don’t understand.’
Sister Easdan realised that she had been assuming knowledge.
‘Did you not know that our task at Ard Fhearta was to cut and polish stones that were brought in to the abbey from other parts of the country? Abbess Faife had chosen us to go on the pilgrimage this year because we all worked in the jewellery workshop making necklaces and brooches for the abbey to trade.’
‘Ah.’ Fidelma suddenly realised what was meant by the word stone. ‘You mean that these stones were
lec-lógmar
, precious stones that are cut to shape and engraved for personal ornaments …’
‘ … or used by artists in their ornamental works. Red jasper, rose-coloured quartz, jet, amber, diorite …’
Fidelma’s eyes widened slowly in understanding.
‘So are you saying that all the religieuse that accompanied Abbess Faife had worked on cutting and polishing these stones in the abbey?’
‘Of course,’ Sister Easdan said. ‘Each year Abbess Faife chose certain groups to go on the pilgrimage. This year she had chosen us workers in stone.’
Fidelma peered accusingly at Conrí.
‘No one told me that those abducted held any special position at the abbey,’ she commented in irritation.
‘I did not know this either,’ Conrí. protested. ‘I did not know they were stone polishers. The abbot never told me.’
Eadulf had turned to the girl. ‘And this was what you were made to do on the island?’
‘Even worse, we were made to use, as tables, three of the rectangular burial platforms, quartz-covered
leachts
, under which the old leaders of the community were buried.’ Sister Easdan shivered and crossed herself. ‘They made us work on their graves as if they had been nothing but slabs of wood.’
‘Why not deny that you were workers in precious stones?’ asked Eadulf.
‘They had obviously found out who we were and what we did,’ Sister
Easdan responded. ‘That’s why they seized us and took us to the island - so that we could work for them.’
Esumaro leant towards Fidelma.
‘I have been captain of a merchant vessel for many years. I know the trade between here and Gaul. I can tell you that the stones I saw on the island - what do you call them,
lec-lógmar
? - were valuable beyond anything I have seen elsewhere. Amethyst, topaz, emerald and sapphire … never have I seen such riches before.’