Eadulf looked doubtful.
‘Where would such precious stones come from?’ he demanded. Gáeth the smith, who had been listening intently to the questioning, smiled gently.
‘Do not be surprised, Brother Saxon. Such stones as these are to be found, often in abundance, in these mountains and the coastal areas. They are extracted from clefts between the great rock surfaces, tiny shining crystals in the sandstone cliffs. They are difficult to find but now and again a rich seam of them comes to light. They are very expensive for artisans to use. I know that Ard Fhearta has its own craftsmen who use the stones that these sisters cut and polish to embellish crucifixes and chalices and other icons for your Christian church.’
‘But emeralds, sapphires …’ began Eadulf sceptically.
‘Believe me, Brother,’ Esumaro said earnestly, ‘I tell you I have seen several boxes of those glittering gems. The unworked crystal was brought to the sisters and when they had done with it the stones were stored in boxes in the chapel. The man, Olcán, and his master are amassing a fortune.’
‘So these stones are local? Do you know where exactly they came from?’ asked Fidelma in curiosity.
‘They would not tell us,’ Sister Easdan said, ‘but we found out that some of the hermits had been made to work on the far side of the island. We believe that there was a seam there where the crystal was plentiful. It was clear purple stone, amethyst. I am not sure where they brought the other in from. But as Esumaro says, there were some sapphires and emeralds and a few topazes.’
Eadulf glanced at Esumaro.
‘You did not possess the cutting and polishing skill of the sisters, so what did you do?’
‘I simply acted as a general handyman,’ the sailor replied. ‘I lifted and
carried. Towards the end, though, I think they suspected that I was not really a religious.’
‘Why was that?’ Fidelma asked.
‘Well, when I was first taken captive Sister Easdan intervened after they recognised me as a Gaul. She explained that I was a noted scholar, and I gave them the name of Brother Maros. When our captors pointed out that I wore no tonsure, Sister Easdan’ - he smiled quickly at her - ‘claimed that I was a follower of the Blessed Budoc of Laurea, and his followers did not wear tonsures. She said I had been with them some time at the abbey of Ard Fhearta.’
He paused.
‘Very well, go on,’ Eadulf said encouragingly.
‘At first they seemed content enough with that explanation. Truly, I had never heard of Budoc of Laurea. Sister Easdan quickly instructed me on the march through the mountains. Budoc had apparently become Bishop of Dol over a hundred years ago. That is in Armorica - which we are now calling Little Britain because of the countless refugees from Britain who have come to live in there since they were driven out by you Saxons.’
A colour sprang to Eadulf’s cheeks.
‘I am not responsible for what my ancestors did,’ he protested.
Esumaro chuckled. ‘Is there not a saying about the sins of the fathers?’
Fidelma laid a hand on Eadulf’s arm.
‘We are in Muman, not Britain, Esumaro. Let us concentrate our minds on the immediate matter. You said that your captors were initially content with the explanation that you were a member of the religieux. This implies that they were not content later. What happened?’
‘I had the feeling that this strange person, the one called the master, was watching me for some time after we were captured. It is hard to explain. Several times I glanced in his direction but it was difficult to see anything with the hood of the robe drawn down. There was nothing to show which way his eyes were turned. But I had this feeling …’ He paused and shuddered. Then he continued: ‘I saw this Olcán talking to him and soon after, when we had paused on our march, Olcán came over to me and started asking me questions.’
‘Such as?’ prompted Fidelma.
‘Such as how long did I claim I had been at Ard Fhearta. Whom did I know there and so on. I presumed that one of the sisters had slipped up and told them that I had not been at Ard Fhearta. I said that there must have
been a mistake about what had been claimed. I said that I had been at the abbey of Colman and after the pilgrimage I would be going to Ard Fhearta.’
‘And did that satisfy this Olcán?’
Esumaro shook his head.
‘He questioned me further on where I had come from, what sort of scholar I was. Who Budoc was and so on. I did my best. But the only scholarship that I knew anything about was how to navigate the oceans by the stars. So I pretended that I was an astronomer and talked of this star and that. Of course, Olcán knew a little but not as much as I did. Do you not have a saying that the blind of one eye is a king among the blind of both eyes?’
‘So they accepted you?’
‘Not entirely. I think they continued to be suspicious. However, they did not bother me any more, although I was aware, all the time, that I was being watched.’
‘So when you reached the island, Seanach’s Island, the religieuse were put to work cleaning the stones and you did fetching and carrying while the original inhabitants of the community were actually cutting the crystals from the rocks on the far side of the island,’ Fidelma summed up. ‘What prompted you to escape?’
Esumaro continued their story.
‘It was an old man who inspired us. I do not know his name, but I think he was the head of the community there. He was a sprightly man in spite of his age. I was taking a box of the polished rocks to the chapel when I heard shouting. I turned and saw that he had evaded his captors and was pushing out one of those canoes into the surf from the beach on the east side.
‘The guards had seen him, of course, but the old man could handle that canoe. I admired him. He paddled with the tide so that he had slipped past their advantage points and was heading away out to the sea in the direction of the mainland before they spotted him. Olcán was on the warship when it happened and I heard him shouting in his fury. Then - I think it was at his order - his men began shooting at the old man who was now rowing for all he was worth. Arrows fell on his craft but never seemed to touch him. I thought for a few moments that he might make it. I was rooted to the spot, box still in my hand, and wanting to shout and cheer. But an arrow must have struck him in the back and he gave a scream. I could hear it over the waves. He slumped on to his side.
‘Then I was knocked to the ground by one of the guards. I saw no more of the old man and could hear nothing except the guard rebuking me for my idleness because I had stopped to watch. I had to pick up the polished stones that had spilt from the box. When I had done that, I was given to understand, by the coarse laughter and jesting of the guards, that the old man was dead.’
‘Which was not true,’ intervened Conrí. ‘Somehow that old man, whose name we discovered was Brother Martan, managed to struggle with the
naomhóg
and reach the shore on the mainland where, by coincidence, we were. Alas, he died in our arms, having warned us about the island.’
Esumaro looked impressed.
‘So how did you make your escape?’ prompted Eadulf.
‘That same evening. I realised from the way the old man had been shot that we could expect no mercy. As soon as they had finished with our labour, they would kill us. I had noticed that there was a second canoe - a
naomhóg
you call it? Well, there was a second canoe alongside the one that the old man took. If I attempted to run in daylight, I would not get far so I decided to make the attempt at night.’
‘The sea had no perils for you?’ interrupted Eadulf, slightly enviously.
Esumaro laughed.
‘I am a son of the sea,’ he said confidently. ‘The sea is my friend and I respect its moods. I have often rowed small boats and know how to handle the canoes that you use. I also knew these islands, having sailed them, and I realised that the only chance was to go south to the mainland where the old man had been going. I also felt that I could not leave Sister Easdan behind. She had been instrumental in saving my life and so I suggested to her that we should make the attempt together and then try to raise the alarm so that the local chieftain could rescue the others.’
Conrí’s expression was cynical.
‘Slébéne would not have been much help to you,’ he muttered.
‘Continue, Esumaro,’ Fidelma said, with a glance of annoyance at Conrí.
‘Well, it was towards dusk that Sister Easdan and I managed to sneak away. The guards were lax then, eating their meal. Sure enough there was the canoe still where it had been with the paddles and it was light enough for the two of us to be able to launch it. We started to head south-west towards the mainland but there was a high sea running against us and then Sister Easdan called out that we had a leak. Water was coming through the side of the craft.’
‘We had forgotten in our haste to depart that the rim of the western sky was still light and we could be seen against it,’ continued Sister Easdan. ‘We heard shouting from the shore for the wind carried it to us. We knew then that we had been spotted. God looked down on us, for at least we were beyond arrow reach.’
‘We could not pull back to shore,’ chimed in Esumaro. ‘Anyway, I don’t think we would have reached it alive, after what they did to the old man. Sister Easdan, as we told you before, was busy with the leather apron and thongs in the half-light, but by then I realised that we had no hope of reaching the mainland with the tide running up from the south-east against us.’
Gáeth made one of his infrequent interpolations.
‘That was the same tide which helped us run swiftly to the islands.’
‘I was sailor enough to know that I would have to run with the tide,’ continued Esumaro. ‘But I knew that there was another large island to the north-west of Seanach’s Island and hoped that, with luck, the tide would help me and we could be carried there before the leak was so bad that we sank.’
Gáeth clapped his hand on his thigh in approval.
‘Your captors did not give much for your chances, according to what we overheard. They had seen what direction you were going but thought you’d sink long before you reached the island.’
‘We nearly did,’ Esumaro admitted. ‘But thanks to Sister Easdan, we came within reach of it. It was while I was trying to estimate the best place to land that I saw the cave entrance and took a chance. We were within a hand’s reach when the canoe cracked against the rocks and began to break up. I grabbed Sister Easdan and we jumped for our lives. We fought the tide for a few moments and managed to scramble up the rocks on to the island.’
‘Precious the foot on shore,’ muttered Eadulf reverently, uttering an old landsman’s prayer.
‘We were cold and tired and had no means of making a fire on that bare rock. Indeed, I couldn’t see anything, although I knew there were birds about which I could have caught in the daylight, and made something to eat.’
‘We simply huddled together from the cold,’ Sister Easdan added. ‘There was nothing else to do.’
‘We had dropped off to sleep when I was woken by the sounds of
voices and oars,’ went on Esumaro. ‘It could only be Olcán and his men. I knew that if they had knowledge of the island they would come down to the cave where we were sheltering. So we decided to get further on to the island and see if there was anywhere else we could hide. There was the small hill and the ancient stones set up there. We hid there. Then we saw a light and heard people going down to the cave. A few moments later the light returned and the next moment someone came charging up the hill. There was only one thing I could do … I threw myself upon the man …’
‘And nearly killed me,’ Eadulf said ruefully.
‘You cannot blame Esumaro for trying to protect himself,’ Sister Easdan admonished. ‘Anyway, that is our story.’
There was a silence until Gáeth rose and put more turf upon the fire. ‘Doubtless when our friends went there this morning and did not find you they would think that you had indeed gone down beneath the waves and drowned,’ he said.
Fidelma agreed.
‘I do not think we need concern ourselves with any immediate pursuit from the people on Seanach’s Island,’ she said thoughtfully.
‘At least we have solved the mystery,’ Conrí. observed in satisfaction.
They looked at him curiously.
‘How do you come to that conclusion?’ There was a dangerous softness in Fidelma’s voice.
Conrí. looked surprised at the question.
‘Why, is it not clear? Uaman and his followers are to blame for all this. He is back to his old ways of trying to gain riches and build up a power base again.’
‘As simple as that?’ said Fidelma.
‘It is hardly a simple matter,’ protested Conrí.
‘In that I can agree with Conrí,’ Eadulf observed.
‘You might have to admit that Uaman is still alive,’ Fidelma suggested. ‘Are you certain that you saw him die?’
Eadulf shrugged. ‘I was. But I cannot go against so many people who claim to have seen him.’ His voice was not emphatic.
‘Believe me, this mystery is far from solved,’ she said. ‘We have learned only a few more details to add to our fund of knowledge, that is all. There is much to discover yet.’