Whispers of the Dead sf-15

by Peter Tremayne

  “I have said so.”

  “You were not disturbed by Ernán getting up either in the night or at dawn?”

  “I must have been very tired for I remember that I had been feeling sleepy after the evening meal and was almost asleep by the time I reached the bed. I think we have been working hard on the farm in recent days as I have been feeling increasingly tired.”

  “You heard no disturbances during the night nor during the previous nights?”

  “None.”

  Fidelma paused thoughtfully.

  “How was your sleep last night?”

  Blinne was scornful.

  “How do you think? My husband had been killed yesterday. Do you think I slept at all last night?”

  “I can understand that,” agreed Fidelma. “Perhaps you should have had Brother Abán mix you a sleeping draught.”

  Blinne sniffed.

  “If there was need for that, I would not have needed bother him. My sister and I were raised knowing how to mix our own herbal remedies.”

  “Of course. How do you feel now-physically, I mean?”

  “As can be expected. I am not feeling well. I feel nauseous and have a headache.”

  Fidelma smiled softly and rose.

  “Then I have taxed you too long.”

  Blinne followed her example.

  “Where would I find your sister, Bláth?”

  “I think she went to see Glass the miller.”

  “Good, for I have need to see him as well.”

  Blinne stood frowning at the door.

  “You have been told that Glass is claiming that he heard this wailing in the night?”

  “I have been told.”

  Blinne extended her front teeth over her lower lip for a moment, pressing down hard.

  “I did not hear any noises in the night. But. .”

  Fidelma waited. Then she prompted: “But. .?”

  “Could it have been true? Bláth said. . people believe. . I. . I don’t know what to believe. Many people believe in the Banshee.”

  Fidelma reached out a hand and laid it on the young woman’s arm.

  “If the wailing woman of the hills exists, it is said her task is to be the harbinger of death, lamenting the passing of a soul from this world to the Otherworld. The belief is that the Banshee merely warns but is never the instrument of death. Whether you believe that is your own affair. Personally, I believe that the Banshee-indeed, all the ghostly visitations that I have encountered-is merely a visible manifestation of our own fears, fears whose images we cannot contain within the boundaries of our dreams.”

  “And yet. .”

  “I tell you this, Blinne,” Fidelma interrupted in a cold voice, “that your husband was killed neither by a Banshee, nor by an animal agency. . A human hand killed him. Before this day is out, the culprit will stand before me.”

  Brother Abán had directed her along the path toward Glass’s mill. The path ran alongside a small stream, which twisted itself down to feed the broad river, the Siúr. As she followed the path through a copse of birch trees she heard a strong masculine voice. It was raised in a recitation.

  “No pleasure

  that deed I did, tormenting her

  tormenting her I treasure. .”

  Fidelma came upon a young man, sitting on a rock by the stream. He heard the snap of a twig beneath her feet and swung ’round, his face flushing crimson as if he had been caught in a guilty deed.

  “Greetings, Tadhg,” Fidelma said, recognizing him.

  He frowned, and the crimson on his cheeks deepened.

  “You know me?”

  Fidelma did not answer, for that much was obvious.

  “I am Sister. .”

  “Fidelma,” broke in the young man. “News of your arrival has spread. We are a small community.”

  “Of course. How well did you know Ernán?” she went on without further preamble.

  The young man grimaced.

  “I knew him,” he said, defensively.

  “That’s not what I asked. I said, how well? I already presume that everyone in this community knew each other.”

  Tadhg shrugged indifferently.

  “We grew up together until I went to the bardic school which has now been displaced by the monastery founded by Finnan the Leper.”

  “The place called Finnan’s Height? I knew of the old school there. When did you return here?”

  “About a year ago.”

  “And presumably you renewed your friendship with Ernán then?”

  “I did not say that I was his friend, only that we grew up together, as most people here of my age did.”

  “Does that mean that you did not like him?” Fidelma asked quickly.

  “One does not have to like everyone one knows or grows up with.”

  “There is truth in that. Why didn’t you like him?”

  The young man grimaced.

  “He was arrogant and thought himself superior to. . to. .”

  “A poet?” supplied Fidelma.

  Tadhg looked quickly at her and then lowered his gaze as if in agreement.

  “He was a farmer and thought strength and looks were everything. He called me a weak parasite fit for nothing, not even to clean his pigsty. Most people knew how arrogant he was.”

  “Yet I am told that Ernán was well-liked and had no enemies in the world.”

  “Then you were told wrong.”

  “I was told by Blinne.”

  “Blinne?” The young man’s head jerked up and again came an uncontrollable rush of blood to his cheeks.

  Fidelma made an intuitive leap forward.

  “You like Blinne very much, don’t you?”

  There was a slightly sullen expression which now molded the young poet’s features.

  “Did she tell you that? Well, we grew up together, too.”

  “Nothing more than an old friendship?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Saying? I am asking a question. If you disliked Ernán so much, you must surely not have approved of Blinne being married to him.”

  “You would soon find that out from anyone in the community,” admitted Tadhg sullenly. “I do not deny it. Poor Blinne. She did not have the courage to leave him. He dominated her.”

  “Are you saying that she did not love him?”

  “How could she? He was a brute.”

  “If she disliked the marriage, there are nine reasons in law why she could have divorced him and more why she could have separated from him.”

  “I tell you that she did not have the courage. He was a powerful, controlling man and it is poetic justice that he was taken by the Banshee, whether you call it Banshee or wolf. That he was a beast and the stronger beast of the night attacked him and tore out his throat was poetic justice.”

  The young man finished his speech with defiance.

  “Poetic?” Fidelma gazed thoughtfully at him. “Where were you the night before last? Where were you when Ernán was killed?”

  “In my house. Asleep.”

  “Where is your house?”

  “Up on that hillside.” He raised an arm to gesture in the direction.

  “Was anyone with you?”

  The young man looked outraged.

  “Of course not!”

  “A pity,” Fidelma said softly.

  “What do you mean?” Tadhg blinked, disconcerted.

  “Just that I would like to eliminate you from the vicinity of Ernán’s farmstead. He was murdered, his throat cut, and you have just given me a very good reason why you might be suspected of it.”

  Now Tadhg’s face was suddenly drained of blood.

  “I was told that he had his throat ripped out,” he said quietly. “I presumed that it was by a wolf, although many superstitious people are talking about the Banshee.”

  “Who told you that this was how he died?”

  “It is common talk. You say that he was murdered? How can you be so sure?”

  Fidelma did not bother t
o answer.

  “Well, I did not do it. I was in my bed, asleep.”

  “If that is the truth then you have presented me with another suspect,” she said reflectively. “Blinne.”

  Tadhg swallowed rapidly.

  “She would never. . that is not possible. She had not enough courage to divorce Ernán. She was too gentle to strike him down.”

  “Human beings react in peculiar ways. If not Blinne or you, then who also had cause to hate Ernán-a man who was supposed to have no enemies?”

  Tadgh raised his hands in a helpless, negative gesture.

  “I will want to see you again later, Tadhg.”

  Fidelma turned and resumed her progress along the path, her brow furrowed in thought.

  Bláth had already left Glass’s mill when Fidelma reached it.

  The miller was a genial, round-faced man of middle age with twinkling gray-blue eyes, which might well have been the reason for his name, which indicated such a coloring. He was a stocky man, clad with a leather apron and open shirt, his muscles bulging as he heaved a sack of flour onto a cart.

  “A bad thing, Sister, a bad thing,” he said, when Fidelma introduced herself.

  “You were a close neighbor of Ernán, I believe.”

  The miller turned and pointed. From where they stood the ground began to descend slightly toward the broad river across some fields to where an elm grove stood.

  “That is Ernán’s farmhouse, the building among those trees. We are scarcely ten minutes walk away from each other.”

  “And were you a friend of his?”

  “I saw young Ernán grow to manhood. I was a friend of his father and mother. They were killed when Crundmáel of Laighin came raiding along the Siúr in his battle boats in search of booty. Only Ernán survived out of his entire family and so took over the farm and continued to make it prosperous. Blinne, his wife, is my niece.” He grinned briefly. “So is Bláth, of course.”

  “And Ernán was well-liked?”

  “Not an enemy in the world,” Glass replied immediately.

  “He and Blinne were happy?”

  “Never happier.”

  “And Bláth lived with them?”

  “She could have come here to live but Blinne and Bláth were always close. There is only a year between them and they are almost like twins. Blinne wanted her sister to be with her and Ernán did not mind for she helped with the farm work. But why do you ask me these questions?”

  Fidelma did not answer.

  “Tell me about the Banshee?” she said.

  Glass smiled briefly.

  “I heard the sound only too well.”

  “When did you first hear it?”

  “I would not want to hear that sound more than once.” Fidelma frowned.

  “You heard it once?”

  “Yesterday morning about dawn.”

  “Not before, not before the morning Ernán was found dead?”

  “No. Only that one morning. That was enough. It wailed like a soul in torment.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Do? Nothing at all.”

  “You weren’t curious?”

  “Such curiosity about the Banshee can endanger your immortal soul,” replied Glass solemnly.

  “When did you realize that Ernán was dead?”

  “When Brother Abán came to tell me and asked me if I had heard anything in the night.”

  “And you were able to tell him that you had?”

  “Of course.”

  “But only yesterday morning?”

  Glass nodded.

  “As a matter of interest, if Ernán was the only survivor of his family, I presume that his farm passes to Blinne?”

  “Blinne is his heir in all things,” agreed Glass. His eyes suddenly flickered beyond her shoulder in the direction of what had been Ernán’s farmstead. Fidelma turned and saw a figure that she initially thought was Blinne making her way up the hill. Then she realized it was a young woman who looked fairly similar.

  “Bláth?”

  Glass nodded.

  “Then I shall go down to meet her as I need to ask her some questions.”

  Halfway down the path were some large stones which made a natural seat. Fidelma reached them at the same time as Bláth and greeted her.

  “I was coming back to my uncle’s mill for Blinne told me that you had gone there in search of me. You are the dálaigh from Cashel, aren’t you?”

  “I am. There are a few questions that I must ask. You see, Bláth, I am not satisfied about the circumstances of your brother-in-law’s death.”

  Bláth, who was a younger version of the attractive Blinne, pouted.

  “There is no satisfaction to be had in any death, but a death that is encompassed by supernatural elements is beyond comprehension.”

  “Are you sure we speak of supernatural elements?”

  Bláth looked surprised.

  “What else?”

  “That is what I wish to determine. I am told that you heard the wailing of the Banshee for three nights?”

  “That is so.”

  “You awoke each night and investigated?”

  “Investigated?” the girl laughed sharply.

  “I know the old customs and turned over and buried my head under the pillow to escape the wailing sound.”

  “It was loud?”

  “It was fearful.”

  “Yet it did not wake your sister nor her husband?”

  “It was supernatural. Perhaps only certain people could hear it. Glass, my uncle, heard it.”

  “But only once.”

  “Once is enough.”

  “Very well. Were your sister and Ernán happy?”

  Fidelma saw the shadow pass across Bláth’s face.

  “Why, yes.” There was hesitation enough and Fidelma sniffed in annoyance.

  “I think that you are not being accurate,” she responded.

  “They were unhappy, weren’t they?”

  Bláth pressed her lips together and seemed about to deny it. Then she nodded.

  “Blinne was trying to make the best of things. She was always like that. I would have divorced Ernán but she was not like that.”

  “Everyone says that she and Ernán were much in love and happy.”

  “It was the image that they presented to the village,” shrugged the girl. “But what has this to do with the death of Ernán? The Banshee took him.”

  Fidelma smiled thinly.

  “Do you really believe that?”

  “I heard. .”

  “Are you trying to protect Blinne?” Fidelma snapped sharply.

  Bláth blinked rapidly and flushed.

  “Tell me about Tadhg,” Fidelma prompted, again sharply so that the girl would not have time to collect her thoughts.

  “You know. .?” Bláth began and then snapped her mouth shut.

  “Did this unhappiness begin when Tadhg returned to the village?”

  Bláth hung her head.

  “I believe that they were meeting regularly in the woods,” she said quietly.

  “I think that you believe a little more than that,” Fidelma said dryly.

  “You think that Tadhg and Blinne plotted to kill Ernán.”

  “No!” Bláth’s face was crimson. “There was no reason. If things became so unbearable, Blinne could have sought a divorce.”

  “True enough, but the farmstead was an attractive proposition. If Blinne divorced Ernán, she would lose it.”

  Bláth sniffed.

  “You know the laws of inheritance as well as I do. Land cannot pass to a female heir if there are male heirs.”

  “But in Ernán’s case, he had no male heirs. The land, the farm-stead, would go to the banchomarba, the female heir.”

  Bláth suddenly gave a deep sigh of resignation.

  “I suspected something like this might happen,” she confessed dolefully.

  “And you invented the story of the Banshee to throw people off the scent?” queried Fidelma.

>   Bláth nodded rapidly.

  “I love my sister.”

  “Why not claim an attack by a wolf? That would be more feasible.”

  “Anyone would realize the wound in Ernán’s throat was not the bite of a wolf. Questions would be asked of Blinne and. .”

  “Questions are now being asked.”

  “But only by you. Brother Abán was satisfied and people here would not question the old ways.”

  “The old ways,” Fidelma echoed the words thoughtfully.

  The girl looked nervously at Fidelma.

  “I suppose that you intend to have Blinne and Tadhg arrested?”

  “Tonight is the funeral of Ernán. We will see after that.”

  “There is some doubt about your suspicion of them?”

  Fidelma smiled sadly.

  “We will see,” she said. “I would like a word alone with your sister.”

  Bláth nodded toward the farmstead.

  “I forgot something at my uncle’s mill. You’ll find Blinne at the farmhouse.”

  The girl left Fidelma and continued up the path to the mill while Fidelma went on to the farmhouse. As she approached she heard Blinne’s voice raised in agitation.

  “It’s not true, I tell you. Why do you bother me so?”

  Fidelma halted at the corner of a building. In the farmyard she saw Tadhg confronting the girl. Blinne was standing looking distracted.

  “The dálaigh already suspects,” Tadhg was saying.

  “There is nothing to suspect.”

  “It is obvious that Ernán was murdered, killed by a human hand. Obvious that Bláth was covering up with some story about a Banshee. It did not fool me nor will it fool this woman. I know you hated Ernán. I know it is me that you really loved. But surely there was no need to kill him? We could have eloped and you could have divorced him.”

  Blinne was shaking her head in bewilderment.

  “I don’t know what you are saying. How can you say this. .”

  “I know. Do not try to fool with me. I know how you felt. The important thing is to flee from this place before the dálaigh can find the evidence. I can forgive you because I have loved you since you were a child. Come, let us take the horses and go now. We can let Bláth know where we have gone later. She can send us some money afterward. I am sure the dálaigh suspects and will be here soon enough.”

  With a thin smile Fidelma stepped from behind the building.

  “Sooner than you think, Tadhg,” she said quietly.