Fidelma, widely read and travelled as she was, was sometimes shocked at the lack of provision in other cultures for the sick, the elderly and the poor.
‘So your parents would have had no help from their tribe once they became elderly or infirm?’
The two brothers shook their heads.
‘No one respects age. What can the elderly contribute to the good of the people?’
Fidelma made a noise that signified irritation. ‘One can argue that they have already contributed. However, it is surely their wisdom that is their greatest gift. When the old cock crows, the young ones learn,’ she added, using an ancient expression of her people.
Brother Naovan shrugged.
‘We could not abandon them,’ he repeated. ‘So we brought them with us. They were firmly set in their ways, in the ways of the Old Faith, and continued as such.’
‘There are still many in the five kingdoms who have not wholly endorsed the New Faith,’ Fidelma replied. ‘It is of no great consequence.’
‘The consequence was very great,’ muttered Brother Pecanum darkly.
‘As I say, we brought them with us,’ his brother continued. ‘When we settled in the community of Colmán, we built them a small house, the inchis you call it? Yes, we helped them with a small house nearby where they could live out their days in peace. All went well, until, as Berrihert told Brother Eadulf, this arrogant prelate from Cill Ria came to demand that our community recognise Ard Macha as the primatial seat of the churches. What did we Angles and Saxons know of this? Nothing. But Abbot Colmán argued against such recognition, as did most of those men of your country who were in our community. But others argued in favour of the demands of this Abbot Ultán.
‘The arguments were angry. Finally, Brother Gerald left our island and took his followers, who were mainly Saxons, to Maigh Éo on the mainland and formed a new community. That did not stop Abbot Ultán, who came again and provoked further arguments.’
Fidelma was puzzled. ‘How did that affect either your father or your mother? They were not part of the community. They were not even part of the Faith.’
Brother Pecanum suddenly groaned in anguish and Naovan leaned forward and gripped him comfortingly by the arm. He turned to Fidelma. There was pain on his features.
‘It happened when Abbot Ultán, who had been accompanied by Brother Drón and a dozen men, warriors or mercenaries perhaps from his own land whom he had hired as bodyguards on his trip, was leaving our island. I believe he needed those bodyguards otherwise he would not long have been allowed the arrogance with which he conducted himself. They made their way down to the inlet where their boat was waiting to take them back to the mainland. The way lay past the house of our parents. My father was not there, for he was out fishing on the far side of the island.’
He paused for a moment, his hand still gripping his brother’s arm. Pecanum’s eyes were watering.
‘My mother, Aelgifu, was outside, kneeling under a tree. There she had set up an altar to the old gods that she worshipped. Knowing that my father had gone out to sea fishing, she had sacrificed a hare to the goddess Ran, seeking her protection.’
‘Ran?’ queried Fidelma.
‘In the old religion, Ran was wife to Aegir, the god of the sea. When seafarers drowned, she would take them to her palace beneath the waves where her nine daughters would look after them. Ran was protector of those who sacrificed to her.’ The young man hesitated and coloured. ‘That was what was taught in the old religion to which our parents clung steadfastly. There was no harm in them, for they were good people, but just a little old and set in their ways.’
‘I understand,’ Fidelma replied. ‘Continue.’
‘Abbot Ultán came walking by as she was making her sacrifice and demanded to know what she was doing. She did not speak your language well but one of the men with him, one of the warriors, who had been a mercenary among the Saxons, interpreted. Abbot Ultán was beside himself to learn that a foreign woman, in the shadow of a Christian monastery, was carrying out a pagan ceremony. He raged and stormed and told the warrior to beat my mother for her sacrilege.’
There was a silence. Brother Naovan raised his chin defiantly.
‘He ordered an elderly woman to be beaten?’ Fidelma was incredulous.
‘God’s curse on his soul,’ muttered Brother Pecanum. ‘He deserved his death.’
‘What happened then?’
‘They left my mother senseless and smashed her little altar under the tree. They left. We never saw Ultán or Drón again until we heard that they were here at Cashel.’
‘How did you learn what had happened to your mother?’
‘Someone came running to the community to say they had found her. Berrihert, Pecanum and I went down to her. She was still living but her life was ebbing fast with the shock. She told us what had happened as best as she could. She struggled to remain alive until evening so that she could say farewell to my father on his return, but before dusk descended her spirit had fled her body. May she rest with her own gods in peace.’
Fidelma sat regarding the two brothers carefully. ‘Tell me, and tell me truthfully, did Berrihert, your father Ordwulf, and yourselves, come here with the intention of seeking vengeance on Ultán and Drón?’
Brother Pecanum raised his head and met her gaze. ‘At first we did not know they were here. But when we found out, my father grew angry. Yesterday, at dawn, he went to the fortress, when the gates opened, and his intention was to seek out Ultán.’
‘And kill him?’ pressed Fidelma.
‘And kill him,’ confirmed Brother Pecanum.
Fidelma had been expecting a denial. She was surprised at the frankness of the young man.
‘Since you have been so honest, let me ask you whether your family were involved in the death of Abbot Ultán?’
This time Brother Naovan replied.
‘We were not. I speak only for Pecanum and me. I cannot say anything else. Our father raged against us for not being warriors, for not avenging our mother’s death, but we are committed to the New Faith and vengeance is not ours to take. We did not know our father had gone up to the fortress until he returned to say that he had been thwarted and that Ultán was already slain by the hand of the king of Connacht.’
‘So you are saying that Ordwulf and Berrihert were not involved in his death?’
‘We heard that it was the king of Connacht who killed him. Why do you question us in this fashion?’
‘Because I do not believe that the king of Connacht did kill the abbot.’
The brother exchanged a glance of surprise. ‘Then you suspect . . . ?’ began Brother Naovan.
Fidelma interrupted with a sad shake of her head. ‘Do not think that I have no sympathy for you in this tragic tale. However, I must attend to the law. You will have to remain within this town until such time as the matter has been resolved.’
‘We understand, sister. But it is hard for us to carry suspicion in our hearts against our brother and our father. God grant that they are not involved, and that you are wrong in your belief that the king of Connacht did not strike down Ultán.’
‘There is going to be a price to pay for this!’
Gormán was peering over Eadulf’s shoulder and was shaking his head in disbelief.
Eadulf made no comment. He was examining the king’s body for the cause of death. In fact, it was fairly obvious. The killing blow had left a wound just above the heart, although Eadulf had noticed three more such wounds in the neck: deep, plunging, tearing cuts which, of themselves, would not have caused death. These wounds could have been made by sword or knife or . . .
He was about to rise when he noticed a piece of paper tucked into a fold of Muirchertach Nár’s hunting cloak. He reached forward, extracted it and then unfolded it. He drew his breath sharply as he saw what it was. A poem. He knew the words.
Cold the nights I cannot sleep,
Thinking of my love, my dear one . . .
He did not know what it cou
ld mean but he folded it and put it in his purse. Then he rose to his feet and glanced round.
A short distance away he saw a discarded hunting spear, Muirchertach’s bir. He moved towards it and looked down at the sharp honed point. It was blood-stained. He picked it up and returned to the body. Then he bent down again and let out a sigh as he measured the wound with the point of the spear.
‘He has been stabbed with his own hunting spear,’ he announced. Then, straightening, he added: ‘There is no sign of his horse.’
Gormán beckoned the dog handler to come forward. ‘Was there any sign of Muirchertach’s horse when you came here?’
‘There was not.’
Eadulf turned to the man. ‘How did you make this discovery . . . what is your name?’
‘My name is Rónán. I am one of the trackers at Cashel.’
‘So, tell me how you came here.’
‘We were driving the boars through the forest. I was on the far left of the line. One of the hounds, again to my left, starting giving cry and so I moved towards it through the forest, thinking it had a boar at bay. I was still in the forest when I heard the sound of a frightened horse, then the thud of hooves at a gallop. By the time I came through the undergrowth just there, there was no sign of anything. No horse and no hound.’ The man paused and Eadulf waited patiently. ‘I came to the mound here, it being high ground, to see if I could see anything.’
‘And that is when you saw the body?’ Gormán cut in.
‘I did so.’
‘Then what?’
‘Recognising the body as that of Muirchertach Nár, I knew I had to tell someone immediately. I ran back to the main track hoping that someone would be passing and, thanks be, I saw you both immediately. That is all I know.’
‘You say that you heard the sound of a horse?’ Gormán asked. ‘The ground is soft here. There should be tracks.’
‘There are,’ replied the man. ‘Come with me.’
They followed him to a place beyond the body.
‘Can you read the signs?’ Eadulf asked.
The man crouched down to point at the hoofprints.
‘So far as I can see, two riders came to this spot here by different paths.’ He frowned suddenly. ‘A third horse was here, with a split shoe. It went off in that direction.’ He pointed. ‘The other two horses followed it, but neither appears to have had a rider. The one with the split shoe seems to be the only one that was ridden away.
Eadulf smiled a little sceptically. ‘Is that guesswork?’
Rónán was not offended.
‘It is observation, Brother Eadulf. I am a tracker. I can see when horses bear the weight of riders and when they don’t. The hooves do not sink so deeply into the mud as when they have the added weight of their riders. Therefore, you can see those horses were carrying less weight when they left than when they came.’ He shrugged and added: ‘A hunter has to be observant. It is often a matter of eating or starving or, indeed, of life or death.’
Eadulf inclined his head in apology. ‘So Muirchertach rode to this spot. Why? This was on the far left of the hunt. And how did he come to be on his own?’
Rónán shrugged slightly. ‘Perhaps they wanted to circle the main body of the hunt, thinking that the boars would break through the undergrowth in this direction.’
‘It can happen,’ agreed Gormán. ‘The boar is a clever animal. With the hunt moving over there, to the right, and the drivers and their hounds trying to push the boars towards the spears, a clever tusker can decide to break left and escape the encirclement. It has been known many times.’
‘Say that you are right. Muirchertach has decided to move in this direction to outsmart the boar. Then he meets someone else, riding from which direction?’
Rónán pointed back to the forest. ‘Muirchertach came through the forest more or less in the direction from which we came. The other rider – presumably his killer – came from the far left, round the edge of the forest,’ he said. ‘The horse with the split shoe seems to have been following the second horse, but the tracks are rather muddled there and it is difficult to tell.’
Eadulf was puzzled. ‘From the left? Not from the right where the main body of hunters were?’
Rónán shook his head.
‘Then we are developing a mystery,’ Eadulf sighed.
It was Gormán’s turn to frown. ‘A mystery?’
‘How did the person who met Muirchertach Nár know that he would be here?’
‘A chance meeting?’
‘Perhaps. But why would Muirchertach allow this stranger to take his hunting spear and kill him?’
‘A fight? Perhaps he was overpowered?’ suggested Gormán.
‘There is no sign of that. If he had been knocked down from his horse, or set upon and disarmed with physical violence, there would have been some evidence of it. Bruises, torn or disarranged clothing. Look at the way he lies. It is as if he just fell back, arms slightly outstretched. Also,’ he instructed, ‘examine the expression on his face.’
‘People in their death throes often show distortions of the face,’ Gormán pointed out.
‘That is true. Yet very rarely is the expression fixed as one of apparent surprise or even shock. That seems to be the last reaction he registered in life. And then there is the mystery of the third horse.’
There was something reminiscent of Abbot Ultán about the manner of the king’s death. Eadulf turned to Rónán who was standing awaiting instruction.
‘You’d better find some others and have the king’s body removed to Cashel. Take it to Brother Conchobhar the apothecary. Wait!’ he called as the other turned. ‘Get some cloth and make sure the body is covered before you transport it. The more discreetly it is done the better.’
‘It shall be as you say, Brother Eadulf.’
Eadulf turned to Gormán. ‘We shall try to follow the horses’ tracks and see where they lead.’
‘The one with the rider should not be hard to follow,’ Rónán called, overhearing. ‘Look for an imprint of an uneven shoe. I think the metal was badly cast and has split. The left foreleg will be the one to look for.’
Eadulf raised his hand in acknowledgement, and then turned to where Gormán was examining the hoofprints.
‘They seem to be leading through those woods to the north-west,’ the warrior called, mounting his horse.
‘That would bring them back to Cashel, surely.’ Eadulf frowned as he climbed back on his mount.
‘Unless whoever it is turns off the track.’
‘I don’t think they will do so,’ Eadulf replied. ‘I have a feeling we shall find that whoever killed Muirchertach Nár is heading back to Cashel.’
Fidelma had left the two brothers in the hostel and returned to the main gates of the fortress in search of her cousin Finguine. He was crossing the courtyard to the stables when she caught up with him.
‘Apart from the nobles, do you know who else went out on the hunt this morning?’ she asked without preamble.
Finguine shrugged. ‘Practically everyone who is anyone,’ he replied, then added with a grin: ‘With the exception of myself.’
Fidelma was in no mood for his humour. ‘I was thinking of Brother Berrihert?’
Finguine considered for a moment before shaking his head. ‘Apart from Eadulf, the only religious on the hunt were Abbot Augaire, Sister Marga and Brother Drón.’
‘Brother Drón?’ snapped Fidelma in surprise. ‘He went on this hunt?’
‘Brother Drón,’ confirmed Finguine. ‘That unpleasant man who came with Abbot Ultán.’
‘I know Brother Drón well enough,’ she said irritably. ‘Did he and Sister Marga ride off together?’
‘They did not. Sister Marga, as I told you earlier, went off with the ladies. It was some time after that that Brother Drón went after them . . . I don’t think he intended to go on the hunt at first.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Well, he came hurrying to the gate with his horse and asked one o
f the warriors where some place was and how long would it take him to get there. The guard told me afterwards. I forget where it was, a ride to the south, anyway. He kept looking at some paper in his hand. Then, as he was mounting his horse, the other girl who was in his party came hurrying up. She said something and pointed eastward. That was the direction in which the hunt had gone. I was told that Brother Drón looked really angry, mounted his horse and rode off in that direction at a gallop. Unseemly for a religious,’ her cousin added.
A guard at the gates suddenly called a challenge to someone outside and then a solitary rider came through into the courtyard. Fidelma recognised him as Dúnchad Muirisci, the heir apparent to Muirchertach, King of Connacht.
Finguine had called an order and a gilla scuir, a stable boy, hurried forward to help the man from his horse. Fidelma moved leisurely to greet him.
‘You are back early from the hunt, Dúnchad Muirisci.’
The noble glanced moodily at her. His features showed none of the humour they had displayed when she had questioned him the previous day.
‘You are perceptive, lady,’ he replied sarcastically, automatically reaching with his left hand to hold his right. Fidelma saw that the latter was splashed with blood.
‘I am sorry. You are hurt, Dúnchad Muirisci.’
The man grimaced in annoyance. ‘It is nothing, just a scratch.’
‘A scratch does not bleed with such profusion,’ she reproved him. ‘You had best let someone see it. Brother Conchobhar’s shop is just behind that building there. He is our best apothecary.’
Dúnchad Muirisci grunted and began to move off, holding his arm.
She fell in step with him. ‘What happened?’ she asked.
‘A stupid accident. A boar charged my horse and it moved to avoid it. It pushed into a thorn bush and I reached out my hand to protect myself and the thorns scratched it. That is all.’
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