Night of the Lightbringer

by Peter Tremayne

  ‘That much is obvious,’ he went on, ‘for, as I say, he disappeared and the next thing Brother Giolla Rua emerged and here we are.’

  There was a silence. ‘So you conclude that Brother Gébennach was working with Giolla Rua as part of this gang of silver thieves – but what of Brother Sionnach? Why was he killed? Are all the council scholars who met at Cashel part of this criminal organisation?’

  ‘Of course not. Sionnach had uncovered the conspiracy of thieves. That’s why Febal, who was obviously leading the gang attacking the boats on the river, killed him.’

  ‘Why would Sionnach go to see Febal if he had known this? He would be too cautious. And if Febal knew that Sionnach was investigating the thefts, why would he wait for so long before killing him? What about the reference to the secret book – and why was Brother Lucidus not to be trusted? Moreover, who is Brother Lucidus? There are many pieces of your puzzle that don’t quite fit together.’

  ‘Well, Spelán was certainly one of the gang of thieves and we found a piece of silver in his cabin,’ Eadulf replied defensively.

  ‘Why was Spelán killed?’

  ‘Perhaps he was betraying his comrades.’

  ‘So why was it done in the ritual fashion?’

  Eadulf was silent, for he could not think of an answer.

  ‘And why was Brancheó killed?’

  ‘If she and Spelán were lovers, the explanation is easy. He probably confided in her about the theft. Erca told us that she was expecting them to have enough wealth to set up home in the southern mountains. Maybe she knew too much.’ Eadulf then lapsed into silence with a deep sigh.

  Fidelma squeezed his hand. ‘Oh, come on. You have picked up some parts of the puzzle, some very important parts, I’ll not deny it. But there is something other than the theft of Gilcach’s silver going on here, Eadulf. In fact, the more I consider the matter, the more I realise that you may have presented me with the key to the puzzle that now makes the pieces begin to fall into shape.’

  Eadulf was disappointed. ‘I’m glad you think so.’ He was not happy at the way his deduction had been almost dismissed by Fidelma.

  ‘All we have to do—’ she began.

  ‘All we have to do,’ interrupted Eadulf in irritation, ‘is escape from here, round up Brother Giolla Rua, Gébennach, Febal and whoever else is involved, and present the case to the Chief Brehon.’

  Fidelma chuckled. ‘Indeed, Eadulf, that’s all. The problem is, I know we can’t get out until someone comes and unbolts that door.’

  ‘Then let us hope that Aidan is already bringing the warriors of the Golden Collar from Cashel.’

  It had taken Torcán some time to carry Aidan’s semi-conscious form down to the ruined cabin and place it on the back of his cart. He was puzzled to see that the horses that belonged to Fidelma and her companions were still there. Torcán tied the horses behind his cart and set off towards the forest and his home. The young warrior kept slipping in and out of consciousness, moaning at the pain in his leg, as the cart negotiated each bump and rut. Torcán drove slowly and carefully and it took a while before he reached the clearing.

  Hearing his arrival, Éimhin emerged from the cabin and stared in surprise at the horses and at the dishevelled form lying in her husband’s log cart.

  ‘What’s happened?’ she demanded, as she scrutinised the features of the young man. ‘Why, it’s the young warrior with the Golden Collar!’

  ‘Get a blanket and I’ll lift him into the cabin,’ Torcán instructed. ‘I think his leg is broken.’

  She hurried back to prepare their only bed, and by the time she had arranged it, her husband had managed to carry in the warrior and lie him, as gently as possible, on it.

  ‘There, wife, you are adept at the natural cures – you must do what you can for him.’

  Éimhin looked doubtful as she examined the warrior.

  ‘He needs treatment,’ Torcán said, looking on.

  ‘He needs a physician,’ answered his wife. ‘The leg is broken and he has started a fever. He is beyond my help.’

  ‘Come, you can set the leg of a sheep. Surely you can set the leg of a man? I will help you.’

  ‘The break is in the lower leg,’ Éimhín said. ‘It is the larger of the two bones that has fractured; perhaps the smaller one as well. That usually happens when the larger bone is broken.’ She thought for a moment. ‘It might not be too complicated to reset it. However, even if I can do so, there is a chance of infection. It’s probably started already because he has fever. Certainly there will be much pain, bruising and swelling.’ She paused, listening to Aidan’s moaning and taking note for the first time that the sounds were articulate words, not delirious ramblings. ‘Why does he keep mumbling about going to Cashel to save lives? What does he mean?’

  Torcán said unhappily, ‘Those horses attached to the wagon belong to the lady Fidelma, the Saxon and this warrior – all abandoned. Perhaps Fidelma and the Saxon remain in danger. The warrior was lying injured and unconsciousness just below the abbey walls.’

  ‘Well, he can’t get to Cashel now. I will do my best for him, husband. I’ll treat the fever with the bark of willow and I still have that mixture of elderflower blossoms distilled with apple-tree bark. It ought to bring down the fever. Anyway, let’s get to work straightening the poor boy’s leg.’

  Torcán nodded. ‘As soon as we’ve done that, I will take one of the horses and ride to Cashel. I’ll tell them what’s amiss and I’ll try to bring back a physician. You will have to look after him until I return.’

  Fidelma came awake in total darkness to hear Eadulf breathing deeply beside her. She felt comforted by the closeness and warmth of his body against her own. They must have dropped into an exhausted sleep together in the grey cold shadows of their prison. Then the thought struck her: they had dozed in the gloom of the cave when there were still shadows and dim silhouettes to be seen, the grey light travelling along the tunnel outside to filter through the small aperture in the stout wooden door. Now it was totally black, she could not see her hand in front of her. She blinked for a few moments as if the action might help her see better. It did not and the reason why became clear to her.

  She reached out and nudged Eadulf.

  ‘Wake up,’ she whispered urgently. ‘Eadulf, wake up!’

  She felt the body beside her twitch a little and move as if stretching.

  ‘Are you awake?’ she asked.

  ‘What … what is it?’ yawned Eadulf.

  ‘The light!’

  There was a hesitation then a mumbled voice. ‘There is no light.’

  ‘Exactly. Night has fallen.’

  ‘How long have I been asleep?’

  ‘I’ve no idea because I slept as well. But it must be that an entire day has passed.’

  ‘And we’ve been left here all that time? Do you think they mean to simply abandon us?’

  ‘I have no way of knowing what is in Brother Giolla Rua’s mind.’

  Eadulf groaned. ‘I wonder what has happened to Aidan? It was well before midday when we followed Brother Gébennach into the cave complex. That means, when he left here, once he found his way back to the horses, he would have been able to get to Cashel and raise the alarm not long after midday.’

  Fidelma was silent. Eadulf prompted: ‘Do you think he did not make it?’

  ‘It’s no use speculating, Eadulf. It’s a waste of energy and thought.’

  They both fell silent again as there seemed little else to say. They had to accept that they were helpless, knowing there was no way out unless their captors opened the door. So, in silence, time passed. Time passed … slow, excruciating, painful and unbearable. Time passed until Eadulf wanted to leap to his feet and give a shout of anger or despair, he did not know which. He envied Fidelma the ability to meditate, when she could sit and apparently do nothing.

  Wait a moment! Was his mind playing tricks? But no – he saw a flicker, a flicker of light from the aperture in the door.

  He mov
ed and Fidelma’s hand closed over his arm.

  ‘Careful, Eadulf. Remain still,’ she whispered quickly.

  There were sounds along the tunnel and the flickering light grew brighter.

  Hopes raised, Eadulf strained forward. ‘Aidan!’ he called, ignoring Fidelma’s order.

  In answer there came a malevolent chuckle and a familiar voice called: ‘Stand away from the door. I have armed guards out here, so do not make any wrong moves.’

  There came the scrape of bolts and the door swung open.

  Brother Giolla Rua stood there and behind him, they could see he was not lying about being accompanied by armed guards. One of them carried a lantern which cast a light into their prison. Slowly Fidelma struggled to her feet and Eadulf moved to help her.

  ‘I regret that it is uncomfortable, not being able to move or walk about.’ Brother Giolla Rua sounded almost sympathetic to their plight.

  ‘It is night-time,’ observed Fidelma. ‘How long through the night is it?’

  The shadows on the man’s face moved and they guessed his features had reformed into a smile.

  ‘You are perceptive, dálaigh,’ he replied. ‘Indeed, night has fallen and dawn is a cadar away.’

  They became aware that he was holding a small bag in one hand and a jug in the other.

  ‘What do you intend to do with us?’ Eadulf hoped he sounded more courageous than he felt.

  ‘Me? I don’t intend to do anything. However, I felt it my Christian duty to bring some food and drink to you.’ He set down the bag and the jug on the stone flag of the floor and took a step back. ‘Here is a meal to see you safely through the night.’

  ‘How will we see it, if you leave us without light?’ demanded Eadulf, the practical thought coming into his head almost at once.

  Brother Giolla Rua smiled again. He half turned and motioned to one of the guards who took a candle and lit it from the lantern he carried and handed it to the religieux. The man turned to a small stone shelf near the door, dropped some grease from the melting fat of the candle on it and set the candle down.

  ‘There you are – what more do you want than food and light to sustain you?’ he asked ironically.

  ‘Our freedom would not go amiss,’ Fidelma replied.

  The religieux chuckled. ‘Alas, that is beyond my power. My compatriots are most insistent on that. However, I shall depart from here come dawn, my business concluded for the time being. But I fear I must leave you in some distress waiting for the dawn because my compatriots have decided that you should be … er, eliminated. You see, I am afraid that you know too much. Febal will come to do the honours. He has certain superstitions that hark back to olden times. It is thought that the coming of the Morning Star is a good time to depart to the Otherworld as the Lightbringer shines the way to the House of Donn, where Donn is waiting to collect the souls for transport to the … oh well, you know the old legends as well as I do.’

  Brother Giolla Rua suddenly stepped back, still chuckling, through the door. It swung shut with a bang; the bolts rasped into place.

  Fidelma and Eadulf were left alone once more in the cold cave now lit by a small, flickering candle. Their prison seemed more desolate and oppressive now.

  NINETEEN

  In spite of the cold, the damp and, most of all, the threat of Brother Giolla Rua, Fidelma and Eadulf had been dozing. Eadulf was in that half-dreaming, half-waking state, as faint noises started to combine with images in his mind. The sounds were of people in chaos: shouts, screaming, rising and falling like the waves of an incoming tide. Then came a sudden bang of a heavy door and running footsteps.

  He realised he was awake and Fidelma was also stirring at his side.

  His heart started to pound when he saw the flicker of a lantern growing brighter in the passage outside.

  He rose unsteadily to his feet and helped Fidelma up.

  ‘I think the time has come.’ His voice was thick and he swallowed a couple of times, hoping not to sound as fearful as he felt.

  The footsteps had paused outside.

  Fidelma squeezed his hand as the bolts rasped back from their sockets and the door swung open. Two men with swords in their hands entered the cavern.

  ‘Come along!’ one of them snapped. ‘Don’t give us any trouble otherwise you die here and now. Move ahead of us.’

  Fidelma demanded, ‘If you are going to kill us, why not do it here and now?’

  The leading man glanced uneasily at his companion.

  It was then that Eadulf understood that the noises he had heard in his dreams were real.

  ‘The abbey is under attack!’ he cried, then exclaimed in agony as the point of one of the men’s swords dug into his upper arm.

  ‘If you don’t want those words to be your last, prisoner, obey us. March in front of us. Now!’

  Eadulf raised his left hand to his bloodstained right arm. ‘Very well,’ he muttered, as Fidelma reached out to help him. ‘I’m all right,’ he grunted.

  Menaced by the sword tips, the couple moved slowly ahead of the two armed men.

  ‘Where do you want us to go?’ Eadulf said as they exited from the cave.

  One of the men indicated with his sword. ‘Just go along this passage and out into the main cave.’

  Here, they could clearly hear the uproar from the abbey buildings above. Eadulf was about to turn to the stone stairway that he had deduced would lead into the main abbey buildings when the gruff order of one of the swordsmen stayed him. From the chaos and shouting, it seemed that Aidan must have reached Cashel and that Gormán and his warriors were storming the abbey.

  ‘This way,’ instructed one of their captors.

  To Eadulf’s surprise they were pushed towards the very tunnel through which he and Aidan had first entered the complex.

  ‘What do you intend to do?’ he asked, feeling more secure now that the abbey was being invaded.

  The man who had done all the threatening simply said: ‘Shut up.’

  ‘That’s not very helpful,’ Eadulf replied, only to receive another sharp prod from the man’s sword.

  ‘I said – shut up!’ he growled.

  Eadulf suddenly halted and turned, surprising both men. ‘I think you would have killed us already if you did not need us alive,’ he declared. ‘So come on – what do you intend to do with us?’

  There were some moments of silence; the four of them standing facing each other in the dimly lit cave passage.

  ‘We are giving you a chance to save your lives and our lives as well.’ The second man spoke for the first time.

  Eadulf’s mind was working quickly. ‘You are trying to escape from the retribution of the warriors of the Golden Collar,’ he said, articulating his thoughts. ‘You are using us as shields?’

  ‘So you see that we have nothing to lose,’ sneered the second man.

  ‘Every rat for himself, eh?’ Eadulf observed.

  ‘What’s happened to Brother Giolla Rua?’ Fidelma wanted to know.

  ‘He left before dawn. Before the Cashel warriors arrived at the abbey.’

  Eadulf smiled in satisfaction. ‘Doubtless taking the silver with him and leaving you to fight his battles?’

  ‘When the warriors broke through the gates, Febal was ordered to despatch you so that you would not stand witness against us,’ the second man told them.

  ‘Febal was ordered …’ Fidelma said the phrase thoughtfully. ‘Of course. That was after Giolla Rua had left?’

  The two men exchanged a nervous glance.

  ‘So you have seized your own chance to use us as hostages,’ Eadulf said cynically. ‘What do you plan?’

  ‘Shut up!’ the leader repeated. ‘One hostage is as good as another. I can kill one of you and still use the other – I don’t mind which. So make up your mind. Go quietly before us or take the consequences.’

  Fidelma reached out and laid a hand on Eadulf’s arm. She didn’t say anything but her meaningful look told him not to do anything hasty or impetuous. They
turned with the sword points behind them and made their way along the rest of the tunnel.

  Soon Eadulf could see the light ahead coming through the growth that he recalled had covered the main cave entrance. He felt a momentary despair because this side of the hill was so precipitous that Gormán would not think it worth covering. He would not know that there was a means of escape from the abbey through the caves. He wondered what the two men had in mind, for it meant a scramble down the rocky incline towards the forests, and beyond was the great winding river of the Siúr. Did they expect to find a boat there, and use it as a means of escape? How long would it be before they deemed it safe to release their hostages? Indeed – would they release them? His mind worked feverishly: if Brother Giolla Rua had come with his sacks of silver along this way, he had to have transport to do so. How else could he move a dozen heavy sacks of silver? Who did he have to carry them? In which direction would he go?

  There was another sharp jab at his shoulder. They were within a few metres of the fronds and ivy that covered the cave entrance.

  ‘Halt!’ grunted the first man. ‘You, woman, move to the entrance and draw aside some of that growth. I want you to look out and tell me what you see. Make sure the way is clear. No tricks mind, – or your companion will die instantly.’

  Fidelma moved to the growth and reached out a hand, drawing back the vegetation.

  ‘What do you see?’

  ‘A beautiful dawn,’ Fidelma replied without humour.

  ‘Don’t play games, woman. Your man’s life depends on it.’

  ‘I see the hillside, rocky and steep, and beyond that the start of the forest – and beyond that the glint of sun on the river and the hills to the south-west. What else is there to see?’

  ‘Warriors!’ The man’s voice was raised in anger. ‘Do you see any of the men of Cashel?’

  ‘I see nothing for you to be afraid of,’ she replied.

  ‘Then both of you move out first – and be careful. We are right behind you.’

  Fidelma nodded. ‘Ready, Eadulf?’ There was something in her tone which alerted Eadulf. His body became tense. They pushed their way through the fronds, out of the cave entrance and onto the open hillside. They were but a step or so outside when she shouted: ‘Drop!’ Eadulf did not question the order but threw himself down.