Read The Monk Who Vanished Online

Authors: Peter Tremayne

Tags: #_NB_Fixed, #_rt_yes, #Church History, #Fiction, #tpl, #Mystery, #Historical, #Clerical Sleuth, #Medieval Ireland

The Monk Who Vanished (14 page)

BOOK: The Monk Who Vanished
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‘We do not know that for certain. But I am inclined to agree. If he was killed to prevent him telling us what he knew then it would be wiser to let whoever killed him believe that he was unable to speak with us. We must keep quiet about this. He will be found tomorrow when someone comes to the well. We will work on the assumption that he was killed to keep him silent, and we should pretend he kept that silence.’
‘I do not like it,’ confessed Eadulf. ‘It seems an unChristian thing to do, simply to go away and leave him thus.’
‘He will not mind and, as we are in pursuit of justice, neither will God. It might be an advantage in tracking his killers for if they are connected with our assassin friends then we have learnt something important which gives us a small advantage.’
She knelt down beside the body and uttered a short blessing before standing up.
‘Sic itur ad astra,’
muttered Eadulf sarcastically. Thus one goes to the stars.
Eadulf was suddenly aware of the continued howling of the wolves which seemed to have grown closer while they had been talking at
the well. He picked up his staff, which he had let fall when he had examined the body, and turned to Fidelma.
‘We’d best start back.’
Fidelma was in agreement. She, too, had noticed the growing nearness of the sound of the wolves.
They went back across the field and climbed over the short stone wall which bordered the field and onto the track. The moon was up now, a bright mid-September moon. It seemed no longer dark. There were a few clouds in the sky but they did not obscure the pale white brightness. The gloom and mist had only hung in the field around the well, encouraged by the dampness. Here on the track the darkness had been dissipated and the pallid light cast shadows across the lane as they hurried towards the distant lights of the township.
The rising cry of the wolves caused an involuntary shudder, not for the first time, to tingle its way down Eadulf back.
He cast a nervous glance around. ‘They sound as if they are pretty near,’ he muttered.
‘We will be all right,’ Fidelma replied confidently. ‘Wolves don’t attack adult humans unless they are starving.’
‘Who’s to say that these beasts aren’t starving?’ Eadulf grunted.
If the truth were known, Fidelma was thinking the same thought. Eadulf was not sure that he had seen it, so quickly did the shape flit across his gaze. It appeared to be a large dark shadow which moved swiftly across the path about twenty yards ahead. Some instinct caused him to halt.
‘What is it?’ whispered Fidelma, seeing his shoulders suddenly tense. She stood still by his side, peering forward.
‘I am not sure …’ began Eadulf.
The soft growling caused their limbs to feel as if they had suddenly been frozen.
The shadow moved again, a long low, muscular shape and suddenly the pale moonlight reflected on two round pinpoints which seemed to twinkle like points of fire. The growling sound increased.
‘Get behind me, Fidelma,’ hissed Eadulf, raising his staff protectively before him.
The beast took a step nearer, all the while continuing its deep growling sound.
‘I can’t see if it is a wolf or just a watch-dog from a farm,’ Fidelma whispered, squinting into the darkness.
‘Either way, it is a threat,’ replied Eadulf.
Abruptly, with no warning at all, the great animal launched itself forward. Had Eadulf not been possessed of quick reflexes it would have been at his throat. Even as the animal was springing from the
ground, Eadulf swung his staff and met the creature halfway with a blow, more out of luck than a sound aim, that contacted with its muzzle. He had put what force he could muster into the stroke. With a yelp of pain the animal was knocked to the ground and, whining, it trotted back a few yards. Then it halted, its whimper turning into a snarl of defiance.
When Fidelma spoke, Eadulf heard fear in her voice for the first time since he had known her.
‘It’s no dog, Eadulf. It’s a wolf.’
Eadulf had not taken his eyes from the beast which began to move slowly back and forth before them, continuing to growl, as if watching them for some weak spot. It started to make short little runs up and down but did not approach them. The red, luminescent eyes were constantly fixed on Eadulf as he turned, keeping the staff held before him at all times.
‘We cannot keep this up all night,’ he muttered.
‘There is nowhere to go,’ replied Fidelma.
‘There is a tree a few yards down there … if I keep the animal at bay, perhaps you could make it … scramble up into the branches … ?’
‘And what would you do?’ she protested. ‘You would not be able to reach the tree before the beast reached you.’
‘What alternative do we have?’ replied Eadulf, fear giving him an irascible tone. ‘Shall we both be caught here and savaged by the animal? I will try to turn the beast out of the path so that you can slip by it. That will give you a clear field to run. When I call to you … run! Don’t look back and make sure you climb as high as you can.’
There was such determination in his voice that Fidelma realised it was pointless to protest. In any case, logically, Eadulf was correct. They had no other choice.
Eadulf made a few lunges at the growling wolf which caused it to start back in surprise at his audacity. Then it seemed that its fiery eyes narrowed and it showed its great slobbering fangs again. It had turned a little. Eadulf lunged again.
There came a single eerie wail from nearby. The howl sent shivers through them both. It echoed from the direction of the field that they had just left.
The attacking wolf stood and lifted its head to the moonlight, which fell with its soft white rays on the upturned muzzle of the animal. From some point deep down in the throat there rose a sound, faint at first, then welling in strength and volume until the jaws parted and the most unearthly shrill howl rent the air. Never had Eadulf heard
anything like it. Once, twice and a third time the cry shattered the evening stillness around them. As the cry subsided, the wolf seemed to pause and listen.
Sure enough, from the field, came an answering cry, an awesome wailing sound.
Without further ado, not even so much as a glance in Eadulf s direction, the attacking wolf turned and loped over the stone boundary wall and away towards the field behind them.
Eadulf found himself still transfixed and the sweat was pouring from his brow. His staff was slippery in the palms of his hands.
It was Fidelma who moved first.
‘Come on, lest there be others of those creatures nearby. Let’s get to the safety of the township.’
When Eadulf did not move, she reached forward and tugged him by the sleeve.
He tried to collect his wits, turned and hurried after her in a rapid trot, now and then casting nervous glances across his shoulders.
‘But they are heading for the field where we left the …’
‘Of course!’ snapped Fidelma. ‘Why do you think the wolf abandoned its attack against us? Its mate — ’ her voice trembled slightly — ‘had found the carcass; found more easy prey than us. That was the meaning of those terrible cries between them. In death that poor man has saved us.
Deo gratias
!’
A feeling of nausea welled up in him as Eadulf realised what gruesome meal must now be being enjoyed by the well. Yet they could have been that meal. Fidelma could have been … He began to mutter, ‘
Agnus
Dei … 0 Lamb of God …’ It was the prayer in the office for the burial of the dead.
‘Save your breath,’ Fidelma interrupted irritably. ‘Honour the man’s sacrifice by being worthy of it and reaching safety.’
Eadulf fell silent, hurt by Fidelma’s curtness. He was, after all, more concerned with her safety than his own. However, he had realised, for the first time since he had known her, that she, too, could be inspired by fear.
They did not speak again until they had reached the edge of the township and went along the main street, quickly passing the glowing lamp of the tavern of Cred. There were a few people on the street but no one seemed to notice them until they came to the blacksmith’s forge.
In spite of the lateness of the hour, the smith was seated near to a glowing brazier which stood by his anvil. He was polishing a metal sword blade. He glanced up and recognised them.
‘I would have a care about being abroad after dark, lady,’ he greeted.
Fidelma halted before him. She had entirely recovered her composure now and returned his gaze evenly. ‘Why so?’
The smith cocked his head to one side in a listening attitude. ‘Have you not heard them, lady?’
In the stillness of the evening the sounds of the baying wolves came faintly to their ears.
‘Yes, we’ve heard them.’ Her voice was tight.
The smith nodded slowly. He did not cease in his polishing. ‘I have never known them nearer to the township,’ he observed. ‘I would hurry back to the abbey, if I were you.’
He bent to his task as if engrossed. Then he raised his head again. ‘I think, as
bó-aire
of the township, I shall have to call a hunt tomorrow to flush these brutes out from their lairs.’
It was not unusual for a local chieftain, or even a prince or the King himself, to organise a wolf hunt in order to keep the numbers of the savage beasts at an acceptable level. Yet it seemed to Eadulf that there was some other meaning behind the man’s words. He wondered whether he was right or whether he was hearing things which were not there due to the emotion of the evening’s events.
Fidelma left the smith without another word and began to walk towards the tall, dark walls of the abbey, along the path by the great yew-tree. Eadulf hurried after her. Once out of earshot, he articulated his thoughts.
‘Do you think that he had some hidden meaning in his words?’
‘I do not know. Perhaps not. At this stage I think we should be prepared for anything.’
‘What is our next course of action?’
‘I think that should be obvious now.’
Eadulf pondered for a moment or two.
‘Cred, I suppose? We must question her again.’
Fidelma’s voice was approving in the gloom. ‘Excellent. Yes, we must go and have another word with Cred because if Samradán’s driver was correct, that innkeeper knows more of this than she has told us.’
‘Well, I think the solution is clear.’
Eadulf sounded so positive that Fidelma was surprised.
‘You have solved our puzzle already, Eadulf?’ There was a faint sarcasm in her voice which he did not detect. ‘That is clever of you.’
‘Well, you heard what the driver said. The archer was receiving instructions from a prince. Are there so many princes who are enemies of Cashel?’
‘Many,’ she replied dryly. ‘Though I do confess that the Uí Fidgente did spring to mind. But we cannot accuse Donennach merely on the
fact that the driver heard the archer address a man as
rígdomna.
Many princes would like to see the Eóghanacht fall from power. The greatest enemy of the Eóghanacht are the Uí Néill, particularly Mael Dúin of the northern Uí Néill, the King of Ailech. Their enmity goes back to the time of the ancestor of the Gaels Mile Easpain. His sons Eber and Eremon fought over the division of Eireann. Eber was killed by the followers of his brother Eremon. It is from Eremon that the Uí Néill claim their descent.’
Eadulf was impatient. ‘This I know. And the Eóghanacht of the south claim their descent from Eber. But do you really think that Cashel is threatened by the Uí Néill of the north?’
‘That which grows in the bone is hard to drive out of the flesh,’ observed Fidelma as they came to the gate of the abbey and paused.
‘I don’t understand,’ protested Eadulf.
‘The Uí Néill have spent over a millennium hating the Eóghanacht and envying them their kingdom.’
The monk in attendance at the gate was Brother Daig, the fresh-faced youth they had seen earlier. He seemed happy to see them.
‘Thanks be to God that you are safely returned. I have been listening to the cries of the wolves in the hills these last two hours or more. It is not an evening to be without shelter.’
He drew the gate shut behind them.
‘We have heard them as well,’ Eadulf observed dryly.
‘You should be aware that there are many wolves in the woods and fields around here,’ Brother Daig went on good-naturedly. ‘They can be very dangerous.’
Eadulf was just about to rejoin that he was all too well aware of it when he caught Fidelma’s warning glance.
‘You are most considerate, Brother,’ she said. ‘We will have a care the next time we venture abroad at dusk.’
‘There is cold food in the refectory, Sister, if you have not eaten,’ the young monk continued. ‘As the hour is late I am afraid that you have missed the hot food.’
‘It is of no consequence. Brother Eadulf and I will go to the refectory. Thank you for being so solicitous. It is most appreciated.’
BOOK: The Monk Who Vanished
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