Fidelma looked at him suspiciously. ‘Eadulf…you will go back to the fortress and…well, you will not go off on your own and do anything foolish? I think we may be facing some evil force that is even more dangerous than we think. I don’t want you moving without me.’
Eadulf was reassuring. ‘You have that broth and rest now. I’ll return in the morning.’
He found Menma outside the hut rubbing down the horses.
‘How is she?’ the hunter enquired anxiously.
‘Recovering and in good spirits,’ Eadulf informed him. ‘I shall be returning to Rath Raithlen to say that she is staying here this night, with your wife’s approval…’
‘Of course, the lady Fidelma will be our guest.’
Eadulf glanced at the sun, observing that it was still not far after midday. There was a whole afternoon that would go to waste.
‘She wants to go back to the caves tomorrow,’ he added quietly.
Menma looked astonished.
‘The lady is tenacious,’ he replied. ‘What does she hope to find there?’
Eadulf did not reply but a thought was stirring in his mind. ‘There are some hours before daylight ends. I wonder…?’
Menma was looking at him expectantly and read his thoughts. ‘Are you intending to go back yourself, Brother Eadulf?’
‘If we had proper lamps to see with…’
‘I have such lamps. When do you intend to go?’
‘There is no time like the present,’ Eadulf replied with confidence.
‘Then saddle the horses again. We can ride back to where you left them before. It will save time. I will go to fetch lamps and some rope, for we might need it if you intend to explore the lower caves.’
A short time later they were approaching the familiar rocky outline of the Derc Crosda. Menma had brought oil lamps and two long pieces of stout hemp rope that they carried between them. He had left his small hound, Luchóc, behind at the bothán, feeling that the animal would be a hindrance in view of the expected cave exploration.
‘What do you expect to find here, Brother Eadulf?’ asked Menma as they reached the dark entrance leading into the rocky cavern. Eadulf had to confess that he did not know and that he was merely pre-empting Fidelma’s exploration.
Menma lit the lamps and they moved through the main cave. This time Eadulf lost no time in moving to the fissure and into the next cave, finding the passageway and descending to the cavern with the circular pool. Things were much clearer now they had proper lights to see by. The stalactites and stalagmites were rather beautiful now they could view them properly. However, Eadulf had his mind on other things.
He walked to the edge of the pool and stood staring at the point where Fidelma had tumbled in. There were many times when he wished Fidelma was more open with her thoughts. What was the significance of the piece of silver chain?
Menma stood quietly behind, waiting patiently.
Then, moving around the dark pool, Eadulf suddenly realised that there were several tunnels leading off from this cave. He raised the lamp so that the light fell on their entrances and he saw that they appeared to be manmade.
‘When was this mine worked out, Menma?’ he asked.
The hunter shrugged. ‘In my grandfather’s day, or so I was told. Apparently, this was a rich mine once but like all mines it was eventually exhausted.’
Eadulf was frowning, trying to remember what it was that Fidelma had said about mining in the area. He was moving round the pool to examine the tunnels. One in particular caught his eye.
‘I would have thought that this had been worked fairly recently,’ he observed, pointing to the markings on the wall.
Menma came forward to examine it and whistled slightly in surprise.
‘It does looks new,’ he admitted. ‘But I should imagine that down here things are better preserved than in the open.’
‘Perhaps,’ Eadulf replied, not convinced. He bent to examine the marks in more detail, holding the lamp close. ‘Let’s explore this one further,’ he suggested, moving off without waiting for Menma’s assent.
Unlike the cavern with the pool, the tunnel seemed extraordinarily dry and it was clearly hewn by men. It seemed to move upwards at a gentle angle and as it did so it narrowed and the roof grew lower so that soon they were crouching.
‘We must be coming to a work face,’ Menma hazarded. ‘It will just lead into a dead end.’
Eadulf determined to press on to the end of the tunnel in spite of Menma’s conviction that it was a waste of time.
Before the tunnel ended it opened into a small area six feet in width by six feet high and nine feet long. There were tools stacked in this manmade cave and lamps ready for lighting. Even Menma was forced to blink at the sight.
‘This has not been deserted for any length of time,’ Eadulf pointed out unnecessarily. ‘Men have been mining here and recently.’
Something glinting on the rock face caught his eye. He moved forward, holding the lamp high. Then he took his knife from his belt and scratched at it.
‘Fool’s gold?’ he queried.
Menma, at his side, shook his head wonderingly.
‘I swear that is the real thing,’ he said. ‘My grandfather worked the mines before they were abandoned. I know something of this metal.’
He reached up a hand to touch it. Then, to Eadulf’s surprise, he rubbed his finger on the glinting surface and placed the finger to his tongue. Finally, he nodded vigorously.
‘It is a taste that you do not forget easily, Brother Eadulf,’ the hunter sighed. ‘It is genuine. You are right. It looks as if someone has been working the seam recently.’
Eadulf was deep in thought.
Could the boy — what had been his name? Síoda? — could the boy have taken his gold from here? But then Gobnuid had told Fidelma it was fool’s gold. Not genuine. Fidelma had not believed it. And what had this to do with the deaths of the three girls? He shook his head. The conundrum was too much for him. He did not have enough knowledge even to consider the questions that now presented themselves.
‘Is this what the lady Fidelma was looking for?’ asked Menma, interrupting his thoughts.
‘I believe so,’ Eadulf replied. But why, he thought to himself. What possible connection could this working have to do with the investigation into the murders of the three girls?
‘Are you absolutely sure that this is genuine gold?’ he pressed Menma.
For an answer the young hunter reached for one of the tools that had been stacked at the side of the cave.
‘It is easy enough to demonstrate,’ he said. ‘We will take a piece with us and show it to a smith. But I am positive it is real gold.’
He set to work on the rock face and within a short time had isolated a small round nugget, which he handed to Eadulf. Eadulf regarded it dubiously for a moment and then placed it in his marsupium.
‘Now let us return to the daylight, while there is daylight,’ he said, and noted the relief with which Menma accepted the suggestion.
It was not long before they were blinking in the pale autumn sunlight.
They had started to move down towards the tree line when Menma suddenly halted, laid a restraining hand on Eadulfs arm and placed a finger to his lips.
‘What is it?’ whispered Eadulf.
‘A sound, a stone falling…’ Menma whispered back. He turned, as if looking for something, and then pointed towards a clump of nearby trees and bushes. He hurried towards them with Eadulf on his heels. Eadulf allowed himself to be led into the cover of the undergrowth and followed Menma’s example in crouching down for better concealment.
Menma was holding his head to one side in a listening attitude.
‘Someone is coming up on the far side of the hill, from the direction of the abbey. I thought you might not want them to see us before you have seen them.’
Eadulf was just about to reply when the figure of a man came scrambling quickly over the rocks around the shoulder of the hill. He was moving swiftly, glancing behind him every so often almost as if he were being pursued. He reached the open area before the cave and stood hesitating for a moment. Then he turned. For a second or so Eadulf thought that he was going to make a beeline towards the undergrowth in which they were concealed. Then the man seemed to make up his mind and hurried towards a group of rocks that also gave cover at the side of the cave entrance. To Eadulf’s amazement the man concealed himself behind them, but not before Eadulf had realised who it was.