Eadulf glanced at her in surprise. He had grown up in the pagan religion of his people and had been converted to Christianity by a wandering Irish missionary when he was in his early manhood. He still had the fervour of the converted and felt uncomfortable when confronted by those who held to their old religious beliefs. Nevertheless, Fidelma ignored his disapproving look.
‘So you have been here ever since?’ she went on.
‘I built this forge as soon as I left the forge of Cosrach. Within a week, Gaimredan joined me.’
‘And the old saying is that there are three places where one can gather news — the priest’s house, the tavern and the smith’s forge,’ Conri observed, reminding them of why they had come there.
Gaeth chuckled softly.
‘I thought that you were garnering a lot of information.’
Fidelma responded with a smile.
‘We were talking of what has befallen those on Seanach’s Island.’
‘We were,’ agreed Gaeth.
‘We, my companions and myself, have decided that we should try to reach Seanach’s Island, preferably under cover of darkness to avoid the attentions of the warship that guards the waters. We have to discover what has happened to those prisoners and the hermits who live on the island.’
Gaeth regarded her with a look of admiration.
‘It is an admirable enterprise, lady. One that requires courage.’
‘It merely requires determination,’ Fidelma replied. ‘Moreover, it requires a vessel and a guide.’
Gaeth’s eyes lit with understanding.
‘And that is what you are in search of? A vessel and a guide to take you to the islands?’
Fidelma nodded.
‘It needs to be a swift naomhog.’
Gaeth examined them and his look became doubtful.
‘I presume that your companions have handled a naomhog before? You would be facing the turbulent seas that separate these shores from that island.’
‘My warriors and I can row,’ Conri asserted.
‘Row? But can you row a naomhog? Can you guide it through tempestuous waters to reach the island? And you say that you intend to do this in the hours of darkness?’ He smiled sadly. ‘Give up the idea, lady.’
‘Leave the question of our skills to us,’ replied Fidelma firmly. ‘If you can just tell us where we may find such a vessel that will be sufficient.’
Gaeth gazed thoughtfully at her and then turned to his silent companion.
‘Well, Gaimredan, what do you think?’
The man had been watching Fidelma with his woeful expression. He suddenly leant forward as if peering into her mind.
‘Insight, reason and intellect. Impulsive, hot-tempered but sincere and unbegrudging. Positive, active and dominant, withal almost masculine but a mutable quality. This one is full of fire, searching restlessly for new fields to conquer.’
Gaeth was chuckling at Fidelma’s surprised expression.
‘Do not mind my friend, lady. He has a gift. I presume that you have recently celebrated a birthday?’
Eadulf was staring at the smith and his comrade in astonishment.
The smith glanced at him and his smile broadened.
‘It is no trick, Brother Saxon, merely the ancient knowledge.’ He turned back to Fidelma. ‘You were born when Danu, our mother goddess, was rising in the sky — the constellation of Eridanus. We are forgetting Eridanus, preferring to call it Toxetes as the Greeks do or Sagittarius as do the Latins. Both represent the fiery archer, but did not Danu also have a bow of victory, the fidbac bua?’
Fidelma, who knew something of the astrologer’s art from old Brother Conchobhar, the apothecary at Cashel, was following what he was saying. It did not surprise her that Gaimredan had fathomed such matters. She had seen it done often. But, interested as she was in the old knowledge, she was growing a little impatient.
‘What has this to do with my question?’ she snapped.
Gaeth and Gaimredan exchanged a look and both burst out laughing.
‘Impulsive, hot-tempered and brusque!’ chortled Gaimredan.
Gaeth controlled his mirth, seeing Fidelma’s brows drawing together, and held up a hand, palm outward.
‘Hold, lady, and we will tell you. You are setting out on an honourable course. My partner and I have such a naomhog as you seek. We use it for fishing. Mostly we fish in the lake here, Loch Gile, the bright lake. Sometimes we will take ourselves out into the seas. And we have fished
She was still frowning so he continued.
‘What I am saying is that we will take you out to the islands in our naomhog.’
Fidelma’s frown dissolved into a look of bewilderment.
‘You will do this simply because of the constellation under which I was born?’
Gaeth shook his head.
‘Because of the character that you have revealed to us,’ he replied firmly.
‘And what do you ask in return?’ Eadulf demanded, distrusting the smith and his companion.
‘What are you asking as payment for going to the islands to find out if the hermits are alive and well?’ Gaeth replied quietly.
‘Nothing, of course. We do not do this for payment.’
Gaeth smiled thinly.
‘Then that is what we ask for in return. Nothing.’
For a moment there was silence.
‘It is a very dangerous course that we embark on,’ Fidelma said slowly.
‘Did we not tell you so?’ replied Gaeth. ‘Let us simply say that in doing this we can repay those who have tried to despoil the tranquillity of this land. Now, we have a naomhog that can be rowed by six oarsmen, so it is big enough to accommodate us all. We can use your two warriors there to row with us to compensate for the extra weight in the boat. We can, at least, give them some instruction in the art of naomhog rowing. Is it agreed?’
Fidelma glanced at the warriors for affirmation.
‘Agreed,’ she said.
‘Then I suggest you leave your horses here, in our pen. Our vessel is beached on the shore of Loch Gile, so we will carry it overland from there to the beach in Breanainn’s bay.’
Eadulf stirred uneasily.
‘Carry it? Surely it is a long way?’
Gaeth shook his head.
‘Even the two of us have been known to carry it. It is very light. It is the oars that are heavy and so we keep spare oars in a hiding spot on the beach itself, as well as at the lake. It will take us but a little while.’ He glanced up at the sky. ‘We have time for a cold meal and to prepare
For the first time, Eadulf realised the enormity of what they were doing.
‘Are you sure that you know the waters well enough? When we sailed through those islands a few days ago, I saw so many rocks and tidal currents that I would be unsure of navigating the passage in broad daylight, let alone at night.’
‘My friend,’ Gaeth said reassuringly, ‘all you have to do is be a quiet passenger in the vessel. Leave the navigation to us. But if it reassures you, Gaimredan was born here on this shore and knows these waters so well that he can name each individual rock. The tide and the gods will be with us.’
Gaimredan was already preparing dishes of cold meats, cheeses and bread. A jug of cider was produced.
‘The wind is coming up from the south-east,’ Gaeth was saying, ‘so it will be at our backs and in our favour. It is when there is a westerly blow that we can expect a very rough sea and big swells.’
‘How can we approach Seanach’s Island without being seen?’
Gaeth rubbed his chin.
‘Dark will cover us all the way but there is only one sure place to land in safety. That place is the steep sandy beach on the east side. The landing is easy there and the community have their buildings just south of the landing place.’
‘Is there any other anchorage?’ Conri asked.
Gaeth shook his head.
‘Then that might be a problem,’ went on the warlord. ‘If the warship were already anchored at the island, that would be its natural harbour. It would dominate the landing place.’
‘I understand what you mean,’ agreed the smith. ‘However, it will be dark when we come round the headland and stand into the sandy beach. Unless a watch is being kept on ship and shore we have a good chance of not being seen.’