‘I met only with a thuggish man called Taran. He was the captain of the ship, the Koulm ar Maro. I saw no one else.’
Eadulf turned to Bleidbara. He realised it was no use pressuring the girl any further. Fidelma would surely know what to do.
‘We will leave things to Fidelma,’ he told Bleidbara. ‘Meanwhile, we’d best put one of your seamen on The Barnacle Goose to help the crew guide her through these unknown waters. I suggest we sail both ships back to Brilhag before we proceed further.’
Bleidbara turned without making any further acknowledgement of Trifina.
‘I’ll give the orders,’ he said shortly, over his shoulder.
Alone for a moment, Trifina regarded Eadulf angrily, and then her expression softened.
‘I am not the Koulm ar Maro,’ she said, and she sighed deeply. ‘I have told the truth.’
Eadulf had an instinct to believe, but then his instincts were sometimes wrong.
‘I saw this person once, this Dove of Death,’ he told her, ‘dressed all in white and masked. He or she was of a slight build and had a high-pitched voice — a man trying to sound like a woman…or a woman trying to sound like a man. I do not know.’
‘So you think it was me?’ Her voice was resigned. ‘Then the sooner we can get to Brilhag the better. Is it permitted that I go up on deck?’
Eadulf stood aside. ‘Of course.’
On deck he met with Wenbrit again. The boy was physically none the worse for his experience, but he was clearly unhappy.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Eadulf, as he found the boy sitting disconsolately on a step by the stern deck.
‘They killed Luchtigern.’
‘Luchtigern? The cat?’ Eadulf’s memory stirred. ‘No, they didn’t. We saw him at the Abbey of Gildas. Or rather, Fidelma did. He obviously came ashore. Did the boat put in near there?’
‘You saw him alive?’ The boy looked incredulous.
‘A lady called Aourken has been looking after him in the village near the Abbey of Gildas. The Barnacle Goose must have put in there.’
‘I do not know the abbey,’ the boy said. ‘One of the men who held us captive threw him overboard. He must have swum to shore.’
‘How was this? I thought cats didn’t swim.’
‘Luchtigern can. He’s a ship’s cat. But I didn’t think he made it to the shore.’
‘What happened exactly? Tell me from the moment the ship was captured.’
‘After you and the lady Fidelma jumped in the sea?’
‘Exactly so.’
‘They sent a skiff out after you but we saw you picked up by a sailing boat, which took you quickly out of reach. The wind turned and that man in the white clothing recalled the skiff. He told us to work the ship, with his men watching us to make sure we obeyed. We were ordered to dump the bodies overboard…Murchad, Gurvan, Menma, Lord Bressal. The one in white remained on board with his men, while his own ship followed us closely.’
‘Go on,’ encouraged Eadulf, when the boy hesitated.
‘The helmsman who took over headed for the coast. At least I thought so, but there was a wide gap between two headlands and suddenly we were in a strong current that propelled us at a fast speed between these two points of land. We were all surprised to find ourselves in a large inland sea dotted with islands. The Barnacle Goose was sailed round the eastern headland while the other ship held off. We were steered fairly close to shore and then the man in white and another man left our ship and rowed to the shore. That’s when Luchtigern was thrown overboard. He scratched this man and the man simply picked up Luchtigern and threw him over the side. I was held back so I could not see what happened.’
‘Well,’ Eadulf reassured him, ‘at least he managed to get ashore. That must have been on this peninsula they call Rhuis. What happened then?’
The boy shrugged. ‘The man in white disappeared, while the other, who had rowed him ashore, returned to the ship and we sailed on again until we came to this creek — and then we were all forced into the hold. We must have been held there for many days before you came. How did you find us? How were you saved? What…?’
Eadulf held up his hand to stem the flow of questions.
‘All in good time. Did you see or hear anyone since you have been here? Did the man in white return?’
Wenbrit shook his head. ‘No. They fed us once a day. Some of us could understand their speech for we have traded along these shores before, though no one knew of this inner sea — they call it the Little Sea, I am told. But even the knowledge of their speech did not help us because they refused to talk to us except to give us the food.’
‘And you heard nothing of any other prisoner being brought to the ship?’
‘As I say, Brother Eadulf, nothing did we hear until you came and opened the door to our prison. We did not even know there was a lady on board.’
Eadulf pursed his lips reflectively and glanced to where Trifina was standing by the railing, aloof and isolated. He then turned back reassuringly to the boy.
‘Well, all will be sorted out soon. And your cat was fine and healthy, last time I saw it.’
‘I suppose Hoel will be captain now that Murchad and Gurvan are dead?’
‘I suppose so. That is the crew’s decision. I think he was Gurvan’s assistant.’
‘Second mate,’ corrected the boy gently.
‘When we are ready, Hoel will have to sail us back to Aird Mhór.’
‘He’s a good seaman,’ said the boy solemnly.
The crew of the Barnacle Goose had cleared the deck of the bodies of the dead and transferred the prisoner to join the others on the Morvran. Buckets of water had been hauled up to wash away the blood and remove all signs of the recent conflict. Under Hoel’s instructions, the crew had also examined all the spars, sails and ropes to ensure that nothing had been tampered with and all was in working order.
Finally, Hoel came to inform them that the ship was ready.
Bleidbara smiled. ‘Excellent. I am leaving a couple of my best seamen to guide you out of here, and we’ll rendezvous off Brilhag.’ He turned to Eadulf. ‘I shall leave Trifina with you. Keep a careful watch on her…you know what I mean.’
He then addressed Hoel. ‘Our rowing boats can tow your ship stern first out of the creek. Once you have room to manoeuvre, then we’ll let you loose and it should be easy sailing.’ He gestured at one of his men. ‘This one is a good helmsman. You may put your trust in him to guide you through these waters to Brilhag.’
Bleidbara raised his hand, a quick gesture of farewell, and then followed Heraclius back over the side into the small boats.
The tow ropes were fixed and soon the ship, after the mooring ropes were cast off, was being pulled stern first into deep waters. Once clear of the shore they moved into a breeze that whispered against their sails. Ropes from the rowing boats were cast off and they could hear Hoel give the orders to hoist sail. With a crack of canvas they fell into place and the Barnacle Goose moved freely once again across the waters. Behind them, like a watchful guardian, came the sleek lines of the Morvran.
There had been consternation at Brilhag when the guards reported two ships moving into the bay below the fortress. But Fidelma recognised the first ship as the Barnacle Goose and her heart began to beat rapidly. Then she realised the escort was the Morvran and was filled with excitement and hope that Eadulf was alive and well. With a word of reassurance to King Alain, she raced headlong down to the small quay. Boric was about to launch a dinghy and readily agreed to take her out to the ships. She did not want anyone else from Brilhag to speak with Eadulf and Bleidbara before she had had a chance to hear their story.
Now, seated on the deck of the Morvran, where Eadulf had come to join her, she listened quietly to their story. At the end of it she peered across at the Barnacle Goose. She could see a boat being lowered.