‘What then?’
‘Nothing. I stood for a while, expecting Eber to approach me. When he did not, I wondered if there was yet another chamber. I began to move along the wall. Holding one hand out before me. I had not gone far when my hand encountered something hot, uncomfortable. I believe it to be what you call a lamp. Something which burns by which you are able to see in the dark.’
Fidelma nodded and then realising the futility of it responded: ‘Yes. There was a lamp alight on the table. What then?’
‘I moved around the table and my feet encountered something on the floor. I recognised this as a mattress. I decided to crawlover it and continue my journey using the wall as my guide on the other side of the room. I was intent on finding a door to another chamber. I went on my hands and knees and began to climb over what I thought was the mattress …’
The tapping fingers paused. Then: ‘I realised that there was a body lying there. I touched it with my hand. It was wet and sticky. The wet had a salty taste and made me feel ill. I reached forward again to touch the face but my hand encountered something cold and also wet. It was very sharp. It was a … a knife.’
The young man shuddered.
‘I knelt there not knowing what to do. I knew Eber’s scent. I smelt that this was Eber before me and the life had gone from him. I think I moaned a little. I was making up my mind to seek a way out and rouse Teafa when rough hands gripped me. I feared for my life. I thrashed out. Other hands hit me, hurt me, and I was bound. I was dragged somewhere. It smelled vile. No one came near me. No one tried to communicate with me. I spent an eternity in purgatory not knowing what to do. I worked out that Eber must have been killed with a knife, the same that I had found and held. I also worked out that those who had seized me were either his killers or, worse, that they must have thought that I had killed Eber myself.
‘I tried to find something to carve a message to Teafa on. I could not understand why she had abandoned me. Now and then I was thrown scraps of food. There was a bucket of water. Sometimes I managed to eat and drink but often I could not find the scraps they threw me. No one helped me. No one.’
There was a pause before the finger tapping continued.
‘I do not know how long had passed. It seemed forever. Finally, I smelled a scent, the scent I smell now … The person called Fidelma. After that, hands, though rough, cleaned me, fed me and gave me water. I was still shackled but I was given a comfortable straw palliasse and the place smelled sweeter. Yetthe time sped on. It is only now that I can talk and only now that I realise fully what has taken place.’
Fidelma gave a long sigh as Gadra finished the translation from the tapping, moving fingers of the young man.
‘Móen, a great injustice has been done,’ she said at last. Gadra dutifully translated. ‘Even had the guilt been yours you should not have been treated like an animal. For that we must beg your forgiveness.’
‘You have nothing to be forgiven for, Fidelma. It is you who have rescued me from this plight.’
‘Not rescued yet. I fear that you will not be rescued until we have proved your innocence and identified the one who is guilty.’
‘I understand. How can I help you?’
‘You have helped enough for the present, though I will talk with you again. You will return to live in the cabin which you shared with Teafa, as this will be familiar to you. If Gadra is willing, he will be there to take care of you until our search for the guilty one is over. For your own protection I would urge you not to walk abroad unless you are accompanied.’
‘I understand. Thank you, Sister Fidelma.’
‘There is one more thing,’ she suddenly added, as the thought struck her.
‘Which is?’ prompted Móen through Gadra after she had paused.
‘You say that you were able to smell me?’
‘That is so. I have had to develop the senses that God left me. Touch, taste and smell. I can also feel vibrations. I can feel the approach of a horse or even a lesser animal. I can feel the course of a river. These things can tell me what is happening round me.’
He paused and grinned, looking, so it seemed, straight towards Brother Eadulf.
‘I know you have a companion, Fidelma, and that he is a male.’
Eadulf shifted awkwardly.
‘This is Brother Eadulf,’ interposed Gadra, and turning toEadulf, said: ‘If you do not know Ogam, squeeze Móen’s hand in acknowledgment.’
Cautiously, Eadulf reached forward, took the young man’s hand and squeezed it. He felt an answering pressure.
‘Blessings on you, Brother Eadulf,’ Móen’s finger movements were quickly traced by Gadra.
‘Let us return to your sense of smell,’ cut in Fidelma. ‘Cast your mind back, Móen. Remember the time when the person grabbed your hand and placed into it the stick with the Ogam instructing you to go to Eber? You said that you did not recognise the scent. Can you confirm that there was a scent?’
Móen thought for a while.
‘Oh yes. I have not thought of it since. It was a sweet scent of flowers.’
‘A scent of flowers? Yet it was cold, as you say. To us this would be night and judging from the time you were found at Eber’s apartments, this certainly seems so. There are few flowers that give out scent in the early hours of the morning.’
‘It was a perfume. At first I thought the person who handed me the stick was a lady by the scent. But the hands, the hands that touched mine were coarse and calloused. It must have been a man. Touch does not lie; it was a man who passed me the stick with the writing on.’
‘What type of perfume was it?’
‘I can identify smells but I cannot give them labels as you know them. However, I am sure that the hands were those of a man. Rough and coarse hands.’
Fidelma exhaled softly and sat back in her chair as if deep in thought.
‘Very well, Gadra,’ she said eventually to the old man, ‘I am placing Móen in your custody. You are to look after him and confine him to Teafa’s house for the time being.’
Gadra regarded her anxiously.
‘Do you believe that the boy is innocent of the crimes which he stands accused of?’
Fidelma was dismissive.
‘Believing and proving are two different things, Gadra. Do your best to see he is comfortable and I shall keep you informed.’
Gadra assisted Móen to his feet and led him to the door.
Dubán was still standing outside. He stood back to allow Gadra and his charge to pass after Fidelma had told him her wishes.
‘There will be some in this rath who will not like this decision, Fidelma,’ the warrior muttered.
Fidelma’s eyes flashed angrily.
‘I certainly expect the guilty to be unhappy,’ she replied.
Dubán blinked at her sharp tone.
‘I will inform Crón of your decision about Móen. However, I came to inform you of some news which may interest you.’
‘Well?’ she asked, after he had paused.
‘A rider has just come into the rath with the news that one of the outlying farms was attacked early this morning. I am taking some men immediately to see what assistance we can render. I thought that you might be interested to know whose farm it was which was attacked.’
‘Why?’ demanded Fidelma. ‘Get to the point, man. Why would I be interested?’
‘It was the farmstead of the young man Archú.’
Eadulf pursed his lips in a soundless whistle.
‘A raid on Archú’s farmstead? Was anyone hurt?’
‘A neighbouring shepherd brought us the news and reported that he had seen cattle being run off, barns set alight and he thinks someone was killed.’
‘Who was killed?’ demanded Fidelma.
‘The shepherd was unable to tell us.’