“That’s natural,” agreed Fidelma. “Was Enda liked by everyone in your family. . your sisters, for example?”
“My sisters don’t like boys anyway. That’s why I liked having a comaltae. My father’s apprentices were too old to have time for me. All they cared about was their work and soppy girls in the village when they went to dances. .dances! ” The boy shuddered as he gave expression to the word.
“So only you were friends with Enda.”
“I suppose so. He was two years younger than me.”
“But you liked him?”
“I suppose so.”
“How did your parents treat him? No, don’t look at them, Maine. Look at me,” she added quickly when Colla and his wife started to rise from their seats. She glanced quickly at them and said: “You will both be silent while I am examining witnesses.” She turned back and repeated: “How did your parents treat him?”
Maine shrugged.
“My father didn’t have much to do with us, except when he was teaching us about carpentry and the like. Mother was always moaning about something. I don’t think Enda liked her but that’s just her way.”
“She finds fault with all of you?”
Maine shrugged.
“More with Enda than me or my sisters.”
“Now, when you found the body, I understand that you were all playing together that morning?”
The boy kicked at the floor.
“Because Faife said we should. She’s my eldest sister and. . well, you know what elder sisters are like.”
Fidelma smiled softly.
“Tell me.”
“Bossy. You know.”
“So you all went off to play because Faife told you to? What did you play?”
“Hide and go seek. In the woods. It was boring, ’cos the girls are so easy to find. Enda finally became fed up and said he was going back to the house.”
“But you stayed on?”
“For a while. It was Faife’s turn to hide and it took a long time to find her. This time she hid herself well. Had it not been for the business of Enda, I think our mother would have been very angry with her.”
“Angry? Why?”
“I found her hiding under some bushes where it was wet and muddy. Her dress was in a terrible mess. Mother would have given her a good hiding had it not been. . well, you know.”
“So what did you do then?”
“Faife wanted another game but I was bored, like Enda. I decided to go to look for him.”
“And that is when you found him in the pond?”
The boy nodded quickly.
“When I saw him in the middle of the pond, I ran off to find my father.”
“Two more questions. How far was the pond from where you were playing your game?”
The boy frowned.
“Not very far.”
“Did you know about the theft of the eggs?”
Maine nodded quickly.
“What did Enda say when he was accused of taking the eggs?”
“He said he had not taken the eggs. That it was a story that had been made up by the girls ’cos they didn’t like him. Mother wanted father to wallop him good, but father said he couldn’t but would speak to Enda’s father when he could.”
Fidelma dismissed him and called for Una to come forward.
She was eight years old and nervous.
“Did you like Enda?” Fidelma asked.
“Not much. Boys are rough creatures. I don’t see why we had to have him living with us and he was. .”
Fidelma examined her sharply.
“He was-what?”
“A thief. Mummy said so. Thieves are punished. That’s why he probably drowned in the pool. God probably drowned him. Mummy said so.”
“But Enda denied he was the thief.”
“He would, wouldn’t he? He’s a liar because mummy said so.”
“And you always believe you mother?”
“She’s my mother,” the girl replied with simplicity. Fidelma let her return to her seat.
Faife was eleven years old, solemn, and trying to behave as a grown-up. When Fidelma posed her initially question the girl frowned in thought.
“I did not dislike him.”
“Not even when you discovered that he was a thief?”
The girl sniffed.
“I knew he had done wrong. I told my mother that he had stolen the eggs.”
“Did he admit that he had stolen the eggs?”
“I found him with the eggs. He could not deny it.”
“Why would he steal eggs from the kitchen?”
Faife frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“He was living with your family and being fed by your family. What need had he of eggs?”
She shrugged as if it was either not important or she did not care.
“I can’t answer for him.”
“What makes you so sure that he did steal the eggs?”
“I said so, didn’t I?” A note of belligerence crept into her voice.
“But how do you know?” pressed Fidelma, not put out by the girl’s tone.
“Because I found him with the eggs.”
“What happened?”
The girl hesitated and then nodded quickly.
“I went to where Enda slept sharing a room with my brother and my dad’s two apprentices.”
“Why?” Fidelma’s voice interrupted sharply.
There was no hesitation.
“I went looking for Enda to come for the daily lesson my mother gave us in how to tell our letters.”
“And?”
“He was on his bed with the eggs. It is my job to go to the hen house and collect the eggs each morning. I had done so that morning and put them in the kitchen. He had stolen them from there.”
“Did you ask him where the eggs came from?”
The little girl chuckled.
“He told me that he found them under his bed. Of course, no one believed him. Anyway, I said that I would take charge of them and return them.”
“Did you do so?”
“I was taking them back to the kitchen when my mother came. Enda had already scuttled off. My mother asked me what I was doing with the eggs and I had to tell the truth, ’cos that’s important, isn’t it?”
Fidelma looked at the earnest expression on Faife’s face and sighed deeply.
“What did your mother say?”
“Mummy said that Enda would be in for a good beating when daddy returned.”
“And was he?”
Faife pouted, almost in disapproval.
“Daddy said he was not allowed to touch Enda. We get hit when we do something wrong, why was it wrong to hit Enda?”
“In what way do you get hit?”
“Mummy usually hits us with a switch across the back of the legs.”
“Go back to your place, Faife,” Fidelma said quietly. She paused for a moment. The law, according to her reading of it, was quite clear and did not only apply to foster children. Corporal punishment was prohibited against a child except for a single smack in anger with the palm of the hand. She wondered if she should make a point of this. She decided to leave it to judgment.
“Is the neighbor whose honey was stolen here?” she demanded, when Faife returned to her seat.
“It was my honey that was stolen.” A man with thin, sallow looks rose from his seat. His dress was of leather-patched woolen trousers, a short sleeve jacket and boots. “My name is Mel, lady. I am a neighbor of Colla and Dublemna.”
“And you keep bees?”
“Don’t worry,” grinned the man. “I know all about the Bechbretha, the law of bees, and I can assure you that I have given the necessary pledges to my four neighbors allowing them to have swarms from my hives to guarantee me immunity from any claim of trespass. However, as Colla had no wish to keep bees, I guaranteed him combs of honey from my hives in fair exchange. So I am aware of the law and I keep the law.”
Fidelma regarded the farmer with a solemn look.
“That is good. We have heard it suggested that you found that honeycombs were being removed from your hives?”
“I can confirm it. I noticed the missing combs a few weeks ago and I went ’round to my neighbors to warn them that there might be a thief about. However, it was only one comb that went missing at a time and that only every few days. It seemed so petty. It was only a few days ago, after the boy-this boy Enda-drowned in the pool, that Dublemna told me that they had found part of a honeycomb in his belongings. Of course, I would not prosecute my neighbors for what the boy had done, even though Colla had taken on this role as aite-foster father.”