he knew where to find them. The mountain range was huge, and they could be anywhere.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, turning on his heel and setting off into the darkness, breathing deeply to clear the graveyard stench from his nostrils. He retraced his steps to the steep slope of the coomb and called out to the men waiting above. Having assured them the village was safe, since the old man, as crazed as he was, could not present a threat, he waited patiently while they negotiated their way down through the trees. With Hywel hampering them, it took them twice as long as it had taken him.
While Dodinal waited, the aroma of cooking meat began to drift across the valley floor towards him. At once his mouth was awash with saliva. The old man had not lied about having food. Dodinal suspected it would be better for their peace of mind that they did not question him too closely as to its provenance.
Finally the men had made their way down, and crowded around him, wanting to know what he had found. “A crazy old man who might just be able to help us,” was all he would tell them before he started back towards the hut. They wanted to hear more, but then they, too, caught the waft of roasting meat. They would have devoured any food set before them, but fresh meat was like a gift from the gods.
Before they reached the hut, Dodinal stopped and gathered them around him. “Don’t do anything that might frighten him.”
“We’ll be on our best behaviour,” Madoc promised. “Any man who can get his hands on fresh meat deserves our respect.”
“I don’t know about respect, but we need to be careful. I think he knows where we will find those creatures. It could save us days of searching. We need him to trust us; if he gets scared or takes a dislike to anyone, for whatever reason, he might refuse to talk.”
“There are other ways,” Madoc growled.
“He is a helpless old man who has done nothing to harm us,” Dodinal answered levelly. “Anyone who lays a finger on him will answer to me. Besides, he has been through so much, I doubt we could do anything to break him if he did turn against us. But it won’t come to that. He seemed eager to help.”
He went into the hut first so as not to startle the old man. The others followed hesitantly behind.
“Come in, come in,” the old man urged them. He was crouched by the fire where a half-leg of meat was spit- roasting over the flames. His eyes widened when he saw Hywel, who was almost dead on his feet and would have collapsed had Emlyn not taken him by the elbow to support him. “What happened to your friend?”
“We were attacked,” Dodinal said. “It’s a long story, which I will tell you later. For now, though, we would be grateful for the chance to rest. It has been a long and tiring day.”
“Of course! Make yourself at home. Not that it’s much of a home, but you’re welcome to it.”
Gerwyn rolled his eyes at Dodinal, but he knew enough to say nothing. They sank to the ground, groaning with relief to be off their feet at last. Hywel sat with his back resting against the wall. The swelling on his forehead was going down, but the bruise was even more livid than it had been. It would get worse before it got better.
“What meat is that?” Gerwyn asked. Dodinal wished he hadn’t. They might not be so eager to eat on hearing the answer.
“Goat.”
Dodinal blinked. “Goat?”
“Yes, goat. Haven’t you ever heard of goat before?”
“Yes,” Dodinal said, not wanting to offend. “Of course. But… well, there hasn’t been any fresh game around for many months, with the winter we’ve had. I was surprised you had managed to get your hands on any.”
“It has nothing to do with the winter.” The man turned the meat with one hand and waved vaguely in the direction of the mountains with the other. “It’s those black-hearted devils up there. They’ve been on the move. I’ve heard them, going down to the forest, screeching and yelping like mad things. Heard them come back, too. Wherever they go they frighten everything away. They scared off the goats for a while. But that was a long time ago, and the goats came back. They learned it was safer up here than down there, even with the creatures on the prowl. Bears and wolves eat goat.
He nodded towards a small stash of swords and spears, all of them faded with age, piled against the wall in one corner. There was a bow and a quiver of arrows too. “The goats know all about me. I still have good eyes, even if the rest of the me is slowly falling apart. But I only ever take what I need, so they’re wary of me and no more than that.”
Dodinal cast his senses out. He had become so used to the empty world he had not thought to do so until now. Sure enough, there were life-lights in the hills around and above him. Whatever else happened, they would not go hungry. Goats were nimble and fast on rough terrain, but if a frail old man could bring them down, seasoned hunters like them should have no trouble doing so.
“Do you know what the creatures are?” Emlyn asked. Dodinal winced. So much for the subtle approach.
“All in good time,” the old man said dismissively, and devoted his attention to the meat. “Eat first, then talk. We have all night.”
They sat in silence, eyes closed, only the tantalising smell of the goat keeping them from falling asleep. Finally the old man judged the meat to be cooked, and he let it cool for a few moments before taking an ancient knife to it, slicing thick chunks away from the bone and handing them around. The men were too hungry to worry about his grubby fingers and snatched the meat off him, scarcely managing to utter their thanks before cramming their mouths full. They chewed like ravenous hounds, swallowed and held out their hands for more.
Once the last scraps had been prised from the bone they sat back with hands resting on bellies, picking their teeth.
“I’d offer you more, but that’s the last for now.” The man’s voice was muffled. It took him longer to chew because he had so few teeth. “I’ll be out with the bow come morning. Don’t suppose there’s any point asking you along. You’ll be wanting to be on your way.”
“That we will,” said Dodinal. “Perhaps you’d be good enough to tell us where we can find what we seek. And the quickest way to get there.”
The man nodded. Something about him had changed. The manic intensity had vanished from his eyes. Perhaps that had only been an act to scare away strangers. He looked almost sad. “You can leave your injured friend here if you like.” He nodded at Hywel, who had fallen asleep sitting up, head tilted to one side. “He is no use to you blind. Oh, don’t look so surprised. I’d have to be blind myself to miss it. Don’t worry, I’ll look after him until you return.”
He did not say
Dodinal looked at Emlyn, Hywel’s closest friend, and was more than a little relieved to see the bowman nod his approval.
It made sense. As much as they liked him, there was no denying Hywel was a dead weight. He would hold them back when they needed to hurry. He would be no use in a fight, and could not defend himself from attack.
No, it would be better this way. At least they knew one of them would survive the journey. Maybe one day, if his sight recovered, he would make his way home and tell the villagers what had happened.
“We accept your kind offer,” Dodinal said. “Seeing as we will be away with the dawn, perhaps you will tell us now where to find the creatures, to save us having to disturb you before we leave.”
“You first,” the old man said. “Tell me what brought you here. Not just you, Dodinal, though I sense you’re different from the rest. All of you. What happened to bring you to this cursed place?”
Dodinal saw no reason to complicate matters by telling of his own past. So he began at the point where Ellis had arrived in their village and recounted the tale from there on as quickly as he could. The old man listened intently. His eyes clouded with pain when he heard how they had found the missing boy’s body in the snow. His face twisted with anger as Dodinal described the attack on the village and the ensuing slaughter, followed by the taking of the two children.
When the story was told, the old man sat in silence. Then he slowly shook his head. “Dear God, it’s worse than I thought.” His words were thick with emotion. “And it’s all my fault. All
“Don’t blame yourself.” Dodinal failed to see how one frail and elderly man could have been responsible for any of it. “Please, just tell us what you know so we can sleep. They are so far ahead of us we will have to leave as soon as it is light. Even then, I fear we might be too late.”
“I’ll stand first watch,” Madoc volunteered.
