Badger's Moon

There came some shouting from the gates ahead as the lookouts spotted them in the darkness.

‘Now,’ she reflected on the question, ‘now we shall tell Becc what has happened at Menma’s bothán and then I must think awhile.’

In fact, Becc was waiting at the fortress gates for them with his steward Adag.

‘Fidelma!’ He came forward with arms outstretched. ‘I am thankful to see you, cousin. When we saw smoke rising in the forest we were concerned. When Adag told me that you had not been in the fortress since this morning — you and Brother Eadulf,’ he nodded quickly to Fidelma’s companion, ‘we grew very concerned.’

‘Your concern should be for the wife of Menma the hunter,’ responded Fidelma and quickly told him about the raid of the Uí Fidgente.

Becc was shocked. ‘The Uí Fidgente raiding this far south? Adag,’ he turned to his steward, ‘send someone to spread word of this to the abbey and to the surrounding raths so that they may be warned and keep a careful watch.’

All was commotion within the fortress as the chieftain’s orders were camed out. Meanwhile, Becc, having ordered that their horse be cared for, guided Fidelma and Eadulf back to his great hall and summoned a servant to bring wine and mead.

‘How dangerous do you think the Uí Fidgente threat is?’ he demanded of Fidelma after wine had been brought to them.

‘The Uí Fidgente are always to be considered dangerous, Becc,’ replied Fidelma. ‘Since their defeat at Cnoc Áine, they have been waiting for another chance to rise up. Yet, somehow, I believe that this is a small raiding party in search of something specific. I don’t think they were a war party. Merely scouts.’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘They want some information. If they came in strength towards your territory, they would rouse the countryside. Someone would have seen the passage of their army. They could not take the easterly route because the Eóghanacht Áine stand in their path. If they came directly south they would encounter the Eóghanacht Glendamnac and if they tried to swing westwards and approach from that direction they would have to come through the Eóghanacht Loch Léin. No large army could come from the lands of the Uí Fidgente without an alarm being given by their very passage. Where an army cannot pass without being seen, a small raiding party can move with stealth and concealment. I think that this band is just such a party.’

Becc leant back looking relieved at her assessment. ‘Still, even a small raiding party presents problems to me at this time. We do not have many young men trained and under arms at present. However, what do you think…what exactly are they after?’

Fidelma raised one shoulder and let it fall expressively. ‘That I am unable to say.’

‘You said that they were a scouting party. But what were they seeking?’

‘Hopefully, Accobrán will overtake them and bring back prisoners so that we may question them. Only then will we know for certain.’

Becc was clearly worried.

‘There is nothing else to do until the return of Accobrán,’ Fidelma gently assured him.

Becc sighed in resignation.

‘You will want to retire and refresh yourselves,’ he said, rising. ‘The evening meal will be ready in an hour’s time.’

Fidelma and Eadulf rose with him. She was turning to the door when she swung back to look at the chieftain.

‘I have a question, Becc. Do you have a senchae, an historian, in the fortress?’

‘Several. It depends on what history you wish to know. There is the genealogist, the custodian of the history of my house; there is the teller of the ancient tales…’

Fidelma held up her hand. ‘I am rather more interested in the history of the Thicket of Pigs.’

Becc raised his brows. ‘I am afraid there is only one person who has stored that history in his mind. He might take some persuading to part with his knowledge.’

‘Old Liag, the apothecary?’

Becc gazed at her in surprise. ‘How did you know?’

‘A guess, that is all,’ she replied softly. ‘We will join you for the meal within the hour.’

Chapter Fifteen

‘Is there nothing that can be done until the return of Accobrán?’ queried Eadulf, once they were in the seclusion of their chamber. ‘I would have thought that there would be many things we could do. For example, what are we to do about Gobnuid? Brother Dangila and Goll also need to be questioned.’

Fidelma shook her head.

‘You are impatient, Eadulf,’ she replied quietly. ‘I am not neglecting our main purpose in being here. Certainly, all being well, we shall continue our investigation in the morning. Now, show me the nugget that you and Menma found.’

Eadulf produced it from his marsupium. Fidelma examined it for a moment or two.

‘I would say that Menma was right. It is genuine gold, just as the nugget that young Síoda found was genuine. Are you not intrigued by that?’

Eadulf shrugged. ‘I thought our only concern was to find the killer of the three girls?’

Fidelma showed her disapproval.

‘Scintilla set potent,’ she said softly. ‘Knowledge is power. You are fond of repeating that maxim. Eadulf.’

‘I fail to see what a history of that hill has to do with the murders of the three young women. We know that a madman killed all three on the nights of the full moon. So I cannot see what the old mine has to do with anything except there is gold still there. In fact, I cannot see that we are making any progress at all in the matter of the murders.’

‘Then you should remember another maxim — perspicuam servare mentem. If you keep a clear mind you will see the truth instead of being bogged down in irrelevancies.’

The next morning came with no news of Accobrán’s pursuit and so Fidelma and Eadulf mounted their horses and went directly to Goll’s cabin. As they entered the clearing before Goll’s bothán, the door opened and Gabrán came out. The youth looked surprised to see them and stood scowling in the doorway.

‘I thought that I was now cleared of suspicion,’ he greeted them sourly as they rode up.

Eadulf was surprised at the boy’s unfriendly manner after all Fidelma had done for him. Fidelma looked down at the youth.

‘As you well know, you were cleared of suspicion in the death of Lesren. But we are still trying to account for other deaths.’

‘I was cleared of Lesren’s foul claims.’

Fidelma swung down from her horse and faced the belligerent youth.

‘I am here to speak to your father,’ she said in a sharp tone that made the youth blink and take a step backwards. ‘Where may he be found?’

The boy hesitated and then motioned to one of the outlying sheds. ‘He is at work there.’

‘Thank you. And where is your mother?’

‘My mother?’ He frowned. ‘She has gone to wash clothes down at the stream. Shall I call her?’

‘It is Goll that we wish to see.’ Fidelma turned to the shed that Gabrán had indicated. Eadulf, also dismounting, tethered their horses to the nearby pole and followed her, leaving Gabrán regarding them with his look of suspicion deepening.

The shed door was open and inside Goll was bent over a workbench. He was engaged in polishing a large piece of timber. Even Eadulf could recognise that it was a piece of red yew and carved with intricate designs.