‘And then?’
Ganicca raised his arms as if encompassing the whole settlement.
‘Then, my friends, two more warriors came riding up with a third person. That person ordered the warriors to burn the village… they burnt and looted it. We had no weapons to hand. They attacked our blacksmith’s forge and then started to fire our houses. Most of us managed to escape up the mountains to the shelter of the caves there. Seven of our people were slain, too young or too old to escape the onslaught. Many more were wounded. It is as you see… we are a destroyed community.’
Fidelma frowned. ‘Have you reported this matter to your chief, to Slebene?’
The old man shrugged. ‘We sent him word. But he has never protected us in the past so why would he protect us now?’
‘Slebene’s duty is to protect his people. He is also answerable to my brother, the king.’
‘Slebene is his own man and is answerable only to himself. We selected one of our number to go to Daingean and speak to him. He has not returned.’
Eadulf bent close to Fidelma and whispered, ‘See, we were right about Slebene!’
Fidelma was grim-faced. ‘Then I swear, Ganicca, that he shall answer for any transgression. A chief has responsibilities as well as rights.’
Ganicca regarded her calmly. ‘You are truly a descendant of Eoghan Mor, lady. However, I knew that Slebene would not come to our aid.’
‘Why so?’
‘Because I know that evil figure who ordered his warriors to turn on our village and destroy it.’
‘Slebene himself?’ asked Eadulf eagerly. He found the old man’s eyes looking sorrowfully at him. ‘Well, out with it,’ he demanded. ‘Who was it?’
‘Saxon brother, you told us two months ago that you saw Uaman the Leper die before your eyes. You were wrong. The person who gave the order for this destruction,’ he raised his hand to embrace the scene, ‘was Uaman. Uaman the Leper. The Lord of the Passes.’
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘Impossible!’ Eadulf exploded after the brief silence that followed Ganicca’s announcement. The old man sadly shook his head.
‘I wish it was impossible, Brother Saxon. I would know that slight figure of Uaman the Leper anywhere.’
‘You actually saw the face?’ Eadulf pressed.
Ganicca smiled in reprimand.
‘No one looks on the face of Uaman the Leper and lives.’
‘I did,’ retorted Eadulf.
‘You were lucky, my friend. He was not called Master of Souls for nothing.’
Eadulf frowned at the familiar expression.
‘Master of Souls?’
‘He who despises his own life is soon master of another’s — beware for such a man can become master of souls,’ Fidelma quoted quietly.
Ganicca glanced at her with interest.
‘You know the old saying then, lady?’
‘It was a saying of my mentor, the Brehon Morann.’
Eadulf was now frowning in annoyance.
‘I have said before that I saw him in the quicksand as it pulled him down. Then a great wave descended and he was gone. No one could have survived that.’
‘Then it is a wraith who rides out from the Otherworld and instructs his warriors to destroy my people,’ replied Ganicca calmly.
Eadulf made to say something but then remembered the words of the boy Iobcar. He had said something similar.
‘So this attack happened some weeks ago?’ interposed Conri. When Ganicca nodded emphatically, he turned to Fidelma. ‘Then it is easy to
Fidelma was thoughtful.
‘I am trying to understand what purpose all this would serve? Why wreck the merchant ship? Why kill the abbess but then take her companions prisoner? Who is the male religieux who is with them? A foreigner? Perhaps a Gaul, perhaps a survivor from the wreck?’
Conri, however, was excited as he interpreted the events. He turned to Ganicca.
‘Tell my companions where this road leads?’
The old man looked puzzled.
‘Why, it leads northwards out of this valley.’
‘But tell them where.’
‘Well, if you cross out of the valley by the eastern route over the mountains you can join the road that leads along the coast to the lands of the Ui Fidgente and north again to Ard Fhearta. But if you cross to the west then you will come to the seashore and the road takes you across a low-lying thrust of land called the Machaire peninsula with the great bay of Breanainn to the west and the Machaire Islands to the northern tip.’
Conri was nodding eagerly.
‘The Machaire Islands,’ he said meaningfully.
Ganicca was perplexed.
‘They are nothing except a group of small uninhabited islands… well, apart for one that is occupied by hermits. Seanach’s Island.’
Conri turned to face Fidelma with a smile of satisfaction.
‘The Machaire Islands,’ he said again with emphasis.
Eadulf, recovering from Ganicca’s claim that he was mistaken in his belief that Uaman was dead, was regarding the warlord seriously.
‘Are you claiming that the wreckage on Uaman’s island, the killing of the Abbess Faife and the disappearance of the religieuse and the attack by the mysterious warship are now all connected?’
‘I say that they must be. And if Uaman is involved, it makes perfect sense.’
Eadulf pursed his lips sceptically.
‘Ganicca is the only one who has positively identified Uaman as part of this affair,’ he pointed out.
‘The boy also did so,’ replied Conri softly.
‘But the boy didn’t know Uaman. He was repeating something he had heard adults say.’
‘And I know who I saw, Brother Saxon,’ Ganicca intervened sharply.
‘We must follow the path these people took,’ Fidelma interrupted to silence them. She recognised that this exchange might soon lead to an argument. ‘I think the answer will be found on those islands that you called the Machaire.’
‘It is nearly noon, lady, and we have little hospitality to offer now,’ Ganicca said as he realised why Fidelma had stopped the conversation. ‘What we have, you are most welcome to.’
Fidelma shook her head and thanked the old man.
‘We will move on immediately, my friend.’
‘Yet there is no hurry,’ the old man pointed out. ‘It is now three weeks since this happened and the chances of catching up with these men…’ He shook his head.
‘Nevertheless, we will ride on,’ Fidelma insisted firmly. ‘Whether the leader is Uaman or not, we must find those who have been abducted.’
‘Then may God be on all the paths you travel, lady. It is a dangerous game that you hunt.’
‘Thank you, Ganicca. I promise in my brother’s name to ensure that your village is compensated for the outrage you have suffered.’
