Our Lady of Darkness

Chapter Six

Sister Fidelma was crossing the courtyard again when Sister Étromma caught up with her.

‘I asked you to wait at the apothecary,’ she admonished irritably. ‘You might have become lost, for this abbey is no small country church.’

Fidelma did not bother to explain that she had a facility for remembering her way to and from a place once she had been shown. Neither did she mention that while the abbey was, indeed, large by comparison to many houses in the five kingdoms, she had seen greater abbey complexes at Armagh, at Whitby and in Rome.

‘I was told that you had been called down to the quay,’ she said.

The stewardess appeared to be taken aback. ‘Who told you that?’

Fidelma did not want to confess that she had seen Eadulf again and so continued: ‘I was on my way to find Abbess Fainder. ‘I have a few more questions for her. Did you find the novitiate, Sister Fial?’

Sister Étromma looked uncomfortable for a moment.

‘No, I have not been able to find her.’

‘Why on earth not?’ Fidelma was exasperated.

‘No one appears to have seen her for some time.’

‘Exactly how do you quantify some time?’

‘I am told that she has not been seen for several days. We are still looking for her.’

Fidelma had a dangerous glint in her eye. ‘Before we see the abbess, I would like you to show me the guest hostel — the place where Brother Eadulf slept.’

It did not take long for the stewardess to guide Fidelma to the hostel. The dormitory of the guests’ quarter was not large; there were only half a dozen beds in it.

‘Which bed did Brother Eadulf occupy?’ asked Fidelma.

Sister Étromma pointed to the farthest placed bed in a corner of the room.

Fidelma went to it and sat on its edge. She gave a cursory glance underneath the bed. There was nothing there.

‘Naturally it has been used several times since the Saxon was here,’ the stewardess explained.

‘Naturally. And has the mattress been changed?’

Sister Étromma appeared puzzled. ‘The mattresses are changed as and when they need to be. I don’t think that we have changed it since the Saxon slept here. Why?’

Fidelma pulled away the blankets to reveal the straw-filled mattress. It was the usual thin palliasse type. She reached forward tentatively and prodded it here and there.

‘What are you looking for?’ demanded the rechtaire.

Fidelma did not respond.

She had felt a slight hardness amidst the straw and her eyes detected the hole at the side of the mattress where the stitching had become undone. She smiled. She knew Eadulf better than he knew himself. He was a cautious man and the upheavals of the last weeks had caused him to forget just how cautious he had been.

Fidelma reached into the mattress and her slim fingers caught the small rod of wood. Next to it she felt the soft roll of vellum. She withdrew them swiftly and held them up to Sister Étromma’s astonished gaze.

‘You will bear me witness, Sister,’ Fidelma said as she stood up. ‘Here is the white wand of office which Brother Eadulf carried showing that he was an official messenger from the King of Cashel. Here is a letter in the hand of the same King, to Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury. Brother Eadulf had put them for safekeeping in the mattress.’

Sister Étromma’s face bore a curious expression, of which uncertainty seemed predominant.

‘These had best be taken to Abbess Fainder,’ she said eventually.

Fidelma shook her head and deliberately placed them in her marsupium, the leather pouch she always wore at her waist.

‘These will remain with me. You saw from where I retrieved them? You will be my witness. These plainly show that Brother Eadulf was a fer taistil, a techtaire, a king’s messenger, and therefore part of the king’s household with rights of protection.’

‘It is no use telling me the law,’ protested Sister Étromma. ‘I am no dálaigh.’

‘Just remember that you bear witness to my finding these items,’ insisted Fidelma. ‘And now …’

She began to move towards the door with Sister Étromma trailing unhappily in her wake.

‘Where do you want to go now, Sister?’ she asked. ‘To see the abbess again?’

‘The abbess? No, I will see her later,’ replied Fidelma, changing her mind. ‘Show me first where the girl Gormgilla was attacked and killed.’

Sister Étromma seemed troubled as she conducted Fidelma along more corridors to another tiny courtyard on the far side of the abbey which, from the aromas that permeated the air, Fidelma guessed to be an adjunct to the abbey kitchens and presumably to its storerooms. On one side of the small courtyard were two tall wooden gates and Sister Étromma went immediately to them. She did not attempt to move the great heavy iron bolts that secured them for there was, set in one of the large gates, a small door through which one person at a time might squeeze. She opened the door and pointed at it wordlessly.

When Fidelma had climbed through — for one had to step over the bottom of the door — she found herself facing the broad stretch of river. Immediately before the gates, running along the abbey walls, was a well-used track wide enough for wagons to pass along. Beside the track lay an earthen embankment from which a wooden quay had been constructed, for the river itself was parallel to the track at this point. Next to the quay, a sizable river boat was tied up. Several men were unloading barrels from it.

‘This is our own quay, Sister,’ Sister Étromma explained. ‘Goods for the abbey are landed here. You will see, further along the river, other quays where the merchants of the town conduct their business.’

Fidelma stood for a moment, bathing her face in the sun. It was warm, in spite of the gentle breeze, and refreshing after the mustiness and gloom of the abbey building from which she had emerged. She closed her eyes momentarily and relaxed, breathing deeply. After a pause, she looked around her. The stewardess was right. Along the river there were several boats tied up to the quays. Fearna, she reminded herself, was the centre of trade as well as being the royal centre of the Uí Cheinnselaigh dynasty which ruled Laigin.

‘Where was this murder committed?’

Sister Étromma pointed towards the abbey’s quay. ‘Just here.’

A bell began to toll in the abbey. Fidelma glanced towards the sound in surprise. It was surely not a call to prayer? A moment later, one of the religieux came running from the gates towards Sister Étromma.

‘Sister, a messenger has arrived from upriver. One of the river boats has sunk in midstream. He thinks that it was the boat which just left the abbey quay.’

‘Gabrán’s boat?’ Étromma had gone pale. ‘Is he sure? Is everyone safe?’

‘No, he is not sure, Sister,’ replied the Brother. ‘And he has no further knowledge.’

‘Then we must go to see what can be done.’

She was turning for the abbey when she suddenly remembered that Sister Fidelma was standing looking on and she hesitated.

‘Forgive me, Sister. It seems that one of the boats that regularly trades with the abbey might have sunk. As stewardess, it is my duty to attend to this matter. The river is a dangerous place.’

‘Do you want me to come with you?’ asked Fidelma.

Sister Étromma shook her head distractedly. ‘I have to go.’

She joined the Brother who was already hurrying along the track by the abbey walls. Fidelma watched her leave, bemused by her departure. Then she was distracted by a male voice calling her by name. Fidelma turned to see a familiar figure strolling along the river bank towards the abbey quay.

It was the warrior, Mel, the very person who Sister Étromma said had found the body of the murdered girl and then tracked her death to Eadulf. It was a stroke of good fortune that he had appeared at this moment, saving her going in search of him. She turned towards him and walked slowly across the path to the edge of the quay as Mel climbed up onto the wooden boarding.

‘We meet again, lady.’ He greeted her with a broad smile as he halted before her.

‘Indeed, that we do. I am told that your name is Mel.’

The warrior nodded pleasantly. ‘I heard that you accepted my recommendation and that you and your companions are staying at my sister Lassar’s inn. I thought there was a third man with you? Lassar tells me that only you and two others are staying there.’

Fidelma realised that the warrior’s perception was acute and she had to be careful what she said.

‘There were, indeed, three warriors with me. One had to return to Cashel,’ she lied.

‘Well, I trust that the accommodation is to your liking. My sister provides good food and comfortable beds.’

‘My companions and I are indeed very comfortable at the Inn of the Yellow Mountain. But it is good to see you here.’

The warrior frowned slightly. ‘Why so, lady?’

‘I have just spoken with those at the abbey concerning the recent murder of the young novitiate,’ replied Fidelma. ‘They told me that you were a key witness at the trial of Brother Eadulf.’

The warrior gestured deprecatingly. ‘I was not exactly a key witness. I was merely the captain of the watch on this very quay on the night that the killing took place.’

‘Will you tell me exactly what happened? I presume that you know my interest in this matter?’

The warrior looked uncomfortable for a moment before nodding.

‘Gossip travels swiftly in this town, lady. I know who you are and why you are here.’

‘How did you happen to be on the quay that night?’

‘That is simple enough. I was on watch, as I have said. There were four of us on duty here that night.’ He waved his arm expansively to take in the entire collection of wooden quays which served the township of Fearna.

‘Is there much crime here to justify such a watch?’ enquired Fidelma. Mel gave a boastful laugh.

‘Not much crime at all — because of the watch. As the principal city of the Laigin kings, we are an important upriver trading post. It helps the traders rest easy that their boats and cargoes appear to be safely guarded.’

He paused but she urged him to continue with his story.

‘Well, as I say, there were four of us on patrol that night. I was the captain. Each man had his allotted section of the quays. I suppose it was well after midnight that I was walking from …’ he turned to point to a small quay further down from the abbey. ‘One of my men was stationed there. Another of the watch was further along here. So I was making a normal check of my men, walking from that point along the quays checking on my watch.’

‘What sort of night was it?’

‘The weather was fair, not raining,’ he reflected. ‘But it was a cloudy sky which made it dark. We did have torches,’ he added.

‘But the visibility was impaired?’ Fidelma pressed eagerly. ‘You cannot see that far even with a torch.’

‘True enough,’ he agreed. ‘That’s why I almost stumbled over the body of the girl before I saw it.’

Fidelma raised her eyebrows. ‘You stumbled over it? You mean that you actually discovered it? I thought that there was a witness to this murder?’

Mel hesitated. ‘So there was. It is a little complicated, Sister.’

‘Is it? Then tell the story as plainly as you can.’

‘I was walking along, holding my torch high. It was, as I say, a very dark night. I came down the river path here and was about to cross this quay.’

‘Were there any boats tied up to the quay?’ Fidelma interrupted as the thought suddenly struck her.

‘Yes, there was one of the trade boats that puts in here regularly. It was in darkness and no one was on deck. They wouldn’t be, not at that hour in the morning. They were probably all below, asleep, or in a drunken stupor.’ He grinned, contemplating the idea. ‘As I came along, I saw a figure on horseback.’

‘Where was this figure?’ demanded Fidelma. ‘On the track there?’

‘No. It was just here. At the start of the quay.’

‘What was this figure doing?’

‘When I first saw it, the figure was still, so still I did not notice it until I saw the movement of the horse. They had no torch but sat in the darkness. That was how I discovered the body.’

Fidelma suppressed an impatient sigh. ‘Please explain — and with more detail.’

‘When I saw the figure, I raised my torch in order to challenge it but before I could do so, I was challenged to identify myself. It was the Abbess Fainder who sat on the horse.’

Fidelma’s eyes widened slightly. ‘Abbess Fainder?’ she echoed, stupidly. ‘She was sitting on horseback here by the body in total darkness?’

‘That is what I have been telling you,’ Mel nodded. ‘As soon as I identified myself, she said: “Mel, there is a body here. Who is it?” That is what she said. I stumbled forward in the dark and peered down. It was lying in the dark shadows of the bales and that was how I nearly tripped over it. I saw at once that it was a young girl and that she was dead.’

‘What bales? Show me exactly where the body was positioned.’

Mel pointed to where some bales and a few boxes were piled nearby on the quay.

‘It lay just there.’

Fidelma frowned as she scrutinised the spot.

‘Are you saying that those boxes and bales are the same as on that night?’

‘I did not mean to imply that. They are different but similar boxes, and bales stood there on that night. I would swear that they stood almost in the same position.’

Fidelma glanced at him swiftly. ‘You would swear, even though it was dark?’

‘It was my task to examine the spot in daylight to show the Brehon.’

‘What did you see of the body by your torchlight?’

‘You could see hardly anything in that light. The girl had a dress on but not the robes of a religieuse.’

‘I see. So it was only later that she was identified as a novitiate at the abbey?’

‘I suppose it was.’

‘What was Abbess Fainder doing all this time while you were examining the body?’

‘She waited until I had finished. There being nothing that I could do for the poor lass, I stood up and told the abbess that the girl was dead. She instructed me to bring the body to the abbey and said that she would go on to find the physician, Brother Miach. So I-’

‘Wait one moment,’ Fidelma interrupted. ‘Did Abbess Fainder tell you why she was here, sitting on her horse in the darkness and within feet of a dead body?’

Mel shook his head. ‘Not at that time. Later on I think she told the Brehon, Bishop Forbassach, that she had been returning to the abbey from some distant chapel and was about to enter the gate when she saw the dark shadow of the body and rode towards it just as I appeared.’

Fidelma pressed her lips tight for a moment, glancing from the gates of the abbey to the spot which Mel had indicated and measuring the distance.

‘Yet you could hardly see it in the shadows of the bales even though you were carrying a torch and were right next to it? I will have to speak further with the abbess,’ she muttered. ‘Well, continue. I am confused as I was told that there was an eye-witness to the killing.’

‘There was, indeed. I shall come to that,’ continued Mel. ‘When the abbess went into the abbey, I realised that I would need some help in the task; I also needed to let my men know where I was. So I waved my torch as a signal to my comrade who was on watch at the next quay, andhe came to join me. It was then that I heard a sound behind the bales. I called out and raised my torch. The light illuminated a young girl standing behind the bales.’

‘Had you noticed her before?’

‘Not in the darkness. Nor had the abbess noticed her. I demanded to know who she was but she was in a distressed condition, shivering and frightened. It was some time before we learned that her name was Fial and that the dead girl was her friend Gormgilla. She told me that they were novitiates at the abbey. Apparently, she had come to the quay to meet her friend, and saw Gormgilla struggling with the figure of a man. She stood rooted to the spot in fear and in that moment, the man rose from her friend and ran off in the direction of the abbey. The girl said that she recognised him as a Saxon religious who was staying there.’

‘Why wasn’t this girl noticed before?’

‘I told you, it was dark.’

‘You had a torch and had stood some time on this quay.’

‘Torches do not cast a great amount of light.’

‘There was enough light for the abbess to see the dead body from horseback at a distance of several metres and ride over to it. Now it seems there was enough light for this girl, Fial, to recognise the killer. And presumably recognise him from a distance. Was she ever asked why she didn’t scream or come forward to help her friend?’

‘I think that she might have been asked at the trial. She was probably too frightened to move. It can happen.’

‘It can. But why did she not come forward when the abbess rode up, or when you arrived? Why did she not cry out to the watch to help her?’

Mel considered the question before replying with a shrug.

‘I am not a dálaigh, lady. I am a simple captain of the watch …’

Fidelma shot him a glance and smiled. ‘No longer. You are now a commander of the palace guard. How did you receive your promotion?’

Mel was not abashed.

‘I was informed that the King was pleased with my vigilance and I was to become a commander of the guard at the palace. Bishop Forbassach recommended me.’

Fidelma was silent for a moment or two.

‘So, this girl, Fial, appears out of nowhere …’

‘From behind the bales on the quay,’ corrected Mel.

‘She says that she has seen everything in the darkness and yet didnothing,’ mused Fidelma with cynicism in her voice. ‘Did she confirm Abbess Fainder’s story?’

Mel looked startled. ‘I did not know that the evidence given by the abbess needed confirmation.’

‘Everything concerning an unnatural death needs confirmation, even the evidence of a saint,’ replied Fidelma shortly. She glanced at the bales, walked across to them and looked towards the abbey gates.

‘Let us consider this,’ she began quietly. ‘Fial and the dead girl are novitiates at the abbey. Fial says that she has arranged to meet her friend here on the quay. We will leave aside the fact that it is a very curious hour to meet — in the dead of night.

‘Fial tells us that she arrived and saw her friend in the process of being attacked by a man whom she identifies as Brother Eadulf; he then ran back to the abbey. Is that right so far?’

‘That is the story as I was told it by the girl.’

‘And yet, in order to take up a position hiding behind these bales — and I presume you have identified their position correctly — Fial must surely have walked by her friend while she was being attacked. Only if she had arrived before her friend, or with her friend — and then remained hidden while Gormgilla was attacked — does her story make any sense.’

Mel frowned and examined the position she had pointed out, as if for the first time realising the implication of Fial’s account.

‘It was dark,’ he hazarded. ‘Perhaps in the dark she walked past her friend and the attacker?’

Fidelma smiled thinly. She did not have to say anything for him to recognise how weak his suggestion was. After a moment she turned to the obvious anomaly.

‘There is a very curious time-lapse between the murder being committed, being witnessed by the girl and then her coming forward. One must presume that the murderer had fled from the scene before Abbess Fainder arrived. His only path back to the abbey gates from this quay would have been blocked by the abbess who had halted her horse at the end of the quay. Do you agree?’

Mel nodded silently, following her logic.

‘So Fial had waited behind those bales for a long time. She had witnessed the murder; she observed the murderer leave the scene — running back to the abbey, according to her testimony; she watched Abbess Fainder arrive; she saw your arrival and examination of thebody; she waited while the abbess returned to the abbey and you summoned your comrade. Not until then does she come forward. Was she ever asked why she stood there in the darkness and waited so long?’

‘I did not think of it at the time,’ Mel said. ‘I carried the body into the abbey; my comrade brought the girl Fial along. Abbess Fainder had aroused the physician and the stewardess, Sister Étromma. They were present when I questioned Fial. That was when she identified the Saxon Brother as the man who attacked and killed her friend. Fial was left in the charge of one of the Sisters while we all went-’

‘We?’ queried Fidelma.

‘The Mother Abbess, Sister Étromma, a Brother called Cett, myself and my comrade …’

‘Perhaps you should name this comrade?’

‘Daig was his name.’

‘Was?’ Fidelma caught the inflection.

‘He was drowned in this river only a few days after these events.’

‘It seems that witnesses in this case have a habit of disappearing or dying,’ Fidelma said dryly.

‘We were led by Sister Étromma to the guests’ hostel. The Saxon monk was there, pretending to be asleep.’

‘Pretending?’ she asked sharply. ‘How can you be so sure that he was merely pretending?’

‘What else would it be but pretence, when he had just come from the quay, having murdered someone?’

‘If he had just come from the quay having murdered someone.’ Fidelma rephrased the sentence with heavy emphasis on the first word. ‘Could it be that he had not, in fact, done the murder and was genuinely asleep?’

‘But Fial identified him!’

‘Much depends on what this Fial saw, doesn’t it? So the Saxon was found in the bed in the dormitory?’

‘He was. Brother Cett was the one to arouse him. It was pointed out in the lamplight that there was blood on the fellow’s clothes and a piece of torn cloth was found on him. It was later discovered that the cloth was from Gormgilla’s robe. It, too, was bloodstained.’ Mel’s face lightened. ‘That proves the truth of what her friend Fial said, for how else had the Saxon’s clothes become bloodstained and how else had he come into possession of the torn robe?’

‘How else, indeed?’ muttered Fidelma rhetorically. ‘Did you question Brother Eadulf?’

Mel shook his head. ‘At that point the Abbess Fainder said that she would take charge of the affair as it was a matter concerning the abbey. She asked me to assist Brother Cett in removing the Saxon to a cell in the abbey. This was done and the Brehon, Bishop Forbassach, was sent for. That is all I know of the situation until I was, of course, called for to give this evidence at the trial.’

‘Were you entirely happy with the trial?’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘Did you not think that these events as you relate them are inconsistent and raise questions?’

Mel pondered the question for a moment.

‘It was not my place to think once the authorities had taken over,’ he said finally. ‘If there were questions to be asked, then it was the task of the Brehon, Bishop Forbassach, to do so and to point out anything which was wrong.’

‘But Forbassach raised no questions?’

Mel was about to say something when he suddenly frowned, his gaze moving beyond Fidelma’s shoulder. She turned quickly to see what the object of his scrutiny was and had no difficulty in recognising the figure of Abbess Fainder, in spite of her long black robe, astride a sturdy horse, cantering away along the track by the abbey walls having, presumably, just emerged from the abbey gates.

Fidelma grimaced in annoyance.

‘I was hoping to have a word with her just now. Annoying woman! Time is at a premium. But presumably she is going to see about the sunken boat.’

Mel glanced up at the position of the sun.

‘Abbess Fainder always goes for a ride about this time,’ he observed. Then an expression of bewilderment crossed his features. ‘Sunken boat? What sunken boat?’

Fidelma ignored him for a moment for she was thinking it strange that an abbess would leave her abbey to go riding on a regular basis. Religious usually forswore horses, taking vows of poverty especially in transport, unless they were of certain social rank. Fidelma’s position as a dálaigh of the rank of anruth allowed her the privilege of travel by horseback which being a religieuse would have been denied her.

‘Where does she go every day at this time?’ she asked.

Mel was indifferent to her question.

‘Sunken boat?’ he asked again. ‘What do you mean?’

Fidelma told him of the message Sister Étromma had received, and how she had hastened off to see what help she could render.

She was mildly surprised when Mel, looking serious, began to make hasty excuses to leave.

‘You’ll forgive me, Sister. I should go to see what the problem is. It is part of my duties to be informed of such occurrences. We would not want the river blocked so that other vessels cannot pass. Forgive me.’

He turned and hurried off along the bank in the direction that Sister Étromma and her companion, as well as Abbess Fainder, had all taken.

Fidelma did not waste time puzzling about their concerns. Instead she stood on the quay and looked about her, examining the scene carefully, before letting out a low sigh. She did not think that any further secrets would be revealed by staying any longer at this place and she began to make her way back to the inn.