Peter Tremayne - The Dove of Death

‘Quickly! I thought it was just a pile of cloth, a discarded sail there — but look!’

Bleidbara tore aside the canvas.

The still figure of Iuna lay there. Her face was white and she lay very still, as if in death.

Bleidbara reached into the boat and, with ease, the tall warrior lifted the body of the girl in his arms. He walked the few paces up the beach and laid her gently on the ground beyond the waves.

Eadulf at once knelt to examine her.

‘Still alive,’ he said. ‘Still alive, but unconscious and very cold.’

He explored the girl’s skull with his fingertips, and then he bent as if to smell her breath. ‘She has not been hit on the head, but from the blue of the lips, I think she has taken a poison of some kind. I can smell it on her breath. But I’m afraid such a poison is beyond my powers to diagnose. We do need Heraclius, after all.’

Bleidbara swore softly under his breath and then, turning to his companion, issued a quick order. The man trotted away.

They stood anxiously round the unconscious form of Iuna, not knowing what to do, until the young apothecary arrived and made a swift examination.

‘She has been poisoned,’ Eadulf offered, feeling helpless. ‘But I do not know with what substance.’

‘You are right, Brother Eadulf,’ Heraclius said, peering at the girl’s blue lips. ‘She has been poisoned. I believe that she has eaten the Death Cap fungi.’ The seriousness of the situation showed in his features.

‘Well? Can you help her?’ pressed Fidelma.

‘I cannot hold out any great chance of recovery. It depends when she ingested the poison. It is a potent one, usually fatal; just one of the fungi is enough to ensure that a full-grown man can suffer a painful death. It is usually terminal in two days.’

‘You mean there is no antidote?’ Fidelma said, shocked.

‘No full antidote for the toxins. However, we will take her into the villa and give her an extract made from the ripe seeds of the Milk Thistle. There is hope, but only if she has not long ingested these toxins. If she is going to survive then we will know by tomorrow morning.’

He signalled to Bleidbara’s man to lift the girl and carry her up to the villa. Glancing at the body of Iarnbud, he said, ‘I must tend to the living and leave the dead,’ and turned after the warrior carrying the girl in his arms.

‘I didn’t warm to the man overmuch,’ sighed Eadulf, ‘but we can’t let him give his life in vain.’

‘Well, there is only one thing for me to do,’ Bleidbara said determinedly. ‘I will attempt to intercept the Koulm ar Maro as it makes a run for the Big Sea at dawn tomorrow.’

‘How will you do that?’ Fidelma asked.

‘The Morvran stands ready. We will sail to the channel and await the Koulm ar Maro there. She has to pass through that narrow channel at the right time, when the tide is running from the Morbihan. My crew are men who are descended from the Veneti. We come from generations of sea-fighters.’ His voice was rock-steady. ‘We will be ready for them.’

‘You might call this the Little Sea, Bleidbara, but it is still large enough to lose a ship in, and all these islands are easy hiding-places,’ Eadulf commented.

‘I am familiar with these waters, friend. Now I know where the raider is going to be and what it intends to do, I can deal with the Koulm ar Maro .’

‘I want to come with you,’ Eadulf announced firmly, without looking at Fidelma. The truth was that his prime concern was that she might insist on accompanying Bleidbara on the Morvran herself. If there was to be a sea battle, then he determined that she should be out of harm’s way. ‘I would be useful if any of the Barnacle Goose survivors are still prisoners with them,’ he added, as if to find an excuse. ‘I would be able to recognise them.’

Bleidbara was suddenly in a good humour. As a warrior, he understood action and was happy now that he had something to do that he could understand.

‘You have courage, Eadulf,’ he praised him. ‘For a religious, you seem to have no qualms about throwing yourself into conflict.’

‘If it means tracking down these murderers, then I can bear such discomfort,’ Eadulf replied.

Fidelma reached out her hand and touched Eadulf on his arm, looking at him in silent approval. She understood why he had volunteered, and, if the truth were known, she felt he was right. Her place was to return to Brilhag, for that was where she knew she had to be, to resolve this mystery.

‘I’ll await your return at Brilhag,’ she told him.’

‘We will do our best to finally smoke out this evil among us,’ Bleidbara said, and glanced at the sky. The journey to Govihan and the search of the island had taken them some time. It was well into the afternoon now. ‘We have a long time to wait until dawn tomorrow. Let us return to the villa and see how Heraclius is proceeding. I will have need for him on board when we encounter the Koulm ar Maro . He will have to instruct someone who can nurse Iuna.’

Fidelma regarded him with surprise but he did not elucidate.

‘There seems little to do until you sail out to intercept the Koulm ar Maro now. Even if Iuna recovers, she will not be able to tell us what happened for a while,’ she said. ‘One thing is certain, she was steward to the household at Brilhag and knowledgeable about all foods. She would not have eaten Death Cap fungi in mistake for edible fungi. She was deliberately poisoned.’ She paused. ‘If my suspicion is correct, Brilhag is where we will find an answer to this mystery of the Koulm ar Maro . But you must bring me the final piece of this puzzle.’

‘You know who is behind these raids?’ Bleidbara asked.

‘I now suspect who is behind them and why. I need only one more piece to settle the resolution. But before I do so, it would be good to know that the Barnacle Goose is safe with the survivors of the crew and, of course, that Trifina is with them.’

Eadulf was astonished at her confidence.

‘If you already know who is behind the Koulm ar Maro and these raids and killings, don’t you feel that you should share this knowledge?’ he asked.

‘I said that I suspect…suspicion, even based on circumstantial evidence, is not enough for an accusation to be proven.’

‘Even so, a shared knowledge is a danger halved.’

‘True, but a single whisper, or a glance might betray our thoughts, Eadulf, and if they are betrayed by as much as the blink of an eye, I may lose my quarry.’

‘We can return you to Brilhag on the Morvran , lady,’ Bleidbara offered. ‘We will drop you off there tonight and then move on to an anchorage I know of, where we can wait until the hour before dawn. Then we can sail for the interception point to engage the raiders as they attempt to catch the tide out of Morbihan.’

‘Excellent,’ she approved. ‘I feel things are drawing towards a conclusion.’

Dusk had fallen when the Morvran finally anchored in the bay under the headland on which the fortress of Brilhag rose. It had taken longer than they expected because Bleidbara had insisted on loading a number of curious-looking sections of wood, set into frames with ropes and wheels. Neither Fidelma nor Eadulf had ever seen such wooden constructions as were hoisted onto the deck, and had no idea what they were. Canvas sheeting covered them as they were set up in the bows of the vessel. Bleidbara had claimed that the equipment was necessary to his task, and that the presence of Heraclius was essential. Fidelma took the view that Bleidbara knew his business and so did not bother him or Heraclius with unnecessary questions. The young apothecary from Constantinopolis supervised the loading, paying particular care to a sealed wooden case as it was cautiously taken into the hold. Bleidbara saw their curiosity but did not explain.