Peter Tremayne - The Council of the Cursed

‘I am not so slow,’ he chided. ‘You may have noticed that after the evening meal, I followed a couple of the brethren who were almost running along the corridor. They led me to the necessarium .’

Fidelma was puzzled. ‘How did you know they were going there?’

‘When you see men hurrying in such a manner after having imbibed, then it is logical enough.’ He allowed himself a grin before adding: ‘I’ll be back soon.’

The necessarium for the brethren was along a corridor that led to the far side of the abbey, against what Eadulf judged to be the southern wall of the city. He moved quietly along the corridors, holding the tallow candle before him to light his way. There were few lanterns in this section of the abbey; the guest quarters were, of course, among those areas that were well lit.

Eadulf suppressed a shiver as he crept down the narrow stairwell to the lower floor. He paused to listen at the bottom before making his way along the final darkened corridor to the room which the brethren used as the communal necessarium . He entered it, closed the door behind him and, holding up his candle, peered around.

It was a large square room with a stone trough in the middle in which water lay reflecting the candlelight with curious sparkles and ripples. This was for washing. The floor itself was tiled, and around the walls was a continuous line of marble seats with no partitions between them. In each seat was a hole that dropped into darkness but from which Eadulf could hear the trickle and splash of a watercourse-a stream that ran underneath. Each person could go to a chosen seat and perform their natural functions before moving to the central pool to wash. There was little privacy here when one came to perform one’s ablutions. A memory returned to Eadulf; it was like one of the communal necessaria that he had seen in Rome when he was there.

An objectionable odour rose from the open seating. He sniffed in disapproval, wondering which poor member of the brethren was sent down to clear the water channel when it became blocked with the excrement of his fellows. Eadulf screwed up his face into an expression of distaste, trying to push the unwelcome thought from his mind.

He moved to stand near the centre of the room by the water trough and listened, but there was no sound apart from the trickling of the water channel beneath the seats. He waited a few moments and then slowly walked around the walls by the seats, pausing now and then to listen. A sudden hooting sound caused him to stop in his tracks with heart pounding, until he realised it was the mournful cry of an owl. There were two windows, high up and open to the sky, and the bird must have flown by. He crept on again. No, there were no cries of souls in torment.

Eadulf even climbed to the back of the stone seating and placed his ear against the wall to listen. Nothing. No demonic cries or whispering through the stonework. Sighing, he climbed down again. He next looked at the windows and then the door, trying to place the room in the context of the whole abbey complex. Turning back to the wall on whose seats he had climbed to listen, he realised that this must be a dividing wall between the male quarters and the Domus Femini , the house of women.

Giving a final glance around, and holding his candle high, he went to the door and opened it.

A figure loomed large before him.

‘Brother Eadulf!’

Eadulf took a step backward and stifled his cry of surprise.

‘What are you doing here?’ demanded the voice.

The figure held up a lantern and Eadulf recognised the steward of the abbey, Brother Chilperic.

He recovered himself quickly. ‘A curious question, Brother,’ he replied in a dignified tone. ‘What would anyone be doing in a necessarium ?’

‘At this hour? But there is a latrina in the hospitia .’

‘We are not all blessed with bodily control and when drink is taken…’ Eadulf shrugged. ‘I had no wish to disturb Sister Fidelma. That is why, having seen the brethren coming here, I crept out of the chamber to emulate them without waking her. Actually, I had forgotten it was such a long way down here.’ He grinned. ‘Your wine is potent on the system.’

Brother Chilperic looked unconvinced.

Eadulf decided to take a chance on the spur of the moment and added: ‘What is beyond the wall, Brother Chilperic? As I was sitting there, I thought I heard someone crying.’

The steward looked sceptical. ‘Nothing is beyond there except the work-rooms of the Domus Femini . No one would be there at this time, unless it was some animal you heard. A cat, perhaps?’

‘Of course, that would be it. Well, it is chilly here. Let me pass and return to my interrupted sleep.’

The young man hesitated and then stood aside.

‘May your sleep not be troubled further, Brother.’

Eadulf could not help but wonder if the steward was being sarcastic.

‘And may you also have some rest this night,’ he replied stiffly. Hurrying back to the hospitia , he found Fidelma awaiting his return with some impatience.

‘Did you discover anything?’ she demanded.

‘I did not, but I was myself discovered,’ he replied, throwing off his robe and collapsing on the bed. He told her of his encounter with Brother Chilperic before describing what he had seen.

She was thoughtful for a while but not concerned about the steward of the abbey.

‘If Brother Gillucán heard anything untoward while he was sitting in the necessarium , it most likely came from the water channel that takes the effluence from the necessarium out to wherever it flows.’

Eadulf had his eyes shut. ‘I suppose so,’ he muttered sleepily.

‘It is possible that sounds echo along the water channel,’ went on Fidelma.

‘Possible,’ yawned Eadulf again.

‘And the wall there…you say that it borders on to the women’s house of the abbey?’

Eadulf let out a faint snore. He was asleep.

Fidelma frowned in annoyance. Then she smiled softly at his sleeping form and, reaching over, blew out the candle.

Eadulf felt he had barely fallen asleep when the sunlight streaming in through the window caught his face and caused him to blink. Fidelma had already washed and was sitting breaking her fast with some fruit.

‘Come, get ready. I let you sleep through morning prayers and there is much to be done today,’ she called, seeing he was awake.

He rolled out of bed still feeling exhausted.

‘Can’t we do it later?’ he protested.

‘We cannot.’

They were walking down the stairs to the anticum of the abbey when Brother Chilperic appeared, hurrying up the stairs, his forehead wrinkled into a frown. He came to an abrupt halt and gave Eadulf a close scrutiny.

‘I am looking for Abbot Ségdae,’ he said. ‘Is he still in the hospitia ? Have you seen him?’

‘We have not,’ replied Fidelma. ‘You look agitated, Brother. Is something wrong?’

The steward shrugged. ‘I simply needed to report a matter to him now that he is the senior delegate from your country.’

Fidelma was intrigued. ‘Is there anything I can help with?’

‘Alas, no. You probably knew Brother Gillucán, who was the companion of Abbot Dabhóc. He intended to set out to return to his home this morning.’

Fidelma nearly made the mistake of admitting knowledge but, remembering what Brother Gillucán had asked, that she should say nothing, she simply asked, ‘Does he need some assistance, then?’

‘No longer.’

A cold feeling suddenly seized Fidelma. ‘No longer? Please explain,’ she asked.

‘It seems that he set out alone in the early hours without informing anyone. He was found floating in the Aturavos…that’s the river that runs to the north side of the city. It looks as though he was attacked by robbers, for they stripped him naked. He should have waited to return with a group of pilgrims who were setting out later today.’