Peter Tremayne - The Council of the Cursed

The gallery continued on to another stairwell and vanished beyond.

‘Where does this gallery eventually lead?’ she asked her companion.

‘Beyond that far wooden door is the Domus Femini , Abbess Audofleda’s section of the abbey. But it is locked.’

Fidelma examined it for a moment. ‘It is not blocked up like the main doors below.’

‘It is simply locked. Only the bishop has the key. And no one comes here usually.’

She turned her attention back to the alcove.

The first thing she realised was that there was no way that the statue could have fallen of its own accord. Her eyes went to the plinth, which was still fairly intact but bore signs of indentations and fresh scratchmarks where a metal lever had been employed with brute strength to create a fulcrum by which the heavy stone statue could be tipped as they were passing.

She bent down to examine the marks more carefully, and a sudden chill went through her. Her suspicion had been correct. Someone had deliberately tried to kill them.

Whether it was some intuition or a reaction born of the years in which she had carried on the profession of a dálaigh , something caused the hairs on the nape of her neck to rise and she lunged swiftly to one side. The instinct had been right.

She saw the young religieux suddenly beside her, tottering for a second; his hands had been held out before him, ready to push her from the alcove into the passage below. His eyes bulged as he waved his hands in a desperate effort to recover his balance, and then with a great scream of fear he toppled and fell crashing down into the debris of the statue below.

Brother Gebicca was shaking his head as he peered at Eadulf’s leg.

‘You and Sister Fidelma certainly seem to be testing my abilities in the matter of healing leg wounds,’ he frowned. ‘Yes-what is it?’

His last remark was addressed to Brother Benevolentia, who was standing by looking impatient.

‘Am I needed further?’ Benevolentia asked. ‘I have things to attend to, for Bishop Ordgar.’

It was Eadulf who dismissed him for there was no further assistance that he required.

Eadulf waited while the physician bathed his leg. With the blood washed away, Brother Gebicca regarded the wound.

‘A small cut and some abrasions,’ he commented. ‘Nothing that won’t heal quickly, but there will be some bruising. How did it happen?’

‘I was in the old passage of statues and one of the statues fell.’

Brother Gebicca looked surprised. ‘You were in the forbidden gallery?’

‘I believe that is what it is called.’

‘Bishop Leodegar has forbidden the brethren to use it. Why were you there?’ the physician asked. Then, as Eadulf hesitated, he said: ‘No, don’t tell me. Hold still while I cleanse and bind this wound.’

Heart beating fast, Fidelma went on all fours and peered over the edge of the galley to the mosaic floor below. From the position of the head of the fallen religieux, there was no need to consider whether the young man was dead or not. Voices were calling from below and two of the brethren including, she noticed with surprise, Brother Benevolentia, were below, bending over the fallen body. Fidelma pulled back quickly in case they saw her, and breathed deeply to recover from the shock of what had happened.

Then she was on her feet and moving swiftly back along the gallery. She tried not to think of the young man. She had confirmed what she had suspected and, if further confirmation had been needed, she now knew that at least one of the brethren was involved in an attempt to kill them. Then she realised that there must be others. The thought made her pause as she came to the head of the stairwell. If she went down now, she would immediately be seen. Perhaps another potential killer was among them. It suddenly occurred to her that there was also only her word that he had tried to push her to her death.

She looked around, wondering if there was a way of avoiding the noisy group of religieux who had been joined by others around the dead body below. The wooden-floored gallery continued on beyond the stairwell. She followed it and after a while came to a second stairwell. This, surely, would place her beyond the view of the corridor. She made her way carefully down and, at the bottom, emerged into part of the abbey kitchens. Fortunately, there was no one about. She moved swiftly across to a door that provided an exit into the main courtyard before the chapel, then turned and hurried towards the apothecary’s house.

Eadulf was having his wound dressed when she entered. He looked relieved to see her. There was a question in his eyes but she ignored him.

‘Is it serious?’ she asked Brother Gebicca.

‘A fraction more and the muscle might have been sliced; a little further and Brother Eadulf would have been unable to complain,’ he remarked cheerfully, as he applied a poultice of mosses to ensure that the blood coagulated in healthy fashion. Then he proceeded to bind it with strips of white linen. He stood back and glanced at Eadulf. ‘I don’t suppose it is any use to tell you that you should rest now to allow the healing process to start?’

‘I shall walk with a stick if I have to,’ Eadulf declared.

‘I would advise against it,’ Brother Gebicca replied seriously. ‘You do not want to invite further injury or the bloodflow to turn bad. Wait a few days and allow the wound to heal. As for you,’ he chided Fidelma, ‘you should have rested for a longer period.’

Having finished binding the wound, Brother Gebicca excused himself to go in search of a salve that he said would help if applied to the other scratches that the falling stone had caused to Eadulf’s leg.

Alone, Brother Eadulf was studying Fidelma’s expression. Her look told him that she knew something but would not say anything until they had complete privacy. He was about to speak but, at that moment, Brother Chilperic came bursting into the physician’s room. He stared anxiously at Eadulf.

‘I heard that you had been injured by a falling statue.’

‘It is nothing. Just scratches.’

‘I was told there was a terrible accident in the…where the mason works. I was on my way there when one of the brethren saw you being helped here by Brother Benevolentia.’

‘That is true. A statue fell and I was hit by fragments, that is all.’ Just then, another of the brethren entered, obviously in search of Brother Chilperic.

‘The stonemason has been killed,’ he said without preamble. ‘You must come quickly!’

With a muttered word, Brother Chilperic hurried out of the room.

Eadulf turned to Fidelma in astonishment. ‘Did you hear that? The stonemason has been killed!’

‘I think they have found the body of the young Brother who just tried to kill me,’ Fidelma responded quietly. ‘This religieux saw that I was suspicious when I went to examine the place from where the statue fell. He tried to push me from the same spot. Instead he fell and broke his neck.’

‘What?’ Eadulf could not help the exclamation.

Just then, Brother Gebicca re-entered bearing the jar of salve he had gone to fetch.

‘Did I hear you cry out in pain?’ he asked.

Eadulf nodded. ‘I moved too quickly,’ he lied. ‘A moment’s thoughtlessness.’

Brother Gebicca shook his head. ‘I told you to be careful, Brother.’ He held up the clay pot of ointment. ‘Now, from tomorrow you will apply this to your abrasions and they should heal quickly.’

As he handed the pot to Eadulf, there was a knock on the door and Abbot Ségdae entered. He looked anxious.

‘There is a report that a statue fell and that a Brother was killed. I was told Brother Eadulf was brought here. Are you both all right?’