Peter Tremayne - Dancing With Demons

Fidelma introduced her companions as they dismounted.

Brother Céin greeted each before continuing: ‘Have you ridden directly from Tara? Let me take you into the hostel and offer you refreshment.’

Fidelma indicated her assent and fell in step with him, while the others followed; the young man with the sword announced that he would see to their horses and have them rubbed down, watered and fed.

‘So, is it true that Luachan is not here?’ she asked. ‘And why are you and your brothers in fear of your lives?’

Brother Céin shrugged. ‘It is true the bishop is not here,’ he confirmed, ‘and the why and wherefore are long in the telling. Come in and take refreshment first.’

The travellers were seated, drinks were brought and a meal served, as it was well past midday. It was only after they had been served that Fidelma returned to the subject.

‘So, tell us what has happened to put you in such fear, Brother Céin,’ she invited.

The steward’s expression was sad.

‘Three days ago, Bishop Luachan was summon to attend a farmer’s wife who was said to be dying. The bishop had known the farmer and his wife for many years. Their farm is not far from here so he left on hismission of mercy. The man who brought this message presented himself as a passing traveller. When Bishop Luachan did not return by nightfall, the next morning, we sent one of the brethren to find out why he was delayed. Imagine his astonishment on encountering the farmer’s wife in robust health and claiming never to have sent a message at all. A search was made but the bishop had vanished.’

‘I see. There was no mistake? The bishop was not summoned elsewhere? ’

‘He was not. Ever since young Brother Diomasach was killed last week Bishop Luachan had been fearful, and that is why he persuaded us to view any strangers, particularly warriors, with suspicion. He advised that we find weapons and kept them to hand.’

‘Who was Brother Diomasach?’

‘He was the bishop’s scribe who wrote a good hand and spoke several languages.’

‘How was he killed?’

‘He disappeared from the nearby fields one day and was found floating in the Daoil, the river yonder. It looked as though he had been beaten — tortured, even — before he had been killed. God grant him peace.’

‘Did Bishop Luachan have any suspicion as to why Brother Diomasach was killed? Who did he fear, that he suggested that you be so wary?’

‘There have been several raids on isolated members of the Faith.’

‘ Dibergach?’ queried Eadulf, practising the new-found word he had learned.

Brother Céin shrugged. ‘Brigands? Perhaps. But they say there is a vigorous movement arising in the west that seeks to bring back the old religion. We have heard that these particular dibergach take pleasure in raiding Christian churches and communities.’

Fidelma was thoughtful for a moment. ‘So it was felt that Brother Diomasach was attacked because he was simply one of the Faith and had been found alone in the fields?’

Brother Céin looked uneasy.

‘There is more?’ pressed Fidelma, catching his expression.

‘What brought you here in search of the bishop?’ countered the steward instead.

‘No secret to that. Bishop Luachan visited the High King and took him some sort of gift. That was the very night before the High King was assassinated. There is now no sign of the gift and no one claims to have seenit. I was curious. What was this important gift? Did it have any bearing on the assassination of the High King? As Delbna Mór lay on our route to the country of the Cinél Cairpre, whose former chieftain is known to have been the assassin, I thought I might discuss this mysterious gift with Bishop Luachan.’

Brother Céin’s face grew longer and he sighed deeply.

‘I do not pretend to know all the answers, lady. But I have some knowledge which may be of help.’ He glanced at the sky through the window and nodded half to himself. ‘There is daylight left. If you have refreshed yourselves sufficiently, I would show you something but it is a short walk from here.’

Fidelma looked at Eadulf for his reaction.

‘Come,’ urged Brother Céin. ‘You can bring your warriors and their weapons with you.’ He rose and took an oil lamp from a table. Eadulf and Fidelma exchanged a curious glance for, as the steward had said, it was still daylight outside. They followed as he left the refectory and led them through the wooden buildings. They turned in a southeasterly direction, not more than 400 metres along a thickly wooded pathway.

‘Be watchful,’ Céin exhorted Caol and Gormán as he halted at a point on the pathway and peered quickly around at the undergrowth. Then he moved along a single path through the undergrowth and halted in a small clearing. There, to their surprise, he started to lift back some loose branches, which revealed a dark opening into the ground. Fidelma and Eadulf saw at once that it was manmade and not a natural cave.

Brother Céin took the oil lamp and held it above the hole in the ground.

‘The bishop found this several weeks ago by accident,’ he said to Fidelma. ‘Brother Diomasach and Bishop Luachan had spotted a strange cairn over there,’ he pointed to a rise behind them. ‘It was overgrown with creepers and almost invisible to the eye. In going to discover what it was, Bishop Luachan almost fell down into the entrance. It seemed that he only noticed the cairn because a stag had rubbed its antlers against it and torn away the growth that surrounded it. All these details I received from Bishop Luachan afterwards. Initially, only he and Brother Diomasach made and shared the discovery.’

‘What is it, an uaimh?’ muttered Eadulf, staring down the hole.

‘One might think so, Brother Eadulf,’ replied Céin. ‘This one leads into a passage which runs along two levels and terminates in a beehive-shapedchamber. From this entrance you move north along it and you have to be careful as the floor of the passage drops to the second level.’

‘Is it ancient?’ asked Fidelma.

‘It is difficult to estimate the true age. It was completely overgrown as well, according to the bishop. The roof of the first level of the passage consists of large flat lintels. There are similar large lintels on the second level of the passage. The floor is spread with clay that has been hardened over the centuries. The chamber at the end is constructed with dry stone walls with a corbel roof with caps of two flat lintels. It is about three metres in diameter. The interesting thing about the chamber is that there are no air vents, which would be necessary if used for food storage — an uaimh, as you say — or even for a place of refuge in extreme threatening times.’

Fidelma was thoughtful. ‘I will take your word for all this. You have gone into interesting detail. But what does it signify? What are you telling us?’

‘I know the details only because the ancient buildings and their construction fascinated Bishop Luachan. When he discovered this particular underground chamber he was especially thrilled, as there are no known dwellings here before our little community was built. It was because of the deserted nature of this place that we chose to establish our hermitage here. That means there was no memory of a community that would want such an adjunct as an uaimh built here. He argued that these were very ancient-both the cairn and the uaimh. ’

‘When did Bishop Luachan tell you about it?’

‘Not until after we found the body of Brother Diomasach.’

Fidelma began to see why the stocky steward was showing them these remains.

‘You mean that Bishop Luachan felt there was some connection between this discovery and Brother Diomasach’s death?’