Peter Tremayne - The Leper's bell

‘Just so, lady.’

And then you brought your companions here?’

‘I did.’

‘But not all of them?’

Brother Buite looked startled.

‘I believe that you travelled with a leper? But we are told that when you arrived here a leper was not in your company.’

‘Ah.’ It was a soft breath. ‘A leper did come with us.’

‘Where did this companion leave you?’

‘Just before we reached the abbey here. Five of us, the original party, proceeded to the abbey but our sixth traveller went on towards the west.’

‘This sixth companion was small and carried a leper’s bell?’

‘That is so. He was a dwarf. Because of his illness we kept slightly apart from him but he did not seem to mind.’

‘A dwarf?’ Fidelma’s eyes sparkled at the information. ‘And he was a male?’

‘The name he gave us was Forindain.’

‘He spoke?’ Eadulf asked the question with a note of surprise. Caol had said the misshapen child who came to the palace was mute. It had not occurred to him until that moment that the pilgrim Brother Buite was describing might be possessed of speech.

Brother Buite glanced at him. ‘Why wouldn’t he speak?’

Fidelma glanced warningly at Eadulf and shook her head slightly.

‘And where did Forindain join your band?’ she asked.

‘At Cashel itself.’

‘Was he staying at the inn there?’

‘Not exactly. I had the impression that he slept in a barn.’

‘Why was that?’

‘I saw him eating in the inn before we retired for the night. He did not indicate by his bell that he was a leper then. That is contrary to the rules of the Faith. It was only when we were leaving in the morning and I found him in the yard with straw on his clothing and a leper’s bell that I realised he was so afflicted. Have I transgressed some law, lady, by allowing him to accompany us?’

Fidelma leant back and examined Brother Buite’s features keenly.

‘You are troubled by my questions, Brother Buite. Let me tell you why I ask them. Sárait the nurse was apparently lured from the safety of my brother’s palace when, according to the guard on duty, a child came with a message saying that her sister needed to see her urgently. The message was false. The messenger was said to be thickset and misshapen. It was dark. The guard, Caol, thought he saw a child. I suspect that he saw the dwarf who has been travelling with you. If so, we need to speak to this Forindain.’

Brother Buite blinked rapidly. ‘Was Sárait the nurse who was killed?’ he asked in surprise. ‘Sárait who was the wife to Callada?’

‘You knew her?’ Eadulf pressed quickly.

Brother Buite inclined his head. ‘I met her only once. It was Callada, her husband, that I knew. He was a popular fellow. He fought at Cnoc Aine and died there. I saw Sárait when she came in search of his body. I did not realise that she was the nurse who had been killed.’

‘As a matter of interest, do you know how this Callada died?’

Brother Buite glanced suspiciously at Eadulf, who had asked the question.

‘You mean, have I heard of the rumours that spread after the battle? Rumours that he had been found with an Eóghanacht spear in his back? I heard them. Indeed, it was Cathalán who commanded us and who pointed out that a spear has no allegiance — it is the man who wields the spear. Any one — Uí Fidgente or Eóghanacht — could have picked up the spear that transfixed Callada. But I know the rumours persisted.’

‘We are more concerned to hear about your pilgrims and how they fell in with this dwarf who gave his name as Forindain,’ Fidelma interrupted.

‘I will tell you what I know, lady,’ replied the former warrior. ‘My fellow pilgrims and I had reached Cashel, and hearing Bishop Ségdae was there we went to the palace and asked a blessing and permission to continue our pilgrimage to see the holy relics of Ailbe. Then we went to the inn to eat before taking a room there. As I have said, that was when I first saw the dwarf, but there was no indication then that he was a leper. In the morning, Prince Finguine came to the inn and asked if we had been disturbed during the night. Some of us had been awoken by the sounds of warriors moving about. He told us that there had been a killing and that a child was missing.

‘After he left, I went into the yard and found the dwarf. He was, as you say, small and misshapen and clad from poll to toe in his robes. He told me his name was Forindain and that he was also on the road to Imleach. When I told him that was where we were heading, he asked if he could join us. But then he warned me not to come close for he carried the curse of leprosy as well as being malformed from childhood. I said that he was welcome to join us for we are equal under God.’

He paused, as if remembering something else.

The dwarf asked us when we were departing for Imleach. When I said after we had broken our fast, he replied with satisfaction that this was well for he had something to see. When we were ready to depart, he was in the yard and walked some paces behind us. In this fashion, we came to Imleach.’

‘Did this Forindain tell you where he came from?’ asked Eadulf. ‘Did he tell you anything at all about himself?’

Brother Buite shook his head. ‘All I could tell was that he was originally from the kingdom of Laigin.’

‘You learnt nothing else about him?’

‘He kept himself to himself. Whenever anyone came too near, he would jangle that little bell of his as warning. We had our own cares and left him well alone. He followed behind us, always keeping a distance away.’

‘What manner of person was he?’ Fidelma pressed. ‘Happy, outgoing, sad, morose, good-tempered or ill-tempered?’

Brother Buite shrugged. ‘Hard to say. He was not loquacious, that is for sure. He kept his head cowled. I do not think I saw his face once. He was always in shadows. He moved agilely enough, in spite of jerking motions when he walked. He had thick, stubby hands — strong hands. Oh … I had almost forgotten. When he spoke, he spoke with a lisp as if his tongue was too large for his head.’

‘How did this Forindain come to leave you?’ she asked.

The leader of the pilgrims passed his good hand across his chin, as though to brush away an annoying insect.

‘I suppose I assumed that when Forindain said he was on the road to Imleach, he meant that he was coming to the abbey. Outside the township here, he simply bade us farewell. I did ask where he was going. He said that his road now took him further to the west. So we left him at the crossroads outside the town. That was the last we saw of him and that was where our interest in him stopped.’

‘And when did you part company?’

‘About three days ago.’

Fidelma was quiet for a while, nodding silently. Then she suddenly smiled.

‘You have been most helpful, Buite. I need not detain you or your companions.’

Brother Buite hesitated. ‘Do you believe that this Forindain was involved with the murder of Sárait and the kidnapping of…?’ His voice trailed off and he raised a shoulder and let it fall.

Fidelma’s voice was emotionless. ‘Belief is to regard what has been told one as being true. It is to be persuaded without final proof. That is not the task of a dálaigh , Brother Buite of Magh Ghlas. One seeks out truth through fact and not through opinion.’

Brother Buite flushed a little. Eadulf at once felt contrite, and hurried into speech.

‘We are following all leads, however obscure and faint, and hope that somewhere along the way they will turn into those facts that we are looking for. We have questions that this Forindain can answer, that is all. Thank you for being so helpful.’

He smiled reassuringly at him and Brother Buite returned the smile before Brother Madagan ushered him from the chamber. Eadulf turned to Fidelma.