Peter Tremayne - Badger's Moon

Fidelma raised her hands, palms outwards, to still the crowd, which had begun to mutter in astonishment.

‘Do not leave us, Gobnuid,’ she called, espying the smith, who had risen and was heading towards the doors. ‘You probably received another quarter, didn’t you?’

Rough hands pushed Gobnuid forward to the front of the crowd.

‘I’ve done nothing,’ he said in surly fashion.

‘On the contrary. I feel that you have done much,’ retorted Fidelma. ‘There is no need to tell you how rich the lands of the Cinél na Áeda were in mines and how a generation or more ago those mines were worked out. Along came a ruthless young warrior. An intelligent warrior, who had once studied in the Faith. He found a cave on the Thicket of Pigs in which he saw gold. He saw a plan to get personally rich and powerful instead of sharing his find with his people. He found a smith who would mine and transport the gold to traders on the river and he found a mine surveyor so that he and the smith knew what seams to follow.’

She paused for a moment.

‘I saw Gobnuid not so long ago driving a wagon which he said was loaded with hides sent by Accobrán for traders on the lower river. Hides? The wheels of the wagon were rutted so deeply in the track that the weight must have been considerable. From such a wagon a gold nugget fell on the track near the Ring of Pigs which was picked up by a boy called Síoda. Innocently, the boy took it to Gobnuid who sought to persuade him that it was only fool’s gold. But it was not, was it, Gobnuid?’

Gobnuid hung his head, flushing, confirming the truth of her words.

‘The trouble was that Accobrán gave the game away when he went to the sea port looking for a pliant captain to help transport the gold out of this territory. He made a mistake in sending some samples of his prospective cargo with the captain of a trading ship. That man was in the country of the Uí Fidgente when fate overtook him. He was dying and confessed the source of the nuggets he had to a warrior named Dea. But all he managed to tell Dea was that the rich source was on the Thicket of Pigs. He did not know where the mine was but he knew that a hunter lived at that place, a hunter called Menma. He suggested to Dea that the hunter must know. Menma did not. However, Dea had joined a host commanded by his brother Conrí who were going to the lands of the Corco Loígde for the annual games.

‘Dea and his band of warriors, without the knowledge or permission of Conrí, raided Menma’s cabin in search of him. You already know what transpired. They took Suanach as a hostage to force Menma to follow them.

‘They did not realise that they would be pursued by Cinél na Áeda warriors led by the very man who was the source of the gold. Accobrán realised that the merchant had betrayed his gold find to the Uí Fidgente. He did not know details, of course. When he chased them, he had one thing on his mind. He resolved that no one among the raiders should live to breathe a word of their purpose. That is why he killed them all.’

There was a gasp from those assembled.

‘Menma and Suanach will testify that the Uí Fidgente were not given a chance to surrender.’

Becc was sitting back with a combination of sadness and anger on his features. ‘A tanist takes oath to pursue the commonwealth of his people. I have become increasingly aware that Accobrán’s actions are questionable. I have made the excuse that he is young and untutored in the code of chieftainship. But this…? This is against law and morality. This is an evil betrayal of the trust of the Cinél na Áeda.’

‘There is more,’ went on Fidelma. ‘I happened to question Gobnuid the smith about the gold nugget that Síoda had found. He panicked and thought I was on to the secret of the mine in the cave. He tried to arrange an accident without consulting Accobrán. The next morning, Eadulf and I had climbed onto the watchtower at the gates of the rath. Gobnuid joined us, saying that he had a message from Accobrán. He had loosened a rung of the ladder. When we started to go down it was sheer luck that Eadulf, who went first, did not fall to his death when the rung gave way.

‘Subsequently, Accobán must have assured Gobnuid that we were too concerned with the deaths of the three girls to bother about the gold mine. It was a stupid mistake, for Gobnuid had now alerted me to the connection.’

The tanist was standing silently, still covered by Eadulf’s sword. Fidelma had already motioned a warrior to take charge of Gobnuid.

‘Cousin Becc, your tanist has betrayed you and the office of trust that he held among you. Avarice! When all the sins are old, avarice will remain young. It is the oldest and the strongest of motives for evildoers.’

Becc leaned forward with an angry frown. ‘Are we to take it that Accobrán and his conspirators were responsible for the killings of the three young girls? Had they discovered his secret and were their deaths a means to still their tongues?’

Fidelma answered in the negative. ‘In that matter, Lesren was actually correct in his charge.’

The youth, Gabrán, leapt from his seat and struggled to reach the door through the crowd. It took a moment for the people to recover from their shock. Two men caught and held him while Fínmed, the boy’s mother, started to scream and wail in hysterical desperation.

‘How can that be?’ gasped Becc. ‘He was cleared by my Brehon Aolú, and even you said…’

‘You were all wrong about Gabrán,’ replied Fidelma firmly.

Fínmed fell to silently sobbing, while Goll had risen and moved forward to the dais. His face was filled with shock and growing anger.

‘You are wrong, Sister Fidelma. You are wrong. We protest against this prejudice…you…’

‘If you are silent awhile, Goll, I will explain.’

Her voice was quiet but commanding. When the murmuring of the crowd in the hall died away, Fidelma began.

‘It is true that Gabrán and Beccnat were going to get married. But it is also true, exactly as Lesren claimed, that Beccnat had changed her mind.’ Fidelma turned to where Lesren’s widow Bébháil was sitting next to Tómma, her head hung low. ‘Now that Lesren is no longer a threat to you, Bébháil, perhaps you will tell us the truth of what happened?’

The woman raised her head slowly. ‘You already know what sort of character Lesren was and why he did not want our daughter to associate with Gabrán. That much is certainly true.’ She paused and licked her lips. ‘It is also true that Gabrán wooed our daughter and they did, indeed, plan to get married. They used to meet regularly and they went to Liag’s place for his instruction, more from the opportunity to use it as a meeting place than a real interest in star lore.’

Liag, the apothecary snorted in disgust but Bébháil went on.

‘Lesren also spoke the truth when he said that Beccnat had decided not to marry Gabrán…’

‘Lies!’ shouted the boy, struggling between the two men who held him. ‘Becc, you have dealt with this before and dismissed the case against me. It is lies.’

‘It is the truth as Beccnat told me,’ insisted Bébháil quietly.

‘What caused her decision?’ asked Fidelma.

‘She heard that Gabrán had been seeing Escrach in secret. He had told Escrach that he was only pursuing Beccnat because he wanted to avenge himself on Lesren for what Lesren had done to his mother.’

‘Who told Beccnat this?’

‘It was Escrach herself, who was horrified at the idea, and as Beccnat was a friend had decided to warn her quietly. But Escrach was, at the same time, in love with Gabrán and could not denounce him openly nor desert him. She merely thought to warn Beccnat about him. Beccnat decided to break with the boy and, in truth, she was already finding consolation with the tanist there.’