Peter Tremayne - The Haunted Abbot

Brother Higbald laughed pleasantly. ‘In this inclement weather? The snow may have stopped falling, and the sun is high and shining, but the air is without any warmth. It is truly cold enough to freeze a fair-size pond. It is not the weather to go travelling. In her condition, it would not be wise at all. I will tell the abbot so.’

Eadulf gave a little sigh of relief. ‘Thank you, Brother Higbald. I am afraid Abbot Cild’s hospitality towards Fidelma leaves much to be desired.’

Brother Higbald looked sympathetic and took Eadulf’s arm in his in a confiding gesture.

‘Let us walk for a moment, Brother Eadulf.’

Eadulf allowed himself to be led along the corridor and out into a covered walkway that opened on one side to the central square, the main quadrangle around which the buildings of the abbey were clustered. It had stopped snowing, as Brother Higbald had said, but the air was chill and the snow lay thick. It was a dry, fine snow which swirled in the sharp gusts of wind.

Brother Higbald spoke in a confidential tone.

‘I will ensure, of course, that the abbot realises the situation. However, do not condemn him for his uncompromising attitude. He has been through much. It is merely his means of protecting himself.’

‘I understand that all is not well with him,’ conceded Eadulf.

‘I was here last night in the chapel.’

Brother Higbald grimaced. ‘Ah, you mean the somewhat dramatic entrance of the Irish warrior Garb? He appears to be given to dramatic gestures.’

‘You know him, then?’

‘Know is, perhaps, too strong a word. I have seen him twice, to be exact.’

‘And what times were these?’

‘The first was when he came to the abbey to speak with Abbot Cild. The second time was last night. On both occasions his appearance was dramatic.’

‘Dramatic? When did he first come to the abbey, then?’

‘You are inquisitive, Brother Eadulf.’ Brother Higbald’s look was suspicious but still edged with amusement.

‘It is my nature,’ explained Eadulf. ‘I was hereditary gerefa at Seaxmund’s Ham before I began to travel for the faith.’

Brother Higbald’s smile broadened.

‘A gerefa, eh? A legal mind as well as a medical one and both in service of the faith. An extraordinary combination, Brother. Well, the warrior Garb came to the abbey about nine days ago. I was with the abbot when he made a similarly dramatic entrance though the door. I was removed from the chamber under guard of one of his warriors. I do not know what passed between them. However, Garb departed in anger. Abbot Cild was upset for somedays. Since that day I believe he has become more extreme in his moods.’

Eadulf examined Brother Higbald with some scepticism. ‘Are you saying that before Garb came here that first time, the abbot was a different person? How did this metamorphosis manifest itself?’

Brother Higbald chuckled warmly. ‘If you mean, was he jovial and good-natured and of a free and easy disposition before that day, then I have to say — absolutely not! Nature did not endow Abbot Cild with such attributes as kindliness and humour. The abbot has always been a man of extreme moods — more or less as you observe him now. I would say that he has become fearful. He has, to my knowledge, always been distrustful and somewhat illogical in his dealings with people.’

‘Garb’s charge of murder is a very serious one,’ pointed out Eadulf.

‘Accepting that, how can such a charge be made here under a foreign law?’

‘From the viewpoint of our law, it cannot,’ agreed Eadulf. ‘From the viewpoint of the law of the Brehons it can because Cild was married in Connacht under that law. So, I am told, it is serious.’

‘Fate has worked a cruel blow on the abbot.’

‘Cruel?’ queried Eadulf in surprise. ‘In what way?’

‘In respect of Brother Botulf’s death. Had he been alive, Botulf would have been able to defend Abbot Cild from these accusations.’

‘I do not follow you.’

‘I only know that Brother Botulf knew the full story about the abbot’s wife and was a witness to her death.’

‘When did she die?’ Eadulf hid his disappointment that his theory that Cild was hiding his wife from the world was so easily demolished.

Brother Higbald shook his head. ‘I should not be gossiping about the abbot.’

‘I do not ask you to gossip,’ Eadulf replied easily. ‘I asked for an answer to a question. A date, a time.’

‘Gélgeis must have died some months before I joined this community. When I came here, which was the end of thesummer, Cild had already established the abbey as a fraternity of religieux in which no women would be allowed to distract our contemplations. But there are still some of the brethren who knew her. Poor Brother Botulf, of course, and Brother Willibrod. Oh, and young Redwald. From what I heard, Gélgeis was not too well liked.’

‘Was the abbot’s concern about celibacy just a reaction to his wife’s death?’

‘Who knows what motivates people in their designs?’ Brother Higbald observed with a shrug. ‘Grief is often a spur in such matters.’

‘It is certain that the abbot’s wife is dead?’ Eadulf asked, struck by a sudden thought.

‘Of course. What makes you ask such a question?’ The apothecary seemed amused.

‘I was wondering about the identity of the lady who is currently a guest in this abbey?’

Brother Higbald’s expression was slightly bewildered. ‘I presume that you are not referring to your companion …?’

‘I am not. I mean the slim, fair-haired and richly dressed woman whom I observed in the cloisters by the chapel last night.’

The apothecary appeared to be serious for the moment. ‘Truly, Brother, as far as I know. there is no female in this abbey other than your companion.’

‘Yet I have seen her,’ Eadulf repeated firmly.

‘And you would recognise her again?’ asked Brother Higbald quickly.

Eadulf hesitated and then shrugged. ‘I am not sure.’

‘Well, would we not know if there was a woman here?’

Eadulf decided not to pursue the matter further.

‘Does anyone know how Abbot Cild’s wife came by her death?’ he asked. ‘Could it be that Garb’s accusation has some truth in it? Abbot Cild acts as though he has something to hide in this matter.’

Brother Higbald shook his head quickly. ‘There is no secret about her death. She wandered into a bog and was sucked under. My friend, granted that you were a gerefa, my advice to you would be that as soon as your companion is recovered in health,you should move on from here and stop asking questions. It would be unwise to take the side of Garb and seek out a mystery where there is none. If Abbot Cild does not wish to answer Garb, then surely that is his own affair?’

Eadulf returned his level, still humorous gaze for a moment. Yet there was something mysteriously serious about the smiling face of the apothecary.

‘There is a mystery here, Brother Higbald.’ Eadulf was not deterred. ‘Botulf was the friend and companion of my youth. I will not rest until I discover who killed him. I do not like leaving mysteries in my wake. Nor do I react to threats, however diplomatically articulated.’

The apothecary sighed ruefully. ‘I did not mean to sound as if I was issuing a threat. The matter is no concern of mine. I simply meant to warn you that Abbot Cild is a man of unstable temperament. He says that Botulf was killed by-’

‘I know what Abbot Cild says. Outlaws? Thieves from the marshlands? All because a Brother Wigstan claims that he saw an outlaw called Aldhere in the vicinity of the abbey not long after the body of Botulf was discovered. By the way, as apothecary, I presume you examined Botulf’s body when it was found?’