Peter Tremayne - The Spider's Web

‘Flowing water?’

‘Yes. Teafa calls it a river.’

‘Have you done this before?’

‘Many times. It is an enjoyment in life especially when it is warm and there is a scent upon the air. I can sit there and just reflect.’

Fidelma swallowed at the sensitivity of the young man who everyone thought was a mere animal.

‘Then what did you do?’

‘I began to return to the cabin.’

‘To Teafa’s cabin?’

‘That is so. It was when I was at the door that someone reached for my arm. They thrust a piece of wood into my hand. They took my other hand and ran it along the wood. I think they did this to make sure I understood that there was writing on it.’

‘Writing?’

‘The carved symbols in the manner in which we are speaking now.’

‘Do you know who it was?’

‘I do not. Their scent was unknown to me.’

‘What did the symbols say?’

‘It said, “Eber wants you now.” Meaning I was to go to Eber.’

‘What did you do?’

‘I went.’

‘Did you not think of waking Teafa to tell her?’

‘She would not have approved of my going to Eber.’

‘Why was that?’

‘She thought that he was a bad man.’

‘And what did you think?’

‘Eber was always nice to me. Several times he gave me food and tried to communicate with me. I felt his hand on my head and face but he did not have the knowledge. I once asked Teafa to instruct him on the means of communication but she would not.’

‘Did she explain why she would not?’

‘Never. She simply said he was a very bad man.’

‘So when you received the message, you must have thought that he had discovered the means of communication?’

‘I did. If Eber could use the symbols to communicate by the stick, then he had obviously found the means.’

There was no faulting the logic.

‘So what did you do with the stick?’

There was a pause.

‘I dropped it, I think. No, I must have caught it on something for it seemed to be pushed out of my hand. I do not think I bothered to bend down to search for it. I was intent on going to Eber.’

‘So then you found your way to Eber’s apartments?’

‘It was not hard. I can find my way very well.’ He paused.

‘Continue,’ Fidelma pressed.

‘I went to the door. I tapped on it as Teafa has taught me. Then I lifted the latch and went in. No one approached me. I stood for a while, thinking that if Eber was there he would make himself known. When he did not, I moved forward, realising that there must be another chamber. I moved along the boundary of the wall and eventually found the second door and I tapped on this. The door did not open and so I sought out and lifted the latch on it and managed to enter.’

‘What then?’

‘Nothing. I stood for a while, expecting Eber to approach me. When he did not, I wondered if there was yet another chamber. I began to move along the wall. Holding one hand out before me. I had not gone far when my hand encountered something hot, uncomfortable. I believe it to be what you call a lamp. Something which burns by which you are able to see in the dark.’

Fidelma nodded and then realising the futility of it responded: ‘Yes. There was a lamp alight on the table. What then?’

‘I moved around the table and my feet encountered something on the floor. I recognised this as a mattress. I decided to crawlover it and continue my journey using the wall as my guide on the other side of the room. I was intent on finding a door to another chamber. I went on my hands and knees and began to climb over what I thought was the mattress …’

The tapping fingers paused. Then: ‘I realised that there was a body lying there. I touched it with my hand. It was wet and sticky. The wet had a salty taste and made me feel ill. I reached forward again to touch the face but my hand encountered something cold and also wet. It was very sharp. It was a … a knife.’

The young man shuddered.

‘I knelt there not knowing what to do. I knew Eber’s scent. I smelt that this was Eber before me and the life had gone from him. I think I moaned a little. I was making up my mind to seek a way out and rouse Teafa when rough hands gripped me. I feared for my life. I thrashed out. Other hands hit me, hurt me, and I was bound. I was dragged somewhere. It smelled vile. No one came near me. No one tried to communicate with me. I spent an eternity in purgatory not knowing what to do. I worked out that Eber must have been killed with a knife, the same that I had found and held. I also worked out that those who had seized me were either his killers or, worse, that they must have thought that I had killed Eber myself.

‘I tried to find something to carve a message to Teafa on. I could not understand why she had abandoned me. Now and then I was thrown scraps of food. There was a bucket of water. Sometimes I managed to eat and drink but often I could not find the scraps they threw me. No one helped me. No one.’

There was a pause before the finger tapping continued.

‘I do not know how long had passed. It seemed forever. Finally, I smelled a scent, the scent I smell now … The person called Fidelma. After that, hands, though rough, cleaned me, fed me and gave me water. I was still shackled but I was given a comfortable straw palliasse and the place smelled sweeter. Yetthe time sped on. It is only now that I can talk and only now that I realise fully what has taken place.’

Fidelma gave a long sigh as Gadra finished the translation from the tapping, moving fingers of the young man.

‘Móen, a great injustice has been done,’ she said at last. Gadra dutifully translated. ‘Even had the guilt been yours you should not have been treated like an animal. For that we must beg your forgiveness.’

‘You have nothing to be forgiven for, Fidelma. It is you who have rescued me from this plight.’

‘Not rescued yet. I fear that you will not be rescued until we have proved your innocence and identified the one who is guilty.’

‘I understand. How can I help you?’

‘You have helped enough for the present, though I will talk with you again. You will return to live in the cabin which you shared with Teafa, as this will be familiar to you. If Gadra is willing, he will be there to take care of you until our search for the guilty one is over. For your own protection I would urge you not to walk abroad unless you are accompanied.’

‘I understand. Thank you, Sister Fidelma.’

‘There is one more thing,’ she suddenly added, as the thought struck her.

‘Which is?’ prompted Móen through Gadra after she had paused.

‘You say that you were able to smell me?’

‘That is so. I have had to develop the senses that God left me. Touch, taste and smell. I can also feel vibrations. I can feel the approach of a horse or even a lesser animal. I can feel the course of a river. These things can tell me what is happening round me.’

He paused and grinned, looking, so it seemed, straight towards Brother Eadulf.

‘I know you have a companion, Fidelma, and that he is a male.’

Eadulf shifted awkwardly.

‘This is Brother Eadulf,’ interposed Gadra, and turning toEadulf, said: ‘If you do not know Ogam, squeeze Móen’s hand in acknowledgment.’

Cautiously, Eadulf reached forward, took the young man’s hand and squeezed it. He felt an answering pressure.

‘Blessings on you, Brother Eadulf,’ Móen’s finger movements were quickly traced by Gadra.

‘Let us return to your sense of smell,’ cut in Fidelma. ‘Cast your mind back, Móen. Remember the time when the person grabbed your hand and placed into it the stick with the Ogam instructing you to go to Eber? You said that you did not recognise the scent. Can you confirm that there was a scent?’