Peter Tremayne - Penance of the Damned

The girl searched her memory and revealed: ‘There is another fortress and township at Cromadh, the bend of the river on An Mhaigh. It belongs to an important Ui Fidgente chieftain named Donnabhain.’

Fidelma was immediately interested. ‘Do you know what sort of person he is?’

Aibell gave a whimsical smile. ‘I cannot remember very much, as I was taken to Sliabh Luachra when I was just a child, but Ciarnat told me once that you have already met his son.’

‘His son?’ Fidelma repeated, baffled. ‘How would Ciarnat have known that – and where did I meet his son?’

‘He is Ceit, the commander of Prince Donennach’s guard at the fortress.’

Fidelma exchanged a surprised glance with Eadulf.

‘It is tenuous link,’ he pointed out. ‘Glaed and his cut-throats might not even be going to Cromadh.’

‘True enough,’ Fidelma said. ‘Although Ceit would know of all our comings and goings from the fortress. I agree that his father might be a fragile connection but we should not discount it.’ She paused. ‘Let us remember this fact. By increasing our information we can make better speculations. Don’t the scriptures say – Vir sapiens et fortis est vir doctus robustus et validus ?’

‘A wise man is strong, a man of knowledge increases his strength,’ Eadulf translated.

Fidelma turned to Aibell. ‘Is there nothing else of importance lying in that direction that you know of, and to which these raiders might be heading?’

‘Not really. Once we pass north through the valley between these hills, the land is almost flat with a few simple homesteads. There is only one prominent landmark as I recall from my childhood. That is Cnoc Firinne.’

Fidelma tried to disguise her look of excitement. ‘Cnoc Firinne?’ she repeated.

‘The Hill of Truth, though why it was called that I do not know.’

‘Is it the site of some religious community?’

Aibell shook her head. ‘I have not heard it to be so, but as I have already said, my childhood memories are lazy and many things may have changed since then.’

Eadulf said gloomily. ‘If not a religious site why would Abbot Nannid go there?’ Could he really have an assignation with Glaed and his band of raiders?’

‘If he did,’ Fidelma replied, ‘why would he name the location of his meeting in front of Prince Donennach and Conri? He would surely be more circumspect about it.’

‘A good point, although he only said he was going there on some religious errand. Perhaps the name of the hill slipped out inadvertently? He would not expect anyone to make a connection with Glaed.’

‘Is this Hill of Truth far from here?’ Enda wanted to know.

‘If I remember correctly,’ said the girl, ‘we should see it as we come through this pass ahead of us. The hill is said to be so high that it can be seen from great distances over the flat northern plains of the Ui Fidgente territory.’

‘Very well,’ Fidelma said. ‘We have no choice but to follow Glaed’s band – but if there is little shelter available we must proceed with caution.’

They turned northward along the path, and eventually entered the valley between the two hills. After some time, including a stop by a gushing brook to rest their horses and consume a frugal meal of fruit, they left the shelter of the hills to pause on a rise and stare out across the broad plain before them.

The first thing they noticed was a large hill around four kilometres due north of them. There was a small hillock before it but the large hill was a gorse-covered mound of nearly three hundred metres high, with a curious limestone bald patch on its highest peak.

‘I presume that is Cnoc Firinne,’ Eadulf stated.

A moment later, Aibell cried, holding out her left hand to point. ‘Look, oh look!’

Across the plain to the immediate west, past ploughed fields and among some sparsely spaced trees, was what seemed to have been a group of buildings. They were now only black smudges in the landscape, and a pall of smoke hung low in the hot summer air above them.

‘A farmstead on fire, or nearly burned out,’ muttered Enda. ‘I can hazard a guess at who is responsible, since the men of Sliabh Luachra have passed this way.’

‘I see no sign of horsemen on the plain down there,’ Fidelma noted. ‘Let’s check to see if there are any survivors of this attack.’

Eadulf licked his dry lips. ‘Shouldn’t we be a little more careful and not just ride straight up …?’ But his companions were already moving off. Shrugging philosophically, he followed them.

The smell of burned wood was pungent as they approached what had been a number of barns and animal pens. Beyond these were the ruins of the farmstead itself. They halted before the main building.

Eadulf, observing no danger from any lurking raiders, dismounted and began to examine the ruins. The first thing he saw was the body of what he took to be the farmer. The man had been tied to a tree at the back of his property. He had not been long dead for the blood was still seeping from the spear thrusts in his chest and stomach. To one side, lying on the ground, hands stretched out imploringly was the body of a woman – no doubt the farmer’s wife. The couple were both fairly young. The man was tall, well-built with a mass of dark red hair. The pretty young woman was suntanned, with fair hair and callused hands indicating that she worked with her husband on the farmstead.

Eadulf sighed deeply as he gazed around. More devastation – cruel destruction of people’s homes and lives. There was little left standing and certainly nowhere this time for anyone to hide in the charred ruins. Meanwhile, Enda had been searching the outbuildings.

‘Definitely a raid,’ he reported. ‘There are pens for cattle and sheep but no sign of them, so I think they have been driven off to provide food for the raiders.’

He paused and looked about. ‘Wait here,’ he said, climbing back on his horse. ‘I’ll circle around and see in what direction they have driven the animals off.’

‘I don’t suppose Corradain ever told you the name of his son?’ Eadulf asked Aibell after he had gone.

The girl shook her head. ‘All he said was that his son and his wife had a farm on the northern side of the hill where he worked and …’ She stopped, her eyes wide with horror. ‘You don’t think …’

‘Red hair seems to run in the family,’ Eadulf said sadly, pointing to the farmer’s body. ‘There is no need to tell Corradain’s son about his father’s death. The poor young man and his wife have met the very same fate – and at the very same hands.’

Aibell did not reply. Her features were deathly pale and her mouth clenched tight in a rictus of grief.

A few moments later Enda appeared and swung down from his horse.

‘I am sure it was a raid for supplies. There are signs of a wheeled cart that is heavy in its tracks. They will have loaded it with whatever they could find. Also, they took several cattle and pigs, and I should imagine the cart was hauled by mules, judging by the tracks. I think they killed the chickens and any other birds, as I could see a large amount of feathers strewn on the path back there. It’s easier for them to transport dead birds than live ones.’

‘Which way were the raiders heading?’ Eadulf asked.

‘They were heading to that northern hill,’ Enda said. ‘There’s no attempt to disguise their tracks. However, they appear to have lost one of the horses.’ He jerked his head in the direction from which he had come. ‘There is a carcass back there. A good-looking animal, a grey with a white mane and more like a warhorse than a workhorse. I can’t think why they would want to kill it. It’s been shot with several arrows, so it was deliberate.’