The Council of the Cursed (23 page)

‘It looks as if Brother Sigeric was right,’ Eadulf observed, as they walked along the forty metres of the passage. ‘This way has been blocked off.’

They paused before the stone-filled doorway.

‘Leodegar is certainly a fanatic about segregating the sexes,’ mused Fidelma. ‘I wonder why he fears women so much?’

‘Does his attitude mean that he fears women?’ asked Eadulf, puzzled.

‘Trying to deny equality, trying to denigrate women or, indeed, denigrating anyone is a sign that you really fear them,’ she said. ‘This blocking off of parts of this old building to segregate women from men is ridiculous. Anyway, I have seen enough.’

‘What did you hope to find?’

‘It was really a question of making sure, that’s all. But I confess I did have an initial thought that this might still be a means of access between the two communities. But I was also interested because it was the only area that no one showed us or even mentioned until Sigeric.’

They turned and began to walk back along the corridor.

Eadulf suddenly became aware of a slight noise, a scraping sound. He did not know what it was nor why he reacted as he did. He leaped suddenly to one side of the narrow passageway, shouting a warning to Fidelma who was walking in front of him. Her reactions were also quick. Jumping into
a space between the pillars to one side, she pressed herself against one of them.

A moment later, something smashed onto the spot where Eadulf had been standing and splintered into a thousand fragments. One of the fragments bounced from the mosaic floor and struck him in the back of the leg. It was painful and caused him to cry out in anguish, stagger a pace and fall. There was dust and debris everywhere, choking his throat and causing him to cough and gasp for clean air. He could not breathe properly and thought he was going to pass out.

It seemed a long while but in reality it was only a matter of seconds before a silence descended and the dust began to settle.

With a sob Fidelma turned and rushed from the pillar, which had sheltered her from the falling stone, and ran into the dust and debris.

‘Eadulf!’ she cried as she searched wildly for him.

A figure stirred among the grey stone dust and retched. She was bending beside him, trying to wipe the dust from his eyes and mouth.

‘Are you all right?’ she gasped.

His lips formed a crooked smile. ‘Not exactly,’ he replied.

She heaved a sigh of relief as he struggled to sit up.

‘Are you hurt?’ she demanded in concern, noticing how he winced suddenly.

‘I think I was hit by something,’ he said. ‘Back of the leg. A rock or something.’

Fidelma turned and saw a large piece of stone that lay near by.

‘It was a miracle that you were not hit by that,’ she said, indicating it.

Eadulf blinked to get the dust from his eyes as he stared at it.

‘It is the head from one of the statues,’ he declared in astonishment.

Fidelma glanced up to the arched alcove that seemed directly above them.

‘It was the entire statue,’ she corrected. ‘And it nearly fell on you. Look, you can see the plinth on which it stood.’

Eadulf shuddered. ‘Dangerous,’ he muttered. ‘Maybe we should get out before something else falls down. Those statues must be several hundred years old.’

Fidelma was examining the back of his leg.

‘You have a nasty gash there. I must get you to Brother Gebicca. Can you stand?’

‘I’ll try. I don’t think anything is broken.’ Using Fidelma’s arm and one hand against the wall, he rose slowly, flinching as the weight was placed on his leg.

At that moment, Brother Benevolentia appeared at the doors through which they had entered. He paused and stared at them in surprise.

‘I heard the crash,’ he began.

‘I need help, Brother,’ Fidelma declared. ‘Come and help support Eadulf.’

But Brother Benevolentia was still staring at Eadulf and did not appear to hear.

‘What happened…?’ His voice trailed off as he saw the remains of the broken statue. His eyes went up to the spot where it had once stood. Then he turned to Eadulf. ‘Have you been injured, Brother?’

‘We must get the wound bathed and dressed,’ Fidelma instructed. ‘I don’t think it is serious.’

‘I will support him, Sister. Leave him to me.’ He took the arm of Eadulf and, supporting him, glanced back at the debris. ‘It looks like one of those ancient statues of the Romans. It has stood there for six centuries at least. It was a lucky thing that its fall missed you, Brother.’

Eadulf’s calf was throbbing.

‘I think that is an understatement,’ he replied. ‘A fraction closer and I do not think I would still be in this world.’

He suddenly noticed that Fidelma was looking intently at the remains.

‘You go on, Brother Benevolentia,’ she said. ‘Take him to Brother Gebicca. I’ll be with you in a moment.’

Brother Benevolentia hesitated. ‘But, Sister…it may be dangerous here. This is an ancient part of the building and these old statues are known to be unsafe.’

‘Eadulf is bleeding and the longer you delay, the worse it gets. I said I would be but a moment!’ she snapped irritably.

Brother Benevolentia was unhappy but Eadulf, realising she wanted time to look at something, began to move forward, forcing his companion to go with him.

Fidelma stood for a moment looking at the pieces that had once
constituted the marble statue. Then she peered up at the empty alcove that rose ten metres above them in the great vaulted passageway. There had been five statues along each side, and now one of them was missing.

There was a movement from the mason’s room behind her. She turned to find that another young, dark-headed religieux had arrived; he was looking about him with dismay.

‘What happened, Sister?’ he demanded.

‘One of the statues fell from its plinth up there,’ Fidelma replied.

‘One of the old statues?’ echoed the Brother, sounding shocked.

‘Have they all stood in those positions a long time?’

‘They have been there since the time of the Romans. They have certainly stood in perfect safety for as long as I have been here. It is strange that one of them has fallen now. Perhaps it is an evil omen.’

‘The omen would have been distinctly evil had it fallen on anyone,’ Fidelma replied dryly.

‘Then no one was hurt?’

She did not respond but looked up at the alcoves high above her. ‘Tell me, is there any way one can get up to those alcoves? They seem particularly deep and I see light from behind them as though there is a space there.’

The religieux nodded. ‘Indeed there is, Sister. There is a walkway along each side behind the places where the statues stand which the stonemasons used to use. In fact, they are still used for the upkeep of the roof and other high stonework.’

‘Is it easy to get access to that walkway? How would I get to it from here, say?’

‘You wish to go up there?’ The religieux seemed surprised.

‘I do.’

He looked around as if wondering what to do, and then said: ‘Very well. I can show you.’

Just behind the doors through which they had entered, Fidelma now saw a narrow open doorway that her companion pointed to. There was a small circular flight of stone steps that moved upwards as if ascending some round tower. Fidelma took a step forward and peered up. She could see light at the top of the stairwell so she ascended a step before the cautious voice of the religieux halted her.

‘Do you really mean to go up, Sister?’

‘That is precisely what I do mean,’ she replied firmly.

‘It is dangerous. After all, if that statue has fallen, it shows that the stonework can be insecure.’

‘I’ll chance it.’

‘I should come as well, just in case of danger. Let me lead the way.’

Fidelma shrugged and allowed the young man to ascend the spiral stone stairs before her. He did so nimbly and without hesitation.

It was not long before the stairs emerged onto what appeared to be a wooden-floored gallery. There was an outer wall to one side with windows giving onto the daylight while the other side consisted of the alcoves she had seen from below, containing the large stone statues, each nearly two metres in height. One alcove was empty and it was to this that she went directly.

The gallery continued on to another stairwell and vanished beyond.

‘Where does this gallery eventually lead?’ she asked her companion.

‘Beyond that far wooden door is the
Domus Femini
, Abbess Audofleda’s section of the abbey. But it is locked.’

Fidelma examined it for a moment. ‘It is not blocked up like the main doors below.’

‘It is simply locked. Only the bishop has the key. And no one comes here usually.’

She turned her attention back to the alcove.

The first thing she realised was that there was no way that the statue could have fallen of its own accord. Her eyes went to the plinth, which was still fairly intact but bore signs of indentations and fresh scratchmarks where a metal lever had been employed with brute strength to create a fulcrum by which the heavy stone statue could be tipped as they were passing.

She bent down to examine the marks more carefully, and a sudden chill went through her. Her suspicion had been correct. Someone had deliberately tried to kill them.

Whether it was some intuition or a reaction born of the years in which she had carried on the profession of a
dálaigh
, something caused the hairs on the nape of her neck to rise and she lunged swiftly to one side. The instinct had been right.

She saw the young religieux suddenly beside her, tottering for a second; his hands had been held out before him, ready to push her from the alcove into the passage below. His eyes bulged as he waved his hands in a desperate effort to recover his balance, and then with a great scream of fear he toppled and fell crashing down into the debris of the statue below.

Brother Gebicca was shaking his head as he peered at Eadulf’s leg.

‘You and Sister Fidelma certainly seem to be testing my abilities in the matter of healing leg wounds,’ he frowned. ‘Yes–what is it?’

His last remark was addressed to Brother Benevolentia, who was standing by looking impatient.

‘Am I needed further?’ Benevolentia asked. ‘I have things to attend to, for Bishop Ordgar.’

It was Eadulf who dismissed him for there was no further assistance that he required.

Eadulf waited while the physician bathed his leg. With the blood washed away, Brother Gebicca regarded the wound.

‘A small cut and some abrasions,’ he commented. ‘Nothing that won’t heal quickly, but there will be some bruising. How did it happen?’

‘I was in the old passage of statues and one of the statues fell.’

Brother Gebicca looked surprised. ‘You were in the forbidden gallery?’

‘I believe that is what it is called.’

‘Bishop Leodegar has forbidden the brethren to use it. Why were you there?’ the physician asked. Then, as Eadulf hesitated, he said: ‘No, don’t tell me. Hold still while I cleanse and bind this wound.’

Heart beating fast, Fidelma went on all fours and peered over the edge of the galley to the mosaic floor below. From the position of the head of the fallen religieux, there was no need to consider whether the young man was dead or not. Voices were calling from below and two of the brethren
including, she noticed with surprise, Brother Benevolentia, were below, bending over the fallen body. Fidelma pulled back quickly in case they saw her, and breathed deeply to recover from the shock of what had happened.

Then she was on her feet and moving swiftly back along the gallery. She tried not to think of the young man. She had confirmed what she had suspected and, if further confirmation had been needed, she now knew that at least one of the brethren was involved in an attempt to kill them. Then she realised that there must be others. The thought made her pause as she came to the head of the stairwell. If she went down now, she would immediately be seen. Perhaps another potential killer was among them. It suddenly occurred to her that there was also only her word that he had tried to push her to her death.

She looked around, wondering if there was a way of avoiding the noisy group of religieux who had been joined by others around the dead body below. The wooden-floored gallery continued on beyond the stairwell. She followed it and after a while came to a second stairwell. This, surely, would place her beyond the view of the corridor. She made her way carefully down and, at the bottom, emerged into part of the abbey kitchens. Fortunately, there was no one about. She moved swiftly across to a door that provided an exit into the main courtyard before the chapel, then turned and hurried towards the apothecary’s house.

Eadulf was having his wound dressed when she entered. He looked relieved to see her. There was a question in his eyes but she ignored him.

‘Is it serious?’ she asked Brother Gebicca.

‘A fraction more and the muscle might have been sliced; a little further and Brother Eadulf would have been unable to complain,’ he remarked cheerfully, as he applied a poultice of mosses to ensure that the blood coagulated in healthy fashion. Then he proceeded to bind it with strips of white linen. He stood back and glanced at Eadulf. ‘I don’t suppose it is any use to tell you that you should rest now to allow the healing process to start?’

‘I shall walk with a stick if I have to,’ Eadulf declared.

‘I would advise against it,’ Brother Gebicca replied seriously. ‘You do not want to invite further injury or the bloodflow to turn bad. Wait a few
days and allow the wound to heal. As for you,’ he chided Fidelma, ‘you should have rested for a longer period.’

Having finished binding the wound, Brother Gebicca excused himself to go in search of a salve that he said would help if applied to the other scratches that the falling stone had caused to Eadulf’s leg.

Alone, Brother Eadulf was studying Fidelma’s expression. Her look told him that she knew something but would not say anything until they had complete privacy. He was about to speak but, at that moment, Brother Chilperic came bursting into the physician’s room. He stared anxiously at Eadulf.

‘I heard that you had been injured by a falling statue.’

‘It is nothing. Just scratches.’

‘I was told there was a terrible accident in the…where the mason works. I was on my way there when one of the brethren saw you being helped here by Brother Benevolentia.’

‘That is true. A statue fell and I was hit by fragments, that is all.’ Just then, another of the brethren entered, obviously in search of Brother Chilperic.

‘The stonemason has been killed,’ he said without preamble. ‘You must come quickly!’

With a muttered word, Brother Chilperic hurried out of the room.

Eadulf turned to Fidelma in astonishment. ‘Did you hear that? The stonemason has been killed!’

‘I think they have found the body of the young Brother who just tried to kill me,’ Fidelma responded quietly. ‘This religieux saw that I was suspicious when I went to examine the place from where the statue fell. He tried to push me from the same spot. Instead he fell and broke his neck.’

‘What?’ Eadulf could not help the exclamation.

Just then, Brother Gebicca re-entered bearing the jar of salve he had gone to fetch.

‘Did I hear you cry out in pain?’ he asked.

Eadulf nodded. ‘I moved too quickly,’ he lied. ‘A moment’s thoughtlessness.’

Brother Gebicca shook his head. ‘I told you to be careful, Brother.’
He held up the clay pot of ointment. ‘Now, from tomorrow you will apply this to your abrasions and they should heal quickly.’

As he handed the pot to Eadulf, there was a knock on the door and Abbot Ségdae entered. He looked anxious.

‘There is a report that a statue fell and that a Brother was killed. I was told Brother Eadulf was brought here. Are you both all right?’

Fidelma nodded. ‘As you see, Abbot Ségdae. Eadulf was nearly caught by the falling statue and is mildly injured by fragments but certainly not killed.’

‘But one of the brethren has just assured me that he has seen a body…’

At that moment, Brother Chilperic re-entered slightly out of breath. Brother Gebicca frowned with annoyance.

‘Everyone seems to be making free of my apothecary. Is this to be the new meeting hall?’ he complained.

Brother Chilperic was trying to recover his breath. ‘I came to get you, Brother Gebicca,’ he gasped. ‘Brother Andica has been killed. Please come at once.’

‘Brother Andica–the stonemason?’ Brother Gebicca looked amazed. ‘How did that happen?’ he asked, as he turned to find his physician’s bag.

‘It seems that he fell from the very alcove where the statue fell,’ said Brother Chilperic. He was regarding Fidelma and Eadulf somewhat suspiciously. ‘Did either of you see a member of the brethren in the alcove before you left?’

Fidelma decided that in the circumstances mendacity was a better path to follow. ‘Apart from Brother Benevolentia who helped Eadulf here, there was no one. Perhaps this Brother…?’

‘Brother Andica. He was one of our stonemasons,’ replied the steward. ‘Brother Eadulf was asking about him only yesterday.’

‘That is true,’ admitted Eadulf. ‘I had just met him coming from the women’s community and wondered who he was.’

‘He must have gone up to the gallery to investigate why the statue fell, lost his footing and gone over the edge to his death,’ suggested Fidelma.

‘This is a great tragedy.’ Brother Chilperic was clearly upset.

‘Some of the brethren heard a cry and when they rushed into the corridor, he was lying in the debris with his neck broken by the fall.’

Brother Gebicca sniffed. It seemed a habit with him.

‘
I
will say what is broken and what is not. I am the physician and no one has consulted me yet. I am finished with the Saxon Brother so I will go to have a look at Brother Andica. Rest as much as you can, Brother Eadulf. And you, Sister Fidelma, should also be resting with that leg of yours. Come, Brother Chilperic.’

Brother Chilperic gave a deep sigh. ‘I thought Brother Andica was too experienced to make a mistake like that,’ he said as he was leaving. ‘He has been working on the roof and towers of this abbey for many years.’

‘It is just sad when a young man falls to his death before he has had time to live,’ Fidelma reflected.

Brother Gebicca called impatiently and the steward turned again with an apology and left.

‘Another death in the abbey,’ Abbot Ségdae said, ‘but at least this one is clearly an accident.’

Eadulf, who had been sitting patiently, now stirred.

‘Forgive me, I feel quite fatigued,’ he said. ‘I must go to our room and rest a while.’

At once, Abbot Ségdae was apologetic and helped Eadulf negotiate the stairs of the
hospitia
to their chamber.

After they had been left alone, Fidelma turned with some eagerness to him and told him exactly what had happened. Eadulf was horrified.

‘He actually attempted to kill you?’ he gasped. ‘But why? What reason could there be? And why push the statue down on us in the first place?’

She looked at him sorrowfully. ‘Aren’t we investigating a murder?’ she asked. ‘If this Andica was involved, then that is reason enough. It means, also, that we are close to our quarry.’

‘But why would the local stonemason be mixed up in Dabhóc’s death?’

‘To be honest, I cannot see the connection between Dabhóc’s death and the disappearance of the women from the
Domus Femini
. All right, Sister Valretrade was on her way to meet Brother Sigeric, or Sigeric was on his way to meet her, when the body of Dabhóc was discovered. She disappeared after that. But it seems she was not the only one to do so.’

‘Often, in an investigation, one gets a feeling that something is not right. One has to follow that feeling until it is explained or dismissed,’
Eadulf said, and then contradicted himself. ‘Of course, intuition can also be wrong,’ he added.

‘Often the feeling is not intuition but the accumulation of facts in the dim recesses of the mind,’ Fidelma said. ‘They remain there in shadows until another fact or event causes them to fit into place. For instance, the disappearances, the behaviour of the abbess and her steward, the connection with Lady Beretrude and our friend Verbas of Peqini, Brother Andica’s attempt to kill us and the missing reliquary box…I see the strands, but they need something to connect them all together.’

‘Maybe there is no connection,’ pointed out Eadulf.

‘Then we must establish that and move on,’ Fidelma replied. ‘But how?’ She suddenly groaned. ‘
Ron baithaigeis hí!
’

‘And why do you consider yourself a great fool?’ Eadulf asked, surprised.

‘Lord Guntram.’

Eadulf was none the wiser and said so.

‘I had forgotten about him,’ Fidelma said. ‘Remember, he was in the next chamber to where the murder was committed? He is also the son of Lady Beretrude. We haven’t even bothered to question him.’

‘From what Brother Chilperic said, he was drunk. So drunk he could not even return to his fortress that night. We were told that he had not seen or heard anything because he was in no condition to do so.’

‘That’s assumption, Eadulf,’ Fidelma rebuked. ‘You know that it is my philosophy that one must never assume facts. And I nearly fell into that error. That is why I am a fool.’

‘We will have to find out where Guntram can be found.’

‘Easily done.’ She stood up quickly. ‘Rest here and recover a while. I will be back shortly.’

Before he had time to protest, she was gone.

Eadulf limped to the adjacent wash room, removed his dusty and torn clothing and washed the dirt of the statue from his body before putting on a clean robe and stretching out on the bed.

Fidelma, meanwhile, had made her way to the
anticum
. Brother Chilperic was there. His expression was moody.

‘It seems that Brother Gebicca agrees that the death was an accident,’ he greeted her. ‘Brother Andica must have gone to examine how the statue
fell, lost his footing and plunged to his death. It is very sad. He was a patriotic Burgund and he was a very good stonemason. The Lady Beretrude will be upset when I send her word.’

Fidelma tried not to show her sudden interest; an interest that made her almost forget the point of her coming to find the steward.

‘Why would Lady Beretrude be upset?’ she enquired.

‘Because she has employed Brother Andica to do some work on her villa. I do not think the work is finished. He has spent much time there during the last two weeks.’

Fidelma absorbed the information and then murmured some appropriate condolence about the stonemason’s death before asking: ‘Do you know where I might find the Gaul, Brother Budnouen?’

Brother Chilperic peered round distractedly, as if searching for the man in question.

‘You have just missed him, I think. He was in the square with his wagon a moment ago. What do you…?’

But Fidelma was already gone through the great doors and into the main square.

In fact, Brother Budnouen was still outside the abbey doors, tightening the straps on the harness of his mules. He face wore his usual affable grin as he saw her racing towards him.

‘You look in a hurry, Sister Fidelma.’

Fidelma halted breathlessly. ‘Have you made your trip to Lord Guntram’s fortress yet?’ she gasped. ‘You said the other day that you were due to go there to do some trade.’

‘Lord Guntam, is it? I thought you would want me to take you back to Nebirnum. I wouldn’t blame you if you did, not after what I hear about the happenings in this dark place.’

‘Please, have you been yet?’ pressed Fidelma, trying to keep her impatience in check.

He shook his head. ‘I go tomorrow, just after first light. Why?’

‘Is his place far from here?’

‘Not at all. It is ten kilometres to the south west.’

‘Will you take us? Will you take Eadulf and me there and bring us back?’

Brother Budnouen’s expression clearly showed that he thought her mad but he agreed anyway.