Eadulf regarded the wreckage of the man in disgust, telling him: ‘We are not scavengers, my friend.’
The old man chuckled again, which brought on a fit of coughing.
‘A leper,’ muttered Gormán, spotting the decaying flesh of the man’s arm sticking out from the rags that covered him.
The man immediately tried to conceal himself.
‘Have I not got the right to exist, the same as you?’ he hissed. ‘These are my pickings, when the fat merchants leave them.’
‘We are not searching for any pickings, as you call them,’ replied Eadulf firmly. ‘We are looking for a boat newly arrived here.’
‘What’s in it?’ gabbled the old man. ‘What’s in it? I want a share.’
‘I doubt there is anything in it that you would want a share of, unless it be several inches of steel driven in you,’ snapped Gormán, clasping his sword as if to draw it from its scabbard.
‘I meant no harm, meant no harm,’ cried the old man in alarm, making to scuttle away.
Eadulf laid a hand on Gormán’s arm and forced a smile at the leper.
‘My friend is not known for the mildness of his manners and his temper is quickly roused. However, you could be rewarded in some fashion if you can show us such a boat.’
The old man’s eyes gleamed. ‘Rewarded?’
‘But first you must prove that we can trust you. Did such a boat arrive here this morning?’
‘Several.’ The smile was positively a leer. ‘Many river craft came here for the feasting.’
‘We are looking for a boat that came upstream and was rowed by four men. There were passengers.’
There was a silence before the man said, ‘What if I was to tell you that there was such a boat? Five men, one injured, and some queer sacks in it.’
Eadulf and Gormán exchanged an excited look.
‘Was there a woman with them?’ Eadulf demanded.
The leper shook his head but, seeing the disappointment on Eadulf’s face, added: ‘They carried queer sacks, as I said. Large enough for someone to be inside.’
‘Where is it? Where did they land?’ pressed Eadulf.
‘Didn’t I hear you say something about a reward?’
Eadulf reached into his leather purse and produced a piece of copper. To his surprise the old man spat in distaste.
‘What would the likes of me be doing with that? Who would take copper from a leper?’
‘Then what do you want?’ demanded Eadulf, puzzled.
‘Food is what I want. Give me food, and then I will tell you.’
Eadulf turned to Gormán with a helpless expression. ‘Where can we get food now?’
But Gormán had grabbed the copper from his hand and run off without a word. He was back almost within moments, with two loaves and some cheese. Eadulf realised that he had gone back and bought it from the little girl. The old man’s eyes lit up.
‘That’s more like it. Hand it over, fellow.’
‘Firstly we want the details of the boat,’ Eadulf said. ‘Tell us.’
The old man shrugged. ‘It is not moored along here.’
Eadulf drew in his breath angrily but before he could say a word the old man went on, ‘It berthed on the far side of the river. You see those sheds over there? There’s one with a small jetty in front of it. That’s where they landed.’
‘But there is no boat there now.’
‘Not now there isn’t, but that’s where it landed. Five men. One had an injured arm. The others helped him out and then there seemed to be an argument with one of the oarsmen. I couldn’t see from where I was because they hurried into the shed. I only know that the argument stopped quickly. They lifted two heavy sacks from the boat and carried them into the shed. Oh yes, and someone had been awaiting their arrival. He was a religieux by the manner of his robes, with one of those cowl things covering his head, so don’t ask me what he looked like.’
‘What?’ cried Eadulf. ‘A religieux in robes? Are you sure that he was waiting for them?’
‘What else have I to do but sit here unobserved and watch the river, just in case someone comes along and leaves something unattended? I am sure of what I saw.’
‘And what happened to the boat?’
‘Everyone left the shed, climbed back into the boat and they rowed off.’
Eadulf actually groaned. ‘They rowed off? Where?’
‘Back downriver. Five of them came out and climbed back into the boat with the religieux who had been waiting for them. Two took the oars, one in the bow while the other three sat in the stern.’
‘And these sacks that they took from the boat? What happened to them?’
‘They must have left them over there in the shed,’ shrugged the leper. ‘Now, what about that grub?’
Gormán thrust the loaves and cheese at the old man, who gave an almost animal sound and scampered off among the buildings.
‘Well?’ demanded the warrior, frowning after the bent figure. ‘What now, my friend?’
‘Could the person waiting for them have been Biasta?’ Eadulf asked.
‘He certainly had time to reach here,’ replied Gormán.
Eadulf was studying the shed across the now-darkening waters. The late-afternoon sun was already obscured by clouds as it sank to the distant western mountains.
‘Five men went into that building carrying two bulky sacks,’ he mused, thinking aloud. ‘Five men plus the religieux who was waiting for them came out and rowed away. We presume that one was the ferryman’s son. That means that one of the sacks contained the poet and-’ He came to an abrupt halt. ‘The other sack contained Fidelma.’ He stared at Gormán. ‘That means Fidelma is still in there! Still in the shed!’
CHAPTER TEN
They borrowed one of the smaller craft from the many boats tied up at the quays. Gormán took the single pair of oars while Eadulf clambered into the stern, untied the painter and pushed off. It did not take long to cross the river, although the current carried them a little way to the south of the spot that they were making for. Rather than trying to fight it, Gormán was content to let the boat come to rest where the current took it. They left it secured and began to walk along the bank to the small complex of sheds. It was a gloomy place. The sheds were set slightly back from the wooden jetty and surrounded on the other three sides by tall oaks and birch trees. They had seen no signs of life among the buildings as they crossed the river, and now, as they came close, it was clear that they were deserted.
‘We should have asked for more information about this place from the old man,’ whispered Eadulf, glancing about.
Apart from the one building that the leper had pointed out, two other buildings seemed also constructed for storage rather than habitation. Cautiously, they made their way to the entrance of the main building: the tall double doors were closed and secured with an iron chain and lock. They were basically wooden beams of stout oak planking.
Gormán uttered a quiet oath. There was no need to ask why. Eadulf knew that glais iarnaidhi or iron locks were commonly used in households in the Five Kingdoms, but storehouses such as these usually had other means to secure them. Gormán led the way around the building, but there were no other doors or means of ingress. They returned to the main door and now Gormán went to the bank of the river and picked up a piece of smooth rock.
‘Keep a watch, especially on the far bank,’ he instructed Eadulf.
Eadulf did as he was asked. Behind him he heard three sharp blows of stone against metal, which he felt must surely be heard even up at the great fortress overlooking the township on the far side. Apart from the sounds of the music and merrymaking drifting down from the hilltop, however, there was silence, which indicated that they had not been heard. One more blow and Eadulf heard metal fall on the ground. Gormán gave a grunt of satisfaction and when Eadulf turned he was holding open one of the large doors.