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dressed in the humble undyed homespun tunic of the monks, but held himself with the bearing of a lord.
'I remember you, brother,' I said, 'and need no new introduction.'
'By the Blessed Lamb!' he cried in amazement. 'It cannot be! For I was but a lad the only time I saw
you, and never a word passed between us.'
I looked on his countenance, and recalled an elderly man helped along by a boy who carried his staff.
The man was the aged Dafyd walking out from the Llandaff monastery; the apple-cheeked boy had
shaggy dark hair and bright bold eyes  the same eyes that looked at me with such amusement now.
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'You were at Llandaff with Dafyd,' I told him. 'Were you born there?' I do not know why I asked the
question. There are always plenty of children at any monastery; that fact alone possessed no great
significance.
'Well you know it!' He laughed. 'Saints and angels, I thought I would never leave that place. Ah, but
truly, there are times now I wish I never had.'
He laughed again and I realized I had heard that laugh before, and that turn of phrase. Oh, yes, he was a
Cymry through and through. 'Are you Gwythelyn's son?'
'One of six, and good men all,' he answered. 'To my kinsmen in Dyfed I am Pol ap Gwythelyn. How
may I serve you, Myrddin Emrys?'
As Charis had already discussed the possibility with him, I saw no need to soften the blow. 'As you
know, plague has visitedBritain,' I said. 'I have come from the High King to learn what may be done.'
Paulinus made the sign of the cross and, raising his hands and face to the sun, he said, 'All praise the
World Creator, and his Glorious Son, who works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform! Happy
am I among men, for many are called but few are chosen, and this day have I been chosen. I am but a
tool in the Master's Hand  yet my destiny shall be fulfilled.'
Elfodd looked on, somewhat astonished by this outburst. Charis regarded him curiously.
'Do I take it you can help us?' I asked.
'All things are possible with God,' Paulinus answered.
'Brother, your piety is laudable. Yet, I would thank you for a straight answer in simple words.'
Paulinus accepted the rebuke with good grace, explaining how he had long questioned the guiding hand
which had led him far into foreign lands in search of exotic cures and remedies, yet removed him from
contact with the very people who could most benefit from his knowledge. In short, he had begun to feel
his effort wasted: that he had mistaken his call.
'I wanted to be a healer,' Paulinus continued. 'I feared I had become a scholar instead. That is why I
came to Ynys Avallach the work here is known and respected, even inGaul. And now God, in his
infinite wisdom, has raised up his servant. My years of study will be justified; my gift will be honoured. I
am ready.' He turned his face to the sun once more, and exclaimed, 'Goodly Wise is the Gifting Giver
and greatly to be praised! May his wisdom endure forever!'
'So be it!' I cried, to which Charis and Elfodd added a hearty 'Amen.' Turning to the abbot, I said,
'Elfodd, we must hold council at once. There is much to discuss.'
'Of course,' the abbot agreed. 'Let us go to the chapel, where we can speak more privately.'
He turned and I made to follow, but my vision blurred and I swayed on my feet. Charis reached out to
steady me. 'Merlin!' she cried, her voice sharp with concern. 'Are you ill?'
"No,' I replied quickly, lest they think the worst. 'I am well, but overtired.'
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'You have not eaten since leaving Arthur,' Charis declared, and I was forced to confess it. 'Why?' she
asked, and answered her own question: 'There is trouble inBritain,' she said, 'and more than plague only.'
Again, I admitted that she had read the situation aright. 'Then come, Hawk,' Charis said. 'I am taking
you back to the tor at once.'
'It is nothing,' I insisted.
'Elfodd and Paulinus will attend us there,' she said, leading me away.
As I had neither the strength nor will to resist, I gratefully succumbed to her care and allowed myself to
be taken to the Glass Isle.
SEVEN
After I had eaten something and rested a little, the clerics arrived to join Charis and Avallach in
deliberation over the predicament before us. We met in the sun well outside Avallach's chamber, where a
canopy of red cloth had been raised to form a shady place. Chairs were brought and we held council
under the awning, as beneath the cloth of a Roman camp tent. This was fitting, for our talk was as
momentous as any military campaign, and no less urgent.
'From what you have said,' Paulinus ventured, 'I think it safe to say that the disease follows the Vandal
fleet. Where their keels touch, the pestilence alights.'
'If that is the way of it,' I said, 'I am wondering why the Cymbrogi remain untouched? They have been
fighting the barbarian from the first, yet no one has fallen ill. Also,' I pointed out, 'the Vandali stormed
Ierne before coming toBritain, yet we have heard no word of plague from anyone there.'
The monk considered this carefully. 'Then,' he concluded at last, 'it must arise from some other source.'
Turning to Elfodd, he asked abruptly: 'The man who died last night  where was his home?'
'Why, he lived nearby,' the abbot answered, 'at Ban Curnig; it lies a little to the west. But he was a
farmer. I do not think he had ever been on a ship  or even near one.'
'I see.' Paulinus frowned. 'Then I do not know what to say. I have never heard of plague arising
anywhere but in a port, and we are a fair distance from the sea.'
We all fell silent, thinking how this mystery might be solved. 'What about the others?' I asked after a
time. 'Two more died; were they farmers as well?' [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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