The Celtic Riddle

And he did. Eamon Byrne's favorite stories, as I suspected, were the legends about the four great gifts of the gods. So he told me about the Dagda's cauldron, how it was never empty, no matter how much you ate, or how many came to dinner. He told me about Lia Fail, the Stone of Destiny, the one that roared when the true king of Ireland touched it, and which was now either lost or in Edinburgh; he told me about Lugh Lamfada, Lugh Long Arm, holder of the magic spear no battle was ever won against, and how he killed his grandfather, the Fomorian, Balor of the Evil Eye, after entering the royal court and persuading the king to throw off the yoke of oppression of the Fomorians. And lastly he told me about his own favorite hero, and Eamon's too, Nuada Silver Hand, Nuada Argat-lam, holder of the fourth gift of the gods, a magic sword, and king of the Tuatha de Danaan, those godlike people who, after the arrival of the Celts, were banished to the sidhe, the fairy mounds. And for good measure, he told me the story of the arrival of Amairgen and the Sons of Mil, the coming of the Celts to Ireland.

And then he told me about the lost child, the child stolen by the fairies, the child whose father had made a pact with the devil to get, only to lose him. It had a happy ending, what with the man finding the son just before his death and their being reconciled, which for some reason didn't ring true. It sounded like one of those stories that started out true, but over time got all mixed up as time went by and it got repeated. But it was Eamon Byrne's favorite. It had brought a tear to his eye, and he was not a man to cry lightly-I could only assume-and as such it bore some looking in to. It confirmed for me that Eamon Byrne had a past that was not an open book. He'd moved here from Gal way with Margaret, after spending a miserable time at sea, if Alex's story was anything to go by. Whatever had happened to make him up and run away like that, from the woman who later became his wife? I decided I needed to know much more about Eamon Byrne's past. But who would tell me? Certainly not Breeta. She was still assiduously avoiding me. And maybe she didn't know. Maybe none of them did. Perhaps it was the kind of thing you never told your family.

I took out the list of the clues and looked at it again.

AMAIRGEN'S SONG

I am the sea-swell (Alex)

A furious wave (Michael)

The roar of the sea

A stag of seven slaughters (Eithne/Sean)

A hawk above the cliff

A ray of the sun (Conail/Fionula)

Beauty of a plant (Breeta?)

A boar enraged

Salmon in a pool (Paddy)

Lake in a plain

A Flame of valor

Piercing spear (Margaret?)

God who fashions heroes

OGHAM CLUES

May's sunrise by Tailte's Hill is seen

A curse be on these stones

Leinster's Hag to Eriu's Seat

Clue still missing

Aine's Mount to Macha's Stronghold

Grianan Ailech to Granard down the line of the noonday sun

Raise a cup to the stone

Almu's white to Maeve's red

Axis Mundi

Due east, Partholan turned to die

All seen and seeing eye of fire

Umbilicus Hiberniae, the sacred center

Clue still missing

Did it matter, I wondered, who had had which clue? I'd thought so, at first. Whoever owned the clue found in dead Michael's hand would be the number one suspect in his death. It was probably either Margaret's or Breeta's, although I was beginning to wonder whether, despite their general unpleasantness, I'd put either down for it.

Money and passion, I thought. I was willing to bet it was more often money than love at the root of these kinds of situations. That brought me right back to the treasure, and so I would start with the where and what of that. Maybe the who would follow.

"I've looked up all the references," Alex said. "I've checked the names and wherever I could, I associated them with a place. Actually, it was relatively easy to do."

"Okay, well, here's the map of Ireland," I said, unfolding it and spreading it out on the floor of Rose Cottage. "I say we ignore 'Song of Amairgen' from now on and forget who had which clue. Let's concentrate on the second column of clues, which if my guess is right, should lead us to the treasure. Let's go! Take them one at a time, from the top. May's sunrise by Tailtiu's Hill is seen."

"Tailtiu was an ancient goddess, sometimes referred to as goddess of the corn. Her hill is said to have been a royal residence in the dim past, and it's here," Alex said pointing to a spot on the map on the east side of Ireland, near Drogheda. "I don't understand the sunrise reference, however, although May could refer to the ancient feast of Beltaine on May 1. There were three other festivals: Imbolc on February 1; Lughnasa, August 1; and Samhain on November 1, although there are no other references to them that I can see."

"Never mind. Let's just keeping going. Found it, Jennifer? Yes? Okay, circle it. Next?"