“That man’s warped and twisted like thread gone awry on the loom,” put in Orna.“The curse got him with a vengeance. But maybe we shouldn’t be speaking of this. I wouldn’t want to give you nightmares.”

I refrained from telling them that my own story provided more than enough material for night after night of bad dreams. Their fanciful tales were a welcome diversion from the problems that would face me tomorrow. For, after all, I could pay for only one night in the safety of this inn.“I did meet two men on my way here,” I said.“One was a monk.They guided me down to the settlement, but they left rather quickly when your friends out there started throwing stones.”

The effect of this was startling. Both Tomas and Orna formed the sign to ward off evil, each looking at the other. “A monk, was it?” Tomas sounded disturbed. “Thin sort of fellow, big teeth?”

“That’s right. His name was Brother Eichri. He seemed friendly.They both did.”

“Anluan’s cronies, the two of them,” said Tomas. “If that’s what Duald and the others spotted, it’s no wonder they were throwing things.”

“Anluan?”The conversation was proving hard work.

“Our chieftain. So-called chieftain. I can’t think of one good thing to say about the man, crooked, miserable parasite that he is.”

“More soup?”At Orna’s question her husband fell silent, but the anger in his words vibrated through the warm air of the kitchen.

“If you came here through the woods,” he said after a little, “it’s just as well you didn’t meet the dog.”

“I don’t mind dogs,” I offered cautiously.

There was a meaningful pause.“This is not so much a dog as a . . . Dog,” said Orna.

“A really big one?”