Night of the Fifth Moon Read Online Free PDF Page A

freckled face with its derisive grin and wild mop of hair the colour of a flaming sunset.
    He eyed Goll worriedly. ‘What if I forget again?’ he asked in a small voice.
    â€˜You won’t. This time I’ll show you some feda to help you remember.’
    â€˜Feda?’
    â€˜You know, ogham signs.’
    â€˜But . . . you’re not allowed to do that, are you?’
    â€˜Why not? Faelán gave you permission to learn them if you can find them out. And as an anruth I’m obliged to be helpful and sharing. So . . .’ He shrugged. ‘I’ll only show you a bit, though, just enough to help you with the story. These ones might not even be in the message.’ Goll pulled out his knife and scratched a line on the trunk of a tree. ‘That’s a stemline,’ he said. ‘You can draw a line like this or you can just use the edge of a stone. Some feda go left of the stemline, and some go right.’ Moving upwards from the bottom of the tree trunk, he started to draw little marks on each side of the line. ‘And some go right across, and some slope like hills . . .’ Ket watched in bewilderment as scratches appeared all over the trunk, white against the grey-green of the bark. ‘But now let’s do the ones you need to know.’ Goll looked at Ket and frowned.
    â€˜Nuada,’ he said. ‘That’s the first important word in your story. You need nuin , the n sound, for Nuada. Five strokes pointing right.’ He drew n on the tree.

    â€˜What did Nuada do?’ he asked.
    â€˜He led a battle.’
    â€˜Good,’ said Goll, ‘and what happened in the battle?’
    â€˜He lost his hand.’
    â€˜Then here’s huathe , h , for hand.’ Above nuin , Goll drew another feda, just one stroke to the left. ‘There.’

    He leaned back on his heels. ‘Now, show me how the feda tell the story.’
    Ket pointed to nuin . ‘ N is for writing Nuada,’ he said. ‘Nuada led the Tuatha de Danaan in a battle. And . . .’ He grinned and pointed excitedly to the other feda. ‘And h . That’s for hand. Nuada lost his hand so he couldn’t be king any more! Now, I’ll draw the feda.’ He grabbed the knife and tried to scratch a sign in the trunk. It was harder than it looked, but at last he achieved five flat strokes. ‘There! Nuin!’
    â€˜Don’t forget to put the stemline in. On the left,’ warned Goll. ‘Otherwise it could be quert or iodo .’
    But Ket was impatient to return to the others. ‘Come on!’ He bounded to his feet. ‘I can go back and tell the story now. If we draw the feda on . . . on a stick or something . . .’
    Goll chuckled. ‘It’ll be quicker to write them the secret way,’ he said.
    â€˜What secret way?’
    â€˜Watch my hands.’
    Ket looked down. Goll’s hands were curled in fists. Then his right hand flicked open for a moment and closed again. ‘How many fingers did I point?’ he demanded.
    â€˜One.’
    Goll nodded. ‘One stroke pointing left. Which feda is that?’
    â€˜ Huathe ! H for hand. And here’s n for Nuada.’ Ket opened and closed his own hand, pointing all five fingers.
    â€˜Look who’s back,’ Art announced, as Ket, following Goll, stepped sheepishly out of the forest.
    â€˜Don’t worry, Ket. We waited for you. We didn’t finish the tale without you,’ called Riona.
    There was a stir of expectation as everyone set down their bowls and turned to face him. Nessa’s eyes were anxious and encouraging.
    â€˜Have the trees brought you wisdom?’ inquired Faelán.
    â€˜The trees? Uuuh . . .’ In his mind’s eye Ket saw the ogham carved into the bark. ‘Yes, the trees, of course!’ he replied. He stooped and picked up his branch of bells. Goll was holding out five pointing fingers. Ket grinned, and gave the bells a shake.