Fenian and I come to a halt after tracking the strange woman all the way from the riverside. We stand just outside the gates of the keep, on higher and more solid ground. The running footprints led us straight to the keep, then suddenly veered off. Here everything is a muddle on the road, crisscrossing tracks going this way and that, made by people, carts and horses coming and going all morning.

We are standing there staring at the trampled grass when we hear a familiar shout from somewhere behind us. "Did you see her?"

I turn to greet my Áth-Caomhnóir with a smile and then a frown. "Amlaidh! You know the madwoman?"

He pauses a moment to catch his breath. "Perhaps. Perhaps not," he shrugs. His eyes drop to the ground, following Fenian's scowling stare to search out one set of tracks among so many. "Which way did she go?"

Fenian clears his throat. "From here, a set of small footprints goes up to the hill but then it looks like she backtracked and went to the gate." He scratches his head. "Hard to tell, really."

In a few quick words, I tell Amlaidh of the weird encounter. I can tell by the gleam in his eye that he is fascinated to know more. "I saw her run from the riverbank," he says with a hint of a smile. "Do you think she could be dangerous?"

"She knocked me flat," I sigh. "She seemed confused and - well, either very angry or very frightened, or both!"

"It was Cormar on watch when I left the keep earlier. Surely he would detain her at the gate," Fenian remarks. "If she went in."

I glance at the sun and observe that the morning is almost gone. "I must go and meet Aine in the village before it gets much later or she will think I've forgotten about her."

"I'll go with you," Fenian offers, taking my arm. "I left my horse tethered by the wall, just over there. He can carry us both."

Amlaidh seems anxious to pursue the mysterious river-woman and so we leave him by the gate, trusting that he will find her, one way or another. It is almost noon and the sun is warm on our backs as we head towards Inver Colpa. A pleasant ride, but thoughts of the stranger cast a lingering shadow all along the way.