Din-Gonwy and Llanfairfechan, North Wales, 835 AD
Din-Gonwy and Llanfairfechan, North Wales, 835 ADCadfael held out his left hand under Alun’s nose. “Look, I did this at the same time as my nose. I was only a child with five winters behind me.” Alun stared at the deformed little finger that stuck out unnaturally at the knuckle. He hadn’t noticed it before. “I’d gone to an old tree near the tarn seeking cormorant eggs, lost my footing, and fell on my hand and face. I hit my nose on a rock as bad luck would have it. Everything went black, and my father found me unconscious and carried me home. In his anxiety, he didn’t spot the finger; otherwise, he’d have put a splint on it. It set itself, crooked like this.”
“Does it give you any trouble?”
“No, I’m used to it.”
Alun and Cadfael were in
