Free White Trail by Fflur Dafydd Page B

With Cilydd’s details, phone number, address. Attached were the news items about Goleuddydd’s disappearance and murder. Culhwch couldn’t believe it had been that easy – he had never seen such a contraption as an iPhone, a tiny little screen in his hand which showed him a portrait of himself, sketched by someone who had never seen him. His own history, which had been kept from him for fifteen years, was something that could be clicked upon by a stranger in seconds. He read his whole sorry story beneath a fug of fingertips. The truck driver dropped him off in front of Cilydd’s house – wishing him all the best. All his life he had only been three miles away from his father’s home.
    But he couldn’t go in. Not straight away. It didn’t seem right. He saw a woman and a girl coming and going – saw Cilydd himself smiling in the driveway, looking content. So he spent a few weeks in the town thinking things through; sleeping rough, doing a few odd jobs here and there, scrabbling for money.  And making phone calls , Cilydd thought.
    â€˜So here I am, finally,’ he said, looking up at Cilydd and Arthur. ‘I’ve wasted enough time, just thinking about things. Now I need to do something. Olwen is probably due any day now. And we’ve got to help her. That’s why I’m here.’
    Arthur, still in his boxer shorts, gawped at him. Cilydd did not know what to say. He noticed that Culhwch had said nothing about Doged. Perhaps the boy was biding his time, or had decided to shield Arthur from the truth. Either way, Cilydd was grateful.
    â€˜I knew, once I found you, that you’d help me,’ said the boy. ‘Help me to get Olwen out of Ysbaddaden’s house.’
    â€˜Ysbaddaden Bencawr. Now there’s a name I never thought I’d hear again, ’Arthur said, shaking his head.
    â€˜You know him?’ Culhwch turned to Arthur.
    â€˜Know of him, yes. Used to be a private eye, of course, back in the day. Always vying for the same cases as I was. Neither of us were particularly successful, of course, as far as I know he never solved a single case either – though I don’t suppose it even matters, considering how much money he’s got now.’ Arthur sighed. ‘I guess I drew the short straw.’
    â€˜But what does he do? I mean, where does all the money come from? That house, I’ve never seen anything like it. There must be a hundred bedrooms in that place. And it’s just him and Olwen, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Funny – I never heard he had a daughter. Rumour had it that he lived there all alone. I mean, that’s how the rest of us private eyes always comforted ourselves about the whole thing – ah, yes, Ysbad-daden, he’s a millionaire but has he got anyone to share it with? No. Living all alone in that house. Better a pauper than a lonely man.’
    Culhwch’s eyes circled the room.
    â€˜Don’t you live alone?’
    â€˜Yes...’ Arthur looked away. ‘But that’s beside the point. I heard the money was some inheritance. A bit of luck, I think.’
    â€˜Well, we need to get Olwen away from him,’ Culhwch said. ‘And we need to do it quickly. I’ve got a feeling that if we don’t get her out of there soon that something awful will happen to her. That’s why I need your help. Both of you. I have to find her. I can’t explain to you what it means to me. If we find her then everything will be OK. I mean, it’s hard enough to make sense of it all but if we just find her then maybe some good can come of all this. I mean, this girl. I love her... I know it sounds stupid and you probably think I’m just a child, but I do, I really do. Look, all I need is some transport. Just to get toYsbaddaden’s estate. Ysbaddaden Bencawr has got something to do with my disappearance, I know he has. He has something over my parents;