Page 56 of The Lovers
Elise spotted many red crosses painted on doors, and the people who were out in the street hurried along, their eyes downcast. The cheerful bustle of the city had been replaced by a miserable pall, the fear almost palpable. Elise gasped with shock when she saw a cumbersome wagon make its way slowly down the street. An old man drove the wagon, his face covered with a black kerchief and his hat pulled down low. His eyes were fixed on the road ahead, glinting with grim determination. Two more men walked alongside, calling out, “Bring out yer dead.” They banged on doors with red crosses, urging the inhabitants to dispose of corpses. Many doors remained firmly shut, but some opened, and frightened, filthy people came out and added their dead to the pile of corpses already stacked on the bed of the wagon. Elise couldn’t see the faces of the dead, but she could see several pairs of dirty feet hanging off the back of the wagon.
“Will they get a proper burial?” Elise asked Peg, who was staring at the wagon fearfully. Her hands were folded in her lap, but they were shaking.
“They’ll throw them into plague pits with a bit o’ lye,” Peg whispered.
“How do you know?”
“Me mam told me. Both her parents died in 1625. ’T’were a terrible time, then. She were only four. Her brother, Jack, was eight and took care of her until someone found ’em. An uncle took ’em in but only after the forty days. Me mam and Jack were shut in with their dead parents for near a month. They almost starved to death. Jack climbed out the window at night and foraged for food while me mam slept.”
Elise shuddered at the thought. Would it get as bad this time? She hoped not, but judging by the number of marked doors, it was bad already. She stole a peek at Barbara, who was looking out the window and humming quietly to herself. She didn’t seem affected by anything she saw, so that at least was a blessing. The carriage continued on, and Elise leaned back and closed her eyes, so as not to see any more. She was terribly frightened.
She must have dozed off for a bit but woke up when the carriage came to an abrupt halt. It was so hot inside, she could barely draw breath. Her chemise was soaked with perspiration, and her face was flushed and clammy. She gazed out the window. They appeared to have reached another gate.
“Where are we, do you think?” she asked Peg.
“I reckon we’re by Bishopsgate now. I ’xpect Master James is making for the Old North Road.”
It was now midafternoon, and the gate was bottlenecked with wagons leaving the city, the farmers having made their deliveries of produce, meat, and dairy and ready to return home tothe outlying countryside. Elise could see several coaching inns from the window. One or two appeared closed, but the ones that were open seemed to have little business. The shutters were closed despite the hour, and the yards seemed deserted. Several doors had some type of proclamations nailed to the wood.
“They’ve closed them to keep the pestilence from spreading,” Peg said knowledgeably.
“Does it help?”
Peg shrugged.
It took the better part of an hour to finally get through the gate. Elise noticed the bishop’s miter built into the gate as they passed underneath. It grew momentarily dark, and then they were on the other side, but it wasn’t a great improvement. Elise sucked in her breath as the stench assaulted her. Piles of refuse had been dumped outside the city gates, left to rot in the hot summer sun. Clouds of flies buzzed above the mound, and the stink was so evil that it made Elise’s eyes water. She covered her nose and tried not to take deep breaths until they finally passed the dump.
The road was congested, but the farther they got from the city gates, the faster they were able to proceed. She suspected that James wouldn’t want to travel through the night. It was dangerous on the roads after dark, and she was sure he was worn out after traveling from Suffolk the day before. She expected him to stop when they approached roadside inns, but the carriage kept moving, rocking from side to side as James whipped the horses.
As darkness settled around them, the air in the carriage grew cooler and fresher. Peg and Barbara were slumped against the side of the coach, asleep, but Elise stared outside, even though she couldn’t make out anything in the darkness. She spotted candlelight occasionally, coming from a farmhouse window, but otherwise, everything was quiet and dark. Elise hadn’t been able toeat before, but now she was starving. She reached into the bundle of food and tore a chunk of bread from the loaf. There was some cheese and a bit of sausage. She had some and washed it down with ale, gulping it directly from the leather flask. Despite the heat of the day, the ale was cool, and she felt marginally better.James must be hungry,she thought. He hadn’t eaten anything at all.
Elise suddenly realized that she desperately needed to relieve herself. It had been hours since they left, and she had been holding it in without realizing, fearful of stopping. Elise wasn’t sure how to alert James, so she knocked on the side of the carriage closest to the bench. She hoped he’d hear her. The carriage didn’t stop, so she knocked again and again, waking Barbara, who stared at her in blind panic.
“It’s all right,” Elise assured her as the carriage finally slowed and came to a stop.
James opened the door and peered inside. “What’s wrong?”
“I need a few moments of privacy,” Elise said, amused by her own choice of words. This was no time to be delicate.
“Of course.” James looked tired and irritable, but he’d pulled down his kerchief and taken off his hat, dragging his fingers through his damp hair, which had come loose from its binding.
“James, there’s some food and ale. You must eat.”
James shook his head stubbornly. “Not now. We still have a few miles to cover tonight. I’ll take a drink though.”
James gulped down the ale as Elise set off, holding Barbara by the hand. She was too frightened to go far, so she chose the first bush and squatted down behind it to do her business, urging Barbara to do the same. Peg joined them in a moment.
“I’m fit to burst,” she said as she lifted her skirts. “Are we to keep going, then?”
“I think Master James has a destination in mind,” Elise replied as she adjusted her clothing and walked back to the carriage with whatever dignity she could muster. James gave her the empty flask and helped her into the carriage before climbing back up onto the bench. Peg came back with Barbara and reached for the bundle of food, offering bread and cheese to Barbara first. Barbara didn’t seem impressed by the offering but took it all the same, and she chewed the food with all the enjoyment of eating dirt, her expression never changing. They traveled for another hour or so before the carriage finally stopped. A small inn was situated on the side of the road, the ground floor windows alight. A young boy came out of the stables as soon as he heard the carriage draw up and smiled up at James, revealing several missing teeth.
“Shall I see to the ’orses, sir?”
“Yes. And take the carriage out back,” James instructed as he threw the boy a coin. The boy caught it deftly and took the reins, ready to walk the horses toward a dark building behind the inn. He would unharness the horses for the night and feed and water the poor beasts. They’d earned their rest.
James escorted the women into the inn. “Good evening to you, Rupert,” he said to the man who came out to greet them. “We need a room for the night and a hot meal.”
“I’ve kept a room back just as ye requested, Master James. Shall I send the food up or would ye like to eat down ’ere?”
