Fugitives from the Plague

It'S Mid-Day The Sun Is Shinning Yet Its Eerily Quiet When Lord Edmund Opens His Eyes. How Long He'S Been Sleeping He Has No Idea Only That His Head Is Swimming And That He'S Incredibly Weak So Weak That He Has To Lie In Bed And Summon The Strength To Get Up. No Use In Calling For A Servant For H E Hears Nothing But His Own Raspy Breath. Somehow He Manages To Make It To His Bedroom Door And Then Down The Stairs To The Kitchen Entrance. There At The Table He Sees A Solitary Scullery Maid. Upon Seeing Him She Rushes And Assists Him To Sit Before Giving Him Water And Broth. Then She Returns Him To Bed. He Is Too Weak To Do Anything Else. Later That Afternoon He Manages To Eat More. Elizabeth The Maid Then Tells Him The Horrible Truth That His Family Is Dead Along With Most Of His Other Servants. The Others Have Fled. The Pestilence Has Arrived In England And Already Thousands Have Died In London Alone. Edmund Takes The News Somberly And Realizes Immediately That They Must Leave For Shrewsbury Where They Will Be Safer In His Family'S Castle. But He Is Far Too Weak To Even Think About Walking That Great Distance And There Are No Horses Since The Fleeing Servants Stole Them Along With An Errant Knight Who Took His Mother And Sisters' Jewelry. They Must Wait Until He Is Stronger. That Day Arrives Two Weeks Later And They Pack What Food They Can Carry And Hide Coins Inside Their Clothing. Early In The Morning They Start And Edmund Finds Conditions Worse Than Even Elizabeth Has Told Him. The Streets Are Empty And There Is Not A Sound From Any Of The Houses. Worse Edmund Sees Two Corpses Victims Of The Plague Who Could Not Make It Home. They Keep Going Wanting To Make It To London Road And Across The Bridge To Mayfair Before The Sun Sets. They Are Moving Slowly But Making Progress Until They Hear Voices In The Adjacent Street. Immediately Both Become Alert. The Voices Have To Be Those Of Outlaws. Elizabeth Has Already Told Him That The City Patrol Has Died. Realizing Their Danger They Seek Entrance To The Houses Nearest Them. Edmund Is Struggling With The Door Of The Nearest When Suddenly It Is Jerked Open And A Young Man About His Size Sticks A Dagger To This Throat And Threatens To Kill Him If He Makes A Sound. Seeing Elizabeth He Tells Her That Edmund'S Life Depends Upon Her Actions. Quickly He Leads Them Inside And Explains That They Must Hide Or The Men They Heard Talking Will Surely Find And Kill Them All. Having No Choice They Follow Him To A Pantry Closet Where There Is A Fake Wall Giving Them Just Enough Room To Hide Behind It. There They Conceal Themselves Until The Men Leave. Once They Are Gone They Exchange Name And Histories. Richard Of York The Young Man Tells Them And Quickly Agrees To Accompany Them To Shrewsbury As Long As They Agree To Follow His Advice. The First Of Which Is That Edmund Exchange His Expensive Clothing For Something Far More Common. Edmund Does And They Start Again For Mayfair. Thus Begins Their Long And Dangerous Trip. Behind Every Tree There Is The Possibility Of Out Laws Every Village They Pass Through Has Been Ravaged With The Pestilence And That Is Always Their Main Threat. Along The Way They Pick Up A Mongrel Dog Who Aids Them Greatly. Next They Find Two Small Children Whose Entire Family And Village Has Been Killed By The Plague. Next They Rescue A Monk Who Has Been Captured By A Band Of Outlaws. Finally After Almost Two Weeks On London Road They Reach Shrewsbury Where Prince Edward Himself Has To Rescue Them From Outlaws. At Last Their Adventure Is Over And Edmund Discovers That His Greatest Treasure Is Not In His Castle But With The Fine Friends He Has Brought With Him.