feet after treating so many of the sick, I cannot say.â
Darrell and Luke started back to his house. She could not get the sight of the small body left on the ground out of her mind. The babyâs skin had been so blue it looked almost black, and the throat had been swollen grotesquely.
Luke was clearly thinking the same thing. âAlexander is the village cobbler,â he said. âThat baby was born the same month as Rose.â He sighed. âAbbie helped Alexanderâs wife deliver the baby, and then she came to help my mother.â
Darrell was rocked by the enormity of this tragedy. When she had learned in Professor Toothâs class that as many as one in every two people had died in the most affected parts of Europe, it had only been numbers. Seeing the faces and the agony of the loss of family and friends this close was almost too much to bear.
Darrell cleared her throat and said roughly, âIâve seen enough. I want to go back to speak with your mother, Luke.â
As they made their way quickly back to Lukeâs small dwelling, Darrell could see the turrets of a castle, cast inlight stone, on a distant knoll surrounded by the water of the loch.
âWhat is that place?â she asked Luke in surprise.
âThat is Ainslie Castle, the ancestral seat of the clan MacKenzie. The lands around the village all belong to the Laird.â
âAre you his servants, then?â
âNo, my family are fishermen, but many peasants work his fields and are beholden to him for their lives and livelihood.â He thought for a moment. âWe were very lucky, before this tragedy. The Laird is a fair man and usually was good to the people who worked for him. Many neighbouring areas do not have as strong a protector. The castle is on a tidal island, and when the tide is in, it is protected by the waters of the loch.â
âWhere is the Laird now?â asked Darrell.
âI heard he travels to the far north, to the Nordic lands, where they say the Black Death has not yet found its way.â
Darrell sighed impatiently. âSome benefactor,â she said, scornfully.
âOh, but he has left behind the castle guard to maintain order in his absence,â replied Luke. âThey are a fine group of soldiers who help to keep the peace.â He dropped his head modestly. âIt is my goal to join them one day, but first I must be apprenticed to another of the guard.â
âAnother guard? Werenât you an apprentice already?â
Luke nodded eagerly as he steered them in the direction of his home. âYes, and I have learned much, about arms and warfare, animal husbandry, and how carefully to keep a soldierâs kit.â His expression became more serious. âThe guard under whose tutelage I studied was taken by the illness several weeks ago. His death has left me without a patron.â
Darrell nodded, her mind preoccupied with both the struggle to walk without slipping on the cobblestone lane and the magnitude of the tragedy looming around her.
That night, Darrell sat down to eat with Luke, his mother, Maggie, and his baby sister, Rose. Luke introduced Darrell to his mother as Dara, a friend of Maggieâs sister from Arisaig, and she clung to Darrell and sobbed her grief into Darrellâs shoulder. Lukeâs mother had circles under her pale grey eyes and her black hair was shot through with strands of pure white.
Darrell helped Maggie to a seat by the fire and then gently explained the plan she had come up with that afternoon, during her tour of the village with Luke.
âI would like to see your family safe,â Darrell explained. âWe cannot halt the spread of this terribledisease, but perhaps we can preserve the lives of Luke and Rose.â
Lukeâs mother looked like she was going to cry again, so Darrell spoke hastily. âIs there anything left for you here?â she asked. Maggie shook her head mutely.
âI have sold
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