Things settled down fairly quickly after the trial and for the first time I felt I could walk freely about the town. Mrs Makepiece accompanied Beth and me or, quite often, she looked after her whilst I roamed the passages and twittens that make up Lewes. One of these trips took me into the church of St Michael’s opposite Bull House.
Since my moment of connection to Becca I felt drawn to places of worship, in spite of my previous lack of religion. However, the churches I went to disappointed me somehow and I rarely returned. St Michael’s, however, was different. It had a round tower instead of the normal square ones and though dark inside I soon found a little door that led outside into a peaceful burial ground and I felt immediately uplifted. It was a quaint place with flint walls and aged trees. Among the graves were wild flowers and green grassy hillocks nestling between the higgledy-piggledy stones. A lone bird trilled a piping melody and I sank down on the grass to breathe in the warm sunshine in a place that felt to be my secret. I could see the mound of the castle beyond the walls and I spent many minutes there imagining past peoples and their stories. Apart from birdsong it was very quiet in the garden – I couldn’t hear the noise and bustle of the town even though the high street was just a stone’s throw away nor was anyone visiting the church at that time. Whilst I sat in peace and harmony with my surroundings I noticed a tiny plant struggling to escape the confines of the old flat stones. I probed the crevices with my fingers and freed up the straggling growth. I was curious about the flower, I had never seen such a one before and it had a pungent aroma. I felt it to be an herb but I was not sure of what type. I plucked a leaf and flower to take home and compare with my father’s diagrams and notes.