IT WAS STILL COOL in the early morning as they walked through the damp grass. Later on, the day promised to be a scorcher. They could almost pretend they were off on an adventure for a few hours. One or two startled rats ran across their path. They made their way carefully through a field of oats. Tall thin bright red poppies grew there and waved at them. Peggy could not resist the temptation and began to pull them, but within a few minutes they hung limply from her hands and the soft red petals clung damply together. It was best to leave them swaying gently in the slight breeze.
It took them about an hour to reach the river. They sat on the rocks and dangled their feet in the cold clear water that rushed over the stones and sand. They followed its course for the next two hours, but the ground was getting heavier and soggier and their feet kept getting stuck in the oozing mud. The field all around them was damp and they kept sinking in the clinging soil. Across the river the grass seemed drier and they could see no signs of the rough holes filled with stagnant water that they kept trying to avoid.
‘We must cross the river,’ urged Michael. ‘Otherwise we might get stuck and have to take to high ground.’ His voice was serious and he kept his eyes peeled until at last he considered he’d found an easy spot.
The river narrowed and large lichen-covered rocks made a pathway in the middle of the rushing water.
‘I’ll go across first, girls, to show you the way,’ Michael teased, ‘and then I’ll come back for Peggy.’ He waded out to the first rock. It was uneven, and wobbled dangerously. He hopped to the next, which was long and narrow, and then two little ones, then a high step up on to a jagged piece of granite. From there it was easy to jump neatly from one to the other until you reached the sand and gravel on the other side. Michael bowed with bravado at them. ‘Now, isn’t that easy? Peggy, I’ll come back for you.’
Peggy waded out a bit and then followed Michael’s directions. When the big rock wobbled she was sure she would fall in, but Michael stretched out his arm to steady her. All was going well until they reached the jagged rock. Michael had to go ahead of her and help pull her on to it. As he leaned towards her he suddenly realised that he had gashed his shin and that the blood was dripping into the crystal clear water. Eily had come after them and was only two stones behind. A few seconds later they were safe at the water’s edge.
‘Michael, you’ve cut yourself,’ said Eily. ‘Will I get Mary Kate’s stuff?’
He shrugged. ‘I’ll just wash it, it’s only a nick. Don’t be fussing – you’re nearly as bad as Mother.’
They began to walk again. Under their breath they hummed a tune of Father’s. Peggy kept stopping to pick up stones and flowers and old bird feathers, but when no-one would help her carry them she had no choice but to drop them along the way. They walked for a few hours. The sun was high and directly over their heads. The sweat ran down their foreheads and the back of their necks.
‘I want to stop, I’ll not go another foot,’ insisted Peggy. Her cheeks were hot and flushed and she looked dead tired.
They all flopped down to rest. Mary Kate had given them a canful of Nanny’s milk. They all had a few sups of it. With this heat, in another few hours it would be undrinkable. There was some cold meal mix. That was enough, they would save the rest for later. They rinsed out the can in the river and filled it with water, then they lay back in the sunshine like a crowd of kittens. They were so tired they did not even have the energy to talk. Eily did not know how it happened, but they must all have dozed off, for when she woke up the sun was lower in the sky and the heavy heat was gone from it. She thumped the others to wake-up and get on their way as they should aim to walk another few miles before dusk.
Later they found a safe dry place still within sight of the river, and spread the blankets on the soft bracken. A bit more to eat, then they cuddled up close and watched the night sky creep in. They were fast asleep before the stars appeared.
The next three days continued in much the same way. Eily was only too conscious that the food bag was getting lighter and lighter. Michael’s ‘little nick’ had not healed up. Yellow pus was beginning to appear under the scab and light pink streaks ran from it up towards his knee. They had all slowed down, but Eily suspected that Michael might even be in pain. The night before, despite all his giving out, she had put a dollop of Mary Kate’s ointment on the skin, hoping they hadn’t left it too late.
On that fourth day the air was hot and heavy, but there was no sign of the sun. It was exhausting to walk in such weather as you felt there was not enough air to fill your lungs.
Through the rushes and weeds that covered the river bank, they could at times glimpse people on the distant road. As the ground near the river was stonier, Eily felt it might be easier for Michael to walk on the well-worn path. They passed a few other people on the path, but avoided them, remembering Mary Kate’s warning. Then a man came by on horseback, pulling a slide. He had a piece of cloth tied around his face, his eyes stared straight ahead. On the slide were piled four or five skeleton-like bodies, their bare skin and bones showing through the rags. The children moved away, turning their backs. Eily clamped the palms of her hands over Peggy’s eyes, trying to protect her from such a sight.
Dejectedly they kept on going, and after a few miles they came upon a carriage. A horde of people surrounded it, silent and threatening. The driver was trying to calm the terrified horse as two very shaken passengers took in the frenzy around them. They were afraid for their lives. The man stood up and scattered coins on the ground, hoping to disperse the crowd and clear a path. The woman had lost her bonnet and was pale with shock at the desperate appearance of the men, women and children all around.
Frightened by these things, the children slipped off the road and on to a trail which ran in the same direction as the river. Eily could not stop herself longing for Father and Mother and wondering what might have happened to them.
By next morning, Michael’s leg had swollen and he could not bend his knee. They would not be able to get very far with such a setback. He managed to hobble for about a mile. Then they had such luck they could hardly believe it. They had just crossed a stile when at the far end of the field, under a clump of huge chestnut trees, they noticed a little spiral of smoke. Peggy ran on ahead.
‘It’s a fire,’ she called. ‘Come on quick and see.’
She was right. They could hardly believe it – the dying embers of a fire! Eily frantically scrambled around under the trees looking for some dry twigs. She found a few and carefully put them on the embers, then knelt down and began to blow softly. A slight flicker of flame began to stir. Peggy was jumping up and down with excitement. Suddenly a finger of flame touched the dryness of the twigs and set them alight. They had a fire. Michael lowered himself down gently to the ground and positioned himself against the broad trunk of one of the trees, his legs stretched out in front of him. The girls put down their things and then set out to search for anything that would fuel the fire. They kept going backwards and forwards with the twigs and sticks, until they felt they had enough to keep it going.
Obviously some other people had passed this way not so long before. There were other signs of their presence too. Eily searched the long grass until she found the thick blackened branch that they must have used for the fire. She hung the pot from it and poured in some water and a piece of lard, then two handfuls of the yellow meal. She also set three wizened-looking spuds to bake in the embers. Tonight they would eat well, as they were all famished and getting weaker and would need strength to search for food.
Although the weather was warm, it was lovely to feel the heat of the fire and to smell something cooking. Michael looked dead tired. For once he had to rest easy and let the girls do all the work. The meal began to burn and Eily had to scrape it out of the pot, but still it was good to have something warm inside your stomach. She put the pot on again to boil some water.
‘What’s that for?’ queried Michael. ‘Is there more to eat?’ he asked hopefully.
‘You strap,’ joked Eily, ‘and I’ve no big wooden spoon here. Will you whisht. It’s for yourself, for the leg, and if you’re good there’ll be a baked spud after.’
It didn’t take long for the water to boil.
‘What are you going to do, Eily?’ Michael asked, his voice fearful.
‘Something I’ve seen Mother do a few times,’ she replied. ‘Do you remember when Father got that splinter in his hand, and when Peggy got that bad gash on her knee? Michael, the wound is full of poison. We’ve got to get rid of it and clean it out.’
She lifted the pot off the fire and set it on a stone. She got the blade and held it in the water for about two minutes and then quickly laid it against the vicious cut on his leg for a few seconds. Michael screamed with the pain. Then she dropped the blade and tore a strip of cloth from her spare shift. She dipped it in the water, then tied it over the wound and around the leg.
‘It’s too hot. Take it off, take it off, Eily,’ begged Michael.
‘No, it’s got to stay,’ she replied sternly as she began to tear up another strip of cloth and soak it in the water, hoping her little brother wouldn’t notice the tears in her eyes.
She changed the dressing three times, and the third time the cloth was stained yellow and green where the pus was draining away. She poured the still fairly hot water over the leg, washing the wound out and finally she tied a dry strip of cloth over it.
The next morning Eily breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Michael. The swelling had gone down and the vivid red streaks that ran up his leg had now faded to a dusty pink. She forbade him to stand on the leg, and made him rest it as she boiled some more water and replaced the strips of cloth.
The most urgent thing now was to get more water and fuel, and if possible something to eat. Eily made her way down towards a stream she had noticed a while back, to refill the cans. She did not trust Peggy, first of all not to fall into the water and then not to spill it all running back. Peggy was dispatched to search for more firewood, and if she saw anything edible to remember where. However, she had to stay within shouting distance of Michael.
On the way back, Eily could not believe her luck when she spotted a clump of tiny wild strawberries, their little red hearts peeping through a mass of nettles and weeds. She would come back for them and also for a few new nettles to add to a bit of soup. Peggy was back before her and ran wild with excitement towards her.
‘Eily, Eily, just wait ‘till you see what I’ve got. Come on quickly,’ urged Peggy.
Eily placed the water cans in a steady spot, waiting to see what all the fuss was about. Peggy ran behind the tree and emerged with a large rabbit hanging from her hands. Glassy-eyed, it stared at Eily and Michael. It looked like it had been dead for a day or more.
‘Where did you get it, pet?’ asked Eily gently. ‘You didn’t catch it yourself?’
‘No, Eily, I found it, just lying near a bunch of lovely blue flowers. Isn’t it grand?’ Peggy said proudly.
Eily didn’t know what to say. God knows they could do with a bit of meat, but she couldn’t help but remember Mary Kate’s warning about eating only fresh meat and not touching anything they found already dead.
‘Peggy, pet, don’t you remember what old Mary Kate told us?’
Peggy’s face crumpled in disappointment. However, she accepted the sense of Eily’s words and ran back into a clump of trees and flung the rabbit away. Eily consoled her by saying that maybe there were a few rabbits around where she had found that one and they might catch one yet. Also, she told her to fetch the pot and she would show her where some baby wild strawberries grew.
The day was spent gathering anything that was vaguely edible and more fuel. Michael wanted to try to walk, but Eily insisted he give the leg another day’s rest. They sucked the wild strawberries until their mouths were stained red. Eily also found an untended plot of land with a few stragglers of young carrots and turnips. She filled her pockets, delighted with herself and the thought of the nourishing soup she could now make with just the addition of a sliced spud.
That afternoon the sun was so warm that Peggy and Eily ran off to the river to cool down and waded in as far as their waists, splashing each other and washing the grime off their bare arms and their necks and faces. Then they lay on the river bank in their shifts until the sun had dried them off. That night there was a large helping of soup for everyone and the last of the yellow meal pan-cooked.
The following day, Michael was up before them and standing in front of them, proudly showing that his leg was healed. His walking was a bit stiff, but he was anxious to explore his surroundings. They knew they should move on, but were loath to leave the comforts of the fire. They built it up a bit before showing Michael around.
Peggy brought them to where she had found the rabbit. They huddled down in the bracken and after a very long wait were rewarded with the sight of a family of young rabbits nibbling and playing a few feet away. The children kept perfectly still. Michael had a large stone gripped between his fingers. He had spotted a little one that had strayed too far from the rest, busy nibbling at some juicy grass. Within an instant he had taken aim. At first it seemed that the rabbit was just stunned. All the others had scampered off and disappeared. Then Michael realised how accurate he had been as the rabbit took its last breath. He ran over and lifted it up. It was very small. There wouldn’t be much eating in it, but at least it was meat.
Peggy came over to Michael and belted him on the chest. She was clearly upset at seeing the young animal die. Eily made sure to decoy her away when Michael was skinning and cleaning it. However, once Eily had boiled the rabbit with a few carrots and a bit of wild onion, there were no objections from Peggy to such filling fare. That night their stomachs groaned from trying to digest such good nourishing food.
It was still dark when they felt the first specks of rain touch their faces. At about seven o’clock that morning the rain came, heavy and steady. Their fire had gone out, the rain-water washing through the ashes and running in grey rivulets through the grass. They gathered up their belongings. The two girls pulled their shawls up over their heads. There was no point in staying any longer. They had to be on their way again.