April 1349
It was time for spring planting, so Douglas sent half our men home. It meant splitting the loot with fewer men anyway. Near Neidpath Castle, we ambushed a small convoy, only a dozen men and ten sumpters. The familiar cave would be a good shelter for the night. Douglas commanded that we turn in that direction. He was grim-mouthed, cursing, and wondering if we should make raids further into England.
“With the Lord God killing them for us, we should take advantage of it,” he said as we rode through the light April rain. “We could attack one of the smaller castles. The rest of them are too afraid of the sickness to come to their aid.”
I pushed my wet hair out of my face and flicked drops of water off my hand. “It doesnae sound like the sickness has reached Northumberland. So there would nae have been any of the defenders killed by it.” I wondered if Robert Stewart might finally be tired of grabbing land from other nobles and feel like fighting the English for a change.
Will grumbled, “For now, I want out of this rain and a fire.”
“I want to see if there is anything good in those packs,” Colban said.
By the time we had picketed the horses, unloaded the packs, and carried it all across the North Esk and up the slope to the cave, we were all tired and bad-tempered. At least the rain had stopped. We kept wood stacked inside, so it was quickly crackling. We sat around it, passing around wine and hunks of cheese from our loot. Symon waved it away and rested his head in his hands. The flames and the heat of so many men’s bodies made the cave almost comfortable and made me drowsy as well.
Suddenly, Symon lurched to his feet.
“What’s the to-do?” Douglas demanded.
He turned, swaying, and lurched toward a few steps.
“You has nae had that much wine!” Gil called out, laughing.
As we laughed, he fell to his knees and then forward onto his face. He tried to drag himself forward. The laughter died, and Gil jumped to his feet, knocking over his cup of wine. In a second, Gil was kneeling at his side. In the sudden silence, Symon’s wheezing seemed to echo.
Gil touched him but jerked his hand away. “He is burning up.”
“Probably a spring ague.” Douglas poured himself some more wine. “Wrap him in his blanket. He will probably be better on the morrow.”
I rose and helped Gil carry the twitching man to where his blanket lay bunched. “Should we pull off his gambeson?” It was already soaked with sweat, and even through it, I could feel that his body was scorching with fever. Symon muttered something unintelligible, and his eyes rolled back in his head.
I flashed a grim look toward my cousin. This was no ague. Together Gil and I wrestled the bulky padded garment up to his armpits. I jumped to my feet, staring at the angry boil next to his flaccid cock. Gil, gone pale as milk, stood and jerked it the rest of the way off, raising Symon’s arms. There were red, angry boils in both his armpits.
I scrambled back a step and my throat burned from a gush of bile. I swallowed it down. The great plague! They said that no one survived. And no one seemed to be sure how you caught it. From touching a body? I frantically scrubbed my hands on my thighs.
“What?” Douglas stood, took a step closer, and gasped. “Deus me salvet!” He backed against the cave wall, a hand out as though to ward off the sight.
With a rush, most of the men were on their feet, backing toward the entrance with their eyes stretched wide. Colban muttered, “How… He…” His mouth just worked, no words emerging.
The fear was a miasma in the air. They all wanted to run just as much as I did. And if fleeing would keep them alive, it was the right thing to do. I would not leave him to die alone, and if I had already caught it, what good would fleeing do? I cleared my throat. “Mayhap we should break up. And our people must be warned. But we cannae just leave him.” Silently I prayed, O Holy Mother of God, despise not our supplications.
Douglas shook himself hard. “We can sleep with the horses. It is too dark to ride now, and we all need rest. In the morn, we split food and coin and go warn our own people.” He gulped a noisy breath. “The great plague is here.”
My skin crawled as I edged close to the young man who had trusted me enough to follow me into battle. I grasped a corner of his blanket and tugged over him. There was nothing more I could do.
Gil edged fearfully around the unconscious man and followed the others into the night.
Colban put a hand on my shoulder. “There be nae more you can do, lad.”