A Widow Plagued Read Free

Hannah and her to stay, she would also be faced with the likelihood that a new person would carry the disease into their midst, causing others to die needlessly.
    Since the return of her husband and stepson, Sara had kept the grounds on quarantine. Only the cook and the game warden had remained within the keep, only they had remained healthy and willing to live within the strict solitude that Sara enforced. Sara had become convinced that the plague's ill humors traveled in the air and on the skin.
    Therefore, she ordered that the inmates of the castle wash thoroughly each day. They ate only the vegetables and fruits that came from the garden, and the livestock that remained in the stable yard. Because her husband and stepson drank directly from the well before falling ill, Sara forbade the use of its contents.
    She had heard that the Jews only ever drank from the running stream because they had poisoned the wells. Sara scoffed at the gossip, but she thought there was something in what their holy books required. She too insisted that they all drink water from the stream. In this way, the disease had remained from their gates for these past months.
    Looking down at her ever increasing belly, Sara hardened her reserve. She would do whatever it took to insure the safety of those in her care. As her babe stirred within her, Sara made her way to her tiny writer’s desk and sank awkwardly onto the stool. She could no longer avoid telling the king she was expecting. Once her child was born, it would be too late to negotiate. If the king were unaware of whether she bore a son or daughter, he would need to provide them with a guardian and not a new lord.
    Precious time might be bought. Time in which they may be able to stay healthy and her bairn might have a chance at saving them all. So much rested on the outcome of this birth. Soon, she knew, a new master, with a new threat of contagion, would enter these walls. Soon, all that she had worked so hard to protect would be in danger. Thi s , she surmised, i s the cause of my nightmare’s return. The new master draws nig h .
    ~
    Sara was furious. How could they have abandoned all sense the moment the man’s boots struck the stone walkway of the courtyard? Dropping the blackberries she had picked, her basket tumbled and spilled the morning’s harvest about her tattered skirts. There stood the entire population of the keep, surrounding an imposing man. His dark garb and tousled brown hair attracted her eyes and her fear.
    “Who art thou, Sir, and to what do we owe this most unexpected visit?” Sara demanded of the intruder, an imperious lift to her chin.
    Turning from his conversation with the blushing Hannah and the beaming cook, Sir Gavin Williams encountered the sour face of his new dependent. Glancing from her bare head to her very pregnant belly, Gavin quirked an eyebrow and responded, “Why, I am the Lord of this manor, heralded by none other than my own personal assistant. He was turned away, however, a fortnight hence. Not even to be given sustenance in his Lord’s hall. I suspect this is the reason for thy lack of preparation?”
    The young dowager lifted her chin and looked into this self-righteous brigand’s sage green eyes. “Art thou aware, Lord Sanders, that death lurks outside these gates? Hast thou not seen the victims of the plague upon thy journey?”
    “If the young couple I found in the field a mile hence had anything to say, I am certain they would have told me their illness was catching. I suppose I should not have drunk from their water skin.”
    As Sara blanched and sank upon the nearby step; Gavin came to her aid, offering her a hand up. “I jest, My Lady; I jest. Of course, I am aware of the disease. I am alive and well because I have been cautious. Hadst thou bothered to ascertain, thou would have discovered that my assistant had also been cautious with his person. He had to ride two days back to me, without food and with little water. Ye at least could