DOOMSDAY BOOK
by
Connie Willis
1992
DEDICATION
To Laura and Cordelia- my Kivrins
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My special thanks to Head Librarian Jamie LaRue and the rest of the staff of the Greeley Public Library for their endless and invaluable assistance.
And my undying gratitude to Sheila and Kelly and Frazier and Cee, and especially to Marta-the friends I
love.
"And lest things which should be remembered perish with time and vanish from the memory of those
who are to come after us, I, seeing so many evils and the whole world, as it were, placed within the grasp of the Evil One, being myself as if among the dead, I, waiting for death, have put into writing all the things that I have witnessed.
And, lest the writing should perish with the writer and the work fail with the laborer, I leave parchment to continue this work, if perchance any man survive and any of the race of Adam escape this pestilence and carry on the work which I have begun..."
Brother John Clyn

1349
BOOK I
"What a ringer needs most is not strength but the ability to keep time...You must bring these two things together in your mind and let them rest there forever-bells and time, bells and time."
Ronald Blythe, Akenfield

CHAPTER ONE
Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up. "Am I too late?" he said, yanking them off and squinting at Mary.
"Shut the door," she sa"idI. can't hear you over the sound of those ghastly carols."
Dunworthy closed the door, but it didn't completely shut out the sound of "O, Come All Ye Faithful" wafting in from the qua"dA. m I too late?" he said again.
Mary shook her hea"dA. ll you've missed is Gilchrist's speechS.h"e leaned back in her chair to let Dunworthy squeeze past her into the narrow observation aSrheea. had taken off her coat and wool hat and set them on the only other chair, along with a large shopping bag full oHf eprargcrealys. hair was in
disarray, as if she had tried to fluff it up after taking her "hAatvoefrfy.
long speech about Mediaeval's
maiden voyage in time," she sa"ida,nd the college of Brasenose taking its rightful place as the jewel in history's crown.Is it still raining?"
"Yes," he said, wiping his spectacles on his muHffelerh.ooked the wire rims over his ears and went up to the thin-glass partition to look at the Inet.he center of the laboratory was a smashed-up wagon surrounded by overturned trunks and wooden boxAesb.ove them hung the protective shields of the net, draped like a gauzy parachute.
Kivrin's tutor Latimer, looking older and more infirm than usual, was standing next to one of the trunks. Montoya was standing over by the console wearing jeans and a terrorist jacket and looking impatiently at the digital on her wrisBt.adri was sitting in front of the console, typing something in and frowning at the display screens.
"Where's Kivrin?" Dunworthy said.
"I haven't seen her," Mary sa"iDd.o come and sit dowTn.he drop isn't scheduled tillnoon , and I doubt very much that they'll get her off by tPhaernti.cularly if Gilchrist makes another speech."
She draped her coat over the back of her own chair and set the shopping bag full of parcels on the floor by her feet". I do hope this doesn't go all dIamy.ust pick up my great-nephew Colin at the Underground
station at threeH.
e's coming in on the tube."
She rummaged in her shopping b"aMg.y niece Dierdre is off toKent for the holidays and asked me to
look after himI.
do hope it doesn't rain the entire time he's here," she said, still rum"mHaeg'sintgw. elve,
a nice boy, very bright, though he has the most wretched vocabEuvlearyt.hing is either necrotic or apocalyptic. And Dierdre allows him entirely too many sweets."
She continued to dig through the contents of the shopping"I bgaogt. this for him for ChristmaSsh."e
hauled up a narrow red- and green-striped box. "I'd hoped to get the rest of my shopping done before I came here, but it was pouring rain, and I can only tolerate that ghastly digital carillon music on the High Street for brief intervals."

She opened the box and folded back the ti"sIs'vue. no idea what thirteen-year-old boys are wearing these days, but mufflers are timeless, don't you think, JaJmamese?s?"
He turned from where had been staring blindly at the display s"cWrehenats?."
"I said, mufflers are always an appropriate Christmas gift for boys, don't you think?"
He looked at the muffler she was holding up for his inspIet cwtioans. of dark gray plaid woHoel. would not have been caught dead in it when he was a boy, and that had been fifty "yYeeasrs," ahgeo.said, and turned back to the thin-glass.
"What is it, JamesIs? something wrong?"
Latimer picked up a small brass-bound casket, and then looked vaguely around, as if he had forgotten what he intended to do withMito.ntoya glanced impatiently at her digital.
"Where's Gilchrist?" Dunworthy said.
"He went through there," Mary said, pointing at a door on the far side o"fHteheornaetet.d on
Mediaeval's place in history, talked to Kivrin for a bit, the tech ran some tests, and then Gilchrist and
Kivrin went through that dooIr.assume he's still in there with her, getting her ready." "Getting her ready," Dunworthy muttered.
"James, do come and sit down, and tell me what's wrong," she said, jamming the muffler back in its box and stuffing it into the shopping bag, "and where you've Ibexnp.ected you to be here when I arrived.
After all, Kivrin's your favorite pupil."
"I was trying to reach the Head of the History Faculty," Dunworthy said, looking at the display screens. "Basingame?I thought he was off somewhere on Christmas vac."
"He is, and Gilchrist maneuvered to be appointed Acting Head in his absence so he could get the Middle
Ages opened to time traveHl.e rescinded the blanket ranking of ten and arbitrarily assigned rankings to each century.Do you know what he assigned the 130A0's?six.A six!If Basingame had been here, he'd never have allowed iBt. ut the man's nowhere to be founHd.e" looked hopefully at Mar"yY. ou don't
know where he is, do you?"
"No," she said".Somewhere inScotland , I think."
"Somewhere inScotland ," he said bitte"rlAy.nd meanwhile, Gilchrist is sending Kivrin into a century
which is clearly a ten, a century which had scrofula and the plague and burned Joan of Arc at the stake."
He looked at Badri, who was speaking into the console's ea"rYnoouws. aid Badri ran testWs. hat were they?A coordinates check?A field projection?"
"I don't know.S"he waved vaguely at the screens, with their constantly changing matrices and columns of figures."I'm only a doctor, not a net technicIiatnh.ought I recognized the techniciaHne.'s from Balliol,
isn't he?"

Dunworthy nodded". He's the best tech Balliol has," he said, watching Badri, who was tapping the console's keys one at a time, his eyes on the changing rea"dAolultso.fNewCollege 's techs were gone
for the vacG.
ilchrist was planning to use a first-year apprentice who'd never run a manneAd dfirrospt-.
year apprentice for a remotIe!talked him into using BadIrfi. I can't stop this drop, at least I can see that it's run by a competent tech."
Badri frowned at the screen, pulled a meter out of his pocket, and started toward the wagon. "Badri!" Dunworthy called.
Badri gave no indication he'd heaHrde. walked around the perimeter of the boxes and trunks, looking at the meter.He moved one of the boxes slightly to the left.
"He can't hear you," Mary said.
"Badri!" he shouted".I need to speak to you."
Mary had stood u"pH. e can't hear you, James," she sa"iTdh. e partition's soundproofed." Badri said something to Latimer, who was still holding the brass-bound Lcatsikmeet.r looked
bewildered. Badri took the casket from him and set it down on the chalked mark.
Dunworthy looked around for a microphoHnee. couldn't see one".How were you able to hear
Gilchrist's speech?" he asked Mary.
"Gilchrist pressed a button on the inside there," she said, pointing at a wall panel next to the net. Badri had sat down in front of the console again and was speaking into the Teahre angeatins.hields
began to lower into placBe.adri said something else, and they rose to where they'd been.
"I told Badri to recheck everything, the net, the apprentice's calculations, everything," he said, "and to abort the drop immediately if he found any errors, no matter what Gilchrist said."
"But surely Gilchrist wouldn't jeopardize Kivrin's safety," Mary prote"sHteed.told me he'd taken every precaution-"
"Every precaution!He hasn't run recon tests or parameter checWkse. did two years of unmanneds in
Twentieth Century before we sent anyone throuHghe. hasn't done anyB. adri told him he should delay
the drop until he could do at least one, and instead he moved the drop up Ttwheo mdaayns's. a complete incompetent."
"But he explained why the drop had to be today," Mar"yInsahidis.
speechH. e said the contemps in the
1300's paid no attention to dates, except planting and harvesting dates and church hoHlye dsaayids. the concentration of holy days was greatest around Christmas, and that was why Mediaeval had decided to send Kivrin now, so she could use the Advent holy days to determine her temporal location and ensure her being at the drop site on the twenty-eighth of December."
"His sending her now has nothing to do with Advent or holy days," he said, watchHineg wBasdri.
back to tapping one key at a time and frow"nHineg.could send her next week and use Epiphany for a rendezvous date.He could run unmanneds for six months and then send her lapseG-tiilmcher.ist is
sending her now because Basingame's off on holiday and isn't here to stop him."

"Oh, dear," Mary sai"dI. rather thought he was rushing it mysWelhf.en I told him how long I needed Kivrin in Infirmary, he tried to talk me out Iofhaidt. to explain that her inoculations needed time to take effect."
"A rendezvous on the twenty-eighth of December," Dunworthy said bi"ttDerolyy. ou realize what holy
day that is?The Feast of the Slaughter of the InnoceWnths.ich, in light of how this drop is being run, may be entirely appropriate."
"Why can't you stop it?" Mary s"aYido.u can forbid Kivrin to go, can't yYouo?u're her tutor."
"No," he said".I'm not.She's a student at BrasenosLe.atimer's her tutor."He waved his hand in the
direction of Latimer, who had picked up the brass-bound casket again and was peering absentmindedly into it."She came to Balliol and asked me to tutor her unofficially."
He turned and stared blindly at the thin-g"lIastso. ld her then that she couldn't go."
Kivrin had come to see him when she was a first-year s"tIudwenatn.t to go to the Middle Ages," she had said.She wasn't even a meter and a half tall, and her fair hair was iSnhberahiadds.n't looked old enough to cross the street by herself.
"You can't," he had said, his first mistHakee.should have sent her back to Mediaeval, told her she
would have to take the matter up with her ten."
"tuTthoer. Middle Ages are closeTd.hey have a ranking of
"A blanket ten," Kivrin had said, "which Mr. Gilchrist says they don't dHeesesrvaye.s that ranking
would never hold up under a year-by-year analyIst'iss.based on the contemps' mortality rate, which was largely due to bad nutrition and no med supTpohret. ranking wouldn't be nearly as high for an historian who'd been inoculated against diseasMe. r. Gilchrist plans to ask the History Faculty to reevaluate the ranking and open part of the fourteenth century."
"I cannot conceive of the History Faculty opening a century that had not only the Black Death and cholera, but the Hundred Years War," Dunworthy had said.
"But they might, and if they do, I want to go."
"It's impossible," he'd sai"dE. ven if it were opened, Mediaeval wouldn't send a woAmnan.
unaccompanied woman was unheard of in the fourteenth cenOtunryly.
women of the lowest class went
about alone, and they were fair game for any man or beast who happenedWoalmoneng. of the nobility
and even the emerging middle class were constantly attended by their fathers or their husbands or their servants, usually all three, and even if you weren't a woman, you're a Tsthuedefnotu. rteenth century is
far too dangerous for Mediaeval to consider sending a stuTdheneyt. historian."
would send an experienced
"It's no more dangerous than Twentieth Century," Kivrin had"Msauids.tard gas and automobile crashes and pinpoints.At least no one's going to drop a bomb onAnmde.who's an experienced Mediaeval historian? Nobody has on-site experience, and your Twentieth Century historians here at Balliol don't know anything about the Middle AgNeso. body knows anythingT. here are scarcely any records, except for parish registers and tax rolls, and nobody knows what their lives were likTehaatt's awll.hy I want to go. I want to find out about them, how they lived, what they weWreolni'kt ey. ou please help me?"

He had finally said, "I'm afraid you'll have to speak with Mediaeval about that," but it was too late.
"I've already talked to them," she s"aTidh.ey don't know anything about the Middle Ages eiIthmer.ean, anything practical.Mr. Latimer's teaching me Middle English, but it's all pronomial inflections and vowel shifts. He hasn't taught me to say anything.
"I need to know the language and the customs," she said, leaning over Dunworthy's desk, "and the money and table manners and thingDsi.d you know they didn't use platTesh?ey used flat loaves of
bread called manchets, and when they finished eating their meat, they broke them into pieces and ate them. I need someone to teach me things like that, so I won't make mistakes."
"I'm a twentieth-century historian, not a mediaevaIlishta. ven't studied the Middle Ages in forty years."
"But you know the sorts of things I need to Ikncoawn .look them up and learn them, if you'll just tell me what they are."
"What about Gilchrist?" he had said, even though he considered Gilchrist a self-important fool. "He's working on the re-ranking and hasn't any time."
And what good will the re-ranking do if he has no historians to send? Dunworthy"Wthhoautghatb.out Montoya? She's working on a mediaeval dig out near Witney, isn'tShshee?should know something about the customs."
"Ms. Montoya hasn't any time either, she's so busy trying to recruit people to work on the Skendgate dig. Don't you see?They're all useless. You're the only one who can help me."
He should have said, "Nevertheless, they are members of Brasenose's faculty, and I am not," but instead he had been maliciously delighted to hear her tell him what he had thought all along, that Latimer was a doddering old man and Montoya a frustrated archaeologist, that Gilchrist was incapable of training historians. He had been eager to use her to show Mediaeval how it should be done.
"We'll have you augmented with an interpreter," he had"Asanid. I want you to learn Church Latin,
Norman French, and Old German, in addition to Mr. Latimer's Middle English," and she had immediately pulled a pencil and an exercise book from her pocket and begun making a list.
"You'll need practical experience in farming-milking a cow, gathering eggs, vegetable gardening," he'd said, ticking them off on his finge"Yrs.our hair isn't long enougYh.ou'll need to take cortixidilYs.ou'll
need to learn to spin, with a spindle, not a spinning you'll need to learn to ride a horse."
Twhheeeslp. inning wheel wasn't invented yAetn. d
He had stopped, finally coming to his sen"Dseos. you know what you need to learn?" he had said, watching her, earnestly bent over the list she was scribbling, her braids dangling over her shoulders. "How to treat open sores and infected wounds, how to prepare a child's body for burial, how to dig a grave. The mortality rate will still be worth a ten, even if Gilchrist somehow succeeds in getting the
ranking changed.The average life expectancy in 1300 was thirty-eiYghotu. there."
have no business going
Kivrin had looked up, her pencil poised above the p"aWpehre.re should I go to look at dead bodies?" she had said earnestly".The morgue?Or should I ask Dr. Ahrens in Infirmary?"

"I told her she couldn't go," Dunworthy said, still staring unseeing at the glass, "but she wouldn't listen."
"I know," Mary sai"dS. he wouldn't listen to me either."
Dunworthy sat down stiffly next to Thehre.
rain and all that chasing after Basingame had aggravated his
arthritis. He still had his overcoat oHne. neck.
struggled out of it and unwound the muffler from around his
"I wanted to cauterize her nose for her," Mary"Isatiodl.d her the smells of the fourteenth century could
be completely incapacitating, that we're simply not used to excrement and bad meat and decomposition in this day and agIe.told her nausea would interfere significantly with her ability to function."
"But she wouldn't listen," Dunworthy said. "No."
"I tried to explain to her that the Middle Ages were dangerous and Gilchrist wasn't taking sufficient precautions, and she told me I was worrying over nothing."
"Perhaps we are," Mary sa"idA.fter all, it's Badri who's running the drop, not Gilchrist, and you said he'd abort if there was any problem."
"Yes," he said, watching Badri through the gHlaess.was typing again, one key at a time, his eyes on the screens. Badri was not only Balliol's best tech, but the UniversAitnyd's. he had run dozens of remotes.
"And Kivrin's well-preparedY. ou've tutored her, and I've spent the last month in Infirmary getting her physically ready.She's protected against cholera and typhoid and anything else that was extant in 1320, which, by the way, the plague you are so worried over wThasen'Bt.lack Death didn't reachEngland until
1348. I've removed her appendix and augmented her immune sysIt'evme .given her full-spectrum
antivirals and a short course in mediaeval medicAinned.
she's done a good deal of work on her own.
She was studying medicinal herbs while she was in Infirmary."
"I know," Dunworthy saiSdh. e had spent the last Christmas vac memorizing masses in Latin and learning to weave and embroider, and he had taught her everything he could thBinukt wofa.s it enough to protect
her from being trampled by a horse, or raped by a drunken knight on his way home from the Crusades? They were still burning people at the stake in 1T3h2e0r.e was no inoculation to protect her from that or
from someone seeing her come through and deciding she was a witch.
He looked back through the thin-glaLsast.imer picked the trunk up for the third time and set it back down. Montoya looked at her watch agaTinh.e tech punched the keys and frowned.
"I should have refused to tutor her," he "sIaiodn.ly did it to show Gilchrist up for the incompetent he is." "Nonsense," Mary said".You did it because she's KivrSinh.e's you all over again-bright, resourceful,
determined."
"I was never that foolhardy."
"Of course you werIe.can remember a time when you couldn't wait to rush off to the London Blitz and have bombs dropped on your heaAdn. d I seem to remember a certain incident involving the old
Bodleian-"

The prep room door flared open, and Kivrin and Gilchrist came into the room, Kivrin holding her long skirts up as she stepped over the scattered boSxhees. was wearing the white rabbit-fur-lined cloak and
the bright blue kirtle she had come to show him yesteSrhdeayh. ad told him the cloak was hand-woven.
It looked like an old wool blanket someone had draped over her shoulders, and the kirtle's sleeves were too long.They nearly covered her handHs.er long, fair hair was held back by a fillet and fell loosely onto her shoulders.She still didn't look old enough to cross the street by herself.
Dunworthy stood up, ready to pound on the glass again as soon as she looked in his direction, but she stopped midway into the clutter, her face still half-averted from him, looked down at the marks on the floor, stepped forward a little, and arranged her dragging skirts around her.
Gilchrist went over to Badri, said something to him, and picked up a carryboard that was lying on top of the console.He began checking items off with a brisk poke of the light pen.
Kivrin said something to him and pointed at the brass-bound cMasoknetto.ya straightened impatiently
up from leaning over Badri's shoulder, and came over to where Kivrin was standing, shaking her head. Kivrin said something else, more firmly and Montoya knelt down and moved the trunk over next to the wagon.
Gilchrist checked another item off his Hliset.said something to Latimer, and Latimer went and got a flat metal box and handed it to GilchrHiset. said something to Kivrin, and she brought her flattened hands together in front of her cheSsth.e bent her head over them and began speaking.
"Is he having her practice praying?" Dunworthy only help she gets on this practicum."
"sTaihda.t will be useful, since God's help may be the
Mary blew her nose aga"inT.hey're checking the implant."
"What implant?"
"A special chip-corder so she can record her field
Mwoorskt. of the contemps can't read or write, so I
implanted an ear and an A-to-D in one wrist and a memory in thSeheothaecrti.vates it by pressing the pads of her palms togetheWr. hen she's speaking into it, it looks like she's praTyihneg.chips have a
two-point-five gigabyte capacity, so she'll be able to record her observations for the full two and a half weeks."
"You should have implanted a locator as well so she could call for help."
Gilchrist was messing with the flat metal Hboex.shook his head and then moved Kivrin's folded hands
up a little higherT.he too-long sleeve fell bacHk.er hand was cuAt. down the cut.
thin brown line of dried blood ran
"Something's wrong," Dunworthy said, turning toward M"aSryh.e's hurt."
Kivrin was talking into her hands agGaiinlc. hrist nodded.Kivrin looked at him, saw Dunworthy, and flashed him a delighted smilHe.er temple was bloody, toHo.er hair under the fillet was matted with it. Gilchrist looked up, saw Dunworthy, and hurried toward the thin-glass partition, looking irritated.
"She hasn't even gone yet, and they've already let her be injured!" Dunworthy pounded on the glass.

Gilchrist walked over to the wall panel, pressed a key, and then came over and stood in front of Dunworthy. "Mr. Dunworthy," he saidH. e nodded at Mary".Dr. Ahrens.I'm so pleased you decided to come see Kivrin off.H" e put the faintest emphasis on the last three words, so that they sounded like a threat.
"What's happened to Kivrin?" Dunworthy said.
"Happened?" Gilchrist said, sounding surprise"dI . don't know what you mean."
Kivrin had started over to the partition, holding up the skirt of her kirtle with a bloTohdeyrehawnads. a reddish bruise on her cheek.
"I want to speak to her."
"I'm afraid there isn't time," Gilchrist s"aWid.e have a schedule to keep to." "I demand to speak to her."
Gilchrist pursed his lips and two white lines appeared on either side of h"Mis anyosIe.remind you, Mr. Dunworthy," he said coldly, "that this drop is Brasenose's, not BaIlliolf's.course appreciate the
assistance you have given in loaning us your tech, and I respect your many years of experience as an historian, but I assure you I have everything well in hand."
"Then why is your historian injured before she's even left?"
"Oh, Mr. Dunworthy, I'm so glad you came," Kivrin said, coming up to t"hIe wgalasssa.fraid I
wouldn't be able to say goodbye to yIsonu't.
this exciting?"
Exciting."You're bleeding," Dunworthy said".What's gone wrong?"
"Nothing," Kivrin said, touching her temple gingerly and then looking at her "fIitn'sgepras.rt of the
costume." She looked past him at Mar"yD. r. Ahrens, you came, toIo'm.
so glad."
Mary had stood up, still holding her shopping"Ibawg.ant to see your antiviral inoculation," she said. "Have you had any other reaction besides the swellAinngy? itching?"
"It's all right, Dr. Ahrens," Kivrin sSahide. held the sleeve back and then let it fall again before Mary could possibly have had a good look at the underside of heTrhaere .was another reddish bruise on Kivrin's forearm, already beginning to turn black and blue.
"It would seem to be more to the point to ask her why she's bleeding," Dunworthy said.
"It's part of the costumIe.told you, I'm Isabel de Beauvrier, and I'm supposed to have been waylaid by robbers while travelling," Kivrin saiSd.he turned and gestured at the boxes and smashed wa"gMoyn.
things were stolen, and I was left for dIeagdo.t the idea from you, Mr. Dunworthy," she said reproachfully.
"I certainly never suggested that you start out bloody and beaten," Dunworthy said.
"Stage blood was impractical," Gilchrist sa"iPdr.obability couldn't give us statistically significant odds that no one would tend her wound."

"And it never occurred to you to dupe a realistic wYouonud?knocked her on the head instead?" Dunworthy said angrily.
"Mr. Dunworthy, may I remind you-"
"That this is Brasenose's project, not BallioYl'os?u're bloody right it isnI'tf. it were Twentieth Century's, we'd be trying to protect the historian from injury, not inflicting it on her oIurswealvnets.to speak to Badri. I want to know if he's rechecked the apprentice's calculations."
Gilchrist's lips pursed".Mr. Dunworthy, Mr. Chaudhuri may be your net technician, but this is mIy drop. assure you we have considered every possible contingency-"
"It's just a nick," Kivrin sa"iIdt. doesn't even hurIt.'m all right, reallyP.lease don't get upset, Mr.
Dunworthy. The idea of being injured was miIner.emembered what you said about how a woman in the Middle Ages was so vulnerable, and I thought it would be a good idea if I looked more vulnerable than I was."
It would be impossible for you to look more vulnerable than you are, Dunworthy thought.
"If I pretend to be unconscious, then I can overhear what people are saying about me, and they won't ask a lot of questions about who I am, because it will be obvious that-"
"It's time for you to get into position," Gilchrist said, moving threateningly over to the wall panel. "I'm coming," Kivrin said, not budging.
"We're ready to set the net."
"I know," she said firm"lyI'.ll be along as soon as I've told Mr. Dunworthy and Dr. Ahrens goodbye." Gilchrist nodded curtly and walked back into the deLbartiism. er asked him something, and he snapped
an answer.
"What does getting into position entail?" Dunworthy as"kHedav. ing him take a cosh to you because
Probability's told him there's a statistical possibility someone won't believe you're truly unconscious?" "It involves lying down and closing my eyes," Kivrin said, gri"nDnoinng't. worry.
"There's no reason you can't wait until tomorrow and at least give Badri time to run a parameter check," Dunworthy said.
"I want to see that inoculation again," Mary said.
"Will you two stop fretting?" Kivrin s"aMidy.
inoculation doesn't itch, the cut doesn't hurt, Badri's spent
all morning running checksI. know you're worried about me, but please don'Tt hbee.drop's on the main road fromOxford to Bath about two miles from SkendgIfatne.o one comes along, I'll walk into the village and tell them I've been attacked by robbAefrtse.r I've determined my location so I can find the drop again."She put her hand up to the gl"aIssj.ust want to thank you both for everything you've done. I've wanted to go to the Middle Ages more than anything, and now I'm actually going."

"You're likely to experience headache and fatigue after the drop," Mar"yThsaeiyd'r.e a normal side-effect of the time lag."
Gilchrist came back over to the thin-gl"aIsts's. time for you to get into position," he said.
"I've got to go," she said, gathering up her heavy "sTkhiratns.k you both so mucIh.wouldn't be going if it weren't for you two helping me."
"Goodbye," Mary said.
"Be careful," Dunworthy said.
"I will," Kivrin said, but Gilchrist had already pressed the wall panel, and Dunworthy couldn't hear her. She smiled, held up her hand in a little wave, and went over to the smashed wagon.
Mary sat back down and began rummaging through the shopping bag for a handkGeirlchrieisft. was reading off items from the carryboaKrdi.vrin nodded at each one, and he ticked them off with the light pen.
"What if she gets blood poisoning from that cut on her temple?" Dunworthy said, still standing at the glass.
"She won't get blood poisoning," Mary s"aIide.nhanced her immune systemS."he blew her nose.
Kivrin was arguing with Gilchrist about somethTinhge.
white lines along his nose were sharply defined.
She shook her head, and after a minute he checked off the next item with an abrupt, angry motion.
Gilchrist and the rest of Mediaeval might be incompetent, but she Swhaesnh'ta.d learned Middle
English and Church Latin and Anglo-SaxoSnh.e had memorized the Latin masses and taught herself to embroider and milk a cowS.he had come up with an identity and a rationale for being alone on the road betweenOxford andBath , and she had the interpreter and augmented stem cells and no appendix.
"She'll do swimmingly," Dunworthy said, "which will only serve to convince Gilchrist Mediaeval's methods aren't slipshod and dangerous."
Gilchrist walked over to the console and handed the carryboard toKBivardinri. folded her hands again, closer to her face this time, her mouth nearly touching them, and began to speak into them.
Mary came closer and stood beside Dunworthy, clutching her handker"cWhihefe.n I was
nineteen-which was, oh, Lord, forty years ago, it doesn't seem that long-my sister and I travelled all over
Egypt," she said". It was during the PandemiQc.uarantines were being slapped on all about us, and the Israelis were shooting Americans on sight, but we didn't Icadroen. 't think it even occurred to us that we might be in danger, that we might catch it or be mistaken for AmWeriecawnsa.nted to see the
Pyramids."
Kivrin had stopped prayinBg.adri left his console and came over to where she was staHndeinsgp.oke
to her for several minutes, the frown never leaving hisSfhaecek. nelt and then lay down on her side next
to the wagon, turning so she was on her back with one arm flung over her head and her skirts tangled about her legsT. he tech arranged her skirts, pulled out the light measure, and paced around her, walked back to the console and spoke into the Keiavrr.in lay quite still, the blood on her forehead almost black under the light.

"Oh, dear, she looks so young," Mary said.
Badri spoke into the ear, glared at the results on the screen, went back tHo eKsivterpinp.ed over her, straddling her legs, and bent down to adjust her slHeeevet.ook a measurement, moved her arm so it was across her face as if warding off a blow from her attackers, measured again.
"Did you see the Pyramids?" Dunworthy said. "What?" Mary said.
"When you were inEgypWt .hen you went tearing about theMiddle East oblivious to daDngider.you get to see the Pyramids?"
"No.Cairowas put under quarantine the day we landeSdh.e" looked at Kivrin, lying there on the floor. "But we saw theValley of the Kings ."
Badri moved Kivrin's arm a fraction of an inch, stood frowning at her for a moment, and then went back to the consoleG. ilchrist and Latimer followed himM. ontoya stepped back to make room for all of them
around the screenB. adri spoke into the console's ear, and the semi-transparent shields began to lower into place, covering Kivrin like a veil.
"We were glad we went," Mary s"aWid.e came home without a scratch."
The shields touched the ground, draped a little like Kivrin's too-long skirts, stopped. "Be careful," Dunworthy whispereMd.ary took hold of his hand.
Latimer and Gilchrist huddled in front of the screen, watching the sudden explosion of numbers. Montoya glanced at her digitaBl.adri leaned forward and opened the nTeht.e air inside the shields glittered with sudden condensation.
"Don't go," Dunworthy said.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (000008-000242)
First entry2. 3 December, 2054O.
xford. This will be a record of my historical observations of life
inOxfordshire,England ,12 December, 1320 , to28 December, 1320 (Old Style).
(Break)

Mr. Dunworthy, I'm calling this the Domesday Book because it's supposed to be a record of life in the Middle Ages, which is what William the Conqueror's survey turned out to be, even though he intended it as a method of making sure he got every pound of gold and tax his tenants owed him.
I am also calling it the Domesday Book because I would imagine that's what you'd like to call it, you are so convinced something awful's going to happen to I'm .watching you in the observation area right
now, telling poor Dr. Ahrens all the dreadful dangers of the 1Y3o0u0'sn. eedn't botherS. he's already warned me about time lag and every single mediaeval disease, in gruesome detail, even though I'm
supposed to be immune to all of thAemnd.
warned me about the prevalence of rape in the 1A30n0d's.
when I tell her I'll be perfectly all right she doesn't listen to mIe weiitlhl ebr.e perfectly all right, Mr. Dunworthy.
Of course you will already know that, and that I made it back in one piece and all according to schedule by the time you get to hear this, so you won't mind my teasing yoIu kanoliwttley. ou are only concerned
for me, and I know very well that without all your help and preparation I wouldn't make it back in one piece or at all.
I am therefore dedicating The Domesday Book to you, Mr. DunwIof rtiht yw. eren't for you I wouldn't
be standing here in kirtle and cloak, talking into this corder, waiting for Badri and Mr. Gilchrist to finish their endless calculations and wishing they would hurry so I can go.
(Break) I'm here.

CHAPTER TWO
"Well," Mary said on a long, drawn-out bre"aI thc.ould do with a drink."
"I thought you had to go fetch your great-nephew," Dunworthy said, still watching the place where Kivrin had beenT. he air glittered with ice particles inside the veil of shNieeladrs.the floor, frost had formed on the inside of the thin-glass.
The unholy three of Mediaeval were still watching the screens, even though they showed nothing but the flat line of arriva"l.I needn't fetch Colin until three," Mary s"aYido.u look as though you could use a bit
of bracing up yourself, and the Lamb and Cross is just down the street."
"I want to wait until he has the fix," Dunworthy said, watching the tech.
There were still no data on the screBeandsr.i was frowningM.
ontoya looked at her digital and said
something to GilchristG. ilchrist nodded, and she scooped up a bag that had been lying half under the console, waved goodbye to Latimer, and went out through the side door.
"Unlike Montoya, who obviously cannot wait to return to her dig, I would like to stay until I'm sure
Kivrin got through without incident," Dunworthy said.
"I'm not suggesting you go back to Balliol," Mary said, wrestling her way into her coat, "but the fix will take at least an hour, if not two, and in the meantime, your standing here won't hurrWy aittcahleodng.
pot and all thaTt.he pub's just across the waIyt's.
very small and quite nice, the sort of place that doesn't
put up Christmas decorations or play artificial bell muSsihce." held his overcoat out to h"imW.e'll have a
drink and something to eat, and then you can come back here and pace holes in the floor until the fix comes in."
"I want to wait here," he said, still looking at the emp"Wty hnyetd. idn't Basingame have a locator
implanted in his wristT?he head of a History Faculty has no business going off on holiday and not even a number where he can be reached."
Gilchrist straightened himself up from the still unchanging screen and clapped Badri on the shoulders. Latimer blinked as if he wasn't sure where he Gwilacsh.rist shook his hand, smiling expansiveHlye.
started across the floor toward the wall panel partition, looking smug.
"Let's go," Dunworthy said, snatching his overcoat from her and opening thAe dbolaosrt. of "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night" hit thMema.ry darted through the door as though she were escaping, and Dunworthy pulled it to behind them and followed Mary through the quad and out through Brasenose's gate.
It was bitter cold, but it wasn't rainItinlgo.oked as though it might at any moment, though, and the crush of shoppers on the pavement in front of Brasenose had apparently decided itAwt oluelads.t half of them

had umbrellas already openedA.
woman with a large red one and both arms full of parcels bumped into
Dunworthy. "Watch where you're going, can't you?" she said, and hurried on.
"The Christmas spirit," Mary said, buttoning her coat with one hand and hanging onto her shopping bag with the other". The pub's just down there past the chemist's," she said, nodding her head at the opposite side of the stree"t.It's these ghastly bells, I thinTkh.ey'd ruin anyone's mood."
She started off down the pavement through the maze of umbDreulnlaws.orthy debated putting his coat on and then decided it wasn't worth the struggle for so short a dHisetanpcluen. ged after her, trying to keep clear of the deadly umbrellas and to determine what carol was being slaughterIetd snoouwnd. ed like a cross between a call to arms and a dirge, but it was probably "Jingle Bells."
Mary was standing at the curb opposite the chemist's, digging in her shopping ba"gWahgaat inis. ghastly din supposed to be?" she said, coming up with a collapsible um"ObreLlliat.tle Town ofBethlehem ?"
"Jingle Bells," Dunworthy said and stepped out into the street. "James!" Mary said and grabbed hold of his sleeve.
that
The bicycle's front tire missed him by centimeters, and the near pedal caught him oTnhteheridler. swerved, shouting, "Don't you know how to cross a bleeding street?"
Dunworthy stepped backward and crashed into a six-year-old holding a plushTShaentcah.ild's mother glared.
"Do be careful, James," Mary said.
They crossed the street, Mary leading the wHalf.way across it began to raMin.ary ducked under the chemist's overhang and tried to get her umbrella oTphene. chemist's window was draped in green and
gold tinsel and had a sign posted in among the perfumes that said, "Save the Marston Parish Church
Bells. Give to the Restoration Fund."
The carillon had finished obliterating "Jingle Bells" or "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and was now working on "We Three Kings." Dunworthy recognized the minor key.
Mary still couldn't get her umbrella Suhpe. shoved it back in the bag and took off down the pavement again. Dunworthy followed, trying to avoid collisions, past a stationer's and a tobacconist's hung with blinking red and green lights, through the door Mary was holding open for him.
His spectacles steamed up immediateHlye.
took them off to wipe at them with the collar of his overcoat.
Mary shut the door and plunged them into a blur of brown and blissful silence.
"Oh, dear," Mary sai"dI. told you they were the sort that wouldn't put up decorations."
Dunworthy put his spectacles back Tonh.e shelves behind the bar were strung with blinking lights in pale
green, pink and an anemic bluOen. revolving stand.
the corner of the bar was a large fiber-op Christmas tree on a
There was no one else in the narrow pub except a beefy- looking man behind the bar. Mary squeezed between two empty tables and into the corner.

"At least we can't hear those wretched bells in here," she said, putting her bag down on"Nthoe, I'll get the drinksY. ou sit downT. hat cyclist nearly put you out."
settle.
She excavated some mangled pound notes out of the shopping bag and went up to"Ttwhoe of bitter," she told the barma"nD.o you want something to eat?" she asked Dunwo"rtThhye.y've sandwiches and cheese rolls."
pbianrt.s
"Did you see Gilchrist staring at the console and grinning like the CheshHiree dciadtn?'t even look to see whether Kivrin had gone or whether she was still lying there, half-dead."
"Make that two pints and a good stiff whiskey," Mary said.
Dunworthy sat downT.here was a creche on the table complete with tiny plastic sheep and a half-naked baby in a manger".Gilchrist should have sent her from the dig," he "sTahide. calculations for a remote
are exponentially more complicated than for an on-Isitseu. ppose I should be grateful he didn't send her lapse-time as wellT. he first-year apprentice couldn't do the calculatioInsw. as afraid when I loaned him Badri, Gilchrist would decide he wanted a lapse-time drop instead of a real-time."
He moved one of the plastic sheep closer to the she"pIhfehrde.'s aware there's a difference," he said. "Do you know what he said when I told him he should run at least one unHmeansaniedd,?'If something unfortunate does happen, we can go back in time and pull Ms. Engle out before it happens, can't we?' The man has no notion of how the net works, no notion of the paradoxes, no notion that Kivrin is there, and what happens to her is real and irrevocable."
Mary maneuvered her way between the tables, carrying the whiskey in one hand and the two pints awkwardly in the otherS.he set the whiskey down in front of "hIitm's. my standard prescription for
cycling victims and overprotective fatherDs.id it catch you in the leg?" "No," Dunworthy said.
"I had a bicycle accident in last wOeenke. of your Twentieth CenturieJsu. st back from a World War I drop. Two weeks unscathed atBelleau Wood and then walked into a high- wheeler on the SBhreoad." went back to the bar to fetch her cheese roll.
"I hate parables," Dunworthy saHide.
picked up the plastic VirgSinh.e was dressed in blue with a white
cloak. "If he had sent her lapse-time, at least she wouldn't have been in danger of freezingShtoe death. should have had something warmer than a rabbit-fur lining, or didn't it occur to Gilchrist that 1320 was the beginning of the Little Ice Age?"
"I've just thought who you remind me of," Mary said, setting down her plate and "Wa
Gaddson's mother."
inllaiapmkin.
That was a truly unfair remaWrki.lliam Gaddson was one of his first-year studeHntis mother had been up six times this term, the first time to bring William a pair of earmuffs.
"He catches a chill if he doesn't wear them," she had told Dun"wWoriltlhyy's.
always been susceptible to
chill, and now he's so far away from home anHdisaltlu. tor isn't taking proper care of him, even though
I've spoken to him repeatedly."
Willy was the size of an oak tree and looked as susceptible to chil"lI'mas coenreta. in he can take care

of himself," he had told Mrs. Gaddson, which was a miSsthaekeh. ad promptly added Dunworthy to the
list of people who refused to take proper care of Willy, but it hadn't stopped her coming up every two weeks to deliver vitamins to Dunworthy and insist that Willy be taken off the rowing team because he was over-exerting himself.
"I would hardly put my concern for Kivrin in the same category as Mrs. Gaddson's overprotectiveness,"
Dunworthy said."The 1300's are full of cutthroats and thieAvensd.
worse."
"That's what Mrs. Gaddson said aboutOxford ," Mary said placidly, sipping her pin"tI otof ldaleh.er she couldn't protect Willy from liAfen. d you can't protect KivriYn.ou didn't become an historian by
staying safely at homeY. ou've got to let her go, even if it is dangeErvoeursy.
century's a ten, James."
"This century doesn't have the Black Death."
"It had the Pandemic, which killed thirty-five million peAopnlde.the Black Death wasn't inEngland in
1320," she said". It didn't reach there till 1348S.h"e put her mug down on the table, and the figurine of
Mary fell over". But even if it had, Kivrin couldn't geIt imit.munized her against bubonic plaguSe.h"e smiled ruefully at Dunworthy".I have my own moments of Mrs. GaddsonBiteiss.ides, she would never get the plague because we're both worrying oveNr oint.e of the things one frets about ever happen. Something one's never thought of does."
"Very comforting."He placed the blue-and-white Mary next to the figure of JoIst efpehll. carefully back up.
overH.
e set it
"It should be comforting, James," she said bris"kBleyc. ause it's obvious you've thought of every possible dreadful thing that could happen to KivWrinh. ich means she's perfectly all rigShht.e's probably already
sitting in a castle having peacock pie for lunch, although I suppose it isn't the same time of day there."
He shook his hea"dT. here will have been slippage-God only knows how much, since Gilchrist didn't do parameter checks.Badri thought it would be several days."
Or several weeks, he thought, and if it were the middle of January, there wouldn't be any holy days for
Kivrin to determine the date bEyv.en a discrepancy of several hours could put her on the Oxford-Bath road in the middle of the night.
"I do hope the slippage won't mean she'll miss Christmas," Mar"yShsaeidw. as terribly keen to observe a mediaeval Christmas mass."
"It's two weeks till Christmas there," he calendar wasn't adopted till 1752."
"sTaihde.y're still using the Julian calendTarh.e Gregorian
"I knowM.
r. Gilchrist orated on the subject of the Julian calendar in his sHpeeewche.nt on at
considerable length about the history of calendar reform and the discrepancy in dates between the Old
Style and Gregorian calendarsA. t one point I thought he was going to draw a diaWgrhaamt .day is it there?"
"The thirteenth of December."
"Perhaps it's just as well we don't know the exactDtiiemrder.e and Colin were in the States for a year,
and I was worried sick about them, but out of sIynwcahs.
always imagining Colin being run over on the
way to school when it was actually the middle of theFnreigtthint.g doesn't work properly unless one can

visualize disasters in all their particulars, including the weather and the time Foofr daayt.ime I worried
about not knowing what to worry about, and then I didn't worryPearthaaplls. Kivrin."
it will be the same with
It was trueH. e had been visualizing Kivrin as he last saw her, lying amid the wreckage with her temple
bloody, but that was probably all wroSnhge.
had gone through nearly an hour aEgvoe.n if no traveller
had come along yet, the road would get cold, and he couldn't imagine Kivrin lying there docilely in the
Middle Ages with her eyes closed.
The first time he had gone through to the past he had been doing there-and-backs while they calibrated the fix.They had sent him through in the middle of the quad in the middle of the night, and he was supposed to stand there while they did the calculations on the fix and picked him Buput ahgeainw. as
inOxford in 1956, and the check was bound to take at least ten mHienuhteasd.
sprinted four blocks
down the Broad to see the old Bodleian and nearly given the tech heart failure when she opened the net and couldn't find him.
Kivrin would not still be lying there with her eyes shut, not with the mediaeval world spread out before her. He could see her suddenly, standing there in that ridiculous white cloak, scanning the Oxford-Bath road for unwary travellers, ready to fling herself back on the ground at a moment's notice, and in the meantime taking it all in, her implanted hands clasped together in a prayer of impatience and delight, and he felt suddenly reassured.
She would be perfectly all rigShhte.
would step back through the net in two weeks' time, her white
cloak grubby beyond belief, full of stories about harrowing adventures and hair's- breadth escapes, tales
to curdle the blood, no doubt, things that would give him nightmares for weeks after her telling him about them.
"She'll be all right, you know, James," Mary said, frowning at him.
"I know," he saiHd.e went and got them another half pint ap"ieWceh.en did you say your great-nephew was getting in?"
"At threeH.
e's staying a week, and I've no idea what to do witEhxhceimpt. worry, of courseI.
suppose I could take him to the AshmoleCahni.ldren always like museums, don't thePyo?cahontas's robe and all that?"
Dunworthy remembered Pocahontas's robe as being a completely uninteresting scrap of stiff grayish material much like Colin's intended muffl"eIr'.d suggest the Natural History Museum."
There was a rattle of tinsel and some "Ding Dong, Merrily on High" and Dunworthy looked anxiously over at the doorH. is secretary was standing on the threshold, squinting blindly into the pub.
"Perhaps I should send Colin upCarfaxTower to vandalize the carillon," Mary said.
"It's Finch," Dunworthy said, and put his hand up so he could see them, but he had already started for
their table."I've been looking for you everywhere, sir," he
"sSaiodm. ething's gone wrong."
"With the fix?"
His secretary looked blan"kT. he fix?No, sir.It's the AmericansT. hey've arrived early."

"What Americans?"
"The bellringersF. romColorado .The Western States' Women's Guild of Change and Handbell
Ringers."
"Don't tell me you've imported more Christmas bells," Mary said.
"I thought they were supposed to arrive on the twenty- second," Dunworthy said to Finch.
"This is the twenty-second," Finch sa"iTdh. ey were to arrive this afternoon but their concert atExeter was cancelled, so they're ahead of scheduIlec.alled Mediaeval, and Mr. Gilchrist told me he thought you'd gone out to celebrateH."e looked at Dunworthy's empty mug.
"I'm not celebrating," Dunworthy sa"idI'.m waiting for the fix on one of my studeHnets.l"ooked at his watch. "It will take at least another hour."
"You promised you'd take them on a tour of the local bells, sir."
"There's really no reason why you need to be here," Mar"yI scaaind. ring you at Balliol as soon as the fix is in."
"I'll come when we have the fix," Dunworthy said, glaring at"SMhaorwy. them round the college and then give them lunchT.hat should take an hour."
Finch looked unhappy".They're only here untilfour o'clockTh.ey have a handbells concert tonight in
Ely, and they're extremely eager to seeChristChurch 's bells."
"Then take them toChristChurchSh.ow them Great TomT.ake them up inSt. Martin 's towOer take them round toNewCollege I. will be there as soon as I can."
Finch looked like he was going to ask something else and then changed h"iIs'llmteinlld.them you'll be there within the hour, sir," he said and started for theHdaolfowr.ay there he stopped and came ba"cIk.
almost forgot, sirT. he vicar called to ask if you'd be willing to read the Scripture for the Christmas Eve interchurch service.It's to be at St. Mary the Virgin's this year."
"Tell him yes," Dunworthy said, thankful that he'd given up on the change"Arindertesll him we'll need to get into the belfry this afternoon so I can show these Americans the bells."
"Yes, sir," he sai"dW.
hat about Iffley?Do you think I should take them out to IfflTehye?y've a very
nice eleventh century."
"By all means," Dunworthy sa"idT.ake them to IffleyI.will be back as soon as I can."
Finch opened his mouth and closed it ag"Yaines. , sir," he said, and went out the door to the accompaniment of "The Holly and the Ivy."
"You were a bit hard on him, don't you think?" Mary "Aasfkterd.all, Americans can be terrifying."
"He'll be back in five minutes asking me whether he should take them toChristChurch first," Dunworthy said. "The boy has absolutely no initiative."

"I thought you admired that in young people," Mary said "wArtylayn. y rate, he won't go running off to the Middle Ages."
The door opened, and "The Holly and the Ivy" started up"Taghatn'll. should give them for lunch."
be him wanting to know what he
"Boiled beef and overcooked vegetables," Mary s"aAidm. ericans love to tell stories about our dreadful cooking. Oh, dear."
Dunworthy looked toward the dooGri.lchrist and Latimer stood there, haloed in the gray light from outside. Gilchrist was smiling broadly and saying something over the Lbealtlism. er struggled to collapse a large black umbrella.
"I suppose we've got to be civil and invite them to join us," Mary said.
Dunworthy reached for his co"aBt.e civil if you likIe.have no intention of listening to those two congratulating each other for having sent an inexperienced young girl into danger."
"You're sounding like you-know-who again," Mary s"aTidh.ey wouldn't be here if anything had gone wrong. Perhaps Badri's got the fix."
"It's too soon for that," he said, but he sat back down"Magoarein.likely he threw them out so he could get on with it."
Gilchrist had apparently caught sight of him as he stooHde uhpa.lf-turned, as if to walk back out again, but Latimer was already nearly to the taGblielc.hrist followed, no longer smiling.
"Is the fix in?" Dunworthy asked. "The fix?" Gilchrist said vaguely.
"The fix," Dunworthy sai"dT. he determination of where and when Kivrin is that makes it possible to pull her out again."
"Your tech said it would take at least an hour to determine the coordinates," Gilchrist sai"dDosteusffily. it always take him that lonHg?e said he would come tell us when it was completed, but that the preliminary readings indicate that the drop went perfectly and that there was minimal slippage."
"What good news!" Mary said, sounding reliev"Dedo.
come sit downW. e've been waiting for the fix,
too, and having a pinWt. ill you have something to drink?" she asked Latimer, who had got the umbrella down and was fastening the strap.
"Why, I believe I shall," Latimer s"aTidh.is is after all a great dAay.drop of brandy, I thinSkt.rong was the wyn, andwel to drinke us lesteH."e fumbled with the strap, getting it tangled in the ribs of the umbrella. "At last we have the chance to observe the loss of adjectival inflection and the shift to the nominative singular at first hand."
A great day, Dunworthy thought, but he felt relieved in spite of
Thihmesesllfi.ppage had been his
greatest worry.It was the most unpredictable part of a drop, even with parameter checks.
The theory was that it was the net's own safety and abort mechanism, Time's way of protecting itself

from continuum paradoxesT. he shift forward in time was supposed to prevent collisions or meetings or actions that would affect history, sliding the historian neatly past the critical moment when he might shoot Hitler or rescue the drowning child.
But net theory had never been able to determine what those critical moments were or how much slippage any given drop might producTeh.e parameter checks gave probabilities, but Gilchrist hadn't done any.Kivrin's drop might have been off by two weeks or a mForntahl.l Gilchrist knew, she might have come through in April, in her fur-lined coat and winter kirtle.
But Badri had said minimal slippaTghe.at meant Kivrin was off by no more than a few days, with plenty of time to find out the date and make the rendezvous.
"Mr. Gilchrist?" Mary was sayin"gC.an I get you a brandy?" "No, thank you," he said.
Mary rummaged for another crumpled note and went over to the bar.
"Your tech seems to have done a passable job," Gilchrist said, turning to Dun"wMoerdthiaye.val would
like to arrange to borrow him for our next
Wdroep'll.
be sending Ms. Engle to 1355 to observe the
effects of the Black DeatCh.ontemporary accounts are completely unreliable, particularly in the area of mortality rates.The accepted figure of fifty million deaths is clearly inaccurate, and estimates that it killed
one-third to one-half ofEurope are obvious exaggeratioIn'ms. observations."
eager to have Ms. Engle make trained
"Aren't you being rather premature?" Dunworthy sa"iPde.rhaps you should wait to see if Kivrin manages to survive this drop or at the very least gets through to 1320 safely."
Gilchrist's face took on its pinched lo"oItk.strikes me as somewhat unjust that you constantly assume Mediaeval is incapable of carrying out a successful practicum," he"Isaaidss.ure you we have carefully thought out its every aspecTt.he method of Kivrin's arrival has been researched in every detail.
"Probability puts the frequency of travellers on the Oxford- Bath road as one every 1.6 hours, and it indicates a 92 per cent chance of her story of an assault being believed due to the frequency of such assaults. A wayfarer in Oxfordshire had a 42.5 per cent chance of being robbed in winter, 58.6 per cent in summer.That's an average, of coursTe.he chances were greatly increased in parts of Otmoor and the Wychwood and on the smaller roads."
Dunworthy wondered how on earth Probability had arrived at those fiTghueresD. omesday Book didn't
list thieves, with the possible exception of the king's censustakers, who sometimes took more than the census, and the cutthroats of the time surely hadn't kept records of whom they had robbed and murdered, the locations marked neatly on a mParpo.ofs of deaths away from home had been entirely de facto: the person had failed to come baAckn.d how many bodies had lain in the woods, undiscovered and unmarked by anyone?
"I assure you we have taken every precaution possible to protect Kivrin," Gilchrist said. "Like parameter checks?" Dunworthy sa"idA.nd unmanneds and symmetry tests?"
Mary came back".Here we are, Mr. Latimer," she said, putting a glass of brandy down in front of him. She hooked Latimer's wet umbrella over the back of the settle and sat down beside him.

"I was just assuring Mr. Dunworthy that every aspect of this drop was exhaustively researched," Gilchrist said.He picked up the plastic figurine of a wise man carrying a g"iTlthbeoxb.rass-bound
casket in her equipage is an exact reproduction of a jewel casket in the AshmHoelesaent."the wise man down. "Even her name was painstakingly researcheIsda.bel is the woman's name listed most frequently in the Assize Rolls and the Regista Regum for 1295 through 1320.
"It is actually a corrupted form ofElizabeth ," Latimer said, as if it were one of h"isItslectures.
widespread use inEngland from the twelfth century is thought to trace its origin to Isavel of Angoulême, wife of King John."
"Kivrin told me she'd been given an actual identity, that Isabel de Beauvrier was one of the daughters of aYorkshire nobleman," Dunworthy said.
"She was," Gilchrist sai"dG. ilbert de Beauvrier had four daughters in the appropriate age range, but their
Christian names were not listed in the roTlhlsa.t was a common practicWe. omen were frequently listed only by surname and relationship, even in parish registers and on tombstones."
Mary put a restraining hand on Dunworthy's "aWrmh.y did you chooseYorkshire ?" she asked quickly. "Won't that put her a long way from home?"
She's seven hundred years from home, Dunworthy thought, in a century that didn't value women enough to even list their names when they died.
"Ms. Engle was the one who suggested that," Gilchrist"Ssahied.felt having the estate so distant would ensure that no attempt would be made to contact the family."
Or to cart her back to them, miles from theKdivroripn. had suggested iSt.he had probably suggested
the whole thing, searching through exchequer rolls and church registers for a family with a daughter the right age and no court connections, a family far enough up into the East Riding that the snow and the impassable roads would make it impossible for a messenger to ride and tell the family a missing daughter had been found.
"Mediaeval has given the same careful attention to every detail of this drop," Gilchrist said, "even to the
pretext for her journey, her brother's illneWsse.
were careful to ascertain that there had been an
outbreak of influenza in that section of Gloucestershire in 1319, even tihllonuegssh was abundant during the Middle Ages, and he could just as easily have contracted cholera or blood poisoning."
"James," Mary said warningly.
"Ms. Engle's costume was hand-sewTnh.e blue cloth for her dress was hand-dyed with woad using a mediaeval recipe.And Ms. Montoya has exhaustively researched thevillageofSkendgate where Kivrin will spend the two weeks."
"If she makes it there," Dunworthy said. "James," Mary said.
"What precautions have you taken to ensure that the friendly traveller who happens along every 1.6 hours doesn't decide to cart her off to the convent at Godstow or a brothel inLondon or see her come through and decide she's a witchW?hat precautions have you taken to ensure that the friendly traveller is

in fact friendly and not one of the cutthroats who waylay 42.5 per cent of all passersby?"
"Probability indicated there was no more than a 0.04 per cent chance of someone being at the location at the time of the drop."
"Oh, look, here's Badri already," Mary said, standing up and putting herself between Dunworthy and
Gilchrist. "That was quick work, BadrDi.id you get the fix all right?"
Badri had come away without his cHoaist. lab uniform was wet and his face was pinched with cold. "You look half-frozen," Mary sai"dC. ome and sit down.S"he motioned to the empty place on the settle next to Latimer". I'll fetch you a brandy."
"Did you get the fix?" Dunworthy said.
He was not only wet, he was drenc"hYedes. ," he said, and his teeth started to chatter.
"Good man," Gilchrist said, standing up and clapping him on the sh"oIultdheoru.ght you said it would take an hourT. his calls for a toasHt.ave you any champagne?" he called out to the barman, clapped Badri on the shoulder again, and went over to the bar.
Badri stood looking after him, rubbing his arms and shivHereingse. emed inattentive, almost dazed. "You definitely got the fix?" Dunworthy asked.
"Yes," he said, still looking after Gilchrist.
Mary came back to the table, carrying the bra"nTdhyis.
should warm you up a bit," she said, handing it
to him."There. Drink it downD.
octor's orders."
He frowned at the glass as if he didn't know what Hitiswtaese.th were still chattering. "What is it?" Dunworthy sa"idK.ivrin's all right, isn't she?"
"Kivrin," he said, still staring at the glass, and then seemed suddenly to come toHehimsesteltfh. e glass
down. "I need you to come," he said, and started to push his way back through the tables to the door.
"What's happened?" Dunworthy said, standing Tuph.e creche figures fell over, and one of the sheep rolled across the table and fell off.
Badri opened the door on the carillon's clanging of "Good Christian Men, Rejoice."
"Badri, wait, we're to have a toast," Gilchrist said, coming back to the table with a bottle and a tangle of glasses.
Dunworthy reached for his coat.
"What is it?" Mary said, reaching for her shopping"Dbiadgn.'t he get the fix?"
Dunworthy didn't answerH. e grabbed up his overcoat and took off after BTahderi.tech was already
halfway down the street, pushing his way through the Christmas shoppers as if they weren't evIet n there. was raining hard, but Badri seemed oblivious to that,Dtuonow. orthy pulled his overcoat more or less on

and shoved into the crowd.
Something had gone wronTg.here had been slippage after all, or the first-year apprentice had made an error in the calculationsP.erhaps something had gone wrong with the net itBseultf.it had safeties and
layereds and abortsI.f anything had gone wrong with the net, Kivrin simply wouldn't have gone through. And Badri had said he'd got the fix.
It had to be the slippaIgte.was the only thing that could have gone wrong and the drop still take place. Ahead Badri crossed the street, narrowly avoiding a bicDyculnew. orthy barged between two women
carrying shopping bags even larger than Mary's and over a white terrier on a leash, and caught sight of
him again two doors up.
"Badri!" he calledT.he tech half-turned and crashed straight into a middle-aged woman with a large flowered umbrella.
The woman was bent against the rain, holding the umbrella nearly in front of her, and she obviously didn't see Badri eitherT. he umbrella, which was covered with lavender violets, seemed to explode upward,
and then fell top-down onto the pavemeBnat.dri, still plunging blindly ahead, nearly fell over it.
"Watch where you're going, won't you?" the woman said angrily, grabbing at the edge of the umbrella. "This is hardly the place to run, then, is it?"
Badri looked at her and then at the umbrella with the same dazed look he had had "iSnortrhye,"pub. Dunworthy could see him say and bend to pick Titheupt.wo of them seemed to wrestle over the expanse of violets for a moment before Badri got hold of the handle and righted the Hume bhraenlldae. d
it to the woman, whose heavy face was red with rage or the cold rain or both.
"Sorry?!" she said, raising the handle over her head as if she were going to strike h"iIms twhait alilt. you've got to say?"
He put his hand uncertainly up to his forehead and then, as he had in the pub, seemed to remember where he was and took off again, practically runnHineg.turned in at Brasenose's gate, and Dunworthy followed, across the quad, in a side door to the laboratory, down a passage, and into theBanderti area. was already at the console, bending over it and frowning at the screen.
Dunworthy had been afraid it would be awash with garbage, or worse, blank, but it showed the orderly columns of figures and matrices of a fix.
"You got the fix?" Dunworthy said, panting.
"Yes," Badri saidH. e turned and looked at DunworthHye.
had stopped frowning, but there was an
odd, abstracted look on his face, as if he were trying hard to concentrate.
"When was..." he said and began to shHiviesr.voice trailed off as if he had forgotten what he was going to say.
The thin-glass door banged, and Gilchrist and Mary came in, with Latimer at their heels, fumbling with his umbrella. "What is iWt? hat's happened?" Mary said.
"When was what, Badri?" Dunworthy demanded.

"I got the fix," Badri saHide. turned and looked at the screen.
"Is this it?" Gilchrist said, leaning over his shou"lWdehra. t do all these symbols meaYn?ou'll need to translate for us laymen."
"When was what?" Dunworthy repeated.
Badri put his hand up to his foreh"eTahde.re's something wrong," he said. "What?" Dunworthy shouted".Slippage? Was there slippage?"
"Slippage?" he said, shivering so hard he could hardly get the word out. "Badri," Mary said".Are you all right?"
Badri got the odd, abstracted look again, as if he were considering the answer.
"No," he said, and pitched forward across the console.

CHAPTER THREE
She heard the bell as she came througIth.sounded thin and tinny, like the piped-in bell music they were playing in the High for ChristmTahs.e control room was supposed to be soundproof, but every
time someone opened the anteroom door from outside, she had been able to hear the faint, ghostly sound of Christmas carols.
Dr. Ahrens had come in first, and then Mr. Dunworthy, and both times Kivrin had been convinced they were there to tell her she wasn't going afteDr ra.llA. hrens had nearly cancelled the drop in hospital,
when Kivrin's antiviral inoculation had swelled up into a giant red welt on the underside of her arm. "You're not going anywhere until the swelling goes down," Dr. Ahrens had said, and refused to discharge her from hospitalK. ivrin's arm still itched, but she wasn't about to tell Dr. Ahrens that because she might tell Mr. Dunworthy, who had been acting horrified ever since he found out she was going.
I told him two years ago I wanted to go, Kivrin thTowuoghyt.ears ago, and when she'd gone to show him her costume yesterday, he was still trying to talk her out of it.
"I don't like the way Mediaeval's running this drop," he'dAnsadide.ven if they were taking the proper precautions, a young woman has no business going to the Middle Ages alone."
"It's all worked out," she'd told h"iIm'm.
Isabel de Beauvrier, daughter of Gilbert de Beauvrier, a
nobleman who lived in the East Riding from l276 to 1332."
"And what was the daughter of aYorkshire nobleman doing on the Oxford-Bath road alone?"
"I wasn'tI.
was with all my servants, travelling to Evesham to fetch my brother, who's lying ill in the
monastery there, and we were set upon by robbers."
"By robbers," he had said, blinking at her through his spectacles.
"I got the idea from yYouo.u said young women didn't travel anywhere alone in the Middle Ages, that they were always attendedS.o I was attended, but my servants bolted when we were attacked, and the robbers took the horses and all my gooMdrs.. Gilchrist thinks it's a plausible stoHrye. said the
probability of-"
"It's a plausible story because the Middle Ages were full of cutthroats and thieves."
"I know," she'd said impatiently, "and disease carriers and marauding knights and other dangerous types. Weren't there any nice people in the Middle Ages?"
"They were all busy burning witches at the stake."
She had decided she'd better change the sub"jIecct.ame to show you my costume," she'd said, turning slowly so he could see her blue kirtle and white fur-lined "cMloyakh. air will be down for the drop."
"You have no business wearing white to the Middle Ages," he'"dIt swaiidll.
only get dirty."
He hadn't been any better this mornHineg. had paced the narrow observation area like an expectant

father. She had worried the whole morning that he would suddenly try to call a halt to the whole proceeding.
There had been delays and more delMayrs.. Gilchrist had had to tell her all over again how the
Domesday Book worked, as if she were a first-year stuNdeont t.one of them had any faith in her,
except possibly Badri, and even he had been maddeningly careful, measuring and remeasuring the net area and once erasing an entire series of coordinates and entering it again.
She had thought the time would never come for her to get into position, and after she had, it was even worse, lying there with her eyes closed, wondering what was goinLgatiomne. r told Gilchrist he was
worried about the spelling of Isabel they had chosen, as if anyone back then had known how to read, let alone spell.Montoya came and stood over her and told her the way to identify Skendgate was by its church's frescoes of the Last Judgment, something she had told Kivrin at least a dozen times before.
Someone, she thought Badri because he was the only one who didn't have any instructions for her, bent and moved her arm a little in toward her body and tugged at the skirt ofThheer frlooboer. was hard,
and something was digging into her side just below herMrri.bsG. ilchrist said something, and the bell started up again.
Please, Kivrin thought, please, wondering if Dr. Ahrens had suddenly decided Kivrin needed another inoculation or if Dunworthy had raced off to the History Faculty and gotten them to change the rating back to a ten.
Whoever it was must be holding the door open-she could still hear the bell, though she couldn't make out the tuneI.t wasn't a tuneI.t was a slow, steady tolling that paused and then went on, and Kivrin thought, I'm through.
She was lying on her left side, her legs sprawled awkwardly as if she had been knocked down by the men who had robbed her, and her arm half-flung over her face to ward off the blow that had sent the
blood trickling down the side of her fTachee.
position of her arm should make it possible for her to open
her eyes without being seen, but she didn't open themShyeetl.ay still, trying to listen.
Except for the bell, there was no sound aIft
sahlle.
were lying on a fourteenth-century roadside, there
should be birds and squirrels at leaTsht.ey had probably been shocked into silence by her sudden appearance or by the net's halo, which left shimmering frostlike particles in the air for several minutes.
After a long minute, a bird twittered, and then anotheSr oomneet.hing rustled nearby, then stopped and rustled again.A fourteenth-century squirrel, or a wood mouTshe.ere was a thinner rustle which was
probably wind in the branches of the trees, though she couldn't feel any breeze on her face, and above it, from very far away, the distant sound of the bell.
She wondered why it was tolliIntgc. ould be ringing vesperOs.r matins.Badri had told her he didn't
have any idea how much slippage there wouldHbee.had wanted to postpone the drop while he ran a series of checks, but Mr. Gilchrist had said Probability had predicted 6.4 hours maximum slippage.
She didn't know what time she had come throItughha.d been a quarter to eleven when she came out of prep-she had seen Ms. Montoya looking at her digital and asked her what time it was- but she had no idea how long it had taken after tIhtath.ad seemed like hours.
The drop had been scheduled fornooIfn s.he had come through on time and Probability was right about the slippage, it would besix o'clock in the evening, which was too late for Avensdpeirfs.it were vespers,

why did the bell go on tolling?
It could be tolling for mass, or for a funeral or a wBedeldlsingh.ad rung almost constantly in the Middle
Ages-to warn of invasions or fires, to help a lost child find its way back to the village, even to ward off thunderstorms. It could be ringing for any reason at all.
If Mr. Dunworthy were here, he'd be convinced it was a f"uLnieferale.xpectancy in 1300 was
thirty-eight years," he had told her when she first said she wanted to go to the Middle Ages, "and you only lived that long if you survived cholera and smallpox and blood poisoning, and if you didn't eat rotten meat or drink polluted water or get trampled by a hOorrsgee. t burned at the stake for witchcraft."
Or freeze to death, Kivrin thougShhte.
was beginning to feel stiff with cold though she had been lying
there only a little whilWe. hatever was poking her in the side felt like it had gone through her ribcage and was now puncturing her lunMg.r. Gilchrist had told her to lie there for several minutes and then stagger
to her feet, as if coming out of unconsciousnKeisvsr.in had thought several minutes was hardly enough, considering Probability's assessment of the number of people on the Itrowado.uld surely be more than several minutes before a traveller happened along, and she was unwilling to give up the advantage her appearing to be unconscious gave her.
And it was an advantage, in spite of Mr. Dunworthy's idea that half ofEngland would converge on an unconscious woman to rape her while the other half waited nearby with the stake they intended to burn her at.If she were conscious, her rescuers would ask her questIifonssh.e were out cold, they would
discuss her and other things besideTsh.ey would talk about where to take her and speculate on who she might be and where she might have come from, speculations with a good deal more information in them than "Who are you?" had.
But now she felt an overwhelming urge to do what Mr. Gilchrist had suggested-get up and look around. The ground was cold, her side hurt, and her head was starting to throb in time witDh r.thAe hbrenl.s
had told her that would happeTnr.avelling this far into the past would give her symptoms of time lag-headache, insomnia, and a general botch-up of the Circadian rhytShhmes.felt so coldW. as that a
symptom of the time-lag, too, or was the ground she was lying on cold enough to penetrate her fur-lined cloak this quickly?Or was the slippage worse than the tech had thought and it was really the middle of the night?
She wondered if she were lying in the Irfoasdh.e were, she should certainly not stay thAerefa. st horse or the wagon that had made the ruts might roll right over her in the dark.
Bells don't ring in the middle of the night, she told herself, and there was too much light filtering through her closed eyelids for it to be dBarukt. if the bell she could hear was a vespers bell, that would mean it
was getting dark, and she had better get up and look around before night fell.
She listened all over again, to the birds, to the wind in the branches, to a steady scrapTihneg bseolulnd.
stopped, the echo of it ringing in the air, and there was a little sound, like an intaken breath or the shuffle of a foot on soft dirt, very close.
Kivrin tensed, hoping the involuntary movement didn't show through her concealing cloak, and waited, but there were no footsteps or voicAesn.d no birdsT. here was someone, or something, standing over
her. She was sure of
Sit.he could hear its breathing, feel its breath onIthsetro. od there for a long time,
not moving.After what seemed like an endless space of time, Kivrin realized she was holding her own breath and let it out slowSlyh.e listened, but now she couldn't hear anything over the throbbing of her own pulse.She took a deep, sighing breath, and moaned.

Nothing.Whatever it was didn't move, didn't make a sound, and Mr. Dunworthy had been right: pretending to be unconscious was no way to come into a century where wolves still prowled the forests. And bears.The birds abruptly began to sing again, which meant either it was not a wolf or the wolf had gone away.Kivrin went through the ritual of listening again, and opened her eyes.
She couldn't see anything but her sleeve, which was against her nose, but just the act of opening her eyes made her head ache worsSe.he closed her eyes, whimpered, and stirred, moving her arm enough so that
when she opened her eyes again she would be able to see somSehtheinmg.oaned again and fluttered her eyes open.
There was no one standing over her, and it wasn't the middle of thTehenisgkhyt. overhead through the tangled branches of the trees was a pale grayish-bSlhue. sat up and looked around.
Almost the first thing Mr. Dunworthy had said to her that first time she had told him she wanted to go to the Middle Ages was, "They were filthy and disease-ridden, the muckhole of history, and the sooner you
get rid of any fairy-tale notions you have about them, the better."
And he was righOt.f course he was righBt.ut here she was, in a fairy woSohde. and the wagon and all
the rest of it had come through in a little open space too small and shadowed to be callTeadll,a glade. thick trees arched above and over it.
She was lying under an oak tSrehee. could see a few scalloped leaves in the bare branches high above.
The oak was full of nests, though the birds had stopped again, traumatized by her mTovhe
ent.
underbrush was thick, a mat of dead leaves and dry weeds that should have been soft bTuht ewasn't. hard thing Kivrin had been lying on was the cap of an acorn. White mushrooms spotted with red clustered near the gnarled roots of the oak Ttrheey. , and everything else in the little glade-the tree trunks, the wagon, the ivy-glittered with the frosty condensation of the halo.
It was obvious that no one had been here, had ever been here, and equally obvious that this wasn't the
Oxford-Bath road and that no traveller was going to happen along in 1.6Ohr oeuvrse.r.The mediaeval maps they'd used to determine the site of the drop had apparently been as inaccurate as Mr. Dunworthy'd said they wereT.he road was obviously further north than the maps had indicated, and she was south of it, in Wychwood Forest.
"Ascertain your exact spatial and temporal location immediately," Dr. Gilchrist haSdhesaiwd.ondered how she was supposed to do that-ask the biTrdhse?y were too far above her for her to see what species they were, and the mass extinctions hadn't started until the 1S9h7o0r'ts.of them being passenger pigeons or dodoes, their presence wouldn't point to any particular time or place, anyway.
She started to sit up, and the birds exploded into a wild flurry of flappinSghewsitnagyse.d still until the
noise subsided and then rose to her knTeehse.
flapping started all over agaSinh.e clasped her hands,
pressing the flesh of her palms together and closing her eyes so if the traveller who was supposed to find her happened by, it would look like she was praying.
"I'm here," she said and then stoppIfeds.he reported that she had landed in the middle of a wood, instead of on the Oxford- Bath road, it would just confirm what Mr. Dunworthy was thinking, that Mr. Gilchrist hadn't known what he was doing and that she couldn't take care of herself, and then she remembered that it wouldn't make any difference, that he would never hear her report until she was safely back.

If she got safely back, which she wouldn't if she was still in this wood whenSnhieghsttofoeldl. up and
looked around. It was either late afternoon or very early morning, she couldn't tell in the woods, and she might not be able to tell by the sun's position even when she got where she could sMeer.the sky. Dunworthy had told her that people sometimes stayed hopelessly turned around for their entire stay in the past. He had made her learn to sight using shadows, but she had to know what time it was to do that, and there was no time to waste on wondering which direction was Swhheichha.d to find her way out of
here. The forest was almost entirely in shadow.
There was no sign of a road or even aKpivartihn. circled the wagon and boxes, looking for an opening
in the treesT. he woods seemed thinner to what felt like the west, but when she went that way, looking
back every few steps to make sure she could still see the weathered blue of the wagon's cloth covering, it was only a stand of birches, their white trunks giving an illusion ofShsepawcee.nt back to the wagon
and started out again in the opposite direction, even though the woods looked darker that way.
The road was only a hundred yards awKaivyr.in clambered over a fallen log and through a thicket of drooping willows, and looked out onto the roAadh. ighway, Probability had called Iitt.didn't look like a
highway. It didn't even look like a roIatd.looked more like a footpaOthr.
a cowpathS. o these were the
wonderful highways of fourteenth-centuryEngland , the highways that were opening trade and broadening horizons.
The road was barely wide enough for a wagon, though it was obvious that wagons had used it, or at least a wagonT. he road was rutted into deep grooves, and leaves had drifted across and into the ruts.
Black water stood in some of them and along the road's edge, and a skim of ice had formed on some of the puddles.
Kivrin was standing at the bottom of a depresTsihoen.road climbed steadily up in both directions from where she was, and to what felt like the north, the trees stopped halfway upShthee tuhrinlle. d around to
look back.It was possible to catch a glimpse of the wagon from here-the merest patch of blue--but no one would.The road dived here into woods on either side, and narrowed, making it a perfect spot in which to be waylaid by cutthroats and thieves.
It was just the place to lend credibility to her story, but they would never see her, hurrying through the narrow stretch of road, or if they did catch sight of the barely visible corner of blue, they would think it was someone lying in wait and spur their horses into flight.
It came to Kivrin suddenly that, lurking there in the thicket, she looked more like one of those cutthroats than like an innocent maiden who'd been recently coshed on the head.
She stepped out onto the road and put her hand up to her"Otemhpollep.en me, for I am ful sore in drede!" she cried.
The interpreter was supposed to automatically translate what she said into Middle English, but Mr.
Dunworthy had insisted she memorize her first speecShehse. pronunciation all yesterday afternoon.
and Mr. Latimer had worked on the
"Holpen me, for I haf been y-robbed by fel thefes," she said.
She considered falling down on the road, but now that she was out in the open she could see it was eve later than she'd guessed, nearly sundown, and if she was going to see what lay at the top of the hill, she had better do it nowF.irst, though, she needed to mark the rendezvous with some kind of sign.

There was nothing distinctive about any of the willows along theShreoaldo.oked for a rock to lay at
the spot where she could still glimpse the wagon, but there wasn't a sign of one in the rough weeds at the edge of the roadF.inally she clambered back through the thicket, catching her hair and her cloak on the willow branches, got the little brass-bound casket that was a copy of one in the Ashmolean, and carried
it back to the edge of the road.
It wasn't perfect-it was small enough for someone passing by to carry off-but she was only going as far as the top of the hIilfl. she decided to walk to the nearest village, she'd come back and make a more permanent sign.And there weren't going to be any passersby any time Tshoeons.teep sides of the ruts
were frozen hard, the leaves were undisturbed, and the skim of ice on the puddles was unbroken. Nobody had been on the road all day, all week maybe.
She straightened weeds up around the chest to hide it and laid a branch over it, and then started up the hill. The road, except for the frozen mudhole at the bottom, was smoother than Kivrin had expected, and pounded flat, which meant horses used it a good deal in spite of its empty look.
It was an easy climb, but Kivrin felt tired before she had gone even a few steps, and her temple began t throb again.She hoped her time-lag symptoms wouldn't get worse-she could already see that she was a
long way from anywhereO. r maybe that was just an illusiSohne.
still hadn't "ascertained her exact
temporal location," and this lane, this wood had nothing about them that said positively 1320.
The only signs of civilization at all were those ruts, which meant she could be in any time after the invention of the wheel and before paved roads, and not even definitelyThtehreen.were still lanes exactly like this not five miles fromOxford , lovingly preserved by the National Trust for the Japanese and American tourists.
She might not have gone anywhere at all, and on the other side of this hill she would find the M-1 or M Montoya's dig, or an SDI installatioIn.would hate to ascertain my temporal location by being struck by
a bicycle or an automobile, she thought, and stepped gingerly to the side of tBhuet riofadI . haven't gone anywhere, why do I have this wretched headache and feel like I can't walk another step?
She reached the top of the hill and stopped, out of Tbhreearteh.was no need to have gotten out of the road. No car had been driven along it as Oyreth. orse and buggy eitheAr.nd she was, as she had
thought, a long way from anywheTreh.ere weren't any trees here, and she could see for mThileesw. ood the wagon was in came halfway up the hill and then straggled south and west for a Iflonshge whaayd. come through farther into the trees, she would have been lost.
There were trees far to the east, too, following a river that she could catch occasional silver-blue glimpses of-theThames ?the Cherwell?-and little clumps and lines and blobs of trees dotting all the country between, more trees than she could imagine ever having been inEngTlhaendD.omesday Book
in 1086 had reported no more than 15 per cent of the land wooded, and Probability had estimated that lands cleared for fields and settlements would have reduced that to 12 per cent by the thirteen hundreds. They, or the men who had written the Domesday Book, had underestimated the numberTs hbearedly.
were trees everywhere.
Kivrin couldn't see any villagTesh.e woods were bare, their branches gray-black in the late afternoon
light, and she should be able to see the churches and manor houses through them, but she couldn't see anything that looked like a settlement.
There had to be settlements, though, because there were fields, and they were narrow strip fields that were definitely mediaevalT. here were sheep in one of the fields, and that was mediaeval, too, but she

couldn't see anyone tending themF.ar off to the east there was a square gray blur that had to beOxford . Squinting, she was almost able to make out the walls and the squat shape of Carfax tower, though she couldn't see any sign of the towers of St. Frideswide's or Osney in the fading light.
The light was definitely fadinTgh.e sky up here was a pale bluish-lavender with a hint of pink near the western horizon, and she wasn't turned around because even while she had stood here, it had gotten darker.
Kivrin crossed herself and then folded her hands in prayer, bringing her steepled fingers close to her face. "Well, Mr. Dunworthy, I'm herIe.seem to be in the right place, more orI'mlessn.ot right on the Oxford-Bath road.I'm about five hundred yards south of it on a sideI rcoaand. seeOxford I.t looks
like it's ten miles away."
She gave her estimate of what season and time of day it was, and described what she thought she could see, and then stopped and pressed her face against her hSahnedss.hould tell the Domesday Book what
she intended to do, but she didn't know what thatTwhearse. should be a dozen villages on the rolling
plain west of Oxford, but she couldn't see any of them, even though the cultivated fields that belonged to them were there, and the road.
There was no one on the roItadc.urved down the other side of the hill and disappeared immediately
into a thick copse, but half a mile farther on was the highway where the drop should have landed her, wide and flat and pale green, and where this road obviouslTyhelered. was no one on the highway for as
far as she could see.
Off to her left and halfway across the plain towardOxford she caught a glimpse of distant movement, but it was only a line of cows heading home to a huddle of trees that must hideItawvaislnla'tget.he village
Ms. Montoya had wanted her to look for-Skendgate was south of the highway.
Unless she was in the wrong place altogether, and she wThasant 'tw. as definitelyOxford there to the
east, and theThames curving away south of it down to the brownish-gray haze that had to beLondon , but none of that told her where the village Itwamsi.ght be between here and the highway, just out of
sight, or it might be back the other way, or on another side road or path aTlthoegreethwera.s no time to go and see.
It was rapidly getting darkIenr. another half hour there might be lights to go by, but she couldn't afford to wait.The pink had already darkened to lavendar in the west, and the blue overhead was almost purple. And it was getting coldeTr.he wind was picking uTp.he folds of her cloak flapped behind her,
and she pulled it tighter around hSehre.
didn't want to spend a December night in a forest with a splitting
headache and a pack of wolves, but she didn't want to spend it lying out on the cold- looking highway either, hoping for someone to come along.
She could start forOxford , but there was no way she could reach it befIofreshdearcko.uld just see a village, any village, she could spend the night there and look for Ms. Montoya's villaSghee laloteork. ed
back down the road she had come up, trying to catch a glimpse of light or smoke from a hearth or something, but there wasn't anythinHg.er teeth began to chatter.
And the bells began to riTngh.e Carfax bell first, sounding just like it always had even though it must have been recast at least three times since fifteen hundred, and then, before the first stroke had died away, the others, as if they had been waiting for a signal from TOhxefyordw.ere ringing vespers, of
course, calling the people in from the fields, beckoning them to stop work and come to prayers.

And telling her where the villages wTerhee.
bells were chiming almost in unison, yet she could hear each
one separately, some so distant only the final, deeper echo reacheTdhehreer,. along that line of trees, and there, and thereT. he village the cows were heading to was there, behind that lowThriedgceo. ws began to walk faster at the sound of the bell.
There were two villages practically under her nose-one just the other side of the highway, the other several fields away, next to the little tree-lined streSakmen. dgate, Ms. Montoya's village, lay where she
thought it did, back the way she had come, past the frozen ruts and over the low hill now more than two miles.
Kivrin clasped her hand"sI. just found out where the village is," she said, wondering if the sounds of the
bells would make it onto the Domesday Bo"oItk's.
on this side roaId'm.
going to go fetch the wagon
and drag it out onto the road, and then I'm going to stagger into the village before it gets dark and collapse on somebody's doorstep."
One of the bells was far away to the southwest and so faint she could hardSlyhehweaornidte. red if it were the bell she had heard earlier, and why it had been rMingayinbge. Dunworthy was right, and it was a funeral."I'm all right, Mr. Dunworthy," she said into her h"aDndosn.'t worry about meI.'ve been here over an hour and nothing bad has happened so far."
The bells died away slowly, the bell fromOxford leading the way again, though, impossibly, its sound hung longer on the air than any of the otThheers.sky turned violet-blue, and a star came out in the southeast. Kivrin's hands were still folded in pray"eItr'.s beautiful here."
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (000249-000614)
Well, Mr. Dunworthy, I'm heIre.seem to be in the right place, more orI'mlessn.ot right on the Oxford-Bath road.I'm about five hundred yards south of it on a sideI rcoaand. seeOxford I.t's about ten miles away.
I don't know exactly when I came through, but if it wasnoon as scheduled, there's been about four hours' slippage. It's the right time of yeTarh.e leaves are mostly off the trees, but the ones on the ground are still more or less intact, and only about a third of the fields have been ploweId wuonnd'et r.be able to tell my
exact temporal location until I reach the village and can ask someone what dYaoyuitpriso.bably know more about where and when I am than I do, or at least you will after you've done the fix.

But I know I'm in the right cenIturcya.n see fields from the little hill I'mThoeny.'re classic mediaeval strip fields, with the rounded ends where the oxen Ttuhren.pastures are bounded with hedges, and about a third of them are Saxon dead hedges, while the rest are Norman haPwrothboabrnil.ity put the
ratio in 1300 at twenty-five to seventy-five per cent, but that was based onSuffolk , which is farther east.
To the south and west is forest-Wychwood?--all deciduous as far as I
Tcaon ttheell.east I can see
theThames .I can almost seeLondon , even though I know that's imposIsnib1le3.20 it would have been over fifty miles away, wouldn't it, instead of only twIensttyil.l think I can seeI ict.an definitely see the
city walls ofOxford , and Carfax tower.
It's beautiful hereI.t doesn't feel as though I were seven hundred years away fromOxyfoorud. is right
there, within walking distance, and I cannot get the idea out of my head that if I walked down this hill and into town I would find all of you, still standing there in the lab at Brasenose waiting for the fix, Badri frowning at the displays and Ms. Montoya fretting to get back to her dig, and you, Mr. Dunworthy,
clucking like an old mother heIn.don't feel separated from you at all, or even very far away.
CHAPTER FOUR

Badri's hand came away from his forehead as he fell, and his elbow hit the console and broke his fall for a second, and Dunworthy glanced anxiously at the screen, afraid he might have hit one of the keys and scrambled the displayB. adri crumpled to the floor.
Latimer and Gilchrist didn't try to grab him eLitahteirm. er didn't even seem to realize anything had gone wrong. Mary grabbed for Badri immediately, but she was standing behind the others and only caught a fold of his sleeveS.he was instantly on her knees beside him, straightening him out onto his back and jamming an earphone into her ear.
She rummaged in her shopping bag, came up with a bleeper, and held the call button down for a full five seconds. "Badri?" she said loudly, and it was only then that Dunworthy realized how deathly silent it was
in the roomG. ilchrist was standing where he had been when BadriHfeelll.ooked furiousI. we've considered every possible contingencHy.e obviously hadn't considered this one.
assure you
Mary let go of the bleeper button and shook Badri's shoulders Tghenertley.was no responseS.he tilted
his head far back and bent over his face, her ear practically in his open mouth and her head turned so she could see his chesHt. e hadn't stopped breathingD. unworthy could see his chest rising and falling, and
Mary obviously could, tooS.he raised her head immediately, already pressing on the bleeper, and
pressed two fingers against the side of his neck, held them there for what seemed an endless time, and then raised the bleeper to her mouth.
"We're at BrasenoseI.n the history laboratory," she said into the blee"pFeivr.e-two. Collapse.
Syncope. No evidence of seizure.S"he took her hand off the call button and pulled Badri's eyelids up. "Syncope?" Gilchrist said".What's that?What's happened?"
She glanced irritably at hi"mH.e's fainted," she said".Get me my kit," she said to Dunwor"thIny.the shopping bag."
She had knocked the bag over getting the bleepeIrt olauyt. on its sidDe.unworthy fumbled through the boxes and parcels, found a hard plastic box that looked the right size, and snappedIt itwoaspefnu.ll of
red and green foil Christmas crackeHrse.
jammed it back in the bag.
"Come along," Mary said, unbuttoning Badri's lab s"hIirht.aven't got all day." "I can't find-" Dunworthy began.
She snatched the bag away and upendeTdhiet. crackers rolled everywhereT.he box with the muffler
came open, and the muffler fell oMuta.ry grabbed up her handbag, zipped it open, and pulled out a large flat wallet.She opened it and took out a tach bracSehleet. fastened the bracelet around his wrist and
turned to look at the blood pressure reads on the kit's monitor.
The wave form didn't tell Dunworthy anything and he couldn't tell from Mary's reaction what she thought it meant.Badri hadn't stopped breathing, his heart hadn't stopped beating, and he wasn't bleeding
anywhere that Dunworthy could sePe.erhaps he had only fainteBd.ut people didn't simply fall over,
except in books or the vidHse.
must be injured or
Hille.
had seemed to be almost in shock when he
came into the pubC. ould he have been struck by a bicycle like the one that had just missed hitting Dunworthy, and not realized at first that he was injuTrheadt? would account for his disconnected manner, his peculiar agitation.

But not for the fact that he had come away without his coat, that he had said, "I need you to come," tha he had said, "There's something wrong."
Dunworthy turned and looked at the console scrIetesnt.ill showed the matrices it had when the tech collapsed. He couldn't read them, but it looked like a normal fix, and Badri had said Kivrin had gone through all rightT. here's something wrong.
With her hands flat, Mary was patting Badri's arms, the sides of his chest, downBahdisri'slegesy.elids fluttered, and then his eyes closed again.
"Do you know if Badri had any health problems?"
"He's Mr. Dunworthy's tech," Gilchrist said accusin"gFlyro. m Balliol.He was on loan to us," he added, making it sound like Dunworthy was somehow responsible for this, had arranged the tech's collapse to sabotage the project.
"I don't know of any health problems," Dunworthy "sHaied'd. the start of term."
have had a full screen and seasonals at
Mary looked dissatisfiedS.he put on her stethoscope and listened to his heart for a long minute, rechecked the blood pressure reads, took his pulse ag"aAind you don't know anything of a history of epilepsy? Diabetes?"
"No," Dunworthy said.
"Has he ever used drugs or illegal endorphiSnhs?e" didn't wait for him to answSehre.
pressed the
button on her bleeper agai"nA. hrens here.Pulseone ten
B. P one hundred over sixtIy'm.
doing a blood
screen." She tore open a gauze wipe, swabbed at the arm without the bracelet, tore open another packet.
Drugs or illegal endorphinTs.hat would account for his agitated manner, his disconnected spBeeucthi.f
he used, it would have shown up on the beginning-of-term screen, and he couldn't possibly have worked the elaborate calculations of the net if he was uTshinegre. 's something wrong.
Mary swabbed at the arm again and slid a cannula under thBeadsrkii'sn.eyelids fluttered open. "Badri," Mary said".Can you hear me?S"he reached in her coat pocket and produced a bright red
capsule. "I need to give you your temp," she said and held it to his lips, but he didn't give any indication
he'd heard.
She put the capsule back in her pocket and began rummaging in"Ttheell kmit.e when the reads come
up on that cannula," she said to Dunworthy, taking everything out of the wallet and then putting it back in. She laid the kit down and started through her hand"Ibatgh.ought I had a skin-temp thermometer with
me," she said.
"The reads are up," Dunworthy said.
Mary picked her bleeper up and began reading the numbers into it.
Badri opened his eye"sY. ou have to..." he said, and closed them ag"Saion. cold," he murmured.

Dunworthy took off his overcoat, but it was too wet to lay ovHeer hloimok.ed helplessly around the
room for something to cover him wIifth.this had happened before Kivrin left they could have used that blanket of a cloak she'd been weariBnga.dri's jacket was wadded underneath the consoHlee. laid it sideways over him.
"Freezing," Badri murmured, and began to shiver.
Mary, still reciting reads into the bleeper, looked sharply across a"tWhhiamt . did he say?" Badri murmured something else and then said clearly, "Headache."
"Headache," Mary said".Do you feel nauseated?"
He moved his head a little to indicate"Wnhoe. n was-" he said and clutched at her arm. She put her hand over his, frowned, and pressed her other hand to his forehead. "He's got a fever," she said.
"There's something wrong," Badri said, and closed his Heyises.hand let go of her arm and dropped back to the floor.
Mary picked his limp arm up, looked at the reads, and felt his forehea"dWahgearein.is that damned skin-temp?" she said, and began rummaging through the wallet again.
The bleeper chimed".They're here," she said".Somebody go show them the way iSnh."e patted Badri's chest. "Just lie still."
They were already at the door when Dunworthy openTedwoit.medics from Infirmary pushed through carrying kits the size of steamer trunks.
"Immediate transport," Mary said before they could get the trunksSohpeeng.ot up off her knees. "Fetch the stretcher," she said to the female me"Adinc.d get me a skin-temp and a sucrose drip."
"I assumed Twentieth Century's personnel had been screened for dorphs and drugs," Gilchrist said. One of the medics knocked past him with a pump feed.
"Mediaeval would never allowH-"e stepped out of the way as the other one came in with the stretcher. "Is this a drugover?" the male medic said, glancing at Gilchrist.
"No," Mary said".Did you bring the skin-temp?"
"We don't have one," he said, plugging the feed into the"Jsuhsutnta.
thermistor and tempWs. e'll have
to wait till we get him iHn.e" held the plastic bag over his head for a minute till the grav feed kicked the motor on and then taped the bag to Badri's chest.
The female medic took the jacket of Badri and covered him with a gray"Cbloalndk,"et.Badri said. "You have to-"

"What do I have to do?" Dunworthy said. "The fix-"
"One, two," the medics said in unison, and rolled him onto the stretcher.
"James, Mr. Gilchrist, I'll need you to come to hospital with me to fill out his admission forms," Mary said. "And I'll need his medical histoOryn. e of you can come in the ambulance, and the other follow."
Dunworthy didn't wait to argue with Gilchrist over which of them should ride in the amHbeulance.
clambered in and up next to Badri, who was breathing hard, as if being carried on the stretcher had been too much exertion.
"Badri," he said urgently, "you said something was wDroindg.you mean something went wrong with the fix?"
"I got the fix," Badri said, frowning.
The male medic, attaching Badri to a daunting array of displays, looked irritated.
"Did the apprentice get the coordinates wroInt'gs?important, Badri. Did he make an error in the remote coordinates?"
Mary climbed into the ambulance.
"As Acting Head, I feel I should be the one to accompany the patient in the ambulance," Dunworthy heard Gilchrist say.
"Meet us in Casualties at Infirmary," Mary said and pulled the do"Horasveto.you gotten a temp yet?" she asked the medic.
"Yes," he said".39.5 C.BP 90 over 55, pulse 115."
"Was there an error in the coordinates?" Dunworthy said to Badri. "Are you set back there?" the driver said over the intercom.
"Yes," Mary said".Code one."
"Did Puhalski make an error in the locational coordinates for the remote?" "No," Badri saidH. e grabbed at the lapel of Dunworthy's coat.
"Is it the slippage then?"
"I must have-" Badri sa"idS.o worried."
The sirens blared, drowning out the rest of what he"Ysoauid.must have what?" Dunworthy shouted over their up and down klaxon.

"Something wrong," Badri said, and fainted again.
Something wrongI.t had to be the slippagEex.cept for the coordinates, it was the only thing that could go wrong with a drop that wouldn't abort it, and he had said the locational coordinates wHeorew right. much slippage, though?Badri had told him it might be as much as two weeks, and he wouldn't have run all the way to the pub in the pouring rain without his coat unless it were much moreHothwanmtuhcaht.
more? A month? Three months?But he'd told Gilchrist the preliminaries showed minimal slippage.
Mary elbowed past him and put her hand on Badri's forehead"Aagdadins.odium thiosalicylate to the drip," she said". And start a WBC screeJna.mes, get out of the way."
Dunworthy edged past Mary and sat down on the bench, near the back of the ambulance. Mary picked up her bleeper aga"iSnt.and by for a full CBC and serotyping."
"Pyelonephritis?" the medic said, watching the reads chaBngPe.96 over 60, pulse 120, temp 39.5.
"I don't think so," Mary sa"iTdh. ere's no apparent abdominal pain, but it's obviously an infection of some sort, with that temp."
The sirens dived suddenly down in frequency and stopTpheed.medic began pulling wires out of the wall hookups.
"We're here, Badri," Mary said, patting his chest a"gWaien'.ll soon have you right as rain."
He gave no indication he had heMarda.ry pulled the blanket up to his neck and arranged the dangling
wires on top of
Tit.he driver yanked the door open, and they slid the stretche"rI owuatn. t a full blood
workup," Mary said, holding onto the door as she climbed d"oCwF,n.HI and antigenic IDD."unworthy clambered down after her and followed her into the casualties department.
"I need a med hist," she was already telling the reg"OistnrarB. adri-what's his last name, James?" "Chaudhuri," he said.
"National Health Service number?"
"I don't know," he sa"idH.e works at Balliol."
"Would you be so good as to spell the name for me, please?"
"C-H-A-" he saidM. ary was disappearing into the Accident WaHrde. started after her.
"I'm sorry, sir," the registrar said, darting up from her console to block "hIifs ywoauy'l.l just be seated-" "I must talk to the patient you just admitted," he said.
"Are you a relative?"
"No," he said".I'm his employerI.t's very important."
"He's in an examining cubicle just now," she "sIa'lild.ask for permission for you to see him as soon as

the examination is completed.S"he sat gingerly back down at the console, as if ready to leap up again at the slightest movement on his part.
Dunworthy thought of simply barging in on the examination, but he didn't want to risk being barred from
hospital altogether, and at any rate, Badri was in no condition tHoetahlkad.
been clearly unconscious
when they took him out of the ambulanUcnec. onscious and with a fever of 39S.o5m.
ething wrong.
The registrar was looking suspiciously up at "hWimo.uld you mind terribly giving me that spelling again?" He spelled Chaudhuri for her and then asked where he could find a telephone.
"Just down the corridor," she sa"iAd.ge?"
"I don't know," he sa"idT.wenty-five? He's been at Balliol for four years."
He answered the rest of her questions as best he could and then looked out the door to see if Gilchrist had come and went down the corridor to the telephones and rang up BraHseenogsoet. the porter, who
was decorating an artificial Christmas tree that stood on the lodge counter.
"I need to speak to Puhalski," Dunworthy said, hoping that was the name of the first-year tech. "He's not here," the porter said, draping a silver garland over the branches with his free hand.
"Well, as soon as he returns, please tell him I need to speak wIti'tsh vheirmy. importantI.
need him to
read a fix for mIe'm.
at-"Dunworthy waited pointedly for the porter to finish arranging the garland and
write the number of the call box down, which he finally did, scribbling it on the lid of a box of ornaments. "If he can't reach me at this number, have him ring the casualties department at IHnfoirwmasroyo.n will
he return, do you think?"
"That's difficult to say," the porter said, unwrapping an
"aSngoeml.e of them come back a few days
early, but most of them don't show up until the first day of term."
"What do you meanIs?n't he staying in college?"
"He wasH. home."
e was going to run the net for Mediaeval, but when he found he wasn't needed, he went for
"I need his home address then and his telephone number."
"It's somewhere inWales , I believe, but you'd have to talk to the college secretary for that, and she's not here just now either."
"When will she be back?"
"I can't say, siSr.he went toLondon to do a bit of Christmas shopping."
Dunworthy gave another message while the porter straightened the angel's wings, and then rang off and
tried to think if there were any other techs inOxford for ChriCstlmeaarsly. used a first-year student in the first place.
not, or Gilchrist wouldn't have
He put a call through to Magdalen anyway, but got no aHneswheurn. g up, thought a minute, and then

rang up BalliolT. here was no answer there eithFerin. ch must still be out showing the American
bellringers the bells at Great ToHme. later. They might only be at lunch.
looked at his digitaIlt. was only half-past twIot. seemed much
He rang up the phone in Balliol's hall, but still got no Haneswweern. t back into the waiting area, expecting Gilchrist to be therHe.e wasn't but the two medics were, talking to a staff Gniulcrsher.ist had probably gone back to Brasenose to plot his next drop or the one afPteerrhtahpast. he'd send Kivrin straight into the Black Death the third time round for direct observation.
"There you are," the staff nurse s"aIidw. as afraid you'd lefItf. you'll just come with me."
Dunworthy had assumed she was speaking to him, but the medics followed her out the door, too, and down a corridor.
"Here we are, then," she said, holding a door open forThthee medics filed through".There's tea on the trolley, and a WC just through there."
"When will I be able to see Badri Chaudhuri?" Dunworthy asked, holding the door so she couldn't shut it.
"Dr. Ahrens will be with you directly," she said and shut the door in spite of him.
The female medic had already slouched down in a chair, her hands in herTphoeckmetasn.
was over by
the tea trolley, plugging in the electric keNttleei.ther of them had asked the registrar any questions on the way down the corridor, so perhaps this was routine, though Dunworthy couldn't imagine why they would want to see BadrOi. r why they had all been brought here.
This waiting room was in an entirely different wing from the casualtieIst whaadrd.the same
spine-destroying chairs of the waiting room in Casualties, the same tables with inspirational pamphlets fanned out on them, the same foil garland draped over the tea trolley and secured with bunches of
plastene holly. There were no windows, though, not even in theItdowoars. the sort of room where people waited for bad news.
self- contained and private,
Dunworthy sat down, suddenly tireBda.d news.An infection of some sorBt.P 96, pulse l20, temp
39.5. The only other tech inOxford off inWales and the bursar out doing her Christmas shAonpdping. Kivrin somewhere in 1320, days or even weeks from where she was supposedOrtomboen.ths.
The male medic poured milk and sugar into a cup and stirred it, waiting for the electric kettle to heat. The woman appeared to have gone to sleep.
Dunworthy stared at her, thinking about the slippBaagder.i had said the preliminary calculations indicated minimal slippage, but they were only preliminBarayd.ri had told him he thought two weeks' slippage was likely, and that made sense.
The farther back the historian was sent, the greater the average sliTpwpaegneti.eth-Century drops usually had only a few minutes, Eighteenth-Century a few hMouargsd. alen, which was still running unmanneds to the Renaissance, was getting slippage of from three to six days.
But those were only averageTsh.e slippage varied from person to person, and it was impossible to predict for any given droNp.ineteenth Century had had one off by forty-eight days, and in uninhabited areas there was often no slippage at all.

And often the amount seemed arbitrary, whimsiWcahl.en they'd run the first slippage checks for
Twentieth Century back in the twenties, he'd stood in Balliol's empty quad and been sent through to two a.m. on the fourteenth of September, 1956, with only three minutes' sliBppuatgwe.hen they sent him
through again at2:08 , there had been nearly two hours', and he'd come through nearly on top of an undergraduate sneaking in after a night out.
Kivrin might be six months from where she was supposed to be, with no idea of when the rendezvous was. And Badri had come running to the pub to tell him to pull her out.
Mary came in, still wearing her cDoautn. worthy stood up". Is it Badri?" he asked, afraid of the answer. "He's in the casualties ward," she s"aWid.e need his NHS number, and we can't find his records in
Balliol's file."
Her gray hair was mussed again, but otherwise she seemed as businesslike as she was when she discussed Dunworthy's students with him"H. e's not a member of the college," he said, feeling relieved. "Techs are assigned to the individual colleges, but they're officially employed by the University."
"Then his records would be in the Registrar's OGffiocoed. . Do you know if he's travelled outsideEngland in the past month?"
"He did an on-site for Nineteenth Century inHungary two weekHs ea'sgob.een inEngland since then." "Has he had any relations visit him fromPakistan ?"
"He hasn't anyH. e's third generationH. ave you found out what he's got?" She wasn't listening".Where are Gilchrist and Montoya?" she said.
"You told Gilchrist to meet us here, but he hadn't come in yet when I was brought in here." "And Montoya?"
"She left as soon as the drop was completed," Dunworthy said.
"Have you any idea where she might have gone?"
No more than you have, Dunworthy thouYghotu.
watched her leave, to"oI.
assume she went back to
Witney to her digS.he spends the majority of her time there." "Her dig?" Mary said, as if she'd never heard of it.
What is it? he thougWht.hat's wrong?"In Witney," he said".The National Trust farmS.he's excavating a mediaeval village."
"Witney?" she said, looking unhapp"yS.he'll have to come in immediately."
"Shall I try to ring her up?" Dunworthy said, but Mary had already gone over to the medic standing by the tea trolley.

"I need you to fetch someone in from Witney," she said Htoe hpimut. down his cup and saucer and shrugged on his jacke"t.From the National Trust sitLe.upe Montoya."She went out the door with him.
He expected her to come back as soon as she'd finished giving him the directions tWo hWenitnsehye. didn't, he started after heSr.he wasn't in the corridoNr.either was the medic, but the nurse from Casualties was.
"I'm sorry, sir," she said, barring his path the way the registrar in Casual"tDiesr. hAahdrens asked that you wait for her here."
"I'm not leaving the infirmaIryn. eed to put a call through to my secretary."
"I'll be glad to fetch you a phone, sir," she said Sfihremltyu.rned and looked down the corridor.
Gilchrist and Latimer were comin"g...hope Ms. Engle has the opportunity to observe a death," Gilchrist was saying."Attitudes toward death in the 1300's differed greatly from Douerast.h was a common and accepted part of life, and the contemps were incapable of feeling loss or grief."
"Mr. Dunworthy," the nurse said, tugging at his arm, "if you'll just wait inside, I'll bring you a telephone." She went to meet Gilchrist and Latim"Iefr.you'll come with me, please," she said, and ushered them into
the waiting room.
"I'm acting head of Mediaeval," Gilchrist said, glaring at Dunw"oBrtahdyr.i Chaudhuri is my responsibility."
"Yes, sir," the nurse said, shutting the d"oDorr.. Ahrens will be with you directly."
Latimer set his umbrella on one of the chairs and Mary's shopping bag on the oneHneexhtadto it. apparently retrieved all the parcels Mary had dumped on the Dfluonowr.orthy could see the muffler box and one of the Christmas crackers sticking out of the"Wtoep.couldn't find a taxi," he said, breathing hard. He sat down next to his burde"nWs.e had to take the tube."
"Where is the apprentice tech you were going to use on the drop-Puhalski--from?" Dunwor"thI y said. need to speak with him."
"Concerning what, if I may aOskr? have you taken over Mediaeval entirely in my absence?" "It's essential that someone read the fix and make sure it's all right."
"You'd be delighted if something were to go wrong, wouldn'tYyoouu'v?e been attempting to obstruct this practicum from the beginning."
"Were to go wrong?" Dunworthy said, disbelievin"gIlty's.
already gone wrongB. adri is lying in hospital
unconscious and we don't have any idea if Kivrin is when or where she's supposYedoutohebaer.d
Badri. He said something was wrong with the Wfixe.'ve got to get a tech here to find out what it is."
"I should hardly put any credence in what someone says under the influence of drugs or dorphs or whatever it is he's been taking," Gilchrist s"aAidn.d may I remind you, Mr. Dunworthy, that the only thing to have gone wrong on this drop is Twentieth Century's paMrt ri.nPiut.halski was doing a
perfectly adequate jobH.
owever, at your insistence, I allowed your tech to replaceIth'simo.bvious I

shouldn't have."
The door opened, and they all turned and lookedThate ist.ister brought in a portable telephone, handed it to Dunworthy, and ducked out again.
"I must ring up Brasenose and tell them where I am," Gilchrist said.
Dunworthy ignored him, flipped up the phone's visual screen, and rang up"I Jneseuesd.
the names and
home telephone numbers of your techs," he told the Acting Principal's secretary when she appeared on the screen."None of them are here over vac, are they?"
None of them were theHree.
wrote down the names and numbers on one of the inspirational pamphlets,
thanked the senior tutor, hung up, and started on the list of numbers.
The first number he punched was engagTehde.
others got him an engaged tone before he'd even
finished punching in the town exchanges, and on the last a computer voice broke in and said, "All lines are engaged.Please attempt your call later."
He rang Balliol, both the hall and his own oHffeicde.idn't get an answer at either numFbienrc. h must have taken the Americans toLondon to hear Big Ben.
Gilchrist was still standing next to him, waiting to use the Lpahtoimnee.r had wandered over to the tea cart and was trying to plug in the electric kTehttele.medic came out of her drowse to assist "hHimav.e
you finished with the telephone?" Gilchrist said stiffly.
"No," Dunworthy said and tried Finch agTaihne.re was still no answer.
He rang off".I want you to get your tech back toOxford and pull KivrNinowou. tB. efore she's left the drop site."
"You want?" Gilchrist sai"dM.
ight I remind you that this is Mediaeval's drop, not yours."
"It doesn't matter whose it is," Dunworthy said, trying to keep his "tIetm's pUern.iversity policy to abort a drop if there's any sort of problem."
"May I also remind you that the only problem we've encountered on this drop is that you failed to screen your tech for dorphs.H" e reached for the phon"eI. will decide if and when this drop needs to be
aborted."
The phone rang.
"Gilchrist here," Gilchrist sai"dJ.ust a moment please.H" e handed the telephone to Dunworthy.
"Mr. Dunworthy," Finch said, looking harri"eTdh. ank goodness.I've been calling round everywhere. You won't believe the difficulties I've had."
"I've been detained," Dunworthy said before Finch could launch into an account of his di"ffNicouwlties. listen carefully.I need you to go and fetch Badri Chaudhuri's employment file from the bursar'Ds ro. ffice. Ahrens needs itR. ing her upS. he's here at InfirmaryI.nsist on speaking directly to hSerh.e'll tell you
what information she wants from the file."

"Yes, sir," Finch said, taking up a pad and pencil and taking rapid notes.
"As soon as you've done that, I want you to go straight toNewCollege and see the SenTieolrl
Tutor.
him I must speak with him immediately and give him this telephone nTuemllbehri.m it's an emergency, that it's essential that we locate BasingamHe's got to come back toOxford immediately."
"Do you think he'll be able to, sir?"
"What do you meanH?as there been a message from BasingamHea?s something happened to him?" "Not that I know of, sir."
"Well, then, of course he'll be able to come Hbea'csk.only on a fishing trIitp's.
not as if he's on a
schedule. After you've spoken to the Senior Tutor, ask any staff and students you cPaenrhfainpds. one
of them has an idea as to where BasingamAenids. while you're there, find out whether any of their techs are here inOxford ."
"Yes, sir," Finch sai"dB. ut what should I do with the Americans?"
"You'll have to tell them I'm sorry to have missed them, but that I was unavoidablyThdeyta'riened. supposed to leave for Ely at four, aren't they?"
"They were, but-" "But what?"
"Well, sir, I took them round to see Great Tom andOldMarstonChurch and all, but when I tried to take them out to Iffley, we were stopped."
"Stopped?" Dunworthy said".By whom?"
"The police, sirT.hey had barricades upT.he thing is, the Americans are very upset about their handbell concert."
"Barricades?" Dunworthy said.
"Yes, sirO.
n the A4158S. hould I put the Americans up in Salvin,Wsiirl?liam Gaddson and Tom
Gailey are on the north staircase but Basevi's being painted." "I don't understand," Dunworthy sa"idW. hy were you stopped?"
"The quarantine," Finch said, looking surpris"eId.could put them in FisherT'sh.e heat's been turned off for vac, but they could use the fireplaces."

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (000618-000735)
I'm back at the drop sIit'es. some distance from the roaId'm.
going to drag the wagon out onto the
road so that my chances of being seen are better, but if no one happens along in the next half hour, I
intend to walk to Skendgate, which I have located thanks to the bells of evening vespers.
I am experiencing considerable time lMagy.
head aches pretty badly, and I keep having cThhilels.
symptoms are worse than I understood them to be from Badri and Dr. particularly. I'm glad the village isn't far.
CHAPTER FIVE
TAhherenhse.adache

Quarantine.Of course, Dunworthy thoughTt.he medic sent to fetch Montoya, and Mary's questions aboutPakistan , and all of them put here in this isolated, self-contained room with a ward sister guarding the door.Of course.
"Will Salvin do thenF?or the Americans?" Finch was asking.
"Did the police say why a guar-" He stopGpielcdh.rist was watching him, but Dunworthy didn't think he could see the screen from where he wLaasti.mer was fussing over the tea trolley, trying to open a sugar packet. The female medic was aslee"pD. id the police say why these precautions had been taken?"
"No, sirO.
nly that it wasOxford and immediate environs, and to contact the National Health for
instructions."
"Did you contact them?"
"No, sirI.'ve been tryingI.
can't get throughA. ll the trunk lines have been engaged, Ttohoe.
Americans
have been trying to reach Ely to cancel their concert, but the lines are jammed."
Oxfordand environsT. hat meant they had stopped the tube, too, and the bullet train toLondon , as well as blocking all the roadNs.o wonder the lines were jamme"dH.ow long ago was thisW? hen you went
out to Iffley?"
"It was a bit after three, I'svier. been phoning round since then, trying to find you, and then I thought, perhaps he knows about it alreadIyr.ang up Infirmary and then started calling round to all the hospitals."
I didn't know about it already, Dunworthy thouHgeht.tried to recall the conditions required for calling a quarantine. The original regulations had required it in every case of "unidentified disease or suspicion of contagion," but those had been passed in the first hysteria after the Pandemic, and they had been
amended and watered down every few years since then till Dunworthy had no idea what they were now.
He did know that a few years ago they'd been "absolute identification of dangerous infectious disease" because there'd been a fuss in the papers when Lassa fever had raged unchecked for three weeks in a
town inSpain
T. he local doctors hadn't done viral typing, and the whole mess had resulted in a push to
put teeth in the regulations, but he had no idea if it had gone through.
"Should I assign them rooms in Salvin then, sir?" Finch asked again.
"Yes.No. Put them in the junior common room for nTohwey.
can practice their changes or whatever it
is they doG.
et Badri's file and phone it Ifin.the lines are all engaged, you'd best phone it in to this
number. I'll be here even if Dr. Ahrens iAsnn'td.
then find out about BasingamIte's.
more important than
ever that we locate himY.ou can assign the Americans rooms later." "They're very upset, sir."
So am I, Dunworthy thoug"hTt.ell the Americans I'll find out what I can about the situation and ring you back." He watched the screen go gray.
"You can't wait to inform Basingame of what you perceive to be Mediaeval's failure, can you?" Gilchrist said. "In spite of the fact that it was your tech who has jeopardized this drop by using drugs, a fact of which you may be sure I will inform Mr. Basingame on his return."

Dunworthy looked at his digitIatl.washalf past fourF.inch had said they'd been stopped at a bit before three. An hour and a halOf.xfordhad only had two temp quarantines in recent yOeanrse. had turned out
to be an allergic reaction to an injection, and the other one had turned out to be nothing at all, a schoolgirl prank. Both had been called off as soon as they had the results of the blood tests, and those hadn't taken
even ten minutesM.
ary had taken blood in the ambulanDceu.nworthy had seen the medic hand the vials
to the house officer when they came into CasuaTltiheesr.e had been ample time for them to obtain the results. Three quarters of an hour.
"I'm certain Mr. Basingame will also be interested in hearing that it was your failure to have your tech screened that's resulted in this practicum being jeopardized," Gilchrist said.
Dunworthy should have recognized the symptoms as those of an infeBcatidorni':s low blood pressure, his labored breathing, his elevated temMp.ary had even said in the ambulance that it had to be an
infection of some kind with his temp that high, but he had assumed she meant a localized infection, staph or an inflamed appendixA. nd what disease could it bSem? allpox and typhoid had been eradicated back
in the twentieth century and polio in this Boancet.erials didn't have a chance against antibody specification, and the antivirals worked so well nobody even had colds anymore.
"It seems distinctly odd that after being so concerned about the precautions Mediaeval was taking that you wouldn't take the obvious precaution of screening your tech for drugs," Gilchrist said.
It must be a thirdworld diseaMsea.ry had asked all those questions about whether Badri had been out of the Community, about his Pakistani relativBeus.tPakistan wasn't thirdworld, and Badri couldn't have gone out of the Community without a whole series of inoculaAtinodns.he hadn't gone outside the EEC. Except for the Hungarian on-site, he'd been inOxford all term.
"I would like to use the telephone," Gilchrist was sa"yI inqgu.ite agree that we need Basingame here to take matters in hand."
Dunworthy was still holding the phoHne blinked at it, surprised.
"Do you mean to prevent me from phoning Basingame?" Gilchrist said.
Latimer stood up".What is it?" he said, his arms held out as if he thought Dunworthy might pitch forward into them."What's wrong?"
"Badri isn't using," Dunworthy said to Gilch"rHiset.'s ill."
"I fail to see how you can claim to know that without having run a screen," Gilchrist said, looking pointedly at the phone.
"We're under quarantine," Dunworthy sa"idIt.'s some sort of infectious disease."
"It's a virus," Mary said from the d"oWore. as a viral infection."
don't have it sequenced yet, but the preliminary results ID it
She had unbuttoned her coat, and it flapped behind her like Kivrin's cloak as she hurried into the room. She was carrying a lab tray by the hanItdlwe.as piled high with equipment and paper packets.
"The tests indicate that it's probably a myxovirus," she said, setting the tray down on one of the end tables. "Badri's symptoms are compatible with thhaitg: h fever, disorientation, headache. It's definitely not

a retrovirus or a picornavirus, which is good news, but it will be some time yet before we have a complete ID."
She pulled two chairs up next to the table and sat down "oWn eo'vnee.notified the World Influenza Centre inLondon and sent them samples for ident and sequenUcinntgil. we have a positive ID, a temp quarantine has been called as required by NHS regulations in cases of possible epidemic conSdhiteions." pulled on a pair of imperm gloves.
"Epidemic!" Gilchrist said, shooting a furious glance at Dunworthy as if accusing him of engineering the quarantine to discredit Mediaeval.
"Possible epidemic conditions," Mary corrected, tearing open paper pac"kTehtse.re is no epidemic as yet. Badri's is the only case so fWare. 've run a Community computer check, and there have been no other cases with Badri's profile, which is also good news."
"How can he have a viral infection?" Gilchrist said, still glaring at Dun"wI osruthpyp.ose Mr. Dunworthy didn't bother to check for that either."
"Badri's an employee of the University," Mary and antivirals."
"You don't know?" Gilchrist said.
"sHaide. should have had the usual start-of-term physical
"The Registrar's office is closed for Christmas," she "sIaihda.ven't been able to reach the Registrar, and
I can't call up Badri's files without his NHS number."
"I've sent my secretary to our bursar's office to see if we have hardcopies of the University's files," Dunworthy said."We should at the least have his number."
"Good," Mary said".We'll be able to tell a good deal more about the sort of virus we're dealing with when we know what antivirals Badri's had and how receHnetlym. ay have a history of anomalous
reactions, and there's also a chance he's missed a seasDonoaly. ou happen to know his religion, Mr. Dunworthy? Is he New Hindu?"
Dunworthy shook his hea"dH. e's Church of England," he said, knowing what Mary was gettiTnhge at. New Hindus believed that all life was sacred, including killed viruses, if killed was the rigThhteyword. refused to have any inoculations or vaccinTehs.e University gave them waivers on religious grounds but didn't allow them to live in colle"gBea. dri's had his start-of-term clearancHe.e'd never have been
allowed to work the net without it."
Mary nodded as if she had already come to that concl"uAssionI . said, this is very likely an anomaly." Gilchrist started to say something, but stopped when the door opTehneedn.urse who had been
guarding the door came in, wearing a mask and gown and carrying pencils and a sheaf of papers in her imperm-gloved hands.
"As a precaution, we need to test those people who have been in contact with the patient for antibodies. We'll need bloods and temps, and we need each of you to list all of your contacts and those of Mr. Chaudhuri."
The nurse handed several sheets of paper and a pencil to DunwTohrethtyo.p sheet was a hospital

admissions form.The one underneath was headed "Primaries" and divided into columns marked "Name, location, time."The bottom sheet was just the same except that it was headed "Secondaries."
"Since Badri is our only case," Mary said, "we are considering him the indWexe cdaose.not have a
positive mode of transmission yet, so you must list anyone who's had any contact with Badri, however momentary. Anyone he spoke to, touched, has had any contact with."
Dunworthy had a sudden image of Badri leaning over Kivrin, adjusting her sleeve, moving her arm. "Anyone at all who may have been exposed," Mary said.
"Including all of us," the medic said. "Yes," Mary said.
"And Kivrin," Dunworthy said.
For a moment she looked like she had no idea at all who Kivrin was.
"Ms. Engle has had full-spectrum antivirals and T-cell enhancement," Gilchris"tSshaeid.would not be at risk, would she?"
Dr. Ahrens hesitated only a seco"nNd.o. She didn't have any contact with Badri before this morning, did she?"
"Mr. Dunworthy only offered me the use of his tech two days ago," Gilchrist said, practically snatching the papers and pencil the nurse was offering him out of her "hI,anodfs.course, assumed that Mr.
Dunworthy had taken the same precautions with his techs which MediaevaIlt hhaads. become apparent, however, that he didn't, and you may be sure I will inform Basingame of your negligence, Mr. Dunworthy."
"If Kivrin's first contact with Badri was this morning, she was fully protected," M"aMryr.saGidil.christ, if you'd be so goodS."he indicated the chair, and he came and sat down.
Mary took one of the sets of papers from the nurse and held up the sheet marked ""PArinmyaries." person Badri had contact with is a primary conAtancyt. person you have had contact with is a
secondary. On this sheet I would like you to list all contacts you have had with Badri Chaudhuri over the last three days, and any contacts of his that you knoOwn othf.is sheet," she held up the sheet marked
"Secondaries", "list all your contacts with the time you had Btheegmin. backward."
with the present and work
She popped a temp into Gilchrist's mouth, peeled a portable monitor off its paper strip, and stuck it on his wrist.The nurse passed the papers out to Latimer and the mDeudnicw. orthy sat down and began
filling out his own.
The Infirmary form asked for his name, National Health Service number, and a complete medical history, which the NHS number could no doubt call up in better detail than he could remember it. Illnesses. Surgeries. Inoculations. If Mary didn't have Badri's NHS number that meant he was still unconscious.
Dunworthy had no idea what date his last start-of-term antivirals had Hbeenp.ut question marks next

to them, turned to the Primaries sheet, and wrote his own name at the top of thLe actiomluemr, n. Gilchrist, the two medicsH. e didn't know their names, and the female medic was asleep Sahgeainh.eld
her papers bunched in one hand, her arms folded across her Dcuhnewst.orthy wondered if he needed to list the doctors and nurses who had worked on Badri when he caHmeewirno.te "casualties department staff" and then put a question mark afteMr oitn.toya.
And Kivrin, who, according to Mary, was fully prote"cSteodm. ething wrong," Badri had saiHd.ad he
meant this infection?Had he realized he was getting ill while he was trying to get the fix and come running to the pub to tell them he had exposed Kivrin?
The pubT. here hadn't been anyone in the pub except the barAmnadn. Finch, but he'd gone before
Badri got thereD.
unworthy lifted up the sheet and wrote Finch's name under "Secondaries," and then
turned back to the first sheet and wrote "barman, Lamb and CTrhoess.p"ub had been empty, but the
streets hadn't beenH.
e could see Badri in his mind's eye, pushing his way through the Christmas crowd,
barging into the woman with the flowered umbrella and elbowing his way past the old man and the little boy with the white terrie"rA. nyone he's had any contact with," Mary had said.
He looked across at Mary, who was holding Gilchrist's wrist and making careful entries iWn as chart. she going to try to get bloods and temps from everyone on thesIet wlisats?impossibleB. adri had
touched or brushed past or breathed on dozens of people in his headlong flight back to Brasenose, none of whom Dunworthy or Badri, would recognize agDaionu. btless he had come in contact with as many or more on his way to the pub, and each of them had come in contact with how many others in the busy shops?
He wrote down "Large number of shoppers and pedestrians, High Street(?)" drew a line, and tried to remember the other occasions on which he'd seen BHaderi.hadn't asked him to run the net until two
days ago, when he'd found out from Kivrin that Gilchrist was intending to use a first-year apprentice.
Badri had just gotten back fromLondon when Dunworthy telephoKnievdri.n had been in hospital that
day for her final examination, which was goSohde. couldn't have had any contact with him then, and he'd been inLondon before that.
Tuesday Badri had come to see Dunworthy to tell him he'd checked the first-year student's coordinates and done a full systems checDku. nworthy hadn't been there, so he'd left a nKoitver.in had come to
Balliol Tuesday, as well, to show him her costume, but that had been in the Bmaodrrniinhga.d said in his note that he'd spent all morning at theAnnedt. Kivrin had said she was going to see Latimer at the Bodleian in the afternoonB. ut she might have gone back to the net after that, or have been there before she came to show him her costume.
The door opened and the nurse ushered MontoyHa eirn.terrorist jacket and jeans were wItetm.
ust
still be raining". What's going on?" she said to Mary, who was labelling a vial of Gilchrist's blood.
"It seems," Gilchrist said, pressing a wad of cotton wool to the inside of his arm and standing up, "that Mr. Dunworthy failed to have his tech properly checked for inoculations before he ran the net, and now he is in hospital with a temperature of 3H9e.5.apparently has some sort of exotic fever."
"Fever?" Montoya said, looking bewildere"dIs.n't 39.5 low?"
"103 degrees in Fahrenheit," Mary said, sliding the vial into its "cBarardierir'.s infection is possibly contagious. I need to run some tests and you'll need to write down all of your contacts and Badri's."

"Okay," Montoya saidS.he sat down in the chair Gilchrist had vacated and shrugged off her jacket. Mary swabbed the inside of her arm and clipped a new vial and disposable punch "tLogete'sthegre.t it
over with.I've got to get back to my dig."
"You can't go back," Gilchrist sa"iHd.aven't you heard? We're under quarantine, thanks to Mr. Dunworthy's carelessness."
"Quarantine?" she said and jerked so the punch missed her arm compTlheeteliyd.ea of a disease she might contract had not affected her at all, but the mention of a quarant"iInehadvied. to get back," she said, appealing to Mary".You mean I have to stay here?"
"Until we have the blood test results," Mary said, trying to find a vein for the punch.
"How long will that be?" Montoya said, trying to look at her digital with the arm Mary was working on. "The guy who brought me in didn't even let me cover up the site or turn off the heaters, and it's raining like crazy out thereI.'ve got a churchyard that's going to be full of water if I don't get out there."
"As long as it takes to get blood samples from all of you and run an antibodies count on them," Mary said, and Montoya must have gotten the message because she straightened out her arm and held it still. Mary filled a vial with her blood, gave her her temp, and slid a tach braDcuenlewt oornth.y watched her, wondering if she had been telling the trSuhthe. hadn't said Montoya could leave after they had the test results, only that she had to stay here until they weArendinw. hat then?Would they be taken to an
isolation ward together or separatelyO?r given some sort of medicatioOn?r given more tests?
Mary took Montoya's tach bracelet off and handed her the last set of"Mparp. eLrsa.timer?You're next."
Latimer stood up, holding his papeHrse. looked at them confusedly, then set them down on the chair he'd been sitting on, and started over to MHaarylf.way there, he turned and went back for Mary's shopping bag."You left this at Brasenose," he said, holding it out to Mary.
"Oh, thank you," she sa"idJu. st set it next to the table, won't yTohue?se gloves are sterile." Latimer set the bag down, tipping it sligThthley. end of the muffler trailed out on the fHloeor.
methodically tucked it back in.
"I'd completely forgotten I left it there," Mary said, watching"Inhimall.
the excitement, IS-"he clapped
her gloved hand over her mou"thO.h, my Lord!Colin! I'd forgotten all about himW. hat time is it?" "4:08," Montoya said without looking at her digital.
"He was supposed to come in at three," she said, standing up and clattering the vials of blood in their carrier.
"Perhaps when you weren't there he went round to your rooms," Dunworthy said.
She shook her hea"dT. his is the first time he's been toOxfoTrhat.'s why I told him I'd be there to meet him.I never even gave him a thought until now," she said, almost to herself.
"Well, then, he'll still be at the Underground station," Dunworthy"Sshaaildl. I go and fetch him?"

"No," she said".You've been exposed."
"I'll phone the station theYno. u can tell him to take a taxi hWerhee.re was he coming inC?ornmarket?" "Yes, Cornmarket."
Dunworthy rang up information, got through on the third try, got the number off the screen and rang the station. The line was engagedH. e hit disconnect and punched the number in again.
"Is Colin your grandson?" Montoya saSihde.
had put aside her papeTrsh.e others didn't seem to be
paying any attention to this latest developmeGnitl.christ was filling in his forms and glaring, as if this was one more example of negligence and incompetenLcaet.imer was sitting patiently by the tray, his sleeve rolled up.The medic was still asleep.
"He's my great-nephew," Mary sa"idH.e was coming up on the tube to spend Christmas with me." "What time was the quarantine called?"
"Ten past three," Mary said.
Dunworthy held up his hand to indicate he'd gotten thr"oIusgthh.at Cornmarket Underground Station?"
he said.It obviously wasH.
e could see the gates and a lot of people behind an irritated-looking station
master. "I'm phoning about a boy who came in on the tube atthree oH'cleo'scktw.elve.He would have
come in fromLondon .D" unworthy held his hand over the receiver and asked Mary, "What does he look like?"
"He's blonde and has blue eyHese.'s tall for his age."
"Tall," Dunworthy said loudly over the sound of the c"rHowisd.name is Colin-" "Templer," Mary said".Dierdre said he'd take the tube from Marble Arch at one." "Colin TemplerH. ave you seen him?"
"What the bloody hell do you mean have I seen him?" the stationmaster "sIh'voeutegdo.t five hundred people in this station and you want to know if I've seen a litLtloeokboayt. this mess."
The visual abruptly showed a milling croDwudn. worthy scanned it, looking for a tallish boy with blonde hair and blue eyesI.t switched back to the station master.
"There's just been a temp quarantine," he shouted over the roar which seemed to get louder by the minute, "and I've got a station full of people who want to know why the trains have stopped and why don't I do something about Ii'vt.e got all I can do to keep them from tearing the placeI caapna'rtt.
bother about a boy."
"His name is Colin Templer," Dunworthy shou"tHedi.s great aunt was supposed to meet him." "Well, why didn't she then and make one less problem for me to deIa'vlewgiotht?a crowd of angry
people here who want to know how long the quarantine's going to last and why don't I do something about that-"He cut off suddenlyD. unworthy wondered if he'd hung up or had the phone snatched out of his hand by an angry shopper.

"Had the stationmaster seen him?" Mary said.
"No," Dunworthy said".You'll have to send someone after him." "Yes, all righIt.'ll send one of the staff," she said, and started out.
"The quarantine was called at3:10 , and he wasn't supposed to get here till three," Montoya said. "Maybe he was late."
That hadn't occurred to DunworthIyf . the quarantine had been called before his train reachedOxford , it would have been stopped at the nearest station and the passengers rerouted or sent back toLondon .
"Ring the station back," he said, handing her the pHhoenteo.ld her the numbe"rT. ell them his train left
Marble Arch at oneI.'ll have Mary phone her niecPee.rhaps Colin's back already."
He went out in the corridor, intending to ask the nurse to fetch Mary, but she waMsna'rty thmeures.t have sent her to the station.
There was no one in the corriHdoer. looked down it at the call box he had used before and then walked rapidly down to it and punched in Balliol's numThbere was an off-chance that Colin had gone to Mary's rooms after aHll.e would send Finch round, and if Colin wasn't there, down to the Isttation. would very likely take more than one person looking to find Colin in that mess.
"Hi," a woman said.
Dunworthy frowned at the number in the inset, but he hadn't mis"dI'imaletdr.ying to reach Mr. Finch atBalliolCollege ."
"He's not here right now," the woman, obviously American,"Is'maid.Ms. TaylorC. an I take a message?"
This must be one of the bellringSehrse. was younger than he'd expected, not much over thirty, and she looked rather delicate to be a bellring"eWr.ould you have him call Mr. Dunworthy at Infirmary as soon as he returns, please?"
"Mr. Dunworthy."She wrote it down, and then looked up shar"pMlyr. Dunworthy," she said in an entirely different tone of voice, "are you the person responsible for our being held prisoner here?"
There was no good answer to tHhaet. should never have phoned the junior common roHoem.had sent
Finch to the bursar's office.
"The National Health Service issues temp quarantines in cases of an unidentified Idti'sea e. precautionary measure.I'm sorry for any inconvenience it's caused yI'ovue. instructed my secretary to make your stay comfortable, and if there's anything I can do for you-"
"Do? Do?!You can get us to Ely, that's what you caMn ydor.ingers were supposed to give a handbell concert at the cathedral ateight o'clock , and tomorrow we have to be inNoWrwe'irceh ri.nging a peal
on Christmas Eve."
He was not about to be the one to tell her they were not going to be inNorwich"It'ommosurrroewt.hat

Ely is already aware of the situation, but I will be more than happy to phone the cathedral and explain-"
"Explain!Perhaps you'd like to explain it to me, I'tmoo.not used to having my civil liberties taken away like this.InAmerica , nobody would dream of telling you where you can or can't go."
And over ten million Americans died during the Pandemic as a result of that sort of thinking, he thought. "I assure you, Madam, that the quarantine is solely for your protection and that all of your concert dates will be more than willing to rescheduInle.the meantime, Balliol is delighted to have you as our gI uests.
am looking forward to meeting you in persYoonu. r reputation precedes you."
And if that were true, he thought, I would have told youOxford was under quarantine when you wrote for permission to come.
"There is no way to reschedule a Christmas EveWpealw. ere to have rung a new peal, the Chicago
Surprise Minor.The Norwich Chapter is counting on us to be there, and we intend-"
He hit the disconnect buttoFni.nch was probably in the bursar's office, looking for Badri's medical records, but Dunworthy wasn't going to risk getting another bell rHinegelro.oked up Regional Transport's number instead and started to punch it in.
The door at the end of the corridor opened, and Mary came through it.
"I'm trying Regional Transport," Dunworthy said, punching in the rest of the number and passing her the receiver.
She waved it away, smilin"gIt.'s all rightI.'ve just spoken to DierdrCe.olin's train was stopped at Barton. The passengers were put on the tube back toLondSohne's. going down to Marble Arch to meet him."She sighed."Dierdre didn't sound very glad that he's coming hoSmhee. planned to spend
Christmas with her new livein's family, and I think she rather wanted him out of the way, but it can't be helped. I'm simply glad he's out of this."
He could hear the relief in her voHicee.put the receiver bac"kI.s it that bad?"
"We just got the preliminary ident baItc'sk.definitely a Type A myxoviruInsf.luenza."
He had been expecting something worse, some third world fever or a retHroevihruasd. had the flu
back in the days before antiviraHlse.
had felt terrible, congested, feverish, achy, for a few days and then
gotten over it without anything but bedrest and fluids. "Will they call the quarantine off then?"
"Not until we get Badri's medical records," she "sIaikde.ep hoping he skipped his last course of antivirals. If not, then we'll have to wait till we locate the source."
"But it's only the flu."
"If there's a small antigenic shift, a point or two, it's only the flu," she corre"cIftedthehriem's. a large shift, it's influenza, which is an entirely different maTthteer. Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 was a myxovirus. It killed twenty million peoplVe.iruses mutate every few monthTs.he antigens on their surface change so that they're unrecognizable to the immune sysTtehmat.'s why seasonals are necessarBy.ut
they can't protect against a large point shift."

"And that's what this is?"
"I doubt iMt. ajor mutations only happen every ten years orI sthoi.nk it's more likely that Badri failed to get his seasonalsD. o you know if he was running an on-site at the beginning of term?"
"No.He may have been."
"If he was, he may simply have forgotten to go in for them, in which case all he has is this winter's flu." "What about KivrinH? as she had her seasonals?"
"Yes, and full-spectrum antivirals and T-cell enhancemSehnet.'s fully protected." "Even if it's influenza?"
She hesitated a fraction of a seco"nIfd.she was exposed to the virus through Badri this morning, she's fully protected."
"And if she saw him before then?"
"If I tell you this, you'll only worry, and I'm certain there's no nSeheed ttooo."k a breath".The
enhancement and the antivirals were given so that she would have peak immunity at the beginning of the drop."
"And Gilchrist moved the drop up by two days," Dunworthy said bitterly.
"I wouldn't have allowed her to go through if I hadn't thought it was all right."
"But you hadn't counted on her being exposed to an influenza virus before she even left."
"No, but it doesn't change anythiSnhge.
has partial immunity, and we're not certain she was even
exposed. Badri scarcely went near her." "And what if she was exposed earlier?"
"I knew I shouldn't have told you," Mary Sshaeid.sighed."Most myxoviruses have an incubation period of from twelve to forty-eight houErsv.en if Kivrin was exposed two days ago, she'd have had enough immunity to prevent the virus from replicating sufficiently to cause anything but minor symBputtomit's
not influenza."She patted his arm".And you're forgetting the paradoxeIsf. she'd been exposed, she'd have been highly contagiousT.he net would never have let her through."
She was righDt. iseases couldn't go through the net if there was any possibility of the contemps
contracting them.The paradoxes wouldn't allow
Tit.he net wouldn't have opened.
"What are the chances of the population in 1320 being immune?" he asked.
"To a modern-day virusA?lmost none.There are eighteen hundred possible mutation poinTths.e contemps would have all had to have had the exact virus, or they'd be vulnerable."
Vulnerable."I want to see Badri," he sa"iWd.hen he came to the pub, he said there was something

wrong. He kept repeating it in the ambulance on the way to the hospital." "Something is wrong," Mary sa"idH.e's got a serious viral infection."
"Or he knows he exposed KivrOinr. he didn't get the fix."
"He said he got the fiSxh."e looked sympathetically at him"I.
suppose it's useless to tell you not to
worry about KivrinY.
ou saw how I've just acted over CoBliunt. I meant it when I said they're both
safer out of thisK. ivrin's much better off where she is than she would be here, even among those cutthroats and thieves you persist in imaginiAngt. least she won't have to deal with NHS quarantine regulations
He smiled". Or American change ringersA. mericahadn't been discovered yet.H" e reached for the door handle.
The door at the end of the corridor banged open and a large woman carrying a valise barged through it. "There you are, Mr. Dunworthy," she shouted the length of the co"rIr'ivdeorb. een looking everywhere
for you."
"Is that one of your bell ringers?" Mary said, turning to look down the corridor at her. "Worse," Dunworthy said".It's Mrs. Gaddson."

CHAPTER SIX
It was growing dark under the trees and at the bottom of tKheivrhinil'ls.
head began to ache before
she had even reached the frozen wagon ruts, as if it had something to do with microscopic changes in altitude or light.
She couldn't see the wagon at all, even standing directly in front of the little chest, and squinting into the darkness past the thicket made her head feel even wIofrsthe.is was one of the "minor symptoms" of
time-lag, she wondered what a major one would be like.
When I get back, she thought, struggling through the thicket, I intend to have a little talk with Dr. Ahrens on the subjecIt. think they are underestimating the debilitating effects these minor symptoms can have on an historianW. alking down the hill had left her more out of breath than climbing it had, and she was so cold.
Her cloak and then her hair caught on the willows as she pushed her way through the thicket, and she got a long scratch on her arm that immediately began to achSeh, etotori.pped once and nearly fell flat,
and the effect on her headache was to jolt it so that it stopped hurting and then returned with redoubled force.
It was almost completely dark in the clearing, though what little she could see was still very clear, the colors not so much fading as deepening toward black-black-green and black-brown and black-gray.
The birds were settling in for the niTghe.y must have got used to hTehr.ey didn't so much as pause in their pre- bedtime twitterings and settlings down.
Kivrin hastily grabbed up the scattered boxes and splintered kegs, and flung them into the tilting wagon. She took hold of the wagon's tongue and began to pull it toward thTeherowada.gon scraped a few
inches, slid easily across a patch of leaves, and sKtuicvkri.n braced her foot and pulled agaIitn.scraped
a few more inches and tilted even mOornee.
of the boxes fell out.
Kivrin put it back in and walked around the wagon, trying to see where it wTahse srtiugchkt .wheel
was jammed against a tree root, but it could be pushed up and over, if only she could get a decent purchase. She couldn't on this side-Mediaeval had taken an ax to this side so that it would look like the wagon had been smashed when it overturned, and they had done a goIotdwjaosb.nothing but
splinters. I told Mr. Gilchrist he should have let me have gloves, she thought.
She came around to the other side, took hold of the wheel, and Ist hdoivdend't. budgeS. he pulled her skirts and cloak out of the way and knelt beside the wheel so she could put her shoulder to it.
The footprint was in front of the wheel, in a little space swept bare of leaves and only as wide as the foot. The leaves had drifted up against the roots of the oaks on eithTerhesidleea.ves did not hold a print
that she could see in the graying light, but the print in the dirt was perfectly clear.
It can't be a footprint, Kivrin thouTghe.
ground is frozenS.he reached out to put her hand in the
indentation, thinking it might be some trick of shadow or the failingThleighfrt.ozen ruts out in the road

would not have taken any print at Baullt. the dirt gave easily under her hand, and the print was deep enough to feel.
It had been made by a soft-soled shoe with no heel, and the foot that had made it was large, larger even than hers.A man's foot, but men in the 1300's had been smaller, shorter, with feet not even as big as
hers. A giant's foot.
Maybe it's an old footprint, she thought wiMldlayy.be it's the footprint of a woodcutter, or a peasant looking for a lost sheeMp.aybe this is one of the king's woodlands, and they've been through here hunting. But it wasn't the footprint of someone chasing a Idtewera. s the print of someone who had stood there for a long time, watching hIerh.eard him, she thought, and a little flutter of panic forced itself up
into her throatI.
heard him standing there.
She was still kneeling, holding onto the wheel for baIlfantchee.
man, whoever it was, and it had to be a
man, a giant, were still here in this glade, watching, he must know that she had found theShfeootprint.
stood up."Hello!" she called, and frightened the birds to death aTghaieny. themselves into hushed silence".Is someone there?"
flapped and squawked
She waited, listening, and it seemed to her that in the silence she could hear the breath"iSnpgekaeg.ain. I am indistresse an my servauntes fled."
Lovely, she thought even as she saiTdelilt. him you're helpless and all alone.
"Halloo!" she called again and began a cautious circuit of the glade, peering out intoIfthheetrweeass. still standing there, it was so dark she wouldn't be able to seSehehicmou. ldn't make out anything past
the edges of the gladSe.he couldn't even tell for sure which way the thicket and the road lay. If she waited any longer, it would be completely dark, and she would never be able to get the wagon to the road.
But she couldn't move the wagWonh. oever had stood there between the two oaks, watching her, knew that the wagon was herMe. aybe he had even seen it come through, bursting on the sparkling air like something conjured by an alchemisItf. that were the case, he had probably run off to get the stake Dunworthy was so sure the populace kept in readinBeusts.surely if that were the case he would have said something, even if it was only, "Yoicks!" or "Heavenly Father!" and she would have heard him crashing through the underbrush as he ran way.
He hadn't run away, though, which meant he hadn't seen her come tHhreouhgahd.
come upon her
afterwards, lying inexplicably in the middle of the woods beside a smashed wagon, and thought what? That she had been attacked on the road and then dragged here to hide the evidence?
Then why hadn't he tried to help Whehr?y had he stood there, silent as an oak, long enough to leave a deep footprint, and then gone away agaMin?aybe he had thought she was deHade. would have been frightened of her unshriven bodPye. ople as late as the fifteenth century had believed that evil spirits took immediate possession of any body not properly buried.
Or maybe he had gone for help, to one of those villages that Kivrin had heard, maybe even Skendgate, and was even now on his way back with half the town, all of them carrying lanterns.
In that case, she should stay where she was and wait for him to coSmhee bsahcoku.ld even lie down
again. When the townspeople arrived, they could speculate about her and then bear her to the village, giving her examples of the language, the way her plan had been intended to work in the Bfiurstt place.

what if he came back alone, or with friends who had no intention of helping her?
She couldn't thinkH. er headache had spread out from her temple to behind herAesyessh.e rubbed her forehead, it began to throAb.nd she was so coldT!his cloak, in spite of its rabbit-fur lining, wasn't warm at all.How had people survived the Little Ice Age dressed only in cloaks likHeowthish?ad the rabbits survived?
At least she could do something about the Schoeld.could gather some wood and start a fire, and then if the footprint person came back with evil intentions, she could hold him off with a flaminAg nbdrainfd.
he had gone off for help and not been able to find his way back in the dark, the fire would lead him to her.
She made the circuit of the glade again, looking for Dwuonowd.orthy had insisted she learn to build a
fire without tinder or flin"tG. ilchrist expects you to wander around the Middle Ages in the dead of winter without knowing how to build a fire?" he had said, outraged, and she had defended him, told him Mediaeval didn't expect her to spend that much time out of Bduotortsh.ey should have realized how
cold it could get.
The sticks made her hands cold, and every time she bent over to pick up a stick, her head hurt. Eventually she stopped bending over altogether and simply stooped and grabbed for the broken-off twigs, keeping her head straighTt.hat helped a little, but not muMcha.ybe she was feeling this way because she was so colMd. aybe the headache, the breathlessness, were coming from being soSchoeld. had to get the fire started.
The wood felt icy-cold and wItet.would never burnA. nd the leaves would be damp, too, far too damp to use for tinderS.he had to have dry kindling and a sharp stick to startShaefilraei.d the wood down in
a little bundle by the roots of a tree, careful to keep her head straight, and went back to the wagon.
The bashed-in side of the wagon had several broken pieces of wood she could use forShkeindgloint g.
two splinters in her hand before she managed to pull them free, but the wood at least felt dry, though it was cold, tooT. here was a large, sharp spur of wood just above the wShheeebl.ent over to grab it and
nearly fell, gasping with the sudden nauseating dizziness. "You'd better lie down," she said out loud.
She eased herself to sitting, holding onto the ribs of the wagon for "sDupr.poArht.rens," she said a little breathlessly, "you ought to come up with something to prevent timTeh-liasg.is awful."
If she could just lie down for a bit, perhaps the dizziness would go away and she could buSihlde
the fire.
couldn't do it without bending over, though, and just the thought of doing that brought the nausea back.
She pulled her hood up over her head and closed her eyes, and even that hurt, the action seeming to focus the pain in her heaSdo.mething was wrongT. his could not possibly be a reaction to timeS-lhaeg.
was supposed to have a few minor symptoms that would fade within an hour or two of her arrival, not get worse.A little headache, Dr. Ahrens had said, some fatiSghuee. hadn't said anything about nausea,
about being racked with cold.
She was so colSd.he pulled the skirts of her cloak around her like a blanket, but the action seemed to make her even colderH. er teeth began to chatter, the way they had up on the hill, and great, convulsive shudders shook her shoulders.

I'm going to freeze to death, she thouBguhtt. it can't be helpeId.can't get up and start the fIircea. n't.
I'm too coldI.t's too bad you were wrong about the contemps, Mr. Dunworthy, she thought, and even the thought was dizzyB. eing burned at the stake sounds lovely.
She would not have believed that she could have fallen asleep, huddled there on the colSdheground.
had not noticed any spreading warmth, and if she had she would have been afraid it was the creeping numbness of hypothermia and tried to fighBt uitt. she must have slept because when she opened her eyes
again it was night in the glade, full night with frosty stars in the net of branches overhead, and she was on the ground looking up at them.
She had slid down as she slept, so that the top of her head was against Sthhee waesesl.till shivering with cold, though her teeth had stopped chatterHinegr. head had begun to throb, tolling like a bell, and
her whole body ached, especially her chest, where she had held the wood against her while she gathered sticks for the fire.
Something's wrong, she thought, and this time there was real panic in the Mthaoyubgeht.she was having some kind of allergic reaction to time traWveal.s there even such a thinDg?unworthy had never said anything about an allergic reaction, and he had warned her about everyrathpienga:nd cholera and
typhoid and the plague.
She twisted her hand around inside the cloak and felt under her arm for the place where she had had the welt from the antiviral inoculatioTn.he welt was still there, though it didn't hurt to touch it, and it had
stopped itching.Maybe that was a bad sign, she thouMghat.ybe the fact that it had stopped itching meant that it had stopped working.
She tried to lift her heTadh.e dizziness came back instantlSy.he lay her head back down and
disentangled her hands from the cloak, carefully and slowly, the nausea cutting across every movement. She folded her hands and pressed them against her "fMacre.. Dunworthy," she said".I think you'd better
come and get me."
She slept again, and when she woke up she could hear the faint, jangling sound of the piped-in Christmas music.Oh, good, she thought, they've got the net open, and tried to pull herself to sitting against the wheel.
"Oh, Mr. Dunworthy, I'm so glad you came back,' she said, fighting the"Inawusaesa.afraid you wouldn't get my message."
The jangling sound became louder, and she could see a waveringShleighptu.lled herself up a little farther. "You got the fire started," she sa"iYd.ou were right about it's getting colTdh."e wagon's wheel felt icy through her cloaHk.er teeth started to chatter aga"inD.r. Ahrens was righIt. should have waited till the swelling went dowIn.didn't know the reaction would be this bad."
It wasn't a fire, after Iatll.was a lanternD. unworthy was carrying it as he walked toward her.
"This doesn't mean I'm getting a virus, doeOsritt?he plague?"She was having trouble getting the words out, her teeth were chattering so ha"rWd.ouldn't that be awfulH? aving the plague in the Middle Ages?
At least I'd fit right in."
She laughed, a high-pitched, almost hysterical laugh that would probably frighten Mr. Dunworthy to death. "It's all right," she said, and she could hardly understand her own "wI okrndos.w you were
worried, but I'll be perfectly all rigIhjt.ust-"

He stopped in front of her, the lantern lighting a wobbling circle on the ground in frSohnet ocof uhlder.
see Dunworthy's feetH.
e was wearing shapeless leather shoes, the kind that had made the foSothperint.
tried to say something about the shoes, to ask him whether Mr. Gilchrist had made him put on Authentic
Mediaeval Dress just to come and fetch her, but the light's movement was making her dizzy again.
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, he was kneeling in froHnte ohfadhers.et the lantern down, and the light lit the hood of his cloak and folded hands.
"It's all right," she sa"idI . know you were worried, but I'm all rTigrhutl.y. I just felt a little ill."
He raised his hea"dC. ertes, it been derlostuh dayes forgott foreto getest hissahntes im aller," he said.
He had a hard, lined face, a cruel face, a cutthroat'Hs efahcaed.
watched her lying there and then he
had gone away and waited for it to get dark, and now he had come back.
Kivrin tried to put up a hand to fend him off, but her hands had got tangled somehow i"nGothe cloak. away," she said, her teeth chattering so hard she couldn't get the wor"dGsooauwt.ay."
He said something else, with a rising inflection this time, a quSehsetiocno.uldn't understand what he was saying. It's Middle English, she thoughIt.studied it for three years, and Mr. Latimer taught me everything there is to know about adjectival inflectiIons.hould be able to understandIti'st. the fever, she thought.
That's why I can't make out what he's saying.
He repeated the question or asked some other question, she couldn't even tell that much.
It's because I'm ill, she thougIhtc.an't understand him because I'm "iKll.ind sir," she began, but she could not remember the rest of the spee"cHhe.lp me," she said, and tried to think how to say that in Middle English, but she couldn't remember anything but the Church "LDaotimn.ine, ad adjuvandumme festina," she said.
He bowed his head over his hands and began to murmur so low she could not hear, and then she must have lost consciousness again because he had picked her up and was carryiSnhge hceoru. ld still hear
the jangling sound of the bells from the open net, and she tried to tell what direction they were coming from, but her teeth were chattering so hard she couldn't hear.
"I'm ill," she said as he set her on the whiteShersfee.ll forward, clutching at the horse's mane to keep from falling offH. e put his hand up to her side and held her "Ithedroen. 't know how this happeneId.
had all my inoculations."
He led the donkey off slowTlyh.e bells on its bridle jingled tinnily.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (000740-000751)

Mr. Dunworthy, I think you'd better come and get me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"I knew it," Mrs. Gaddson said, steaming down the corridor toward"Hthee'smc. ontracted some horrible disease, hasn't heI?t's all that rowing."
Mary stepped forward".You can't come in here," she sa"iTdh. is is an isolation area."
Mrs. Gaddson kept cominTg.he transparent poncho she was wearing over her coat threw off large, spattering drops as she walked toward them, swinging the valise like a w"eYaopuonc. an't put me off
like that.I'm his motherI.
demand to see him."
Mary put up her hand like a policem"Satno.p," she said in her best ward sister voice.
Amazingly, Mrs. Gaddson stoppe"dA. softened. "Is he very ill?"
mother has a right to see her son," sheHsearide.xpression

"If you mean your son William, he's not ill at all," Mary said, "at least so far up again."Please don't come any closeWr. hy do you think William's ill?"
SasheI pkuntowhe."r hand
"I knew it the minute I heard about the quaraAntinshea. rp pain went through me when the stationmaster said 'temp quarantine.'"She set down the valise so she could indicate the location of the sha"rIpt'spain. because he didn't take his vitaminI s.asked the college to be sure to give them to him," she said, shooting
a glance at Dunworthy that was the rival of any of Gilchrist's, "and they said he was able to take care of himself. Well, obviously, they were wrong."
"William is not the reason the temp quarantine was cOalnle with a viral infection," Mary said.
.of the university techs has come down
Dunworthy noticed gratefully that she didn't say "Balliol's tech."
"The tech is the only case, and there is no indication that there will be aTnyheoqthuearrsa.ntine is a purely precautionary measure, I assure you."
Mrs. Gaddson didn't look convince"dM. y Willy's always been sickly, and he simply will not take care of himself.He studies far too hard in that drafty room of his," she said with another dark look at Dunworthy. "I'm surprised he hasn't come down with a viral infection before this."
Mary took her hand down and put it in the pocket she carried her blIeedpoerhoinp.e she's calling for help, Dunworthy thought.
"By the end of one term at Balliol, Willy's health was completely broken down, and then his tutor forced him to stay up over Christmas and read Petrarch," Mrs. GaddsonThsati'ds. why I came uTp.he
thought of him all alone in this horrid place for Christmas, eating heaven knows what and doing all sorts of things to endanger his health, was something this mother's heart could simply not bear."
She pointed to the place where the pain had gone through her at the words "temp qu"Aarnadntiintei.s" positively providential that I came when I Pdoids.itively providential.I nearly missed the train, my valise
was so cumbersome, and I almost thought, 'Ah, well, there'll be another along,' but I wanted to get to my Willy, so I shouted at them to hold the doors, and I hadn't so much as stepped off at Cornmarket when the stationmaster said, 'Temp quarantinTe.rain service is temporarily suspendedO.'nly just think, if I'd
missed that train and taken the next one, I would have been stopped by the quarantine."
Only just think".I'm sure William will be surprised to see you," Dunworthy said, hoping she would go find him.
"Yes," she said griml"yH. e's probably sitting there without even his mufflerHoen'll.
get this viral
infection, I know iHt. e gets everythingH. e used to break out in horrible rashes when he wasHleit'stle. bound to come down with Aitt. least his mother is here to nurse him through it."
The door was flung open and two people wearing masks, gowns, gloves, and some sort of paper covering over their shoes, came racing throughThite.y slowed to a walk when they saw there was no one collapsed on the floor.
"I need this area cordoned off and an isolation ward sign posted," Mary said. She turned to Mrs. Gaddson. "I'm afraid there's a possibility you've been exposed to the Wvireusd.o not have a positive
mode of transmission yet, and we can't rule out the possibility of its being airborne," she said, and for one horrible moment Dunworthy thought she meant to put Mrs. Gaddson in the waiting room with them.

"Would you escort Mrs. Gaddson to an isolation cubicle?" she asked one of the masked-and-gowneds. "We'll need to run blood tests and get a list of your coMntra. cDtsunworthy, if you'll just come with
me," she said and led him into the waiting room and shut the door before Mrs. Gaddson could protest. "They can keep her awhile and give poor Willy a few last hours of freedom."
"That woman would make anyone break out in a rash," he said.
Everyone except the medic had looked up at their entrLaantcime.er was sitting patiently by the tray, his
sleeve rolled upM.
ontoya was still using the phone.
"Colin's train was turned back," Mary s"aHide.'s safely at home by now." "Oh, good," Montoya said and put the phone dGowilcnh.rist leaped for it.
"Mr. Latimer, I'm sorry to keep you waiting," MarySshaeidb. roke open a pair of imperm gloves, put them on, and began assembling a punch.
"Gilchrist hereI.
wish to speak with the Senior Tutor," Gilchrist said into the tele"pYheosn.eI.'m trying
to reach Mr. BasingameY. es, I'll wait."
The Senior Tutor has no idea where he is, Dunworthy thought, and neither has thHee'bduraslarre.ady spoken to them when he was trying to stop the Tdhreopb. ursar hadn't even known he was inScotland .
"I'm glad they found the kid," Montoya said, looking at her "dHigoiwtal.long do you think they'll keep us here?I've got to get back to my dig before it turns into a Wswea'rmepe. xcavating Skendgate's
churchyard right nowM.
ost of the graves date from the 1400's, but we've got some Black Deaths and a
few pre-William the ConquerorsL.ast week we found a knight's tomBbe.autiful condition.I wonder if
Kivrin's there yet?"
Dunworthy assumed she meant at the village and not in one of the"Igrhaovpees. so," he said.
"I told her to start recording her observations of Skendgate immediately, the village and the church. Especially the tombT. he inscription's partly warn off, and some of the carTvihneg.date's readable,
though. 1318."
"It's an emergency," Gilchrist saHide. want to know where."
fumed through a long pau"seI . know he's fishing inScotlandI .
Mary put a plaster on Latimer's arm and motioned to GilHcherisht.ook his head at hSerh.e went over
to the medic and shook her awaSkhee.
followed her over to the tray, blinking sleepily.
"There are so many things only direct observation can tell us," Montoy"Ia tsoalidd. Kivrin to record every detail.I hope there's room on the cordIet'rs. so small."She looked at her watch aga"inO.f course
it had to beD. id you get a chance to see it before they implantIetdreiat?lly does look like a bone spur." "Bone spur?" Dunworthy said, watching the medic's blood spurt into the vial.
"That's so it can't cause an anachronism even if it's discoIvt efrietds . right against the palmar surface of the scaphoid bone."She rubbed the wrist bone above the thumb.

Mary motioned to Dunworthy, and the medic stood up, rolling down herDsulenewvoe.rthy took her
place in the chairM. ary peeled the back from a monitor, stuck it to the inside of Dunworthy's wrist, and handed him a temp to swallow.
"Have the bursar call me at this number as soon as he returns," Gilchrist said, and hung up. Montoya snatched up the phone, punched in a number and saiCd,an"Hyio. u tell me the quarantine
perimeters? I need to know if Witney's insideMity? dig's there."Whoever she was talking to apparently
told her no. "Then who can I talk to about getting the perimeters chIta'sngaend?emergency."
They're worried about their "emergencies," Dunworthy thought, and neither of them's even given a thought to worrying about KivriWn. ell, what was there to worry aboHute?r corder had been disguised
to look like a bone spur so it wouldn't cause an anachronism when the contemps decided to chop off her hands before they burned her at the stake.
Mary took his blood pressure and then jabbed him with the "pIuf ntchhe. phone ever becomes available," she said, slapping on the plaster and motioning to Gilchrist, who was standing next to Montoya, looking impatient". You might ring up William Gaddson and warn him that his mother's coming."
Montoya said, "YesT.he number for the National Trust," hung up the phone, and scribbled a number on one of the brochures.
The phone trilledG. ilchrist, halfway to Mary, launched himself at it, grabbing it up before Montoya could reach it."No," he said and handed it grudgingly over to Dunworthy.
It was FinchH. e was in the bursar's offi"cHeave you got Badri's medical records?" Dunworthy said. "Yes,sir.The police are here, siTr.hey're looking for places to put all the detainees who don't live
inOxford ."
"And they want us to put them up at Balliol," Dunworthy said. "Yes, sirH. ow many shall I tell them we can take?"
Mary had stood up, Gilchrist's vial of blood in hand, and was signalling to Dunworthy. "Wait a moment, please," he said, and punched hold on the mouthpiece.
"Are they asking you to board detainees?" Mary asked. "Yes," he said.
"Don't commit to filling all your rooms," she "sWaied. may need infirmary space."
Dunworthy took his hand away and said, "Tell them we can put them in Fisher and whatever rooms are left in SalvinI.f you haven't assigned rooms to the bellringers, double themTelulpt.he police Infirmary
has asked for Bulkeley-Johnson as an emergency wDaridd. you say you'd found Badri's medical records?"
"Yes, sirI.
had the very devil of a time finding tThheme .bursar had filed them under Badri comma

Chaudhuri, and the Americans-" "Did you find his NHS number?" "Yes, sir."
"I'm putting Dr. Ahrens on," he said before Finch could launch into tales of the beHlle rimngoetirosn. ed to Mary."You can give her the information directly."
Mary attached a plaster to Gilchrist's arm and a temp monitor to the back of his hand.
"I got through to Ely, sir," Finch
"sIaidin. formed them of the handbell concert cancellation and they
were quite pleasant, but the Americans are still very unhappy."
Mary finished entering Latimer's reads, stripped off the gloves and came over to take the phone from
Dunworthy.
"Finch?Dr. Ahrens hereR. ead me Badri's NHS number."
Dunworthy handed her his Secondaries sheet and a pencil, and she wrote it down and then asked for
Badri's inoculation records and made a number of notations Dunworthy couldn't decipher.
"Any reactions or allergies?T"here was a pause, and then she said, "All righIt, cnaon. get the rest off the computer," she said".I'll ring you back if I need additional informatiSohne." handed the phone back to Dunworthy."He wants to speak with you again," she said, and left, taking the paper with her.
"They're most unhappy at being kept here," Finch "sMaisd.. Taylor is threatening to sue for involuntary breach of contract."
"When was Badri's last course of antivirals?"
Finch took a considerable time looking through the sheaf of printouts, Scriptures and lavatory paper tallies. "Here it is, sirS.eptember fourteenth."
"Did he have the full course?"
"Yes, sirR. eceptor analogues, MPA booster, and seasonals." "Has he ever had a reaction to an antiviral?"
"No, sirT. here's nothing under Allergies in the histoIrya.lready told Dr. Ahrens that." Badri had had all his antivirHalse. had no history of reactions.
"Have you been toNewCollege yet?" Dunworthy asked.
"No, sir, I'm just on my wWayh.at should I do about supplies, sWir?e've adequate stores of soap, but we're very low on lavatory paper."
The door opened, but it wasn't MIatryw. as the medic who had been sent to fetch MonHtoeywa.ent over to the tea trolley and plugged in the electric kettle.

"Should I ration the toilet paper, do you think, sir," Finch said, "or put up notices asking everyone to conserve?"
"Whatever you think best," Dunworthy said and rang off.
It must still be raininTgh.e medic's uniform was wet, and when the kettle boiled, he put his red hands over the steam, as if trying to warm them.
"Are you quite finished using the telephone?" Gilchrist said.
Dunworthy handed it to hiHme.
wondered what the weather was like where Kivrin was, and whether
Gilchrist had had Probability compute the chances of her coming through in thHeerracinlo.ak had not
looked specially waterproof, and that friendly traveller who was supposed to come along within l.6 hours would have holed up in a hostelry or haymow till the roads dried enough to be passable.
Dunworthy had taught Kivrin how to make a fire, but she could hardly do so with wet kindling and numb
hands. Winters in the 1300's had been coIltdm.
ight even be snowinTg.he Little Ice Age had just begun
in 1320, the weather eventually getting so cold that theThames frozeThoevelro. wer temps and erratic
weather had played such havoc with the crops that some historians blamed the Black Death's horrors on the malnourished state of the peasanTtsh.e weather had certainly been baIdn. the autumn of 1348, it
had rained in one part of Oxfordshire every day from Michaelmas to ChrKisitvmrians. was probably lying there on the wet road, half-dead from hypothermia.
And broken out in a rash, he thought, from her over-doting tutor worrying too much
Mabaoruyt her.
was right.He did sound like Mrs. GaddsoTnh.e next thing he knew he'd be plunging off into 1320,
forcing the doors of the net open like Mrs. Gaddson on the tube, and Kivrin would be as glad to see him as William was going to be to see his moAthnedr. as in need of help.
Kivrin was the brightest and most resourceful student he had eveSrhehasdu.rely knew enough to get in
out of the rainF.or all he knew, she had spent her last vac with the Eskimos, learning to build an igloo.
She had certainly thought of everything else, even down to her fingWernhaeinls.she had come in to
show him her costume, she had held up her hHanedrs.nails had been broken off, and there were traces
of dirt in the cuticles. "I know I'm supposed to be nobility, but rural nobility, and they did a lot of farm chores in between Bayeaux Tapestries, and East Riding ladies didn't have scissors till the 1600's, so I spent Sunday afternoon in Montoya's dig, grubbing among the dead bodies, to get thisTehfefreect.w" as
obviously no reason to worry about a minor detail like snow.
But he couldn't help Iift.he could speak to Badri, ask him what he'd meant when he said, "Something wrong," make certain the drop had gone properly and that there hadn't been too much slippage, he might be able to stop worryinBg.ut Mary had not been able even to get Badri's NHS number till Finch phoned with it.He wondered if he were still unconscioOusr. worse.
He got up and went over to the tea trolley and made himself a cup of tea. Gilchrist was on the phone again, apparently speaking to the portTerh.e porter didn't know where Basingame was eitWhehr.en
Dunworthy had talked to him, he had told him he thought Basingame had mentioned Loch Balkillan, a lake that turned out not to exist.
Dunworthy drank his teGa.ilchrist rang up the bursar and the deputy warden, neither of whom knew where Basingame had goneT.he nurse who had guarded the door earlier came in and finished the blood

tests. The male medic picked up one of the inspirational brochures and began to read it.
Montoya filled out her admissions form and her lists of co"nWtachtast.
am I supposed to do?" she
asked Dunworthy."Write down the people I've been in contact with today?" "The past three days," he said.
They continued to waDit.unworthy drank another cup of teMa.ontoya rang up the NHS and tried to persuade them to give her a quarantine exemption so she could go back toTthhee fdeimg.ale medic went back to sleep.
The nurse wheeled in a trolley with supper "o'Gn riete. t chere made our hoste us everichon, And to the soper sette usanon,'" Latimer said, the only remark he had made all afternoon.
While they ate, Gilchrist regaled Latimer with his plans for sending Kivrin to the aftermath of the Black
Death. "The accepted historical view is that it completely destroyed mediaeval society," he told Latimer as he cut his roast beef, "but my research indicates it was purgative rather than catastrophic."
From whose point of view? Dunworthy thought, wondering what was taking sHoelownogn. dered if
they were truly processing the blood tests or if they were simply waiting for one or all of them to collapse across the tea trolley so they could get a fix on the incubation period.
Gilchrist rang up New College again and asked for Basingame's secretary.
"She's not there," Dunworthy sa"idS.he's in Devonshire with her daughter for Christmas."
Gilchrist ignored him".Yes. I need to get a message through to I'hmer.trying to reach Mr. Basingame.
It's an emergencyW.
e've just sent an historian to the 1300's, and Balliol failed to properly screen the
tech who ran the neAt.s a result, he's contracted a contagious virHuse." put the phone dow"nI.f Mr. Chaudhuri failed to have any of the necessary antivirals, I'm holding you personally responsible, Mr. Dunworthy."
"He had the full course in September," Dunworthy said. "Have you proof of that?" Gilchrist said.
"Did it come through?" the medic asked.
They all, even Latimer, turned to look at her in suUrpnrtiisle.she'd spoken, she'd seemed fast asleep, her head far forward on her chest and her arms folded, holding the contacts lists.
"You said you sent somebody back to the Middle Ages," she said bellig"eDreidntliyt?." "I'm afraid I don't-" Gilchrist said.
"This virus," she sai"dC. ould it have come through the time machine?" Gilchrist looked nervously at Dunworth"yT.hat isn't possible, is it?"
"No," Dunworthy saidI.t was obvious Gilchrist knew nothing about the continuum paradoxes or string theory. The man had no business being Acting HeHaed.didn't even know how the net he had so blithely

sent Kivrin through worked".The virus couldn't have come through the net."
"Dr. Ahrens said the Indian was the only case," the medi"cAsnadidy. ou said," she pointed at
Dunworthy, "that he'd had the full courIsfe.he's had his antivirals, he couldn't catch a virus unless it was a disease from somewhere elsAe.nd the Middle Ages was full of diseases, wasnS'tmiat?llpox and the plague?"
Gilchrist said, "I'm certain that Mediaeval has taken steps to protect against that possibility-" "There is no possibility of a virus coming through the net," Dunworthy said"Tanhgerislyp.ace-time
continuum does not allow it to happen."
"You send people through," she persisted, "and a virus is smaller than a person."
Dunworthy hadn't heard that argument since the early years of the nets, when the theory was only partially understood.
"I assure you we've taken every precaution," Gilchrist said.
"Nothing that would affect the course of history can go through a net," Dunworthy explained, glaring at
Gilchrist. The man was simply encouraging her with this talk of precautions and proba"bRilaitdieiast.ion, toxins, microbes, none of them has ever passed through aIf nthete.y're present the net simply won't open."
The medic looked unconvinced.
"I assure you-" Gilchrist said, and Mary came in.
She was carrying a sheaf of variously-colored papGeirlsc.hrist stood up immediately".Dr. Ahrens, is
there a possibility that this viral infection Mr. Chaudhuri has contracted might have come through the net?"
"Of course not," she said, frowning as if the whole idea were rid"icInulothues. first place, diseases can't
come through the neIt.t would violate the paradoxeIsn.
the second place, if it had, which it can't, Badri
would have caught it less than an hour after it came through, which would mean the virus had an incubation period of an hour, an utter impossibiBlituyt. if it did, which it can't, you all would be down ill already," she looked at her digital, "since it's been over three hours since you were exposed to it." She began collecting the contacts lists.
Gilchrist looked irritated".As Acting Head of the History Faculty I have responsibilities I must attend to," he said". How long do you intend to keep us here?"
"Only long enough to collect your contacts lists," she"Asanid. to give you your instructionPse.rhaps five minutes."
She took Latimer's list from hMimo.ntoya grabbed hers up from the end table and began writing hastily. "Five minutes?" the medic who had asked about the virus coming through the "nDeot syaoidu. mean
we're free to go?"
"On medical probation," she saSidh.e put the lists at the bottom of her sheaf of papers and began

passing the top sheets, which were a virulent pink, around to eveTryhoenye.appeared to be a release form of some sort, absolving the infirmary of any and all responsibility.
"We've completed your blood tests," she went on, "and none of them show an increased level of antibodies."
She handed Dunworthy a blue sheet which absolved the NHS of any and all responsibility and confirmed willingness to pay any and all charges not covered by the NHS in full and within thirty days.
"I've been in touch with the WIC, and their recommendation is controlled observation, with continuous febrile monitoring and blood samples at twelve-hour intervals."
The sheet she was distributing now was green and headed, "Instructions for Primary CoNnutmacbtse.r" one was, "Avoid contact with others."
Dunworthy thought of Finch and the bellringers waiting, no doubt, at the gate of Balliol with summons and Scriptures, and of all those Christmas shoppers and detainees between here and there.
"Record your temp at one-half hour intervals," she said, passing round a yello"wCofmorem.in immediately if your monitor," she tapped at her own, "shows a marked increase inSotmeme p. fluctuation is normalT. emps tend to rise in the late afternoon and eveAninnyg. temp between 36 and
37.4 is normalC. ome in immediately if your temp exceeds 37.4 or rises suddenly, or if you begin to feel any symptoms-headache, tightness in the chest, mental confusion, or dizziness."
Everyone looked at his or her monitor, and, no doubt, began to feel a headache coDmuinnwgorothny. had had a headache all afternoon.
"Avoid contact with others as much as possible," Mary"Ksaeiedp.
careful track of any contacts you do
have. We're still uncertain of the mode of transmission, but most myxoviruses spread by droplet and direct contact.Wash your hands with soap and water frequently."
She handed Dunworthy another pink sheSehte.
was running out of colouTrsh.is one was a log, headed
"Contacts," and under it, "Name, Address, Type of contact, Time."
It was unfortunate that Badri's virus had not had to deal with the CDC, the NHS andIt thweouWldIC. never have got in the door.
"You must report back here at seven tomorrow morInnintgh.e meantime, I'd recommend a good
supper and then to beRd.est is the best defense against any viYruosu.
are off-duty," she said, looking at
the medics, "for the duration of the temp quarantSinhee." passed out several more rainbow-hued papers and then asked brightly, "Any questions?"
Dunworthy looked at the medic, waiting for her to ask Mary if smallpox had come through the net, but she was looking uninterestedly at her clutch of papers.
"Can I go back to my dig?" Montoya asked.
"Not unless it's inside the quarantine perimeter," Mary said.
"Well, great," she said, jamming her papers angrily into the pockets of her terroris"tThjaeckweht.ole village will have washed away while I'm stuck hSerhee." stomped out.

"Are there any other questions?" Mary said imperturba"bVlyer.y well, then, I'll see you all at seven o'clock."
The medics ambled out, the one who had asked about the virus yawning and stretching as if she were preparing for another napL.atimer was still sitting down, watching his temp monGitiolcr.hrist said
something snappish to him, and he got up and put his coat on and collected his umbrella and his stack of papers.
"I expect to be kept informed of every development," Gilchris"tI samd. contacting Basingame and telling him it's essential that he return and take charge of this mHaettesrw."ept out and then had to wait, holding the door open, for Latimer to pick up two papers he had dropped.
"Go round in the morning and collect Latimer, won't you?" Mary said, looking through the contacts lists. "He'll never remember he's to be here at seven."
"I want to see Badri," Dunworthy said.
"'Laboratory, Brasenose,'" she said, reading from the sh"e'eDtse.an's office, BrasenoseL. aboratory, Brasenose.' Didn't anyone see Badri except in the net?"
"In the ambulance on the way here he said, 'Something wTrhoenrge.' could have been slippageI.f she's more than a week off, she'll have no idea when to rendezvous."
She didn't answerS.he sorted through the sheets again, frowning.
"I need to make certain there weren't any problems with the fix," he said insistently.
She looked up".Very well," she said".These contact sheets are hopelesTs.here are great gaps in
Badri's whereabouts for the past three daHyse.'s the only person who can tell us where he was and with whom he came in contactS."he led the way back down the corrid"Io'vr.e had a nurse with him, asking
him questions, but he's very disoriented and fearful ofPehrehra. ps he won't be as frightened of you."
She led the way down the corridor to the lift and said, "Ground floor, please," in"tBoaditrsi'seaorn.ly conscious for a few moments at a time," she said to Dunw"oItrthmya.y be most of the night."
"That's all right," Dunworthy sa"idI . won't be able to rest till I'm sure Kivrin is safely through." They went up two flights in the lift, down another corridor, and through a door marked, "NO
ENTRANCE. ISOLATION WARD."Inside the door, a grim-looking ward sister was sitting at a desk
watching a monitor.
"I'm taking Mr. Dunworthy in to see Mr. Chaudhuri," Mary"Wsaei'dll. need SPG'sH.
ow is he?"
"His fever's up agai3n9. .5," the sister said, handing them the SPG's, which were plastene-sealed bundles of paper clothing gowns that stripped up the back, caps, imperm masks that were impossible to get on over the caps, bootie-like snugs that went on over their shoes, and imperm Dgulonvweos.rthy made the
mistake of putting his gloves on first and took what seemed like hours attempting to unfold the gown and affix the mask.
"You'll need to ask very specific questions," Mary "sAaisdk. him what he did when he got up this

morning, if he'd stayed the night with anyone, where he ate breakfast, who was there, that sort of thing.
His high fever means that he's very disorienYteodu. opened the door to the room.
may have to ask your questions several timSehse."
It wasn't really a room-there was only space for the bed and a narrow camp stool, not evTehne a chair. wall behind the bed was covered with displays and equipmThenet.far wall had a curtained window and
more equipment. Mary glanced briefly at Badri and then began scanning the displays.
Dunworthy looked at the screenTsh.e one nearest him was full of numbers and leTttheers.bottom line
read: "ICU 14320691-22-12-54 1803 200/RPT 1800CRS IMJPCLN 200MG/q6h NHS40- 211-7 M AHRENS." Apparently the doctor's orders.
The other screens showed spiking lines and columns of fiNguornees. of them made any sense except for
a number in the middle of the small display second from theIt rrieg
ahdt., "Temp: 39.9.D" ear God.
He looked at BadrHi.e was lying with his arms outside the bedclothes, his arms both connected to drips that hung from stanchionsO. ne of the drips had at least five bags feeding into the maiHnistuebyee.s
were closed, and his face looked thin and drawn, as if he had lost weight since thisHmisodrnairnkg. skin had a strange purplish cast to it.
"Badri," Mary said, leaning over him, "Can you hear us?"
He opened his eyes and looked at them without recognition, which was probably due less to the virus than to the fact that they were covered from head to foot in paper.
"It's Mr. Dunworthy," Mary said helpfu"llHy.e's come to see youH."er bleeper started up. "Mr. Dunworthy?" he said hoarsely and tried to sit up.
Mary pushed him gently down into the pil"loMwr. Dunworthy has some questions for you," she said, patting his chest gently the way she had in the net at BraSsehneossetr.aightened up, watching the
displays on the wall behind hi"mL.ie still.I need to leave now, but Mr. Dunworthy will stay with you. Rest and try to answer Mr. Dunworthy's questionSsh."e left.
"Mr. Dunworthy?" Badri said again as if he were trying to make sense of the words. "Yes," Dunworthy saidH. e sat down on the campsto"oHl.ow are you feeling?"
"When do you expect him back?" he said, and his voice sounded weak and Hsteratirnied. to sit up again. Dunworthy put out his hand to stop him.
"Have to find him," he sa"iTdh. ere's something wrong."

CHAPTER EIGHT
They were burning her at the staSkhee. could feel the flameTs.hey must already have tied her to the
stake, though she could not remember thSahte.
remembered them lighting the fiSreh.e had fallen off the
white horse, and the cutthroat had picked her up and carried her over to it. "We must go back to the drop,' she had told him.
He had leaned over her, and she could see his cruel face in the flickering firelight.
"Mr. Dunworthy will open the net as soon as he realizes something's wrong," she hadSthoeld him. shouldn't have told him thaHt.e had thought she was a witch and had brought her here to be burned.
"I'm not a witch," she said, and immediately a hand came out of nowhere and rested coolly on her forehead.
"Shh," a voice said.
"I am not a witch," she said, trying to speak slowly so they would undersTtahned chuettrh.roat hadn't understood her.She had tried to tell him they shouldn't leave the drop, but he had paid no attention to her. He had put her on his white horse and led it out of the clearing and through the stand of
white-trunked birches, into the thickest part of the forest.
She had tried to pay attention to which way they were going so she could find her way back, but the man's swinging lantern had lit only a few inches of ground at their feet, and the light had huSrtheher eyes. had closed them, and that was a mistake because the horse's awkward gait made her dizzy, and she had fallen off the horse onto the ground.
"I am not a witch," she s"aIi'md.
an historian."

"Hawey fond enyowuh thissla dey?" the woman's voice said, far Sahweaym. ust have come forward to put a faggot on the fire and then stepped back again, away from the heat.
"Enwodes fillenun gleydund sore destrayste." a man's voice said, and the voice sounded like Mr. Dunworthy's. "Ayeenmynarmehs hoor alle op hider ybar."
"Sweltes shay dumorte blauen?" the woman said.
"Mr. Dunworthy," Kivrin said, holding out her arms to him, "I've fallen among cutthroats!" but she couldn't see him through the smothering smoke.
"Shh," the woman said, and Kivrin knew that it was later, that she had, impossibHlyo,wslleopnt.g does
it take to burn, she wondereTdh.e fire was so hot she should be ashes by now, but when she held her hand up, it looked untouched, though little red flames flickered along the edges of theThfeingliegrhst.
from the flames hurt her eySesh.e closed them.
I hope I don't fall off the horse again, she thSohueghht.ad been clinging to the horse, both arms around
its neck, though its uneven walk made her head ache even worse, and she had not let go, but she had fallen off, even though Mr. Dunworthy had insisted she learn how to ride, had arranged for her to have lessons at a riding stable near WoodstoMckr.. Dunworthy had told her this would happHeen. had told
her they would burn her at the stake.
The woman put a cup to her Iltipms.ust be vinegar in a sponge, Kivrin thought, they gave that to martyrs. But it wasn'tI.t was a warm, sour liquTidh.e woman had to tilt Kivrin's head forward to drink it, and it came to Kivrin for the first time that she was lying down.
I'll have to tell Mr. Dunworthy, she thought, they burned people at the stake lyinSghedotrwiend. to
bring her hands up to her lips in the position of prayer to activate the corder, but the weight of the flames dragged them down again.
I'm ill, Kivrin thought, and knew that the warm liquid had been a medicinal potion of some kind, and that it had brought her fever down a liStthlee. was not lying on the ground after all, but in a bed in a dark
room, and the woman who had hushed her and given her the liquid was there beSshideechoeurl.d hear her breathing.Kivrin tried to move her head to see her, but the effort made it huTrtheagwaionm. an
must be asleepH.
er breathing was even and loud, almost like snoIrtinhgu. rt Kivrin's head to listen to it.
I must be in the village, she thouTghhet. redheaded man must have brought me here.
She had fallen off the horse, and the cutthroat had helped her back on, but when she looked into his face, he hadn't looked like a cutthroat atHaell.was young, with red hair and a kind expression, and he
had leaned over her where she was sitting against the wagon wheel, kneeling on one knee beside her and said, "Who are you?"
She had understood him perfectly.
"Canstawd ranken derwyn?" the woman said and tilted Kivrin's head forward for more of the bitter
liquid. Kivrin could barely swallowT.he fire was inside her throat noSwhe.
could feel the little orange
flames, though the liquid should have put them Sohuet. wondered if he had taken her to some foreign land, Spain or Greece, where the people spoke a language they hadn't put into the interpreter.

She had understood the redheaded man perfec"tWly.ho are you?" he had asked, and she had thought
that the other man must be a slave he'd brought back from the Crusades, a slave who spoke Turkish or
Arabic, and that was why she couldn't understand him.
"I'm an historian," she had said, but when she looked up into his kind face it wItaswn'atshtimhe. cutthroat.
She had looked wildly around for the red-headed man, but he wasn'Tt htehecreu.tthroat picked up sticks and laid them on some stones for a fire.
"Mr. Dunworthy!" Kivrin had called out desperately, and the cutthroat had come and knelt in front of her, the light from his lantern flickering on his face.
"Fear not," he had sa"idH.e will return soon."
"Mr. Dunworthy!" she had screamed, and the red-headed man had come and knelt beside her again.
"I shouldn't have left the drop," she had told him, watching his face so he wouldn't turn into the cutthroat.
"Something must have gone wrong with the Yfioxu.
must take me back there."
He had unfastened the cloak he was wearing, swinging it easily off his shoulders, and laid it over her, and she knew he understood.
"I need to go home," she had said to him as he bent oHveerhahder.a lantern with him, and it lit his kind face and flickered on his red hair like flames.
"Godufadur," he had called out, and she thought, that's the slave'sGnaaumdde.efaudre. He will ask the
slave to tell him where he found me, and then he'll take me back to Athned dMrorp.. DunworthyM. r.
Dunworthy would be frantic that she wasn't there when he opened tIhte's naellt. right, Mr. Dunworthy, she had said silentlyI.'m coming.
"Dreede nawmaydde," the redheaded man had said and lifted her up in h"isFaawrmrthsa. h Galwinnath coam."
"I'm ill," Kivrin said to the woman, "so I can't understand you," but this time no one leaned forward out of the darkness to quiet hMer.aybe they had tired of watching her burn and had gone Iat wwaays.
certainly taking a long time, though the fire seemed to be growing hotter now.
The redheaded man had set her on the white horse before him and ridden into the woods, and she had
thought he must be taking her back to the
Tdrhoep.horse had a saddle now, and bells, and the bells
jangled as they rode, playing a tuIntew.
as "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and the bells grew louder and
louder with each verse, till they sounded like the bells of St. Mary the Virgin's.
They rode a long way, and she had thought they must surely be near the drop by now.
"How far is the drop?" she had asked the redheaded"Mmra.nD. unworthy will be so worried," but he
didn't answer herH.
e rode out of the woods and down aThell.moon was up, shining palely in the
branches of a stand of narrow, leafless trees, and on the church at the bottom of the hill.
"This isn't the drop," she had said, and tried to pull on the horse's reins to turn it back the way they had come, but she did not dare take her arms from around the redheaded man's neck for fear she might fall.

And then they were at a door, and it opened, and opened again, and there was a fire and light and the sound of bells, and she knew they had brought her back to the drop after all.
"Shay boyen syke nighonn tdeeth," the woman
Hsaeidr . hands were wrinkled and rough on Kivrin's
skin. She pulled the bed coverings up around KivFruinr., Kivrin could feel soft fur against her face, or maybe it was her hair.
"Where have you brought me to?" Kivrin asTkhede. woman leaned forward a little, as if she couldn't hear her, and Kivrin realized she must have spoken in EnHgelirshi.nterpreter wasn't workingS.he was supposed to be able to think her words in English and speak them in MiddlePEernhgalpissh.that was
why she couldn't understand them, because her interpreter wasn't working.
She tried to think how to say it in Middle E"nWglihsehr.e hast thou bringen me to?T"he construction
was wrong.She must ask, "What is this place?" but she could not remember the Middle English for place.
She could not thinTk.he woman kept piling on blankets, and the more furs she laid over her, the colder
Kivrin got, as if the woman were somehow putting out the fire.
They would not understand what she meant if she asked, "What is this Sphlaecew?a"s in a villagTe.he
redheaded man had brought her to a villaTghee.y had ridden past a church and up to a large must ask, "What is the name of this village?"
The word for place was demain, but the construction was still Twhreoyngw. ould use the French construction, wouldn't they?
Shohuese.
"Quelle demeure avez vous m'apporté?' she said aloud, but the woman had gone away, and that was not right. They had not been French for two hundred ySeahres. must ask the question in Engli"sWh.here is
the village you have brought me tBo?u"t what was the word for village?
Mr. Dunworthy had told her she might not be able to depend on the interpreter, that she had to take lessons in Middle English and Norman French and GermHaen.had made her memorize pages and
pages of Chaucer". Soun ye nought but eyr ybroken Aenvdery speche that ye spokenN."o. No. "Where is this village you have brought me Wtoh?"at was the word for village?
He had brought her to a village and knocked on aAndoolrd.
man had come to the door, carrying an
ax. To cut the wood for the fire, of couArnse.old man and then a woman, and they had both spoken words Kivrin couldn't understand, and the door had shut, and they had been outside in the darkness.
"Mr. Dunworthy!Dr. Ahrens!" she had cried, and her chest hurt too much to get the wo"Yrdosu out.
mustn't let them close the drop," she had said to the redheaded man, but he had changed again into a cutthroat, a thief.
"Nay," he had sai"dS. he is but injured," and then the door had opened again, and he had carried her in to be burnt.
She was so hot.
"Thawmot goonawt plersoun roshundt prayenum comth ithre," the woman said, and Kivrin tried to raise her head to drink, but the woman wasn't holding aShceupw. as holding a candle close to Kivrin's face.
Too close.Her hair would catch fire.

"Der maydemot nedes dya," the woman said.
The candle flickered close to her cheHeekr. hair was on firOe.range and red flames burned along the edges of her hair, catching stray wisps and twisting them into ash.
"Shh," the woman said, and tried to capture Kivrin's hands, but Kivrin struggled against her until her hands were freeS. he struck at her hair, trying to put the flamesHeoruth. ands caught fire.
"Shh," the woman said, and held her handsItstiwlla. s not the womaTn.he hands were too strong.
Kivrin tossed her head from side to side, trying to escape the flames, but they were holding her head still, too. Her hair blazed up in a cloud of fire.
* * *
It was smoky in the room when she wokTeheupf.ire must have gone out while she sTlehpatt.
had
happened to one of the martyrs when they had burned him at theHisstafkreie.nds had piled green
faggots on the fire so he would die of the smoke before the fire reached him, but it had put the fire nearly out instead, and he had smouldered for hours.
The woman leaned over hIetr.was so smoky Kivrin couldn't see whether she was young
Torheold.
redheaded man must have put out the fHiree. had spread his cloak over her and then gone over to the fire and put it out, kicking it apart with his boots, and the smoke had come up and blinded her.
The woman dripped water on her, and the drops sizzled on he"Hr asukcinca. ym anchi towoem denswile?" the woman said.
"I am Isabel de Beauvrier," Kivrin s"aMidy.
brother lies ill at EveshamS.h"e could not think of any of
the words.Quelle demeure.Perced to the rote".Where am I?" she said in English.
A face leaned close to he"rHs.au hightes towe?" it saiIdt. was the cutthroat face of the enchanted wood. She pulled back from it, frightened.
"Go away!" she sai"dW.
hat do you want?"
"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti," he said.
Latin, she thought thankfullTy.here must be a priest heSreh.e tried to raise her head to see past the
cutthroat to the priest, but she could
Mr. Dunworthy made me learn it.
Intotw. as too smoky in the rooImc.an speak Latin, she thought.
"You shouldn't have let him in here!" she said in "LHaet'isn.a cutthroat!"Her throat hurt, and she
seemed to have no breath to put behind the words, but from the way the cutthroat drew back in surprise, she knew they had heard her.
"You must not be afraid,," the priest said, and she understood him pe"rYfeocutlyd.o but go home again."
"To the drop?" Kivrin sa"idA.re you taking me to the drop?"
"Asperges me, Domine, hyssope et mundabor," the priest sTaihdo.u shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, O

Lord, and I shall be cleanseSdh.e could understand him perfectly.
"Help me," she said in La"tiIn.must return to the place from which I came."
"...nominus...," the priest said, so softly she couldn't hearNhaime.. Something about her nameS.he raised her headI.t felt curiously light, as though all her hair had burned away.
"My name?" she said.
"Can you tell me your name?" he said in Latin.
She was supposed to tell them she was Isabel de Beauvrier, daughter of Gilbert de Beauvrier, from the
East Riding, but her throat hurt so she didn't think she could get it out.
"I have to go back," she s"aTidh.ey won't know where I've gone."
"Confiteor deo omnipotenti," the priest said from very far
Sawheayc.ouldn't see himW. hen she tried to
look past the cutthroat, all she could see were flaTmhey. must have lit the fire aga"iBne. atae Mariae semper Virgini..."
He's saying the Confiteor Deo, she thought, the prayer of confeTshseionc.utthroat shouldn't be here. There shouldn't be anyone else in the room during a confession.
It was her turSn.he tried to fold her hands in prayer and couldn't, but the priest helped her, and when she couldn't remember the words, he recited them with"Fhoerrg. ive me, Father, for I have sinnIed.
confess to almighty God, and to you Father, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, deed and omission, through my fault."
"Mea culpa," she whispered, "mea culpa, mea maxima cuTlpharo."ugh my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault, but that wasn't right, that was only in the Confiteor Deo.
"How have you sinned?" the priest said. "Sinned?" she said blankly.
"Yes," he said gently, leaning so close he was practically whispering in "hTehrateayro. u may confess your sins and have God's forgiveness, and enter into the kingdom eternal."
All I wanted to do was go to the Middle Ages, she tIhowuogrhkte. d so hard, learning the languages
and the customs and doing everything Mr. Dunworthy toldAmll eI.
wanted to do was to be an historian.
She swallowed, a feeling like flam"Ie.have not sinned."
The priest drew back then, and she thought he had gone away angry because she wouldn't confess her sins.
"I should have listened to Mr. Dunworthy," she "sIaisdh.ouldn't have left the drop."
"In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus saAncmtie. n," she priest saidH. is voice was gentle, comforting. She felt his cool, cool touch on her forehead.

"Quid quid deliquisti," the priest murmur"eTdh. rough this holy unction and His own most tender
mercy..." He touched her eyes, her ears, her nostrils, so lightly she couldn't feel his hand at all, but only the cool touch of the oil.
That isn't part of the sacrament of penance, Kivrin thoTuhgaht'ts. saying the last rites.
"Don't-" Kivrin said.
the ritual for extreme unctioHne. 's
"Be not afraid," he sa"idM. ay the Lord pardon thee whatever offenses thou hast committed by walking," he said and put out the fire that was burning the soles of her feet.
"Why are you giving me the last rites?" Kivrin said and then remembered they were burning her at the stake. I'm going to die here, she thought, and Mr. Dunworthy will never know what happened to me.
"My name is Kivrin," she sa"iTde. ll Mr. Dunworthy-"
"May you behold your Redeemer face to face," the priest said, only it was the cutthroat"Aspnedaking. standing before Him may you gaze with blessed eyes on the truth made manifest."
"I'm dying, aren't I?" she asked the priest.
"There is naught to fear," he said, and took her hand. "Don't leave me," she said, and clutched his hand.
"I will not," he said, but she couldn't see him for all the"MsmayokAe.lmighty God have mercy upon thee, and forgive thee thy sins, and bring thee unto life everlasting," he said.
"Please come and get me, Mr. Dunworthy," she said, and the flames roared up between them.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (000806-000882)
Domine, mittere digneris sanctum Angelum tuum de caelis, qui custodiat, foveat, protegat, visitet, atque defendat omnes habitantes in hoc habitaculo.
(Break)
Exaudi orationim meam et clamor meus ad te veniat.(1)

(1)Translation:O Lord, vouchsafe to send Thy holy angel from heaven, to guard, cherish, protect, visit, and defend all those that are assembled together in this house.
(Break)
Hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto Thee.

CHAPTER NINE
"What is it, BadrWi? hat's wrong?" Dunworthy asked.
"Cold," Badri saidD. unworthy leaned across him and pulled the sheet and blanket up over his shoulders. The blanket seemed pitifully inadequate, as thin as the paper gown Badri was wNeoariwngo.nder he
was cold.
"Thank you," Badri murmureHd.e pulled his hand out from under the bedclothes and took hold of
Dunworthy's. He closed his eyes.
Dunworthy glanced anxiously at the displays, but they were as inscrutable aTsheevteerm. p still read
39.7. Badri's hand felt very hot, even through the imperm glove, and the fingernails looked odd, almost a dark blue.Badri's skin seemed darker, too, and his face looked somehow thinner even than when they
had brought him in.
The ward sister, whose outline under her paper robe looked uncomfortably like Mrs. Gaddson's, came in and said gruffly, "The list of primary contacts is on the Ncoharwt.o"nder Badri was afraid of her.
"CH1," she said, pointing to the keyboard under the first display on the left.
A chart divided into hour-long blocks came up on the sHcrieseno.wn name, Mary's, and the ward
sister's were at the top of the chart with the letters SPG after them, in parentheses, presumably to indicate that they were wearing protective garments when they came into contact with him.
"Scroll," Dunworthy said and the chart moved up over the screen through the arrival at the hospital, the ambulance medics, the net, the last two dBayasd.ri had been in London Monday morning setting up an
on-site for Jesus CollegeH. e had come up to Oxford on the tube at noon.
He had come to see Dunworthy at half-past two and was there unDtiul nfwouorr.thy entered the times
on the chartB. adri had told him he'd gone to London Sunday, though he couldn't remember what time. He entered, "London-phone Jesus for time of arrival."
"He drifts in and out a good bit," the sister said disappro"vIitn'sgltyh.e fever."She checked the drips, gave a yank to the bedclothes, and went out.
The door's shutting seemed to wake BadriHuisp.eyes fluttered open.
"I need to ask you some questions, Badri," he"Wsaied.need to find out who you've seen and talked to. We don't want them to come down with this, and we need you to tell us who they are."

"Kivrin," he saidH. is voice was soft, almost a whisper, but his hand was holding tightly to Dunworthy's. "In the laboratory."
"This morning?" Dunworthy sai"dD. id you see Kivrin before this morninDgi?d you see her yesterday?" "No."
"What did you do yesterday?"
"I checked the net," he said weakly, and his hand clung to Dunworthy's. "Were you there all day?"
He shook his head, the effort producing a whole series of bleeps and climbs on the"Idwispelnatysto. see you."
Dunworthy nodded". You left me a notWe. hat did you do after thaDt?id you see Kivrin?" "Kivrin," he said".I checked Puhalski's coordinates."
"Were they correct?" He frowned". Yes." "Are you certain?"
"Yes.I verified them twice.H" e stopped to catch his brea"thI. ran an internal check and a comparator."
Dunworthy felt a rush of relTiehf.ere hadn't been a mistake in the coordina"tWes.hat about the slippage? How much slippage was there?"
"Headache," he murmured".This morning.Must have drunk too much at the dance." "What dance?"
"Tired," he murmured.
"What dance did you go to?" Dunworthy persisted, feeling like an Inquisition
Monday?"
"toWrthuerenr. was it?
"Tuesday," Badri said".Drank too much."He turned his head away on the pillow.
"You rest now," Dunworthy saHide.
gently disengaged his hand from Badr"iT'sr.y to get some sleep."
"Glad you came," Badri said, and reached for it again.
Dunworthy held it, watching Badri and the displays by turns as hIet wsleapst.rainingH. e could hear the patter of drops behind the closed curtains.
He had not realized how ill Badri really Hweash.ad been too worried about Kivrin to even think about him. Perhaps he shouldn't be so angry with Montoya and the rest ofThtheeymh. ad their

preoccupations, too, and none of them had stopped to think what Badri's illness meant except in terms of the difficulties and inconvenience it causeEdv.en Mary, talking about needing Bulkeley-Johnson for an
infirmary and the possibilities of an epidemic, hadn't brought home the reality of Badri's illness and what it meant. He had had his antivirals, and yet he lay here with a fever of 39.7.
The evening passedD. unworthy listened to the rain and the chiming of the quarter hours at St. Hilda's and, more distantly, Christ ChurcTh.he ward sister informed Dunworthy grimly that she was going
off-duty, and a much smaller and more cheerful blonde nurse, wearing the insignia of a student, came in to check the drips and look at the displays.
Badri struggled in and out of consciousness with an effort Dunworthy would hardly have described as "drifting." He seemed more and more exhausted each time he fought his way back to consciousness, and less and less able to answer Dunworthy's questions.
Dunworthy kept at it mercilessTlyh.e Christmas dance had been in HeadingtBona.dri had gone to a pub afterward.He couldn't remember the name ofMito.nday night he had worked alone in the laboratory, checking Puhalski's coordinatesH. e had come up at noon from LondOon . the tubeI.t was impossible. Tube passengers and partygoers, and everyone he'd had contact with in LoTnhdeoyn.would never be able to trace and test all of them, even if Badri knew who they were.
"How did you get to Brasenose this morning?" Dunworthy asked the next time Badri "drifted" awake again.
"Morning?" Badri said, looking at the curtained window as if he thought it was morning"Haolrweady. long have I been asleep?"
Dunworthy didn't know how to answer tHhaet'd.
been asleep off and on all even"inItg's.
ten," he said,
looking at his digita"l.We brought you in to hospital at half pastYoonue. ran the net this morninYgo. u sent Kivrin throughD. o you remember when you began feeling ill?"
"What's the date?" Badri said suddenly.
"December the twenty-secondY. ou've only been here part of one day." "The year," Badri said, attempting to sit"Wuph.at's the year?"
Dunworthy glanced anxiously at the displaHysis.
temp was nearly 39."8T. he year is 2054," he said,
bending over him to calm hi"mIt.'s December the twenty-second." "Back up," Badri said.
Dunworthy straightened and stepped back from the bed.
"Back up," he said agaHine.
pushed himself up farther and looked around the r"oWomh.ere's Mr.
Dunworthy? I need to speak to him."
"I'm right here, BadriD."unworthy took a step toward the bed and then stopped, afraid of upsetting him. "What did you want to tell me?"
"Do you know where he might be then?" Badri"Wsaoidu.ld you give him this note?"

He handed him an imaginary sheet of paper, and Dunworthy realized he must be reliving Tuesday afternoon when he had come to Balliol.
"I have to get back to the nHeet."looked at an imaginary digit"aIls.
the laboratory open?"
"What did you want to talk to Mr. Dunworthy about?" Dunworthy "aWskaesd.it the slippage?"
"No.Back up!You're going to drop
Tit.he lid!"He looked straight at Dunworthy, his eyes bright with
fever. "What are you waiting foGr?o and fetch him." The student nurse came in.
"He's delirious," Dunworthy said.
She gave Badri a cursory glance and then looked up at the dTishpelyayse. emed ominous to
Dunworthy, feeding numbers frantically across the screens and zigzagging in three dimensions, but the student nurse didn't seem particularly concerneSdh.e looked at each of the displays in turn and calmly began adjusting the flow on the drips.
"Let's lie down, all right?" she said, still without looking at Badri, and, amazingly, he did.
"I thought you'd gone," he said to her, lying back against the"Tpihllaonwk. goodness you're here," he said, and seemed to collapse all over again, though this time there was nowhere to fall.
The student nurse hadn't noticeSdh.e was still adjusting the drips. "He's fainted," Dunworthy said.
She nodded and began calling reads onto the disSphlaey.didn't so much as glance at Badri, who looked deathly pale under his dark skin.
"Don't you think you should call a doctor?" Dunworthy said, and the door opened and a tall woman in
SPG's came in.
She didn't look at Badri eithSehre. pleural involvement?"
read the monitors one by one, and then asked, "Indications of
"Cyanosis and chills," the nurse said. "What's he getting?"
"Myxabravine," she said.
The doctor took a stethoscope down from the wall, untangling the chestpiece from the connecting cord. "Any hemoptysis?"
She shook her head.
"Cold," Badri said from the bNede.ither of them paid the slightest attentiBona.dri began to shiver. "Don't drop itI.t was china, wasn't it?"

"I want fifty cc's of acqueous penicillin and an ASA pack," the docStohre ssaaidt . Badri, shivering harder than ever, up in bed and peeled the velcro strips of his paper nightgowSnheoprens.sed the stethoscope's chestpiece against Badri's back in what seemed to Dunworthy to be a cruel and unusual punishment.
"Take a deep breath," the doctor said, her eyes on the dBisapdlraiy.did, his teeth chattering.
"Minor pleural consolidation lower left," the doctor said cryptically and moved the chestpiece over a centimeter. "Another." She moved the chestpiece several more times and then said, "Do we have an ident yet?"
"Myxovirus," the nurse said, filling a syrin"Tgey.pe A." "Sequencing?"
"Not yet."She fit the syringe into the shunt and pushed the plunger Sdoomwenw. here outside a telephone rang.
The doctor velcroed the top of Badri's nightgown together, lowered him back to the bed again, and flipped the sheet carelessly over his legs.
"Give me a gram stain," she said, andTlheeft.phone was still ringing.
Dunworthy longed to pull the blanket up over Badri properly, but the student nurse was hooking another drip onto the stanchionH. e waited till she had finished with the drip and gone out, and then straightened
the sheet and pulled the blanket carefully up over Badri's shoulders and tucked it in at the side of the bed.
"Is that better?" he said, but Badri had already stopped shivering and gone Dtounswleoeprt.hy looked
at the displaysH.
is temp was already down to 39.2, and the previously frantic lines on the other screens
were steady and strong.
"Mr. Dunworthy," the student nurse's voice came from somewhere on the wall, "there's a telephone call for you.It's a Mr. Finch."
Dunworthy opened the dooTr.he student nurse, out of her SPG's, motioned to him to take off his gown. He did, dumping the garments in the large cloth hamper she ind"icYaoteudr. spectacles, please," she
said. He handed them to her and she began spritzing disinfectant onHtheempi.cked up the phone, squinting at the screen.
"Mr. Dunworthy, I've been looking for you everywhere," Finch"Tsahied.most dreadful thing's happened."
"What is it?" Dunworthy saHide.
glanced at his digitaIlt. was ten o'clockT. oo early for someone to
have come down with the virus if the incubation period was twelve"Ihsousorsm. eone ill?"
"No, sirI.t's worse than thaIt.t's Mrs. GaddsonS. he's in OxfordS. he got through the quarantine perimeter somehow."
"I knowT. he last trainS. he made them hold the doors."
"Yes, well, she called from hospiStahle.
insists on staying at Balliol, and she accused me of not taking

proper care of William because I was the one who typed out the tutor assignments, and apparently his tutor's made him stay up over vac to read Petrarch."
"Tell her we haven't any rooTmel.l her the dormitories are being sterilized."
"I did, sir, but she said in that case she would room with WI dilolina'mt .like to do that to him, sir." "No," Dunworthy said".There are some things one shouldn't have to endure, even in an epiHdaevmeic.
you told William his mother's coming?"
"No, sirI.
tried, but he's not in colleTgoe.m Gailey told me Mr. Gaddson was visiting a young lady at
Shrewsbury, so I ranhger up, but there was no answer."
"No doubt they're out reading Petrarch somewhere," Dunworthy said, wondering what would happen if
Mrs. Gaddson should come upon the unwary couple on her way to Balliol.
"I don't see why he should be doing that, sir," Finch said, sounding t"rOourbwlehdy. have assigned Petrarch at aHll.e's reading for mods."
his tutor should
"Yes, well, when Mrs. Gaddson arrives, put her in WaTrrheen."nurse looked up sharply from polishing his spectacles."It's across the quad at any raGteiv. e her a room that doesn't look out on anytAhinndg. check our supply of rash ointment."
"Yes, sir," Finch sai"dI.
spoke with the bursar at New ColleSghee. said Mr. Basingame told her before
he left that he wanted to be 'free of distractions,' but she said she assumed he'd told someone where he was going and that she'd try to phone his wife as soon as the lines settled down."
"Did you ask about their techs?"
"Yes, sir," Finch sai"dA. ll of them have gone home for the holidays." "Which of our techs lives the closest to Oxford?"
Finch thought for a mome"nTt.hat would be AndrewsI.n Reading.Would you like his number?" "Yes, and make me up a list of the others' numbers and addresses."
Finch recited Andrews' numbe"rI.'ve taken steps to remedy the lavatory paper situaIt'ivoen. put up notices with the mottoW: aste Leads to Want."
"Wonderful," Dunworthy saidH. e rang off and tried Andrews' numbIet r.was engaged.
The student nurse handed him back his spectacles and a new bundle of SPG's, and he put them on, taking care this time to put the mask on before the cap and to leave the glovIets sttiillll ltaosot.k an unconscionable amount of time to array himsHelef. hoped the nurse would be significantly faster if Badri rang the bell for help.
He went back iBn.adri was still restlessly asleeHp.e glanced at the displaHy.is temp read 39.2.
His head achedH. e took off his spectacles and rubbed at the space between hisTheeynesh. e sat down at the campstool and looked at the chart of contacts he had pieced together Itthucsoufladr. scarcely be

called a chart, there were so many gaps Tinheit.name of the pub Badri had gone to after the dance.
Where Badri had been Monday eveninAgn. d Monday afternoonH.
e had come up from London on the
tube at noon, and Dunworthy had phoned him to ask him to run the net at halfW-pahsetretwhoa.d he been those two and a half hours?
And where had he gone Tuesday afternoon after he came to Balliol and left the note saying he'd run a systems check on the neBt?ack to the laboratoryO? r to another pubH? e wondered if perhaps
someone at Balliol had spoken to Badri while he was there. When Finch called back to inform him of the latest developments in American bellringers and lavatory paper, he would tell him to ask everyone who'd been in college if they'd seen Badri.
The door opened, and the student nurse, swathed in SPG's, caDmuenwino.rthy looked automatically at the displays, but he couldn't see any dramatic chanBgaeds.ri was still asleepT.he nurse entered some figures on the display, checked the drip, and tugged at a corner of the bedSchleothoepse.ned the curtain and then stood there, twisting the cord in her hands.
"I couldn't help overhearing you on the telephone," she"Ysaoidu. mentioned a Mrs. GaddsoIn.know
it's terribly rude of me to ask, but might that have been William Gaddson's mother you were speaking of?"
"Yes," he said, surprise"dW.
illiam's a student of mine at BallDiool. you know him?"
"He's a friend of mine," she said, flushing such a bright pink he could see it through her imperm mask.
"Ah," he said, wondering when William had time to read Pe"tWraricllhia. m's mother is here in hospital," he said, feeling he should warn her but unclear as to whom to warn he"Irt asbeoeumt.s she's come to visit him for Christmas."
"She's here?" the nurse said, flushing an even brighter"pI inthko.ught we were under quarantine." "Hers was the last train up from London," Dunworthy said wistfully.
"Does William know?"
"My secretary is attempting to notify him," he said, omitting the bit about the student at Shrewsbury. "He's at the Bodleian," she said, "reading PetrarSchhe." unwrapped the curtain cord from her hand and
went out, no doubt to telephone the Bodleian.
Badri stirred and murmured something Dunworthy could not makeHeoulto.oked flushed, and his breathing seemed more labored.
"Badri?" he said.
Badri opened his eye"sW.
here am I?" he said.
Dunworthy glanced at the monitoHrsi.s fever was down a half a point and he seemed more alert than before.
"In infirmary," he sai"dY. ou collapsed in the lab at Brasenose while you were working tDheo nyeot.u remember?"

"I remember feeling odd," he sa"iCdo. ld. I came to the pub to tell you I'd got theAfixs.t.r.a"nge, frightened look came over his face.
"You told me there was something wrong," Dunworthy "sWaihda. t was it?Was it the slippage?" "Something wrong," Badri repeatedH. e tried to raise himself on his elb"oWw.hat's wrong with me?"
"You're ill," Dunworthy sai"dY. ou have the flu."
"Ill?I've never been ill.H" e struggled to sit u"pT. hey died, didn't they?" "Who died?"
"It killed them all."
"Did you see someone, BadTrih?is is importantD. id someone else have the virus?" "Virus?" he said, and there was obvious relief in his v"oDicoe.I have a virus?"
"Yes.A type of fluI.t's not fatalT. hey've been giving you antimicrobials, and an analogue's on the way.
You'll be recovered in no timDeo.
you know who you caught it froDmid? someone else have the virus?"
"No."He eased himself back down onto the pill"oIwt.hought-Oh!"He looked up in alarm at
Dunworthy. "There's something wrong," he said desperately.
"What is it?H" e reached for the be"llW.
hat's wrong?"
His eyes were wide with frig"hItt. hurts!"
Dunworthy pushed the beTll.he nurse and a house officer came in immediately and went through their routine again, prodding him with the icy stethoscope.
"He complained of being cold," Dunworthy s"aAidn.d of something hurting." "Where does it hurt?" the house officer said, looking at a display.
"Here," Badri saidH. e pressed his hand to the right side of his Hcheesbt.egan to shiver again. "Lower right pleurisy," the house officer said.
"Hurts when I breathe," Badri said through chattering t"eTehthe.re's something wrong."
Something wrongH. e had not meant the fHixe.
had meant that something was wrong with Hhiem.was
how old?Kivrin's age?They had begun giving routine rhinovirus antivirals nearly twenty yearsIt awgoa.s entirely possible that when he'd said he'd never been ill, he meant he'd never had so much as a cold.
"Oxygen?" the nurse said.
"Not yet," the house officer said on his way"Sotaurtt. him on 200 units of chloramphe nicol."

The nurse laid Badri back down, attached a piggyback to the drip, watched Badri's temp drop for a minute, and went out.
Dunworthy looked out the window at the rainy n"iIghret.member feeling odd," he had saNido.t ill.
Odd. Someone who'd never had a cold wouldn't know what to make of a fever oHre cwhiollusl.d only
have known something was wrong and would have left the net and hurried to the pub to tell someone. Have to tell DunworthyS.omething wrong.
Dunworthy took off his spectacles and rubbed his Teyhe .disinfectant made them smarHt.e felt exhausted. He had said he couldn't relax until he knew Kivrin was alBl ardigrhi t.was asleep, the harshness of his breathing taken away by the impersonal magic of the dAonctdorKs.ivrin was asleep, too, in a flea-ridden bed seven hundred years awOaryw. ide-awake, impressing the contemps with her
table manners and her dirty fingernails, or kneeling on a filthy stone floor, telling her adventures into her hands.
He must have dozed oHffe.
dreamed he heard a telephone ringiIntg.was FinchH. e told him the
Americans were threatening to sue for insufficient supplies of lavatory paper and that the Dean had called
with the Scripture". It's Matthew 2:11," Finch sai"dW.
aste leads to want," and at that point the nurse
opened the door and told him Mary needed him to meet her in Casualties.
He looked at his digitIatl.was twenty past fouBr.adri was still asleep, looking almost peaceTfuhl.e nurse met him outside with the disinfectant bottle and told him to take the elevator.
The smell of disinfectant from his spectacles helped wake hiBmy utph.e time he reached the ground floor he was almost awakMe. ary was there waiting for him in a mask and the res"tWoef'viet. got another case," she said, handing him a bundle of S"PIGt's's.one of the detaineeIst. might be someone from that crowd of shopperIs.want you to try to identify her."
He got into the garments as clumsily as the first time, nearly tearing the gown in his efforts to get the velcro strips apart". There were dozens of shoppers on the High," he said, pulling the glo"vAesndonI.
was watching BadriI.
doubt that I could identify anyone on that street."
"I know," Mary saiSd.he led the way down the corridor and through the door to casIutalsteieesm. ed like years since he'd been there.
Ahead, a cluster of people, all anonymous in paper, were wheeling a stretcher trTohlleeyhoinu.se
officer, also papered, was taking information from a thin, frightened-looking woman in a wet mackintosh and matching rain hat.
"Her name is Beverly Breen," she told him in a faint "v2o2i6ce.Plover Way, SurbitonI. knew something was wrongS. he kept saying we needed to take the tube to Northampton."
She was carrying an umbrella and a large handbag, and when the house officer asked for the patient's NHS number, she leaned the umbrella against the admissions desk, opened the handbag, and looked through it.
"She was just brought in from the tube station complaining of headache and chills," M"Sarhye swaiads. in line to be assigned lodging."
She signaled the medics to stop the stretcher trolley and pulled the blanket back from the woman's neck and chest so he could get a better look at her, but he didn't need it.

The woman in the wet mac had found theSchaerdh. anded it to the officer, picked up the umbrella, the handbag and a sheaf of varicoloured papers and came over to the stretcher trolley carryinTghethem. umbrella was a large onIet. was covered with lavender violets.
"Badri collided with her on the way back to the net," he said. "Are you absolutely certain?" Mary said.
He pointed at the woman's friend, who had sat down now and was filling o"uIt rfeocromgsn.ize the umbrella."
"What time was that?" she said. "I'm not positiveH. alf-past one?"
"What type of contact was Diti?d he touch her?"
"He ran straight into her," he said, trying to recall the"Hsceenceo.llided with the umbrella, and then he
told her he was sorry, and she yelled at him forHae
bpic.ked up the umbrella and handed it to her."
"Did he cough or sneeze?" "I can't remember."
The woman was being wheeled into CasualMtieas.ry stood up". I want her put in isolation," she said, and started after them.
The woman's friend stood up, dropping one of the forms and clutching the others awkwardly to her chest. "Isolation?" she said frightenedly".What's wrong with her?"
"Come with me, please," Mary said to her and led her off somewhere to have her blood taken and her friend's umbrella spritzed with disinfectant before Dunworthy could ask her whether she wanted him to
wait for herH.
e started to ask the registrar and then sat down tiredly in one of the chairs against the wall.
There was an inspirational brochure on the chair next toIths imtit.le was "The Importance of a Good
Night's Sleep."
His neck hurt from his uncomfortable sleep on the campstool, and his eyes were smartiHnge again. supposed he should go back up to Badri's room, but he wasn't certain he had the energy to put on another set of SPG'sA. nd he didn't think he could bear to wake Badri and ask him who else would be shortly wheeled into casualties with a temp of 39.5.
At any rate Kivrin wouldn't be one of tIhtemwa. s half past fouBr.adri had collided with the woman with the lavendar umbrella at half past oTnhea.t meant an incubation of fifteen hours, and fifteen hours ago Kivrin had been fully protected.
Mary came back, her cap off and her mask dangling from heHr enrechka.ir was in disarray, and she looked as bone-weary as Dunworthy felt.
"I'm discharging Mrs. Gaddson," she told the regis"tSrahre.'s to be back here at seven for a blood test." She came over to where Dunworthy was sitt"inI'gd. forgotten all about her," she said, smil"inSgh.e was

rather upset.She threatened to sue me for unlawful detainment."
"She should get along well with my bell rinTgheersy.'re threatening to go to court over involuntary breach of contract."
Mary ran her hand through her disorderly "hWaire.
got an ident from the World Influenza Center on the
influenza virus."She stood up as if she had had a sudden infusion of e"nI ecrgoyu.ld do with a cup of tea," she said". Come along."
Dunworthy glanced at the registrar, who was watching them attentively, and hauled himself to his feet. "I'll be in the surgical waiting room," Mary said to the registrar.
"Yes, Doctor," the registrar sa"idI . couldn't help overhearing your conversation..." she said hesitantly. Mary stiffened.
"You told me you were discharging Mrs. Gaddson, and then I heard you mention the name 'William,' and I was just wondering if Mrs. Gaddson is by any chance William Gaddson's mother."
"Yes," Mary said, looking puzzled.
"You're a friend of his?" Dunworthy said, wondering if she would blush like the blonde student nurse. She did". I've come to know him rather well this Hvaec's. stayed up to read Petrarch."
"Among other things," Dunworthy said, and while she was busy blushing, steered Mary past the "NO ENTRANCE: ISOLATION AREA" sign and down the corridor.
"What in heaven's name was that all about?" she asked.
"Sickly William is even more self-sufficient than we had at first assumed," he said, and opened the door to the waiting room.
Mary flicked the light on and went over to the tea Strhoellesyh.ook the electric kettle and disappeared
into the WC with
Hit.e sat downS. omeone had taken away the tray of blood- testing equipment and
moved the end table back to its proper place, but Mary's shopping bag was still sitting in the middle of the floor.He leaned forward and moved it over next to the chairs.
Mary reappeared with the kettSleh.e bent and plugged it "inD.id you have any luck discovering Badri's contacts?" she said.
"If you could call it thHaet. went to a Christmas dance in Headington last nHigehtt.ook the tube both ways. How bad is it?"
Mary opened two tea packets and draped them over the"Tcuhperse.'s only powdered milk, I'm afraid. Do you know if he's had any contact recently with someone from the States?"
"No.Why?"
"Do you take sugar?"

"How bad is it?"
She poured powdered milk into the cu"Tpsh.e bad news is that Badri's very Silhl.e" spooned in sugar.
"He had his seasonals through the University, which requires broader-spectrum protection than the NHS. He should be completely protected against a five-point shift, and partially resistant to a ten- point shift. But he's exhibiting full influenza symptoms, which indicates a major mutation."
The kettle was screamin"gW.
hich means an epidemic."
"Yes."
"A pandemic?"
"Possibly.If the WIC can't sequence the virus quickly, or the staffObroltthse.
quarantine doesn't hold."
She unplugged the kettle and poured hot water into their"Tcuhpes.good news is that the WIC thinks it's an influenza that originated in South CaroliSnah.e" brought a cup over to Dunwort"hIyn. which case
it's already been sequenced and an analogue and vaccine manufactured, it responds well to antimicrobials and symptomatic treatment, and it's not fatal."
"How long is its incubation period?"
"Twelve to forty-eight hoursS."he stood against the tea trolley and took a sip o"fThte .WIC is
sending blood samples to the CDC in Atlanta for matching, and they're sending their recommended course of treatment."
"When did Kivrin check into infirmary on Monday for her antivirals?"
"Three o'clock," Mary sai"dS. he was here until nine the next mornIinkge. pt her overnight to ensure she got a good night's sleep."
"Badri says he didn't see her yesterday," Dunworthy said, "but he could have had contact with her
Monday before she went into Infirmary."
"She'd need to have been exposed before her antiviral inoculation, and the virus have had a chance to
replicate unchecked for her to be in danger, James," Mary"Esaviedn.
if she did see Badri Monday or
Tuesday, she's in less danger of developing symptoms than youSahree."looked seriously at him over her teacup."You're still worried over the fix, aren't you?"
He half shook his hea"dB.adri says he checked the apprentice's coordinates and they were correct, and he'd already told Gilchrist the slippage was minimal," he said, wishing Badri had answered him when he asked him about the slippage.
"What else is there that can have gone wrong?" Mary asked.
"I don't knowN. othing. Except that she's alone in the Middle Ages."
Mary set her cup of tea down on the tr"oSllheey.may be safer there than heWree. 're going to have a good many ill patientsI.nfluenza spreads like wildfire, and the quarantine will only make it Twhoerse.
medical staff are always the first exposIefd.they come down with it, or the supply of antimicrobials gives

out, this century could be the one that's a ten."
She pushed her hand tiredly over her untidy "hSaoirrr.y, it's the fatigue speakinTg.his isn't the Middle
Ages, after allI.t's not even Twentieth CenturWy. e have metabolizers and adjuvants, and if it's the South
Carolina virus, we've an analogue and a vaccBinuet. I'm still glad Colin and Kivrin are safely out of this."
"Safely in the Middle Ages," Dunworthy said.
Mary smiled at him"W.
ith the cutthroats."
The door banged opeAn. tallish blonde boy with large feet and a rugby duffel came in, dripping water on the floor.
"Colin!" Mary said.
"So this is where you've got to," Colin "sIa'vied. been looking everywhere for you."
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (000893-000898)
Mr. Dunworthy, ad adjuvandum me festina.(1)

(1)Translation:Make haste to help me.
BOOK II
In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak midwinter
Long ago.

Christina Rossetti
CHAPTER TEN
The fire was ouKt.ivrin could still smell smoke in the room, but she knew it was from a fire burning in a hearth somewhere.It's no wonder, she thoughCt.himneys didn't become extant in England until the late fourteenth century, and this is only 13A20n.d as soon as she had formed that thought, awareness of the
rest of it cameI: am in 1320, and I've beenI'vilel. had a fever.
For awhile she didn't think any further thanItthwata. s peaceful to just lie there and Srehset. felt worn
out, as if she had come through some terrible ordeal that took all her
Istrtehnogutghh.t they were trying
to burn me at the stake, she thouSghet. remembered struggling against them and the flames leaping up, licking at her hands, burning her hair.
They had to cut off my hair, she thought, and wondered if that were a memory or something she had dreamed. She was too tired to raise her hand to her hair, too tired to even try to rIemhaevmebebre.en
very ill, she thoughTt.hey gave me the last rit"eTs.here is naught to fear," he had s"aYido.u do but go
home again."Requiscat in paceA.
nd slept.
*****
When she woke again, it was dark in the room, and a bell was ringing a lonSghewahyadoftfh.e idea
that it had been ringing for a long time, the way the lone bell had rung when she came through, but after a minute another one chimed in, and then one so close it seemed to be just outside the window, drowning

out the others as they chimed Mina.tins, Kivrin thought, and seemed to remember them ringing like that before, a ragged, out- of-tune chiming that matched the beating of her heart, but that was impossible.
She must have dreamed Sith.e had dreamed they were burning her at the sStahkee.had dreamed they cut off her hairS. he had dreamed the contemps spoke a language she didn't understand.
The nearest bell stopped, and the others went on for awhile, as if glad of the opportunity to make themselves heard, and Kivrin remembered that, tHooo.w long had she been herIet?had been night, and now it was morningI.t seemed like one night, but now she remembered the faces leaning ovWerhehner.
the woman had brought her the cup and again when the priest had come in, and the cutthroat with him, she had been able to see them clearly, without the flicker of unsteady candAlenldighint. between she remembered darkness and the smoky light of tallow lamps and the bells, ringing and stopping and ringing again.
She felt a sudden stab of paHniocw.
long had she been lying heWre?hat if she had been ill for weeks
and had already missed the rendezvouBs?ut that was impossibleP.eople weren't delirious for weeks, even if they had typhoid fever, and she couldn't have typhoid Sfheevehr.ad had her inoculations.
It was cold in the room, as if the fire had gone out in
Sthhee nfieglht t.for the bed coverings, and hands
came up out of the dark immediately and pulled something soft over her shoulders. "Thank you," Kivrin said, and slept.
*****
The cold woke her again, and she had the feeling she had only slept a few moments, though there was a little light in the room noIwt .came from a narrow window recessed in the stoneTwheallw. indow's
shutters had been opened, and that was where the cold was coming from, too.
A woman was standing on tip-toe on the stone seat under the window, fastening a cloth over the opening. She was wearing a black robe and a white wimple and coif, and for a moment Kivrin thought, I'm in a nunnery, and then remembered that women covered their hair when they were Omnalyrried. unmarried girls wore their hair loose and uncovered.
The woman didn't look old enough to be married, or to be a nuTnheriethehra.d been a woman in the
room while she was ill, but that woman had been much oWldheern.
Kivrin had clutched at her hands in
her delirium, they had been rough and wrinkled, and the woman's voice had been harsh with age, though perhaps that had been part of the delirium, too.
The woman leaned into the light from the winTdhoew.white coif was yellowed and it was not a robe,
but a kirtle like Kivrin's, with a dark green surcote oIvterwaits.
badly dyed and looked like it had been
made from a burlap sack, the weave so large Kivrin could see it easily even in theSdhiemmliugshtt.be
a servant, then, but servants didn't wear linen wimples or carry bunches of keys like the one that hung from the woman's belSt.he had to be a person of some importance, the housekeeper, perhaps.
And this was a place of importanPcroe.bably not a castle, because the wall the bed lay up against
wasn't stone-it was unfinished wood-but very likely a manor house of at least the first order of nobility, a minor baron, and possibly higher than thTaht.e bed she was lying in was a real bed with a raised wooden frame and hangings and stiff linen sheets, not just a pallet, and the coverings wTheree sftuorn.e seat
under the window had embroidered cushions in it.

The woman tied the cloth to little projections of stone on either side of the narrow window, stepped down from the windowseat and leaned over to get sometKhiinvgri.n couldn't see what it was because
the bed-hangings obstructed her viewT.hey were heavy, almost like rugs, and had been pulled back and tied with what looked like rope.
The woman straightened up again, holding a wooden bowl, and then, catching her skirts up with her free hand, stepped onto the windowseat and began brushing something thick onto theOcill,otKhi.vrin
thought. No, wax.Waxed linen used in place of glass in windGowlass.s was supposed to have been common in fourteenth-century manor houseTs.he nobility were supposed to have carried glass windows along with the luggage and the furniture when they travelled from house to house.
I must get this on the corder, Kivrin thought, that some manor houses didn't have glass windows, and
she raised her hands and pressed them together, but the effort of holding them up was too great, and she let them fall back onto the coverings.
The woman glanced over toward the bed and then turned back to the window and went on painting the
cloth with long, unconcerned strokeIs.must be getting better, Kivrin thougShhte.
was right by the bed
the whole time I was Silhl.e wondered again how long that time had bIeewni.ll have to find out, she thought, and then I must find the drop.
It couldn't be very fIafr. this was the village she had intended to go to, the drop wasn't more than a mile away. She tried to remember how long the trip to the village hadIttahkaedn. seemed to take a long
time. The cutthroat had put her on a white horse, and it had had bells on itsBuhtarhnessw. asn't a cutthroat. He was a kind-looking young man with red hair.
She would have to ask the name of the village she had been brought to, and hopefully it would be Skendgate. But even if it wasn't, she would know from the name where she was in relation to the drop. And, of course, as soon as she was a little stronger, they could show her where it was.
What is the name of this village you have brought mShee toh?ad not been able to think of the words last night, but that was because of the fever, of coSuhreseh. ad no trouble nowM. r. Latimer had spent months on her pronunciationT.hey would certainly be able to understand, "In whatte londe am I?" or
even, "Whatte be thisse holding?" and even if there were some variation in local dialect, the interpreter would automatically correct it.
"Whatte place hast thou brotte me?" Kivrin said.
The woman turned, looking startleSdh.e stepped down from the windowseat, still holding the bowl in
one hand and the brush in the other, only it wasn't a brush, Kivrin could see as she approached the bed. It was a squarish wooden spoon with a nearly flat bowl.
"Gottebae plaise tthar tleve," the woman said, holding spoon and bowl together in fron"tBeotfh her. naught agast."
The interpreter was supposed to translate what was said immediMataeylyb.e Kivrin's pronunciation was
all off, so far off that the woman thought she was speaking a foreign language and was trying to answer her in clumsy French or German.
"Whatte place hast thou brotte me?" she said slowly so the interpreter would have time to translate what she said.

"Wick londebay yae comen lawdayke awtreen godelae deynaonrdmoar sic straunguwlondesS. pekefaw eek waenoot awfthytaloorbrede."
"Lawyes sharess loostee?" a voice said.
The woman turned around to look at a door Kivrin couldn't see, and another woman came in, much older, her face under the coif wrinkled and her hands the hands Kivrin remembered from her delirium, rough and oldS. he was wearing a silver chain and carrying a small leather Itchleosotk. ed like the casket Kivrin had brought through with her, but it was smaller and bound with iron instead Sohfe bsreatsst.he
casket down on the windowseat. "Auf specheryit darmayt?"
She remembered the voice, too, harsh and almost angry- sounding, speaking to the woman by Kivrin's bed as if she were a servaWnte. ll, perhaps she was, and this was the lady of the house, though her coif was no whiter, her dress no finBeur.t there weren't any keys at her belt, and now Kivrin remembered
that it wasn't the housekeeper who carried the keys but the lady of the house.
The lady of the manor in yellowed linen and badly-dyed burlap, which meant that Kivrin's dress was all wrong, as wrong as Latimer's pronunciations, as wrong as Dr. Ahrens' assurances that she would not get any mediaeval diseases.
"I had my inoculations," she murmured, and both women turned to look at her.
"Ellavih swot wardesdoor feenden iss?" the older woman asked shWarpalsy.she the younger woman's mother, or her mother-in- law, or her nurKseiv?rin had no ideaN. one of the words she'd said, not even a proper name or a form of address, separated itself out.
"Maetinkerr woun dahest wexe hoordoumbe," the younger woman said, and the older one answered, "Nor nayte bawcows derouthe."
Nothing.Shorter sentences were supposed to be easier to translate, but Kivrin couldn't even tell whether she had said one word or several.
The younger woman's chin in the tight coif lifted an"gCreilryte. ssan, shreevadwomn wolde nadae seyvous," she said sharply.
Kivrin wondered if they were arguing over what to do wiSthhehepru. shed on the coverlet with her
weak hands, as if she could push herself away from them, and the young woman set down her bowl and spoon and came immediately up beside the bed.
"Spaegun yovor tongawn glais?" she said, and it might be, "Good morning," or "Are you feeling better?" or "We're burning you at dawn," for all Kivrin kPneerwha. ps her illness was keeping the interpreter from working. Perhaps when the fever went down, she would understand everything they said.
The old woman knelt beside the bed, holding a small silver box at the end of the chain between her folded hands, and began to praTyh.e young woman leaned forward to look at Kivrin's forehead and
then reached around behind her head, doing something that pulled at Kivrin's hair, and she realized they must have bandaged the wound on her foreheSahde. touched her hand to the cloth and then put it on her neck, feeling for her tangled locks, but there was nothing Htheerreh. air ended in a ragged fringe just
below her ears.

"Vae motten tiyez thynt," the young woman said worri"eFdalyr . thotyiwort wount sorr.S"he was giving
Kivrin some kind of explanation, though Kivrin couldn't understand it, and actually she did understand it:
she had been very ill, so ill she had thought her hair was Sohne frierem. embered someone-the old woman?-trying to grab at her hands and her flailing wildly at the Tflhameyesh. ad had no alternative.
And Kivrin had hated the unwieldy mass of hair and the endless time it took to wash, had worried about how mediaeval women wore their hair, whether they braided it or not, and wondered how on earth she
was going to get through the sixteen days of her practicum without wasShhinegshito. uld be glad they
had cut it off, but all she could think of was Joan of Arc, who had had short hair, who they had burned the stake.
The young woman had drawn her hands back from the bandage and was watching Kivrin, looking frightened. Kivrin smiled at her, a little quaveringly, and she smiled Sbhaeckh. ad a gap where two teeth were missing on the right side of her mouth, and the tooth next to the gap was brown, but when she smiled she looked no older than a first year student.
She finished untying the bandage and laid it on the coIvt ewrleats. but torn into fraying strips, and stained with brownish bTlohoedre.
the same yellowed linen as her coif, was more blood than Kivrin would
have thought there would bMe.r. Gilchrist's wound must have started bleeding again.
The woman touched Kivrin's temple nervously, as if she wasn't sure what"Vtoexdeoy.aw hongroot?" she said, and put one hand behind Kivrin's neck and helped her raise her head.
Her head felt terribly ligThth.at must be because of my hair, Kivrin thought.
The older woman handed the young one a wooden bowl, and she put it to KivKrivnr'sinlispisp.ped carefully at it, thinking confusedly that it was the same bowl that had held Itthewwasanx't., and it wasn't
the drink they'd given her before. It was a thin, grainy gruel, less bitter than the drink last night, but with a greasy aftertaste.
"Thasholde nayive gros vitaille towayte," the older woman said. Definitely her mother-in-law, Kivrin thought.
"Shimote lese hoor fource," the young woman answered back mildly.
The gruel tasted gooKd.ivrin tried to drink it all, but after only a few sips she felt worn out.
The young woman handed the bowl to the older one, who had come around to the side of the bed, too, and eased Kivrin's head back down onto the pilSlohwe. picked up the bloody bandage, touched
Kivrin's temple again as if she was debating whether to put the bandage back on again, and then handed it to the other woman, who set it and the bowl down on the chest that must be at the foot of the bed.
"Lo, liggethsteallouw," the young woman said, smiling her gap-toothed smile, and there was no mistaking her tone even though she couldn't make out the words Taht ealwl. oman had told her to go to slSeheep.
closed her eyes.
"Durmidde shoalausbrekkeynow," the older woman said, and they left the room, shutting the heavy door behind them.

Kivrin repeated the words slowly to herself, trying to catch some familiaTr hweoirndt.erpreter was supposed to enhance her ability to separate out phonemes and recognize syntactical patterns, not just store Middle English vocabulary, but she might as well be listening to Serbo-Croatian.
And maybe I am, she thougWhth. o knows where they've brought mIe?was deliriousM.
aybe the
cutthroat put me on a boat and took me across the ChSahnenekl.new that wasn't possiblSe.he remembered most of the night's journey, even though it had a disjointed, dreamlike qualIityfeltlooiftf. the horse, she thought, and a redheaded man picked mAe nudp.we came past a church.
She frowned, trying to remember more about the direction they had traTvheellyedh. ad headed into the
woods, away from the thicket, and then come to a road, and the road forked, and that was where she had fallen offI.f she could find the fork in the road, perhaps she could find the drop froTmhe thfoerrke.
was only a little way from the tower.
But if the drop were that close, she was in Skendgate and the women were speaking Middle English, but if they were speaking Middle English, why couldn't she understand them?
Maybe I hit my head when I fell off the horse, and it's done something to the interpreter, she thought, but she had not hit her heaSdh.e had let go and slid down until she was sitting on thIet'srothade. fever, she
thought. It's somehow keeping the interpreter from recognizing the words.
It recognized the Latin, she thought, and a little knot of fear began to form inItherreccohgensitz.ed the
Latin, and I can't be
Iillh. ad my inoculationsS.he remembered suddenly that her plague inoculation had
itched and made a lump under her arm, but Dr. Ahrens had checked it just before she camDe r.through. Ahrens had said it was all rigAhnt.d I can't have the plague, she thouIghdto. n't have any of the
symptoms.
Plague victims had huge lumps under their arms and on the insides of theTirhtehyigvhos.mited blood, and the blood vessels under their skin ruptured and turned bItlawcka.sn't the plague, but what was it,
and how had she contracted
Sith?e had been inoculated against every major disease extant in 1320, and
anyway, she hadn't been exposed to any diseSashee. had begun to have symptoms as soon as she came through, before she had even met anyoGnee.rms didn't just hover near the drop, waiting for someone to come through.They had to be spread by contact or sneezing or Tflheeasp. lague had been spread by
fleas.
It's not the plague, she told herself firPmeloyp. le who have the plague don't wonder if they have it. They're too busy dying.
It wasn't the plaguTe.he fleas that had spread it lived on rats and humans, not out in the middle of a forest, and the Black Death hadn't reached England till 1It34m8.ust be some mediaeval disease Dr.
Ahrens hadn't known abouTt.here had been all sorts of strange diseases in the Middle Ages-the king's evil and St. Vitus's dance and unnamed fevIetrsm. ust be one of them, and it had taken her enhanced immune system awhile to figure out what it was and begin fighBtiuntg nito.w it had, and her temperature was down and the interpreter would begin workAinlgl. she had to do was rest and wait and get better. Comforted by that thought, she closed her eyes again, and slept.
*****
Someone was touching heSr.he opened her eyesI.t was the mother-in-lawS.he was examining Kivrin's hands, turning them over and over again in hers, rubbing her chapped forefinger along the backs,
scrutinizing the nailsW.
hen she saw Kivrin's eyes were open, she dropped her hands, as if in disgust, and

said, "Sheavost ahvheigh parage attelest, baht hoore der wikkonashshasawe folletwe?"
Nothing.Kivrin had hoped that somehow, while she slept, the interpreter's enhancers would have sorted and deciphered everything she'd heard, and she would wake to find the interpreter wBourtkitnhge.ir
words were still unintelligibleI.t sounded a little like French, with its dropped endings and delicate rising inflections, but Kivrin knew Norman French-Mr. Dunworthy had made her learn it-and she couldn't make out any of the words.
"Hastow naydepesse?" the old woman said.
It sounded like a question, but all French sounded like a question.
The old woman took hold of Kivrin's arm with one rough hand and put her other arm around her, as if t help her upI.'m too ill to get up, Kivrin thouWghht.y would she make me get uTpo? be questioned?To
be burned?
The younger woman came into the room, carrying a footedShceupse. t it down on the windowseat and came to take Kivrin's other ar"mH.astontee natour yowrese?" she asked, smiling her gap- toothed smile
at Kivrin, and Kivrin thought, maybe they're taking me to the bathroom, and made an effort to sit up and put her legs over the side of the bed.
She was immediately dizzSyh. e sat, her bare legs dangling over the side of the high bed, waiting for it to
pass. She was wearing her linen shift and nothing Selhsee. wondered where her clothes weAret.
least
they had let her keep her shPifeto. ple in the Middle Ages didn't usually wear anything to bed.
People in the Middle Ages didn't have indoor plumbing either, she thought, and hoped she wouldn't have to go outside to a privCya.stles sometimes had enclosed garderobes, or corners over a shaft that had to
be cleaned out at the bottom, but this wasn't a castle.
The young woman put a thin, folded blanket around Kivrin's shoulders like a shawl, and they both helped her off the beTd.he planked wooden floor was icSyh.e took a few steps and was dizzy all over again. I'll never make it all the way outside, she thought.
"Wotan shay wootes nawdaor youse der jordane?" the old woman said sharply, and Kivrin thought she recognized jardin, the French for garden, but why would they be discussing gardens?
"Thanway maunhollp anhour," the young woman said, putting her arm around Kivrin and draping Kivrin's arm over her shouldersT.he old woman gripped her other arm with both hSanhdes.hardly came to
Kivrin's shoulder, and the young woman didn't look like she weighed more than ninety pounds, but between them they walked her to the end of the bed.
Kivrin got dizzier with every stIe'lpl. never make it all the way outside, she thought, but they had stopped at the end of the bTedh.ere was a chest there, a low wooden box with a bird or possibly an
angel carved roughly into the toOpn.
it lay a wooden basin full of water, the bloody bandage that had
been around Kivrin's forehead, and a smaller, empty bKowivlr.in, concentrating on not falling over,
didn't realize what it was until the old woman said, "Swoune nawmaydar oupondre yorresette," and pantomimed lifting her heavy skirts and sitting on it.
A chamberpot, Kivrin thought gratefulMly.r. Dunworthy, chamberpots were extant in country village
manor houses in 1320S.he nodded to show she understood and let them ease her down onto it, though she was so dizzy she had to grab at the heavy bedhangings to keep from falling, and her chest hurt so

badly when she tried to stand up again that she doubled over.
"Maisry!" the old woman shouted toward the d"oMora.isry, Com undtvae holpoon!" and the inflection indicated clearly that she was calling someone-Marjorie? Mary?--to come and help, but no one appeared, so perhaps she was wrong about that, too.
She straightened a little, testing the pain, and then tried to stand up, and the pain had lessened a little, but they still had to nearly carry her back to the bed, and she was exhausted by the time she was back under the bedcoverings.She closed her eyes.
"Slaeponpon donu paw daton," the young woman said, and she had to be"Rsaeysti,n"g,or "Go to
sleep," but she still couldn't decipherTiht.e interpreter's broken, she thought, and the little knot of panic started to form again, worse than the pain in her chest.
It can't be broken, she told hersIet'lsf.not a machineI.t's a chemical syntax and memory enhancIter. can't be brokenI.t could only work with words in its memory, though, and obviously Mr. Latimer's Middle English was uselessW. han thatAprille with his shoures sotMe.r. Latimer's pronunciations were
so far off the interpreter couldn't recognize what it was hearing as the same words, but that didn't mean it was broken.It only meant it had to collect new data, and the few sentences it had heard so far weren't enough.
It recognized the Latin, she thought, and the panic stabbed at her again, but she rIet sihsatedd biet.en
able to recognize the Latin because the rite of extreme unction was a seSthepiehcaed.
already known
what words should be therTe.he words the women spoke weren't a set piece, but they were still decipherable. Proper names, forms of address, nouns and verbs and prepositional phrases would appear in set positions that repeated again and agTaihne.y would separate themselves out rapidly, and the interpreter would be able to use them as the key to the rest of tAhendcowdeh.at she needed to do now
was collect data, listen to what was said without even trying to understand it, and let the interpreter work. "Thin keowre hoorwoun desmoortale?" the young woman asked.
"Got tallon wottes," the old woman said.
A bell began to ring, far awKaiyv.rin opened her eyesB. oth women had turned to look at the window, even though they couldn't see through the linen.
"Bere wichebay gansanon," the young woman said.
The old woman didn't answSerh.e was staring at the window, as if she could see past the stiffened linen, her hands clasped in front of her as if in prayer.
"Aydreddit ister fayve riblaun," the young woman said, and in spite of her resolution, Kivrin tried to
make it into, "It is time for vespers," or "There is the vespers bell," but it wasnT'thveesbpeellrsw.
ent on
tolling, and no other bells joined Sihne. in the late afternoon.
wondered if it was the bell she had heard before, ringing all alone
The old woman turned abruptly away from the win"dNoawy., Elwiss, itbahn diwolffin."She picked up the chamberpot from the wooden che"sGt.awynha thesspyd-"
There was a sudden scuffling outside the door, a sound of footsteps running up stairs, and a child's voice crying, "Modder! Eysmertemay!"

A little girl burst into the room, blonde braids and cap strings flying, nearly colliding with the old woman and the chamberpotT. he child's round face was red and smeared with tears.
"Wol yadothoos forshame ahnyous!" the old woman growled at her, lifting the treacherous bowl out of reach. "Yowe maunnaroonso inhus."
The little girl paid no attention to Shheer. ran straight at the young woman, sobbing, "Rawzamun hattmay smerte, Modder!"
Kivrin gaspedM.
odder. That had to be mother.
The little girl held up her arms, and her mother, oh, yes, definitely mother pickeSdhehefrasutepn. ed her arms around her mother's neck and began to howl.
"Shh, ahnyous, shh," the mother saTidh.at guttural's a G, Kivrin thougAht. hacking German GS.hh, Agnes.
Still holding her, the mother sat down on the windowShseeawt.iped at the tears with the tail of her coif. "Spekenaw dothass bifel, Agnes."
Yes, definitely AgnesA. nd speken was telTl.ell me what happened.
"Shayoss mayswerte!" Agnes said, pointing at another child who had just come into thTeheroom. second girl was considerably older, nine or ten at Slehaest.had long brown hair that hung down her back and was held in place by a dark blue kerchief.
"Itgan naso, ahnyous," she sa"idT.ha pighte rennin gawdnerstayres," and there was no mistaking that combination of affection and contempSth. e didn't look like the blonde little girl, but Kivrin was willing to bet this dark-haired girl was the little one's si"sStehra.y pighte renninge ahndist eyrems,odder."
Mother again, and shay was she and pighte must bIet sfeolul.nded French, but the key to this was
German. The pronunciations, the constructions were GermaKni.vrin could almost feel it click into place.
"Na comfitte horr thusselwys," the older woman mais gain thy pitye."
"sSaihde. hathnau woundes.Hoor teres been fornaught
"Hoor nay ganful bloody," the woman whose name was Eliwys said, but Kivrin couldn't Shheear her.
was hearing instead the interpreter's translation, still clumsy and obviously more than a beat behind, but a translation:
"Don't pamper her, EliwySshe is not injuredH. er tears are but to get your attention." And the mother, whose name was Eliwys, "Her knee is bleeding."
"Rossmunt brangund oorwarsted frommecofre," she said, pointing at the foot of the bed, and the
interpreter was right behind he"rR. osemund, fetch me the cloth on the cheTsht.e" immediately toward the trunk at the foot of the bed.
ten-year-old moved
The older girl was Rosemund, and the little one was Agnes, and the impossibly young mother in her wimple and coif was Eliwys.

Rosemund held out a frayed cloth that must surely be the one Eliwys had taken off Kivrin's forehead.
"Touch it notT!ouch it not!" Agnes screamed, and Kivrin wouldn't have even needed the interpreter for that one.It was still far more than a beat behind.
"I would but tie cloth to stop the bleeding," Eliwys said, taking the rag from RAosgenmesuntdri.ed to
push it away". The cloth will not-T"here was a blank space as if the interpreter didn't know a word, and then, "-you, Agnes."The word was obviously hurt or harm, and Kivrin wondered if the interpreter had
not had the word in its memory and why it couldn't have come up with an approximation from context.
"-will penaunce," Agnes shouted, and the interpreter echoed, "It will-" and then the blanTkhaegain. space must be so that she could hear the actual word and make her own guess at itsIt mweaasnni'nt ga.
bad idea, but the interpreter was so far behind the space that Kivrin couldn't hear the word she was intended to.If the interpreter did this every time it didn't recognize a word, she was in serious trouble.
"It will penaunce," Agnes wailed, pushing her mother's hand away from he"rIt kwneilel. pain," the interpreter whispered, and Kivrin felt relieved that it had managed to come up with something, even though "to pain" was scarcely a verb.
"How came you to fall?" Eliwys asked to distract Agnes.
"She was running up the stairs," Rosemund come."
"sSaihde.
was running to give you the news that...had
The interpreter left a space again, but Kivrin caught the word thGisatwimyne,.
which was probably a
proper name, and the interpreter had apparently reached the same conclusion because by the time Agnes had shrieked, "I would have told Mother Gawyn had come," the interpreter included it in the translation.
"I would have told," Agnes said, really crying now, and buried her face against her mother, who promptly took advantage of the opportunity to tie the bandage around Agnes's knee.
"You can tell me now," she said. Agnes shook her buried head.
"You tie the bandage too loosely, daughter-in-law," the older woman"Itsawidil.l but fall away."
The bandage looked tight enough to Kivrin, and obviously any attempt to bind the wound tighter would result in renewed screamsT.he old woman was still holding the chamberpot in both hKainvdrisn.
wondered why she didn't go empty it.
"Shh, shh," Eliwys said, rocking the little girl gently and patting he"rI bwaocukl.d fain have you tell me." "Pride goes before a fall," the old woman said, seemingly determined to make Agnes c"rYyouagain.
were to blame that you feYllo. u should not have run in the hall." "Was Gawyn riding a white mare?" Eliwys asked.
A white mareK. ivrin wondered if Gawyn could be the man who had helped her onto his horse and brought her to the manor.

"Nay," Agnes said in a tone that indicated her mother had made some sort"Hoef jwoakse.riding his
own black stallion GringoleAt. nd he rode up to me and said, 'Good Lady Agnes, I would speak with thy mother.'"
"Rosemund, your sister was hurt because of your carelessness," the old womaSnhesahida.dn't succeeded in upsetting Agnes, so she'd decided to go after some other "vWicthiym.were you not tending her?"
"I was at my broidery," Rosemund said, looking to her mother for s"uMpapiosrrty. over her."
was to keep watch
"Maisry went out to see Gawyn," Agnes said, sitting up on her mother's lap.
"And dally with the stableboy," the old woman Sshaeid.went to the door and shouted, "Maisry!" Maisry.That was the name the old woman had called out before, and now the interpreter wasn't even
leaving spaces when it came to proper namKeisv.rin didn't know who Maisry was, probably a servant, but if the way things were going was any indication, Maisry was going to be in a lotTohfe troolduble. woman was determined to find a victim, and the missing Maisry seemed perfect.
"Maisry!" she shouted again, and the name echoed.
Rosemund took the opportunity to go and stand beside her m"oGthawery. n bade us tell you he begged leave to come and speak with you."
"Waits he below?" Eliwys asked.
"Nay.He went first to the church to speak of the lady with Father Rock."
Pride goes before a faTllh.e interpreter was obviously getting overconfideFnta.ther Rolfe, perhaps, or
Father Peter.Obviously not Father Rock.
"Why went he to speak to Father Rock?" the old woman demanded, coming back into the room. Kivrin tried to hear the real word under the maddening whisper of the tranRsloatcihoen..The French
word for "rock."Father Roche.
"Mayhap he has found somewhat of the lady," Eliwys said, glancing at ItKwivarisn.the first indication she, or anyone, had given that they remembered Kivrin was in theKriovorimn . quickly closed her eyes to make them think she was asleep so they would go on discussing her.
"Gawyn rode out this morning to seek the ruffians," EliwysKisvariidn.
opened her eyes to slits, but she
was no longer looking at h"eMr. ayhap he has found themS."he bent and tied the dangling strings of
Agnes's linen cap". Agnes, go to the church with Rosemund and tell Gawyn we would speak with him in
the hall.The lady sleepsW.
e must not disturb her."
Agnes darted for the door, shouting, "I would be the one to tell him, Rosemund."
"Rosemund, let your sister tell," Eliwys called after t"hAemgn.es, do not run."

The girls disappeared out the door and down the invisible stairs, obviously running.
"Rosemund is near-grown," the old woman s"aIitd.is not seemly for her to run after your husband's
men. Ill will come of your daughters being untendYeodu. nurse."
would do wisely to send to Oxenford for a
"No," Eliwys said with a firmness Kivrin wouldn't have guess"eMdaaistr.y can keep watch over them."
"Maisry is not fit to watch sheWepe. should not have come from Bath in such hSausrtel.y we could have waited till..." something.
The interpreter left a gap again, and Kivrin didn't recognize the phrase, but she had caught the important facts. They had come from BatTh.hey were near Oxford.
"Let Gawyn fetch a nurAsen. d a leech-woman to see to the lady." "We will send for no one," Eliwys said.
"To...," another place name the interpreter couldn't man"aLgaed.y Yvolde has repute with injuriAesn. d she would gladly lend us one of her waiting women for a nurse."
"No," Eliwys said".We will tend her ourselveFs.ather Roche-"
"Father Roche," she said contemptuous"lyH.e knows naught of medicine."
But I understood everything he said, Kivrin thouSghhet. remembered his quiet voice chanting the last
rites, his gentle touch on her temples, her palms, the soles of hHere fheaedt. and asked her her namAe.nd held her hand.
told her not to be afraid
"If the lady is of noble birth," the older woman said, "would you have it told you let an ignorant village priest tend her?Lady Yvolde-"
"We will send for no one," Eliwys said, and for the first time Kivrin realized she w"Masy ahfruasibda.nd bade us keep here till he come."
"He had sooner have come with us."
"You know he could not," Eliwys s"aHide.
will come when he caInm.
ust go to speak with Gawyn," she
said walking past the old woman to the d"oGoarw. yn told me he would search the place where first he found the lady to seek for signs of her attacMkearysh. ap he has found somewhat that will tell us what she is."
The place where first he found the lGadayw.yn was the man who had found her, the man with the red hair and the kind face who had helped her onto his horse and brought hTehrathemreu.ch at least she
hadn't dreamed, though she must have dreamed the white hHoreseh.ad brought her here, and he knew where the drop was.
"Wait," Kivrin saidS.he pushed herself up against the pillow"Ws.ait. Please. I would speak with
Gawyn."
The women stoppedE. liwys came around beside the bed, looking alarmed.

"I would speak with the man called Gawyn," Kivrin said carefully, waiting before each word until she had the translationE. ventually the process would be automatic, but for now she thought the word and then waited till the interpreter translated it and repeated it out"Ilomudu.st discover this place where he
found me."
Eliwys laid her hand on Kivrin's forehead, and Kivrin brushed it impatiently away. "I would speak with Gawyn," she said.
"She has no fever, Imeyne," Eliwys said to the old woman, "and yet she tries to speak, though she knows we cannot understand her."
spy."
"She speaks in a foreign tongue," Imeyne said, making it sound cri"mMinaaylh. ap she is a French
"I'm not speaking French," Kivrin sa"iId'm.
speaking Middle English."
"Mayhap it is Latin," Eliwys sa"iFda.ther Roche said she spoke in Latin when he shrove her."
"Father Roche can scarce say his Paternoster," Lady Imeyne"Wsaied.should send to..." the
unrecognizable name againK.
ersey? Courcy?
"I would speak with Gawyn," Kivrin said in Latin. "Nay," Eliwys said".We will await my husband."
The old woman wheeled angrily, slopping the contents of the chamberpot onto herShheanwd.iped it off onto her skirt and went out the door, slamming it shut behiEnldiwhyesr.started after her.
Kivrin grabbed at her hand"Ws. hy don't you understand me?" she sa"iId.understand youI. to Gawyn.He has to tell me where the drop is."
have to talk
Eliwys disengaged Kivrin's han"dT. here, you mustn't cry," she said kind"lTyr.y to sleepY. so you can go home."
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (000915-001284)
ou must rest,
I'm in a lot of trouble, Mr. DunwoIrthdyo.n't know where I am, and I can't speak the language. Something's gone wrong with the interpretIer.can understand some of what the contemps say, but they can't understand me at aAll.nd that's not the worst of it.

I've caught some sort of diseaIsed.on't know what it Iits's.
not the plague because I don't have any of
the right symptoms and because I'm getting beAttenrd.
I had a plague inoculatioInh. ad all my
inoculations and T-cell enhancement and everything, but one of them must not have worked or else this is some Middle Ages disease there aren't any inoculations for.
The symptoms are headache and fever and dizziness, and I get a pain in my chest when I tIry to move. was delirious for a while, which is why I don't know whereA Imaamn. named Gawyn brought me here
on his horse, but I don't remember very much about the trip except that it was dark and it seemed to take hours. I'm hoping I was wrong and the fever made it seem longer, and I'm in Ms. Montoya's village after
all.
It could be SkendgatIe.remember a church, and I think this is a manor Ih'mousien.
a bedroom or a
solar, and it's not just a loft because there are stairs, so that means the house of a minor baron at least. There's a window, and as soon as the dizziness subsides I'll climb up on the window seat and see if I can see the churchI.t has a bell-it rang for vespers just nTohwe. one at Ms. Montoya's village didn't have a
belltower, and that makes me afraid I'm not in the right Iplkancoew.
we're fairly close to Oxford,
because one of the contemps talked about fetching a doctor from Itt'hseraels.o close to a village called
Kersey-or Courcy--which is not one of the villages on the map of Ms. Montoya's I memorized, but that could be the name of the landowner.
Because of being out of my head, I'm not sure of my temporal locatioIn'veeibtheeern.
trying to
remember, and I think I've only been sick two days, but it might bAe nmd oIrec. an't ask them what day
it is because they don't understand me, and I can't get out of bed without falling over, and they've cut my hair off, and I don't know what toWdhoa. t happened?Why won't the interpreter workW? hy didn't the
T-cell enhancement? (Break)
There's a rat under my bIedc.an hear it scrabbling in the dark.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
They couldn't understand heKr.ivrin had tried to communicate with Eliwys, to make her understand, but she had merely smiled kindly, uncomprehendingly, and told Kivrin to rest.
"Please," Kivrin had said as Eliwys started for the "dDooonr'.t leave.This is importantG. awyn is the only one who knows where the drop is."
"Sleep," Eliwys said".I will be back in a little."
"You have to let me see him," Kivrin said desperately, but Eliwys was already nearly to"Ithe door. don't know where the drop is."
There was a clattering on the staEilrisw. ys opened the door and said, "Agnes, I bade you go tell-" She stopped in midsentence and took a step bSahcek.did not look frightened or even upset, but her
hand on the lintel jerked a little, as if she would have slammed the door, and Kivrin's heart began to
pound. This is it, she thought wildTlyh.ey've come to take me to the stake.
"Good morning, my lady," a man's voice hall, but I did not."
"sYaido.ur daughter Rosemund told me I would find you in
He came into the rooKmi.vrin couldn't see his facHe.e was standing at the foot of the bed, hidden from her by the hangingsS.he tried to shift her head so she could see him, but the movement made her head spin violently.She lay back down.
"I thought I would find you with the wounded lady," the maHne swaiads.
wearing a padded jerkin and
leather hose.And a swordS. he could hear it clank as he took a step for"wHaordw.
does she?"
"She fares better today," Eliwys sa"iMd.y husband's mother has gone to brew her a decoction of woundwort for her injuries."
She had taken her hand from the door, and his comment about "your daughter Rosemund" surely meant that this was Gawyn, the man she had sent to look for Kivrin's attackers, but Eliwys had taken two more steps backward as he spoke, and her face looked guarded, Twhaeryt.hought of danger flickered
through Kivrin's mind again, and she wondered suddenly if she might not have dreamed Mr. Dunworthy's cutthroat after all, if that man, with his cruel face, might be Gawyn.
"Found you aught that might tell us of the lady's identity?" Eliwys said carefully.

"Nay," he said".Her goods had all been stolen and the horses taIkheonp. ed the lady might tell me somewhat of her attackers, how many there were and from what direction they came upon her."
"I fear she cannot tell you anything," Eliwys said.
"Is she mute then?" he said and moved so she could see him.
He was not so tall as Kivrin remembered him, standing over her, and his hair looked less red and more blonde in the daylight, but his face still looked as kind as when he had set her onHhisisbhlaocrkse.
horse Gringolet.
After he had found her in the cleaHrineg.was not the cutthroat-she had dreamed the cutthroat, conjured him out of her delirium and Mr. Dunworthy's fears, along with the white horse and the Christmas
carols-and she must be misunderstanding Eliwys's reactions the way she had misunderstood their getting her up to use the chamberpot.
"She is not mute, but speaks in some strange tongue I do not know," Eli"wIyfseasraihde. r injuries have addled her wits."She came around to the side of the bed and Gawyn followe"dGohoedr. lady.I have brought my husband's privé Gawyn."
"Good day, my lady," Gawyn said, speaking slowly and over- distinctly, as if he thought Kivrin were deaf.
"It was he who found you in the woods," Eliwys said. Where in the woods? Kivrin thought desperately.
"I am pleased that your wounds are healing," Gawyn said, emphasizing every"Cwanordy.ou tell me of the men who attacked you?"
I don't know if I can tell you anything, she thought, afraid to speak for fear he wouldn't understand her either. He had to understand heHr.e knew where the drop was.
"How many men were there?" Gawyn s"aWid.ere they on horseback?"
Where did you find me? she thought, emphasizing the words the way GawSyhne hwadai.ted for the
interpreter to work out the whole sentence, listening carefully to the intonations, checking them against the language lessons Mr. Dunworthy had given her.
Gawyn and Eliwys were waiting, watching her inteSnhtley. took a deep breat"hW. me?"
here did you find
They exchanged quick glances, his surprised, hers saying plainly, "You see?"
"She spoke thus that night," he s"aIidt.hought it was her injury that made her speak so." "And so I do," Eliwys sa"iMd.y husband's mother thinks she is of France."
He shook his hea"dI.t is not French she speakHs."e turned back to Kivri"nG. ood lady," he said, nearly shouting, "came you from another land?"

Yes, Kivrin thought, another land, and the only way back is the drop, and only you know where it is. "Where did you find me?" she said again.
"Her goods were all taken," Gawyn said, "but her wagon was of rich make, and she had many boxes." Eliwys nodded". I fear she is of high birth and her people seeking her."
"In what part of the woods did you find me?" Kivrin said, her voice rising.
"We are upsetting her," Eliwys saSihde.
leaned over Kivrin and patted her ha"nSdh.h. Take your rest."
She moved away from the bed, and Gawyn followed.
"Would you have me ride to Bath to Lord Guillaume?" Gawyn said, out of sight behind the hangings. Eliwys stepped back the way she had when he first came in, as if she were afraBidut otfhehyimh.ad
stood side by side at the bed, their hands nearly toucThhienyg. had spoken together like old frienTdhsi.s wariness must be coming from something else.
"Would you have me bring your husband?" Gawyn said.
"Nay," Eliwys said, looking down at her ha"nMdsy.
lord has enough to worry him, and he cannot leave
until the trial is finisheAd.nd he bade you stay with us and guard us."
"By your leave, then, I will return to the place where the lady was set upon and search further." "Aye," Eliwys said, still not looking at "hIinm.their haste, some token may have fallen to the ground
nearby that will tell us of her."
The place where the lady was set upon, Kivrin recited under her breath, trying to hear his words under the interpreter's translation and memorize theTmh.e place where I was set upon.
"I will take my leave and ride out again," Gawyn said. Eliwys looked up at hi"mN.ow?" she said". It grows dark." "Show me the place where I was set upon," Kivrin said.
"I do not fear the dark, Lady Eliwys," he said, and strode out, the sword clanking.
"Take me with you," Kivrin said, but it was nTohueyse.were already gone, and the interpreter was broken. She had deceived herself into thinking it was workSihneg. had understood what they were
saying because of the language lessons Mr. Dunworthy had given her, not because of the interpreter, and perhaps she was only deceiving herself that she understood them.
Perhaps the conversation had not been about who she was at all, but about something else altogether-finding a missing sheep or putting her on trial.
The lady Eliwys had shut the door when they went out, and Kivrin couldn't hear Eavneynthitnhge. tolling bell had stopped, and the light from the waxed linen was faintIlyt gbrlouwe.s dark.

Gawyn had said he was going to ride back to theIf dtrhoep.window overlooked the courtyard, she might at least be able to see which way he rodIet iosutn. ot far, he had saIifd.she could just see the direction he rode, she could find the drop herself.
She pushed herself up in the bed, but even that much exertion made the pain in her chestSshteab again. put her feet over the side, but the action made her Sdhizezyla.y back against the pillow and closed her
eyes.
Dizziness and fever and a pain in the cWhehsat.t were those symptoms oSf?mallpox started out with fever and chills, and the pox didn't appear until the second or thiSrdhedaliyft.ed her arm up to see if
there were the beginnings of the pSohxe.
had no idea how long she had been ill, but it couldn't be
smallpox because the incubation period was ten to twenty-one
Tdaeyns.days ago she had been in
hospital in Oxford, where the smallpox virus had been extinct for nearly a hundred years.
She had been in hospital, getting inoculated against all ofsmtheamllp:ox, typhoid fever, cholera, plague. So how could it be any of theAmn?d if it wasn't any of them, what waSst.itV? itus's dance?She had
told herself that before, that this was something she had not been vaccinated against, but she had had her immune system augmented, too, to fight off any infection.
There was a sound of running on st"aMirso.dder!" a voice that she already recognized as Agnes's shouted. "Rosemund waited not!"
She didn't burst into the room with quite as much violence because the heavy door was shut and she had to push it open, but as soon as she had squeezed through, she raced for the windowseat, wailing.
"Modder!I would have told Gawyn!" she sobbed, and then stopped when she saw her mother wasn't in the room.The tears stopped too, Kivrin noticed.
Agnes stood by the window for a minute, as if she were debating whether to try this scene at a later time, and then ran back to the doHoarl.fway there, she spied Kivrin and stopped again.
"I know who you are," she said, coming around to the side of Sthe wbeads. scarcely tall enough to
see over the bedH. er cap strings had come undone aga"iYn.ou are the lady Gawyn found in the wood."
Kivrin was afraid that her answer, garbled as the interpreter obviously made it, would frighten the little girl. She pushed herself up a little against the pillows and nodded.
"What befell your hair?" Agnes ask"eDd.id the robbers steal it?" Kivrin shook her head, smiling at the odd idea.
"Maisry says the robbers stole your tongue," Agnes your head?"
Kivrin nodded.
Ssahied. pointed at Kivrin's forehea"dH. urt you
"I hurt my knee," she said, and tried to pick it up with both hands so Kivrin could see the dirty bandage. The old woman was righIt was already slippingS.he could see the wound underKiitv. rin had
supposed it was just a skinned knee, but the wound looked fairly deep.

Agnes tottered, let go of the knee, and leaned against the bed"Wagilaliny.ou die?"
I don't know, Kivrin thought, thinking of the pain in herThcheesmt.ortality rate for smallpox had been seventy-five per cent in 1320, and her augmented immune system wasn't working.
"Brother Hubard died," Agnes said wise"lAy.nd Gilbert.He fell from his horsIe.saw himH. all red.Rosemund said Brother Hubard died of the blue sickness."
is head was
Kivrin wondered what the blue sickness was-choking perhaps, or apoplexy-and if he was the chaplain that Eliwys' mother-in- law was so eager to repIlat cwe.as usual for noble households to travel with their own priests.Father Roche was apparently the local priest, probably uneducated and possibly even illiterate, though she had understood his Latin perfectly wAenldl. he had been kinHd.e had held her
hand and told her not to be afrTaihde.re are nice people in the Middle Ages, Mr. Dunworthy, she thought. Father Roche and Eliwys and Agnes.
"My father said he would bring me a magpie when he comes from Bath," Ag"nAedselsiaziad.has a
tercel. She lets me hold him sometimeSs.h"e held her bent arm up and out, the dimpled fist closed as if a falcon were perched on her imaginary gauntle"tI. have a hound."
"What is your hound's name?" Kivrin asked.
"I call him Blackie," Agnes said, though Kivrin was certain that was only the interpreter'sMvoerresion. likely she had said Blackamon or Blakk"iHn.e is blackH. ave you a hound?"
Kivrin was too surprised to answSehre.
had spoken and made herself understoAodg.nes hadn't even
acted like her pronunciation was unusuSahl.e had spoken without thinking about the interpreter or waiting for it to translate, and perhaps that was the secret.
"Nay, I have no hound," she said finally, trying to duplicate what she'd done before. "I will teach my magpie to tIalwk.ill teach him to say, 'Good morrow, Agnes.'"
"Where is your hound?" Kivrin said, trying agTahien. words sounded different to her, lighter, with that murmuring French inflection she had heard in the women's speech.
"Do you wish to see BlackHiee? is in the stable," she saIitd.sounded like a direct response, but the way Agnes talked it was difficult to Stehlel. might simply have been volunteering informatiTono. be sure,
Kivrin would have to ask her something completely off the subject and something with only one answer. Agnes was stroking the soft fur of the bedcovering and humming a toneless little tune.
"What is your name?" she asked, trying to let the interpreter control herIt wtroarndssl.ated her modern sentence into something like, "How are youe cleped?" which she was not sure was correct, but Agnes didn't hesitate.
"Agnes," the little girl said promp"tlMy.y father says I may have a tercel when I am old enough to ride a mare. I have a pony.S"he stopped stroking the fur, propped her elbows on the edge of the bed and rested her chin in her little han"dIs.know your name," she said, sounding smugly plea"sIet di.s
Katherine."
"What?" Kivrin said blanklKy.atherine. How had they come up with KatherinHee?r name was

supposed to be IsabelW. as it possible that they thought they knew who she was?
"Rosemund said none knew your name," she went on, looking smug, "but I heard Father Roche tell
Gawyn you were called KatherinRe.osemund said you could not speak, but yet you can."
Kivrin had a sudden image of the priest bending over her, his face obscured by the flames that seemed constantly in front of her, saying in Latin, "What is your name that you might be shriven?"
And she, trying to form the word though her mouth was so dry she could hardly speak, afraid she would die and they would never know what had happened to her.
"Are you called Katherine?" Agnes was demanding, and she could hear the little girl's voice clearly under the interpreter's translationI.t sounded just like Kivrin.
"Aye," Kivrin said, and felt like crying.
"Blackie has a...," Agnes saTidh.e interpreter didn't catch the worKda. rette? Chavette? "It is red. Would you like to see it?" and before Kivrin could stop her, went running out through the still partly-opened door.
Kivrin waited, hoping she would come back and that a karette wasn't alive, wishing she had asked where she was and how long she'd been here, though Agnes was probably too young Stoheknow.
looked no more than three, though of course she would be much smaller than a modern three-year-old. Five, then, or possibly siIx.should have asked her how old she was, Kivrin thought, and then
remembered that she might not know that eitJhoearn. Inquisitors asked her at her trial.
of Arc hadn't known how old she was when the
At least she could ask questions, Kivrin thouTghhet. interpreter was not broken after Iatllm.
ust have
been temporarily stymied by the strange pronunciations, or affected somehow by her fever, but it was all right now, and Gawyn knew where the drop was and could show it to her.
She sat up straighter among the pillows so she could see thTehdeoeofrf.ort hurt her chest and made
her dizzy, and her head acheSdh.e anxiously felt her forehead and then her cheTehkesy.
felt warm, but
that could be because her hands were cIotldw. as icy in the room, and on her excursion to the chamberpot, she hadn't seen any sign of a brazier or even a warming pan.
Had warming pans been invented yTeht?ey must haveO. therwise how would people have survived the
Little Ice Age?It was so cold.
She was beginning to shivHere. r fever must be going back Wupe. re they supposed to come bacIkn?
her Med History lecture she had read about fevers breaking, and after that the patient was weak, but the fever didn't come back, did Oit?f course it didW. hat about malaria?Shivering, headache, sweats,
recurring fever.Of course they came back.
Well, it obviously wasn't malarMia.alaria had never been endemic to England, mosquitoes didn't live in
Oxford in midwinter and never had, and the symptoms were wSrhoengh. adn't experienced any sweating, and the shivering she was having was due to fever.
Typhus produced headache and a high fever, and it was transmitted by body lice and rat fleas, both of which were endemic to England in the Middle Ages and probably endemic to the bed she was lying on, but the incubation period was too long, nearly two weeks.

Typhoid fever's incubation period was only a few days, and it caused headache, aching in the limbs, and high fever tooS. he didn't think it was a recurring fever, but she remembered it was normally highest at night, so that must mean it went down during the day and then up again in the evening.
Kivrin wondered what time it wEalsi.wys had said, "It grows dark," and the light from the linen-covered window was faintly blue, but the days were short in DeceImt bmerig. ht only be mid-afternooSnh. e felt
sleepy, but that was no sign eithSehre.
had slept off and on all day.
Drowsiness was a symptom of typhoid feSvhere. tried to remember the others from Dr. Ahrens' "short course" in mediaeval medicineN. osebleeds, coated tongue, rose-colored rasTh.he rash wasn't
supposed to appear until the seventh or eighth day, but Kivrin pulled her shift up and looked at her
stomach and chestN. day.
o rash, so it couldn't be smallpToxh.e pox started appearing by the second or third
She wondered what had happened to AgnPer.haps someone had belatedly had the good sense to bar her from the sickroom, or perhaps the unreliable Maisry was actually watchinOgr, hmero. re likely, she
had stopped to see her puppy in the stable and forgotten she was going to show her chavotte to Kivrin.
The plague started out with a headache and a fever, and Dr. Ahrens had been worried about her plague inoculation. She had wanted to wait until the swelling under Kivrin's arm wentItdocwann'.t be the
plague, Kivrin thoughtY. ou don't have any of the symptomBus.boes that grew to the size of oranges, a tongue that swelled till it filled the whole mouth, subcutaneous hemorrhages that turned the whole body black. You don't have the plague.
It must be some sort of Iftluw. as the only disease that came on so suddenly, and Dr. Ahrens had been upset over Mr. Gilchrist's moving the date up because the antivirals wouldn't take full effect until the fifteenth, and she'd only have partial immunIity.had to be the fWlu.hat was the treatment for the flu? Antivirals, rest, fluids.
Well then, rest, she told herself, and closed her eyes.
She did not remember falling asleep, but she must have, because the two women were in the room again, talking, and Kivrin had no memory of their having come in.
"What said Gawyn?" the old woman sSahide. was doing something with a bowl and a spoon, mashing the spoon against the side ofTiht.e iron-bound casket sat open beside her, and she reached into it, pulled out a small cloth bag, sprinkled the contents into the bowl and stirred it again.
"He found naught among her belongings that might tell us the lady's Hoerirgignos.ods had all been
stolen, the chests broken open and emptied of all that might identiBfyuthehre. rich make.Certes, she is of good family."
said her wagon was of
"And certes, her family searches for her," the old womanShseaidh.ad set down the bowl and was tearing cloth with a loud ripping sou"nWd.e must send to Oxenford and tell them she lies safe with us."
"No," Eliwys said, and Kivrin could hear the resistance in her"Nvooitcet.o Oxenford." "What have you heard?"
"I have heard naught," Eliwys said, "but that my lord bade us keHepe hweirlel. be here within the week

if all goes well."
"If all had gone well he would have been here now."
"The trial had scarce beguMn.ayhap he is on his way home even now."
"Or mayhap...," another one of those untranslatable names, Torquil? "...waits to be hanged, and my son with him.He should not have meddled in such a matter."
"He is a friend, and guiltless of the charges."
"He is a fool, and my son more fool for testifying on hisAbferhieanlfd.
would have bade him leave
Bath." She ground the spoon into the side of the bowl a"Igahina.ve need of mustard for this," she said
and stepped to the doo"rM. of the lady's attendants?"
aisry!" she called, and went back to tearing the c"lFoothu.nd Gawyn aught
Eliwys sat down on the windowse"aNt.o, nor of their horses nor hers."
A girl with a pocked face and greasy hair hanging over it cSaumreelyint.his couldn't be Maisry, who dallied with stableboys instead of watching her charSgehse. bent her knee in a curtsey that was more of a stumble and said, "Wotwardstu, Lawttymayeen?"
Oh, no, Kivrin thoughWt. hat's wrong with the interpreter?
"Fetch me the pot of mustard from the kitchen and tarry not," the old woman said, and the girl started fo the door."Where are Agnes and RosemundW? hy are they not with you?"
"Shiyrouthamay," she said sullenly.
Eliwys stood up".Speak up," she said sharply. "They hide (something) from me."
It wasn't the interpreter after Iatllwas simply the difference of the Norman English the nobles spoke
and the still Saxon-sounding dialect of the peasants, neither of which sounded anything like the Middle
English Mr. Latimer had blithely taught hIterw.
as a wonder the interpreter was picking up anything at all.
"I was seeking them when Lady Imeyne called, good lady," Maisry said, and the interpreter got it all, though it was taking several secondIts.gave an imbecilic slowness to Maisry's speech, which might or might not be appropriate.
"Where did you look for theImn?the stable?" Eliwys said, and brought her hands together on either side of Maisry's head like a pair of cymbMalas.isry howled and clapped a dirty hand to her lefKt ievarirn.
shrank back against the pillows.
"Go and fetch the mustard to Lady Imeyne and find you Agnes."
Maisry nodded, not looking particularly frightened but still holding heSrheeasrt.umbled another curtsey and went out no more quickly than she had comSeheins.eemed less upset by the sudden violence than Kivrin was, and Kivrin wondered if Lady Imeyne would get her mustard any time soon.

It was the swiftness and the calmness of the violence that had surpriEselidwyhser.had not even seemed
angry, and as soon as Maisry was gone she went back to the windowseat, sat down, and said quietly, "The lady could not be moved though her family did cSohme ec.an bide with us until my husband
returns. He will be here by Christmas surely."
There was noise on the staiArsp. parently she had been wrong, Kivrin thought and the ear-boxing had done some goodA. gnes rushed in, clutching something to her chest.
"Agnes!" Eliwys said".What do you here?"
"I brought my...," the interpreter still didn't havCehaitr.ette? "to show the lady."
"You are a wicked child to hide from Maisry and come hence to disturb the lady," E"liSwhyes said. suffers greatly from her injuries."
"But she told me she wished to seSe hiet."held it upI.t was a toy two-wheeled cart painted red and gilt. "God punishes those who bear false witness with everlasting torment," Lady Imeyne said, grabbing the
little girl roughly". The lady cannot speakY. ou know full well."
"She spoke to me," Agnes said sturdily.
Good for you, Kivrin thougEhtv.erlasting torment.What horrible things to threaten a child wBituht. this
was the Middle Ages, when priests talked constantly of the last days and the final judgment, of the pains of hell.
"She told me she wished to see my wagon," Agnes"Sshaeids. aid she did not have a hound."
"You are making up tales," Eliwys s"aTidh.e lady cannot speak," and Kivrin thought, I have to stop this. They'll box her ears, too.
She pushed herself up on her elboTwhse.
effort left her breathles"sI. spoke with Agnes," she said,
praying the interpreter would do what it was supposeIdf
tiot .chose to blink out again at this moment
and ended up getting Agnes a beating, that would be the last"Istrbaawd.e her bring her cart to me."
Both women turned and looked at
Ehelirw. ys's eyes widenedT. he old woman looked astonished and
then angry, as if she thought Kivrin had deceived them.
"I told you," Agnes said, and marched over to the bed with the wagon. Kivrin lay back against the pillows, exhaus"tWed.hat is this place?" she asked.
It took Eliwys a moment to recover her"sYelof.u rest safely in the house of my lord and husbaTnhde..." interpreter had trouble with the namIte.sounded like Guillaume D'Iverie or possibly Devereaux.
Eliwys was looking at her anxious"lMy.y husband's privé found you in the woods and brought you hence. You had been set upon by robbers and grievously injWurehdo. attacked you?"
"I know not," Kivrin said.
"I am called Eliwys, and this is the mother of my husband, the LadyWImhaetynise.your name?"

And now was the time to tell them the whole carefully researchedShsetohrya.d told the priest her name was Katherine, but Lady Imeyne had already made it clear she put no stock in anythingShhee said. didn't even believe he could speak LaKtiniv. rin could say he had misunderstood, that her name was
Isabel de BeauvrierS. he could tell them she had called out her mother's, her sister's name in her delirium. She could tell them she had been praying to St. Katherine.
"Of what family are you?" Lady Imeyne asked.
It was a very good stoIrty.would establish her identity and position in society and would ensure that they wouldn't try to send for her famYiloyr.kshire was too far away, and the road north was impassable.
"Whither were you bound?" Eliwys said.
Mediaeval had thoroughly researched the weather and the road condiIttiohnasd.
rained every day for
two weeks in December, and there hadn't been a hard frost to freeze the mired roads till late January. But she had seen the road to OxfoItrdh.ad been dry and cleAarn. d Mediaeval had thoroughly
researched the color of her dress, and the prevalence of glass windows among the upperThcelaysses. had thoroughly researched the language.
"I remember not," Kivrin said.
"Not?" Eliwys said, and turned to Lady Ime"ySnhee.
remembers not."They think I'm saying "naught,"
Kivrin thought, that I don't remember anythiTngh.e inflection, the pronunciation didn't differentiate between the two words.
"It is her wound," Eliwys sa"iIdt . has shaken her memory."
"No...nay...," Kivrin saidS.he was not supposed to feign amnesSiha.e was supposed to be Isabel de
Beauvrier, from the East RidinJgu. st because the roads were dry here didn't mean they weren't
impassable farther north, and Eliwys would not even let Gawyn ride to Oxford to get news of her or to
Bath to fetch her husbanSdh. e surely wouldn't send him to the East Riding.
"Can you not even remember your own name?" Lady Imeyne said impatiently, leaning so close Kivrin could smell her breathI.t was very foul, an odor of decSahye. must have rotting teeth, too.
"What is your name?"
Mr. Latimer had said Isabel was the most common woman's name in theH1o3w00c'so.mmon was
Katherine? And Mediaeval didn't know the daughters' namWesh. at if Yorkshire wasn't distant enough,
after all, and Lady Imeyne knew the famSihlye. would take it as further proof that she was had better stay with the common name and tell them she was Isabel de Beauvrier.
Sahsepy.
The old woman would be only too happy to believe that the priest had gotten her namIt ewwouroldng.
be further proof of his ignorance, of his incompetence, further reason to send to Bath for a new chaplain. And he had held Kivrin's hand, he had told her not to be afraid.
"My name is Katherine," she said.

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (001300-002018)
I'm not the only one in trouble, Mr. DunwoIrtthhyin. k the contemps who've taken me in are, too.
The lord of the manor, Lord Guillaume, isn't Hhe'se.in Bath, testifying at the trial of a friend of his, which is apparently a dangerous thing to Hdios. mother, Lady Imeyne, called him a fool for getting mixed up in it, and Lady Eliwys, his wife, seems worried and nervous.
They've come here in a great hurry and without serFvaonutrst.eenth-century noblewomen had at least
one lady-in-waiting apiece, but neither Eliwys nor Imeyne has any, and they left the children's-Guillaume's two little girls are here--nurse behinLda.dy Imeyne wanted to send for a new one, and a chaplain, but Lady Eliwys won't let her.
I think Lord Guillaume must be expecting trouble and has spirited his womenfolk away here to keep them safe.Or possibly the trouble's already happened-Agnes, the littler of the two girls, told me about the chaplain's death and someone named Gilbert whose "head was all red," so perhaps there's already been bloodshed, and the women have come here to escaOpeneit.of Lord Guillaume's privés has come with them, and he's fully armed.
There weren't any major uprisings against Edward II in Oxfordshire in 1320, although no one was very happy with the king and his favorite, Hugh Despenser, and there were plots and minor skirmishes everywhere else.Two of the barons, Lancaster and Mortimer, took sixty-three manors away from the Despensers that year-this yearL.ord Guillaume--or his friend--may have got involved in one of those
plots.
It could be something else entirely, of course, a land dispute or somPeetohpinleg. in the 1300's spent almost as much time in court as the contemps in the last part of the twentiethBuctenItudryo.n't think so.
Lady Eliwys jumps at every sound, and she's forbidden Lady Imeyne to tell the neighbors they're here.
I suppose in one way this is a good Itfhitnhge.y aren't telling anyone they're here, they won't tell anyone
about me or send messengers to try to find out whoOIn atmhe.
other hand, there is the chance of
armed men kicking in the door at any momOernto. f Gawyn, the only person who knows where the drop is, getting killed defending the manor.
(Break)
15 December, 1320 (Old StylTe.h)e interpreter is working now, more or less, and the contemps seem to understand what I'm sayinIg.can understand them, though their Middle English bears no resemblance
to what Mr. Latimer taught mIte's.
full of inflections and has a much softer French sMourn. dL. atimer
wouldn't even recognize his "Whan that Aprille with his shsooutree.s"
The interpreter translates what the contemps say with the syntax and some of the words intact, and at first I tried to phrase what I said the same way, saying "Aye" and "Nay" and, "I remember naught of

whence I came," but thinking about it's deadly-the interpreter takes forever to come up with a translation, and I stammer and struggle with the pronunciatioSnos.I just speak modern English and hope what
comes out of my mouth is close to being right, and that the interpreter isn't slaughtering the idioms and the inflections. Heaven only knows how I sounLdi.ke a French spy probably.
The language isn't the only thing Mofyf. dress is all wrong, of far too fine a weave, and the blue is too bright, dyed with woad or nIot.haven't seen any bright colors at I'amll. too tall, my teeth are too good,
and my hands are wrong, in spite of my muddy labors at tThheeydigsh. ould not only have been dirtier, but I should have chilblainEs.veryone's hands, even the children's, are chapped and bleedItinigs., after
all, December.
December the fifteenthI. overheard part of an argument between Lady Imeyne and Lady Eliwys about
getting a replacement chaplain, and Imeyne said, "There is more than time enough Itto issefnudll.
ten
days till Christ's mass." So tell Mr. Gilchrist I've ascertained my temporal location BatutleIasdt.on't
know how far from the drop I Ia'vme. tried to remember Gawyn bringing me here, but that whole night is hopelessly muddled, and part of what I remember didn't haIppremn.ember a white horse that had
bells on its harness, and the bells were playing Christmas carols, like the carillon in Carfax Tower.
The fifteenth of December means it's Christmas Eve there, and you'll be giving your sherry party and then walking over to St. Mary the Virgin's for the ecumenical sIetrviisceh. ard to comprehend that you
are over seven hundred years awaIy.keep thinking that if I got out of bed (which I can't because I'm too dizzy-I think my temp is back up) and opened the door I would find not a mediaeval hall but Brasenose's lab, and all of you waiting for me, Badri and Dr. Ahrens and you, Mr. Dunworthy, polishing your spectacles and saying I told you Isow. ish you were.

CHAPTER TWELVE
Lady Imeyne did not believe Kivrin's story about having amWnehsiean.
Agnes brought her hound,
which turned out to be a tiny black puppy with huge feet, in to Kivrin, she said, "This is my hound, Lady
Kivrin." She held it out to Kivrin, clutching its fat mi"dYdoleu.
can pet himD. o you remember how?"
"Aye," Kivrin said, taking the puppy out of Agnes's too- tight grasp and stroking its baby-soft fur. "Aren't you supposed to be at your sewing?"
Agnes took the puppy back from
"hGerr.andmother went to chide with the steward, and Maisry went
out to the stable.S"he twisted the puppy around to give it a "kSioss.I came to speak to you.
Grandmother is very angryT.he steward and all his family were living in the hall when we came hence." She gave the puppy another ki"sGs.randmother says it is his wife who tempts him to sin."
Grandmother.Agnes had not said anything like "grandmotheTrh."e word hadn't even existed until the eighteenth century, but the interpreter was taking huge, disconcerting leaps now, though it left Agnes's mispronunciation of Katherine intact and sometimes left blanks in places where the meaning should have been obvious from contexSt.he hoped her subconscious knew what it was doing.
"Are you a daltriss, Lady Kivrin?" Agnes said.
Her subconscious obviously didn't know what it was d"oWingh.at?" she asked.
"A daltriss," Agnes saiTd.he puppy was trying desperately to squirm out of Agnes's"Ggrapn.dmother
says you are oneS.he says a wife fleeing to her lover would have good cause to remember naught."
An adultressW. both.
ell, at least it was better than a FrenchOsrpyp.erhaps Lady Imeyne thought she was
Agnes kissed the puppy aga"inG.randmother said a lady had no good cause to travel through the woods in winter."
They were both right, Kivrin thought, Lady Imeyne and Mr. DunwSohrethyst.ill had not found out
where the drop was, although she had asked to speak with Gawyn when Lady Eliwys came in the morning to bathe her temple.
"He has ridden out to search for the wicked men who robbed you," Eliwys had said, putting an ointment on Kivrin's temple that smelled like garlic and stung hor"riDboly.you remember aught of them?"
Kivrin had shaken her head, hoping her faked amnesia wouldn't end in some poor peasant's being hanged. She could scarcely say, "No, that isn't the man," when she supposedly couldn't remember anything.
Perhaps she shouldn't have told them she couldn't remember anyTthhiengp. robability that they would have known the de Beauvriers was very small, and her lack of an explanation had obviously made

Imeyne even more suspicious of her.
Agnes was trying to put her cap on the p"uTphpeyr.e are wolves in the woods," she s"aGida.wyn slew one with his ax."
"Agnes, did Gawyn tell you of his finding me?" Kivrin asked.
"Aye.Blackie likes to wear my cap," she said, tying the strings in a choking knot. "He doesn't act like it," Kivrin s"aWid.here did Gawyn find me?"
"In the woods," Agnes saTidh.e puppy twisted out of the cap and nearly fell off thSehebesde.t it in the middle of the bed and lifted it by its front "pBawlasc.kie can dance."
"Here.Let me hold it," Kivrin said, to rescue the poor Sthhiengc.radled it in her arm"Ws. here in the woods did Gawyn find me?"
Agnes stood on tiptoe, trying to see the pu"pBplayc. kie sleeps," she whispered.
The puppy was asleep, exhausted from Agnes's attentiKonivsr.in laid it beside her on the fur bedcovering. "Was the place he found me far from here?"
"Aye," Agnes said, and Kivrin could tell she had no idea.
This was no usAe.gnes obviously didn't know anythinSgh. e would have to talk to Gaw"yHn.as Gawyn returned?"
"Aye," Agnes said, stroking the sleeping pup"pWy.ould you speak with him?" "Yes," Kivrin said.
"Are you a daltriss?"
It was difficult to follow Agnes's conversational jum"Npos.," she said, and then remembered she was not supposed to be able to remember anyth"inI gd. on't remember anything about who I am."
Agnes petted Blackie".Grandmother says only a daltriss would ask so boldly to speak with Gawyn." The door opened, and Rosemund came"Tinh.ey're looking for you everywhere, simplehead," she said,
her hands on her hips.
"I was speaking with Lady Kivrin," Agnes said, with an anxious glance at the coverlet where Blackie lay, nearly invisible against the sable fAurp. parently hounds were not allowed insidKei.vrin pulled the rough
sheet up over it so Rosemund wouldn't see.
"Mother said the lady must rest so that her wounds will heal," Rosemund said"Csotemrnel.yI. must tell
Grandmother I found you.S"he led the little girl out of the room.
Kivrin watched them leave, hoping fervently that Agnes wouldn't tell Lady Imeyne Kivrin had asked again to speak to GawySn.he had thought she had a good excuse to talk to Gawyn, that they would understand that she was anxious to find out about her belongings and her atBtauctkeitrsw. as "unseemly"

for unmarried noblewomen in the 1300's to "boldly ask" to speak to young men.
Eliwys could talk to him because she was the head of the house with her husband gone, and his employer, and Lady Imeyne was his lord's mother, but Kivrin should have waited until Gawyn spoke to her and then answered him "with all modesty as fits a BmuatidI."must talk to him, she thouHghet'.s the
only one who knows where the drop is.
Agnes came dashing back in and snatched up the sleeping p"Guprpanyd. mother was very angryS.he thought I had fallen in the well," she said, and ran back out again.
And no doubt "Grandmother" had boxed Maisry's ears because of it, Kivrin tMhoauisgrhyt. had already
been in trouble once today for losing Agnes, who had come to show Kivrin Lady Imeyne's silver chain, which she said was "a rillieclary," a word that defeated the interIpnrseitdeer. the little box, she told
Kivrin, was a piece of the shroud of St. StepMhaeins.ry had had her pocked cheek slapped by Imeyne
for letting Agnes take the reliquary and for not watching her, though not for letting the little girl in the sickroom.
None of them seemed concerned at all about the little girls getting close to Kivrin or to be aware that they might catch what she haNde. ither Eliwys nor Imeyne took any precautions in caring for her.
The contemps hadn't understood the mechanics of disease transmission, or course-they believed it was a consequence of sin and epidemics were a punishment from God-but they had known about contagion.
The motto of the Black Death had been, "Depart quickly, go far, tarry long," and there had been quarantines before that.
Not here, Kivrin thought, and what if the little girls come down wOithr Fthaisth?er Roche?
He had been near her all through her fever, touching her, asking heSrhneamfroew. ned, trying to remember that nightS. he had fallen off the horse, and then there was Na of,irseh. e had imagined that in her delirium.And the white horseG. awyn's horse was black.
They had ridden through a wood and down a hill past a church, and the cutthIrtoawt ahsadn-o.
use.
The night was a shapeless dream of frightening faces and bells and
Eflvamenest.he drop was hazy,
unclear. There had been an oak tree and willows, and she had sat down against the wagon wheel because she felt so dizzy, and the cutthroat had-No, she had imagined the cuAttnhdroatht.e white horse. Perhaps she had imagined the church as well.
She would have to ask Gawyn where the drop was, but not in front of Lady Imeyne, who thought she was a daltrissS. he had to get well, to get enough strength to get out of bed and go down to the hall, out to the stable, to find Gawyn to speak to him aSlhoeneh. ad to get better.
She was a little stronger, though she was still too weak to walk to the chamberpoTt huenaided. dizziness was gone, and the fever, but her shortness of breath perTsihseteyd.apparently thought she was improving, too.They had left her alone most of the morning, and Eliwys had only stayed long enough to smear on the foul-smelling ointmenAt.nd have me make improper advances toward Gawyn, Kivrin
thought.
Kivrin tried not to worry about what Agnes had told her or why the antivirals hadn't worked or how far the drop was, and to concentrate on getting her strength Nbaocko.ne came in all afternoon, and she
practiced sitting up and putting her feet over the side of thWe hbeend.Maisry came with a rushlight to help her to the chamberpot, she was able to walk back to the bed by herself.

It grew colder in the night, and when Agnes came to see her in the morning, she was wearing a red cloa and hood of very thick wool and white fur mi"ttWenosu. ld you like to see my silver buckSlier?Bloet
gave it meI.
will bring it on the morroIwc.annot come today, for we go to cut the Yule log."
"The Yule log?" Kivrin said, alarmTedh.e ceremonial log had traditionally been cut on the twenty-fourth, and this was only the seventeenHtha. d she misunderstood Lady Imeyne?
"Aye," Agnes said".At home we do not go till Christmas Eve, but it is like to storm, and Grandmother would have us ride out to fetch it while it is yet fine weather."
Like to storm, Kivrin thougHhto. w would she recognize the drop if it snowTehde? wagon and her
boxes were still there, but if it snowed more than a few inches she would never recognize the road. "Does everyone go to fetch the Yule log?" Kivrin asked.
"Nay.Father Roche called Mother to tend a sick cottar."
That explained why Imeyne was playing the tyrant, bullying Maisry and the steward and accusing Kivrin of adultery."Does your grandmother go with you?"
"Aye," she said".I will ride my pony." "Does Rosemund go?"
"Aye."
"And the steward?"
"Aye," she said impatientl"yA. ll the village goes." "Does Gawyn?"
"Nay," she said, as if that were self-evid"Ienmt. ust go out to the stable and bid Blackie fareSwheell." ran off.
Lady Imeyne was going, and the steward, and Lady Eliwys was somewhere nursing a peasant who was ill. And Gawyn, for some reason that was obvious to Agnes but not to her,Pewrhaasnp'st. he had gone
with Eliwys.But if he hadn't, if he were staying here to guard the manor, she could talk to him alone.
Maisry was obviously goinWg. hen she brought Kivrin's breakfast she was wearing a rough brown poncho and had ragged strips of cloth wrapped around herSlheegsh. elped Kivrin to the chamberpot,
carried it out and brought up a brazier full of hot coals, moving with more speed and initiative than Kivrin had seen before.
Kivrin waited an hour after Maisry left, until she was sure they were all gone, and then got out of bed and walked to the windowseat and pulled the linen bSahcek.could not see anything except branches
and dark gray sky, but the air was even colder than that in thSehreoocmlim. bed up on the windowseat.
She was above the courtyarIdt .was empty, and the large wooden gate stood oTpheen.stones of the courtyard and of the low thatched roofs around it lookedShweets.tuck her hand out, afraid it had

already begun to snow, but she couldn't feel any moisSthuere.climbed down, holding onto the ice-cold stones, and huddled by the brazier.
It gave off almost no heKaitv. rin hugged her arms to her chest, shivering in her thinShsehifwt. ondered
what they had done with her clothCelso. thes were hung on poles beside the bed in the Middle Ages, but this room had no poles, and no hooks either.
Her clothes were in the chest at the foot of the bed, neatlyShfoeldteodo.k them out, grateful that her
boots were still there, and then sat on the closed lid of the chest for a long time, trying to catch her breath.
I have to speak to Gawyn this morning, she thought, willing her body to be stronIgt'senthoeugohn.ly time everyone will be gonAe.nd it's going to snow.
She dressed, sitting down as much as possible and leaning against the bedposts to pull her hose and boots on, and then went back over to the I'blledre. st a little, she thought, just till I'm warmed through,
and was immediately asleep.
The bell woke her, the one from the southwest she had heard when she cameItthhraodugrhu.ng all
yesterday and then stopped, and Eliwys had gone over to the window and stood there for awhile, as if trying to see what had happeneTdh.e light from the window was dimmer, but it was only that the clouds
were thicker, lowerK.
ivrin put on her cloak and opened the dTohoer. stairs were steep, set into the
stone side of the hall, and had no raiAlinggn.es was lucky she had only skinned her kSnheee. might have pitched headlong onto the floor beloKwi.vrin kept her hand on the wall and rested halfway, looking at the hall.
I'm really here, she thougIhtt.really is 1320T.he hearth in the middle of the room glowed a dull red with
the banked coals, and there was a little light from the smoke-hole above it and the high, narrow windows, but most of the hall was in shadow.
She stopped where she was, peering into the smoky gloom, trying to see if anyone wThaes there. high-seat, with its carved back and arms, sat against the end wall with Lady Eliwys's slightly lower, slightly less ornate one next toTiht.ere were tapestries on the wall behind them and a ladder at the far
end of the wall up to what must be aHeloafvty.
wooden tables hung along the other walls above the
wide benches, and a narrower bench sat next to the wall just below thTehsetabiresg. gar's benchA. nd the wall it sat against was the screens.
Kivrin came down the rest of the stairs and tiptoed across to the screens, her feet crunching loudly on the dried rushes scattered on the floTohr.e screens were really a partition, an inside wall that shut off the draft from the door.
Sometimes the screens formed a separate room, with box beds in either end, but behind these there was only a narrow passage, with the missing hooks for hanging up cTlohaekres. were none there nowG.ood,
Kivrin thought, they're all gone.
The door was opeOn.n the floor next to it was a pair of shaggy boots, a wooden bucket, and Agnes's cart. Kivrin stopped in the little anteroom to catch her already ragged breath, wishing she could sit down a moment, and then looked carefully out the door and went outside.
There was no one in the enclosed courtyItarwd.as cobbled with flattish yellow stones, but the center of it, where a water trough hollowed out of a tree stood, was deep Tinhemreudw. ere trampled hoof and

footprints all around it, and several puddles of brown wAatethr.in, mangy-looking chicken was drinking daintily from one of the pooClsh. ickens had only been raised for their egPgigseons and doves had been the chief meat fowls in the 1300's.
And there was the dovecote by the gate, and the thatch- roofed building next to it must be the kitchen,
and the other, smaller buildings that the storehouTsehse.
stable, with its wide doors, stood along the
other side, and then a narrow passage, and then the big stone barn.
She tried the stable firAstg. nes's puppy came bounding out to meet her on its clumsy feet, yipping happily, and she had to hastily push it back inside and shut the heavy woodGenawdyonoro. bviously
wasn't in thereH. e wasn't in the barn either, or in the kitchen or in the other buildings, the largest of which turned out to be the brewhousAeg. nes had said he wasn't going with the procession to cut the Yule log
as if it were something obvious, and Kivrin had assumed he had to stay here to guard the manor, but now she wondered if he had gone with Eliwys to visit the cottar.
If he has, she thought, I'll have to go find the drop Smhyesesltfa.rted toward the stable again, but
halfway there she stoppedS.he would never be able to get up on a horse by herself, feeling as weak as she did, and if she did somehow manage it, she was too dizzy to Asntady too. dizzy to go looking for
the drop.But I have to, she thougThth.ey're all gone, and it's going to snow.
She looked toward the gate and then the passage between the barn and the stable, wondering which way to goT. hey had come down a hill, past a chuSrhceh. remembered hearing the beSll.he didn't
remember the gate or the courtyard, but that was most likely the way they had come.
She walked across the cobbles, sending the chicken clucking frantically over to the shelter of the well, and looked out the gate at the roItadc.rossed a narrow stream with a log bridge and wound off to the south into the treesB. ut there wasn't any hill, and no church, no village, no indication that that was the way to the drop.
There had to be a churSche.
had heard the bell, lying in bSehde.
walked back into the courtyard and
across to the muddy patIht. led past a round wattle pen with two dirty pigs in it, and the privy, unmistakable in its smell, and Kivrin was afraid that the path was only the way to the outhouse, but it wound around behind the privy and opened out onto a green.
And there was the villagAen. d the church, sitting at the far end of the green just the way Kivrin remembered it, and beyond it was the hill they had come down.
The green didn't look like a greItenw. as a ragged open space with the huts on one side and the
willow-edged stream on the other, but there was a cow grazing on what was left of the grass and a goat tethered to a big leafless oaTkh.e huts straggled along the near side between piles of hay and muck
heaps, getting smaller and more shapeless the farther they were from the manor house, but even the one
closest to the manor house, which should be the steward's, was nothing but
Iat hwoavsela. ll smaller and
dirtier and more tumbledownO. nly the church looked the way it was supposed to.
The bell tower stood separate from it, between the churchyard and theIt ghreaedn.obviously been built later than the church with its Norman round-arched windows and grayed Tshtoeneto. wer was tall and round, and its stone was yellower, almost golden.
A track, no wider than the road near the drop, led past the churchyard and the tower and up the hill into the woods.

That's the way we came, Kivrin thought, and started across the green, but as soon as she stepped out of the shelter of the barn, the wind hit Ithewr.ent through her cloak as if it were nothing, and seemed to
stab into her chesSt.he pulled the cloak tight around her neck, held it with her flattened hand against her chest, and went on.
The bell in the southwest began agSahine. wondered what it meanEt.liwys and Imeyne had talked
about it, but that was before she could understand what they were saying, and when it began again yesterday, Eliwys hadn't even acted like she hearPderiht.aps it was something to do with AdvTenhte.
bells were supposed to ring at twilight on Christmas Eve and then for an hour before midnight, Kivrin knew. Perhaps they rang at other times during Advent as well.
The track was muddy and ruttKediv. rin's chest was beginning to huSrht.e pressed her hand tighter against it and went on, trying to huSrrhye. could see movement out beyond the fieTldhse.y would be the peasants coming back with the Yule log, or getting in the anSimhealcs.ouldn't make them ouIt looked
as if it were already snowing out thSehree. must hurry.
The wind whipped her cloak around her and swirled dead leaves pTashtehceor.w moved off the green, its head down, into the shelter of the Whuhtisc.h were no shelter at aTllh.ey seemed hardly taller
than Kivrin and as if they had been bundled together out of sticks and propped in place, and they didn't stop the wind at all.
The bell continued to ring, a slow, steady tolling, and Kivrin realized she had slowed her tread to match it. She mustn't do thaSt.he must hurryI.t might start snowing any minuBteu. t hurrying made the pain stab
so sharply she began to cougShh.e stopped, bent double with the coughing.
She was not going to makeDoitn. 't be foolish, she told herself, you have to find theYdoruo'rpe.
ill.
You have to get back homGeo.
as far as the church and you can rest inside for a minute.
She started on again, willing herself not to cough, but it was Snhoe ucsoeu.ldn't breatheS. he couldn't make it to the church, let alone the dYroopu. have to make it, she shouted to herself over theYpoauin. have to will yourself to make it.
She stopped again, bending over against the pSahien. had been worried that a peasant would come out of one of the huts, but now she wished someone would so they could help her back to Tthheymanor. wouldn't. They were all out in this freezing wind, getting in the last of the potatoes and gathering up the animals. She looked out toward the fieldTsh.e distant figures who had been out there were gone.
She was opposite the last hBuet.yond it was a scattering of ramshackle sheds she hoped no one lived in, and surely nobody diTd.hey must be outbuildings-cowbyres and granaries--and beyond them, surely not that far away, the churcPhe.rhaps if I take it slowly, she thought, and started toward the church
again. Her whole chest jarred at every stSehpe. one knows where I am.
stopped, swaying a little, thinking, I mustn't fNaiont.
She turned and looked back at the manor hSouhsee.couldn't even get back to the hIalhla. ve to sit
down, she thought, but there was nowhere to sit in the muddy track. Lady Eliwys was tending the cottar, Lady Imeyne and the girls and the entire village were out cutting the YNuole olonge. knows where I am.
The wind was picking up, coming now not in gusts but in a straight, determined push acrossI the fields. must try to get back to the house, Kivrin thought, but she couldn't do thaEtveenithsetra.nding was too
much of an efforIt.f there were anywhere to sit she would sit down, but the space between the huts, right
up to their fences, was all mSuhde.
would have to go into the hut.

It had a rickety wattle fence around it, made by weaving green branches betweeTn hsetafkeensc.e was scarcely knee-high and wouldn't have kept a cat out, let alone the sheep and cows it was intended against. Only the gate had supports even waist- high, and Kivrin leaned gratefully against one of them. "Hello," she shouted into the wind, "is anyone there?"
The front door of the hut was only a few steps from the gate, and the hut couldn't be Istoundproof. wasn't even windproofS. he could see a hole in the wall where the daubed clay and chopped straw had
cracked and fallen away from the matted branches underneTahthey.
could surely hear heSrh. e lifted the
loop of leather that held the gate shut, went in, and knocked on the low, planked door.
There was no answer, and Kivrin hadn't expected Sahney.shouted again, "Is anyone home?" not even bothering to listen to how the interpreter translated it, and tried to lift the wooden bar that layIt across it. was too heavyS. he tried to slide it out of the notches cut in the protruding lintels, but sheTchoeuldn't.
hut looked like it could blow away at any minute, and she couldn't get the doSohre owpoenu.ld have to tell Mr. Dunworthy mediaeval huts weren't as flimsy as they loSohkeedl.eaned against the door, holding her chest.
Something made a sound behind her, and she turned, already saying, "I'm sorry I intruded into your garden." It was the cow, leaning casually over the fence and browsing among the brown leaves, hardly reaching at all.
She would have to go back to the mSanhoer.used the gate for support, making sure she shut it behind
her and looped the leather back over the stake, and then the cow's bonTyhebaccokw.
followed with
her a few steps, as if she thought Kivrin was leading her in to be milked, and then went back to the garden.
The door of one of the sheds that nobody could possibly live in opened, and a barefoot boy came out. He stopped, looking frightened.
Kivrin tried to straighten u"pP.lease," she said, breathing hard between the words, "may I rest awhile in your house?"
The boy stared dumbly at her, his mouth hanging Hopeenw.as hideously thin, his arms and legs no thicker than the twigs in the hut fences.
"Please, run to the manor and tell the men in the stableTeclol mthee.m I'm ill."
He can no more run than I can, she thought as soon as shTehseaibdoyit'.s feet were blue with cold.
His mouth looked sore, and his cheeks and upper lip were smeared with dried blood from a nosebleed. He's got scurvy, Kivrin thought, he's worse off than I am, but she said again, "Run to the manor and bid them come."
The boy crossed himself with a chapped, bony h"Banigdh. aull emeurdroud ooghattund enblastbardey," he said, backing into the hut.
Oh, no, Kivrin thought despairingHlye.
can't understand me, and I don't have the strength to try to make
him. "Please help me," she said, and the boy looked almost like he understooHde thtoaot.k a step toward her and then darted suddenly away in the direction of the church.
"Wait!" Kivrin called.

He darted past the cow and around the fence and disappeared behind Kthievrihnutl.ooked at the shed. It could hardly even be called thItat.looked more like a haystack-grass and pieces of thatch
wadded into the spaces between the poles, but its door was a mat of sticks tied together with blackish rope, the kind of door you could blow down with one good breath, and the boy had leSfhteit open. stepped over the raised doorstep and went into the hut.
It was dark inside and so smoky Kivrin couldn't see anyIthsinmge.lled terribleL. ike a stableW.
orse
than a stableM.
ingled with the barnyard smells were smoke and mildew and the nasty odor of rats.
Kivrin had had to bend over almost double to get through theShdeoosrtr.aightened, and hit her head on the sticks that served as crossbeams.
There was nowhere to sit in the hut, if that was really whaTt hiet wflaoso.r was as covered with sacks
and tools as if it was a shed after all, and there was no furniture except an uneven table whose rough legs splayed unevenly from the centeBr.ut the table had a wooden bowl and a heel of bread on it, and in the center of the hut, in the only cleared space, a little fire was burning in a shallow, dug-out hole.
It was apparently the source of all the smoke even though there was a hole in the ceiling above it for a draft. It was a little fire, only a few sticks, but the other holes in the unevenly stuffed walls and roof drew the smoke, too, and the wind, coming in from everywhere, gusted it around the cramKpievdrinhut.
started to cough, which was a terrible mistaHkeer. chest felt as if it would break apart with every spasm.
Gritting her teeth to keep from coughing, she eased herself down on a sack of onions, holding onto the spade propped against it and then the fragile-looking wShaell. felt immediately better as soon as she was sitting down, even though it was so cold she could see her Ibrweaotnhd. er how this place smells in the summer, she thoughtS. he wrapped her cloak around her, folding the tails like a blanket across her knees.
There was a cold draft along the fSlohoer. tucked the cloak around her feet and then picked up a bill
hook lying next to the sack and poked at the meager fire Twhieth firte.
blazed up halfheartedly,
illuminating the hut and making it look more than ever like aA slhoewd. lean-to had been built on at one
side, probably for a stable because it was partitioned off from the rest of the hut by an even lower fence than the cottage had haTd.he fire wasn't bright enough for Kivrin to see into the lean-to corner, but a scuffling sound came from it.
A pig, maybe, although the peasants' pigs were supposed to have been slaughtered by now, or maybe a milchgoat. She poked at the fire again, trying to get a little more light from the corner.
The scuffling sound came from in front of the pathetic fence, from a large dome-shapItedwacsage. elaborately out-of- place in the filthy corner with its smooth curved metal band, its complicated door, its fancy handle.Inside the cage, his eyes glinting in the firelight Kivrin had stirred up, was a rat.
He sat on his haunches, his hand-like paws holding the chunk of cheese that had tempted him into imprisonment, watching KivrinT. here were several other crumbled and probably moldy bits of cheese on the floor of the cagMe.ore food than in this entire hut, Kivrin thought, sitting very still on the lumpy sack of onions.One wouldn't think they had anything worth protecting from a rat.
She had seen a rat before, of course, in History of Psych and when they tested her for phobias during
her first years, but not this kiNndo.body had seen this kind, in England at least, in fifty Iyt ewarass. a
very pretty rat, actually, with silky black fur, not much bigger than History of Psych's white laboratory rats, not nearly as big as the brown rat she'd been tested with.

It looked much cleaner than the brown rat,Hteooh.ad looked like he belonged in the sewers and
drains and tube tunnels he'd no doubt come out of, with his matted dust-brown coat and long, obscenely naked tail.When she had first started studying the Middle Ages, she had been unable to understand how the contemps had tolerated the disgusting things in their barns, let alone their Thhoeustehso. ught of the
one in the wall by her bed had filled her with revBulusitonth.is rat was actually quite clean-looking, with its black eyes and shiny coCate.rtainly cleaner than Maisry, and probably more intelligent.
Harmless-looking.
As if to prove her point, the rat took another dainty nibble on the cheese. "You're not harmless, though," Kivrin sa"iYd.ou're the scourge of the Middle Ages."
The rat dropped the chunk of cheese and took a step forward, his whiskers twHietchtoinogk. hold of two of the metal bars with his pinkish hands and looked appealingly through them.
"I can't let you out, you know," Kivrin said, and his ears pricked up as if he unde"rYstouodeahter. precious grain and contaminate food and carry fleas and in another twenty-eight years you and your chums will wipe out half of EuroYpeo.u're what Lady Imeyne should be worrying about instead of French spies and illiterate priestsT."he rat looked at he"rI.'d like to let you out, but I cTahne't. Black
Death was bad enough as it wIat s.killed over a third of EuroIpfe.I let you out, your descendants might make it even worse."
The rat let go of the bars and began running around the cage, crashing against the bars, circling in frantic, random movements.
"I'd let you out if I could," Kivrin Tshaeid.fire had nearly gone oKuti.vrin stirred it again, but it was all ashes. The door she had left open in the hope that the boy would bring someone back looking for her banged shut, plunging the hut in darkness.
They won't have any idea where to look for me, Kivrin thought, and knew they weren't even looking yet.
They all thought she was in Rosemund's bower aslLeaedpy.
Imeyne wouldn't even check on her until
she brought her her suppeTr.hey wouldn't even start to look for her until after vespers, and by then it would be dark.
It was very quiet in the Thuhte.
wind must have died dowSnh.e couldn't hear the raAt. twig on the fire
snapped once, and sparks flew onto the dirt floor.
Nobody knows where I am, she thought, and put her hand up to her chest as if she had been stabbed. Nobody knows where I amN.ot even Mr. Dunworthy.
But surely that wasn't truLea.dy Eliwys might have come back and gone up to put more ointment on, or Maisry might have come in from the stable or the boy might have darted off to fetch the men from the fields, and they would be here any minute, even though the door waAsndshuevt.en if they didn't realize
she was gone until after vespers, they had torches and lanterns, and the parents of the boy with scurvy would come back to cook supper and find her and would go and fetch someone from thNeo manor. matter what happens, she told herself, you're not completely alone, and that comforted her.
Because she was completely alonSeh.e had tried to convince herself she wasn't, that some reading on
the net's monitor's had told Gilchrist and Montoya something had gone wrong, that Mr. Dunworthy had made Badri check and recheck everything, that they knew what had happened somehow and were

holding the drop openB. ut they weren'tT. hey no more knew where she was than Agnes and Lady Eliwys did.They thought she was safely in Skendgate, studying the Middle Ages, with the drop clearly located and the Domesday Book already half full of observations about quaint customs and rotation of crops. They wouldn't even realize she was gone until they opened the drop in two weeks.
"And by then it will be dark," Kivrin said.
She sat still, watching the fIitre.was nearly out, and there weren't any more sticks anywhere that she
could see.She wondered if the boy had been left at home to gather faggots and what they would do for a fire tonight.
She was all alone, and the fire was going out, and nobody knew where she was except the rat who was going to kill half of EuropSeh.e stood up, cracking her head again, pushed the door of the hut open, and went outside.
There was still no one in sight in the
Tfiehledsw. ind had died down, and she could hear the bell from the
southwest tolling clearlyA.
few flakes of snow drifted out of the grayThsekyl.ittle rise the church was
on was completely obscured with snoKwi.vrin started toward the church.
Another bell beganI.t was more to the south and closer, but with the higher, more metallic sound that meant it was a smaller beIltl.tolled steadily, too, but a little behind the first bell so that it sounded like an echo.
"Kivrin!Lady Kivrin!" Agnes called".Where have you been?S"he ran up beside Kivrin, her round little
face red with exertion or coOldr.
excitement."We've been looking everywhere for youS.h"e darted
back in the direction she had come from, shouting, "I founId fhoeurn!d her!"
"Nay, you did not!" Rosemund sa"iWd.e all saw her.S"he hurried forward ahead of Lady Imeyne and
Maisry, who had her ragged poncho thrown over her shoulHders.ears were bright reSd.he looked
sullen, which probably meant she had been blamed for Kivrin's disappearance or thought she was going to be, or maybe she was just cLoladd.y Imeyne looked furious.
"You did not know it was Kivrin," Agnes shouted, running back to Kivri"nY'sosuidsea.id you were not certain it was KivrinI. was the one who found her."
Rosemund ignored herS.he took hold of Kivrin's ar"mW. hat has happened?Why did you leave your bed?" she asked anxiously".Gawyn came to speak with you and found that you had gone."
Gawyn came, Kivrin thought weakGlya. wyn, who could have told me exactly where the drop is, and I
wasn't there.
"Aye, he came to tell you that he had found no trace of your attackers, and that-"
Lady Imeyne came u"pW.
hither were you bound?" she said, and it sounded like an accusation.
"I could not find my way back," Kivrin said, trying to think what to say to explain her wandering about the village.
"Went you to meet someone?" Lady Imeyne demanded, and it was definitely an accusation. "How could she go to meet someone?" Rosemund a"sSkehde. knows no one here and remembers

naught of before."
"I went to look for the place where I was found," Kivrin said, trying not to lean on "RI otsheomuguhntd. maybe the sight of my belongings might..."
"Help you to remember," Rosemund sa"iBdu. t-"
"You need not have risked your health to do so," Lady Imeyn"eGaswaiydn. day."
"Everything?" Kivrin asked.
"Aye," Rosemund said, "the wagon and all your boxes."
has fetched them here this
The second bell stopped, and the first bell kept on alone, steadily, slowly, and surely it wasIt a funeral. sounded like the death of hope itsGelaf.wyn had brought everything to the manor.
"It is not meet to hold Lady Katherine talking in this cold," Rosemund said, sounding like her mother. "She has been ilWl. e must needs get her inside ere she catches a chill."
I have already caught a chill, Kivrin thouGgahwt.yn has brought everything to the manor, all traces of where the drop had beeEn.ven the wagon.
"You are to blame for this, Maisry," Lady Imeyne said, pushing Maisry forward to take Kivrin's arm. "You should not have left her alone."
Kivrin flinched away from the filthy Maisry.
"Can you walk?" Rosemund asked, already buckling under Kivrin's w"eSighhotu.ld we bring the mare?"
"No," Kivrin saidS.he somehow couldn't bear the thought of that, brought back like a captured prisoner on the back of a jangling hor"sNe.o," she repeated". I can walk."
She had to lean heavily on Rosemund's arm and Maisry's filthy one, and it was slow going, but she made
it. Past the huts and the steward's house and the interested pigs, and into the coTuhretyasrtdum.
p of a
big ash tree lay on the cobbles in front of the barn, its twisted roots catching the flakes of snow.
"She will have caught her death with her behavior," Lady Imeyne said, gesturing to Maisry to open the heavy wooden door". She will no doubt have a relapse."
It began to snow in earneMsta.isry opened the doorI.t had a latch like the little door on the rat'sI cage. should have let him go, Kivrin thought, scourge orI nsohto.uld have let him go.
Lady Imeyne motioned to Maisry, and she came back to take Kivrin's arm"Naog,"ainsh. e said, and
shrugged off her hand and Rosemund's and walked alone and without help through the door and into the darkness inside.

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (005982-013198)
18 December 1320 (Old StylIe.)think I have pneumoniIa.tried to go find the drop, but I didn't make it, and I've had some sort of relapse or sometThihnegr.e's a stabbing pain under my ribs every time I
take a breath, and when I cough, which is constantly, it feels like everything inside is breakingI to pieces. tried to sit up awhile ago and was instantly bathed in sweat, and I think my temp iTshobsaeckaruep.all symptoms Dr. Ahrens told me indicate pneumonia.
Lady Eliwys isn't back yLeta.dy Imeyne put a horrible- smelling poultice on my chest and then sent for
the steward's wifeI.
thought she wanted to "chide with" her for usurping the manor, but when the
steward's wife came, carrying her six-month old baby, Imeyne told her, "The wound has fevered her
lungs," and she looked at my temple and then went out and came back without the baby and with a bowl full of a bitter-tasting teIat. must have had willow bark or something in it because my temp came down,
and my ribs don't hurt quite so much.
The steward's wife is thin and small, with a sharp face and ash-blonIdethihnakir.Lady Imeyne is probably right about her being the one to tempt the steward "intSohesinc.a"me in wearing a fur-trimmed kirtle with sleeves so long they nearly dragged on the floor, and her baby wrapped in a finely-woven
wool blanket, and she talks in an odd, slurred accent which I think is an attempt to mimic Lady Imeyne's speech.
"The embryonic middle class," as Mr. Latimer would say, nouveau riche and waiting for its chance, which it will get in thirty years when the Black Death hits and a third of the nobility is wiped out.
"Is this the lady was found in the woods?" she asked Lady Imeyne when she came in, and there wasn't any "seeming modesty" in her mannSerh.e smiled at Imeyne as if they were old chums and came over to
the bed.
"Aye," Lady Imeyne said, managing to get impatience, disdain, and distaste all in one syllable.
The steward's wife was obliviouSsh.e came over to the bed and then stepped back, the first person to
show any indication they thought I might be contag"ioHuass.
she the (something) fever?T"he interpreter
didn't catch the word, and I couldn't get it either because of her peculiarFlaocucreonnte. n? Florentine? "She has a wound to the head," Imeyne said sh"aIrtplhya.s fevered her lungs."
The steward's wife nodde"dF. ather Roche told us how he and Gawyn found her in the woods."
Imeyne stiffened at the familiar use of Gawyn's name, and the steward's wife did catch that and hurried
out to brew up the willow baSrhke.
even ducked a bow to Lady Imeyne when she left the second time.
Rosemund came in to sit with me after Imeyne left-I think they've assigned her to keep me from trying to escape again-and I asked her if it was true that Father Roche had been with Gawyn when he found me.
"Nay," she said".Gawyn met Father Roche on the road as he brought you here and left you to his care

that he might seek your attackers, but he found naught of them, and they brought worry over itG. awyn has brought your things to the manor."
Yyoouu hneered.
not
I don't remember Father Roche being there, except in the sickroom, but if it's true, and Gawyn didn't meet him too far from the drop, maybe he knows where it is.
(Break)
I have been thinking about what Lady Imeyne "sTahide. wound to her head has fevered her lungs," she said. I don't think anyone here realizes I'mTihlle.y let the little girls in the sickroom all the time, and none of them seem the least afraid, except the steward's wife, and as soon as Lady Imeyne told her I had "fevered lungs," she came up to the bed without any hesitation.
But she was obviously worried about the possibility of my illness's being contagious, and when I asked Rosemund why she hadn't gone with her mother to see the cottar, she said, as if it were self-evident, "She forbade me to goT.he cottar is ill."
I don't think they know I have a disIeadsied.n't have any obvious marker symptoms, like pox or a rash, and I think they put my fever and delirium down to my iWnjuoruiensd.s often became infected, and there were frequent cases of blood poisoninTgh.ere would be no reason to keep the little girls away from an injured person.
And none of them have caughItt'sit.been five days, and if it is a virus, the incubation period should only be twelve to forty-eight hourDs.r. Ahrens told me the most contagious period is before there are any symptoms, so maybe I wasn't contagious by the time the little girls started comOirngmainy.be this is
something they've all had already, and they're immuTnhee.
steward's wife asked if I had had "the
Florentine? Flahntin? fever," and Mr. Gilchrist's convinced there was an influenza epidemic in 1320. Maybe that's what I caught.
It's afternoonR. osemund is sitting in the windowseat, sewing a piece of linen with dark red wool, and
Blackie's asleep beside meI.'ve been thinking about how you were right, Mr. DunwoIrtwhya.sn't
prepared at all, and everything's completely different from the way I thought it wBouultd yboeu. wrong about it's not being like a fairy tale.
were
Everywhere I look I see things from fairy Ataglense: s's red cape and hood and the rat's cage and bowls of porridge, and the village's huts of straw and sticks that a wolf could blow down without half trying.
The bell tower looks like the one Rapunzel was imprisoned in, and Rosemund, bending over her embroidery, with her dark hair and white cap and red cheeks, looks for all the world like Snow White.
(Break)
I think my fever is back Iucpa. n smell smoke in the rooLmad. y Imeyne is praying, kneeling beside the
bed with her Book of HouRrso. semund told me they have sent for the steward's wife
Lagaadiyn.
Imeyne despises herI.
must be truly ill for her to have sent foIr whoenr.der if they will send for the
priest. If they do, I must ask him if he knows where Gawyn fouInt'ds smoe.hot in herTe.his part is not
like a fairy tale at aTllh.ey only send for the priest when someone is dying, but Probability says there was
a seventy-two per cent chance of dying of pneumonia in the 1I3h0o0p'se. where the drop is and hold my hand.
he comes soon, to tell me

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Two more cases, both students, came in while Mary was interrogating Colin on how he had got through the perimeter.
"It was easy," Colin had said indignan"tTlyh.ey're trying to keep people from getting out, not getting in," and had been about to give the particulars when the registrar came in.
Mary had made Dunworthy accompany her to the casualties ward to see if he could iden"tAifyndthem. you stay here," she had told Co"liYn.ou've caused quite enough trouble for one night."
Dunworthy didn't recognize either of the new cases, but it didn't Tmhaetyterw. ere conscious and lucid
and were already giving the house officer the names of all their contacts when he and MaryHgeot there. took a good look at each of them and shook his"Thehaedy. might have been part of that crowd on the High Street, I can't tell," he said.
"It's all right," she sa"idY.ou can go home if you like." "I thought I'd wait and have my blood test," he said.
"Oh, but that isn't till-" she said, looking at her d"Gigoitoadl.
Lord, it's after six."
"I'll just go up and check on Badri," he said, "and then I'll be in the waiting room." Badri was asleep, the nurse sa"iId.wouldn't wake him."
"No, of course not," Dunworthy said and went back down to the waiting room.
Colin was sitting crosslegged in the middle of the floor, digging in hi"sWdhueffreel'.s Great-Aunt
Mary?" he asked". She's a bit flakked at my showing up, isn't she?"
"She thought you were safely back in London," Dunworthy"Ysaoiudr. been stopped at Barton."
mother told her your train had
"It wasT. hey made everyone get off and get on another train going back to London."

"And you got lost in the changeover?"
"No.I overheard these people talking about the quarantine, and how there was this terrible disease and everybody was going to die and everythinHg-e" stopped to rummage further in his duHffe . took out
and replaced a large number of items, tapes and a pocket vidder and a pair of scuffed and dirty runners. He was obviously related to Mar"yA.nd I didn't want to be stuck with Eric and miss all the excitement."
"Eric?"
"My mother's livein.H" e pulled out a large red gobstopper, picked off a few bits of lint, and popped it in
his mouth.It made a mumplike lump in his che"Heke.
is absolutely the most necrotic person in the
world," he said around the gobstopp"eHr.e has this flat down in Kent and there is absolutely nothing to do."
"So you got off the train at BaWrtohna.t did you do thenW? alk back to Oxford?"
He took the gobstopper out of his moIut thw.as no longer reIdt. was a mottled bluish-green color. Colin looked critically at all sides of it and put it back in his"Omfoucothu.rse notB. arton's a long way from Oxford.I took a taxi."
"Of course," Dunworthy said.
"I told him I was reporting the quarantine for my school paper and I wanted to get vids of the blockade. I had my vidder with me, you see, so it seemed the logicalHtehinhge.l"d up the pocket vidder to
illustrate, and then stuffed it back in the duffel and began digging again. "Did he believe you?"
"I think soH. e did ask me which school I went to, but I just said, very offended, 'You should be able to tell,' and he said St. Edward's, and I said, 'Of coHuersem.'ust have believed mHe.e took me to the
perimeter, didn't he?"
And I was worried about what Kivrin would do if no friendly traveller came along, Dunworthy thought. "What did you do then, give the police the same story?"
Colin pulled out a green wool jumper, folded it into a bundle, and laid it on top of the "oNpoe.n duffel. When I thought about it, it was rather a lame Istomreya. n, what is there to take pictures of, afteIrt'sall?
not like a fire, is itS?o I just walked up to the guard as if I were going to ask him something about the quarantine, and then just at the last I dodged sideways and ducked under the barrier."
"Didn't they chase you?"
"Of courseB. ut not for more than a few streTehtse.y're trying to keep people from getting out, not in. And then I walked about awhile till I saw a street sign I recognized."
Presumably it had been pouring rain this entire time but Colin hadn't mentioned it, and a collapsible umbrella wasn't among the items he'd rooted out of his bag.
"The hard part was finding Great-Aunt Mary," he Hsaeidl.ay down with his head on the du"fIfewl.ent
to her flat, but she wasn't theIret.hought maybe she was still at the tube station waiting for me, but it was shut down."He sat up, rearranged the wool jumper, and lay back d"oAwnnd. then I thought, she's a

doctor. She'll be at the infirmary."
He sat up again, punched the duffel into a different shape, lay down and closedDhuinsweoyrethsy.
leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, envying the yoCunogli.n was probably nearly asleep already, not
at all frightened or disturbed by his adventuHrees.had walked all over Oxford in the middle of the night,
or perhaps he had taken further taxis or pulled a collapsible bicycle out of his duffel, all by himself in a freezing winter rain, and he wasn't even fazed by the adventure.
Kivrin was all righItf. the village wasn't where it was supposed to be she would walk until she found it, or take a taxi, or lie down somewhere with her head on her folded-up cloak, and sleep the undauntable sleep of youth.
Mary came in".Both of them went to a dance in Headington last night," she said, dropping her voice when she saw Colin.
"Badri was there, too," Dunworthy whispered back.
"I knowO.
ne of them danced with hiTmh.ey were there from nine to two, which puts it at from
twenty-five to thirty hours and well within a forty-eight hour incubation period, if Badri's the one who infected them."
"You don't think he did?"
"I think it's more likely all three of them were infected by the same person, probably someone Badri saw early in the evening, and the others later."
"A carrier?"
She shook her hea"dP. eople don't usually carry myxoviruses without contracting the disease themselves, but he or she could have had only a mild manifestation or have been ignoring the symptoms."
Dunworthy thought of Badri collapsing against the console and wondered how it were possible to ignore one's symptoms.
"And if," Mary went on, "this person was in South Carolina four days ago-" "You'll have your link with the American virus."
"And you can stop worrying over KivSrhine. wasn't at the dance in Headington," she the connection is more likely to be several links away."
"saOidf . course,
She frowned, and Dunworthy thought, several links that haven't checked in to hospital or even rung up a doctor. Several links who have all ignored their symptoms.
Apparently Mary was thinking the same th"inTgh.ese bellringers of yours, when did they arrive in
England?"
"I don't knowB. ut they only arrived in Oxford this afternoon, after Badri was at the net."
"Well, ask them anywaWy. hen they landed, where they've been, whether any of them have been ill. One of them might have relations in Oxford and have come upYeoaur'vlye. no American

undergraduates in college?" "No.Montoya's an American."
"I hadn't thought of that," Mary s"aHido.w long has she been here?"
"All termB. ut she might have been in contact with someone visiting from America."
"I'll ask her when she comes in for her bloodwork," sh"eI'dsaliidk.e you to question Badri about any
Americans he knows, or students who've been to the States on exchange." "He's asleep."
"And so should you be," she said. "I didn't mean Snhoew.p"atted his arm".There's no necessity of waiting till sevenI.'ll send someone in to take blood and BP so you can go home Stohebteodo."k Dunworthy's wrist and looked at the temp moni"tAorn.y chills?"
"No." "Headache?" "Yes."
"That's because you're exhaustedS."he dropped his wris"t.I'll send someone straightaway."
She looked at Colin, stretched out on the f"lCooli.n will have to be tested as well, at least till we're certain it's droplet."
Colin's mouth had fallen open, but the gobstopper was still firmly in place in hDisuncwheoertkh.y wondered if he were likely to cho"kWe.hat about your nephew?" he sa"idW. ould you like me to take him back to Balliol with me?"
She looked immediately gratefu"lW.
ould you?I hate to burden you with him, but I doubt I'll be home till
we get this under controlS."he sighed."Poor boy.I hope his Christmas won't be too spoilt." "I wouldn't worry too much about it," Dunworthy said.
"Well, I'm very grateful," Mary sa"iAd.nd I'll see to the tests immediately." She leftC. olin sat up immediately.
"What sort of tests?" he ask"eDd.oes this mean I might get the virus?"
"I sincerely hope not," Dunworthy said, thinking of Badri's flushed face, his labored breathing. "But I might," Colin said.
"The chances are very slim," Dunworthy s"aIids.houldn't worry about it."
"I'm not worried.H" e held out his arm"I. think I'm getting a rash," he said eagerly, pointing to a freckle.

"That isn't a symptom of the virus," Dunworthy "sCaoidll.ect your thingsI.'m taking you home with me after the tests."He gathered up his muffler and overcoat from the chairs he'd draped them over.
"What are the symptoms, then?"
"Fever and difficulty breathing," Dunworthy saiMd.ary's shopping bag was on the floor by Latimer's chair. He decided they'd best take it with them.
The nurse came in, carrying her bloodwork tray.
"I feel hot," Colin saHide.
clutched his throat dramaticall"yI.
can't breathe."
The nurse took a startled step backward, clinking her tray.
Dunworthy grabbed Colin's arm"D. on't be alarmed," he said to the nu"rIste's. gobstopper poisoning."
only a case of
Colin grinned and bared his arm fearlessly for the blood test, then stuffed the jumper into the duffel and pulled on his still-damp jacket while Dunworthy had his blood drawn.
The nurse said, "Dr. Ahrens said you needn't wait for the results," and left.
Dunworthy put on his overcoat, picked up Mary's shopping bag, and led Colin down the corridor and out through the casualties warHd.e couldn't see Mary anywhere, but she had said they needn't wait, and he was suddenly so tired he couldn't stand.
They went outsideI.t was just beginning to get light out and still raDinuinw.orthy hesitated under the
hospital porch, wondering if he should ring for a taxi, but he had no desire to have Gilchrist show up for his tests while they were waiting and have to hear his plans for sending Kivrin to the Black Death and the battle of AgincourtH. e fished Mary's collapsible umbrella out of her bag and put it up.
"Thank goodness you're still here," Montoya said, skidding up on a bicycle, spraying"I wnaeteedr. to find Basingame."
So do we all, Dunworthy thought, wondering where she had been during all those telephone conversations.
She got off the bike, pushed it up the rack, and keyed th"He islocskec. retary said no one knows where he is.Can you believe that?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said".I've been trying most of today...yesterday to reach
Hhiem's. on holiday
somewhere in Scotland, no one knows exactly whFeirseh.ing, according to his wife."
"At this time of year?" she s"aWid.ho would go fishing in Scotland in DecembSeurr?ely his wife knows where he is or has a number where he can be reached or something."
Dunworthy shook his head.
"This is ridiculousI! go to all the trouble to get the National Health Board to grant me access to my dig, and Basingame's on vacation!S"he reached under her slick and brought out a sheaf of colored papers. "They agreed to give me a waiver if the Head of History would sign an affidavit saying the dig was a

project necessary and essential to the welfare of the univeHrsoitwy. could he just go off like this without telling anybody?"She slapped the papers against her leg, and raindrops flew everyw"Ihehrea.ve to get
this signed before the whole dig floats awWayh.ere's Gilchrist?"
"He should be here shortly for his blood tests," Dunworthy"Ifsayido.u manage to find Basingame, tell
him he needs to come back immediateTlyel.l him we've got a quarantine here, we don't know where an historian is, and the tech is too ill to tell us."
"Fishing," Montoya said disgustedly, heading for Casual"tiIefs.my dig is ruined, he's going to have a lot to answer for."
"Come along," Dunworthy said to Colin, anxious to be gone before anyone else shoHweedheuldp. the umbrella so it would cover Colin, too, and then gave up. Colin walked rapidly ahead, managing to hit nearly every puddle, then dawdled behind to look at shop windows and a stranded worm on the pavement.
There was no one on the streets, though whether that was from the quarantine or the early hour, Dunworthy couldn't tellP. erhaps they'll all be asleep, he thought, and we can sneak in and go straight to bed.
"I thought there'd be more going on," Colin said, sounding disappo"Sinirten.s and all that."
"And dead-carts going through the streets, calling, 'Bring out your dead'?" Dunworth"yYosuaids.hould
have gone with KivrinQ. uarantines in the Middle Ages were far more exciting than this one's likely to be, with only four cases and a vaccine on its way from the States."
"Who is this Kivrin person?" Colin ask"Yedo.ur daughter?" "She's my pupiSl.he's just gone to 1320."
"Time travel?Apocalyptic!"
They turned the corner of the Bro"aTdh.e Middle Ages?" Colin sai"dT. hat's Napoleon, isn't it? Trafalgar, and all that?"
"It's the Hundred Years' War," Dunworthy said, and Colin looked Wblahnakt .are they teaching children in the schools these days? he thou"gKhtn.ights and ladies and castles."
"The Crusades?"
"The Crusades are a bit earlier."
"That's where I'd want to
Tgoh.e Crusades."
They were at Balliol's ga"teQ.uiet, now," Dunworthy said".Everyone will be asleep."
There was no one at the porter's gate, and no one in the front quaLdigrahntsglwe.ere on in the hall, the bellringers having breakfast probably, but there were no lights in the senior common room, and none in Salvin. If they could get up the stairs without seeing anyone and without Colin's suddenly announcing he was hungry, they might make it safely to his rooms.

"Shhh," he said, turning back to caution Colin, who had stopped in the quad to take out his gobstopper
and examine its color, which was now a purplish-bl"aWcke.
don't want to wake everyone," he said, his
finger to his lips, turned around, and collided with a couple in the doorway.
They were wearing rain slicks and embracing energetically, and the young man seemed oblivious to the collision, but the young woman pulled free and looked frightSenheed.had short red hair and was
wearing a student nurse's uniform under her slTichke. young man was William Gaddson.
"Your behavior is inappropriate to both the time and the place," Dunworthy said"Pstuebrlnicly.displays of affection are strictly forbidden in colleIgtei.s also ill-advised, since your mother may arrive at any moment."
"My mother?" he said, looking as dismayed as Dunworthy had when he saw her coming down the corridor with her valise".Here? In Oxford?What's she doing hereI? thought there was a quarantine on."
"There is, but a mother's love knows no bouSnhdes.is concerned about your health, as am I, considering the circumstances."He frowned at William and the young woman, who gig"gIlewd.ould
suggest you escort your fellow perpetrator home and then make preparations for your mother's arrival." "Preparations?" he said, looking truly strick"eYn.ou mean she's staying?"
"She has no alternative, I'm afraTidh.ere is a quarantine on."
Lights came on suddenly inside the staircase, and Finch eme"rTgheadn. k goodness you're here, Mr. Dunworthy," he said.
He had a sheaf of colored papers, too, which he waved at Dun"wNoarttihoyn.al Health has just sent
over another thirty detaineesI. told them we hadn't any room, but they wouldn't listen, and I don't know
what to doW.
e simply do not have the necessary supplies for all these people."
"Lavatory paper," Dunworthy said.
"Yes!" Finch said, brandishing the pape"rAs.nd food storesW. this morning alone."
"Eggs and bacon?" Colin sa"idA.re there any left?"
Finch looked enquiringly at Colin and then at Dunworthy.
e went through half the eggs and bacon
"He's Dr. Ahrens' nephew," he said, and before Finch could start off again, "he'll stay in my rooms." "Well, good, because I simply cannot find space for another person."
"We have both been up all night, Mr. Finch, so-"
"Here's the list of supplies as of this mornHineg.h"anded Dunworthy a dampish blue pap"eAr.s you can see-"
"Mr. Finch, I appreciate your concern about the supplies, but surely this can wait until after-" "This is a list of your telephone calls with the ones you need to return marked withThais eirsisaksl.ist

of your appointmentsT. he vicar wishes you to be at St. Mary's at a quarter past six to rehearse the
Christmas Eve service."
"I will return all these calls, but after I-"
"Dr. Ahrens telephoned twicSe.he wanted to know what you've found out about the bellringers." Dunworthy gave up".Assign the new detainees to Warren and Basevi, three to a Trohoerme. are extra
cots in the cellar of the hall."
Finch opened his mouth to protest.
"They'll simply have to put up with the paint smell."
He handed Colin Mary's shopping bag and the umb"rTelhlat building over there with the lights on is
the hall," he said, pointing at the d"oGoro. them to let you into my rooms."
tell the scouts you want some breakfast and then get one of
He turned to William, who was doing something with his hands under the student nurse's "rMainr. slick. Gaddson, find your accomplice a taxi and then find the students who've been here during vac and ask them whether they've been to the States in the past week or had contact with anyone Mwahkoe haas.
list. You haven't been to the States recently, have you?"
"No, sir," he said, removing his hands from the
"nIu'vrsee.been up the whole vac, reading Petrarch."
"Ah, yes, Petrarch," Dunworthy sa"idA.sk the students what they know about Badri Chaudhuri's activities from Monday on and question the sItafnfe. ed to know where he was and who he wasI with. want the same sort of report on Kivrin EnDgole.a thorough job, and refrain from further public displays of affection, and I'll arrange for your mother to be assigned a room as far from you as possible."
"Thank you, sir," William sa"idT.hat would mean a great deal to me, sir." "Now, Mr. Finch, if you'll tell me where I might find Ms. Taylor?"
Finch handed him more sheets, with the room assignments on them, but Ms. Taylor wasSnh'te there. was in the junior common room with her bellringers and, apparently, the still unassigned detainees.
One of them, an imposing woman in a fur coat, grabbed his arm as soon as h"eArceamyeouini.n charge of this place?" she demanded.
Clearly not, Dunworthy though"tY. es," he said.
"Well, what are you going to do about getting us someplace toWsel'eve .been up all night."
"So have I, madam," Dunworthy said, afraid this was Ms. TSahyelohr.ad looked thinner and less dangerous on the telephone, but visuals could be deceiving and the accent and the attitude were unmistakable. "You wouldn't be Ms. Taylor?"
"I'm Ms. Taylor," a woman in one of the wing chairSshesaisdt.ood upS. he looked even thinner than she had on the telephone and apparently less an"gIryspoke with you on the phone earlier," she said, and the way she said it they might have had a pleasant chat about the intricacies of chang"Tehrisinigsing.

Ms. Piantini, our tenor," she said, indicating the woman in the fur coat.
Ms. Piantini looked like she could yank Great Tom straight off its moSohreinhgasd. any viruses lately.
obviously not had
"If I could speak with you privately for a moment, Ms. THayelolre?d" you able to cancel your concert in Ely?"
her out into the corrid"oWr.ere
"Yes," she said".And Norwich.They were very understanding.S"he leaned forward anxiously".Is it true it's cholera?"
"Cholera?" Dunworthy said blankly.
"One of the women who was down at the station said it was cholera, that someone had brought it from
India and people were dropping like flies."
It had apparently not been a good night's sleep, but fear that had worked the change in hIefr hme anner. told her there were only four cases she would very likely demand they be taken to Ely.
"The disease is apparently a myxovirus," he said care"fuWllhye. n did your group come to England?" Her eyes widened".You think we're the ones who broughtWite? haven't been to India."
"There is a possibility it is the same myxovirus as one reported in South ACraeroalinya. of your members from South Carolina?"
"No," she said".We're all from Colorado except Ms. PiantSinhie. 's from WyomingA. nd none of us has been sick."
"How long have you been in England?"
"Three weeksW.
e've been visiting all the Traditional Council chapters and doing handbell coWncerts.
rang a Boston Treble Bob at St. Katherine's and Post Office Caters with three of the Bury St. Edmund's chapter ringers, but of course neither of those was a newApCeahl.icago Surprise Minor-"
"And you all arrived in Oxford yesterday morning?" "Yes."
"None of your group came early, to see the sights or visit friends?"
"No," she said, sounding shocke"dW. e're on tour, Mr. Dunworthy, not on vacation." "And you said that none of you had been ill?"
She shook her hea"dW.
e can't afford to get sicTkh.ere are only six of us."
"Thank you for your help," Dunworthy said and sent her back down to the common room.
He rang up Mary, who couldn't be found, left a message, and started down Finch's Haesterrainskgs. up Andrews, Jesus College, Mr. Basingame's secretary, and St. Mary's without getting thHroeugrahn.g

off, waited a five minute interval and tried agDauinri.ng one of the intervals, Mary phoned. "Why aren't you in bed yet?" she deman"dYedo.u look exhausted."
"I've been interrogating the bellringers," he s"aTidh.ey've been here in England for three weNekosn. e of them came to Oxford before yesterday afternoon and none of them Daroe yilol.u want me to come back and question Badri?"
"It won't do any good, I'm afrHaied'.s not coherent."
"I'm trying to get through to Jesus to see what they know of his comings and goings." "Good," she said".Ask his landlady, tooA. nd get some sleepI. don't want you getting thiSs.h"e
paused. "We've got six more cases." "Any from South Carolina?"
"No," she said, "and none who couldn't have had contact withSBoahderi'.s still the index casIse. Colin all right?"
"He's having breakfast," he sa"idH.e's all rightD. on't worry about him."
He didn't get to bed until after one-thirty in the afteIrtnotoonk.
him two hours to get through to all the
starred names on Finch's list, and another hour to discover where BadriHliisveladn. dlady wasn't at
home, and when Dunworthy got back, Finch insisted on going over the complete inventory of supplies.
Dunworthy finally got away from him by promising to telephone the NHS and demand additional lavatory paper.He let himself into his rooms.
Colin had curled up on the window seat, his head on his pack and a crocheted laprobeItover him. didn't reach as far as his feDeut.nworthy took a blanket from the foot of the bed and covered him up, and sat down in the Chesterfield opposite to take off his shoes.
He was almost too tired to do that, though he knew he would regret it if he went to bed in his clothes. That was the province of the young and non-arthCritoilci.n would wake refreshed in spite of digging
buttons and constricting sleevesK. ivrin could wrap up in her too-thin white cloak and rest her head on a tree stump none the worse for wear, but if he so much as omitted a pillow or left his shirt on, he would wake stiff and crampedA. nd if he sat here with his shoes in his hand, he would not get to bed at all.
He heaved himself out of the chair, still holding the shoes, switched the light off, and went into the bedroom. He put on his pajamas and turned back the bItedlo. oked impossibly inviting.
I shall be asleep before my head hits the pillow, he thought, taking off his sHpeectgaocltesi.nto bed
and pulled the covers uBp.efore I've even switched off the light, he thought, and switched off the light.
There was scarcely any light from the window, only a dull gray showing through the tangle of darker gray vines. The rain beat faintly against the dry leaIvessh. ould have drawn the curtains, he thought, but he
was too tired to get up again.
At least Kivrin wouldn't have to contend with Irtaiwn.as the Little Ice AgIte.would be snow if
anything. The contemps had slept huddled together by the hearth until it had finally occurred to someone

to invent the chimney and the fireplace, and that hadn't been extant in Oxfordshire villages till the mid- fifteenth century.But Kivrin wouldn't careS.he would curl up like Colin and sleep the easy, the unappreciated sleep of the young.
He wondered if it had stopped rainHineg. couldn't hear the patter of it on the winPdeorwha. ps it had slowed to a drizzle or was getting ready to rain aItgawina.s so dark, and too early for the afternoon to
be drawing inH. e drew his hand out from under the covers and looked at the illuminated numbers on his digital. Only two.It would be six in the evening where Kivrin Hweasn.eeded to phone Andrews again
when he woke up and have him read the fix so they would know exactly where and when she was.
Badri had said there was only four hours' slippage, that he'd doublechecked the first-year apprentice's coordinates and they were correct, but he wanted to make ceGrtialcinh.rist had taken no precautions
and even with precautions, things could go wroTnogd.ay had proved that.
Badri had had the full course of antiviCraollsi.n's mother had seen him safely onto the tube and given him extra moneyT. he first time Dunworthy had gone to London he had almost not made it back, and they had taken endless precautions.
It had been a simple there-and-back-again to test the on- siOtenlnyett.hirty yearsD. unworthy was to
go through to Trafalgar Square, take the tube from Charing Cross to Paddington and the 10:48 train to Oxford where the main net would be opTehne.y had allowed plenty of time, checked and rechecked the net, researched the ABC and the tube schedules, double-checked the dates on the Amnodnewy.hen he
had got to Charing Cross the tube station was clTosheed.lights in the ticket kiosks were off, and an iron gate was pulled across the entrance, in front of the wooden turnstiles.
He pulled the blankets up over his shouAldneyr. number of things could have gone wrong, things no one had even thought ofI.t had probably never occurred to Colin's mother that Colin's train would be stopped at BartonI.t had not occurred to any of them that Badri would suddenly fall forward into the console.
Mary's right, he thought, you've a dreadful streak of Mrs. GaddsKonivirtin. overcame any number of obstacles to get to the Middle AgEevs.en if something goes wrong, she can handlCeoilti.n hadn't let a little thing like a quarantine stop hAimn.d Dunworthy had made it safely back from London.
He had banged on the shut gate and then run back up the stairs to read the signs again, thinking that perhaps he had come in the wrong wHaey. hadn't.He had looked for a clocPke.rhaps there had been
more slippage than the checks indicated, he'd thought, and the underground was shut down for the night. But the clock above the entrance said nine-fifteen.
"Accident," a disreputable-looking man in a filthy cap had"Tsahiedy.'ve shut down till they can get it cleaned up."
"B...But I must take the Bakerloo line," he'd stammered, but the man had shuffled off.
He'd stood there staring into the darkened station, unable to think whaHt etohaddon. 't brought enough money for a taxi, and Paddington was all the way across LoHned'donn. ever make the 10:48.
"Whah ya gan, mite?" a young man with a black leather jacket and green hair like a cockscomb had said. Dunworthy could scarcely understand himP.unker, he'd thoughtT. he young man had moved
menacingly closer.

"Paddington," he'd said, and it had come out as little more than a squeak.
The punker had reached in his jacket pocket for what Dunworthy had been sure was his switchblade, but he'd pulled out a laminated tube pass and begun reading the map on t"hYeubhacu.hn get District
or Sahcle from EmbankmenGt. aw dahn Craven Street and tike a left."
He had run the whole way, certain the punker's gang would leap out at him and steal his historically accurate money at any moment, and when he got to Embankment, he had had no idea how to work the ticket machine.
A woman with two toddlers had helped him, punching in the destination and amount for him and showing him how to insert his ticket in the Hsleot.had made it to Paddington with time to spare.
"Aren't there any nice people in the Middle Ages?" Kivrin had asked him, and of course there were. Young men with switchblades and tube maps had existed in allSoaghesa.d mothers and toddlers and
Mrs. Gaddsons and LatimersA. nd Gilchrists.
He rolled over onto his other s"idSeh.e will be perfectly all right," he said aloud, but softly, so as not to wake Colin."The Middle Ages are no match for my best puHpeil.p"ulled the blanket up over his
shoulder and closed his eyes, thinking of the young man with the green cockscomb poring over the map. But the image that floated before him was of the iron gate, stretched between him and the turnstiles, and the darkened station beyond.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (015104-016615)
19 December 1320 (Old StylIe'.m)
feeling betterI.
can go three or four careful breaths at a time
without coughing, and I was actually hungry this morning, though not for the greasy porridge Maisry brought me.I would kill for a glass of orange juice.
And a bathI. am absolutely filthyN. othing's been washed since I got here except my forehead, and the
last two days Lady Imeyne has glued poultices made of strips of linen covered with a disgusting-smelling paste to my chesBt. etween that, the intermittent sweats that I'm still having, and the bed (which hasn't
been changed since the 1200's), I positively reek, and my hair, short as it is, is Ic'mrawthliengc.leanest person here.
Dr. Ahrens was right in wanting to cauterize my Envoesrey.one, even the little girls, smells terrible, and it's the dead of winter and freezing cold in Ihecraen.'t imagine what it must be like in AuTghuesyt. all
have fleas.Lady Imeyne stops even in mid-prayer to scratch, and when Agnes pulled down her hose to show me her knee, there were red bites all up and down her leg.
Eliwys, Imeyne, and Rosemund have comparatively clean faces, but they don't wash their hands, even

after emptying the chamberpot, and the idea of washing the dishes or changing the flock in the mattresses has yet to be inventeBd.y rights, they should all have long since died of infection, but, except for scurvy
and a lot of bad teeth, everyone seems to be in good EhveeanlthA. gnes's knee is healing niceSlyh.e
comes to show me the scab every dAanyd. over-loved Blackie.
her silver buckle, and her wooden knight, and poor,
She is a treasure trove of information, most of it volunteered without my evenRoassekminugn.d is "in
her thirteenth year," which means she's twelve, and the room they've been tending me in is hIet'rs bower. hard to imagine she's of marriagable age, and thus has a private "maiden's bower," but girls were frequently married at thirteen and fourteen in the 13E00li'ws.ys can scarcely have been older than that
when she marriedA. gnes also told me she has three older brothers, all of whom stayed in Bath with their father.
The bell in the southwest is SwindoAngen. es can name all the bells by the sound of their riTnhgeing. distant one that always rings first is the Osney bell, the forerunner of GreTatheTodmou. ble bells are at Courcy, where Sir Bloet lives, and the two closest are Witenie and EsTthhcaot tem. eans I'm close to Skendgate. It has the ash trees, it's about the right size, and the church is in the riTghet pdliagc'se. church didn't have a bell tower, but Ms. Montoya may simply not have founUdnfitorytuent.ately, the name of the village is the one thing Agnes hasn't known.
She did know where Gawyn wSahse.
told me he was out hunting my attackers, "And when he finds
them, he will slay them with his swLoridk.e that," she said, demonstrating with BlackI'ime.
not certain
the things she tells me can always be depended uSphoen.told me King Edward is in France, and that
Father Roche saw the devil, dressed all in black and riding on a black stallion.
This last is possibl(eT. hat Father Roche told her that, not that he saw the Tdehveill.i)ne between the spiritual world and the physical wasn't clearly drawn until the Renaissance, and the contemps routinely saw visions of angels, the Last Judgment, the Virgin Mary.
Lady Imeyne complains constantly about how ignorant and illiterate and incompetent Father Roche is. She is still trying to convince Eliwys to send Gawyn to Osney to fetch Wa hmenonIk.asked her if she
would send for him so he could pray with me (I decided that request couldn't possibly be considered "over- bold"), she gave me a half-hour recital of how he had forgotten part of the Venite, had blown the candles out instead of pinching them so that "much wax is wasted," and filled the servants' heads with superstitious prate (no doubt of the devil and his horse).
Village-level priests in the 1300's were merely peasants who'd been taught the mass by rote and a smattering of LatinE. veryone smells about the same to me, but the nobility viewed their serfs as a
different species altogether, and I'm sure it offends Imeyne's aristocratic soul to have to tell her confession to this "villein!"
He's no doubt as superstitious and illiterate as she clBauimt sh.e's not incompetenHt. e held my hand when I was dyingH. e told me not to be afraAidn.d I wasn't.
(Break)
I'm feeling better by leaps and boundTsh.is afternoon I sat up for half an hour, and tonight I went downstairs for supperL. ady Eliwys brought me a brown wadmal kirtle and mustard-colored surcote to wear, and a sort of kerchief to cover my chopped-off hair (not a wimple and coif, so Eliwys must still think I'm a maiden, in spite of all Imeyne's talk about "daltrIissdeosn")'t know if my clothes were inappropriate or simply too nice to be worn for everyday, Eliwys didn't say anSyhtehinagn.d Imeyne

helped me dressI.
wanted to ask if I could wash before I put my new clothes on, but I'm afraid of doing
anything that will make Imeyne more suspicious.
She watched me fasten my points and tie my shoes as it was, and kept a sharp eye on me all through dinner. I sat between the girls and shared a trencher with Tthheems.teward was relegated to the very
end of the table, and Maisry was nowhere to be Asececnor.ding to Mr. Latimer, the parish priest ate at the lord's table, but Lady Imeyne probably doesn't like Father Roche's table manners either.
We had meat, I think venison, and brTehade. venison tasted of cinnamon, salt and lack of refrigeration
and the bread was stone-hard, but it was better than porridge, and I don't think I made any mistakes in table manners.
Though I'm certain I must be making mistakes all the time, and that's why Lady Imeyne is so suspicious of me.My clothes, my hands, probably my sentence structure, is slightly (or not so slightly) off, and it all combines to make me seem foreign, peculiar-suspicious.
Lady Eliwys is too worried over her husband's trial to notice my mistakes, and the girls are too young. But Lady Imeyne notices everything and is probably making a list like the one she has for Father Roche. Thank goodness I didn't tell her I was Isabel de BeauSvhreie'dr. have ridden to Yorkshire, winter or no,
to catch me out.
Gawyn came in after dinnMer.aisry, who'd finally slunk in with a scarlet ear and a wooden bowl of ale, dragged the benches over to the hearth and put several logs of fat pine on the fire, and the women were sewing by its yellow light.
Gawyn stopped in front of the screens, obviously just in from a hard ride, and for a minute no one noticed him.Rosemund was brooding over her embroiderAyg. nes was pushing her cart back and forth
with the wooden knight in it, and Eliwys was talking earnestly to Imeyne about the cottar, who apparently isn't doing very welTl.he smoke from the fire was making my chest hurt, and I turned my head away
from it, trying to keep from coughing, and saw him standing there, looking at Eliwys.
After a moment, Agnes ran her cart into Imeyne's foot, and Imeyne told her she was the devil's own child, and Gawyn came on into the hIalo.wered my eyes and prayed he would speak to me.
He did, bowing on one knee in front of where I sat on th"eGboeondchla. dy," he said".I am glad to see you improved."
I had no idea what, if anything, was appropriate tIo dsuacyk. ed my head lower.
He remained on one knee, like a serv"iItowr. as told you remember naught of your attackers, Lady
Katherine. Is it so?" "Yes," I murmured.
"Nor of your servants, where they might have fled?" I shook my head, eyes still downcast.
He turned toward Eliwy"sI. have news of the renegades, Lady EliwI yhsa. ve found their traTil.here were many of them, and they had horses."

I'd been afraid he was going to say he'd caught some poor wood-gathering peasant and hanged him. "I beg your leave to pursue them and avenge the lady," he said, looking at Eliwys.
Eliwys looked uneasy, wary, the way she had when he came "bMefyoreh.usband bade us keep to this place till he comes," she said, "and he bade you stay with us to gNuayrd." us.
"You have not supped," Lady Imeyne said in a tone that closed the matter. Gawyn stood up.
"I thank you for your kindness, sir," I said ra"pIidklyn.ow it was you who found me in the woIods." took a breath, and coughe"dI. beg you, will you tell me of the place you found me, wherIe hiatdis?"
tried to say too much too faI stb.egan to cough, gasped too deep a breath, and doubled over with the pain.
By the time I got the coughing under control, Imeyne had set meat and cheese on the table for Gawyn, and Eliwys had gone back to her sewing, so I still don't know anything.
No, that's not truIe.know why Eliwys looked so wary when he came in and why he made up a tale about a band of renegadeAs.nd what that conversation about "daltrisses" was all about.
I watched him standing there in the doorway looking at Eliwys, and I didn't need an interpreter to read his face.He's obviously in love with his lord's wife.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Dunworthy slept straight through till morning.
"Your secretary wanted to wake you up, but I wouldn't let him," Co"liHnesasiadid. He thrust a messy sheaf of papers at him.
"What time is it?" Dunworthy said, sitting up stiffly in bed.
to give you these."
"Half past eight," Colin sa"idA.ll the bellringers and DT's are in hall eating breakOfatsmt.eal." He made
a gagging sound". It was absolutely necrotic. Your secretary chap says we need to ration the eggs and bacon because of the quarantine."
"Half past eight in the morning?" Dunworthy asked, blinking nearsightedly at the wItinwdoaws .as dark and dismal as when he'd fallen asle"eGp.ood Lord, I was supposed to have gone back to hospital to question Badri."
"I know," Colin sai"dG. reat-Aunt Mary said to let you sleep, that you couldn't question him anyway because they're running tests."
"She rang up?" Dunworthy asked, groping blindly for his spectacles on the bedstand.
"I went over this morninTgo.
have my blood testeGd.reat- aunt Mary said to tell you we only need to
come once a day for our blood tests."
He hooked his spectacles over his ears and looked at "CDoildins. he say whether they'd identified the virus?"
"Huh-unh," Colin said around a lump in his cDheuenkw. orthy wondered if the gobstopper had been in his mouth all night, and if so why it hadn't diminished i"nShseizes.ent you the contacts chartHs."e
handed the papers to him"T. he lady we saw at the infirmary rang up,Thtoeo.one on the bicycle." "Montoya?"
"Yes.She wanted to know if you knew how to get in touch with Mr. BasingamIe'stolwdifhee. r you'd
ring her backW.
hen does the post come, do you know?"
"The post?" Dunworthy said, looking through the stack.
"Mum didn't have my presents bought in time to send them on the tube with me," she'd send them by posYt.ou don't think the quarantine will delay it, do you?"
"CSohlien ssaaidid.
Some of the papers Colin had handed him were stuck together, no doubt because of Colin's periodic

examinations of his gobstopper, and most of them seemed to be, not the contact charts, but assorted memoranda from FinchO: ne of the heating vents in Salvin was stuck Tsheut.National Health Service ordered all inhabitants of Oxford and environs to avoid contact with infected pMersrso.nsB. asingame
was in Torquay for ChristmaTs.hey were running very low on lavatory paper. "You don't, do youT?hink it will delay it?" Colin asked.
"Delay what?" Dunworthy said.
"The post!" Colin said disgusted"lyT.he quarantine won't delay it, will Wit?hat time is it supposed to come?"
"Ten," Dunworthy saidH. e sorted all the memoranda into one pile and opened a large manila envelope. "It's usually a bit late at Christmas because of all the parcels and Christmas cards.
The stapled sheets in the envelope weren't the contact charts Teihtehyer.were William Gaddson's
report on Badri's and Kivrin's whereabouts, neatly typed and organized into the morning, afternoon, and evening of each dayI.t looked far neater than any essay he'd ever handeAdmianz.ing what a salutory
influence a mother could have.
"I don't see why it should be," Colin "sIaimd.ean, it's not as if it's people, is it, so it can't be contagious? Where does it come, to the hall?"
"What?" "The post."
"Porter's lodge," Dunworthy said, reading the report on BHaedrih. ad gone back to the net Tuesday afternoon after he was at BalliFoli.nch had spoken to him at two o'clock, when he had asked where Mr. Dunworthy was, and again at a little before three, when Badri had given him Athte snoomtee. time
between two and three, John Yi, a third-year student, had seen him cross the quad to the laboratory, apparently looking for someone.
At three the porter at Brasenose had logged BadHrie inh.ad worked in the net until half-past seven and then gone back to his flat and dressed for the dance.
Dunworthy phoned Latimer".When you were at the net Tuesday afternoon?"
He blinked bewilderedly at Dunworthy from the scr"eTeune. sday?" he said, looking around as if he had mislaid something."Was that yesterday?"
"The day before the drop," Dunworthy s"aYido.u went to the Boleian in the afternoon."
He nodded". She wanted to know how to say, 'Help me for I have been set upon by thieves.'" Dunworthy assumed by "she" he meant Kiv"rDini.d Kivrin meet you at the Bodleian or at Brasenose?"
He put his hand to his chin, ponde"riWnge.
had to work until late in the evening deciding on the form of
the pronouns," he said".The decay of pronomial inflections was advanced in the 1300's but not complete."

"Did Kivrin come to the net to meet you?" "The net?" Latimer said doubtfully.
"To the laboratory at Brasenose," Dunworthy snapped. "Brasenose?The Christmas Eve service isn't at Brasenose, is it?" "The Christmas Eve service?"
"The vicar said he wished me to read the benediction," Latime"rIssaitidb. eing held at Brasenose?" "No.You met with Kivrin Tuesday afternoon to work on her spWeehcehr.e did you meet her?" "The word 'thieves' was very difficult to transIltatdee. rives from the Old English theof, and is-"
This was useless".The Christmas Eve service is at St. Mary the Virgin's at seven," he said and rang off.
He phoned the porter at Brasenose, who was still decorating his tree, and made him look up Kivrin in his log bookS. he hadn't been there Tuesday afternoon.
He fed the contacts charts into the console and entered the additions from WilliamK's ivreripnorht.adn't seen Badri TuesdayT. uesday morning she had been in Infirmary and then with DunwTorutehsyd.ay
afternoon she'd been with Latimer and Badri would have been gone to the dance in Headington before they left the BodleianM. onday from three on she was in Infirmary, but there was still a gap between twelve and half-past two on Monday.
He scanned the contacts sheets they had filled out aMgoainnt.oya's was only a few lines loSnhge.
had
filled in her contacts for Wednesday morning, but none for Monday and Tuesday, and she hadn't listed any information on BadrHi. e wondered why, and then remembered she had come in after Mary gave the instructions for filling up the forms.
Perhaps Montoya had seen Badri before Wednesday morning, or knew where he'd spent the gap between noon and half-past two on Monday.
"When Ms. Montoya phoned, did she tell you her telephone number?" he askedThCeroelinw. as no answer. He looked up". Colin?"
He wasn't in the room, nor in the sitting room, though his duffel was, its contents spread all over the carpet.
Dunworthy looked up Montoya's number at Brasenose and rang it up, not expecting anyIfanshswe er.
was still looking for Basingame, that meant she hadn't gotten permission to go out to the dig and was doubtless at the NHS or the National Trust, badgering them to have it declared "of irreplaceable value."
He dressed and went across to the hall, looking for ICt owlians.
still raining, the sky the same sodden
gray as the paving stones and the bark on the beechHtereehso.ped that the bellringers and detainees
had breakfasted early and gone back to their assigned rooms, but it was a fonHde hcoopueld. high hubbub of female voices before he was halfway across the quad.
hear the
"Thank goodness you're up, sir," Finch said, meeting him at the"TdhoeorN. HS just phonedT.hey want

us to take twenty more detainees."
"Tell them we can't," Dunworthy said, looking through the c"rWowed'r.e under orders to avoid contact
with infected personsH.
ave you seen Dr. Ahrens' nephew?"
"He was just here," Finch said, peering over the heads of the women, but Dunworthy had already spotted him.He was standing at the end of the table where the bellringers were sitting, buttering several pieces of toast.
Dunworthy made his way to h"imW.hen Ms. Montoya telephoned, did she tell you where she might be reached?"
"The one with the bicycle?" Colin said, smearing marmalade on the buttered toast. "Yes."
"No, she didn't."
"Will you have breakfast, sir?" Finch s"aIi'dm.
afraid there aren't any bacon and eggs, and we're getting
very low on marmalade," he glared at Colin, "but there's oatmeal and-"
"Just tea," Dunworthy sai"dS. he didn't mention where she was phoning from?"
"Do sit down," Ms. Taylor sa"iId'v.e been wanting to speak to you about our Chicago Surprise." "What exactly did Ms. Montoya say?" Dunworthy said to Colin.
"That nobody cared that her dig was being ruined and an invaluable link with the past was being lost, and what sort of person went fishing in the middle of winter anyway," Colin said, scraping marmalade off the sides of the bowl.
"We're nearly out of tea," Finch said, pouring Dunworthy a very pale cup.
Dunworthy sat down".Would you like some cocoa, ColiOn?r a glass of milk?" Dunworthy asked. "We're nearly out of milk," Finch said.
"I don't need anything, thanks," Colin said, slapping the slices of toast jam sides "tIo'mgetjhuesrt, going to take these with me out to the gate so I can wait for the post."
"The vicar telephoned," Finch sa"idH.e said to tell you you needn't be there to go over the order of worship until half- past six."
"Are they still holding the Christmas Eve service?" Dunworthy"Isasihdo. uldn't think anyone would come under the circumstances."
"He said the Ecumenical Committee had voted to hold it regardless," Finch said, pouring a
quarter-teaspoon of milk in the pallid tea and handing it to"Hheims.aid they felt carrying on as usual will help keep up morale."
"We're going to perform several pieces on the handbells," Ms. Taylo"rIt's ihda.rdly a substitute for a

peal, of course, but it's somethinTgh.e priest from Holy Re-Formed is going to read from the Mass in
Time of Pestilence."
"Ah," Dunworthy said".That should help in keeping up morale." "Do I have to go?" Colin said.
"He has no business going out in this weather," Mrs. Gaddson said, appearing like a harpy with a large bowl of gray oatmeaSl.he set it in front of Co"liAn.nd no business being exposed to germs in a drafty
church. He can stay here with me during the church servSihce "pushed a chair up behind h"imSi.t down and eat your oatmeal."
Colin looked beseechingly at Dunworthy.
"Colin, I left Ms. Montoya's telephone number in my rooms," Dunworth"yWsoauidld. me?"
"Yes!" Colin said, and was out of his chair like a shot.
you fetch it for
"When that child comes down with the Indian flu," Mrs. Gaddson said, "I hope you will remember that you were the one who encouraged him in his poor eating Ihtabisitsc.lear to me what led to this
epidemic. Poor nutrition and a complete lack of disciplIitn'se.disgraceful, the way this college is
Irun.
asked to be put in with my son William, but instead I've been assigned a room in another building altogether, and-"
"I'm afraid you'll have to take that up with Finch," DunworthHy esasitdo.od up, wrapped Colin's marmaladed toast in a napkin, and put it in his po"Ic'mket.needed at the infirmary," he said and escaped before Mrs. Gaddson could start off again.
He went back to his rooms and rang up AndTrehwe sl.ine was engagedH. e rang up the dig, on the off-chance that Montoya had obtained her quarantine waiver, but there was no aHneswrearn.g up
Andrews again.Amazingly enough, the line was freIte.rang three times and then switched to a message service.
"This is Mr. Dunworthy," he saHide. hesitated and then gave the number of his ro"oImnse. ed to speak with you immediatelyI.t's important."
He rang off, pocketed the disk, picked up his umbrella and Colin's toast, and walked out through the quad.
Colin was huddling under the shelter of the gate, looking anxiously down the street toward Carfax. "I'm going to the infirmary to see my tech and your great- aunt," Dunworthy said, handing him the
napkin-wrapped toast."Would you like to go with me?"
"No, thanks," Colin sai"dI. don't want to miss the post."
"Well, for goodness' sake, go and fetch your jacket so Mrs. Gaddson doesn't come out and begin haranguing you."
"The Gallstone's already been," Colin sa"iSdh. e tried to make me put on a mufAflemr.uffler!"He gave

another anxious look down the stre"eIt. ignored her."
"I hadn't thought of that," Dunworthy s"aIids.hould be home in time for lunIfchy.ou need anything, ask
Finch."
"Umm," Colin said, obviously not listeniDngu.nworthy wondered what his mother was sending that merited such devotionO. bviously not a muffler.
He pulled his own muffler up round his neck and set off for Infirmary throughThtheree rawine.re only a
few people in the streets, and they kept out of each others' way, one woman stepping off the pavement altogether to avoid meeting Dunworthy.
Without the carillon banging away at "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear," one would have had no idea
at all that it was Christmas ENveo. one carried gifts or holly, no one carried parcels Iatt waalls. quarantine had knocked the memory of Christmas out of their heads completely.
as if the
Well, and hadn't iHt?e hadn't given a thought to shopping for gifts or aHetretheo. ught of Colin
huddled at Balliol's gate and hoped his mother at least hadn't forgotten to send Ohins gthifetsw.
ay home
he'd stop and get Colin a small present, a toy or a vid or something, something besides a muffler.
At the infirmary, he was hustled immediately into Isolation and taken off to question the n"eIwt's cases. essential we establish an American connection," Mary s"aTidh.ere's been a snag at the WTICh.ere's no
one on duty who can run a sequencing because of the hoTlidhaey'r.e supposed to be at full readiness
at all times, of course, but apparently it's after Christmas that they usually get problems-food poisonings and over-indulgence masquerading as viruses-so they give time off beAfot rea.ny rate, the CDC in
Atlanta agreed to send the vaccine prototype to the WIC without a positive S-ident, but they can't begin manufacturing without a definite connection."
She led him down a cordoned-off corri"dTohr.e cases are all following the profile of the South Carolina virus-high fever, body aches, secondary pulmonary complication, but unfortunately, that's not pSrhoeof." stopped outside a ward".You didn't find any American connections for Badri, did you?"
"No, but there are still a good many
Dgaopsy. ou want me to question him, as well?"
She hesitated.
"He's worse," Dunworthy said.
"He's developed pneumoniaI. don't know if he'll be able to tall you anyHthiisngfe. ver is still very high, which follows the profileW. e have him on the antimicrobials and adjuvants which the South Carolina virus responded to."She opened the door to the wa"rTdh. e chart lists all the cases which have come in. Ask the nurse on duty which bed they'reSihne." typed something into the console by the firstItbelidt.
up a chart as branching and intertwined as the big beech in th"eYqouuadd.on't mind having Colin with you for another night, do you?"
"I don't mind in the slightest."
"Oh, goodI.
doubt very much I'll be able to get home before tomorrow, and I do worry about him
staying alone in the flaIt'm.
apparently the only one who does, however," she said an"gIrifliyn.ally got
through to Dierdre down in Kent, and she wasn't even conce'Ornhe,d.is there a quarantine on?' she
said. 'I've been so rushed I haven't had time to catch the news,' and then she proceeded to tell me all

about her and her livein's plans, with the clear implication that she'd have had no time at all for Colin and was glad she was rid of hTimh.ere are times when I'm convinced she's not my niece."
"Did she send Colin's Christmas presents, do you knHoew?said she planned to send them by post." "I'm certain she's been far too rushed to remember to buy them, let alone seTnhde thlaesmt .time Colin
was with me for Christmas, his gifts didn't arrive till EpipOhahn, yw. hich reminds me, do you know
what's become of my shopping baIgt?had Colin's gifts in it."
"I've got it at Balliol," he said.
"Oh, goodI.
didn't finish my shopping, but if you'd wrap up the muffler and the other things, he'll have
something under the tree, won't heS?h"e stood up". If you find any possible connection, come tell me immediately. As you can see, we've already traced several of the secondaries to Badri, but those may only be cross-connections, and the real connection be someone else."
She left, and he sat down beside the bed of the woman of the purple umbrella. "Ms. Breen?" he sai"dI.'m afraid I must ask you some questions."
Her face was very red, and her breathing sounded like Badri's, but she answered his questions promptly and clearly.No, she hadn't been to America in the past mNonot,h.she didn't know any Americans or
anyone who'd been to AmericBa.ut she had taken the tube up from London to shop for t"hAe t day. Blackwell's, you know," and she had been all over Oxford shopping and then at the tube station, and
there were at least five hundred people she had had contact with who might be the connection Mary was looking for.
It took him till past two to finish questioning the primaries and adding the contacts to the chart, none of which were the connection Mary was looking for, though he had found out that one of them had been to the same dance in Headington as Badri.
He went up to Isolation, though he didn't have much hope of Badri's being able to answer his questions, but Badri seemed improvedH. e was sleeping when Dunworthy came in, but when Dunworthy touched
his hand, his eyes opened and focused on him.
"Mr. Dunworthy," he saiHd.is voice was weak and hoars"eW. hat are you doing here?" Dunworthy sat down".How are you feeling?"
"It's odd, the things one dreamI st.hought...I had such a headache..."
"I need to ask you some questions, BDadori.you remember who you saw at the dance you went to in
Headington?"
"There were so many people," he said, and swallowed as if his thro"aI t dhidunrt't.
know most of them."
"Do you remember who you danced with?"
"Elizabeth-" he said, and it came out a c"rSoaisku. whispered. "And Elizabeth Yakamoto."
somebody, I don't know her last name," he

The grim-looking ward sister came "iTni.me for your X- ray," she said without looking at B"Yadouri'.ll have to leave, Mr. Dunworthy."
"Could I have just a few more minuIte'ss?important," he asked, but she was already tapping keys on the console.
He leaned over the be"dB.adri, when you got the fix, how much slippage was there?" "Mr. Dunworthy," the sister said insistently.
Dunworthy ignored her".Was there more slippage than you expected?" "No," Badri said huskilHy.e put his hand to his throat.
"How much slippage was there?"
"Four hours," Badri whispered, and Dunworthy let himself be ushered out.
Four hoursK.
ivrin had gone through at half-past twelTvhe.at would have put her there at half-past four,
nearly sunset, but still enough light left to see where she was, enough time to have walked to Skendgate if necessary.
He went to find Mary and give her the two names of the girls Badri had daMncaerdy wchitehc. ked
them against the list of new admissioNnse.ither of them were on it, and Mary told him he could go home and took his temp and bloods so he wouldn't have to comeHebawcka.s about to start home when they brought Sisu Fairchild inH. e didn't make it home till nearly teatime.
Colin wasn't at the gate nor in hall, where Finch was nearly out of sugar a"nWd hbeurett'esr.Dr. Ahrens' nephew?" Dunworthy asked him.
"He waited by the gate all morning," Finch said, anxiously counting over suga"rTchuebepso.st didn't
come till past one, and then he went over to his great-aunt's flat to see if the parcels had been sent there. I gather they hadn'Ht. e came back looking very glum, and then about half an hour ago, he said suddenly,
'I've just thought of something,' and shot Poeurth. aps he'd thought of some other place the parcel might have been sent to."
But weren't, Dunworthy though"tW.
hat time do the shops close today?" he asked Finch.
"Christmas Eve?Oh, they're already closed, siTr.hey always close early on Christmas Eve, and some of them closed at noon due to the lack of tIr'avdee.a number of messages, sir-"
"They'll have to wait," Dunworthy said, snatched up his umbrella, and went ouFtinacghainw.as right.
The shops were all closeHd.e went down to Blackwell's, thinking they had surely stayed open, but they were shut up tighTt.hey had already taken advantage of the selling points of the situation, tIhnouthgeh. window, arranged amid the snow-covered houses of the toy Victorian village, were self-help medical books, drug compendia, and a brightly-colored paperback entitled, LaugYhionugr Way to Perfect
Health.
He finally found an open post-office off the High, but it had only cigarettes, cheap sweets, and a rack of greeting cards, nothing in the way of suitable gifts for twelve-year-oldHbeoywse. nt out without buying
anything and then went back and purchased a pound's worth of toffee, a gobstopper the size of a small

asteroid, and several packets of a sweet that looked like soap tIatblwetass.n't much, but Mary had said she'd bought some other things.
The other things turned out to be a pair of gray woolen socks, even grimmer than the muffler, and a vocabulary improvement vidT. here were crackers, at least, and sheets of wrapping paper, but a pair of socks and some toffee hardly made a ChristmHaes. looked around the study, trying to think what he had that might do.
Colin had said, "Apocalyptic!" when Dunworthy had told him Kivrin was in the MiddHlee Apuglelse.d
down The Age oCf hivalry. It only had illustrations, no holos, but it was the best he could do on short notice. He wrapped it and the rest of the presents hastily, changed his clothes, and hurried over to St. Mary the Virgin's in a downpour, ducking across the deserted courtyard of the Bodleian and trying to avoid the spilling gutters.
No one in their right mind would come out iLnatshtisy.ear the weather had been dry, and the church was still only half-fulKl. ivrin had gone with himSh. e had stayed up for the vac to study, and he had found her in the Bodleian and insisted on her coming to his sherry party and then to church.
"I shouldn't be doing this," she'd said on the way to the "cIhushrcohu.ld be doing research."
"You can do it at St. Mary the VBirguilt. in 1139 and all just as it was in the Middle Ages, including the heating system."
"The ecumenical service is authentic, too, I suppose," she'd said.
"I have no doubt that in spirit it is as well-meant and as fraught with foolishness as any medieval mass," he had said.
He hurried down the narrow path next to Brasenose and opened the door of St. Mary's to a blast of hot air. His spectacles steamed upH. e stopped in the narthex and wiped them on the tail of his muffler, but
they clouded up again immediately.
"The vicar's looking for you," Colin sHaied. was wearing a jacket and shirt, and his hair was combed. He handed Dunworthy an order of service from a large stack he was holding.
"I thought you were going to stay at home," Dunworthy said.
"With Mrs. GaddsonW? hat a necrotic ideaE! ven church is better than that, so I told Ms. Taylor I'd help carry the bells over."
"And the vicar put you to work," Dunworthy said, still trying to get his spectac"lHesavceleayro.u had any business?"
"Are you jokingT?he church is jammed."
Dunworthy peered into the navTeh.e pews were already full, and folding chairs were being set up at the back.
"Oh, good, you're here," the vicar said, bustling over with an armful of h"ySmornraylsa. bout the heat.
It's the furnaceT. he National Trust won't let us put in a new fused-air, but it's nearly impossible to get parts for a fossil-fueAl. t the moment it's the thermostat that's gone wrTonhge. heat's either on or off."

He fished two slips of paper out of his cassock pocket and looked a"tYothuemha. ven't seen Mr. Latimer yet, have youH? e's supposed to read the benediction."
"No," Dunworthy said".I reminded him of the time."
"Yes, well, last year he muddled things and arrived an hour Heearlhya."nded Dunworthy one of the slips of paper". Here's your ScriptureI.t's from the King James this yeTahr.e Church of the Millennium insisted on it, but at least it's not the People's Common like laTstheyeKari.ng James may be archaic, but at least it's not criminal."
The outside door opened and a knot of people, all taking down umbrellas and shaking out hats, came in, were order-of- serviced by Colin, and went into the nave.
"I knew we should have used Christ Church," the vicar said.
"What are they all doing here?" Dunworthy
"sDaido.n't they realize we're in the midst of an epidemic?"
"It's always this way," the vicar s"aIidr.emember the beginning of the PandemLiacr.gest collections
ever taken.Later on you won't be able to get them out of their houses, but just now they want to huddle together for comfort."
"And it's exciting," the priest from Holy Re-Formed Hsaeidw. as wearing a black turtleneck, bags, and
a red and green plaid a"lbO.ne sees the same sort of thing during wartTimhey. the thing."
"And spread the infection twice as fast, I should think," Dunworth"yHsaasind't. virus is contagious?"
come for the drama of
anyone told them the
"I intend to," the vicar sa"iYd.our Scripture comes directly after the bellringeItr's been changed. Church of the Millennium agaiLn.uke 2:1-19."He went off to distribute hymnals.
"Where is your pupil, Kivrin Engle?" the priest a"sIkemd.issed her at the Latin mass this afternoon." "She's in 1320, hopefully in the village of Skendgate, hopefully in out of the rain."
"Oh, good," the priest sa"idS.he so wanted to gAo.nd how lucky she's missing all this." "Yes," Dunworthy said".I suppose I should read through the Scripture at least once."
He went into the navIte.was even hotter in there, and it smelled strongly of damp wool and damp stone. Laser candles flickered wanly in the windows and on theTahletarb. ellringers were setting up two large tables in front of the altar and covering them with heavy red woolDcuonvweorsr.thy stepped up
into the lectern and opened the Bible to Luke.
"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed," he read.
Archaic, he thoughAt. nd where Kivrin is, it hasn't been written yet.
He went back out to CoPlieno. ple continued to stream iTn.he priest from Holy Re-Formed and the
Muslim imam went across to Oriel for more chairs, and the vicar fiddled with the thermostat on the

furnace.
"I saved us two seats in the second row," Colin"Dsoaidy.ou know what Mrs. Gaddson did at Stehae? threw my gobstopper awayS.he said it was covered with germI'ms. glad my mother's not like thaHt.e" straightened his stack of folded orders of service, which had shrunk conside"rIabthlyin. k what happened is her presents couldn't get through because of the quarantine, you Iknmoewa.n, they probably had to send provisions and things firstH."e straightened the already straight pile again.
"Very likely," Dunworthy sai"dW. morning?"
hen would you like to open your other gTifotsn?ight or in the
Colin tried to look nonchala"nCt.hristmas morning, please."He gave an order of service and a dazzling smile to a lady in a yellow slicker.
"Well," she snapped, snatching it out of his hand, "I'm glad to see someone's still got the Christmas spirit, even though there's a deadly epidemic on."
Dunworthy went in and sat dowTnh.e vicar's attentions to the furnace didn't seem to have done any good. He took off his muffler and overcoat and draped them on the chair beside him.
It had been freezing last ye"aErx. tremely authentic," Kivrin had whispered to him, "and so was the Scripture. 'Around then the politicos dumped a tax hike on the ratepayers,'" she'd said, quoting from the People's Common.She'd grinned at him".The Bible back then was in a language they didn't understand either."
Colin came in and sat down on Dunworthy's coat and mTuhffelepr.riest from Holy Re-Formed stood up and wedged himself between the bellringers' tables and the front of th"eLeatltaurs. pray," he said.
There was a plump of kneeling pads on the stone floor, and everyone knelt.
"'O God, who have sent this affliction among us, say to Thy destroying angel, hold Thy hand and let not the land be made desolate, and destroy not every living soul.'"
So much for morale, Dunworthy thought.
"'As in those days when the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and there died of the people from Dan to Bersabee seventy thousand men, so now we are in the midst of affliction and we beseech Thee to take away the scourge of Thy wrath from the faithful.'"
The pipes of the ancient furnace began clanging, but it didn't seem to deter tHhee pwrieenstt. on for a good five minutes, mentioning a number of instances in which God had smitten the unrighteous and "brought plagues among them" and then asked everyone to stand and sing, "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen, Let Nothing You Dismay."
Montoya ducked in and sat down next to C"oI lihna.ve spent all day at the NHS," she whispered,
"trying to get them to give me a dispensaTtihoeny.
seem to think I intend to run around spreading the
virus. I told them I'd go straight to the dig, that there's no one out there to infect, but do you think they'd listen?"
She turned to Coli"nI.f I do get the dispensation, I'm going to need volunteers to heHlpowmwe.ould you like to dig up bodies?"

"He can't," Dunworthy said hasti"lyH.is great-aunt won't let himH."e leaned across Colin and
whispered, "We're trying to determine Badri Chaudhuri's whereabouts on Monday afternoon from noon till half-past twoD. id you see him?"
"Shh," the woman who had snapped at Colin said.
Montoya shook her hea"dI. was with Kivrin, going over the map and the layout of Skendgate," she whispered back.
"Where?At the dig?" "No, at Brasenose."
"And Badri wasn't there?" he asked, but there was no reason for Badri to have been at HBerasenose. hadn't asked Badri to run the drop until he met with him at half-past two.
"No," Montoya whispered. "Shh!" the woman hissed.
"How long did you meet with Kivrin?"
"From ten till she had to go check into Infirmary, three, I think," Montoya whispered. "Shh!"
"I've got to go read a 'Prayer to the Great Spirit,'" Montoya whispered, standing up and starting along the row of chairs.
She read her American Indian chant, after which the bellringers, wearing white gloves and determined expressions, played, "O Christ Who Interfaces with the World," which sounded a good deal like the banging of the pipes.
"They're absolutely necrotic, aren't they?" Colin whispered behind his order of worship.
"It's Late Twentieth Century Atonal," Dunworthy whispered b"aIct'ks. supposed to sound dreadful."
When the bellringers appeared to be finished, Dunworthy mounted the lectern and read the Scripture. "'And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed...'"
Montoya stood up and edged her way past Colin to the side aisle and ducked outHtehehaddoor.
wanted to ask her if she'd seen Badri at all on Monday or Tuesday or knew of any Americans he might have had contact with.
He could ask her tomorrow when they went for their bloodHweorhka.d found out the most important thing-that Kivrin hadn't seen Badri on Monday afternoMono.ntoya had said she was with her till she left for Infirmary, and by that time Badri was already at Balliol meeting wiBthadhri c.ouldn't possibly have exposed her.

"'And the angel said, Be not afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people...'"
No one seemed to be paying any attenTtiohne. woman who had snapped at Colin was wrestling her
way out of her coat, and everyone else had already shed theirs and were fanning themselves with their orders of service.
He thought of Kivrin, at the service last year, kneeling on the stone floor, gazing raptly, intently at him while he readS. he had not been listening eithSerh.e had been imagining Christmas Eve in 1320, when
the Scripture was in Latin and candles flickered in the windows.
I wonder if it's the way she imagined it, he thought, and then remembered it wasn't Christmas Eve there. Where she was it was still two weeks awIfaysh. e was really therIef. she was all right.
"'...but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart,'" Dunworthy finished and went back to his seat.
The imam announced the times of the Christmas Day services at all the churches, and read the NHS
bulletin on avoiding contact with infected persoTnhs.e vicar began his sermon.
"There are those," he said, looking hard at the priest from Holy Re-Formed, "who think that diseases are a punishment from God, and yet Christ spent his life healing the sick, and were he here, I have no doubt he would cure those afflicted with this virus, just as he cured the Samaritan leper," and launched into a
ten-minute lecture on how to protect oneself from influeHneza.listed the symptoms, explained droplet transmission, and demonstrated the use of an NHS face mask.
"Drink fluids and rest," he said, extending his hands out over the pulpit as if it were a benediction, "and at the first sign of any of these symptoms, telephone your doctor."
The bellringers pulled on their white gloves again and accompanied the organ in "Angels from the Realms of Glory," which actually sounded recognizable.
The minister from the Converted Unitarian Church mounted the p"uOlnpitt.his very night over two thousand years ago, God sent his Son, His precious child, into our Cwaonrlydo. u imagine what kind of incredible love it must have taken to do tOhant?that night Jesus left his heavenly home and went into a
world full of dangers and diseases," the minister
"sHaide. went as an ignorant and helpless babe,
knowing nothing of the evil, of the treachery he would encoHunotwer.could God have sent His only
Son, his precious child, into such dangTerh?e answer is loveL.ove." "Or incompetence," Dunworthy muttered.
Colin looked up from his examination of his gobstopper and stared at him.
And after He'd let him go, He worried about Him every minute, Dunworthy Ithwouognhdte.r if he tried to stop it.
"It was love that sent Christ into the world, and love that made Christ willing, nay, eager to come." She's all right, he thougThth.e coordinates were correcTt.here was only four hours' slippagSeh.e
wasn't exposed to the flSu.he's safely in Skendgate, with the rendezvous date determined and her corder
already half-full of observations, healthy and excited and blissfully unaware of all this.

"He was sent into the world to help us in our trials and tribulations," the minister said.
The vicar was signaling to DunwortHhye. leaned across Colin".I've just gotten word that Mr. Latimer's ill," the vicar whisperedH. e handed Dunworthy a folded sheet of pa"pWer.ill you read the benediction?"
"...a messenger from God, an emissary of love," the minister said, and sat down.
Dunworthy went to the lecter"nW. ill you please rise for the benediction?" he said, opening the sheet of
paper and looking at
"itO. h, Lord, stay Thy wrathful hand," it began.
Dunworthy wadded it u"pM. safely home."
erciful Father," he said, "protect those absent from us, and bring them
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (035850-037745)
20 December 1320I.'m nearly completely welMl. y enhanced T-cells or the antivirals or something must have finally kicked inI. can breathe in without it hurting, my cough's gone, and I feel as though I could walk all the way to the drop, if I knew where it was.
The cut on my forehead is healed, Ltoadoy.
Eliwys looked at it this morning and then went and got
Imeyne and had her examine "iItt. is a miracle," Eliwys said delightedly, but Imeyne only looked suspicious. Next she'll decide I'm a witch.
It has become immediately apparent that now that I'm not an invalid, I'm a Bpreosbidles .Imeyne
thinking I'm spying or stealing the spoons, there's the difficulty of who I am-what my status is and how I
should be treated-and Eliwys doesn't have the time or the energy to deal with it.
She has enough problemLs.ord Guillaume still isn't here, his privé is in love with her, and Christmas is coming. She's recruited half the village as servants and cooks, and they are out of a number of essential supplies which Imeyne insists they send to Oxford or CourcAgfnoer.s adds to the problem by being underfoot and constantly running away from Maisry.
"You must send to Sir Bloet for a waiting woman," Imeyne said when they found her playing in the barn
loft. "And for sugarW.
e have none for the subtlety nor the sweetmeats."
Eliwys looked exasperated".My husband bade us-"
"I will watch Agnes," I said, hoping the interpreter had translated "waiting women" properly and that the history vids had been right, and the position of children's nurse was sometimes filled by women of noble birth. Apparently it wasE. liwys looked immediately grateful, and Imeyne didn't glare any more than

usual. So I'm in charge of AgneAsn. d apparently Rosemund, who asked for help with her embroidery this morning.
The advantages of being their nurse is that I can ask them all about their father and the village, and I can
go out to the stable and the church and find the priest and
TGhaewydnis.advantage is that a good deal is
being kept from the girlOs.nce already Eliwys stopped talking to Imeyne when Agnes and I came into
the hall, and when I asked Rosemund why they had come here to stay, she said, "My father deems the air is healthier at Ashencote."
This is the first time anyone has mentioned the name of the Tvhilelraegei.sn't any Ashencote on the map or in the Domesday BooIk.suppose there's a chance it could be another "lost vilWlagiteh." a population
of thirty, it could easily have died out in the Black Death or been absorbed by one of the nearby towns, but I still think it's Skendgate.
I asked the girls if they knew of a village named Skendgate, and Rosemund said she'd never heard of it, which doesn't prove anything, since they're not from around here, but Agnes apparently asked Maisry,
and she'd never heard of it eithMers.. Montoya puts the "gate" (which was actually a weir) at 1360 or later, and many of the Anglo-Saxon place names were replaced by Normanized ones or named for their new owners.Which bodes ill for Guillaume D'Iverie, and for the trial he still has not returnUednlefrsosm.
this is another village altogetheWr. hich bodes ill for me. (Break)
Gawyn's feelings of courtly love for Eliwys are apparently not disturbed by dalliances with theI servants. asked Agnes to take me out to the stable to see her pony on the chance that Gawyn wouHlde be there.
was, in one of the boxes with Maisry, making less-than-courtly grunting nMoaisiesrsy.
looked no more
terrified than usual, and her hands were holding her skirts in a wad above her waist instead of clutching her ears, so it apparently wasn't raIpte.wasn't l'amour courtois either.
I had to hastily distract Agnes and get her out of the stable, so I told her I wanted to go across the gre to see the bell toweWr. e went inside and looked at the heavy rope.
"Father Roche rings the bell when someone dies," Agnes"Isfaihde.
does not, the devil will come and
take their soul, and they can not go to heaven," which, I suppose, is more of the superstitious prate which irritates Lady Imeyne.
Agnes wanted to ring the bell, but I talked her into going into the church to find Father Roche instead. Father Roche wasn't therAe.gnes told me that he was probably still with the cottar, "who dies not
though he has been shriven," or was somewhere pray"iFnagt.her Roche is wont to pray in the woods,"
she said, peering through the rood screen to the altar.
The church is Norman, with a central aisle and sandstone pillars, and a flagged stoTnhee floor. stained-glass windows are very narrow and small and of dark cTohloerys. let in almost no ligThth.ere is only one tomb, halfway up the nave.
An effigy of a knight lies on top of the tomb, his arms in gauntlets, crossed over his breast, and his swor at his sideT. he carving on the side says, "Requiscat cum Sanctis tuaeisterinum." May he rest with Thy
saints forever.
Agnes told me the tomb is her grandfather's, who died of a fever "a long time ago."

Except for the tomb and a rough statue, the nave is completelyTehme pctyo.ntemps stood during
church so there aren't any pews, and the practice of filling the nave with monuments and memorials didn't take hold until the 1500's.
A carved wooden rood screen, twelfth century, separates the nave from the shadowy recesses of the chancel and the altarA. bove it, on either side of the crucifix, are two crude paintings of the Last
Judgment. One is of the faithful entering heaven and the other of sinners being consigned to hell, but they seem nearly alikeB. oth are painted in garish reds and blues, and their expressions look equally dismayed.
The altar's plain, covered with a white linen cloth, with two silver candelabra on either Tshidee of it. badly-carved statue is not, as I'd assumed, the Virgin, but St. Catherine of AlexItanhdarsia.the
foreshortened body and large head of pre- Renaissance sculpture, and an odd, squarish coif that stops just below her earsS.he stands with one arm around a doll-sized child and the other holding aAwheel. short yellowish candle and two oil cressets were sitting on the floor in front of it.
"Lady Kivrin, Father Roche says you are a saint," Agnes said when we went back outside.
It was easy to see where the confusion had come in this time, and I wondered if she'd done the same thing with the bell and the devil in the black horse.
"I am named for St. Catherine of Alexandria," I said, "as you are named for St. Agnes, but we ourselves are not saints."
She shook her hea"dH. e says in the last days God will send his saints to sinfuHlemsay.s when you pray, you speak in God's own tongue."
I've tried to be careful about talking into the corder, to record my observations only when there's no one in the room, but I don't know about when I wIasremille. mber that I kept asking him to help me, and
you to come and get mAen. d if Father Roche heard me speaking modern English, he could very well
believe I was speaking in tonguAest.
least he thinks I'm a saint, and not a witch, but Lady Imeyne was in
the sickroom, tooI.
will have to be more careful.
(Break)
I went out to the stable again (after making sure Maisry was in the kitchen), but Gawyn wasn't there, and
neither was GringoletM.
y boxes and the dismantled remains of the wagon were, thGouagwhy.n must
have made a dozen trips to bring everything hIelroeo. ked through it all, and I can't find the cIa'msket. hoping he missed it, and it's still by the road where IIfleiftt iist,. it's probably completely buried in snow, but the sun is out today, and it's beginning to melt a little.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kivrin's recovery from pneumonia came so suddenly she was convinced that something had happened to finally activate in her immune systeTmh.e pain in her chest went away, she stopped coughing, and the cut
on her forehead disappeared completely.
Imeyne examined it suspiciously, as if she suspected Kivrin of faking her injury, and Kivrin was infinitely glad the wound hadn't been dupe"dY.ou must thank God that He has healed you on this Sabbath day," Imeyne said disapprovingly, and knelt beside the bed.
She had been to mass and was wearing her silver reliSqhuearyfo. lded it between her palms-"like the corder," Kivrin thought-and recited the Paternoster, then pulled herself to her feet.
"I wish I could have gone with you to the mass," Kivrin said.
Imeyne sniffed". I deemed you were too ill," she said, with an insinuating emphasis on the word "ill," "and it was but a poor mass."
She launched into a recital of Father Roche's hseinhs:ad read the gospel before the Kyrie, his alb was stained with candlewax, he had forgotten part of the ConfiteorLDisetion.g his sins seemed to put her in
a better mood, and when she finished she patted Kivrin's hand and said, "You are not yet fully healed. Stay you in bed yet another day."
Kivrin did, using the time to record her observations onto the corder, describing the manor and the village and everyone she'd met so fTahr.e steward came with another bowl of his wife's bitter tea, a
dark, burly man who looked uncomfortable in his Sunday best jerkin and a too-elaborate silver belt, and a boy about Rosemund's age came in to tell Eliwys that her mare's forefoot was B"uatmtihsse."priest

didn't come again". He has gone to shrive the cottar," Agnes told her.
Agnes was continuing to be an excellent informant, answering all of Kivrin's questions readily, whether
she knew the answers or not, and volunteering all sorts of information about the village and its occupants. Rosemund was quieter and very much concerned with appearing grow"nA-ugpn.es, it is childish to
speak so.You must learn to keep a watch on your tongue," she said repeatedly, a comment which happily had no effect whatsoever on AgnReos.semund did talk about her brothers and her father who "has promised he will come to us for Christmas withoutSfhaeil."obviously worshipped him and missed
him. "I wish I had been a boy," she said when Agnes was showing Kivrin the silver penny Sir Bloet had given her."Then I had stayed with Father in Bath."
Between the two girls, and snatches of Eliwys's and Imeyne's conversations, plus her own observations,
she was able to piece together a good deal about the vIitllawgaes.
smaller than Probability had
predicted Skendgate would be, small even for a mediaeval vilKlaigveri.n guessed it contained no more than forty people, including Lord Guillaume's family and the stewHared'sh.ad five children "And a
new-christened babe," according to Rosemund.
There were two shepherds and several farmers, but it was "the poorest of all Guillaume's holdings," Imeyne said, complaining again about them having to spend Christmas thTehre. steward's wife was the resident social climber, and Maisry's family the local ne'er-do-wKelilvsr.in recorded everything, statistics
and gossip, folding her hands in prayer whenever she had the chance.
The snow that had started when they brought her back to the manor continued all that night and into the next afternoon, snowing nearly a foToth.e first day Kivrin was up, it rained, and Kivrin hoped the rain
would melt the snow, but it merely hardened the crust to ice.
She was afraid she'd have no hope at all of recognizing the drop without the wagon and boxes there. She would have to get Gawyn to show it to her, but that was easier said tHhaen odnolynec. ame into
the hall to eat or to ask Eliwys something, and Imeyne was always there, watching, when he was, so she didn't dare approach him.
Kivrin began taking the girls on little excursions-around the courtyard, out into the village-in the hopes that she might run into him, but he was not in the barn or thGerisntgabole.t was not there eitheKr.ivrin wondered if he had gone after her attackers in spite of Eliwys's orders, but Rosemund said he was out hunting. "He kills deer for the Christmas feast," Agnes said.
No one seemed to care where she took the little girls or how long they wLeardeygoEnliew. ys nodded abstractly when Kivrin asked if she might take the little girls to the stable, and Lady Imeyne didn't even tell Agnes to fasten her cloak or wear her miItt nwsa. s as if they had given the children over into
Kivrin's care and then forgotten them.
They were very busy with preparations for ChristmElaiws.ys had recruited every girl and old woman in the village and set them to baking and cookTinhge. two pigs were slaughtered, and over half the doves killed and pluckedT. he courtyard was full of feathers and the smell of baking bread.
In the 1300's Christmas had been a two-week celebration with feasting and games and dancing, but Kivrin was surprised that Eliwys was doing all this under the circumstSahnecems. ust be convinced Lord Guillaume would really come for Christmas, as he'd promised.
Imeyne supervised the cleaning of the hall, complaining constantly about the poor conditions and the lack of decent helpT. his morning she had brought in the steward and another man to take down the heavy

tables from the walls and set them on two treSsthle .was supervising Maisry and a woman with the
patchy white scars of scrofula on her neck while they scrubbed the table with sand and heavy brushes. "There is no lavendar," she said to Eli"wAyns.d not enough new rushes for the floor."
"We shall have to make do with what we have then," Eliwys said.
"We have no sugar for the subtlety, either, and no cinnAamt oCno.urcy they are amply provideHde. would welcome us."
Kivrin was putting on Agnes's boots, getting ready to take her out to see her pony in the stable again. She looked up, alarmed.
"It is but a half day's journey," Imeyne "sLaaidy Yvolde's chaplain will likely say the mass, and-" Kivrin didn't hear the rest of it because Agnes said, "My pony is called Saracen."
"Um," Kivrin murmured, trying to hear the conversaCtiohnri.stmas was a time when the nobility often went visiting.She should have thought of that befoTrhe.ey took their entire households and stayed for weeks, at least until EpiphanIyf. they went to Courcy, they might stay until long after the rendezvous.
"Father named him Saracen for that he has a heathen heart," Agnes said.
"Sir Bloet will take it ill when he finds we have sat so near through Yule without a visit," Lady Imeyne said. "He will think the betrothal has gone amiss."
"We cannot go to Courcy for Yule," Rosemund Sshaeid.had been sitting on the bench across from
Kivrin and Agnes, sewing, but now she stood"Mupy.
father promised without fail that he would come
by Christmas.He will be ill-pleased to come and find us gone."
Imeyne turned and glared at Rosemu"nHd.e will be ill- pleased to find his daughters grown so wild they speak when they will and meddle in matters that do not concern Sthemt.u"rned back to Eliwys, who
was looking worried". My son would surely have the wit to seek us at Courcy."
"My husband bade us stay here and wait till he comes," Eliwy"Hs esawidi.ll be pleased that we have
done his bidding."She went over to the hearth and picked up Rosemund's sewing, clearly putting an end to the conversation.
But not for long, Kivrin thought, watching ImeTyhne. old woman pursed her lips angrily and pointed at a spot on the tablTe.he woman with the scrofula scars immediately moved to scrub it.
Imeyne wouldn't let it reSsht.e would bring it up again, putting forth argument after argument why they should go to Sir Bloet, who had sugar and rushes and cinnAamndona.n educated chaplain to say the Christmas masses.Lady Imeyne was determined not to hear mass from Father RAonchde.Eliwys was
more and more worried all the timShee. to Bath.Kivrin had to find the drop.
might suddenly decide to go to Courcy for help, or even back
She tied the dangling strings of Agnes's cap and pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head.
"I rode Saracen every day in Bath," Agnes "sIaiwd.ould we could go riding heIrew. ould take my hound."

"Dogs don't ride horses," Rosemund sa"iTdh. ey run alongside." Agnes pooched her lip out stubborn"lByl.ackie is too little to run."
"Why can you not go riding here?" Kivrin said to head off a fight.
"There is none to accompany us," Rosemund with us."
"sIanid.Bath our nurse and one of father's privés rode
One of Father's privéGs.awyn could accompany them, and she could not only ask him where the drop was but have him show it to Ghearw. yn was hereS. he had seen him in the courtyard this morning, which was why she had suggested the trip to the stable, but having him ride with them was better.
Imeyne came over to where Eliwys was sit"tiInfgw. e are to stay here, we must have game for the
Christmas pie."
Lady Eliwys set aside her sewing and stood"I uwp.ill bid the steward and his eldest son go hunting," she said quietly.
"Then will there be no one to fetch the ivy and the holly." "Father Roche goes out to gather it this day," Lady Eliwys said.
"He gathers it for the church," Lady Imeyne "sWaiidll.
you have none in the hall, then?"
"We'll fetch it," Kivrin said.
Eliwys and Imeyne both turned to look atMhiestra. ke, Kivrin thoughtS. he had been so intent on finding
a way to speak to Gawyn she had forgotten everything else, and now she had spoken without being spoken to and "meddled in matters" that obviously didn't concernLahdeyr. Imeyne would be more convinced than ever that they should go to Courcy and get a proper nurse for the girls.
"I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn, good lady," she said, ducking h"eIr khneoawd. there is much to do and there are few to do Aitg. nes and Rosemund and I might easily ride into the woods to fetch the holly."
"Aye," Agnes said eagerl"yI. could ride Saracen."
Eliwys started to speak, but Imeyne interrupted "hHearv. e you no fear of the woods then, though you are only lately healed of your injuries?"
Mistake upon mistakeS.he was supposed to have been attacked and left for dead, and here she was volunteering to take two little girls into the same woods.
"I didn't mean that we should go alone," Kivrin said, hoping she wasn't making "iAt gwnoesrseto. ld me that she rode out with one of your husband's men to guard her."
"Aye," Agnes piped u"pG. awyn can ride with us, and my hound Blackie."
"Gawyne is not here," Imeyne said, and then turned quickly back to the women scrubbing the table in the silence that followed.

"Where has he gone?" Eliwys said, quietly enough, but her cheeks had flushed bright red.
Imeyne took Maisry's rag away from her and began scrubbing at a spot on undertaken an errand for me."
"thHee tahbasle.
"You have sent him to Courcy," Eliwys said, and it was a statement, not a question.
Imeyne turned back to face h"eItr. is not meet for us to be so close to Courcy, and yet send no
greeting. He will say we have cast him off, and we can ill afford in these times to anger such a man as powerful as-"
"My husband bade us tell no one we were here," Eliwys cut in.
"My son did not bid us slight Sir Bloet, and lose him his good will, now when it may be sorely needed." "What did you bid him say to Sir Bloet?"
"I bade him deliver kind greetings," Imeyne said, twisting the rag in he"rI hbaanddes. him say we would
be glad to receive them for ChristmaSsh."e lifted her chin defiantl"yW.
e could do aught else, with our
two families to be joined so soon in marriTahgey. servants-"
will bring provisions for the Christmas feast, and
"And Lady Yvolde's chaplain to say the mass?" Eliwys asked coldly.
"Do they come here?" Rosemund askSehde. and onto the floor.
had stood up again, and her sewing had slid off her knees
Eliwys and Imeyne looked at her blankly, as if they had forgotten there was anyone else in the hall, and then Eliwys turned on Kivri"nL. ady Katherine," she snapped, "were you not taking the children to gather greens for the hall?"
"We cannot go without Gawyn," Agnes said. "Father Roche can ride with you," Eliwys said.
"Yes, good lady," Kivrin saSidh.e took Agnes's hand to lead her from the room.
"Do they come here?" Rosemund asked again, and her cheeks were nearly as red as her mother's. "I know not," Eliwys sa"idG.o with your sister and Lady Katherine."
"I am to ride Saracen," Agnes said, and tore free of Kivrin's hand and ran out of the hall.
Rosemund looked as if she were going to say something and then went to get her cloak from the passage behind the screens.
"Maisry," Eliwys said".The table looks well enougGh.o and fetch the saltcellar and the silver platter from the chest in the loft."
The woman with the scrofula scars scurried out of the room and even Maisry didn't dawdle going up the

ladder. Kivrin pulled her cloak on and tied it hastily, afraid Lady Imeyne would say something else about her being attacked, but neither of the women said anytThhinegy. stood, Imeyne still twisting the rag
between her hands, obviously waiting for Kivrin and Rosemund to be gone. "Does-" Rosemund said, and then ran off after Agnes.
Kivrin hurried after themG.awyn was gone, but she had permission to go into the woods and transportation. And the priest to go with theRmo.semund had said Gawyn had met him on the road when he was bringing her to the maPnoerh. aps Gawyn had taken him to the clearing.
She practically ran across the courtyard to the stable, afraid that at the last minute Eliwys would call across the courtyard to her that she had changed her mind, Kivrin was not well enough, and the woods were too dangerous.
The girls had apparently had the same iAdegan.es was already on her pony, and Rosemund was cinching the girth on her mare's saddTlhe.e pony wasn't a pony at all; it was a sturdy sorrel scarcely smaller than Rosemund's mare and Agnes looked impossibly high up on the high-backedTshaeddbleo.y who had told Eliwys about the mare's foot was holding the reins.
"Do not stand gawking, Cob!" Rosemund snapped at "hSiamd.dle the roan for Lady Katherine!" He obediently let go of the reAingsn. es leaned far forward to grab them.
"Not Mother's mare!" Rosemund sa"idT.he roncin!"
"We will ride to the church, Saracen," Agnes said, "and tell Father Roche we would go with him, and then we will go ridinSga. racen loves to go ridingS."he leaned much too far forward to pat the pony's cropped mane, and Kivrin had to keep herself from grabbing for her.
She was obviously perfectly able to ride-neither Rosemund nor the boy saddling Kivrin's horse gave her a glance-but she looked so tiny perched up there in the saddle with her soft-soled boot in the jerked-up stirrup, and she was no more capable of riding carefully than she was of walking slowly.
Cob saddled the roan, led it out, and then stood there, waiting.
"Cob!" Rosemund said rudelHy.e bent down and made a step out of his linked
Rhaonsdems.und
stepped up on it and swung into the sad"dDloe. not stand there like a witless fHooell.p Lady
Katherine."
He hurried awkwardly over to give Kivrin a hanSdheuph. esitated, wondering what was wrong with
Rosemund. She had obviously been upset by the news that Gawyn had gone to SirRBosloeemt'us.nd
hadn't seemed to know anything about her father's trial, but perhaps she was aware of more than Kivrin, or her mother and grandmother, thought.
"A man as powerful as Sir Bloet," Imeyne had said, and "his good will may be sorelPyernheaepdsed." Imeyne's invitation was not as self-serving as it seemPeerdh.aps it meant Lord Guillaume was in even more trouble than Eliwys imagined, and Rosemund, sitting quietly at her sewing, had figured that out.
"Cob!" Rosemund snapped, though he was clearly waiting for Kivrin to "mYoouunrt.dawdling will make us miss Father Roche!"

Kivrin smiled reassuringly at Cob, and put her hands on the boy's shOonueldoerf. the first things Mr. Dunworthy had insisted on was riding lessons, and she had managed fairlyThwe eslli.de-saddle hadn't
been introduced until the 1390's, which was a blessing, and mediaeval saddles had a high saddle-bow and cantle.This saddle was even higher in the back than the one she'd learned on.
But I'll probably be the one to fall off, not Agnes, she thought, looking at Agnes perched confidently on her pony.She wasn't even holding on but was twisted around messing with something in the saddlebag behind her.
"Let us be gone!" Rosemund said impatiently.
"Sir Bloet says he will bring me a silver bridle-chain for Saracen," she said, still fussing with the saddlebag.
"Agnes!Stop dawdling and come," Rosemund said.
"Sir Bloet says he will bring it when he comes at Easter." "Agnes!" Rosemund said".Come! It is like to rain."
"Nay, it will not," Agnes said unconcerne"dSlyir. Bloet-"
Rosemund turned furiously on her sis"teOr.h, and can you now sooth the weathYeor?u are naught but a babe!A mewling babe!"
"Rosemund!" Kivrin said".Don't speak that way to your sisteSrh."e stepped up to Rosemund's mare and took hold of the loosely looped re"iWns.hat's the matter, RosemundI?s something troubling you?"
Rosemund pulled the reins sharply ta"uOt.nly that we dawdle here while the babe prattles!"
Kivrin let go of the reins, frowning, and let Cob make a step of his laced fingers for her foot so she cou mount. She had never seen Rosemund act like this.
They rode out of the courtyard past the now empty pigpens and out onto tIhte wgarseean. leaden day, with a low blanketing layer of heavy clouds and no windRaotseamll.und was right about it being "like to rain." There was a damp, misty feeling to the coldShaeir.kicked her horse into a faster walk.
The village was obviously getting ready for ChristSmmaso.ke was coming from every hut, and two men were at the far end of the green, chopping wood and throwing it onto an already Ahuglaergpei,le. blackened chunk of meat-the goat?--was roasting over a spit beside the steward's Thhoeusset.eward's
wife was in front, milking the bony cow Kivrin had leaned against the day she tried to finSdhtehe drop.
and Mr. Dunworthy had had a fight over whether she needed to learn Stohemhilakd.
told him no cows
were milked in winter in the 1300's, that the contemps let them go dry and used goat's milk for cheese. She had also told him goats were not meat animals.
"Agnes!" Rosemund said furiously.
Kivrin looked upA. gnes had come to a stop and was twisted backwards in her saddleShaegain.
obediently moved forward again, but Rosemund said, "I will wait for you no longer, ninney!" and kicked her horse into a trot, scattering the chickens and practically running down a barefoot little girl with an armload of faggots.

"Rosemund!" Kivrin called, but she was already out of earshot, and Kivrin didn't want to leave Agnes's side to go after her.
"Is your sister angry about fetching the holly?" Kivrin asked Agnes, knowing that wasn't it, but hoping
Agnes would volunteer something else.
"She is ever cross-grained," Agnes sa"iGd.randmother will be wroth that she rides so childishSlhye."
trotted her pony decorously across the green, a model of maturity, nodding her head to the villagers.
The little girl Rosemund had almost run down stopped and stared at them, her moTuthhe open.
steward's wife looked up as they passed and smiled, and then went on milking, but the men who were cutting wood took off their caps and bowed.
They rode past the hut where Kivrin had taken shelter the day she tried to findThthee hdurtopsh. e had sat in while Gawyn was bringing her things back to the manor.
"Agnes," Kivrin said, "did Father Roche go with you when you went after the Yule log?" "Aye," Agnes said".He had to bless it."
"Oh," Kivrin said, disappointeSd.he had hoped perhaps he had gone with Gawyn to fetch her things and knew where the drop wa"sD. id anyone help Gawyn bring my things to the manor?"
"Nay," Agnes said, and Kivrin couldn't tell whether she really knew "oGrawnoytn. killed four wolves with his sword."
is very strongH. e
That sounded unlikely, but so did his rescuing a maiden in the Awnododits. was obvious he would do anything if he thought it would win him Eliwys's love, even to dragging the wagon home singlehanded.
"Father Roche is strong," Agnes said.
"Father Roche has gone," Rosemund said, already off her hSohreseh. ad tied it to the lychgate, and was standing in the churchyard, her hands on her hips.
"Have you looked in the church?" Kivrin asked.
"Nay," Rosemund said sullenl"yB. ut look how cold it growFsa.ther Roche would have more wit than to wait here till it snows."
"We will look in the church," Kivrin said, dismounting and holding her arms to"CAomgneeso. n, Agnes."
"Nay," Agnes said, sounding almost as stubborn as her sister, "I would wait here with SShaeracen." patted the pony's mane.
"Saracen will be all right," Kivrin sSahide. reached for the little girl and lifted her d"oCwonm. e on, we'll look in the church firstS."he took her hand and opened the lychgate to the churchyard.
Agnes didn't protest, but she kept glancing anxiously over her shoulder at the"Shaorrasceesn. to be left alone."
likes not

Rosemund stopped in the middle of the churchyard and turned around, her hands on "hWerhahtipasr.e you hiding, you wicked girDl?id you steal apples and put them in your saddlebags?"
"No!" Agnes said, alarmed, but Rosemund was already striding toward the"Sptoaynyf.rom there!It is not your pony!" Agnes shoute"dI.t is mine!"
Well, we won't have to go find the priest, Kivrin thIofughhe'ts. noise is.
here, he'll come out to see what all the
Rosemund was unbuckling the straps to the saddle"bLaogo. k!" she said, and held up Agnes' puppy by the scruff of its neck.
"Oh, Agnes," Kivrin said.
"You are a wicked girl," Rosemund s"aIids.hould take it to the river and drownShiet."turned in that direction.
"Nay!" Agnes wailed and ran to the lychgRaotsee. mund immediately held the puppy up out of Agnes's reach.
This has gone absolutely far enough, Kivrin thouSghhet. stepped forward and took the puppy away from Rosemund."Agnes, stop howlingY. our sister won't hurt your puppy."
The puppy scrabbled against Kivrin's shoulder, trying to lick her "cAhegenke.s, hounds can't ride horses. Blackie wouldn't be able to breathe in your saddlebag."
"I could carry him," Agnes said, but not very hope"fHulelyw. anted to ride my pony."
"He had a nice ride to the church," Kivrin said f"iArmndly.he will have a nice ride back to the stable.
Rosemund, take Blackie back to the stablIet."was trying to bite her eSahre.
gave it to Rosemund, who
took hold of the back of its ne"cItk's.
just a baby, AgneIst. must go back to its mother now and sleep."
"You are the babe, Agnes!" Rosemund said, so furiously Kivrin was not sure she trusted her to take the puppy back."To put a hound upon a horAsen!d now we must waste yet more time taking it Iback!
shall be glad when I am grown and no longer have to do with babes!"
She mounted, still holding the puppy up by its neck, but once she was in her saddle, she wrapped it almost tenderly in the corner of her cloak and cupped it against her Schest.took the reins with her
free hand and turned the hors"eF.ather Roche has surely gone by now!" she said angrily and galloped off.
Kivrin was afraid she was probably riTghe.
racket they had made had almost been enough to wake
the dead under the wooden tombstones, but no one had appeared from the Hcheurhcahd.
no doubt left
before they arrived and now was long gone, but Kivrin took Agnes's hand and led her into the church. "Rosemund is a wicked girl," Agnes said.
Kivrin felt inclined to agree with her, but she could hardly say that, and she didn't feel much like defending Rosemund, so she didn't say anything.

"Nor am I a babe," Agnes said, looking up at Kivrin for confirmation, but there was nothing to say to that either.Kivrin pushed the heavy door open and stood looking into the church.
There was no one theIrte.was dim almost to blackness in the nave, the gray day outside sending no light at all through the narrow stained-glass windows, but the half-open door gave enough light to see it was empty.
"Mayhap he is in the chancel," Agnes
Ssahied. squeezed past Kivrin into the dark nave, knelt, crossed
herself, and then looked impatiently back over her shoulder at Kivrin.
There was no one in the chancel eiSthheer. could see from there that there were no candles lit on the altar, but Agnes wasn't going to be satisfied till they had searched the wholeKcihvurirnchk.nelt and
made her obeisance beside her, and they walked up to the rood screen through the near Tdhaerkness. candles in front of the statue of Saint Catherine had been extinguSihsheedc.ould smell the sharp scent of tallow and smokeS. he wondered if Father Roche had snuffed them out before hFeirleefwt. ould have
been a huge problem, even in a stone church, and there were no votive glasses for the candles to burn down safely in.
Agnes went right up to the rood screen, pressed her face against the cut-out wood, and called, "Father
Roche!" She turned around immediately and announced, "He isn't here, Lady KMivaryinh.ap he is in his house," she said, and ran out the priest's door.
Kivrin was sure Agnes was not supposed to do that, but there was nothing to do but follow her across the churchyard to the nearest house.
It had to belong to the priest because Agnes was already standing outside the door yelling "Father
Roche!", and of course the priest's house was next to the church, but Kivrin was still surprised.
The house was as ramshackle as the hut she had rested in and not mucThhelaprgrieers.t was supposed
to get a tithe of everyone's crops and livestock, but there were no animals in the narrow yard except for a few scraggly chickens, and less than an armload of wood stacked out front.
Agnes had started banging on the door, which looked as insubstantial as the hut's, and Kivrin was afraid she'd knock it open and walk straight in, but before she could get to her, Agnes turned and said, "Mayhap he is in the belltower."
"No, I don't think so," Kivrin said, taking Agnes' hand so she didn't go tearing off through the churchyard again. They started walking back toward the lychga"tFea.ther Roche does not ring the bell again till
vespers."
"He might," Agnes said, cocking her head as if listening for it.
Kivrin listened, too, but there was no sound, and she realized suddenly that the bell in the southwest had stopped. It had rung almost nonstop while she had the pneumonia, and she had heard it when she went
out to the stable the second time, looking for Gawyn, but she didn't remember whether it had rung since then or not.
"Heard you that, Lady Kivrin?" Agnes sSahide. pulled her hand out of Kivrin's grasp and ran off, not toward the bell tower, but around the end of the church to the nor"tSheesidyeo.u?" she crowed,
pointing at what she'd found, "He has not gone."

It was the priest's gray donkey, placidly pulling at the weeds sticking up through tIhtehsandowa . rope
bridle on and several burlap bags over its back, obviously empty, obviously intended for the holly and ivy.
"He is in the bell tower, I trow," Agnes said, and darted back the way she'd come.
Kivrin followed her around the church and into the churchyard, watching Agnes disappear into the tower. She waited, wondering where else they should loPoekrh. aps he was tending someone ill in one of the huts.
She caught a flicker of movement through the church winAdolwig.ht.Perhaps while they were looking at the donkey, he had come baSckh.e pushed the priest's door open and looked insAidec.andle had been lit in front of St. Catherine's staStuhee. could see its faint glow at the statue's feet.
"Father Roche?" she called softTlyh.ere was no answerS.he stepped inside, letting the door shut behind her, and over to the statue.
The candle was set between the statue's block-like Sfte.eCt. atherine's rough face and hair were in shadow, looming protectively over the small adult figure who was supposed to be a lSithtlee kgnirell.t
and picked up the candlIet. had just been lIit hadn't even had time to melt the tallow in the well around the wick.
Kivrin looked down the navSeh.e couldn't see anything, holding the candItle.lit the floor and St. Catherine's box- like wimple and put the rest of the nave in total darkness.
She took a few steps down the nave, still holding the "cFanatdhler.
Roche?"
It was utterly silent in the church, the way it had been in the woods that day when she came through. Too silent, as if someone was there, standing beside the tomb or behind one of the pillars, waiting.
"Father Roche?" she called clear"lyA.re you there?"
There was no answer, only that hushed, waiting silTenhceer.e wasn't anyone in the woods, she told
herself, and took a few more steps forward into the gTlohoemre.
was no one beside the tomImb.eyne's
husband lay with his hands folded across his breast and his sword at his side, peaceful aTnhderseilent.
was no one by the door eithSehre. one there.
could see it now, in spite of the candle's blindingThliegrhet. was no
She could feel her heart pounding the way it had in the forest, so loud it could be covering up the sound of footsteps, of breathing, of someone standing there waiStihneg. whirled around, the candle tracing a
fiery trail in the air as she turned.
He was right behind hTerh.e candle nearly went ouIt bent, flickering, and then steadied, lighting his cutthroat's face from below the way it had with the lantern.
"What do you want?" Kivrin said, so breathlessly almost no sound cam"Heowoutd. id you get in here?"
The cutthroat didn't answer hHere.
simply stared at her the way he had in the cleIardiindgn.'t dream
him, she thought frightenedlyH. e was thereH. had frightened him off.
e had intended-what? to rob her? to rape her?-and Gawyn

She took a step backwar"dI. said, what do you wanWt?ho are you?"
She was speaking EnglisShh. e could hear it echoing hollowly in the cold stone sOpha,cen. o, she thought, don't let the interpreter break down now.
"What are you doing here?" she said, forcing herself to speak more slowly and heard her own voice saying, "Whette woldethou withe me?"
He put his hand out toward her, a huge hand, dirty and reddened, a cutthroat's hand, as if he would touch her cropped hair.
"Go away," she saiSd.he stepped backwards again and came up against the tTomheb.candle went out. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but you'd better goItawasy."English again, but what difference did it make, he wanted to rob her, to kill her, and where was th"eFapthrieerstR? oche!" she cried desperately."Father Roche!"
There was a sound at the door, a bang and then the scrape of wood on stone, and Agnes pushed the door open."There you are," she said happi"lyI . have looked everywhere for you."
The cutthroat glanced at the door. "Agnes!" Kivrin shouted".Run!"
The little girl froze, her hand still on the heavy door.
"Get away from here!" Kivrin shouted, and realized with horror that it was stillWEhnagtliswha. s the word for "run"?
The cutthroat took another step toward KivSrhine. shrank back against the tomb.
"Renne!Flee, Agnes!" she cried, and then the door crashed shut and Kivrin was running across the stone floor and out the door after her, dropping the candle as she ran.
Agnes was almost to the lychgate, but she stopped as soon as Kivrin was out the door and ran back to her.
"No!" Kivrin shouted, waving her "oRnu. n!" "Is it a wolf?" Agnes asked, wide-eyed.
There was no time to explain or try to coax her Ttoherumne. n who had been cutting wood had
disappeared. She scooped Agnes up in her arms and ran toward the h"oTrhserse. the church!" she said, setting Agnes hoenr pony.
was a wicked man in
"A wicked man?" Agnes asked, ignoring the reins Kivrin was thrusting"Wat ahseri.t one of those who set upon you in the woods?"
"Yes," Kivrin said, untying the rei"nYs.ou must ride as fast as you can to the manor Dhoouns'te.stop for anything."
"I didn't see him," Agnes said.

She probably hadn'Ct. oming in from outside, she wouldn't have been able to see anything in the church's gloom.
"Was he the man who stole your goods and gear and cracked your skull?" "Yes," Kivrin saidS.he reached for the reins and started to untie the reins. "Was the wicked man hiding in the tomb?"
"What?" Kivrin saidS.he couldn't get the stiff leather untiSehde. door.
glanced anxiously back at the church
"I saw you and Father Roche by the tWomabs. the wicked man hiding in grandfather's grave?"
CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Father Roche.
The stiff reins came suddenly loose in Kivrin's h"aFnadtsh.er Roche?"
"I went in the bell tower, but he was notHtheerwe.as in the church," Agnes sa"iWd.hy was the wicked man hiding in Grandfather's tomb, Lady Kivrin?"
Father RocheB. ut it couldn't beF.ather Roche had given her the last riHtees. had anointed her temples and the palms of her hands.
"Will the wicked man hurt Father Roche?" Agnes asked.
He couldn't be Father RochFea.ther Roche had held her hanHde.
had told her not to be afrSaihde.
tried to call up the face of the prHieest.had leaned over her and asked her her name, but she couldn't see his face because of all the smoke.
And while he was giving her the last rites, she had seen the cutthroat, she had been afraid because they had let him in the room, she had tried to get away froBmuthiimt .hadn't been a cutthroat at Itallh.ad
been Father Roche.
"Is the wicked man coming?" Agnes said, looking anxiously at the church door.
It all made sensTe.he cutthroat leaning over her in the clearing, putting her on theShershea.d thought
it was a vision from her delirium, but it wIatsnh'at.d been Father Roche, come to help Gawyn bring her to the manor.
"The wicked man isn't coming," Kivrin s"aTidh.ere isn't any wicked man." "Hides he still in the church?"
"No.I was wrongT. here isn't any wicked man." Agnes looked unconvinced".You cried out," she said.
Kivrin could hear her telling her grandmother, "Lady Katherine and Father Roche were in the church together and she cried outL."ady Imeyne would be delighted to have this to add to her litany of Father Roche's sins.And to Kivrin's list of suspicious behavior.
"I know I cried out," Kivrin s"aIitd.was dark in the churcFha.ther Roche came upon me suddenly and
I was frightened."
"But it was Father Roche," Agnes said as if she could not imagine anyone being frightened by him. "When you and Rosemund play at hiding and she jumps suddenly at you from behind a tree, you cry
out," Kivrin said desperately.
"One time Rosemund hid in the loft when I was looking at my hound, and she jumIpewdadsoswon.
affrighted I cried ouLt.ike this," she said, and let out a blood-curdling sh"rAienkd.
another time it was
dark in the hall and Gawyn jumped out frboemhind the screens and he said 'Fie!' and I cried out and-" "That's right," Kivrin sai"dI,t was dark in the church."

"Did Father Roche jump out at you and say 'Fie!'?"
Yes, Kivrin thoughHt. e leaned over me, and I thought he was a cutt"hNrooa,t". she said". He didn't do anything."
"Go we still with Father Roche for the holly?"
If I haven't frightened him away, Kivrin thouIfghht.e hasn't left while we've stood here talking. She lifted Agnes dow"nC. ome. We must go find him."
She didn't know what she'd do if he'd already Sghoenec.ouldn't take Agnes back to the manor to tell Lady Imeyne how she had screameAdn. d she couldn't go back without explaining to Father Roche. Explaining what?That she'd thought he was a robber, a rapTihsat?t she'd thought he was a nightmare from her delirium?
"Must we go into the church again?" Agnes asked reluctantly. "It's all righTt.here's no one there except Father Roche."
In spite of Kivrin's assurances, Agnes was unwilling to go back in theSchheurhcihd. her head in
Kivrin's skirts when Kivrin opened the door and clung to her leg.
"It's all right," Kivrin said, peering into the
Hnaevew. as no longer by the tomTbh.e door shut behind
her, and she stood there with Agnes pressed against her, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. "There's nothing to be afraid of."
He's not a cutthroat, she told hersTehlfe.re's nothing to be afraid oHfe. your hand.But her heart was pounding.
gave you the last riteHse.
held
"Is the wicked man there?" Agnes whispered, her head jammed against Kivrin's knee.
"There isn't any wicked man," she said, and then sawHehimw.as standing in front of St. Catherine's
statue. He was holding the candle Kivrin had dropped, and he bent and set it in front of the statue, and then straightened again.
She had thought perhaps it had been some trick of the darkness and the candle's flame, lighting his face from below, and he wasn't the cutthroat after all, but heHewahsa.d worn a hood over his head that
night, so she couldn't see his tonsure, but he was bending over the statue the way he had bent over her. Her heart began to pound again.
"Where is Father Roche?" Agnes said, raising her h"Teahde.re he is," she said, and ran toward him. "No-" Kivrin said, and started after "hDero.n't--"
"Father Roche!" Agnes shoute"dF. ather Roche!We have been seeking youS!"he had obviously
forgotten all about the wicked ma"nW. e looked in the church and we looked in the house, but you were not there!"
She was running full tilt at hHime .turned and bent down and scooped Agnes up into his arms all in one

motion.
"I sought you in the bell tower, but you were not there," Agnes said without the slightest trace of fear. "Rosemund said you had gone."
Kivrin stopped even with the last pillar, trying to get her heart to slow down.
"Were you hiding?" Agnes askeSdh.e put one arm trustingly around his ne"Ockn.ce Rosemund hid in the barn and jumped down on mI ec.ried out in a loud voice."
"Why did you seek me, Agnes?" he
"sIasids.omeone ill?"
He pronounced Agnes, "Agnus," and he had nearly the same accent as the boy with thTehescurvy. interpreter took a catch step before it translated what he'd said, and Kivrin felt a fleeting surprise that she couldn't understand himS. he had understood everything he said in the sickroom.
He must have been speaking Latin to me, she thought, because there was no mistaking Iht iswvasoice. the voice that had said the last rites, the voice that had told her not to Abendafsrhaeid.wasn't afraidA. t
the sound of his voice, her heart had stopped pounding.
"Nay, none are ill," Agnes sa"iWd.e would go with you to gather ivy and holly for thLeadhyallK. ivrin and Rosemund and Saracen and I."
At the words, "Lady Kivrin," Roche turned and saw her standing there by thHee psielltarA. gnes down.
Kivrin put out her hand to the pillar for su"pIpobret.g your pardon, Holy Father," she s"aIi'dm. so sorry I screamed and ran from yIotu.was dark, and I didn't recognize you-"
The interpreter, still a half-beat behind, translated that as, "I knew you not."
"She knows naught," Agnes interrupte"dT.he wicked man struck her on the head, and she remembers naught save for her name."
"I had heard this," he said, still looking at K"iIvsriint. true you have no memory of why you have come among us?"
She felt the same longing to tell him the truth that she had felt when he'd asked heIr'mhearnname. historian, she wanted to saIy.came here to observe you, and I fell ill, and I don't know where the drop is.
"She remembers naught of who she is," Agnes "sSahide. did not yet remember how to speIakh.ad to teach her."
"You remember naught of who you are?" he asked. "No."
"And naught of your coming here?" he said.
She could answer that truthfully at le"aNsto.," she said". Except that you and Gawyn brought me to the manor."

Agnes was obviously tired of the conversat"ioMni.ght we go with you now to gather holly?"
He didn't act as if he'd heard Hhe r.extended his hand as if he were going to bless Kivrin, but he touched her temple instead, and she realized that was what he had intended to do before, beside the tomb. "You have no wound," he said.
"It's healed," she said.
"We wish to go now," Agnes said, tugging on Roche's arm.
He raised his hand, as if to touch her temple again, and then with"Ydroeuw mitu. st not fear," he said. "God has sent you among us for some good purpose."
No, He hasn't, Kivrin thougHhte.
hasn't sent me here at Malle.diaeval sent meB. ut she felt comforted.
"Thank you," she said.
"I would go now!" Agnes said, tugging on Kivrin's"Garom.fetch your donkey," she told Father Roche, "and we will fetch Rosemund."
Agnes started down the nave, and Kivrin had no choice but to go with her to keep her froTmhe running. door banged open just before they reached it, and Rosemund looked in, blinking.
"It is rainingF.ound you Father Roche?" she demanded. "Took you Blackie to the stable?" Agnes asked.
"Aye.You were too late, then, and Father Roche had gone?"
"Nay.He is here, and we are to go with Hheimw. as in the church, and Lady Kivrin-"
"He has gone to fetch his donkey," Kivrin said to keep Agnes from launching into the story of what had happened.
"I was affrighted that time when you jumped from the loft, Rosemund," Agnes said, but Rosemund had already stomped off to her horse.
It wasn't raining, but there was a fine mist in tKheivrainir. helped Agnes into her saddle and mounted
the sorrel, using the lychgate as a sFteapth. er Roche led the donkey out to them, and they started off on the track past the church and up through the little band of trees behind it, along a little space of snow- covered meadow and on into the woods.
"There are wolves in these woods," Agnes
"sGaidaw. yn killed one."
Kivrin scarcely heard heSr.he was watching Father Roche walking beside his donkey, trying to remember the night he had brought her to the mRanooser.mund had said Gawyn had met him on the
road and he had helped Gawyn bring her the rest of the way to the manor, but that couldn't be right.
He had leaned over her as she sat against the wagon Swhheeecol.uld see his face in the flickering light
from the fireH. e had said something to her she didn't understand, and she had said, "Tell Mr. Dunworthy

to come and get me."
"Rosemund does not ride in seemly fashion for a maid," Agnes said primly.
She had ridden out ahead of the donkey and was nearly out of sight where the road curved, waiting impatiently for them to catch up.
"Rosemund!" Kivrin called, and Rosemund galloped back, nearly colliding with the donkey and then pulling her mare's reins up short.
"Can we go no faster than this?" she demanded, wheeled around, and rode ahea"dWaegawinil.l never finish ere it rains."
They were riding in thick woods now, the road scarcely wider than a briKdlievrpinathlo. oked at the
trees, trying to remember having seen theTmh.ey passed a thicket of willows, but it was set too far back from the road, and a trickle of ice- bordered water ran next to it.
There was a huge sycamore on the other side of theIt psatotho.d in a little open space, draped with mistletoe. Beyond it was a line of wild service trees, so evenly spaced they might have beenShpelanted. didn't remember ever having seen any of this before.
They had brought her along this road, and she'd hoped that something might trigger her memory, but nothing looked familiar at aIllt. had been too dark and she had been too ill.
All she really remembered was the drop, though it had the same hazy, unreal quality as the trip to the manor. There had been a clearing and an oak and a thicket of wAilnlodwFs.ather Roche's face bending
over her as she sat against the wagon wheel.
He must have been with Gawyn when he found her, or else Gawyn had brought him back to the drop. She could see his face clearly in the light from thAe nfdiret.hen she'd fallen off the horse at the fork.
They hadn't come to any fork Syheet. hadn't even seen any paths, though she knew they had to be
there, cutting from village to village and leading to the fields and the hut of the sick cottar Eliwys had gone to see.
They climbed a low hill, and at the top of it Father Roche looked back to see if they werHeefollowing.
knows where the drop is, Kivrin thougShhte.
had hoped he had some idea where it was, that Gawyn
had described it to him or told him which road it lay along, but he hadnF'tathedr Rtoo.che already knew where the drop waHs.e had been there.
Agnes and Kivrin came to the top of the hill, but all she could see was trees, and below them more tree They had to be in Wychwood Forest, but if they were there were over a hundred square kilometers in which the drop could be hiddeSnh.e would never have found it on her oSwhen. could scarcely see ten
meters into the underbrush.
She was amazed at the thickness of the woods as they came down the hill into the heaTrht eoref them. were clearly no paths between the trees hTerhee.re was scarcely any space at all, and what there was was filled with fallen branches and tangled thickets and snow.
She had been wrong about not recognizing anything-she knew these woods aIfttewr aasll.the forest
Snow White had got lost in, and Hansel and Gretel, and all those Tprhienrceesw. ere wolves in it, and

bears, and perhaps even witch's cottages, and that was where all those stories had come from, wasn't it,
the Middle Ages?And no wonderA.
nyone could get lost in there.
Roche stopped and stood beside his donkey while Rosemund cantered back to him and they caught up, and Kivrin wondered wryly if he had lost his Bwuaty.as soon as they came up to him, he plunged off through a thicket and onto an even narrower path that wasn't visible from the road.
Rosemund couldn't pass Father Roche and his donkey without shoving them aside, but she followed
nearly treading on the donkey's hind hooves, and Kivrin wondered again what was bother"iSnigr
her.
Bloet has many powerful friends," Lady Imeyne had
Ssahied. had called him an ally, but Kivrin
wondered if he really was, or if Rosemund's father had told her something about him that made her so distressed at the prospect of his coming to Ashencote.
They went a short way along the path, past a thicket of willows that looked like the one by the drop, an then turned off the path, squeezing through a stand of firs and emerging next to a holly tree.
Kivrin had been expecting holly bushes like the ones in Brasenose's quad, but this wIatstoawterered.
over them, spreading out above the confines of the spruces, its red berries bright among the masses of glossy leaves.
Father Roche began taking the sacks from the back of the donkey, Agnes attempting to help him. Rosemund pulled a short, fat-bladed knife our of her girdle and began hacking at the sharp-leaved lower branches.
Kivrin waded through the snow to the other side of thSehetrehea.d caught a glimpse of white she
thought might be the stand of birches, but it was only a branch, half-fallen between two trees and covered with snow.
Agnes appeared, with Roche behind her carrying a wicked- looking dKagivgreinr. had thought that
knowing who he was would work some transformation, but he still looked like a cutthroat, standing there looming over Agnes.
He handed Agnes one of the coarse b"aYgos.u must hold the bag open like this," he said, bending down to show her how the top of the bag should be folded back, "and I will put the brancHhe
into it."
began chopping at the branches, oblivious to the spiky leKavivesri.n took the branches from him and put them in the bag carefully, so the stiff leaves wouldn't break.
"Father Roche," she said, "I wanted to thank you for helping me when I was ill and for bringing me to th manor when I-"
"When that you were fallen," he said, hacking at a stubborn branch.
She had intended to say, "when I was set upon by thieves," and his response surpSrhiseed her. remembered falling off the horse and wondered if that was when he had happenedBuatloifngi.t was, they had already come a long way from the drop, and he wouldn't know wherAe nidt wshaes. remembered him there, at the drop.
There was no point in speculati"nDg.o you know the place where Gawyn found me?" she asked, and held her breath.
"Aye," he said, sawing at a thick branch.

She felt suddenly sick with relHieef. knew where the drop wa"Iss.
it far from here?"
"Nay," he saidH. e wrenched the branch off. "Would you take me there?" Kivrin asked.
"Why would you go there?" Agnes asked, spreading her arms out wide to keep the "bWaghaotpiefn. the wicked men be still there?"
Roche was looking at her as if he were wondering the same thing.
"I thought that if I saw the place, I might remember who I am and where I came from," she said. He handed her the branch, holding it so she could take it without being"Istawbiblledta. ke you there,"
he said.
"Thank you," Kivrin saiTd.hank you.She slid the branch in next to the others, and Roche tied the top shut and hoisted the bag over his shoulder.
Rosemund appeared, dragging her bag in the snow behind"Ahre .you not finished yet?" she said. Roche took her bag, too, and tied them on the donkey'sKibvarcink. lifted Agnes onto her pony and
helped Rosemund mount, and Father Roche knelt and linked his big hands so Kivrin could step up into
the stirrup.
He had helped her back on the white horse when she fWelhl eonfft.hat she was falleSn.he
remembered his big hands steadying hBeru. t they had come a long way from the drop by then, and why would Gawyn have taken Roche all the way back to the Sdhreopd?id not remember going back, but it
was all so dim and confuseInd. her delirium it must have seemed farther than it was.
Roche led the donkey back through the firs and onto the path, going back the way they had come. Rosemund let him get ahead and then said, in a voice just like Imeyne's, "Where goesThe invoyw?
lies not this way."
"We go to see the place where Lady Katherine was set upon," Agnes said.
Rosemund looked at Kivrin suspicious"lyW. hy would you go thence?" she ask"eYd.our goods and gear have already been fetched to the manor."
"She wots that if she see the place she will remember somewhat," Agn"eLsadsyaidK. ivrin, if you remember you who you are, must you return home?"
"Certes, she will," Rosemund sa"idS.he must needs return to her famSilhye. forever." She was only doing this to provoke Agnes, and it worked.
"She can!" Agnes sai"dS. he will be our nurse."
cannot stay with us
"Why would she wish to stay with such a mewling babe?" Rosemund said, kicking her horse into a trot. "I am no babe!" Agnes called after "hYeor.u are the babe!S"he rode back to Kivri"nI. do not wish you

to leave me!"
"I won't leave you," she sa"iCdo. me, Father Roche is waiting."
He was at the road, and as soon as they rode up, he staRrtoesdemounn. d was already far ahead, dashing along the snow- filled path, sending up sprays of snow.
They crossed a little stream and came to a fork, the part they were on curving away to the right, the other continuing nearly straight for a hundred meters or so and then making a sharp jog to the left. Rosemund sat at the fork, letting her horse stamp and toss its head to express her impatience.
I fell off the white horse at a fork in the road, Kivrin thought, trying to remember the trees, the road, the little stream, anythingT. here were dozens of forks along the paths that criss-crossed Wychwood Forest
and no reason to think this was the one, but it apparentlFyatwhears. Roche turned right at the fork and went a few meters and then plunged into the woods, leading the donkey.
There were no willows where he left the road, and nHoe hmillu.st be going back the way Gawyn had brought her.She remembered them going a long way through the woods before they came to the fork.
They followed him into the trees, Rosemund in the rear, and almost immediately had to dismount and lead their horsesR. oche wasn't following any path that Kivrin could hseeep.icked his way through the
snow, ducking under low branches that showered snow down on his neck, and skirting around a spiny clump of blackthorn.
Kivrin tried to memorize the scenery so she could find her way back here, but it all had a defeating sameness. As long as there was snow she could follow their foot- and hooSfphreinwts.ould have to
come back alone before it melted and mark the trail with notches or scraps of cloth or sOomr ething. breadcrumbs, like Hansel and Gretel.
It was easy to see how they, and Snow White, and the princes, had got lost in Tthheeywhoaoddso. nly
gone a few hundred meters and already, looking back, Kivrin wasn't sure which direction the road lay, even with the footprintsH. ansel and Gretel could have wandered for months and never found their way back home, or found the witch's cottage either.
Father Roche's donkey stopped. "What is it?" Kivrin asked.
Father Roche led the donkey off to the side and tied it to an a"lTdehris triese.the place."
It wasn't the droIpt. was scarcely even a clearing, only a space where an oak tree had spread out its branches and kept the other trees from growIitngm. ade almost a tent, and under it the ground was only powdered with snow.
"Can we build a fire?" Agnes asked, walking under the branches to the remains of aAcafmalplefnire. log had been dragged over toAigt.nes sat down on it". I am cold," she said, poking at the blackened stones with her foot.
It hadn't burned very lonTgh.e sticks were barely charreSd.omeone had kicked dirt on it to put it out. Father Roche had squatted in front of her, the light from the fire flickering on his face.

"Well?" Rosemund said impatientl"yD. o you remember aught?"
She had been herSe.he remembered the fireS.he had thought they were lighting it for the sBtaukte.that couldn't be rightR. oche had been at the droSph.e remembered him leaning over her as she sat against the wagon wheel.
"Are you sure this is the place where Gawyn found me?" "Aye," he said, frowning.
"If the wicked man comes, I will fight him with my dirk," Agnes said, pulling one of the half-charred sticks out of the fire and brandishing it in thTehaeirb. lackened end broke ofAf.gnes squatted next to
the fire and pulled out another stick and then sat down on the ground, her back against the log, and struck the two sticks togethePr.ieces of charred wood flew off them.
Kivrin looked at AgneSs.he had sat against the log while they made the fire, and Gawyn had leaned over her, his hair red in the fire's light, and said something to her that she couldn't uAndnedrstthaennd.
he had put the fire out, kicking it apart with his boots, and the smoke came up and blinded her. "Have you remembered you?" Agnes said, tossing the sticks back among the stones.
Roche was still frowning at h"eAr.re you ill, Lady Katherine?" he asked.
"No," she said, trying to sm"ilIet. was just...I'd hoped that if I saw the place where I was attacked, I
might remember."
He looked at her solemnly a moment, the way he had in the church, and then turned and went over to hi donkey. "Come," he said.
"Have you remembered?" Agnes insisted, clapping her fur mittens togTehtheeyr. were covered with soot.
"Agnes!" Rosemund said".Look you how you have dirtied your mitteSnhs.e" pulled Agnes roughly to
her feet."And you have ruined your cloak, sitting in the cold
Ysnoouw.wicked girl!"
Kivrin pulled the two girls ap"aRrto. semund, untie Agnes's pony," she sa"idIt. is time to go gather the ivy." She brushed the snow off Agnes's cloak and wiped ineffectually at the white fur.
Father Roche was standing by his donkey, waiting for them, still with that odd, sober expression. "We'll clean your mittens when we get home," she said h"aCstoilmy.e, we must go with Father Roche."
Kivrin took the mare's reins and followed the girls and Father Roche back the way they had come for a few meters and then in another direction that brought them almost immediately out ontoShae road.
couldn't see the fork, and she wondered if they were farther along the road or on a different road altogether. It all looked the same-willows and little clearings and oak trees.
It was clear what had happenGeda.wyn had tried to take her to the manor, but she had beenShtoeo ill. had fallen off his horse and he had taken her into the woods and built a campfire and left her there, propped against the fallen log, while he went for help.

Or he had intended to build a fire and stay there with her until morning, and Father Roche had seen the campfire and come to help, and between them they had taken her to theFamthaenrorR. oche had no
idea where the drop waHs.e had assumed Gawyn had found her there, under the oak tree.
The image of him leaning over her as she sat against the wagon wheel was part of heSrhedehliaridum. dreamed it as she lay in the sickroom, the way she had dreamed the bells and the stake and the white horse.
"Where does he go now?" Rosemund asked peevishly, and Kivrin felt like slapp"iTngherheeri.s ivy
nearer to homeA.
nd now it begins to rain."
She was righTt.he mist was turning into a drizzle.
"We could have been finished and home ere now if the babe Agnes had not brought heSrhepuppy!" galloped off ahead again, and Kivrin didn't even try to stop her.
"Rosemund is a churl," Agnes said.
"Yes," Kivrin said".She is.Do you know what's the matter with her?"
"It is because of Sir Bloet," Agnes
"sSaihde.
is to wed him."
"What?" Kivrin saidI.meyne had said something about a wedding, but she'd assumed one of Sir Bloet's daughters was to marry one of Lord Guillaume's s"oHnos.w can Sir Bloet marry RosemunIds?n't he
already married to Lady Yvolde?"
"Nay," Agnes said, looking surprise"dL.ady Yvolde is Sir Bloet's sister."
"But Rosemund isn't old enough," she said, and knew sheGiwrlsas.in the thirteen hundreds had frequently been betrothed before they were of age, sometimes even atMbairrhia.ge in the Middle Ages
had been a business arrangement, a way to join lands and enhance social standing, and Rosemund had no doubt been groomed from Agnes's age to be married to someone like SiBr uBt leoveet.ry mediaeval
story of virginal girls married to toothless, dissipated old men came to her in a rush.
"Does Rosemund like Sir Bloet?" Kivrin askOefd.course she didn't like hiSmh.e had been hateful, ill-tempered, nearly hysterical ever since she heard he was coming.
"I like him," Agnes sa"idH.e is to give me a silver bridle-chain when they wed."
Kivrin looked ahead at Rosemund, waiting far down the SrioradB.loet might not be old and dissipated at all.She was assuming that the way she had assumed Lady Yvolde was hHisewmifieg.ht be young,
and Rosemund's bad temper might only be nervousnOesrs.she might change her mind about him before the wedding.Girls weren't usually married till they were fourteen or fifteen, certainly not before they started exhibiting signs of maturation.
"When are they to be married?" Kivrin asked Agnes. "At Eastertide," Agnes said.
They had come to another foTrkh.is one was much narrower, the two roads running nearly parallel for a hundred meters before the one Rosemund had taken started up a low hill.

Twelve years old and to be married in three moNnothws.onder Lady Eliwys hadn't wanted Sir Bloet to know they were hereP.erhaps she didn't approve of Rosemund marrying so young, and the betrothal had only been arranged to get her father out of the trouble he was in.
Rosemund rode to the top of the hill and galloped back to Father"WRohcehree. do you lead us?" she demanded. "We come soon to open ground."
"We are nearly there," Father Roche said mildly.
She wheeled her mare around and galloped out of sight over the hill, reappeared, galloped back nearly to Kivrin and Agnes, turned the mare sharply and rode ahead Laigkaeint.he rat in the trap, Kivrin
thought, frantically looking for a way out.
The drizzle was turning into a sleety Fraaitnh.er Roche pulled his hood up over his tonsured head and led the donkey up the low hIitll.plodded steadily up the incline to the top, and then stoFpaptheedr.
Roche jerked on the reins, and the donkey pulled back against them. Kivrin and Agnes caught up to h"iWm.hat's wrong?" Kivrin asked.
"Come, Balaam," Father Roche said, and took hold of the reins with both his huge hands, but the donkey didn't budgeI.t strained against the priest, digging in its rear hooves and leaning back so it was nearly sitting.
"Mayhap he likes not the rain," Agnes said. "Can we help?" Kivrin asked.
"Nay," he said, waving them past h"iRmid. e ahead.It will go better with him if the horses are not here."
He wrapped the reins around his hand and went around behind as if he intendedKitvorinpursohd. e
over the crest with Agnes, looking back to make sure the donkey didn't suddenly kick him in the head. They started down the other side.
The forest below them was veiled in Irtaiwn.as already melting the snow from the road, and the bottom of the hill was a muddy bTogh.ere were thick bushes on either side, covered with sRnose.mund sat
at the top of the next hIitll.had trees only halfway up its sides, and above them there was an expanse of snow. And beyond that, Kivrin thought, is an open plain and a view of the road, and Oxford.
"Where are you going, KivriWn?ait!" Agnes cried, but Kivrin was already down the hill and off her sorrel, shaking the snow-covered bushes, trying to see if they were wiTllhoewys.were, and beyond
them she could see the crown of a big Sohaek.threw the sorrel's reins over the reddish willow branches,
and pushed into the thickeTt.he snow had frozen the willow branches togetShhere.
struck at them, and
snow showered down on heAr. flurry of birds launched itself into the air, screecShhineg.fought her way through the snowy branches and pushed through to the clearing that had to bIet wthaesr.e.
And there was the oak, and beyond it, away from the road, the stand of white-trunked birches that had looked like thinner woodsI.t had to be the drop.
But it didn't look rigThth.e clearing had been smaller, hadn't Aitn?d the oak had had more leaves on it, more nests.There was a blackthorn bush to one side of the clearing, its purple-black buds poking out

from the vicious thornsS.he didn't remember its being theSreh.e would surely have remembered that, wouldn't she?
It's the snow, she thought, it's making the clearing look Iltarwgears.
nearly half a meter deep here, and
smooth, untouched.It didn't look as if anyone had ever been here.
"Is this the place where Father Roche would have us gather ivy?" Rosemund said, pushing through the thicket. She looked around the clearing, her hands on her "hTiphse.re is no ivy here."
There had been ivy, hadn't there, wound around the base of the oak, and musIht'rsoothmes?snow, she thought. The snow has covered up all the distinguishing landmaArnksd. the tracks, where Gawyn had dragged away the wagon and the boxes.
The casket-Gawyn had not brought the casket back to the mHaenohra.dn't seen it because she'd hidden it in the weeds by the road.
She pushed past Rosemund through the willows, not even trying to avoid the showerinTghesnow.
casket would be buried in snow, too, but it wasn't as deep by the road, and the casket was nearly forty centimeters tall.
"Lady Katherine!" Rosemund shouted, right behind "hWer.here would you now?"
"Kivrin!" Agnes said, a pathetic ecShhoe.
had tried to climb down off her pony in the middle of the
road, but she had got her foot caught in the st"iLrraudpy.
Kivrin, come you here!"
Kivrin looked at her blindly for a moment, and then glanced up the hill.
Father Roche was still at the top, struggling with the doSnhkeeyh.ad to find the casket before he came. "Stay on your pony, Agnes," she said and began scrabbling at the snow under the willows.
"What do you seek?" Rosemund sa"iTdh. ere is no ivy here!" "Lady Kivrin, you come now!" Agnes said.
Perhaps the snow had bent the willows over, and the casket was farther in underneaSthhe thbent.
over, clinging to the thin, brittle branches, and tried to sweep the snowBuatsitdhee.
trunk wasn't there.
She had seen that as soon as she staTrthede. willows had protected the weeds and the ground underneath them.There were only a few centimeters of snBowut. if this is the place, it must be here, Kivrin thought numblyI.f this is the place.
"Lady Kivrin!" Agnes shouted, and Kivrin glanced back aSt hheerh. ad managed to get down off her pony and was running toward Kivrin.
"Don't run," Kivrin started to say, but she didn't get it half out before Agnes caught her foot on one of th ruts and went down.
It knocked the breath out of her, and Kivrin and Rosemund were both to her before she even started to cry. Kivrin scooped her into her arms and pushed her hand against Agnes's middle to straighten her and make her take a breath.
Agnes gasped, and then drew in a long breath and began to shriek.

"Go and fetch Father Roche," Kivrin said to Rosem"uHned's.
at the top of the hHilils.
donkey balked."
"He is already coming," Rosemund saKidiv. rin turned her headH. e was running clumsily down the hill, without the donkey, and Kivrin almost called out, "Don't run!" to him, too, but he could not have heard her over Agnes's screaming.
"Shh," Kivrin said".You're all rightY. ou just had the wind knocked out of you."
Father Roche caught up to them, and Agnes immediately flung herself across into hHise ahrumgsg.ed her against him". Hush, Agnus," he murmured in his wonderful comforting v"oHicues.h." Her screams quieted to sobs.
"Where did you hurt yourself?" Kivrin asked, brushing the snow from Agnes's"Dcildoayko. u scrape your hands?"
Father Roched turned her around in his arms so Kivrin could take her white fur mittenHseroff her. hands were bright red, but they weren't scrap"eWd.here did you hurt yourself?"
"She is not hurt," Rosemund sa"iSdh. e cries because she is a babe!"
"I am not a babe!" Agnes said with such force she nearly flung herself out of Father Ro"cIhe's arms. struck my knee on the ground."
"Which one?" Kivrin aske"dT. he one you hurt before?" "Yes!Do not look!" she said as Kivrin reached for her leg.
"All right, I won't," Kivrin saTidh.e knee had been scabbing ovSerh.e had probably knocked the scab loose. Unless it was bleeding badly enough to soak through her leather hose, there was no point in making her colder by undressing her here in the s"nBouwt. you must let me look at it at home."
"Can we go thence now?" Agnes asked.
Kivrin looked helplessly across at the thicTkheti.s had to be the placTeh.e willows, the clearing, the
treeless crest.It had to be the placPee.rhaps she had put the casket farther back in the thicket than she thought, and the snow-
"I would go home now!" Agnes said, and began t"oI saomb. cold!"
"All right," Kivrin noddeAd.gnes's mittens were too wet to put back on Kheivr.rin took off her
borrowed gloves and gave them to hTehr.ey went all the way up Agnes's arm, which delighted her, and Kivrin began to think she had forgotten about her knee, but when Father Roche tried to put her on her pony, she sobbed, "I would ride with you."
Kivrin nodded again and got on her soFrarethl.er Roche handed Agnes up to her and led Agnes's pony
up the hillT. he donkey was standing at the top, by the side of the road, eating the weeds that poked up through the thin snow.
Kivrin looked back at the thicket through the rain, trying to see the
Ictl'esarsiunrge.ly the drop, she told
herself, but she wasn't surEe.ven the hill looked somehow wrong from here.

Father Roche took hold of the donkey's reins, and the donkey immediately stiffened and dug in its hooves, but as soon as Father Roche turned its head and started down the far side of the hill with Agnes's pony, it came willingly.
The rain was melting the snow, and Rosemund's mare slipped a little as she galloped it on the straight stretch back to the forSk.he slowed it to a trot.
At the next fork, Roche took the lefthand Twhaeyr.e were willows all along it, and oak trees, and muddy ruts at the bottom of every hill.
"Do we go home now, Kivrin?" Agnes said, shivering against her.
"Yes," Kivrin saidS.he pulled the tail of her cloak forward over A"gDneose.s your knee still hurt?" "Nay.We did not gather any ivyS.h"e sat up straight and twisted around to look at K"iDvridin.you
remember you when you saw the place?" "No," Kivrin said.
"Good," Agnes said, settling back against "hNero.w you must stay with us forever."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Andrews did not telephone Dunworthy until late afternoon on ChristmasCoDliany.had, of course, insisted on getting up at an ungodly hour to open his small pile of gifts.
"Are you going to stay in bed all day?" he'd demanded while Dunworthy groped for his s"pIte'sctacles. nearly eight o' clock."
It was in fact a quarter past six, pitch black outside, too dark even to see if it was Cstoililnrahianding. had a good deal more sleep than he Ahaftde.r the ecumenical service, Dunworthy had sent Colin back to Balliol and gone to Infirmary to find out about Latimer.
"He has a fever, but no lung involvement thus far," Mary had to"Hldehcimam. e in at five, said he'd started feeling headachy and confused around oFnoer.ty-eight hours on the buttoTn.here's obviously no need to question him to find out who he contracted itHforowm.are you feeling?"
She had made him stay for blood tests, and then a new case had come in, and he'd waited to see if he could identify himI.t was nearly one before he'd gone to bed.
Colin handed Dunworthy a cracker and insisted he snap it, put on the yellow tissue paper crown, and
read his motto aloudI.t said, "When are Santa's reindeer most likely to come inWsihden?
open."
the door is
Colin was already wearing his red croHwen. sat on the floor and opened his gTihftes. soap tablets were a huge success".See," Colin said, sticking out his tongue, "they turn it different cTolhoerys."did, also his teeth and the edges of his lips.
He seemed pleased with the book, though it was obvious he wished there weHree hfolilpops.ed through the pages, looking at the illustrations.
"Look at this," he said, thrusting the volume at Dunworthy, who was still trying to wake up.
It was a knight's tomb, with the standard carved effigy in full armor on top, his face and posture the image of eternal rest, but on the side, in an inset frieze like a window into the tomb, the dead knight's corpse struggled up in his coffin, his tattered flesh falling away from him like grave wrappings, his
skeleton's hands curved into frantic claws, his face a skull's empty socketed Whoorrmors.
crawled in
and out between his legs, over and under his sw"Oorxdf.ordshire, c. 1350," the caption rea"dA.n example of the macabre tomb decoration prevalent following the bubonic plague."
"Isn't it apocalyptic?" Colin said delightedly.
He was even polite about the muf"flIers.uppose it's the thought that counts, isn't it?" he said, holding it up by one end, and then after a minute, "Perhaps I can wear it when I visiTt htehye wsicokn.'t care what
it looks like."
"Visit what sick?" Dunworthy asked.
Colin got up off the floor and went over to his duffel and began rummaging t"hTrohuegvhiciat.r asked me last night if I'd run errands for him, check on people and take them medicine and things."

He fished a paper bag out of the d"uTffheils.
is your present," he said, handing it to Dunwo"rItth'sy.not
wrapped," he added unnecessarily".Finch said we ought to save paper for the epidemic." Dunworthy opened the bag and pulled out a flattish red book.
"It's an appointment calendar," Colin sa"iIdt'.s so you can mark off the days till your girl gets Hbeack." opened it to the first pag"eS.ee, I made sure to get one that had December."
"Thank you," Dunworthy said, openingCiht.ristmas. The Slaughter of the InnocentNs.ew Year's. Epiphany. "That was very thoughtful."
"I wanted to get you this model of Carfax Tower that plays 'I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day'," Colin said, "but it cost twenty pounds!"
The telephone rang, and Colin and Dunworthy both dived "fIo'lrl
ibte. t it's my mother," Colin said.
It was Mary, calling from the infirm"aHryo.w are you feeling?" "Half-asleep," Dunworthy said.
Colin grinned at him.
"How's Latimer?" Dunworthy asked.
"Good," Mary saidS.he was still wearing her lab coat, but she'd combed her hair, and she looked cheerful. "He seems to have a very mild cWase've established a connection with the South Carolina virus."
"Latimer was in South Carolina?"
"No.One of the students I had you question last night...good Lord, I mean two nigI'hmts loasgion.g all
track of timeO.
ne of the ones who'd been at the dance in HeadinHgetonli.ed at first because he'd
skipped off from his college to see a young woman and left a friend to cover for him." "Skipped off to South Carolina?"
"No, LondonB. ut the young woman was from the StaStehse.'d flown in from Texas and changed planes in Charleston, South CarolinTa.he CDC's working to find out what cases were in the aLireptort. me speak to ColinI. want to wish him a happy Christmas."
Dunworthy put him on, and he launched into a recital of his gifts, down to and including the motto in his cracker. "Mr. Dunworthy gave me a book about the Middle AHge .h"eld it up to the scre"eDn.id you
know they cut off people's heads for stealing and stuck them up on London Bridge?"
"Thank her for the muffler, and don't tell her you're running errands for the vicar," Dunworthy whispered, but Colin was already holding the receiver out to "hSihme. wants to speak to you again."
"It's clear you're taking good care of him," Mary"Is'maidv. ery gratefulI.
haven't been home yet, and I
should have hated him to be alone on ChristmI adso.n't suppose the promised gifts from his mother have arrived?"

"No," Dunworthy said cautiously, looking at Colin, who was looking at the pictures in the Middle Ages book.
"Nor telephoned," she said disgusted"lyT.he woman hasn't a drop of maternal blood in her Fbordya.ll she knows, Colin might be lying in hospital with a temp of forty degrees, mightn't he?"
"How is Badri?" Dunworthy asked.
"The fever was down a bit this morning, but there's still a good deal of lung invWolev'reemepnutt.ting him on synthamycinT. he South Carolina cases have responded very well toShiet."promised to try to come over for Christmas dinner and then rang off.
Colin looked up from his bo"oDk.id you know in the Middle Ages they burned people at the stake?" Mary didn't come nor telephone, and neither did AndrDeuwnsw. orthy sent Colin over to hall for
breakfast and tried phoning the tech, but all the lines were engaged, "due to the holiday crush," the
computer voice said, obviously not reprogrammed since the beginning of the quarIatntaindev.ised him to delay all nonessential calls until the next dHaey.tried twice more, with the same result.
Finch came over, bearing a tr"aAy.re you all right, sir?" he said anxiou"sYlyo.u're not feeling ill?"
"I'm not feeling iIl'lm.
waiting for a trunk call to come through."
"Oh, thank goodness, siWr. hen you didn't come over for breakfast I feared the wHorestt."ook the
rain-spotted cover off the tra"yI.'m afraid it's a poor sort of Christmas breakfast, but we're nearly out of eggs. I don't know what sort of Christmas dinner it wiTllhebree. isn't a goose left inside the perimeter."
It actually seemed to be quite a respectable breakfast, a boiled egg, kippers, muffins with jam.
"I tried for a Christmas pudding, sir, but we're nearly out of brandy," Finch said, pulling a plastic envelope out from under the tray and handing it to Dunworthy.
He opened iOt. n top was an NHS directive head"eEda: rly Symptoms of Influenza1..) Disorientation.
2.) Headache.3.) Muscle AchesA. times."
void contracting itW.
ear your NHS regulation face mask at all
"Face mask?" Dunworthy asked.
"The NHS delivered them this morning," Finch "sIai don't know how we're going to manage the washing up.We're nearly out of soap."
There were four other directives, all similar in tone, and a note from William Gaddson with a printout of
Badri's credit account for Monday, the twentieth of December, attacBhaeddr.i had apparently spent that missing time from noon to half-past two Christmas shoppHineg.had purchased four books, paperback, at Blackwell's, a muffler, red, and a digital carillon, miniature, at DebenWhaomn'ds.erful. That meant dozens and dozens more contacts.
Colin came in carrying a napkinful of mufHfiens.was still wearing his paper crown which was a good deal the worse for the rain.
"It would reassure everyone, sir," Finch said, "if after your call comes through, you'd come over to hall.

Mrs. Gaddson particularly is convinced you've come down with the Svhireuss.aid you'd contracted it through poor ventilation in the dormitories."
"I'll put in an appearance," Dunworthy promised.
Finch went to the door and then turned b"Aacbko.ut Mrs. Gaddson, sirS.he's behaving dreadfully, criticizing the college and demanding that she be moved in with hSerhes'sonc.ompletely undermining morale."
"I'll say," Colin said, dumping the muffins on the "tTabhlee.Gallstone told me hot breads were bad for my immune system."
"Isn't there some sort of volunteer work she could do at Infirmary or something?" Fin"cThoaskkeeedp. her out of college?"
"We can hardly inflict her on poor helpless flu viIcttimig. ht kill themW. hat about asking the vicar? He was looking for volunteers to run errands."
"The vicar?" Colin sai"dH. ave a heart, Mr. DunworthIy'm.
working for the vicar."
"The priest from Holy Re-Formed then," Dunworthy
"sHaide'.s fond of reciting the Mass in Time of
Pestilence for moraleT. hey should get along swimmingly." "I'll phone him straightaway," Finch said, and left.
Dunworthy ate his breakfast, except for the muffin, which Colin appropriated, and then took the empty tray over to hall, leaving orders for Colin to come get him immediately if the techIt rwanags ustpil.l
raining, the trees black and dripping and the Christmas tree lights spotted with rain.
Everyone was still at table except for the bellringers, who stood off to one side in their white gloves, their handbells on the table in front of thFeimnc. h was demonstrating the wearing of the NHS regulation
masks, pulling off the tapes at either side and pressing them to his cheeks.
"You don't look well at all, Mr. Dunworthy," Mrs. Gaddson"Asnaidd.no wonderT. he conditions in this college are appallingI.t is a wonder to me that there has not been an epidemic befoProeorthis. ventilation and an extremely uncooperative staYffo. ur Mr. Finch was quite rude to me when I spoke to
him about moving into my son's roomHse. told me I had chosen to be in Oxford during a quarantine, and that I had to take whatever accommodations I was given."
Colin came skidding i"nT. here's someone on the telephone for you," he said.
Dunworthy started past her, but she placed herself solidly in hi"sI wtoalyd. Mr. Finch that he might be content to stay at home when his son was in danger, but that I was not."
"I'm afraid I'm wanted on the telephone," Dunworthy said.
"I told him no real mother could fail to go when her child was alone and ill in a far away place." "Mr. Dunworthy," Colin sai"dC. ome along!"
"Of course you clearly have no idea what I'm talking Laobokut.at this child!S"he grabbed Colin by

the arm."Running about in the pouring rain with no coat on!" Dunworthy took advantage of her shift in position to get past her.
"You obviously care nothing about your boy's catching the Indian flu," shCeolsinaidw. renched free. "Letting him gorge himself on muffins and go about soaked to the skin."
Dunworthy sprinted across the quad, Colin at his heels.
"I will not be surprised if this virus turns out to have originated here in college," Mrs. Gaddson shouted after them."Sheer negligence, that's what it Sish.eer negligence!"
Dunworthy burst into the room and snatched up the pThhoenree. shouted. "Are you there?I can't see you."
was no picture".Andrews," he
"The telephone system's overbooked," Montoya sa"iTdh. ey've cut the visuaIl.t's Lupe MontoyaI.s Mr. Basingame salmon or trout?
"What?" Dunworthy said, frowning at the blank screen.
"I've been calling fishing guides in Scotland all morWninhge.n I could get througTh.hey say where he's gone depends on whether he's salmon or trWouht.at about friends?Is there someone in the university he goes fishing with who might know?"
"I don't know," Dunworthy sa"idM. s. Montoya, I'm afraid I'm waiting for a most important-"
"I've tried everything else-hotels, inns, boat rentals, even his bIartbrearc.ked his wife down in Torquay, and she said he didn't tell her where he was gIohinogp.e that doesn't mean he's off somewhere with a woman and not really in Scotland at all."
"I hardly think Mr. Basingame-"
"Yes, well, then, why doesn't anyone know where hAendis?why hasn't he called in now that the epidemic's all over the papers and the vids?"
"Ms. Montoya, I-"
"I suppose I'll have to call both the salmon and trout Ig'lul idleets.you know if I find him."
She rang off finally, and Dunworthy put the receiver down and stared at it, certain Andrews had tried to ring while he was on the line with Montoya.
"Didn't you say there were a lot of epidemics in the Middle Ages?" ColiHneaswkaesd.sitting in the window seat with the Middle Ages book on his knees, eating muffins.
"Yes."
"Well, I can't find them in this bHoookw.
do you spell it?"
"Try Black Death," Dunworthy said.

Dunworthy waited an anxious quarter of an hour and then tried to ring AndrewTsheaglainine.s were still jammed.
"Did you know the Black Death was in Oxford?" ColinHesaihda.d polished off the muffins and begun on the soap tablets".At Christmas.Just like us!"
"Influenza scarcely compares with the plague," he said, watching the telephone as if he could will it to ring. "The Black Death killed one-third to one-half of Europe."
"I know," Colin sai"dA. nd the plague was a lot more interestIitngw. as spread by rats, and you got these enormous bobos-"
"Buboes."
"Buboes under your arms, and they turned black and swelled up till they were enormous and then you died! The flu doesn't have anything like that," he said, sounding disappointed.
"No."
"And the flu's only one diseaTshe.ere were three sorts of plaguBeu. bonic, that's the one with the
buboes, pneumonic," he said, pronouncing the"IPt . went in your lungs and you coughed up blood, and sep-tah-keem-ic-"
"Septicemic."
"Septicemic, which went into your bloodstream and killed you in three hours and your body turned black all over!Isn't that apocalyptic?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said.
The telephone rang just after eleven o'clock and Dunworthy snatched it up again, but it was Mary, saying she wouldn't be able to manage din"nWer.e've had five new cases this morning."
"We'll come to Infirmary as soon as my trunk call has come through," Dunworthy p"rIo'mmiwseadit.ing for one of my techs to phoIn'me. going to have him come and ready the fix."
Mary looked wary".Have you cleared this with Gilchrist?"
"Gilchrist!He's busy planning how to send Kivrin to the Black Death!"
"Nevertheless, I don't think you should do this without tellingHehimis. Acting Head, and there's no point in antagonizing himI.f something has gone wrong, and Adnrews needs to abort the drop, you'll need his cooperation."She smiled at Dunworthy".We'll discuss it when you comAen. d when you're
here, I want you to have an inoculation."
"I thought you were waiting for the analogue."
"I was, but I'm not satisfied with the way the primary cases are responding to Atlanta's recommended
course of treatmentA.
few of them are showing a slight improvement, but Badri is worse, if aInything.
want all high-risk people to have T-cell enhancement."

Andrews still hadn't phoned by noDonu.nworthy sent Colin over to Infirmary to be inoculaHte .came back looking pained.
"As bad as all that?" Dunworthy asked.
"Worse," Colin said, flinging himself down on the window"sMearst.. Gaddson caught me coming Iin.
was rubbing my arm, and she demanded to know where I'd been and why I was getting inoculated
instead of William."He looked reproachfully at Dunworth"yW.
ell, it hurts!She said if anyone was
high-risk it was poor Willy and it was absolute necrophilia for me to be jabbed instead of him." "Nepotism."
"Nepotism.I hope the priest finds her an absolutely cadaverous job." "How was your Great-Aunt Mary?"
"I didn't see heTr.hey were awfully busy, beds in the corridor and everything."
Colin and Dunworthy took turns going over to hall for Christmas Cdionlniner.was back in something
less than fifteen minutes".The bellringers started to play," he sa"iMd.r. Finch said to tell you we're out of
sugar and butter and nearly out of creaHme." pulled a jelly tart out of his jacket po"cWkehty. never run out of Brussels sprouts and things?"
is it they
Dunworthy gave him orders to come tell him at once if Andrews phoned and to take down any other messages and went overT.he bellringers were in full cry, jangling away at a Mozart canon.
Finch handed Dunworthy a plate that seemed to be mostly Brussels s"pWroeu'rtse. nearly out of turkey, I'm afraid, sir," he sai"dI.'m glad you've comeI.t's nearly time for the Queen's Christmas message."
The bellringers finished the Mozart to enthusiastic applause, and Ms. Taylor came over, still wearing her white gloves."There you are, Mr. Dunworthy," she sa"iId.missed you at breakfast, and Mr. Finch said
you were the one to talk Wtoe.
need a practice room."
He was tempted to say, "I'd no idea you practHiceda."te a Brussels sprout. "A practice room?"
"Yes.So we can practice our Chicago Surprise MiI'voer. arranged with the dean of Christ Church to ring our peal here on New Year's Day, but we have to have somewhere to IprtoacldticMe.r. Finch the big room in Beard would be perfect-"
"The senior common room."
"But Mr. Finch said it was being used as a storeroom for supplies."
What supplies? he thoughAt.ccording to Finch, they were either out or nearly out of everything save
Brussels sprouts.
"And he said the lecture rooms were being kept to use as an inWfiremharayv.e to have a quiet place where we can focusT.he Chicago Surprise Minor is very complicatTedh.e in and out- of-course changes and the lead end alterations require complete concentraAtionnd. of course there's the extra

dodging."
"Of course," Dunworthy said.
"The room doesn't have to be large, but it does need to be sWecleu'vdeedb.een practicing here in the dining room, but there are people in and out all the time, and the tenor keeps losing her place."
"I'm sure we can find something."
"Of course with seven bells, we should be doing Triples, but the North American Council rang
Philadelphia Triples here last year, and did a very sloppy job of it, too, as I unTdheerstenodr.
a full
count behind and absolutely terrible strokinWg.hich is another reason we've got to have a good practice room. Stroking is so important."
"Of course," Dunworthy said.
Mrs. Gaddson appeared in the far doorway, looking fierce and ma"tIe'rmnala.fraid I have an important trunk call coming in," he said, standing up so that Ms. Taylor was between him and Mrs. Gaddson.
"Trunk call?" Ms. Taylor said, shaking her h"eYaodu. half the time."
English!I don't understand what you're saying
Dunworthy escaped out the buttery door, promising to find a practice room so that they could perfect their snapping leads, and went back up to his roAomndsr.ews hadn't phonedT. here was one message,
from Montoya."She said to tell you, 'never mind,'" Colin said. "That's all?She didn't say anything else?"
"No.She said, 'Tell Mr. Dunworthy never mind.'"
He wondered if she had by some miracle located Basingame and obtained his signature or if she had merely found out whether he was "salmon" or "troHuet."debated ringing her back, but he was afraid the lines would choose that moment to unjam and Andrews would phone.
He didn't, or they didn't, until nearly f"oI'umr. terribly sorry I didn't ring you sooner," Andrews said. There was still no picture, but Dunworthy could hear music and talk in the bac"kIgrwoausnda.way till
last night, and I've had a good deal of trouble getting through to you," Andre"wThs esaliinde. s have
been engaged, the holiday crush, you knoI'wve.
been trying every-"
"I need you to come up to Oxford," Dunworthy c"uI tniene.d you to read a fix." "Of course, sir," Andrews said promp"tlWy.hen?"
"As soon as possiblTe.his evening?"
"Oh," he said, less prompt"lyW. ould tomorrow do?My livein won't get in till late tonight, so we'd planned on having our Christmas tomorrow, but I could get a train up in the afternoon oWr eilvl ening. that do, or is there a limit on taking the fix?"
"The fix is already taken, but the tech's come down with a virus, and I need someone to read it,"

Dunworthy said.There was a sudden burst of laughter from AndrewsDeunndw. orthy raised his voice. "What time do you think you can be here?"
"I'm not certainC. an I ring you back tomorrow and tell you when I'll be coming in on the tube?" "Yes, but you can only take the tube as far as BYaoruto'lnl .need to take a taxi from there to the
perimeter. I'll arrange for you to be let throuAglhl . right, Andrews?"
He didn't answer, though Dunworthy could still hear the m"Ausnidcr.ews?" Dunworthy said". Are you still there?"It was maddening not to be able to see.
"Yes, sir," Andrews said, but war"ilWy.hat was it you said you wanted me to do?" "Read a fixI.t's already been taken, but the tech-."
"No, the other bAit.bout taking the train to Barton."
"Take the train to Barton," Dunworthy said loudly and care"fTuhllayt.'s as far as it goeFsr.om there, you'll have to get a taxi to the quarantine perimeter."
"Quarantine?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said, irritate"dI.'ll arrange for you to be allowed into the quarantine area." "What sort of quarantine?"
"A virus," he sai"dY. ou haven't heard about it?"
"No, sirI.
was running an on-site in FlorenIceo.nly arrived back this afternooIsn. it serious?"He did
not sound frightened, only interested.
"Eighty-one cases so far," Dunworthy said. "Eighty-two," Colin said from the windowseat.
"But they've identified it, and the vaccine's on theTwhearye. haven't been any fatalities."
"But a lot of unhappy people who wanted to be home for Christmas, I'll wager,"I'lhl ecaslalidy.ou in the morning then, as soon as I know what time I'll arrive."
"Yes," Dunworthy shouted to make sure Andrews could hear over the background"I'nlloibsee. here." "Right," Andrews saidT.here was another burst of laughter and then silence as he rang off.
"Is he coming?" Colin asked.
"Yes.Tomorrow." He punched in Gilchrist's number.
Gilchrist appeared, sitting at his desk and looking bellige"rMenr.t. Dunworthy, if this is about pulling Ms. Engle out-"

I would if I could, Dunworthy thought, and wondered if Gilchrist truly didn't realize Kivrin had already left the drop site and wouldn't be there if they did open the net.
"No," he said".I've located a tech who can come read the fix." "Mr. Dunworthy, may I remind you-"
"I am fully aware that you are in charge of this drop," Dunworthy said, trying to keep "hIiswtaesmper. merely trying to helpK. nowing the difficulty of finding techs over vac, I telephoned one in RHeaeding. can be here tomorrow."
Gilchrist pursed his lips disapproving"lyN.one of this would be necessary if your tech hadn't fallen ill, but, as he has, I suppose this will have tHo advoe. him report to me as soon as he arrives."
Dunworthy managed to say goodbye civilly, but as soon as the screen went blank he slammed the receiver down, yanked it up again, and began stabbing numHbe sw. ould find Basingame if it took all afternoon.
But the computer came on and informed him all lines were engagedHeaglaaiind. stared at the blank screen.
"Are you waiting for another call?" Colin asked. "No."
"Then can we walk over to the infirmIa'vrye? a present for Great-Aunt Mary."
the receiver down and
And I can see about getting Andrews into the quarantine area, he t"hEoxucgehllte. nt idea.You can wear your new muffler."
Colin stuffed it in his jacket poc"kIe'ltl. put it on when we get there," he said, grin"Inindgo.n't want anyone to see me on the way."
There was no one to see thTemhe.
streets were completely deserted, not even any bicycles or taxis.
Dunworthy thought of the vicar's remark that when the epidemic took hold people would hole up in their houses. Either that, or they had been driven inside by the sound of the Carfax carillon, which was not only still banging away at "The Carol of the Bells" but seemed louder, echoing through the empty streets. Or they were napping after too much Christmas dinOnrert.hey knew enough to keep in out of the rain.
They saw no one at all until they got to InfiArmawryo.man in a Burberry stood in front of the casualties ward holding a picket sign that said, "Ban Foreign DiseaAsesm."an wearing a regulation face mask
opened the door for them and handed Dunworthy a very damp flyer.
Dunworthy asked at the admissions desk for Mary and then read thIen fblyoelrd.face type it said, "FIGHT INFLUENZA.VOTE TO SECEDE FROM THE ECU."nderneath was a paragraph":Why will you be separated from your loved ones this ChristWmahsy? are you forced to stay in OxfoWrdh?y
are you in danger of getting ill and DYINBeGc?ause the EC allows infected foreigners to enter England, and England doesn't have a thing to say aboAutn itI.ndian immigrant carrying a deadly virus-"
Dunworthy didn't read the reHste.
turned it overI.t read, "A Vote for Secession is a Vote for Health.
Committee for an Independent Great Britain."

Mary came in, and Colin grabbed his muffler out of his pocket and wrapped it hastily around his neck. "Happy Christmas," he said".Thank you for the muffleSrh. all I open your cracker for you?"
"Yes, please," Mary saiSd.he looked tiredS. he was wearing the same lab coat she had been two days ago. Someone had pinned a cluster of holly to the lapel.
Colin snapped the cracker.
"Put your hat on," he said, unfolding a blue paper crown. "Have you managed to get any rest at all?" Dunworthy asked.
"A bit," she said, putting the crown on over her untidy gra"Wy eh'avier. had thirty new cases since noon,
and I've spent most of the day trying to get the sequencing from the WIC, but the lines are jammed." "I know," Dunworthy sai"dC. an I see Badri?"
"Only for a minute or twSoh."e frowned."He's not responding at all to the synthamycin, and neither are
the two students from the dance in HeadingMtons.. me. Have you had your inoculation?"
"Not yetC. olin's had his."
Breen is a bit improvedS.h"e frowned."It worries
"And it hurt like blood," Colin said, unfolding the slip of paper inside the"SchraacllkeIr.read your motto for you?"
She nodded.
"I need to bring a tech into the quarantine area tomorrow to read Kivrin's fix," Dunwo"rWthhyatsaid. must I do to arrange it?"
"Nothing, so far as I knoTwh.ey're trying to keep people in, not out." The registrar took Mary aside, and spoke softly and urgently to her.
"I must go," she sa"idI . don't want you to leave till you've had your enhanceCmoemnte. here when you've seen BadrCi.olin, you wait here for Mr. Dunworthy."
back down
Dunworthy went up to IsolatioTnh.ere was no one at the desk, so he wrestled his way into a set of
SPG's, remembering to put the gloves on last, and went inside.
The pretty nurse who had been so interested in William was taking Badri's pulse, her eyes on the screens. Dunworthy stopped at the foot of the bed.
Mary had said Badri wasn't responding, but Dunworthy was still shocked by the sighHt iosf fhacime .
was dark with fever again, and his eyes looked bruised, as if someone had Hhiist
rhiigmht.
arm was
hooked to an elaborate shunIt was bruised a purple-blue on the inside of the eTlbhoewo. ther arm was worse, black all along the forearm.
"Badri?" he said, and the nurse shook her head.

"You can only stay a moment," she said. Dunworthy nodded.
She laid Badri's unresisting hand down at his side, typed something on the console, and went out.
Dunworthy sat down beside the bed and looked up at the sTcrheeeynsl.ooked the same, still indecipherable, the graphs and jags and generating numbers telling him noHtheinglo. oked at Badri, who lay there looking battered, beateHn.e patted his hand gently and stood up to go.
"It was the rats," Badri murmured.
"Badri?" Dunworthy said gentl"yI.t's Mr. Dunworthy."
"Mr. Dunworthy..." Badri said, but he didn't open his "eI'ymes.dying, aren't I?"
He felt a twinge of fe"aNr.o, of course not," he said heart"ilWy.here did you get that idea?" "It's always fatal," Badri said.
"What is?"
Badri didn't answerD. unworthy sat with him until the nurse came in, but he didn't say anything else. "Mr. Dunworthy?" she sai"dH. e needs to rest."
"I know."He walked to the door and then looked back at Badri, lying in
Hthe obpede.ned the door.
"It killed them all," Badri sa"iHd.alf of Europe."
Colin was standing at the registrar's desk when he came back down, telling her about his Christmas gifts. "My mother's gifts didn't arrive because of the quaranTtihne. postman wouldn't let them through."
Dunworthy told the registrar about the T-cell enhancement and she nodded and said, "It will just be a moment."
They sat down to waIitt.killed them all, Dunworthy thougHhta. lf of Europe.
"I didn't get to read her her motto," Colin"Wsaoidu.ld you like to hear itH?"e didn't wait for an answer. "Where was Father Christmas when the lights went oHuet?"waited expectantly.
Dunworthy shook his head. "In the dark."
He took his gobstopper out of his pocket, unwrapped it, and stuck it in hi"sYomuo'ruethw. orried about your girl, aren't you?"
"Yes."

He folded up the gobstopper wrapper into a tiny p"aWckheta.t I don't understand is, why can't you go get her?"
"She isn't thereW. e must wait for the rendezvous."
"No, I mean why can't you go back to the same time you sent her through and get her while she was sti there? Before anything happened?I mean you can go to any time you want, can't you?"
"No," he said".You can send an historian to any time, but once she's there, the net can only operate in real time.Did you study the paradoxes at school?"
"Yes," Colin said, but he sounded uncert"aTinh.ey're like time-travel rules?"
"The space-time continuum doesn't allow paradoxes," Dunworthy
"sIatidw. ould be a paradox if Kivrin
made something happen that hadn't happened, or if she caused an anachronism." Colin was still looking uncertain.
"One of the paradoxes is that no one can be in two places at the sSamhee's tiamlready been in the past for four daysT. here's nothing we can do to change tIht'ast.already happened."
"Then how does she get back?"
"When she went through, the tech took what's called Ita tfeilxls.
the tech exactly where she is, and it
acts as a...um..." he groped for an understandable w"oArd.tether.It ties the two times together so the net can be reopened at a certain time, and she can be picked up."
"Like, 'I'll meet you at the church at half-past six?'"
"Exactly.It's called a rendezvousK. ivrin's is in two weekTs.he twenty-eighth of DecemberO. n that day the tech will open the net, and Kivrin will come back through."
"I thought you said it was the same time Hthoewre. can the twenty-eighth be two weeks from now?" "They used a different calendar in the Middle AItg'sesD. ecember the seventeenth therOe.ur
rendezvous date is the sixth of JanuarIyf."she's thereI.f I can find a tech to open the net.
Colin pulled out his gobstopper and looked at it thoughItftuwllya.s a mottled bluish-white and looked rather like a map of the moHone. stuck it back in his mouth.
"So, if I went to 1320 on the twenty-sixth of December, I could have Christmas twice." "Yes, I suppose so."
"Apocalyptic," he saidH. e unfolded the gobstopper wrapper and folded it into an even tinier think they've forgotten about you, don't you?"
"pIacket.
"It's beginning to look that way," Dunworthy
Tsahied. next time a house officer came through,
Dunworthy stopped him and told him he was waiting for T-cell enhancement.
"Oh?" he said, looking surprise"dI'.ll try to find out about Hit.e" disappeared into Casualties.

They waited some mor"eI.t was the rats," Badri had saAidn.d that first night he had asked Dunworthy, "What year is it?" But he had said there was minimal sliHppeaghea.d said the apprentice's calculations were correct.
Colin took his gobstopper out and examined it several times for change i"nIf csoolmore. thing terrible
happened, couldn't you break the rules?" he said, squinting "aIft a bomb blew her up or something?"
sith.e got her arm cut off or she died or
"They're not rules, ColiTn.hey're scientific lawsW.
e couldn't break them if we triIefd.we attempted to
reverse events that had already happened, the net wouldn't open."
Colin spit his gobstopper into the wrapper and folded the wrinkled paper carefully a"rIo'mundsuirte. your girl's all right," he said.
He jammed the wrapped gobstopper in his jacket pocket and pulled out a lump"yI pfaorgeolt. to give
Great-Aunt Mary her Christmas present," he said.
He jumped up and started into Casualties before Dunworthy could caution him to wait, got opposite the door, and came tearing back.
"Blood!The Gallstone's here!" he sai"dS. he's coming this way." Dunworthy stood up".That's all that's needed."
"This way," Colin sai"dI. came in the back door the night I got direction. "Come on!"
Hheeres."printed off in the other
Dunworthy could not manage a sprint, but he walked quickly down the labyrinth of corridors Colin indicated and out a service entrance into a side sAtreemt.an in a sandwich board was standing outside the door in the raiTn.he sandwich board said, "The doom we feared is upon us," which seemed oddly fitting.
"I'll make certain she didn't see us," Colin said, and dashed around to the front.
The man handed Dunworthy a fly"eTrH. E END OF TIME IS NEAR!" it said in fiery capital letters. "'Fear God, for the hour of his judgment is come.' Rev. 14:7."
Colin waved to Dunworthy from the cor"nIet'rs. all right," Colin said, slightly out of br"eSathhe.'s inside shouting at the registrar."
Dunworthy handed the flyer back to the man and followed HCeolilned.
the way along the side street to
Woodstock Road.Dunworthy looked anxiously toward the door of Casualties, but he couldn't see anyone, not even the anti-EC picketers.
Colin sprinted another block, and then slowed to a Hwealkp.ulled the packet of soap tablets out of his pocket and offered Dunworthy one.
He declined.
Colin popped a pink one in his mouth and said, none too clearly, "This is the best Christmas I've ever

had."
Dunworthy pondered that sentiment for several bloTckhse.
carillon was massacring, "In the Bleak
Midwinter," which also seemed fitting, and the streets were still deserted, but as they turned down the
Broad, a familiar figure hurried toward them, hunched against the rain.
"It's Mr. Finch," Colin said.
"Good Lord," Dunworthy sai"dW.
hat do you suppose we've run out of now?"
"I hope it's Brussels sprouts."
Finch had looked up at the sound of their v"oTicheesr.e you are, Mr. DunworthTy.hank goodness.I've been looking for you everywhere."
"What is it?" Dunworthy sa"idI . told Ms. Taylor I'd see about a practice room." "It isn't that, siIrt.'s the detaineesT. wo of them are down with the virus."
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (082631-084122)
21 December 1320 (Old StylFe.a)ther Roche doesn't know where the dropI ims.ade him take me to the place where Gawyn met him, but even standing in the clearing didn't jog my Imt'semobovryio. us
Gawyn didn't happen upon him until he was a long way from the drop, and by that time I was completely delirious.
And I realized today I'll never be able to find the drop on mTyheowwno. ods are too big, and they're full of clearings and oak trees and willow thickets that all look alike now that it'sI ssnhoowuledd.have marked the drop with something besides the casket.
Gawyn will have to show me where the drop is, and he's not bRaocskemyeutn.d told me it's only a half day's ride to Courcy, but that he will probably spend the night there because of the rain.
It's been raining hard since we got back, and I suppose I should be happy since it may melt the snow, but it makes it impossible for me to go out and look for the drop, and it's freezing in the manor house. Everyone's wearing their cloaks and huddling next to the fire.
What do the villagers dTo?heir huts can't even keep the wind out, and the one I was in had no sign of a blanket. They must be literally freezing, and Rosemund said the steward said it was going to rain till Christmas Eve.

Rosemund apologized for her ill-tempered behavior in the woods and told me, "I was wroth with my sister."
Agnes had nothing to do with it-what upset her was obviously the news that her fiancé had been invited for Christmas, and when I had a chance with Rosemund alone, I asked her if she was worried over her marriage.
"My father has arranged it," she said, threading her n"eWedele.were betrothed at MartinmaWs. e are to be wed at Easter."
"And is it with your consent?" I asked.
"It is a good match," she s"aSidir. Bloet is highly placed, and he has holdings that adjoin my father's." "Do you like him?"
She stabbed the needle into the linen in the wooden frame. "My father would never let me come to harm," she said, and pulled the long thread through.
She didn't volunteer anything else, and all I could get out of Agnes was that Sir Bloet was nice and had brought her a silver penny, no doubt as part of the betrothal gifts.
Agnes was too concerned about her knee to tell me anythinSghelsseto. pped complaining about it halfway home, and then limped exaggeratedly when she got down off theI stohroreulg. ht she was just
trying to get attention, but when I looked at it, the scab had come off comThpeletaerleya. red and swollen.
around it is
I washed it off, wrapped it in as clean a cloth as I could find, (I'm afraid it may have been one of Imeyne's coifs-I found it in the chest at the foot of the bed) and made her sit quietly by the fire and play with her knight, but I'm worrieIfd.it gets infected, it could be serioTuhse.re weren't any antimicrobials in
the 1300's.
Eliwys is worried, toSo.he clearly expected Gawyn back tonight, and has been going to stand by the screens all day, looking out the doIorh.ave not been able to figure out how she feels about Gawyn. Sometimes, like today, I think she loves him, and is afraid of what that means for bothAdoufltethryem.
was a mortal sin in the eyes of the church, and often a dangeroBuust omnoe.st of the time I am
convinced that his amour is completely unrequited, that she is so worried about her husband that she doesn't know he exists.
The pure, unattainable lady was the ideal of courtly romances, but it's clear he doesn't know whether or not she loves him eitheHr.is rescuing me in the wood and his story of the renegades was only an attempt
to impress her (which would have been much more impressive if there had been twenty renegades, all armed with swords and maces and battle axHese).would obviously do anything to win her, and Lady
Imeyne knows itW.
hich is why, I think, he's been sent off to Courcy.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
By the time they got back to Balliol, two more of the detainees were down withDtuhnewvoirrtuhsy. sent Colin to bed and helped Finch get the detainees to bed and phone the infirmary.
"All our ambulances are out," the registrar told "hWime'.ll send one as soon as possible." As soon as possible was midnigHhet. didn't get back and to bed till past one.
Colin was asleep on the cot Finch had set up for hiAmg, eTohfe Chivalry next to his heDadu.nworthy debated pulling the book away but he didn't want to risk wakinHg ehiwme.nt in to bed.
Kivrin could not be in the plagBuaed.ri had said there was minimal slippage, and the plague had not hit
England until 1348K.
ivrin had been sent to 1320.
He turned over and closed his eyes determineSdhley. could not be in the plagBuea.dri was delirious. He had said all sorts of things, talked about lids and breaking china as welNl oanse raotfs.it made any sense. It was the fever speakinHg.e had told Dunworthy to back Hupe. had given him imaginary notes. None of it meant anything.
"It was the rats," Badri had sTaihde.
contemps hadn't known it was spread by fleas on thTe hreayts.
had had no idea what causedTiht.ey had accused everyone-Jews and witches and the insTahney. murdered halfwits and hanged old womeTnh.ey had burned stranges at the stake.
had
He got out of bed and padded into the sitting Hroeomtip.toed around Colin's cot and slid The Age of
Chivalry out from under Colin's heaCdo. lin stirred but didn't wake.

Dunworthy sat on the windowseat and looked up the Black
IDt ehaathd. started in China in 1333, and
moved west on trading ships to Messina in Sicily and from there
Itot hPaidsa.spread through Italy and
France-eighty thousand dead in Siena, a hundred thousand in Florence, three hundred thousand in Rome-before it crossed the ChanneIlt. had reached England in 1348, "a little before the Feast of St. John the Baptist," the twenty-fourth of June.
That meant a slippage of twenty-eight yeBarasd.ri had been worried about too much slippage, but he had been talking of weeks, not years.
He reached over the cot to the bookcase and took down Fitzwiller's Pandemics. "What are you doing?" Colin asked sleepily.
"Reading about the Black Death," he whispe"reGdo.
back to sleep."
"They didn't call it that," Colin mumbled around his gobstoHpeperro.lled over, wrapping himself in his blankets. "They called it the blue fever."
Dunworthy took both books back to bed with Fhiitmzw. iller gave the date of the plague's arrival in England as St. Peter's Day, the twenty-ninth of June, 1It34h8a.d reached Oxford in December, London in October of 1349, and then moved north and back across the Channel to the Low Countries and Norway. It had gone everywhere except Bohemia, and Poland, which had a quarantine, and, oddly, parts of Scotland.
Where it had gone, it had swept through the countryside like the Angel of Death, devastating entire villages, leaving no one alive to administer the last rites or bury the putrefyingInboodnies.monastery,
all but one of the monks had died.
The single survivor, John Clyn, had left a re"cAorndd:
lest things which should be remembered perish
with time and vanish from the memory of those who are to come after us," he had written, "I, seeing so many evils and the whole world, as it were, placed within the grasp of the Evil One, being myself as if among the dead, I, waiting for death, have put into writing all the things that I have witnessed."
He had written it all down, a true historian, and then died himself, aHllisalwonoerd. s trailed off, and below them, in another hand, someone had written, "Here, it seems, the author died."
Someone knocked on the dooItr.was Finch in his bathrobe, looking bleary-eyed and distraught. "Another one of the detainees, sir," he said.
Dunworthy put his fingers to his lips and stepped outside the door w"itHhavheimy.ou telephoned
Infirmary?"
"Yes, sir, and they said it would be several hours before they can dispatch an amThbeuylanscaeid. to isolate her, and give her dimantadine and orange juice."
"Which I suppose we're nearly out of," Dunworthy said irritably.
"Yes, sir, but that's not the problSemhe.
won't cooperate."
Dunworthy made Finch wait outside the door while he dressed and found his face mask, and they went
across to SalvinA.
huddle of detainees were standing by the door, dressed in an odd assortment of

underthings, coats, and blanketsO. nly a few of them were wearing their face mBasyksd.ay after tomorrow they'll all be down with it, Dunworthy thought.
"Thank goodness you're here," one of the detainees said ferv"eWntely.can't do a thing with her." Finch led him over to the detainee, who was sitting upright Sinhebweda.s an elderly woman with
sparse white hair, and she had the same fever-bright eyes, the same frenetic alertness Badri had had that
first night.
"Go away!" she said when she saw Finch and made a slapping motionShaet htuimrn.ed her burning eyes on Dunworthy". Daddy!" she cried, and then stuck her lower lip out in a"I pwouast. very naughty," she said in a childish voic"eI . ate all the birthday cake, and now I have a stomachache."
"Do you see what I mean, sir?" Finch put in.
"Are the Indians coming, Daddy?" she ask"Iedd. on't like IndiansT.hey have bows and arrows."
It took them until morning to get her onto a cot in one of the lectuDreunrwooomrths.y eventually had to
resort to saying, "Your daddy wants his good girl to lie down now," and just after they had her quieted down, the ambulance came".Daddy!" she wailed when they shut the do"oDrso.n't leave me here all
alone!"
"Oh, dear," Finch said when the ambulance drove"Iot'sff.past breakfast timeI. do hope they haven't eaten all the bacon."
He went off to ration supplies, and Dunworthy went back to his rooms to wait for AndCreowlins' call. was halfway down the staircase, eating a piece of toast and pulling on his"Tjhaeckveti.car wants me to
help collect clothes for the detainees," he said with his mouth full o"fAtuonatstM. to ring her back."
"But not Andrews?" "No."
"Has the visual been restored?"
"No."
ary telephonedY.
ou're
"Wear your regulation face mask!" Dunworthy called after him, "and your muffler!"
He rang up Mary and waited impatiently for nearly five minutes until she came to the telephone. "James?" Mary's voice sai"dI.t's Badri.He's asking for you."
"He's better, then?"
"No.His fever's still very high, and he's become quite agitated, keeps calling your name, insists he has something to tell youH. e's working himself into a very bad stIaftey.ou could come and speak with him,
it might calm him down."
"Has he said anything about the plague?" he asked.

"The plague?" she said, looking annoy"eDd.on't tell me you've been infected by these ridiculous rumors that are flying about, James-that it's cholera, that it's breakbone fever, that it's a recurrence of the Pandemic-"
"No," Dunworthy saidI.t's Badri.Last night he said, 'It killed half of Europe,' and 'It must have been the rats.'"
"He's delirious, JamesI.t's the feverI.t doesn't mean anything."
She's right, he told himseTlfh.e detainee ranted on about Indians with bows and arrows, and you didn't begin looking for Sioux warriorSsh. e had conjured up too much birthday cake as an explanation for her being ill, and Badri had conjured up the plaIgt udei.dn't mean anything.
Nevertheless, he said he would be there immediately and went to findAFnidnrcehw.s hadn't specified what time he would call, but Dunworthy couldn't risk leaving the phone unatHteendwedi.shed he'd made Colin stay while he spoke to Mary.
Finch would very likely be in hall, guarding the bacon with Hhies ltiofoe.k the receiver off the hook so the phone would sound engaged and went across the quad to the hall.
Ms. Taylor met him at the d"oIorw. as just coming to look for you," she "sIaihde.ard some of the detainees came down with the virus last night."
"Yes," he said, scanning the hall for Finch.
"Oh, dearS. o I suppose we've all been exposed." He couldn't see Finch anywhere.
"How long is the incubation period?" Ms. Taylor asked.
"Twelve to forty-eight hours," he saHide. craned his neck, trying to see over the heads of the detainees. "That's awful," Ms. Taylor sa"idW. hat if one of us comes down with it in the middle of thWe ep'reeal?
Traditional, you know, not CouncTil.he rules are very explicit."
He wondered why Traditional, whatever that might be, had deemed it necessary to have rules concerning change ringers infected with influenza.
"Rule Three," Ms. Taylor sa"id'E. very man must stick to his bell without interruptIitonis.'n't as if we can put somebody else in halfway through if one of us suddenly keelAs nodveirt. would ruin the rhythm."
He had a sudden image of one of the bellringers in her white gloves collapsing and being kicked out of the way so as not to disrupt the rhythm.
"Aren't there any warning symptoms?" Ms. Taylor asked. "No," he said.
"That paper the NHS sent around said disorientation, fever, and headache, but that isn't aTnhye good.

bells always give us headaches."
I can imagine, he thought, looking for William Gaddson or one of the other undergraduates he could get to listen for the phone.
"If we were Council, of course, it wouldn't mTathteyr. let people substitute right and lDefut.ring a peal
of Tittum Bob Maximus at York, they had nineteen rinNgienres.teen! I don't see how they can even call it a peal."
None of his undergraduates appeared to be in hall, Finch had no doubt barricaded himself in the buttery, and Colin was out collecting clothin"gA.re you still in need of a practice room?" he asked Ms. Taylor.
"Yes, unless one of us comes down with this Othfincgo. urse, we could do Stedmans, but that would hardly be the same thing, would it?"
"I'll let you use my sitting room if you will answer the telephone and take down any messaIges for me. am expecting an important trunk-long distance call, so it's essential that someone be in the room at all times."
He led her back to his rooms.
"Oh, it's not very big, is it?" she "sIa'mid.not sure there's room to work on our raiCsianng.we move the furniture around?"
"You may do anything you like, so long as you answer the telephone and take down anyI'messages. expecting a call from Mr. AndrewTse.ll him he doesn't need clearance to enter the quarantineTaerllea.
him to go straight to Brasenose and I'll meet him there."
"Well, all right, I guess," she said as if she were doing him"Aa tfalveaosrt. cafeteria."
it's better than that drafty
He left her rearranging furniture, not at all convinced that it was a good idea to entrust her with this, and hurried off to see BadrHi.e had something to tell hiImt .killed them all. Half of Europe.
The rain had subsided to little more than a fine mist, and the anti-EC picketers were gathered in force in front of the InfirmaryT.hey had been joined by a number of boys Colin's age wearing black face plasters
and shouting, "Let my people go!"
One of them grabbed Dunworthy's ar"mTh. e government's got no right to keep you here against your will," he said, thrusting his striped face up to Dunworthy's face mask.
"Don't be a fool," Dunworthy sa"iDd.o you want to start another pandemic?" The boy let go his arm, looking confused, and Dunworthy escaped inside.
Casualties was full of patients on stretcher trolleys, and there was one standing next to theAnelevator. imposing looking nurse in voluminous SPG's was standing next to it, reading something to the patient from a polythene-wrapped book.
"'Whoever perished, being innocent?'" she said, and he realized with dismay that it wasn'tItawnausrse. Mrs. Gaddson.

"'Or where were the righteous cut off?'" she recited.
She stopped and thumbed through the thin pages of the Bible, looking for another cheering passage, and he ducked down the side corridor and into a stairwell, eternally grateful to the NHS for issuing face masks.
"'The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption,'" she intoned, her voice resounding through the corridor as he fled, "'and with a fever, and with an inflammation.'"
And He shall smite thee with Mrs. Gaddson, he thought, and she shall read you Scriptures to keep your morale up.
He went up the stairs to Isolation, which had now apparently taken over most of the first floor. "Here you are," the nurse saIitd.was the pretty blonde student nurse agHaien.wondered if he should
warn her about Mrs. Gaddson.
"I'd nearly given you up," she s"aHide.'s been calling for you all morninSgh."e handed him a set of
SPG's, and he put them on and followed her in.
"He was frantic for you half an hour ago," she whispered, "kept insisting he had something to tell you. He's a bit better now."
He looked, in fact, considerably betHteer. had lost the dark, frightening flush, and though he was still a bit pale under his brown skin, he looked almost like his oHldesewlfa.s half- sitting against several
pillows, his knees up, and his hands lying lightly on them, the fingers cHurisveedy. es were closed.
"Badri," the nurse said, putting her imperm-gloved hand on his chest and bending close"Mtor. him. Dunworthy's here."
He opened his eye"sM.
r. Dunworthy?"
"Yes."She nodded across the bed, indicating h"imI .told you he'd come."
Badri sat up straighter against the pillows, but he didn't look at DunHweortlhoyo.ked intently ahead.
"I'm here, Badri," he said, moving forward so he was in his line o"fWvhisaitonw. as it you wanted to tell me?"
Badri continued to look straight ahead and his hands began moving restlessly on hDisuknwneoersth. y glanced at the nurse.
"He's been doing that," she sa"iId.think he's typing.S"he looked at the screens and went out.
He was typingH. is wrists rested on his knees, and his fingers tapped the blanket in a complex sequence. His eyes stared at something in front of him-a screen?--and after a moment he f"rTowhantedca. n't be
right," he said and began typing rapidly.
"What is it, Badri?" Dunworthy sa"iWd.hat's wrong?"

"There must be an error," Badri sHaied.leaned slightly sideways and said, "Give me a line-by-line on the TAA."
He was peaking into the console's ear, Dunworthy realHizee'sd.reading the fix, he thoug"hWt. hat can't be right, Badri?"
"The slippage," Badri said, his eyes fixed on the imaginary s"cRreand.out check," he said into the ear. "That can't be right."
"What's wrong with the slippage?" Dunworthy ask"Wed.as there more slippage than you expected?"
Badri didn't answerH. e typed for a moment, paused, watching the screen, and began typing frantically. "How much slippage was therBe?adri?" Dunworthy said.
He typed for a full minute and then stopped and looked up at Dun"wSoortwhyo.rried," he said thoughtfully.
"Worried over what, Badri?" Dunworthy said.
Badri suddenly flung the blanket back and grabbed for the bed"I rhaailvse. said. He yanked at his shunt, pulling at the tape.
to find Mr. Dunworthy," he
The screens behind him went wild, spiking crazily and beeSpoimnge.where outside an alarm went off. "You mustn't do that," Dunworthy said, reaching across the bed to stop him.
"He's at the pub," Badri said, ripping at the tape.
The screens went abruptly flatlin"eD.isconnect," a computer voice sai"dD. isconnect."
The nurse banged i"nO. h, dear, that's twice he's done that," she said. "Mr. Chaudhuri, you mustn't do that. You'll pull your shunt out."
"Go and get Mr. DunworthNyo. w," he said". There's something wrong," but he lay back and let her cover him up". Why doesn't he come?"
Dunworthy waited while the nurse retaped the shunt and reset the screens, watchingHeBalodorik.ed worn out and apathetic, almost boreAd. new bruise was already forming above the shunt.
The nurse left with, "I think I'd best call down for a sedative."
As soon as she was gone, Dunworthy said, "Badri, it's Mr. DunwYooruthyw.anted to tell me something. Look at me, BadrWi. hat is it?What's wrong?"
Badri looked at him, but without interest.
"Was there too much slippage, BadIrsi?Kivrin in the plague?"
"I don't have time," Badri sa"iId.was out there Saturday and SundaHy.e" began typing again, his fingers moving ceaselessly on the blank"eTt.hat can't be right."

The nurse came back with a drip bo"tOtlhe., good," he said, and his expression relaxed and softened, as if a great weight had been lif"tIedd. on't know what happeneId.had such a terrific headache."
He closed his eyes before she had even hooked the drip to the shunt and began to snore softly.
The nurse led him o"uItf.
he wakes and calls for you again, where can you be reached?" she asked.
He gave her the numb"eWr. hat exactly did he say?" he asked, stripping off his g"Bowefno.re I
arrived?"
"He kept calling your name and saying he had to find you, that he had to tell you something important." "Did he say anything about a rats?" he said.
"No.Once he said he had to find Karen-or Katherine--" "Kivrin."
She nodded". Yes. He said, 'I must find KivrIins . the laboratory open?'And then he said something about a lamb, but nothing about rats, I don't tAhingko. od deal of the time I can't make it out."
He threw the imperm gloves into the "bIagw. ant you to write down everything he sNayost. the unintelligible parts," he added before she could obj"eBcut.t everything elseI.'ll be back this afternoon."
"I'll try," she sai"dI.t's mostly nonsense."
He went downstairsI.t was mostly nonsense, feverish ramblings that meant nothing, but he went outside
to get a taxHi. e wanted to get back to Balliol quickly, to speak to Andrews, to get him up here to read the fix.
"That can't be right," Badri had said, and it had to be the sCliopupladgeh.e have somehow misread the
figure, thought it was only four hours and then discovered, twenty-eight?
Twhhaatt?it was four yearsO?r
"You'll get there faster walking," someone sIatidw. as the boy with the black face plas"tIefrsy. ou're
waiting for a taxi, you'll stand there foreTvehre.y've all been commandeered by the bloody government."
He gestured toward one just pulling up to the door of CasIutalhtiaeds. an NHS placard in the side window.
Dunworthy thanked the boy and started back to BaIltliwola. s raining again, and he walked rapidly, hoping that Andrews had already telephoned, that he was already on hi"sGwoaayn. d get Mr. Dunworthy immediately," Badri had sai"dN. ow. There's something wrong," and he was obviously
reliving his actions after he had gotten the fix, when he had run through the rain to the Lamb and Cross to fetch him."That can't be right," he had said.
He half-ran across the quad and up to his roHoemws.as worried Ms. Taylor wouldn't have been able
to hear the telephone's bell over her bell ringers' clanging, but when he opened the door, he found them standing in a circle in the middle of his sitting room in their face masks, their arms raised and hands folded as if in supplication, bringing their hands down in front of them and bending their knees one after the other

in solemn silence.
"Mr. Basingame's scout called," Ms. Taylor said, rising and stoo"pHiengs.aid he thought Mr. Basingame was somewhere in the HighlandAsn. d Mr. Andrews said you were to ring him bHaeckj.ust called."
Dunworthy put the trunk call through, feeling immensely reliWevehdil.e he waited for Andrews to answer, he watched the curious dance and trying to determine the pMattse.rnT.aylor seemed to bob on a semi-regular basis, but the others did their odd curtseys in no order he coulTdhdeetleacrgt.est one,
Ms. Piantini, he thought, was counting to herself, frowning in concentration.
"I've gotten clearance for you to enter the quarantineWarheean. as the tech answered.
are you coming up?" he said as soon
"That's the thing, sir," Andrews saTidh.ere was a visual, but it was too fuzzy to read his expr"eIssion. don't think I'd betterI.'ve been watching all about the quarantine on the vidTs,hesyir. say this Indian flu
is extremely dangerous."
"You needn't come in contact with any of the cases," Dunworth"yI scaaind. arrange for you to go straight to Brasenose's laboratoryY. ou'll be perfectly safeT.his is extremely important."
"Yes, sir, but the vidders say it might have been caused by the university's heating system."
"The heating system?" Dunworthy sa"idT.he university has no heating system, and the individual ones of the colleges are over a hundred years old and incapable of heating, let alone inTfehcetinbge.l"lringers
turned as one to look at him, but they did not break r"hIyt t has. absolutely nothing to do with the heating system.Or India, or the wrath of GIotd.began in South CarolinTa.he vaccine is already on the way. It's perfectly safe."
Andrews looked stubborn".Nevertheless, sir, I don't think it would be wise for me to come." The bellringers abruptly stoppe"dS. orry," Ms. Piantini said, and they started again.
"This fix must be reaWd.e have an historian in 1320, and we don't know how much slippage there has been. I'll see to it that you're paid for hazardous duty," Dunworthy said, and then realized that was exactly the wrong approach".I can arrange for you to be isolated or wear SPG's or-"
"I could read the fix from here," Andrews "sIa'vide. a friend who'll set up the access connectiSohnes'.s a student at Shrewsbury.H" e paused."It's the best I can dSoo.rry."
"Sorry," Ms. Piantini said again.
"No, no, you ring in second's place," Ms. Taylor"Ysaoidu. dodge two-three up and down and
three-four down and then lead a whole pAunlld.
keep your eyes on the other ringers, not on the floor.
One-two-and-off!" They started their minuet again. "I simply can't take the risk," Andrews said.
It was clear he couldn't be persuad"eWd.hat is the name of your friend at Shrewsbury?" Dunworthy asked.

"Polly Wilson," he said, sounding relievHede. gave Dunworthy her numbe"rT. ell her you need a remote read, IA inquiry and bridge transmIi'ltl. stay by this numberH."e moved to ring off.
"Wait!" Dunworthy saidT.he bellringers glanced disapprovingly at hi"mW. hat would the maximal slippage be on a drop to 1320?"
"I've no idea," Andrews said promp"tlSyl.ippage is difficult to predicTt.here are so many factors." "An estimate," Dunworthy sai"dC. ould it be twenty-eight years?"
"Twenty-eight years?" Andrews said, and the amazed tone sent a gust of relief through Du"nOwho,rthy.
I wouldn't think soT.here's a general tendency toward greater slippage the farther back you go, but the increase isn't exponentialT. he parameter checks will tell you."
"Mediaeval didn't do any."
"They sent an historian back without parameter checks?" Andrews sounded shocked.
"Without parameter checks, without unmanneds, without recon tests," Dunworthy"Wsahidic. h is why it's essential I get this fix reIadw. ant you to do something for me."
Andrews stiffened.
"You don't have to come here to do it," he said r"aJpeisdulsy. has an on-site set up in LondIown.ant you to go over there and run parameter checks on a drop to noon, 12 December, 1320."
"What are the locational coordinates?"
"I don't knowI.'ll get them when I go to BrasenIoswe.ant you to telephone me here as soon as you've determined maximal slippageC. an you do that?"
"Yes," he said, but he was looking doubtful again.
"Good.I'll telephone Polly WilsonR. emote read, IA inquiry, bridge transmIi'ltl.
ring you back as soon
as she's got it set up at Brasenose," Dunworthy said, and rang off before Andrews could renege.
He held onto the receiver, watching the bellringeTrhs.e order changed each time, but Ms. Piantini apparently did not lose count again.
He telephoned Polly Wilson and gave her the specifications Andrews had dictated, wondering if she had been watching the vidders, too, and would be afraid of Brasenose's heating system, but she said
promptly, "I'll need to find a gatewIa'lyl . meet you there in forty-five minutes."
He left the bellringers still bobbing and went over to BrasTenhoesera. in had slowed to a fine mist, and there were more people on the streets, though many of the shops were Wclhoosevde. r was in charge
of the Carfax carillon had either come down with the flu or forgotten about it because of the Iqtuarantine. was still playing "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella," or possibly "O Tannenbaum."
There were three picketers outside an Indian grocer's and a half-dozen more outside Brasenose with a large banner they were holding between them that read, "TIME TRAVEL IS A HEALTH THREAT." He recognized the young woman on the end as one of the medics from the ambulance.

Heating systems and the EC and time traDvuerli.ng the Pandemic it had been the American germ warfare program and air conditioninBg.ack in the Middle Ages they had blamed the Jews and the appearance of comets for their epidemicsD. oubtless when the fact that the virus had originated in South Carolina was revealed, the Confederacy, or Southern fried chicken, would be blamed.
He went in the gate to the porter's
Tdehsek.Christmas tree was sitting on one end of it, the angel
perched atop it". I have a student from Shrewsbury meeting me to set up some communications
equipment," he told the porte"rW.
e'll need to be let into the laboratory."
"The laboratory is restricted, sir," the porter said. "Restricted?"
"Yes, sirI.t's been locked and no one's allowed in." "Why?What's happened?"
"It's because of the epidemic, sir." "The epidemic!?"
"Yes, sirP. erhaps you'd better speak with Mr. Gilchrist, sir."
"Perhaps I hadT. ell him I'm here, and I need to be let into the laboratory." "I'm afraid he's not here just now."
"Where is he?"
"At the Infirmary, I believHee. -"
Dunworthy didn't wait to hear the rHesatl.fway to the Infirmary it occurred to him that Polly Wilson
would be left waiting with no idea where he'd gone, and as he came up to the hospital, it came to him tha
Gilchrist might be there because he'd come down with the virus.
Good, he thought, it's what he deserves, but Gilchrist was in the little waiting room, hale and hearty, wearing an NHS face mask, rolling up his sleeve in preparation for the inoculation a nurse was holding.
"Your porter told me the laboratory's restricted," he said, stepping between"Ithneemed. I've found a tech to read Kivrin's fix."
to get into it.
Gilchrist looked belligeren"t.It was my understanding that your tech had read the fix before he fell ill."
"He did, but he's in no condition to tell us what iAt nsdaidth."ere's something wrong with it, he thought. "Andrews has agreed to read it by remote, but we need to set up transmission equipment."
"I'm afraid that's impossible," Gilchrist sa"iTdh. e laboratory is under quarantine until the source of the virus is determined."
"The source of the virus?" he said incredulou"Tslhye.
virus originated in South Carolina."

"We will not be certain of that until we've obtained positive identifUicanttiiol nt.hen, I felt it was best to minimize all possible risks to the university by restricting access to the laboNraotwor,yi.f you will excuse me, I'm here to receive my immune system enhancemHenet."started past Dunworthy toward the nurse.
Dunworthy put out his arm to stop "hWimh.at risks?"
"There has been considerable public concern that the virus was transmitted through the net." "Public concern?Do you mean those three halfwits with the banner outside your gate?" he shouted. "This is a hospital, Mr. Dunworthy," the nurse "sPalieda.se keep your voice down."
He ignored her".There has been 'considerable public concern,' as you call it, that the virus was caused by liberal immigration laws," he sa"idD.o you intend to secede from the EC as well?"
Gilchrist's chin went up, and the pinched lines appeared by his nose, visible even through "tAhes mask. Acting Head of the History Faculty, it is my responsibility to act in the university'sOiunrtepreossti.tion in
the community, as I'm certain you're aware, depends on maintaining the good will of the townI speople. felt it important to calm the public's fears by closing the laboratory until the sequencingIf airtrives. indicates that the virus is from South Carolina, then of course the laboratory will be reopened immediately."
"And in the meantime, what about Kivrin?"
"If you cannot keep your voice down," the nurse said, "I shall be forced to report you to Dr. Ahrens." "Excellent.Go and fetch her," Dunworthy told h"eIr.want her to tell Mr. Gilchrist how ridiculous he's
being. This virus cannot possibly have come through the net." The nurse stamped out.
"If your protesters are too ignorant to understand the laws of physics," Dunworthy said, "surely they can understand the simple fact that this was a dTrohpe. net was only open to 1320, not froNmotiht.ing
came through from the past."
"If that is the case, then Ms. Engle is not in any danger, and it will do no harm to wait for the sequencing."
"Not in any dangeYr?ou don't even know where she is!"
"Your tech obtained the fix, and indicated the drop was successful and that there was minimal slippage," Gilchrist said.He rolled down his sleeve and carefully buttoned the "cI'umff.satisfied Ms. Engle is where
she's supposed to be."
"Well, I'm noAt. nd I won't be until I know Kivrin made it through safely."
"I see I must remind you again that Ms. Engle is my responsibility, not yours, Mr. DuHneworthy." donned his coat". I must do as I think best."
"And you think it best to set up a quarantine around the laboratory to placate a handful of crackpots," he

said bitterly."There is also 'considerable public concern' that the virus is a judgment fromWhGaot dd.o you intend to do to maintain the good will of those townspReoepsulem? e burning martyrs at the stake?"
"I resent that remarAk.nd I resent your constant interference in matters which do not concerYnoyuou. have been determined from the first to undermine Mediaeval, to keep it from gaining access to time travel, and now you are determined to undermine my authMoriaty. I remind you that I am Acting Head of History in Mr. Basingame's absence, and as such-"
"What you are is an ignorant, self-important fool who should never have been trusted with Mediaeval, let alone Kivrin's safety!"
"I see no reason to continue this discussion," Gilchrist"Tsahied.laboratory is under quarantinIet. will remain so until we obtain the sequencinHg.e" walked out.
Dunworthy started after him and nearly collided with MSharey.was wearing SPG's and reading a chart. "You will not believe what Gilchrist's done now," he"Asaigdr.oup of picketers convinced him the virus
came through the net, and he's barricaded the laboratory."
She didn't say anything or even look up from the chart.
"Badri said this morning that the slippage figures can't beHreighsat.id over and over, 'There's something wrong.'"
She looked up at him distractedly and back at the chart.
"I have a tech ready to read Kivrin's fix remotely, but Gilchrist's locked the doors,Y" ohue msauisdt. talk to him, tell him the virus has been firmly established as originating in South Carolina."
"It hasn't."
"What do you mean, it hasnD'ti?d the sequencing arrive?"
She shook her hea"dT. he WIC located their tech, but she's still runninBgutit.her preliminary read indicates it's not the South Carolina viruSsh."e looked up at him"A. nd I know it's notS."he looked back at the chart". The South Carolina virus had a zero morbidity rate."
"What do you meanH?as something happened to Badri?"
"No," she said, shutting the chart and holding it to her"Bcehveesrt.ly Breen."
He must have looked blanHke.
had thought she was going to say Latimer.
"The woman with the lavendar umbrella," she said, and sounded "aSnhgeryd. ied just now."

TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (046381-054957)
22 December 1320 (Old StylAe.)gnes's knee is worseI.t's red and painful (an understatement-she screams when I try to touch it) and she can scarcelyI wdaolnk'.t know what to do-if I tell Lady Imeyne, she'll put one of her poultices on it and make it worse, and Eliwys is distracted and obviously worried.
Gawyn still isn't bacHk.e should have been home by noon yesterday, and when he hadn't shown up by vespers, Eliwys accused Imeyne of sending him to Oxford.
"I have sent him to Courcy, as I told you," Imeyne said defe"nNsiovedlyo.ubt the rain keeps him." "Only to Courcy?" Eliwys said angr"ilOy.r have you sent him otherwhere for a new chaplain?" Imeyne drew herself u"pF. ather Roche is not fit to say the Christmas masses if Sir Bloet and his
company come," she said".Would you be shamed before Rosemund's fiancé?"
Eliwys went absolutely whit"eW.
here have you sent him?"
"I have sent him with a message to the bishop, saying that we are in sore need of a chaplain," she said. "To Bath?!" Eliwys said, and raised her hand as if she would strike her.
"Nay.Only to CirencestreT. he archdeacon was to lie at the abbey for YI ublaed. e Gawyn give him the message. One of his churchmen will bear it thenTcheo.ugh, certes, things go not so ill in Bath that Gawyn could not go thence himself without harm, else my son would have quitted it."
"Your son will be ill-pleased to find we have disobeyedHehimba.de us, and Gawyn, keep to the manor till he come."
She still sounded furious, and as she lowered her hand, she clenched it into a fist, as if she would have liked to box Imeyne's ears the way she does MaiBsruyt's.the color had come back in her cheeks as
soon as Imeyne said, "Cirencestre," and I think she was at least a little relieved.
"Certes, things go not so ill in Bath that Gawyn could not go thence without harm," Imeyne said, but it's obvious Eliwys doesn't think he caIns . she afraid he'd ride into a trap or that he might lead Lord
Guillaume's enemies here?And are things going so "ill" that Guillaume can't quit Bath?
Perhaps all threeE. liwys has been to the door to look out into the rain at least a dozen times this morning, and she's in as bad a temper as Rosemund was in the Jwusotondos.w she asked Imeyne if she was certain the archdeacon was at CierncesStrhee. 's obviously worried that if he wasn't, Gawyn will have taken the message into Bath himself.
Her fear has infected everyonLea.dy Imeyne has slunk off into a corner with her reliquary to pray, Agnes whines, and Rosemund sits with her embroidery in her lap, staring blindly at it.
(Break)

I took Agnes to Father Roche this afternHooenr . knee was much worsSe.he couldn't walk at all, and there was what looked like the beginning of a red streak abIovceouiltd. n't tell for certain-the entire knee is red and swollen--but I was afraid to wait.
There was no cure for blood poisoning in 1320, and it's my fault her knee isIf inI fehcatdend'.t insisted
on going to look for the drop, she wouldn't have fIalklenno.w the paradoxes aren't supposed to let my presence here have any effect on what happens to the contemps, but I couldn't take thaIt wchaasn'te. supposed to be able to get catch anything, either.
So when Imeyne went up to the loft, I carried Agnes over to the church to ask him Itto wtraesat her.
pouring by the time we got there, but Agnes wasn't whining over getting wet, and that frightened me more than the red streak.
The church was dark, and smelled muIstcyo. uld hear Father Roche's voice from the front of the
church, and it sounded like he was talking to some"Lonoerd. fear for his safety," he said.
Guillaume has still not arrived from BIath.
I thought perhaps Gawyn had come back, and I wanted to hear what they said about the trial, so I didn't go forward.I stood there with Agnes in my arms and listened.
"It has rained these two days," Roche said, "and there is a bitter wind fromWthee hwaevset. had to bring the sheep in from the fields."
After a minute of peering into the dark nave, straining to see, I finally madeHheimwaosuto.n his knees in front of the rood screen, his big hands folded together in prayer.
"The steward's babe has a colic on the stomach and cannot keep his milTkabdoorwdn.the Cottar fares ill."
He wasn't praying in Latin, and there was none of the priest at Holy Reformed's sing-song chanting or
the vicar's oratory in his voicHee. to you.
sounded businesslike and matter-of-fact, the way I sound now, talking
God was supposed to be very real to the contemps in the 1300's, more vivid than the physical world they inhabited."You do but go home again," Father Roche told me when I was dying, and that's what the contemps are supposed to have believed-that the life of the body is illusory and unimportant, and the real life is that of the eternal soul, as if they were only visiting life the way I am visiting this century, but I haven't seen much evidence of Eitl.iwys dutifully murmurs her aves at vespers and matings and then rises
and brushes off her kirtle as if her prayers had nothing to do with her worries over her husband or the girls or GawynA. nd Imeyne, for all her reliquary and her Book of Hours, is concerned only about her
social standing.I'd seen no evidence that God was real at all to them till I stood there in the damp church, listening to Father Roche.
I wonder if he sees God and heaven as clearly as I can see you and Oxford, the rain falling in the quad and your spectacles steaming up so you have to take them off and polish them on youIr wmounfdfleerr.
if they seem as close as you do, and as difficult to get to.
"Preserve our souls from evil and bring us safely into heaven," Roche said, and as if that were a cue, Agnes sat up in my arms and said, "I want Father Roche."
Father Roche stood up and started toward"Wush.at is it?Who is there?"

"It is Lady Katherine," I sa"iId.have brought AgnesH. er knee is-"What? Infected? "I would have you look at her knee."
He tried to look at it, but it was too dark in the church, so he carried her over tIot whiass house. scarcely lighter thereH. is house is not much larger than the hut I took shelter in, and noHehihghader.to stoop the whole time we were there to keep from bumping his head against the rafters.
He opened the shutter on the only window, which let the rain blow in, and then lit a rushlight and set
Agnes on a crude wooden tabHlee.
untied the bandage, and she flinched away from him.
"Sit you still, Agnus," he told her, "and I will tell you how Christ came to earth from far heaven." "On Christmas Day," Agnes said.
Roche felt around the wound, poking at the swollen parts, talking st"eAadnidlyt.he shepherds stood afraid, for they knew not what this light Awnads. sounds they heard, as of bells rung in heaBvuetn.they beheld it was God's angel come down to them."
Agnes had screamed and pushed my hands away when I tried to touch her knee, but she let Roche prod the red area with his huge fingeTrhs.ere was definitely the beginning of a red strReoakc.he touched it
gently and brought the rushlight closer.
"And there came from a far land," he said, squinting at it, "three kings beariHnge gtoifutsc.h"ed the red
streak again, gingerly, and then folded his hands together, as if he were going to pray, and I thought, don't pray. Do something.
He lowered his hands and looked across at"Imfee.ar the wound is poisoned," he s"aIidw. ill make an infusion of hyssop to draw the venom oHute." went over to the hearth, stirred up a few
lukewarm-looking coals, and poured water into an iron pot from a bucket.
The bucket was dirty, the pot was dirty, the hands he'd felt Agnes's wound with were dirty, and, standing there, watching him set the pot on the fire and dig into a dirty bag, I was sorrHy eI'd come. wasn't any better than ImeynAe.n infusion of leaves and seeds wouldn't cure blood poisoning any more
than one of Imeyne's poultices, and his prayers wouldn't help either, even if he did talk to God as if He was really there.
I almost said, "Is that all you can do?" and then realized I was expecting the imThpeoscsuibrlee.for infection was penicillin, T-cell enhancement, antiseptics, none of which he had in his burlap bag.
I remember Mr. Gilchrist talking about mediaeval doctors in one of his lHecetutraelsk.ed about what
fools they were for bleeding people and treating them with arsenic and goat's urine during the Black
Death. But what did he expect them to Tdhoe?y didn't have analogues or antimicrobiaTlsh.ey didn't
even know what caused
Sit.tanding there, crumbling dried petals and leaves between his dirty fingers,
Father Roche was doing the best he could. "Do you have wine?" I asked h"iOml.d wine?"
There's scarcely any alcohol in the hopless small ale and not much more in their wine, but the longer it's stood the higher the alcoholic content, and alcohol is an antiseptic.

"I have remembered me that old wine poured into a wound may sometimes stop infections."
He didn't ask me what "infection" was or how I was able to remember that when I supposedly can't remember anything elseH. e went immediately across to the church and got an earthenware bottle full of strong-smelling wine, and I poured it onto the bandage and washed the wound with it.
I brought the bottle home with Im've hidden it under the bed in Rosemund's bower (in case it's part of the sacramental wine-that would be all Imeyne would nSeheed'.d have Roche burned for a heretic.) so I
can keep cleaning iBt. efore she went to bed, I poured some straight on.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
It rained till Christmas Eve, a hard, wintry rain that came through the smoke-vent in the roof and made the fire hiss and smoke.
Kivrin poured wine on Agnes's knee at every chance she got, and by the afternoon of the twenty-third it looked a little betterI.t was still swollen but the red streak was gKoinveri.n ran across to the church,
holding her cloak over her head, to tell Father Roche, but he wasn't there.

Neither Imeyne nor Eliwys had noticed Agnes's knee wasTheyrt. were trying frantically to get ready for Sir Bloet's family, if they were coming, cleaning the loft room so the women could sleep there, strewing rose petals over the rushes in the hall, baking an amazing assortment of manchets, puddings and pies, including a grotesque one in the shape of the Christ child in the manger, with braided pastry for swaddling clothes.
In the afternoon Father Roche came to the manor, drenched and shiHveerinhgad.
gone out in the
freezing rain to fetch ivy for the hImalle.yne wasn't there-she was in the kitchen cooking the Christ child-and Kivrin made Roche come in and dry his clothes by the fire.
She called for Maisry, and when she didn't come went out across the courtyard to the kitchen and fetched him a cup of hot aWleh. en she came in with it, Maisry was on the bench beside Roche, holding her tangled, filthy hair back with her hand, and Roche was putting goose grease onAhs esroeoanr. as
she saw Kivrin she clapped her hand to her ear, probably undoing all the good of Roche's treatment, and scuttled out.
"Agnes's knee is better," Kivrin told h"iTmh.e swelling has gone down, and a new scab is forming."
He didn't seem surprised, and she wondered if she'd been mistaken, if it hadn't been blood poisoning at all.
During the night the rain turned to sn"Towhe.y will not come," Lady Eliwys said the next morning, sounding relieved.
Kivrin had to agree with hIterh. ad snowed nearly thirty centimeters in the night, and it was still coming down steadily.Even Imeyne seemed resigned to their not coming, though she kept on with the preparations, bringing down pewter trenchers from the loft and shouting for Maisry.
Around noon the snow stopped abruptly, and by two it had begun to clear, and Eliwys ordered everyone into their good clotheKs.ivrin dressed the girls, surprised at the fanciness of their silk shifts. Agnes had a dark red velvet kirtle to wear over hers and her silver buckle, and Rosemund's leaf-green kirtle had long, split sleeves and a low bodice that showed the embroidery on her yellNoowthisnhgift.
had been said to Kivrin about what she should wear, but after she had taken the girls' hair out of braids and brushed it over their shoulders, Agnes said, "You must put on your blue," and got her dress out of the chest at the foot of the bItedl.ooked less out-of-place among the girls' finery, but the weave was still
too fine, the color too blue.
She didn't know what she should do about herUhnamira.rried girls wore their hair unbound on festive occasions, held back by a fillet or a ribbon, but her hair was too short for that, and only married women covered their hairS. he couldn't just leave it uncovered-the chopped off hair looked terrible.
Apparently Eliwys agreedW. hen Kivrin brought the girls back downstairs, she bit her lip and sent
Maisry up to the loft room to fetch a thin, nearly transparent veil which she fastened with Kivrin's fillet halfway back on her head so that her front hair showed, but the ragged cut ends were hidden.
Eliwys's nervousness seemed to have returned with the improving weSahtheers.tarted when Maisry came in from outside and then cuffed her for getting mud on thSehfelosourd. denly thought of a dozen things that weren't ready and found fault with everyWonhee.n Lady Imeyne said for the dozenth time, "If we had gone to Courcy..." Eliwys nearly snapped her head off.
Kivrin had thought it was a bad idea to dress Agnes before the last possible minute, and by

mid-afternoon, the little girl's embroidered sleeves were grubby and she had spilled flour all down one side of the velvet skirt.
By late afternoon, Gawyn had still not returned, everyone's nerves were at the snapping point, and Maisry's ears were bright reWd. hen Lady Imeyne told Kivrin to take six beeswax candles to Father Roche, she was delighted with the chance to get the girls out of the house.
"Tell him they must last through both the masses," Imeyne said irritably, "and poor masses will they be for our Lord's birthW. e should have gone to Courcy."
Kivrin got Agnes into her cloak and called Rosemund, and they walked across to thRe occhhuerch. wasn't there.A large yellowish candle with bands marked on it sat in the middle of the alHtaer, unlit. would light it at sunset and use it to keep track of the hours till mOindnhigishtk. nees in the icy church.
He wasn't in his house eithKeirv. rin left the candles on the tabOlen. they saw Roche's donkey by the lychgate licking the snow.
"We forgot to feed the animals," Agnes said.
the way back across the green,
"Feed the animals?" Kivrin asked warily, thinking of their clothes. "It is Christmas Eve," Agnes sa"iFde.d you not the animals at home?"
"She remembers not," Rosemund sa"idO.n Christmas Eve, we feed the animals in honor of our Lord that he was born in a stable."
"Do you not remember naught of Christmas then?" Agnes asked.
"A little," Kivrin said, thinking of Oxford on Christmas Eve, of the shops in Carfax decorated with plastic evergreens and laser lights and jammed with last-minute shoppers, the High full of bicycles, and
Magdalen Tower showing dimly through the snow.
"First they ring the bells and then you get to eat and then mass and then the Yule log," Agnes said.
"You have turned it all about," Rosemund
"sFaiidrs.t we light the Yule log and then we go to mass."
"First the bells," Agnes said, glaring at Rosemund, "and then mass."
They went to the barn for a sack of oats and some hay and took them out to the stable to feed the
horses. Gringolet wasn't among them, which meant Gawyn still wasn't
Sbahcek.must speak with him as
soon as he returnedT. he rendezvous was less than a week away, and she still had no idea where the drop was.And with Lord Guillaume coming, everything might change.
Eliwys had only put off doing anything with her till her husband came, and she had told the girls again this morning she expected him todaHy.e might decide to take Kivrin to Oxford, or London, to look for her
family, or Sir Bloet might offer to take her back with them to
SChoeurchya.d to talk to him soBonu.t
with guests here, it would be much easier to catch him alone, and in all the bustle and busyness of
Christmas, she might even get him to show her the place.
Kivrin dawdled as long as she could with the horses, hoping Gawyn might come back, but Agnes got bored and wanted to go feed corn to the chicKkeinvsri.n suggested they go feed the steward's cow.

"It is not our cow," Rosemund snapped.
"She helped me on that day when I was ill," she said, thinking of how she had leaned against the cow's
bony back the day she tried to find the
"dIrowp.ould thank her for her kindness."
They went past the pen where the pigs had lately been, and Agnes said, "PoorI pwigoluinldgs.have fed them an apple."
"The sky to the north darkens again," Rosemund "sIaitdh.ink they will not come." "Ay, but they will," Agnes sa"iSdi.r Bloet has promised me a trinket."
The steward's cow was in almost the same place Kivrin had found it, behind the second to the last hut, eating what was left of the same blackening pea vines.
"Good Christmas, Lady Cow," Agnes said, holding a handful of hay a good meter from the cow's mouth.
"They speak only at midnight," Rosemund said.
"I would come see them at midnight, Lady Kivrin," AgnesThseaidc.ow strained forwardA. gnes edged back.
"You cannot, simplehead," Rosemund sa"idY.ou will be at mass."
The cow extended her neck and took a large-hoofed step foArwganreds. cow a handful of hay.
retreated.Kivrin gave the
Agnes watched enviously".If all are at mass, how do they know the animals speak?" she asked. Good point, Kivrin thought.
"Father Roche says it is so," Rosemund said.
Agnes came out from behind Kivrin's skirts and picked up another handful"Wofhhaat yd. o they say?" She pointed it in the cow's general direction.
"They say you know not how to feed them," Rosemund said.
"They do not," Agnes said, thrusting her hand forwThared.cow lunged for the hay, mouth open, teeth bared. Agnes threw the handful of hay at it and ran behind Kivrin's"Tbhaecyk.praise our blessed Lord. Father Roche said it."
There was a sound of horsAesg.nes ran between the hut"sT. hey are come!" she shouted, running back. "Sir Bloet is hereI. saw themT. hey ride now through the gate."
Kivrin hastily scattered the rest of the hay in front of thReosceomwu. nd took a handful of oats out of the bag and fed them to the cow, letting it nuzzle the grain out of her open hand.
"Come, Rosemund!" Agnes sai"dS. ir Bloet is here!"

Rosemund rubbed what was left of the oats off her"Ihawndo.uld feed Father Roche's donkey," she said, and started toward the church, not even glancing in the direction of the manor.
"But they've come, Rosemund," Agnes shouted, running after"Dheor.you not want to see what they have brought?"
Obviously notR. osemund had reached the donkey, which had found a tuft of foxtail grass sticking out of the snow next to the lychgaSteh.e bent and stuck a handful of oats under its muzzle, to its complete disinterest, and then stood there with her hand on its back, her long dark hair hiding her face.
"Rosemund!" Agnes said, her face red with frustra"tiDonid.
you not hear meT?hey have come!"
The donkey nudged the oats out of the way and clamped its yellow teeth around a large head of the grass. Rosemund continued to offer it the oats.
"Rosemund," Kivrin said, "I will feed the donYkeoyu. must go to greet your guests." "Sir Bloet said he would bring me a trinket," Agnes said.
Rosemund opened her hands and let the oats"Iffalyl.ou like him so much, why do you not ask Father to let you marry him?" she said, and started for the manor.
"I am too little," Agnes said.
So is Rosemund, Kivrin thought, grabbing Agnes's hand and starting aftRerosheemr.und walked rapidly ahead, her chin in the air, not bothering to lift her dragging skirts, ignoring Agnes's repeated pleas to, "Wait, Rosemund."
The party had already passed into the courtyard, and Rosemund was already toKtihverinstyp.icked
up the pace, pulling Agnes along at a run, and they all arrived in the courtyard at the Ksaivmrien time. stopped, surprised.
She had expected a formal meeting, the family at the door with stiff speeches and polite smiles, but this was like the first day of term-everyone carrying in boxes and bags, greeting each other with exclamations and embraces, talking at the same time, laughRinogs.emund hadn't even been misseAd. large woman
wearing an enormous starched coif grabbed Agnes up and kissed her, and three young girls clustered around Rosemund, squealing.
Servants, obviously in their holiday best, too, carried covered baskets and an enormous goose into the kitchen, and led the horses into the staGblaew. yn, still on Gringolet, was leaning down to speak to
Imeyne. Kivrin heard him say, "Nay, the bishop is at Wiveliscombe," but Imeyne didn't look unhappy, so he must have got the message to the archdeacon.
She turned to help a young woman in a bright blue cloak even brighter than Kivrin's down from her horse, and led her over to Eliwys, smilEinlgiw. ys was smiling, too.
Kivrin tried to make out which was Sir Bloet, but there were at least a half-dozen mounted men, all with silver-chased bridles and fur-trimmed cloakNs.one of them looked decrepit, thank goodness, and one
or two were quite presentable-lookinSg.he turned to ask Agnes which one he was, but she was still in
the grip of the starched coif, who kept patting her head and saying, "You have grown so I scarce knew

you." Kivrin stifled a smileS.ome things truly never changed.
Several of the newcomers had red hair, including a woman nearly as old as Imeyne, who nevertheless wore her faded-pink hair down her back like a youngShgeirlh. ad a pinched, unhappy-looking mouth
and was obviously dissatisfied with the way the servants were unloading
Sthhinegs.natched one
overloaded basket out of the hands of a servant who was struggling with it and thrust it at a fat man in a green velvet kirtle.
He had red hair, too, and so did the nicest looking of the youngHeer
wmaesn.in his late twenties, but
he had a round, open, freckled face and a pleasant expression at least.
"Sir Bloet!" Agnes cried, and flung herself past Kivrin and against the knees of the fat man.
Oh, no, Kivrin thoughSt.he had assumed he was married to the pink-tressed shrew or the woman in the starched coif.He was at least fifty, and nearly twenty stone, and when he smiled at Agnes his large teeth were brown with decay.
"Have you no trinket for me?" Agnes was demanding, tugging on the hem of his kirtle.
"Ay," he said, looking toward where Rosemund still stood talking to the other girls, "for you and for your sister."
"I will fetch her," Agnes said, and darted across to Rosemund before Kivrin could Bsltoept her. lumbered after herT. he girls giggled and parted as he approached, and Rosemund shot a murderous
look at Agnes and then smiled and extended her hand to"Ghoimod.
day and welcome, sir," she said.
Her chin was up about as far as it would go, and there were two spots of feverish red in her pale cheeks, but Bloet apparently took these for shyness and excitemHe t.ook her little fingers in his own
fat ones and said, "Surely you will not greet your husband with such formality come spring." The spots got redde"rI.t is still winter, sir."
"It will be spring soon enough," he said and laughed, showing his brown teeth. "Where is my trinket?" Agnes demanded.
"Agnes, be not so greedy," Eliwys said, coming to stand between her da"uIgthitsersa. poor welcome
to demand gifts of a guesSt.h"e smiled at him, and if she dreaded this marriage, she showed no sign of it. She looked more relaxed than Kivrin had yet seen her.
"I promised my sister-in-law a trinket," he said, reaching into his too-tight belt and bringing out a little cloth bag, "and my betrothed a bride-giHft.e" fumbled in the little bag and brought out a brooch set with stones. "A loveknot for my bride," he said, unfastening the clasp. "You must think of me when you wear it."
He moved forward, puffing, to pin it to her cI lohaokp.e he has a stroke, Kivrin thouRghots.emund stood stockstill, her cheeks sharply red, while his fat hands fumbled at her neck.
"Rubies," Eliwys said delightedl"yD. o you not thank your betrothed for his goodly gift, Rosemund?" "I thank thee for the brooch," Rosemund said tonelessly.

"Where is my trinket?" Agnes said, dancing on one foot, then the other while he reached in the little bag again and brought out something clenched in hisHfiest.stooped down to Agnes's level, breathing hard,
and opened his hand.
"It is a bell!" Agnes said delightedly, holding it up and shaIktinwgasit.brass and round, like a horse's sleigh bell, and had a metal loop at the top.
Agnes insisted on Kivrin taking her up to the bower to fetch a ribbon to thread through it so she could
wear it around her wrist for a brace"lMety.
father brought me this ribbon from the fair," Agnes said,
pulling it out of the chest Kivrin's clothes had been keItptwians.
patchily dyed and so stiff Kivrin had
trouble threading it through the hoElev.en the cheapest ribbons at Woolworth's or the paper ribbons used for wrapping Christmas presents were better than this obviously treasured one.
Kivrin tied it to Agnes's wrist, and they went back downTshtaeirsb.ustle and unloading had moved
inside, servants carrying chests and bedding and what looked like early versions of the carpet bag into the hall.She needn't have worried about Sir Bloet et al carrying heItr loofofk. ed like they were here for
the winter at the least.
She needn't have worried about them discussing her fate, eNitohneer. of them had so much as cast a glance at her, even when Agnes insisted on going over to her mother and showing off heEr libwraycselet.
was deep in conversation with Bloet, Gawyn, and the nice-looking man, who must be a son or a nephew, and Eliwys was twisting her hands agaTinh.e news from Bath must be bad.
Lady Imeyne was at the end of the hall, talking to the stout woman and a pale-looking man in a cleric's robe, and it was clear from the expression on her face that she was complaining about Father Roche.
Kivrin took advantage of the noisy confusion to pull Rosemund away from the other girls and ask her who everyone wasT. he pale man was Sir Bloet's chaplain, which she had more or less figuTrehde out.
lady in the bright blue cloak was his foster- daugThhte .stout woman with the starched coif was Sir Bloet's brother's wife, come up from Dorset to stay withThemt.wo redheaded young men and the giggling girls were all herSsi.r Bloet didn't have any children.
Which of course was why he was marrying one, with, apparently, everyone's apTphreovcaalr.rying on of the line was the all-important concern in 1T32h0e. younger the woman, the better her chance of producing enough heirs that one at least would survive to adulthood, even if its mother didn't.
The shrew with the faded red hair was, horror of horrors, Lady Yvolde, his unmarriSehde sliisvted.
at Courcy with him and, Kivrin saw, watching her shouting at poor Maisry for dropping a basket, had a bunch of keys at her beTlth.at meant she ran the household, or would until EPasotoer Rosemund
wouldn't stand a chance.
"Who are all the others?" Kivrin had asked, hoping there might be at least one ally for Rosemund among them.
"Servants," Rosemund said, as if it were obvious, and ran back to the girls.
There were at least twenty of them, not counting the grooms who were putting the horses up, and nobody, not even the nervous Eliwys, seemed surprised by their nuSmhbeerh. ad read that noble households had had dozens of servants, but had thought those figures must Ebleiwoyfsf.and Imeyne
had scarcely any servants at all, had had to put practically the whole village to work to get ready for

Yule, and although she had put part of it down to their being in trouble, she had also thought the numbers of attendants for the rural manors must have been exaggerTahteedy. obviously weren't.
The servants swarmed over the hall, serving supKpievrr.in had not known whether they would eat an
evening meal at all, since Christmas Eve was a fast day, but as soon as the pale chaplain finished reading vespers, obviously on Lady Imeyne's orders, the herd of servants trooped in with a meal of bread,
watered wine, and dried cod which had been soaked in lyewater and then roasted.
Agnes was so excited she didn't eat a bite, and after supper had been cleared away, she refused to come and sit quietly by the hearth, but ran round the hall, ringing her bell and pestering the dogs.
Sir Bloet's servants and the steward brought in the Yule log and dumped it on the hearth, scattering sparks everywhere.The women stepped back, laughing, and the children screamed with delight.
Rosemund, as eldest child of the house, lit the log with a faggot saved from the Yule log the year before, touching it gingerly to the tip of one of the crookedTrhoeortes. was laughter and applause when it
caught, and Agnes waved her arm wildly to make her bell ring.
Rosemund had said earlier that the children were allowed to stay up for the mass at midnight, but Kivrin had hoped she could at least coax Agnes to lie down on the bench beside her and tIankseteaad,naaps.
the evening progressed, Agnes got wilder and wilder, shrieking and ringing her bell till Kivrin had to take it away from her.
The women sat down by the hearth, talking quTiehtely.men stood in little groups, their arms folded
across their chests, and several times they all went outside, except for the chaplain, and came back in stamping the snow off their feet and laughIitngw. as obvious from their red faces and Imeyne's look of disapproval that they had been out in the brewhouse with a keg of ale, breaking their fast.
When they came in the third time, Bloet sat down across the hearth and stretched out his legs to the fire, watching the girlsT. he three gigglers and Rosemund were playing Blind Man's BWluhfef.n Rosemund,
blindfolded, came close to the benches, Bloet reached out and pulled her onto Ehviserylaopn.e laughed.
Imeyne spent the long evening sitting by the chaplain, reciting her grievances against Father Roche to him. He was ignorant, he was clumsy, he had said the Confiteor before the Adjutorum during the mass last Sunday.And he was out there in that ice-cold church on his knees, Kivrin thought, while the chaplain warmed his hands at the fire and nodded disapprovingly.
The fire died down to glowing embReross.emund slid off Bloet's lap and ran back to the gGaamwey.n told the story of how he had killed six wolves, watching Eliwys the whoTlehetimchea.plain told a story about a dying woman who made false confessWionh.en the chaplain had touched her forehead with the holy oil, her skin had smoked and turned black before his eyes.
Halfway through the chaplain's story, Gawyn stood up, rubbed his hands over the fire and went over to
the beggar's benchH.
e sat down and pulled off his boot.
After a minute, Eliwys stood up and went over toKihvirmin. couldn't hear what she said to him, but he stood up, the boot still in his hand.
"The trial is once more delayed," Kivrin heard Gawyn"Tshaey.judge who was to hear it is taken ill."
She couldn't hear Eliwys's answer, but Gawyn nodded, and said, "It is gooTdhenenwesw.
judge is
from Swindone and less kindly disposed to King Edward," but neither of them looked like it was good

news. Eliwys was nearly as white as she had been when Imeyne told her she'd sent Gawyn to Courcy.
She twisted her heavy rinGga. wyn sat down again, brushed the rushes from the bottom of his hose, and
pulled the boot on, and then looked up again and said someEtlhiiwnygs.
turned her head aside and
Kivrin couldn't see her expression for the shadows, but she could see Gawyn's.
And so could anyone else in the hall, Kivrin thought, and looked hastily around to see if the couple had been observed.Imeyne was deep in complaint with the chaplain, but Sir Bloet's sister was watching, her mouth tight with disapproval, and so, on the opposite side of the fire, were Bloet and the other men.
Kivrin had hoped she might have a chance to speak with Gawyn tonight, but she obviously could not
among all these watchful peoplAe.
bell rang, and Eliwys started and looked toward the door.
"It is the devil's knell," the chaplain said quietly, and even the children stopped their games to listen.
In some villages the contemps had rung the bell once for each year since the birthInofmCohstrisit.
had only been tolled for the hour before midnight, and Kivrin doubted whether Roche, or even the chaplain, could count high enough to toll the years, but she began keeping count anyway, thinking, Gilchrist told me to do a temporal check as soon as possible.
Three servants came in, bearing logs and kindling, and replenished thIte fflairree.d up brightly, throwing huge, distorted shadows on the walAlsg. nes jumped up and pointed, and one of Sir Bloet's nephews made a rabbit with his hands.
Mr. Latimer had told her that the contemps had read the future in the Yule log'sSshheadows. wondered what the future held for them, Lord Guillaume in trouble and all of them in danger.
The king had forfeited the lands and property of convicted crimTihneayls.might be forced to live in
France or to accept charity from Sir Bloet and endure snubs from the steward's wife.
Or Lord Guillaume might come home tonight with good news and a falcon for Agnes, and they would all live happily ever afterE.xcept Eliwys.And Rosemund.What would happen to her?
It's already happened, Kivrin thought wonderinglTy.he verdict is already in and Lord Guillaume's come home and found out about Gawyn and EliwRyoss.emund's already been handed over to Sir BlAoentd.
Agnes has grown up and married and died in childbirth, or of blood poisoning, or cholera, or pneumonia.
They've all died, she thought, and couldn't make herself beliTevheeyi'tv. e all been dead over seven hundred years.
"Look!" Agnes shrieked".Rosemund has no head!S"he pointed to the distorted shadows the fire cast on the walls as it flared Rupo.semund's, oddly elongated, ended at the shoulders.
One of the red-headed boys ran over to A"gInehsa.ve no head either!" he said, jumping on tiptoe to change the shadow's shape.
"You have no head, Rosemund," Agnes shouted hap"pYilyo.u will die ere the year is out." "Say not such things," Eliwys said, starting towardEvheryone looked up.
"Kivrin has a head," Agnes sa"iId.have a head, but poor Rosemund has none."

Eliwys caught hold of Agnes by both a"rTmhso. se are but foolish games," she sa"iSda.y not such things."
"The shadow-" Agnes said, looking like she was going to cry.
"Sit you down by Lady Katherine and be still," EliwysShseaidb.rought her over to Kivrin and almost pushed her onto the benc"hY. ou are grown too wild."
Agnes huddled next to Kivrin, trying to decide whether to cry Koirvrninot.had lost count, but she picked up where she had left oFfofr.ty-six, forty-seven.
"I want my bell," Agnes said, climbing off the bench.
"Nay, we must sit quietly," Kivrin sSahide.
took Agnes onto her lap.
"Tell me of Christmas."
"I can't, AgnesI. can't remember."
"Do you remember naught that you can tell me?"
I remember it all, Kivrin thougThht.e shops are full of ribbons, satin and mylar and velvet, red and gold and blue, brighter even than my woad-dyed cloak, and there's light everywhere andGmreuasticT. om
and Magdalen's bells and Christmas carols.
She thought of the Carfax carillon, trying to play "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," and the tired old piped in carols in the shops along the HTihgohs. e carols haven't even been written yet, Kivrin thought,
and felt a sudden wash of homesickness.
"I would ring my bell," Agnes said, struggling to get off Kivri"nG'sivleapi.t to me.S"he held out her wrist.
"I will tie it on if you will lie down a little on the bench beside me," Kivrin said. She started to pucker up into a pout a"gMaiuns.t I sleep?"
"No.I will tell you a story," Kivrin said, untying the bell from her own wrist, where she had put it for safekeeping. "Once-" she said and then stopped, wondering if 'once upon a time' dated as far back as
1320 and what sort of stories the contemps told their chiSldtorernie.s about wolves and about witches whose skin turned black when they were given extreme unction.
"There once was a maiden," she said, tying the bell on Agnes's chubbTyhewrriesdt. ribbon had already begun to fray at the edgeIts.wouldn't tolerate many more knottings and unknottinSghse. bent over i"t.A maiden who lived-"
"Is this the maiden?" a woman's voice said.
Kivrin looked upI.t was Bloet's sister Yvolde, with Imeyne behind Shheer. stared at Kivrin, her mouth pinched with disapproval, and then shook her head.

"Nay, this is not Uluric's daughter," she
"sTaihda. t maid was short and dark."
"Nor de Ferrers' ward?" Imeyne said.
"She is dead," Yvolde sa"idD.o you remember naught of who you are?" she asked Kivrin.
"Nay, good lady," Kivrin said, remembering too late that she was supposed to keep her eyes modestly on the floor.
"She was struck upon the head," Agnes volunteered.
"Yet you remember your name and how to spAeraek.you of good family?"
"I do not remember my family, good lady," she said, trying to keep her voice meek. She sniffed". She sounds of the wesHt.ave you sent to Bath for news?"
"Nay," Imeyne said".My son's wife would wait on his arriYvaolu.
have heard naught from Oxenford?"
"Nay, but there is much illness there," Yvolde said.
Rosemund came up".Know you Lady Katherine's family, Lady Yvolde?" she asked. Yvolde turned her pinched look on "hNera.y. Where is the brooch my brother gave you?" "I...'tis on my cloak," Rosemund stammered.
"Do you not honor his gifts enough to wear them?"
"Go and fetch it," Lady Imeyne s"aIidw. ould see this brooch."
Rosemund's chin went up, but she went over to the outer wall where the cloaks hung.
"She shows as little eagerness for my brother's gifts as for his presence," Yvo"lSdehesasipdo. ke not once to him at supper."
Rosemund came back, carrying her green cloak with the brooch pinneSdheto shito. wed it wordlessly to Imeyne."I would see it," Agnes said, and Rosemund bent down to show her.
The brooch had red stones set on a round gold ring, and the pin in tIhtehcaedntneor. hinge, but had to be pulled up and stuck through the garmLenett.ers ran around the outside of the r"inIog:suiicen lui dami amo."
"What does it say?" Agnes said, pointing to the letters ringing the gold circle.
"I know not," Rosemund said in a tone that clearly meant, "And I don't care."
Yvolde's jaw tightened, and Kivrin said hastily, "It says, 'You are here in place of the friend I love,' Agnes," and then realized sickly what she had dSohnee. looked up at Imeyne, but Imeyne didn't seem to have noticed anything.

"Such words should be on your breast instead of hanging on a peg," ImeySnhee staoiodk. and pinned it to the front of Rosemund's kirtle.
the brooch
"And you should be at my brother's side as befits his betrothed," Yvolde said, "instead of playing childish games." She extended her hand in the direction of the hearth where Bloet was sitting, nearly asleep and obviously the worse for all the trips outside, and Rosemund looked beseechingly at Kivrin.
"Go and thank Sir Bloet for such a generous gift," Imeyne said coldly. Rosemund handed Kivrin her cloak and started toward the hearth. "Come, Agnes," Kivrin sai"dY. ou must rest."
"I would stay up for the devil's knell," Agnes said.
"Lady Katherine," Yvolde said, and there was an odd emphasis on the word, 'Lady,' "you told us you
remembered naught.Yet you read Lady Rosemund's brooch with eCasaen.
you read, then?"
I can read, Kivrin thought, but fewer than a third of the contemps could, and even fewer of women.
She glanced at Imeyne, who was looking at her the way she had the first morning she was here, fingering her clothes and examining her hands.
"No," Kivrin said, looking Yvolde directly in the eye, "I fear I cannot read even the PYatoeurnroster. brother told us what the words meant when he gave the brooch to Rosemund."
"Nay, he did not," Agnes said.
"You were looking at your bell," Kivrin said, thinking, Lady Yvolde will never believe that, she'll ask him and he'll say he never spoke to me.
But Yvolde seemed satisfie"dI.
did not think such a one as she would be able to read," she said to
Imeyne. She gave her her hand, and they walked over to Sir Bloet. Kivrin sank down on the bench.
"I would have my bell," Agnes said.
"I will not tie it on unless you lie down."
Agnes crawled into her la"pY.ou must tell me the story fiOrsnt.ce there was a maiden."
"Once there was a maiden," Kivrin sSahide. looked at Imeyne and YvoldTeh.ey had sat down next to
Sir Bloet and were talking to RosemuSnhde.
said something, her chin up and her cheeks verySired.
Bloet laughed, and his hand closed over the brooch and then slid down over Rosemund's breast. "Once there was a maiden-" Agnes said insistently.
"-who lived at the edge of a great forest," Kivrin"'sDaoid.not go into the forest alone,' her father said-" "But she would not heed him," Agnes said, yawning.

"No, she wouldn't heed hiHme. r father loved her and cared only for her safety, but she wouldn't listen to him."
"What was in the woods?" Agnes asked, nestling against Kivrin.
Kivrin pulled Rosemund's cloak up over Cheurt.throats and thieves, she thoughAt.nd lecherous old men and their shrewish sisterAs.nd illicit loversA. nd husbands.And judges."All sorts of dangerous things."
"Wolves," Agnes said sleepily.
"Yes, wolves."She looked at Imeyne and YvoldTeh.ey had moved away from Sir Bloet and were watching her, whispering.
"What happened to her?" Agnes said sleepily, her eyes already closing. Kivrin cradled her clos"eI. don't know," she murmure"dI. don't know."
CHAPTER TWENTY

Agnes could not have been asleep more than five minutes before the devil's knell began to ring.
"Father Roche begins too sooInt .is not midnight yet," Lady Imeyne said, and it wasn't even out of her mouth before the other bells starteWd:ychlade and Bureford and, far way to the east, too far to be more than a breath of an echo, the bell of Oxford.
There are the Osney bells, and there's Carfax, Kivrin thought, and wondered if they were ringing at home tonight, too.
Sir Bloet heaved himself to his feet and then helped his siOstenre uopf. their servants hurried in with their cloaks and a squirrel-fur-lined mantTleh.e chattering girls pulled their cloaks from the pile and fastened them, still chatteringL.ady Imeyne shook Maisry, who'd fallen asleep on the beggar's bench, and told her to fetch her Book of Hours, and Maisry shuffled off to the loft ladder,Ryoaswemniunngd.
came over and reached with exaggerated carefulness for her cloak, which had slid off Agnes's shoulders.
Agnes was dead to the worKldiv. rin hesitated, hating to have to wake her up, but fairly sure even exhausted five-year-olds weren't excepted from this ma"sAs.gnes," she said softly.
"You must needs carry her to the church," Rosemund said, struggling with Sir Bloet's goldThberooch. steward's youngest boy came and stood in front of her with her white cloak, dragging it on the rushes.
"Agnes," Kivrin said again, and jostled her a little, amazed that the church bell hadn't wItaked her. sounded louder and closer than it ever did for matins or vespers, its overtones nearly drowning out the other bells.
Agnes's eyes flew ope"nY. ou did not wake me," she said sleepily to Rosemund, and then more loudly as she came awake, "You promised to wake me."
"Get into your cloak," Kivrin sa"iWd.e must go to church." "Kivrin, I would wear my bell."
"You're wearing it," Kivrin said, trying to fasten Agnes's red cape without stabbing her in the neck with the pin of the clasp.
"Nay, I have it not," Agnes said, searching her"Iarwmo.uld wear my bell!"
"Here it is," Rosemund said, picking it up off the floor, "It must have fallen from meet to wear it nowT.his bell calls us to maTssh.e Christmas bells come after."
"I shall not ring it," Agnes s"aIidw. ould only wear it."
Byouutritwirsistn.ot
Kivrin didn't believe that for a minute, but everyone else wasOrneeadoyf.
Sir Bloet's men was lighting
the horn lanterns with a brand from the fire and handing them to the sSehrevahnatss.tily tied the bell to
Agnes's wrist and took the girls by the hand.
Lady Eliwys laid her hand on Sir Bloet's upheldLaodnye. Imeyne signalled to Kivrin to follow with the
little girls, and the others fell in behind them solemnly, as if it were a procession, Lady Imeyne with Sir
Bloet's sister, and then the rest of Sir Bloet's entouLraagdey. Eliwys and Sir Bloet led the way out into

the courtyard, through the gate, and onto the green.
It had stopped snowing, and the stars had comeThoeutv. illage lay silent under its covering of white. Frozen in time, Kivrin thoughTt.he dilapidated buildings looked different, the staggering fences and filthy
daubed huts softened and graced by the snTowhe.
lanterns caught the crystalline facets of the
snowflakes and made them sparkle, but it was the stars that took Kivrin's breath away, hundreds of stars, thousands of stars, and all of them sparkling like jewels in the"Iitcyshainire. s," Agnes said, and Kivrin didn't know whether she was talking about the snow or the sky.
The bell tolled evenly, calmly, its sound different again out in the frosty air-not louder, but fuller and somehow clearer.Kivrin could hear all the other bells now and recognize them, Esthcote and Witenie and Chertelintone, even though they sounded different, Stohoe. listened for the Swindone bell, which
had rung all this time, but she couldn't heSarheit.couldn't hear the Oxford bells eithSehre. she had only imagined them.
"You are ringing your bell, Agnes," Rosemund said. "I am not," Agnes sa"idI . am only walking."
"Look at the church," Kivrin sa"iIdsn. 't it beautiful?"
wondered if
It flamed like a beacon at the other end of the green, lit from inside and out, the stained-glass windows throwing wavering ruby and sapphire lights on the snTohwer.e were lights all around it, too, filling the churchyard all the way to the bell towTeorr.ches. She could smell their tarry smokMe.ore torches made
their way in from the white fields, winding down from the hill behind the church.
She thought suddenly of Oxford on Christmas Eve, the shops lit for last-minute shopping and the
window of Brasenose shining yellow onto the quAandd. multi-colored strings of laser lights.
the Christmas tree at Balliol lit with
"I would that we had come to you for Yule," Lady Imeyne said to Lady"TYhvenoldwee. proper priest to say the masseTsh.is place's priest can but barely say the Paternoster."
had had a
This place's priest just spent hours kneeling in an ice-cold church, Kivrin thought, hours kneeling in hose that have holes in the knees, and now this place's priest is ringing a heavy bell which has had to be tolled for an hour and will shortly go through an elaborate ceremony that he has had to memorize because he cannot read.
"It will be a poor sermon and a poor mass, I fear," Lady Imeyne said.
"Alas, there are many who do not love God in these days," Lady Yvolde said, "but we must pray to
God that He will set the world right and bring men again to virtue." Kivrin doubted if that answer was what Lady Imeyne wanted to hear.
"I have sent to the Bishop of Bath to send us a chaplain," Imeyne said, "but he has not yet come." "My brother says there is much trouble in Bath," Yvolde said.
They were almost to the churchyarKdi.vrin could make out faces now, lit by the smoky torches and
by little oil cressets some of the women were carrTyihnegir.
faces, reddened and lit from below, looked

faintly sinister.Mr. Dunworthy would think they were an angry mob, Kivrin thought, gathered to burn
some poor martyr at the stakIte's.
the light, she thoughEt.veryone looks like a cutthroat by torchlight.
No wonder they invented electricity.
They came into the churchyarKd.ivrin recognized some of the people near the church dtohoersb: oy
with the scurvy who had run from her, two of the young girls who'd helped with the Christmas baking,
Cob. The steward's wife was wearing a cloak with an ermine collar and carrying a metal lantern with four tiny panes of real glasSsh. e was talking animatedly to the woman with the scrofula scars who had helped
put up the hollyT.hey were all talking and moving around to keep warm, and one man with a black beard was laughing so hard his torch swept dangerously close to the steward's wife's wimple.
Church officials had eventually had to do away with the midnight mass because of all the drinking and carousing, Kivrin remembered, and some of these parishioners definitely looked like they had spent the evening breaking fastsT. he steward was talking animatedly to a rough-looking man Rosemund pointed
out as Maisry's fatherB. oth their faces were bright red from the cold or the torchlight or the liquor or all
three, but they seemed gay rather than dangeroTuhse.
steward kept punctuating what he was saying with
hard, thunking claps on Maisry's father's shoulder, and every time he did it the father laughed, a happy helpless giggle that made Kivrin think he was much brighter than she had supposed.
The steward's wife grabbed for her husband's sleeve, and he shook her off, but as soon as Lady Eliwys and Sir Bloet came through the lychgate, he and Maisry's brother fell back promptly to make a clear path into the churcSh.o did all the others, falling silent as the entourage passed through the
churchyard and in the heavy doors, and then beginning to talk again, but more quietly, as they came into the church behind them.
Sir Bloet unbuckled his sword and handed it to a servant, and he and Lady Eliwys knelt and
genuflected as soon as they were in the dTohoery. again.
walked almost to the rood screen together and knelt
Kivrin and the little girls followeWd.hen Agnes crossed herself, her bell jangled hollowly in the church.
I'll have to take it off of her, Kivrin thought, and wondered if she should step out of the procession now and take Agnes off to the side by Lady Imeyne's husband's tomb and undo it, but Lady Imeyne was waiting impatiently at the door with Sir Bloet's sister.
She led the girls to the frSoinrt.Bloet had already gotten to his feet agEaliw.ys stayed on her knees a
little longer, and then stood, and Sir Bloet escorted her to the north side of the church, bowed slightly, and walked over to take his place on the men's side.
Kivrin knelt with the little girls, praying Agnes wouldn't make too much noise when she crossed herself again. She didn't, but when Agnes got to her feet she snagged her foot in the hem of her robe and caught herself with a clanging almost as loud as the bell still tolling oLuatdsiydeI.meyne was, of course, right
behind them.She glared at Kivrin.
Kivrin took the girls to stand beside EliLwaydsy.
Imeyne knelt, but Lady Yvolde made only an
obeisance. As soon as Imeyne rose, a servant hurried forward with a dark velvet covered prie- dieu and
laid it on the floor next to Rosemund for Lady Yvolde to knAeenlotohner.
servant had laid one in front
of Sir Bloet on the men's side and was helping him get down on his knHee pounffeitd. the servant's arm as he lowered his bulk, and his face got very red.
and clung to
Kivrin looked at Lady Yvolde's prie-dieu longingly, thinking of the plastic kneeling pads that hung on the
backs of the chairs in St. MarSy'hse.
had never realized until now what a blessing they were, what a

blessing the hard wooden chairs were either until they stood again and she thought about how they would have to remain standing through the whole service.
The floor was coldT.he church was cold, in spite of all the liTghhetsy.
were mostly cressets, set along
the walls and in front of the holly-banked statue of St. Catherine, though there was a tall, thin, yellowish candle set in the greenery of each of the windows, but the effect was probably not what Father Roche had intended.The bright flames only made the colored panes of glass darker, almost black.
More of the yellowish candles were in the silver candelabra on either side of the altar, and holly was heaped in front of them and along the top of the rood screen, and Father Roche had set Lady Imeyne's beeswax candles in among the sharp, shiny leaHvees'.d done a job of decorating the church that should please even Lady Imeyne, Kivrin thought, and glanced at her.
She was holding her reliquary between her folded hands, but her eyes were open, and she was staring at the top of the rood screeHne. r mouth was tight with disapproval, and Kivrin supposed she hadn't
wanted the candles there, but it was the perfect place for Ttheym.illuminated the crucifix and the Last
Judgment and lit nearly the whole nave.
They made the whole church seem different, homier, more familiar, like St. Mary's on Christmas Eve. Dunworthy had taken her to the ecumenical service last ChrisStmheas.had planned to go to midnight
mass at the Holy Re-Formed to hear it said in Latin, but there hadn't been a midniTghet mpraiesst.
had been asked to read the gospel for the ecumenical service, so he had moved the mass to four in the afternoon.
Agnes was fiddling with her bell agaLinad. y Imeyne turned and glared at her across her piously folded hands, and Rosemund leaned across Kivrin and shhhed her.
"You mustn't ring your bell until the mass is over," Kivrin whispered, bending close to Agnes so no one else could hear her.
"I rang it not," Agnes whispered back in a voice that could be heard all over th"eThcehurribcbho. n binds too tightS. ee you?"
Kivrin couldn't see any such thinIng. fact, if she had taken the time to tie it tighter, it wouldn't be
ringing at every movement, but there was no way she was going to argue with an overtired child when the
mass was going to begin any minuSthee.
reached for the knot.
Agnes must have been trying to pull the bell off over herThwerisatl.ready fraying ribbon had
tightened into a solid little knKoti.vrin picked at its edges with her fingernails, keeping an eye on the people behind herT. he service would start with a procession, Father Roche and his acolytes, if he had any, would come down the aisle bearing the holy water and chant the Asperges.
Kivrin pulled on the ribbon and both sides of the knot, tightening it beyond any hope of ever getting it off without cutting it, but getting a little more sIltacskti.ll wasn't enough to get the ribbonSohfef. glanced
back at the church dooTr.he bell had stopped, but there was still no sign of Father Roche and no aisle for him to come up eithTerh.e townsfolk had crowded in, filling the whole rear of the cShoumrceho. ne
had lifted a child up onto Imeyne's husband's tomb and was holding him there so he could see, but there wasn't anything to see yet.
She went back to working on the Sbheell. got two fingers under the ribbon and pulled up on it, trying to stretch it.

"Tear it not!" Agnes said in that carrying stage whisper ofKihverrisn. took hold of the bell and hastily pulled it around so it lay in Agnes's palm.
"Hold it like this," she whispered, cupping Agnes's fingers ov"Terigihtt.ly."
Agnes obligingly clenched her little fiKsti.vrin folded Agnes's other hand over the top of the fist in a so-so facsimile of a praying attitude and said softly, "Hold tight to the bell, and it will not ring."
Agnes promptly pressed her hands to her forehead in an attitude of angelic piety.
"Good girl," Kivrin said, and put her arm aroundSher.glanced back at the church dooTrhs.ey were still closedS. he breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to face the altar.
Father Roche was standing therHe.e was dressed in an embroidered white stole and a yellowed white alb with a hem more frayed than Agnes's ribbon, and was holding aHebohoakd. obviously been waiting
for her, had obviously stood there watching her the whole time she tended to Agnes, but there was no
reproof in his face or even impatienHceis.
face held some other expression entirely, and she was
reminded suddenly of Mr. Dunworthy, standing and watching her through the thin-glass partition.
Lady Imeyne cleared her throat, a sound that was almost a growl, and he seemed to come to himself. He handed the book to Cob, who was wearing a grimy cassock and a pair of too-large leather shoes, and knelt in front of the alTtahr.en he took the book back and began saying the lections.
Kivrin said them to herself along with him, thinking the Latin and hearing the echo of the interpreter's translation.
"'Whom saw ye, O Shepherds?'" Father Roche recited in Latin, beginning the resp"o'Snpsoearyk.: tell us who hath appeared on the earth.'"
He stopped, frowning at Kivrin.
He's forgotten it, she thougShth.e glanced anxiously at Imeyne, hoping she wouldn't realize there was more to come, but Imeyne had raised her head and was scowling at him, her jaw in the silk wimple clenched.
Roche was still frowning at Kiv"ri'Sn.peak, what saw ye?'" he said, and Kivrin gave a sigh of relief. "'Tell us who hath appeared.'"
That wasn't righSt.he mouthed the next line, willing him to understan"d'Wiet. saw the newborn Child.'" He gave no indication that he had seen what she said, though he was looking strai"gIhtsaawt .h..e"r.he
said, and stopped again.
"'We saw the newborn Child,'" Kivrin whispered, and could feel Lady Imeyne turning to look at her. "'And angels singing praise unto the Lord,'" Roche said, and that wasn't right either, but Lady Imeyne
turned back to the front to fasten her disapproving gaze on Roche.
The bishop would no doubt hear about this, and about the candles and the fraying hem, and who knew what other errors and infractions he had committed.

"'Speak, what saw ye?'" Kivrin mouthed, and he seemed suddenly to come to himself.
"'Speak, what saw ye?'" he said clea"r'Alyn. d tell us of the birth of ChWriset. saw the new-born Child and angels singing praise unto the Lord.'"
He began the Confiteor Deo, and Kivrin whispered it along with him, but he got through it without any mistakes, and Kivrin began to relax a little, though she watched him closely as he moved to the altar for the Orámus te.
He was hearing a black cassock under the alb, and both of them looked like they had once been richly
made. They were much too short for RocShhee.
could see a good ten centimeters of his worn brown
hose below the cassock's hem when he bent over the Tahlteayr. had probably belonged to the priest before him, or were castoffs of Imeyne's chaplain.
The priest at Holy Re-Formed had worn a polyester alb over a brown jumper aHnde
jheaadns.
assured Kivrin that the mass was completely authentic, in spite of its being held in midaTftheernoon.
antiphon dated from the eighth century, he had told her, and the gruesomely detailed stations of the cross were exact copies of Turin'Bs.ut the church had been a converted stationer's shop, they had used a
folding table for an altar, and the Carfax carillon outside had been busily destroying "It Came Upon the
Midnight Clear."
"Kyrie eléison," Cob said, his hands folded in prayer. "Kyrie eléison," Father Roche said.
"Christe eléison," Cob said.
"Christe eléison," Agnes said brightly.
Kivrin hushed her, her finger to her Llioprsd.
have mercyC. hrist have mercyL. ord have mercy.
They had used the kyrie at the ecumenical service, probably because of some deal Holy Re-Formed's priest had struck with the vicar in return for moving the time of the mass, and the minister of the Church of the Milennium had refused to recite it and had looked coldly disapproving throLuigkheouLta. dy
Imeyne.
Father Roche seemed all right noHwe. said the Gloria and the gradual without faltering and began the gospel. "Inituim sancti Envangelii secundum Luke," he said, and began to read haltingly in Latin, "'Now it came to pass in those days that a decree went forth from Caesar Augustus that a census of the whole world be taken.'"
The vicar had read the same verses at St. MHarey'hs.ad read it from the People's Modern Bible,
which had been insisted on by the Church of the Millenium, and it had begun, "Around then the P.M. landfilled a tax hike on the ratepayers," but it was the same gospel Father Roche was laboriously reciting.
"'And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men of goodFwatihlle."r'"Roche kissed the gospel.
"Per evangélica dicta deléantur nostrdoelícta."
The sermon should come next, if there wasInonme.ost village churches the priest only preached at the

major masses, and even then it was usually no more than a catechism lesson, the listing of the seven
deadly sins or the seven Acts of MeTrchye. sermon would be.
high mass Christmas morning was probably when the
But Father Roche stepped out in front of the central aisle, which had nearly closed up again as the villagers leaned against the pillars and each other, trying to find a more comfortable position, and began to speak.
"In the days when Christ came to earth from heaven, God sent signs that men might know his coming,
and in the last days also will there be sTighnesre. abroad in the land."
will be famines and pestilence, and Satan will ride
Oh, no, Kivrin thought, don't talk about seeing the devil riding a black horse.
She glanced at ImeynTe.he old woman looked furiouBs.ut it wouldn't matter what he'd said, Kivrin thought. She'd been determined to find mistakes and lapses she could tell the bishopLaabdoyut.
Yvolde looked mildly irritated, and everyone else had the look of tired patience people always got when listening to a sermon, no matter what the cenKtuirvyr.in had seen the same look in St. Mary's last
Christmas.
The sermon at St. Mary's had been on rubbish disposal and the dean of Christ Church had begun it by saying, "Christianity began in a stabWle.ill it end in a sewer?"
But it hadn't mattereIdt. had been midnight, and St. Mary's had had a stone floor and a real altar, and when she'd closed her eyes, she'd been able to shut out the carpeted nave and the umbrellas and the laser candles.She had pushed the plastic kneeling pad out of her way and knelt on the stone floor and imagined what it would be like in the Middle Ages.
Mr. Dunworthy had told her it wouldn't be like anything she had imagined, and he was right, of course. But not about this masSs.he had imagined it just like this, the stone floor and the murmured kyrie, the smells of incense and tallow and cold.
"The Lord will come with fire and pestilence, and all will perish," Roche said, "but even in the last days,
God's mercy will not forsake uHse.
will send us help and comfort and bring us safely unto heaven."
Safely unto heavenS.he thought of Mr. Dunworth"yD. on't go," he had sai"dI.t won't be anything like you imagine."And he was righHt. e was always right.
But even he, with all his imagining of smallpox and cutthroats and witch-burnings, would never have imagined this:that she was losTt.hat she didn't know where the drop was, and the rendezvous was less than a week awayS.he looked across the aisle at Gawyn, who was watching ElSiwheysh. ad to talk to
him after the mass.
Father Roche moved to the altar to begin the mass pArogpneers. leaned against Kivrin, and Kivrin put
her arm around herP.oor thing, she must be exhausteUdp. around. She wondered how long the mass would take.
since before dawn and all that wild running
The service at St. Mary's had taken an hour and a quarter, and halfway through the offertory Dr. Ahrens' bleeper had gone of"fI.t's a baby," she'd whispered to Kivrin and Dunworthy as she'd hurried out, "How appropriate."

I wonder if they're in church now, she thought and then remembered it wasn't ChristmTahseythehraed. had Christmas three days after she arrived, while she was stilIlt swicoku. ld be, whatT? he second of January, Christmas vac nearly over and all the decorations taken down.
It was starting to get hot in the church, and the candles seemed to be taking Sahlle tchoeuladir.hear shiftings and shufflings behind her as Father Roche went through the ritualized steps of the mass, and
Agnes sank farther and farther against hSehre. kneel.
was glad when they reached the Sanctus and she could
She tried to imagine Oxford on the second of January, the shops advertising New Year's sales and the
Carfax carillon silentD. r. Ahrens would be at the Infirmary dealing with post- holiday stomach upsets and Mr. Dunworthy would be getting ready for Hilary Nteorm, .he's not, she thought, and saw him standing behind the thin-glassH. e's worrying about me.
Father Roche raised the chalice, knelt, kissed the Talhtaere.
was more shuffling, and a whispering on
the men's side of the churcShh.e looked acrossG. Bloet was asleep.
awyn was sitting back on his heels, looking boSrierd.
So was AgnesS.he had collapsed so completely against Kivrin there would be no way she could stand for the paternosterS. he didn't even tryW. hen everyone else stood for it, Kivrin took the opportunity to gather Agnes in more closely and shift her head to a better poKsiivtiroin'.s knee hurtS. he must have
knelt in the depression between two stonSehse. cloak under it.
shifted it, raising it slightly and cramming a fold of her
Father Roche put a piece of bread in the chalice and said the Haec commixtio, and everyone knelt for the Agnus dei". Agnus dei, qui tollis peccata munmdii:serere nobis," he chanted".Lamb of God, who
takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us."
Agnus deiL. amb of GodK.
ivrin smiled down at AgneSs.he was sound asleep, her body a dead weight
against Kivrin's side and her mouth slackly open, but her fist was still clenched tightly over the little bell. My lamb, Kivrin thought.
Kneeling on St. Mary's stone floor she had envisioned the candles and the cold, but not Lady Imeyne, waiting for Roche to make a mistake in the mass, not Eliwys or Gawyn or RoNseomt uFnadth. er Roche,
with his cutthroat's face and worn-out hose.
She could never in a hundred years, in seven hundred and thirty-four years, have imagined Agnes, with her puppy and her naughty tantrums, and her infected kI'mneeg. lad I came, she thougIhnt. spite of
everything.
Father Roche made the sign of the cross with the chalice and d"rDaonmk initu. s vobiscum," he said and there was a general commotion behind KivTrinh.e main part of the show was over, and people were leaving now, to avoid the crusAhp. parently there was no deference to the lord's family when it came to leaving. Or even in waiting till they were outside to begin taSlkhiengc.ould scarcely hear the dismissal.
"Ite, Missa est," Father Roche said over the din, and Lady Imeyne was in the aisle before he could even lower his raised hand, looking like she intended to leave for Bath and the bishop immediately.
"Saw you the tallow candles by the altar?" she said to Lady Y"Ivobladdee. candles that I gave him."
him use the beeswax

Lady Yvolde shook her head and looked darkly at Father Roche, and the two of them swept out with
Rosemund right at their heels.
Rosemund obviously had no intention of walking back to the manor with Sir Bloet if she could help it,
and this should do
Tit.he villagers had closed in behind the three women, talking and lauBgyhinthge.
time he huffed and puffed his way to his feet, they would be all the way to the manor.
Kivrin was having trouble getting up hersHeelfr.
foot had gone to sleep, and Agnes was dead to the
world. "Agnes," she said". Wake up.It's time to go home."
Sir Bloet had gotten to his feet, his face nearly purple with the effort, and had come across to offer
Eliwys his arm". Your daughter has fallen asleep," he said. "Aye," Eliwys said, glancing at Agnes.
She took his arm and they started out.
"Your husband has not come as he promised."
"Nay," Kivrin heard Eliwys saHye. r grip tightened on his arm.
Outside, the bells began to ring all at once, and out of time, a wild, irregularIt cshoimunindged. wonderful. "Agnes," Kivrin said, shaking her, "it's time to ring your bell."
She didn't even stiKr.ivrin tried to get the sleeping child onto her shouHldeerr.arms flopped limply over
Kivrin's shoulders, and the bell jangled.
"You waited all night to ring your bell," Kivrin said, getting to on"We kaknee.up, lamb."
She looked around for someone to help Thheerr.e was scarcely anyone left in the chuCrcohb.
was
making the rounds of the windows, pinching the candle flames out between his chappedGfainwgyenrs. and Sir Bloet's nephews were at the back of the nave, buckling on their FsawthoerrdsR. oche was nowhere to be seenS.he wondered if he was the one ringing the bell with such joyous enthusiasm.
Her numb foot was beginning to tinSghlee. flexed it in the thin shoe and then put her weighItt ofenlt it.
terrible, but she could stand onSihte.
hoisted Agnes farther over her shoulder and tried to stanHderup.
foot caught in the hem of her skirt, and she pitched forward.
Gawyn caught her".Good lady Katherine, my lady Eliwys bade me come to help you," he said,
steadying her.He lifted Agnes easily out of her arms and onto his shoulder, and strode out of the church, Kivrin hobbling beside him.
"Thank you," Kivrin said, when they were out of the jammed churc"Mhyyarda.rms felt like they were going to fall off."
"She is a stout lass," he said.
Agnes's bell slid off her wrist and fell onto the snow, clattering with the other bellsKaivsrinit fell. stooped and picked it uTp.he knot was almost too small to be seen, and the short ends of ribbon beyond it were frayed into thin threads, but the moment she took hold of it, the knot camSeheundone. tied it on Agnes's dangling wrist with a little bow.

"I am glad to assist a lady in distress," he said, but she didn't hear him.
They were all alone on the greTenh.e rest of the family was nearly to the manorSghaetec. ould see
the steward holding the lantern over Lady Imeyne and Lady Yvolde as they started into the passage.
There were a lot of people still in the churchyard, and someone had built a bonfire next to the road, and people were standing around it, warming their hands and passing a wooden bowl of something, but here,
halfway across the green, they were all aloTnhee. here.
opportunity she had thought would never come was
"I wanted to thank you for trying to find my attackers, and for rescuing me in the woods and bringing me here," she said". When you found me, how far from here was the pClaocuel?d you take me to it?"
He stopped and looked at h"eDr.id they not tell you?" he sa"iAd.ll of your goods and gear that were
found I brought to the manoTrh.e thieves had taken your belongings, and though I rode after them, I fear
I found naught."He started walking again.
"I know you brought my boxes hTerhea.nk you.But that wasn't why I wanted to see the place you
found me," Kivrin said rapidly, afraid they would catch up with the others before she finished asking him.
Lady Imeyne had stopped and was looking back theirSwheayh. ad to get it asked before Imeyne sent the steward back to see what was keeping them.
"I lost my memory when I was injured in the attack," sh"Ie tshaoidu.ght if I could see the place where you found me, I might remember something."
He had stopped again and was looking at the road above the Tcheurrechw. ere lights there, bobbing unsteadily and coming rapidly neareLr.atecomers to church?
"You're the only one who knows where the place is," Kivrin said, "or I wouldn't bother you, but if you could just tell me where it is, I could-"
"There is nothing there," he said vaguely, still looking at the"Iligbhrotsu. ght your wagon and your boxes to the manor."
"I know," Kivrin said, "and I thank you, but-"
"They are in the barn," he sHaied. turned at the sound of horsTehs.e bobbing lights were lanterns
carried by men on horsebacTk.hey galloped past the church and through the village, at least a half dozen of them, and pulled up short where Lady Eliwys and the others were standing.
"It's her husband," Kivrin thought, but before she could finish the thought, Gawyn had thrust Agnes into her arms and taken off toward them, pulling his sword as he ran.
Oh, no, Kivrin thought, and began to run, too, clumsy under Agnes's wItewigahst.n't her husbandI.t
was the men who were after them, the reason they were hiding, the reason Eliwys had been so angry at
Imeyne for telling Sir Bloet they were here.
The men with the torches had gotten down off their hEorliswesy.s walked forward to one of the three men still on horseback and then fell to her knees as if she had been struck.

No, oh, no, Kivrin thought, out of breAatghn. es's bell jangled wildly as she ran.
Gawyn ran up to them, his sword flashing in the lantern light, and then he was on his Eklniweeys stood up, and stepped forward to the men on horseback, her arm out in a gesture of welcome.
too.
Kivrin stopped, out of breatSh.ir Bloet came forward, knelt, stood
Tuph.e men on horseback flung
back their hoodsT. hey were wearing hats of some kind, or crowGnaws.yn, still on his knees, sheathed his sword.One of the men on horseback raised his hand, and something glittered.
"What is it?" Agnes said sleepily. "I don't know," Kivrin said.
Agnes twisted around in Kivrin's arms so she could"Isteeis.
the three kings," she said wonderingly.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (064996-065537)
Christmas Eve 1320 (Old StylAe.)n envoy from the bishop has arrived, along with two other churchmen. They rode in just after midnight maLsasd. y Imeyne is delightedS.he's convinced they've come in response to her message demanding a new chaplain, but I'm not convincedThoefyt'vheat.
come without any servants, and there's an air of nervousness about them, as if they were on some secret, hurried mission.
It has to concern Lord Guillaume, though the Assizes are a secular court, not an ecclesiastical one. Perhaps the bishop is a friend of Lord Guillaume's or of King Edward II's, and they've come to strike some sort of deal with Eliwys for his freedom.
Whatever their reason for being here, they're here in Astgynles thought they were the three Magi when she first saw them, and they do look like royTahltey.bishop's envoy has a thin, aristocratic face, and
they are all dressed like kingOsn. e of them has a purple velvet cloak with the design of a white cross sewn in silk on the back of it.
Lady Imeyne immediately latched onto him with her sad story of how ignorant, clumsy, generally impossible Father Roche is".He deserves not a parish," she said.
Unfortunately (and luckily for Father Roche) he was not the envoy, but only hTihs ecleenrkv.oy was the one in the red, also very impressive, with gold embroidery and a sable hem.
The third is a Cistercian monk-at least he wears the white habit of one, though it's made of even finer

wool than my cloak and has a silk cord for a sash, and he wears a ring fit for a king on each of his fat fingers, but he doesn't act like a moHnek. and the envoy both demanded wine before they'd even
dismounted, and it's obvious the clerk had already drunk a good deal before he gHoet now getting off his horse and had to be supported into the hall by the fat monk.
(Break)
shleiprep.ed just
I was apparently wrong about the reason for their comingElhiweryes.
and Sir Bloet went off in a corner
with the bishop's envoy as soon as they got in the house, but they only talked to him for a few minutes, and I just heard her tell Imeyne, "They have heard naught of Guillaume."
Imeyne didn't seem surprised or even particularly concerned at this Itn'sewcsle. ar she thinks they're
here to bring her a new chaplain, and she is falling all over them, insisting that the Christmas feast be brought in immediately and that the bishop's envoy sit in the higThheseyats.eem more interested in
drinking than in eatingI.meyne fetched them cups of wine herself, and they've already gone through them and called for moreT.he clerk caught hold of Maisry's skirt as she brought the pitcher, pulled her in hand over hand, and stuck his hand down her sShhifet,. of course, clapped her hands over her ears.
The one good thing about them being here is that they add tremendously to the general Icoonnfluysion.
had a moment to talk to Gawyn, but sometime in the next day or so I'll surely be able to speak to him without anyone noticing-especially since Imeyne's attention is riveted on the envoy, who just grabbed the pitcher from Maisry and poured his wine himself-and get him to show me where theThderroep's is.
plenty of timeI.
have nearly a week.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Two more people died on the twenty-eighth, both of them secondaries who had been at the dance in
Headington, and Latimer had a stroke.
"He developed myocarditis, which caused a thromboembolism," Mary had said when she p"Ahot ned. this point he's completely unresponsive."
Over half of Dunworthy's detainees were down with the flu, and there was only room in infirmary for the
most severe casesD.
unworthy and Finch, and a detainee William had found who'd had a year of nurse's
training, gave temps and dispensed orange juice round the clock.
And worriedW.
hen he had told Mary about Badri's saying, "That can't be right," of his saying, "It was
the rats," she had said, "It's the fever, JamIt ehsa. s no connection with realiIty'v.e one patient who keeps talking about the Queen's elephants," but he could not get the idea of Kivrin's being in 1348 out of his mind.
"What year is it?" Badri had said that first night, and, "That can't be right."
Dunworthy had telephoned Andrews after his argument with Gilchrist and told him he couldn't get access to Brasenose's net.
"It doesn't matter," Andrews had sa"iTdh. e locational coordinates aren't as critical as the tempoIr'lalls.
get an L and L on the dig from JIe'vsues.already talked to them about doing the parameter checks, and they said it's all right."
The visuals had been off again, but he had sounded nervous, as if he was afraid Dunworthy would
broach the subject again of his coming to Oxf"oI'rvde.
done some research on slippage," he s"aTidh.ere
are no theoretical limits, but in practice, the minimal slippage is always greater than zero, even in uninhabited areas.Maximal slippage has never gone above five years, and those were all unmanneds.
The greatest slippage on a manned drop was a Seventeenth Century remote-two hundred and twenty-six days."
"Is there anything else it could be?" Dunworthy had asked, "Anything besides the slippage that could go wrong?"
"If the coordinates are correct, nothing," Andrews had said and promised to report as soon as he'd done the parameter checks.
Five years was 132T5.he plague had not even begun in China then, and Badri had told Gilchrist there was minimal slippageA. nd it couldn't be the coordinateBsa.dri had checked them before he fellBiullt.
the fear continued to nag at him, and he spent the few free moments he could snatch telephoning techs, trying to find someone willing to come read the fix when the sequencing arrived and Gilchrist opened the laboratory again.It was supposed to have arrived yesterday, but when Mary phoned, she had still been waiting for it.
She phoned again in the late afterno"oCna.n you set up a ward?" she askTehde.
visual was back on.
Her SPG's looked like she'd slept in them, and her mask dangled from her neck by one tie.
"I've already set up a ward," he s"aIti'ds. full of detaineesW. e've got thirty-one cases as of this

afternoon."
"Do you have space to set up another Iondeo?n't need it yet," she said tiredly, "but at this rate I will.
We're nearly at capacity here, and several of the staff are either down with it or are refusing to come in." "And the sequencing hasn't come yet?" he asked.
"No.The WIC just phonedT.hey got a faulty result the first time through and had to run Iit'sagain. supposed to be here tomorrowN.ow they think it's a Uruguayan viruSsh."e smiled wanly". Badri hasn't
been in contact with anyone from Uruguay, hasHhoew?
soon can you have the beds ready?"
"By this evening," Dunworthy said, but Finch informed him they were nearly out of folding cots, and he had to go to the NHS and argue them out of a Tdhoezyend. idn't get the ward set up, in two of the
Fellows' teaching rooms, until morning.
Finch, helping assemble the cots and make beds, announced that they were nearly out of clean linens,
face masks, and lavatory pape"rW.
e haven't enough for the detainees," he said, tucking in a sheet, "let
alone all these patientsA. nd we have no bandages at all."
"It's not a war," Dunworthy sa"iId.doubt if there will be any woundDeidd. you find out if any of the other colleges has a tech here in Oxford?"
"Yes, sir, I telephoned all of them, but none of themHeditdu.c"ked a pillow beneath his ch"iIn'v.e posted notices asking that everyone conserve lavatory paper, but it's done no goodThaet Aalml.ericans are particularly wasteful."He tugged the pillow slip up over the pil"loI wd.o feel rather sorry for them, though. Helen came down with it last night, you know, and they haven't any alternates."
"Helen?"
"Ms. PiantiniT. he tenor.She has a fever of 39T.7h.e Americans won't be able to do their Chicago
Surprise."
Which is probably a blessing, Dunworthy thou"gAhts.k them if they'll continue to keep watch on my
telephone, even though they're no longer practicing," he
Andrews ring back?"
"sIa'imd. expecting several important callDs.id
"No, sir, not yeAt.nd the visual is offH."e plumped the pillow".It is too bad about the peTahl.ey can do Stedmans, of course, but that's old Ihtatd.oes seem a pity there's no alternative solution."
"Did you get the list of techs?"
"Yes, sir," Finch said, struggling with a reluctantHceotm. otioned with his hea"dI.t's there by the chalkboard."
Dunworthy picked up the sheets of paper and looked at the one Itonwatospf.illed with columns of numbers, all of them with the digits one through six, in varying order.
"That's not it," Finch said, snatching the papers a"wTahyo.se are the changes for the Chicago Surprise." He handed Dunworthy a single she"eHt.ere it isI.'ve listed the techs by college with addresses and telephone numbers."

Colin came in, wearing his wet jacket and carrying a roll of tape and a plastene-covere"dThbeundle. vicar said I'm to put these up in all the wards," he said, taking out a placard that read, "Feeling Disoriented? Muddled? Mental Confusion Can Be a Warning Sign of the Flu."
He tore off a strip of tape and stuck the placard to the cha"lkI bwoasd.just posting these at the Infirmary, and what do you think the Gallstone was doing?" he said, taking another placard out of the bundle. It read, "Wear Your Face MaskH."e taped it to the wall above the cot Finch was making. "Reading the Bible to the patientHs."e pocketed the tape".I hope I don't catch iHt."e tucked the rest of
the placards under his arm and started out. "Wear your face mask," Dunworthy said.
Colin grinned". That's what the Gallstone saiAd.nd she said, the Lord would smite anyone who heeded not the words of the righteouHs."e pulled the gray plaid muffler out of his po"cIkewt.ear this instead of
a face mask," he said, tying it over his mouth and nose highwayman fashion. "Cloth cannot keep out microscopic viruses," Dunworthy said.
"I knowI.t's the colorI.t frightens them away."He darted out.
Dunworthy rang Mary to tell her the ward was ready but couldn't get through, so he went over to Infirmary. The rain had let up a little, and people, mostly wearing masks, were out again, coming back from the grocer's and queueing in front of the chemBiustt's.the streets seemed hushed, unnaturally silent.
Someone's turned the carillon off, Dunworthy thouHghet. almost regretted it.
Mary was in her office, staring at a sc"rTeehne. sequencing's arrived," she said before he could tell her about the ward.
"Have you told Gilchrist?" he said eagerly.
"No," she said".It's not the Uruguay viruOs.r the South Carolina." "What is it?"
"It's an H9N2B. oth the South Carolina and the Uruguay were H3's." "Then where did it come from?"
"The WIC doesn't knowIt.'s not a known viruIst.'s previously unsequenced."She handed him a printout. "It has a seven point mutation, which explains why it's killing people."
He looked at the printoIutt.was covered with columns of numbers, like Finch's list of changes, and as unintelligible. "It has to come from somewhere."
"Not necessarilyA. pproximately every ten years, there's a major antigenic shift with epidemic potential, so it may have originated with BadSrih."e took the printout back from h"imD.oes he live around
livestock, do you know?"
"Livestock?" he said".He lives in a flat in Headington."

"Mutant strains are sometimes produced by the intersection of an avian virus with a humTanhestrain. WIC wants us to check possible avian contacts and exposure to radViaitriaoln.mutations have
sometimes been caused by X-raysS."he studied the printout as though it made se"nIts'se. an unusual mutation. There's no recombination of the hemagluttinin genes, only an extremely large point mutation."
No wonder she had not told GilchHriset. had said he would open the laboratory when the sequencing arrived, but this news would only fuel his ridiculous theories.
"Is there a cure?"
"There will be as soon as an analogue can be manufacAtunrdeda. on the prototype."
"How long?"
vaccineT. hey've already begun work
"Three to five days to produce a prototype, then at least another five to manufacture, if they don't run
into any difficulty with duplicating the proteiWnse.
should be able to begin inoculating by the tenth."
The tenthA. nd that was when they could begin giving immunizatHioonws.
long would it take to
immunize the quarantine areaA?
to open the laboratory?
week?Two? Before Gilchrist and the idiot protesters considered it safe
"That's too long," Dunworthy said.
"I know," Mary said, and sigh"eGd.od knows how many cases we'll have by tThheenr.e have been five new ones already this morning."
"Do you think it's a mutant strain?" Dunworthy asked.
She thought about
"itN. o. I think it's much more likely that Badri caught it from someone at that dance in
Headington. There may have been New Hindus there, or Earthers, or someone else who doesn't believe in antivirals or modern medicinTe.he Canadian goose flu of 2010, if you'll remember, was traced back to
a Christian Science communeT. here's a sourceW.
e'll find it."
"And what about Kivrin in the meantimWeh?at if you don't find the source by the rendezvKoiuvsr?in's supposed to come back on the sixth of JanuWariyll. you have it sourced by then?"
"I don't know," she said wear"ilSyh. e may not want to come back to a century that's rapidly becoming a ten. She may want to stay in 1320."
If she's in 1320, he thought, and went up to seeHBeadhraid.
not mentioned rats since Christmas night.
He was back to the afternoon at Balliol when he had come looking for Dun"wLaobrtohrya.tory?" he murmured when he saw DunworthHy.e tried feebly to hand him a note, and then seemed to sink into sleep, exhausted by the effort.
He stayed only a few minutes and then went to see Gilchrist.
It was raining hard again by the time he reached BrasTenhoeseg.aggle of picketers were huddling underneath their banner, shivering.
The porter was standing at the lodge desk, taking the decorations off the little ChristHmeas tree.

glanced up at Dunworthy and looked suddenly alarmDeudn. worthy walked past him and through the gate.
"You can't go in there, Mr. Dunworthy," the porter called afte"rThheimc.ollege is restricted." Dunworthy walked into the quaGdi.lchrist's rooms were in the building behind the laboraHtoery.
hurried toward them, expecting the porter to catch up to him and try to stop him.
The laboratory had a large yellow sign on it that read "No Admittance Without Authorization," and an electronic alarm attached to the jamb.
"Mr. Dunworthy," Gilchrist said, striding toward him through theThraeinp. orter must have phoned him. "The laboratory is off-limits."
"I came to see you," Dunworthy said.
The porter came up, trailing a tinsel garl"aSnhda.ll I phone for the University police?" he asked.
"That won't be necessarCy.ome up to my rooms," he said to Dunwo"rtIhyh.ave something I want you to see."
He led Dunworthy into his office, sat down at his cluttered desk, and put on an elaborate mask with some sort of filters.
"I've just spoken to the WIC," he sHaiisd.voice sounded hollow, as if it were coming from a great distance. "The virus is a previously unsequenced virus whose source is unknown."
"It's been sequenced now," Dunowrthy said, "and the analaongduevaccine are due to arrive in a few days. Dr. Ahrens has arranged for Brasenose to be given immunization priority, and I'm attempting to locate a tech who can read the fix as soon as immunization has been completed."
"I'm afraid that's impossible," Gilchrist said hollow"Il'yv.e been conducting research into the incidence of influenza in the 1300'sT.here are clear indications that a series of influenza epidemics in the first half of the fourteenth century severely weakened the populace, thereby lowering their resistance to the Black Death."
He picked up an ancient-looking boIokh.ave found six separate references to outbreaks between
October of 1318 and February of 132H1.e" held up a book and began to re"a'Ad.fter the harvest
there came upon all of Dorset a fever so fierce as to leave manTyhidsefaedv.er began with an aching in
the head and confusion in all the paTrhtse.
doctors bled them, but many died in despite.'"
A feverI.n an age of fevers-typhoid and cholera and measles, all of them producing "aching of the head and confusion in all the parts."
"1319.The Bath Assizes for the previous year were cancelled," Gilchrist said, holding up another book. "'A malady of the chest that fell upon the court so that none, nor judge nor jury, were left to hear the
cases,'" Gilchrist saidH.
e looked at Dunworthy over the ma"sYk.ou stated that the public's fears over
the net were hysterical and unfoundeIdt .would seem, however, that they are based in solid historical fact."
Solid historical facRt. eferences to fevers and maladies of the chest that could be anything, blood

poisoning or typhus or any of a hundred nameless infectAiollnso. f which was beside the point.
"The virus cannot have come through the net," he"Dsariodp. s have been made to the Pandemic, to
World War I battles in which mustard gas was used, to TelTwAevnivti.eth Century sent detection
equipment to the site of St. Paul's two days after the pinpoint was dNrooptphiendg.
comes through."
"So you say.H" e held up a printou"tP. robability indicates a .003 per cent possibility of a microorganism being transmitted through the net and a 22.1 per cent chance of a viable myxovirus being within the critical area when the net was opened."
"Where in God's name do you get these figures?" Dunworthy"Psualild.them out of a haAt?ccording to Probability," he said, putting a nasty emphasis on the word, "there was only a .04 per cent chance of anyone's being present when Kivrin went through, a possibility you considered statistically insignificant."
"Viruses are exceptionally sturdy organisms," Gilchrist s"aTidh.ey have been known to lie dormant for long periods of time, exposed to extremes of temperature and humidity, and still beUnvdiaebrlec.ertain conditions they form crystals which retain their structure indefiniWtelhye.n put back into solution they become infective againV. iable tobacco mosaic crystals have been found dating from the sixteenth century.
"There is clearly a significant risk of the virus's penetrating the net if opened, and under the circumstances
I cannot possibly allow the net to be opened."
"The virus cannot have come through the net," Dunworthy said. "Then why are you so anxious to have the fix read?"
"Because-" Dunworthy said, and stopped to get control of him"Bseclfa.use reading the fix will tell us whether the drop went as planned or whether something went wrong."
"Oh, you'll admit there's a possibility of error then?" Gilchris"tTshaeidn. why not an error that would allow a virus through the neAt?s long as that possibility exists, the laboratory will remain loIc'mked. certain Mr. Basingame will approve of the course of action I've taken."
Basingame, Dunworthy thought, that's what this is all aIbtohuat.s nothing to do with the virus or the
protesters or 'maladies of the chest' in 13T1h8is.
is all to justify himself to Basingame.
Gilchrist was Acting Head in Basingame's absence, and he had rushed through the reranking, rushed
through a drop, intending no doubt to present Basingame with a brilliant fait acBcoumt
phlei. hadn't got
it. Instead, he'd got an epidemic and a lost historian and people picketing the college, and now all he cared about was vindicating his actions, saving himself even though it meant sacrificing Kivrin.
"What about KivrinD? oes Kivrin approve of your course of action?" he said.
"Ms. Engle was fully aware of the risks when she volunteered to go to 1320," Gilchrist said. "Was she aware you intended to abandon her?"
"This conversation is over, Mr. DunworthGy.i"lchrist stood up". I will open the laboratory when the
virus has been sourced, and it has been proven to my satisfaction that there is no chance it came through the net."

He showed Dunworthy to the doTohr.e porter was waiting outside.
"I have no intention of allowing you to abandon Kivrin," Dunworthy said.
Gilchrist crimped his lips under the m"aAskn.d I have no intention of allowing you to endanger the health of this community."He turned to the porte"rE. scort Mr. Dunworthy to the gaItfe. he attempts to enter Brasenose again, telephone the policeH."e slammed the door.
The porter walked Dunworthy across the quad, watching him warily, as if he thought he might turn suddenly dangerous.
I might, Dunworthy though"tI. want to use your telephone," he said when they reached the gate. "University business."
The porter looked nervous, but he set a telephone on the counter and watched while Dunworthy
punched Balliol's numberW.
hen Finch answered, he said, "We've got to locate BasingIat'ms ea.n
emergency. Phone the Scottish Fishing License Bureau and compile a list of hotels anAdndinngse.t me
Polly Wilson's number."
He wrote down the number, rang off, and started to punch it in and then thought better of it and telephoned Mary.
"I want to help source the virus," he said. "Gilchrist wouldn't open the net," she said.
"No," he said".What can I do to help with the sourcing?"
"What you were doing before with the primaTrireasc.e the contacts, look for the things I told you about, exposure to radiation, proximity to birds or livestock, religious that forbid antiYvoirua'llsl. need the
contacts charts."
"I'll send Colin for them," he said.
"I'll have someone get them reaYdyo.u'd better check Badri's contacts back four to six days, as well, in case the virus did originate with hTimh.e time of incubation from a reservoir can be longer than a
person-to-person incubation period."
"I'll put William on it," he sHaied.pushed the phone back at the porter, who immediately came around the counter and walked him out to the pavemDeunnt.worthy was surprised he didn't follow him all the way to Balliol.
As soon as he got there, he phoned Polly W"iIlsotnh.ere some way you can get into the net's console
without having access to the laboratory?" he asked "hCearn. computer?"
you go in directly through the University's
"I don't know," she sa"idT.he University's computer is moateId.might be able to rig a bettering ram, or worm in from Balliol's console. I'll have to see what the safetiDeso ayreo.u have a tech to read it if I can get it set up?"

"I'm getting one," he saHide.
rang off.
Colin came in, dripping wet, to get another roll of"Dtaidpey. ou know the sequencing came, and the virus is a mutant?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said".I want you to go to Infirmary and get the contacts charts from your great-aunt."
Colin set down his load of placaTrdhse.
one on top read, "Do Not Have a Relapse."
"They're saying it's some sort of biological weapon," Colin"Tsahiedy.'re saying it escaped from a laboratory."
Not Gilchrist's, he thought bitter"lyD.o you know where William Gaddson is?" "No."Colin made a face".He's probably on the staircase kissing someone."
He was in the buttery, embracing one of the detaDinuenews.orthy told him to find out Badri's
whereabouts for Thursday through Sunday morning and to obtain a copy of Basingame's credit records for December, and went back to his rooms to telephone techs.
One of them was running a net for Nineteenth Century in Moscow, and two of them had gone skiing. The other weren't at home, or perhaps, alerted by Andrews, they weren't answering.
Colin brought the contacts charTtsh.ey were a disasterN. o attempt had been made to correlate any of the information except possible American connections, and there were too many coHntaalcftso.f the
primaries had been at the dance in Headington, two-thirds of them had gone Christmas shopping, all but two of them had ridden the tuIbte.was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
He spent half the night checking religious affiliations and running cross-maFtocrhteys-.two of them were
Church of England, nine Holy Re-Formed, seventeen unaffiliaEteidg.ht were students at Shrewsbury
College, eleven had stood in line at Debenham's to see Father Christmas, nine had worked on Montoya's dig, thirty had shopped at Blackwell's.
Twenty-one of them had cross-contacts with at least two other secondaries, and Debenham's Father Christmas had had contact with thirty-two (all but eleven at a pub after his shift), but none of them could be traced to all the primaries except Badri.
Mary brought the overflow cases in the mornSihneg. was wearing SPG's, but no ma"sAk.re the beds ready?" she said.
"Yes.We've got two wards of ten beds each." "Good.I'll need all of them."
They helped the patients into the makeshift ward and into bed and left them in the care of William's nurse trainee. "The stretcher cases will be over as soon as we have an ambulance free," Mary said, walking
back across the quad with Dunworthy.
The rain had stopped completely, and the sky was lighter, as if it might clear. "When will the analogue arrive?" he asked.

"It'll be two days at the least," she said.
They reached the gatSe.he leaned against the stone passagewa"yW. hen all this is over, I'm going to go through the net," she sai"dT. o some century where there aren't any epidemics, where there isn't any waiting or worrying or helpless standing by."
She pushed her hand back over her gray "hSaoimr. e country that isn't a tenS.h"e smiled."Only there isn't one, is there?"
He shook his head.
"Did I ever tell you about the Valley of the Kings?" she said. "You said you saw it during the Pandemic."
She nodded". Cairo was quarantined, so we had to fly out of Addis Ababa, and on the way down I
bribed the taxi driver to take us to the Valley of the Kings so I could see Tutankhamen's tomb," she said. "It was a foolhardy thing to Tdoh.e Pandemic had already reached Luxor, and we just missed being
caught in the quarantineW. e were shot at twiceS."he shook her head".We might have been killeMd.y
sister refused to get out of the car, but I went down the stairs and up to the door of the tomb, and I
thought, this is what it was like when Carter found it."
She looked at Dunworthy and through him, rememberin"gWihte. n they found the door to the tomb, it was locked, and they were supposed to wait for the proper authorities to Coapretner itd.rilled a hole in the door, and held a candle up and looked throuHgehr."voice was hushed".Carnarvon said, 'Can you
see anything?' and Carter said, 'YeWs.onderful things.'"
She closed her eye"sI.'ve never forgotten that, standing there at that closed
Idocoarn.
see it clearly
even now."She opened her eyes".Perhaps that's where I'll go when this is oTvoert.he opening of King
Tut's tomb."
She leaned out the ga"teO.h, dear, it's started raining agaIin.must get backI.'ll send the stretcher cases
as soon as there's an ambulanceS.h"e looked sharply at him"W.
hy aren't you wearing your mask?"
"It causes my spectacles to steam Wuph.y aren't you wearing yours?"
"We're running out of theYmo. u've had your T-cell enhancement, haven't you?" He shook his hea"dI. haven't had any time."
"Make time," she sai"dA. nd wear your maskY. ou'll be of no help to Kivrin if you fall ill."
I'm of no help to Kivrin now, he thought, walking back across to hiIs craono'mt sg.et into the laboratory, I can't get a tech to come to Oxford, I can't find BasiHngeatmried to think who else he should contact.He'd checked every booking agent and fishing guide and boat rental in ScTohtlearned.
was no trace of the maPne.rhaps Montoya was right, and he wasn't in Scotland at all, but off in the tropics somewhere with a woman.
Montoya.He'd forgotten completely about heHr.e hadn't seen her since the Christmas Eve service.
She'd been looking for Basingame then so he could sign the authorization for her to go out to the dig, and

then she had rung up on Christmas Day to ask whether Basingame was trout orAsnadlmrounn.g back
with the message, "Never mindW." hich might mean she had found out not only whether he was salmon or trout but the man himself.
He looked round for a telephone, remembered the one in the corridor outside the waiting room and went to find iIt.f Montoya had located Basingame and got her authorization, she would have gone straight out to the diSg.he would not have waited to tell anyoHnee. was not even certain she knew he
was looking for Basingame, too.
Basingame would surely have come back as soon as Montoya told him about the quarantine unless he
had been stopped by bad weather or impassable roOadr sM.
ontoya might not have told him about the
quarantine. Obsessed as she was with the dig, she might merely have told him she needed his signature.
Ms. Taylor, her four healthy bellringers and Finch were in his rooms, standing in a circle and bending their knees.Finch was holding a paper in one hand and counting under his "bIrewatahs. just going over
to the ward to assign nurses," he said sheepis"hHlyer.e's William's report."He handed it to Dunworthy and scurried out.
Ms. Taylor and her foursome gathered up their handbell
"cMaser.s.Andrews called," Ms. Taylor said.
"He said to tell you a battering ram won't work, and you'll have to go in through Brasenose's console." "Thank you," Dunworthy said.
She went out, her four bellringers in a line behind her.
He rang the diNg.o answer.He rang Montoya's flat, her office at Brasenose, the dig aTghaeirne.
was
no answer at any of theHme.
phoned her flat again and let it ring while he looked at William's report.
Badri had spent all day Saturday and the morning Sunday working at tWheilldiaimg. contact with Montoya to find that out.
must have been in
He wondered suddenly about the dig itsIet lfw. as out in the country from Witney, on a National Trust farm. Perhaps it had ducks, or chickens, or pigs, or all Athnrede.Badri had spent an entire day and a half working there, digging in the mud, a perfect chance to come in contact with a reservoir.
Colin came in, soaked to the s"kTinh.ey ran out of placards," he said, rummaging through his duffel. "London's sending some more tomorrowH."e unearthed his gobstopper and popped it, lint and all, into his mouth."Do you know who's standing on your staircase?' he aHskeedf.lung himself onto the window seat and opened his Middle Ages bo"oWk.illiam and some girKl. issing and talking all lovey-doveIy.
could scarcely get past."
Dunworthy opened the dooWr. illiam disengaged himself reluctantly from a small blonde in a Burberry and came in.
"Do you know where Ms. Montoya is?" Dunworthy asked.
"No.The NHS said she's out at the dig, but she's not answering theSphheo'snep.robably out in the churchyard or somewhere on the farm and can't heIarthiot.ught of using a screamer, but then I remembered this girl who's reading archaeohistory andH...e" nodded toward the small blond"eS.he told
me she saw the assignment sheets out at the dig, and Badri was signed up for Saturday and Sunday." "A screamer?What's that?"

"You hook it to the line and it magnifies the ring on the oIthf etrheenpde. rson's out in the garden or in the shower or something."
"Can you put one on this phone?"
"They're a bit too complicated for Imken. ow a student who might be able to rig it, thI'ovueghg.ot her number in my rooms.H" e left, holding hands with the blonde.
"You know, if Ms. Montoya is at the dig, I could get you through the perimeter," CHoelintooskaidh.is
gobstopper out and examined
"itI.t'd be easyT. here are lots of places that aren't watchTehde.
guards
don't like to stand out in the rain."
"I have no intention of breaking quarantine," he "sWaied. are trying to stop this epidemic, not spread it." "That's how the plague was spread during the Black Death," Colin said, taking the gobstopper out and
examining it.It was a sickly yellow"T. hey kept trying to run away from it, but they just took it along with them."
William stuck his head in the d"oSohr.e says it'd take two days to set it up, but she's got one on her phone if you want to use that."
Colin grabbed for his jack"eCt.an I go?"
"No," Dunworthy said".And get out of those wet clothIesd.on't want you catching the flHu.e" went down the stairs with William.
"She's a student at Shrewsbury," William said, heading off through the rain.
Colin caught up with them halfway across the q"Iuacda.n't catch iIt. had my enhancement," he said. "They didn't have quarantines, so it went everywheHree."pulled his muffler out of his jacket pocket. "Botley Road's a good place to sneak through the perimTehter.e's a pub on the corner by the blockade, and the guard nips in now and again for something to keep warm."
"Fasten your jacket," Dunworthy said.
The girl turned out to be Polly WilSshoen. told Dunworthy she had been working on an optical traitor that could break into the net's computer, but hadn't managed Dituynewt.orthy phoned the dig, but there was no answer.
"Let it ring," Polly sa"idS.he may have a long trek to get Ttoheit.screamer's got a range of half a kilometer."
He let it ring for ten minutes, put the receiver down, waited five minutes, tried again and let it ring a quarter of an hour before admitting defePaotl.ly was looking longingly at William, and Colin was
shivering in his wet jackeDt.unworthy took him home and put him to bed.
"Or I could sneak through the perimeter and tell her to phone you," Colin said, putting his gobstopper back in the duffe"l.If you're worried about being too old toI'mgo.very good at getting through
perimeters."

Dunworthy waited till William returned the next morning and then went back to Shrewsbury and tried again, but to no ava"ilI.'ll set it to ring at half-hour intervals," Polly said, walking him to t"hYeougate. wouldn't know if William has any other girlfriends, would you?"
"No," Dunworthy said.
The sound of bells clanged out suddenly from the direction of Christ Church, pealing loudly through the rain. "Has someone switched that horrid carillon on again?" Polly asked, leaning out to listen.
"No," he said".It's the Americans."He cocked his head in the direction of the sound, trying to determine whether Ms. Taylor had settled for Stedmans, but he could hear six bells, the ancient bells of Osney: Douce and Gabriel and Marie, one after the other, Clement and Hautclerc and "TAanydloFr.inch."
They sounded remarkably good, not at all like the digital carillon, not at all like "O Christ Who Interfaces with the World."They rang out clearly and brightly, and Dunworthy could almost see the bellringers in
their circle in the belfry, bending their knees and raising their arms, Finch referring to his list of numbers.
"Every man must stick to his bell without interruption," Ms. Taylor haHde shaaidd. had nothing but
interruptions, but he felt oddly cheered nonetheleSshse.
had not been able to get her bellringers to
Norwich for Christmas Eve, but she had stuck to her bells, and they rang out deafeningly, deliriously overhead, like a celebration, a victorLyi.ke Christmas morningH. e would find MontoyaA. nd
Basingame. Or a tech who wasn't afraid of the quaranHtinee.would find Kivrin.
The telephone was ringing when he got back to BHaleliogl.alloped up the stairs, hoping it was PIotlly. was Montoya.
"Dunworthy?" she said".Hi. It's Lupe MontoyaW.
hat's going on?"
"Where are you?" he demanded.
"At the dig," she said, but that was already appSahreentw. as standing in front of the ruined nave of the
church in the half-excavated medieaval churchyaHrde.
could see why she had been so anxious to get
back to her digT. here was as much as a foot of water in pSlahceesh. ad draped a motley assortment of
tarps and plastene sheets over the excavation, but rain was dripping in at a dozen places, and where the sagging coverings met, spilling down the edges in veritable waterEfavlelsry. thing, the gravestones, the
battery lights she had clipped to the tarps, the shovels stacked against the wall, was covered in mud.
Montoya was covered in mud, tSohoe.
was wearing her terrorist jacket and thigh-high fisherman's
waders like Basingame, wherever he was, might be wearing, and they were wet anTdhfeilthhayn.d she was holding the telephone with was caked with dried mud.
"I've been ringing you for days," Dunworthy said.
"I can't hear the phone over the pumSph."e gestured toward something outside the picture, presumably the pump, though he couldn't hear anything save for the thump of rain on t"hIet'stajrupsst. broken a
belt, and I don't have another oIneh.eard the bellsD. o they mean the quarantine's over?"
"Hardly," he said".We're in the midst of a full-scale epidemSeicv.en hundred and eighty cases and sixteen deaths.Haven't you seen the papers?"
"I haven't seen anything or anybody since I gotI'hve es.pent the last six days trying to keep this

damned dig above water, but I can't do it all by mAynsdelfw. ithout a pump.S"he pushed her heavy black hair back from her face with a dirty h"Wanhda. t were they ringing the bells for then, if the quarantine's not over?"
"A peal of Chicago Surprise Doubles."
She looked irritated".If the quarantine's as bad as all that, why aren't they doing something useful?" They are, he thoughTt.hey made you telephone.
"I could certainly put them to work out hSehre "pushed her hair back againS.he looked nearly as
tired as Mary". I was really hoping the quarantine had been lifted, so I could get some people out here to help. How long do you think it will be?"
Too long, he thought, watching the rain cascade in between theYotaur'plls.never get the help you need in time.
"I need some information about Basingame and Badri Chaudhuri," he"Wsaei'dre.
attempting to source
the virus and we need to know who Badri had contactBwadirthi .worked at the dig on the eighteenth and the morning of the nineteenWth.ho else was there when he was?"
"I was." "Who else?"
"No oneI.'ve had a terrible time getting help all DecemEbveerr.y one of my archaeohistory students took off the day vac starteId'v.e had to scrounge volunteers wherever I could."
"You're certain you were the only two there?"
"Yes.I remember because we opened the knight's tomb on Saturday and we had so much trouble lifting the lid.Gillian Ledbetter was signed up to work Saturday, but she called at the last minute and said she had a date."
With William, Dunworthy though"tW.
as anyone there with him Sunday?"
"He was only here in the morning, and there was no one heHree thaedn. to leave to go to London. Look, I've got to gIof. I'm not going to get any help soon, I've got to get back toShwe osrtka.r"ted to take the receiver away from her ear.
"Wait!" Dunworthy shouted".Don't hang up."
She put the receiver back to her ear, looking impatient.
"I need to ask you some more questiIot'nss.very important. The sooner we source this virus, the sooner the quarantine will be lifted and you can get assistance at the dig."
She looked unconvinced, but she punched up a code, laid the receiver in its cradle, and said, "You don't mind if I work while we talk?"
"No," Dunworthy said, relieve"dP. lease do."

She moved abruptly out-of-picture, returned, and punched up something"Seolsrery. . It won't reach,"
she said, and the screen went fuzzy while she, presumably, moved the phone to her new Wwhoerknsite. the picture reappeared, Montoya was crouched in a mudhole by a stoneDtuonmwbo.rthy supposed it
to be the one the lid of which she and Badri had nearly dropped.
The lid, which bore the effigy of a knight in full armor, his arms crossed over his mailed chest so that his hands in their heavy cuirasses lay on his shoulders and his sword at his feet, stood propped at a
precarious angle against the side, obscuring the elaborate carved le"tRteersq.uisc-" was all he could see. Requiscat in pace". Rest in peace," a blessing the knight had obviously not been grHanistesdl.eeping
face under the carved helmet looked disapproving.
Montoya had draped a thin sheet of plastene over the opeItn wtoaps. beaded with wateDr.unworthy
wondered if the other side of the tomb bore a morbid carving of the horror that lay within, like the ones in
Colin's illustration, and if it were as ghastly as the rWealaiter. dragging the plastic down.
spilled steadily into the head of the tomb,
Montoya straightened, bringing up with her a flat box filled with"Wmeulld?." she said, laying it across the corner of the tom"bY. ou said you had some more questions?"
"Yes," he said".You said there wasn't anyone else at the dig when Badri was there."
"There wasn't," she said, wiping sweat off her foreh"Weahde. w, it's muggy in hereS."he took off her terrorist jacket and draped it over the tomb lid.
"What about localsP?eople not connected with the dig?"
"If there'd been anyone here, I'd have recruited thSehme."began sorting through the mud in the box, unearthing several brown stones".The lid weighed a ton, and we'd no sooner gotten it off than it started raining. I would've recruited anybody who happened by, but the dig's too far out for anyone to happen by."
"What about the National Trust staff?"
She held the stones under the water to clean "thTehmey.'re only here during the summer."
He had hoped someone at the dig would turn out to be the source, that Badri had come in contact with local, a National Trust staffer or a wandering duck huBnutet r.myxoviruses didn't have carrierTs.he
mysterious local would have had to have the disease himself, and Mary had been in touch with every hospital and doctory's surgery in EnglanTdh.ere hadn't been any cases outside the perimeter.
Montoya held the stones up one by one to the battery-light clipped to one of the supporting posts, turning them in the light, looking at their still-muddy edges.
"What about birds?"
"Birds?" she said, and he realized it must sound as though he were suggesting she recruit passing sparrows to help raise the lid of the tomb.
"The virus may have been spread by bDirdusc.ks, geese, chickens," he said, even though he wasn't certain chickens were reservoirs".Are there any at the dig?"

"Chickens?" she said, holding one of the stones half-raised to the light.
"Viruses are sometimes caused by the intersection of animal and human viruses," he ex"pFloawinleda.re
the most common reservoirs, but fish are sometimes responsOibrlep. igs. Are there any pigs here at the dig?"
She was still looking at him as though she thought he was daft. "The dig's on a National Trust Farm, isn't it?"
"Yes, but the actual farm's three kilometers awWaey'r.e in the middle of a barley fiTelhde.re aren't any pigs around, or birds, or fishS.h"e went back to examining the stones.
No birdsN.
o pigs.No locals.The source of the virus wasn't here at the dig ePiothsesirb. ly it wasn't
anywhere, and Badri's influenza had mutated spontaneously, as Mary had said happened occasionally, appearing out of thin air and descending on Oxford the way the plague had descended on the unwitting residents of this churchyard.
Montoya was holding the stones up to the light again, chipping with her fingernails at an occasional clot of mud and then rubbing at the surface, and he realized suddenly that what she was examining were bones. Vertebrae, perhaps, or the knight's toeRse.cquiscat in pace.
She found the one she had apparently been looking for, an uneven bone the size of a walnut, with a curved side.She dumped the rest back into the tray, rummaged in the pocket of her terrorist shirt for a short-handled toothbrush, and began scrubbing at the concave edges, frowning.
Gilchrist would never accept spontaneous mutation as a soHurecew. as too in love with the theory that some fourteenth- century virus had come through theAnnedt. too in love with his authority as Acting
Head of the History Faculty to give in, even if Dunworthy had found ducks swimming in the churchyard puddles.
"I need to get in touch with Mr. Basingame," he"Wsahiedr.e is he?" "Basingame?" she said, still frowning at the b"oIned.on't have any idea."
"But-I thought you'd found hiWm.hen you phoned Christmas Day you said you had to find him to authorize your NHS dispensation."
"I knowI.
spent two full days calling every trout and salmon guide in Scotland before I decided I
couldn't wait any longerI.f you ask me, he's nowhere near ScotlaSnhde. pulled a pocketknife out of her jeans and began scraping at the rough edge of the "bSopneea.king of the NHS, would you do something for me?I keep calling their number but it's always bWusoyu. ld you run over there and tell them I've got to have some more help? Tell them the dig's of irreplaceable historical value, and it's going to be irretrievably lost if they don't send me at least five pAeonpdle.a pump."The knife snaggedS. he frowned
and chipped some more.
"How did you get Basingame's authorization if you didn't know where hIe thwoausg?ht you'd said the form required his signature."
"It did," she saiAd.n edge of bone flew suddenly off and landed on the plastene sShhreouedx.amined

the bone and dropped it back in the box, no longer frow"Inifnogrg. ed it."
She crouched by the tomb again, digging for more bSohneesl.ooked as absorbed as Colin examining
his gobstopper.He wondered if she even remembered that Kivrin was in the past, or if she had forgotten her as she seemed to have forgotten the epidemic.
He rang off, wondering if Montoya would even notice, and walked back to Infirmary to tell Mary what he had found out and to begin questioning the secondaries again, looking for theItsowuarscer.aining
very hard, spilling off the downspouts and washing away things of irreplaceable historical value.
The bellringers and Finch were still at it, ringing the changes one after another in their determined order, bending their knees and looking like Montoya, sticking to their Tbheellss.ound pealed out loudly,
leadenly, through the rain, like an alarum, like a cry for help.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (066440-066879)
Christmas Eve 1320 (Old StylIe.)don't have as much time as I thouWghhte.n I came in from the kitchen just now, Rosemund told me Lady Imeyne wantedImmeey.ne was deep in earnest conversation with the bishop's envoy, and I supposed from her expression that she was cataloguing Father Roche's sins, but as Rosemund and I came up, she pointed to me and said, "This is the woman I spake of."
Woman, not maid, and her tone was critical, almost accuI swinogn. dered if she'd told the bishop her theory that I was a French spy.
"She says she remembers naught," Lady Imeyne said, "yet she can speak anSdhereatdu.r"ned to
Rosemund. "Where is your brooch?"
"It is on my cloak," Rosemund s"aIidl.aid it in the loft."
Rosemund went, reluctantlyA. s soon as she was gone Imeyne said, "Sir Bloet brought a loveknot brooch to my granddaughter with words on it in the Roman toSnhgeuel."ooked at me triumphantl"yS. he
told their meaning, and at the church this night she spoke the words of the mass ere the priest had said them."
"Who taught you your letters?" the bishop's envoy asked, his voice blurred from the wine.
I thought of saying Sir Bloet had told me what the words meant, but I was afraid he'd already denied it. "I know not," I sai"dI. have no memory of my life since I was waylaid in the woods, for I was struck
upon the head."

"When first she woke she spoke in a tongue none could understand," Imeyne said, as if that were further proof, but I had no idea what she was trying to convict me of or how the bishop's envoy was involved.
"Holy Father, go you to Oxford when you leave us?" she asked him. "Aye," he said, sounding wa"ryW. e can stay but a few days here."
"I would have you take her with you to the good sisters at Godstow."
"We go not to Godstow," he said, which was clearly an eTxhceusneu.nnery wasn't even five miles from
Oxford. "But I will inquire of the bishop for news of the woman on my return and send word to you."
"I wot she is a nun for that she speaks in Latin and knows the passages of the mass," I"mI eyne said. would have you take her to their convent that they may ask among the nunneries who she may be."
The bishop's envoy looked even more nervous, but he agSroeeId.have till whenever they leaAve.few
days, the bishop's envoy said, and with luck that means they won't leave till after the Slaughter of the
Innocents. But I plan to put Agnes to bed and talk to Gawyn as soon as possible.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Kivrin didn't get Agnes to bed till nearly dTahwen.arrival of the "three kings," as she continued to call them, had woken her completely, and she refused to even consider lying down for fear she might miss something, even though she was obviously exhausted.
She tagged after Kivrin, as she tried to help Eliwys bring in the food for the feast, whining that she was hungry, and then, when the tables were finally set and the feast begun, refused to eat anything.
Kivrin had no time to argue with Thheerr.e was course after course to be brought across the courtyard from the kitchen, trenchers of venison and roast pork and an enormous pie Kivrin half-expected blackbirds to fly out of when the crust wasAccto.rding to the priest at Holy Re-formed, fasting was observed between the midnight mass and the high mass Christmas morning, but everyone, including the bishop's envoy, ate heartily of the roast pheasant and goose and stewed rabbit in saffroAnngdravy.
drank. The "three kings" called constantly for more wine.
They had already had more than enouTghhe.
monk was leering at Maisry, and the clerk, drunk when he
arrived, was nearly under the tabTleh.e bishop's envoy was drinking more than either of them, beckoning constantly to Rosemund to bring him the wassail bowl, his gestures growing broader and less clear with every drink.
Good, Kivrin thoughPt.erhaps he'll get so drunk he'll forget he promised Lady Imeyne he'd take me to the nunnery at GodstowS.he took the bowl around to Gawyn, hoping to have an opportunity to ask him where the drop was, but he was laughing with some of Sir Bloet's men, and they called to her for ale and more meat.By the time she got back to Agnes, the little girl was sound asleep, her head nearly in her manchet. Kivrin picked her up carefully and carried her upstairs to Rosemund's bower.
Above them, the door opene"dL.ady Katherine," Eliwys said, her arms full of bedd"iIngam.
grateful
you are hereI.
have need of your help."
Agnes stirred.
"Bring the linen sheets from the loft," Eliwys "sTahide. churchmen will sleep in this bed, and Sir Bloet's sister and her women in the loft."
"Where am I to sleep?" Agnes asked, wriggling out of Kivrin's arms.
"We will sleep in the barn," Eliwys "sBaiudt. and play."
you must wait till we have made up the beds, AGgones.
Agnes didn't have to be encouragSehde. ring.
hopped off down the stairs, waving her arm to make her bell
Eliwys handed Kivrin the beddin"gT.ake these to the loft and bring the miniver coverlid from my husband's carven chest."
"How many days do you think the bishop's envoy and his men will stay?" Kivrin asked.
"I know not," Eliwys said, looking worr"iIedp. ray not more than a fortnight or we shall not have meat enough. See you do not forget the good bolsters."

A fortnight was more than enough, well past the rendezvous, and they certainly didn't look like they were going anywhere.When Kivrin climbed down from the loft with the sheets, the bishop's envoy was asleep
in the high seat, snoring loudly, and the clerk had his feet on thTehetabmleo.nk had one of Sir Bloet's waiting women backed into a corner and was playing with her keGrcahwieyf.n was nowhere to be seen.
Kivrin took the sheets and coverlid to Eliwys, then offered to take bedding out to"Athgenebsarins. very tired," she said".I would put her to bed soon."
Eliwys nodded absently, pounding at one of the heavy bolsters, and Kivrin ran downstairs and out into the courtyard.Gawyn was not in the stable nor the brewhoSuhsee. lingered near the privy until two of
the redheaded young men emerged, looking at her curiously, and then went on to tPheerhbaaprsn. Gawyn had gone off with Maisry again, or joined the villagers' celebration on thSehgereceonu.ld hear the sound of laughter as she spread straw on the bare wooden floor of the loft.
She laid the furs and quilts on the straw and went down and out through the passageway to see if she could see himT. he contemps had built a bonfire in front of the churchyard and were standing around it, warming their hands and drinking out of large hoSrhnes. could see the reddened faces of Maisry's father
and the reeve in the firelight, but not Gawyn's.
He was not in the courtyard eitRheors.emund was standing by the gate, wrapped in her cloak. "What are you doing out here in the cold?" Kivrin asked.
"I am awaiting my father," Rosemund s"aGida.wyn told me he expects him before day." "Have you seen Gawyn?"
"Aye.He is in the stable."
Kivrin looked anxiously toward the stab"lIet'.s too cold to wait out heYreo.u must go in the house, and
I'll tell Gawyn to tell you when your father comes."
"Nay, I will wait here," Rosemund s"aHide. quavered a little.
promised he would come to us for ChristmHaesr." voice
Kivrin held her lantern uRpo. semund wasn't crying, but her cheeks were Kreidv.rin wondered what Sir Bloet had done now that had Rosemund hiding from Ohrimp.erhaps it was the monk who had frightened her, or the drunken clerk.
Kivrin took her arm"Y. ou can wait as well in the kitchen, and it is warm there," she said. Rosemund nodded". My father promised he would come without fail."
And do what? Kivrin wondereTdh.row out the churchmenC? all off Rosemund's engagement to Sir
Bloet? "My father would never allow me to come to harm," she had told Kivrin, but he was scarcely in a position to cancel the betrothal when the marriage settlement had already been signed, to alienate Sir
Bloet, who had "many powerful friends."
Kivrin took Rosemund into the kitchen and told Maisry to heat a cup of win"eI'lflogr oheterl.l Gawyn
to come get you as soon as your father comes," she said, and went across to the stable, but Gawyn

wasn't there, or in the brewhouse.
She went into the house, wondering if Imeyne had sent him on yet another of heBr uetrrsahnedsw. as
sitting beside the obviously unwillingly wakened envoy, talking determinedly to him, and Gawyn was by
the fire, surrounded by Sir Bloet's men, including the two who had come out of tShier the near side of the hearth with his sister-in-law and Eliwys.
pBrlioveyt. sat on
Kivrin sank down on the beggar's bench by the scTreheenrse. alone ask him about the drop.
was no way to even get near him, let
"Give him to me!" Agnes wailSehde.
and the rest of the children were over by the stairs to the bower,
and the little boys were passing Blackie among them, petting him and playing with Ahgisneesarms.ust have gone out to the stable to fetch the puppy while Kivrin was out in the barn.
"He's my hound!" Agnes said, grabbing for Thihme. little boy wrenched the puppy aw"aGy.ive him to me!"
Kivrin stood up.
"As I was riding through the woods, I came upon a maiden," Gawyn said"Slhoeudhlayd. by thieves and was sore wounded, her head cut open and bleeding grievously."
been set upon
Kivrin hesitated, glancing toward Agnes, who was pounding on the little boy's arm, and then sat down again.
"'Fair maid,' I sai'dW. ho has done this fell thing?' but she could not speak for her injuries."
Agnes had the puppy back and was clutching it tKo ivhreirn.
should go rescue the poor thing, but she
stayed where she was, moving a little so she could see past the sister-in-lawT'esll ctohief.m where you found me, she willed GawyTn.ell them where in the woods.
"'I am your liegeman and will find these evil knaves,' I said, 'but I fear to leave you in such sad plight,'" h said, looking toward Eliwys, "but she had recovered herself and she begged me to go and find those who had harmed her."
Eliwys stood up and walked to the dSohoer. stood there for a moment, looking anxious, and then came and sat back down.
"No!" Agnes shriekedO. ne of Sir Bloet's redheaded nephews had Blackie now and was holding him above his head in one hanIdf . Kivrin didn't rescue it soon, they'd squeeze the poor dog to death, and there was no point in listening to any more of the Rescue of the Maiden in the Wood, which was obviously intended not to tell what had happened but to impress ESlihweyws.alked over to the children.
"The robbers had not been long gone, and I found their trail with ease and followed it, spurring my steed after them."
Sir Bloet's nephew was dangling Blackie by his front legs, and the puppy was whimpering pathetically. "Kivrin!" Agnes cried, catching sight of her, and flung herself at KivrinS'sir leBglso.et's nephew
immediately handed Kivrin the puppy and backed away, and the rest of the children scattered.

"You rescued Blackie!" Agnes said, reaching for him. Kivrin shook her hea"dI.t is time to go to bed," she said.
"I'm not tired!" Agnes said in a whine that was scarcely convSinhceinrgu.bbed her eyes.
"Blackie is tired," Kivrin said, squatting down beside Agnes, "and he won't go to bed unless you will lie down with him."
That argument seemed to interest her, and before she could find a flaw in it, Kivrin handed Blackie back to her, placing him in her arms like a baby, and scooped them both up in "hBelracakrime sw. ould have
you tell him a story," Kivrin said, starting for the door.
"Soon I found myself in a place that I knew not," Gawyn said, "a dark forest."
Kivrin carried her charges outside and across the court"yBarladc. kie likes stories about cats," Agnes said, rocking the puppy gently in her arms.
"You must tell him a story about a cat then," KivriSnhesaitdo.ok the puppy while Agnes climbed up the ladder to the lofIt was already asleep, worn out from all the handKliinvgri.n laid it in the straw next to the pallet.
"A wicked cat," Agnes said, grabbing him up a"gIaianm. Blackie, so I need not take off my clothes."
not going to sleeIpa. m only lying down with
"No, you need not," Kivrin said, covering Agnes and Blackie with a heIatvywafsurt.oo cold in the barn for undressing.
"Blackie would fain wear my bell," she said, trying to put the ribbon over its head.
"No, he wouldn't," Kivrin saSidh.e confiscated the bell and spread another fur over tKheivmri.n crawled in next to the little gAirgl.nes pushed her small body against Kivrin.
"Once there was a wicked cat," Agnes said, yaw"nHinegr. father told her not to go into the forest, but she heeded him not.S"he fought valiantly against falling asleep, rubbing her eyes and making up adventures for the wicked cat, but the darkness and the warmth of the heavy fur finally overcame her.
Kivrin continued to lie there, waiting till her breathing became light and steady, and then gently extricated
Blackie from Agnes's grip and laid him in the straw.
Agnes frowned in her sleep and reached for him, and Kivrin wrapped her arms aroSuhnedshoeur.ld get up and go look for GawTynh.e rendezvous was in less than a week.
Agnes stirred and snuggled closer, her hair against Kivrin's cheek.
And how will I leave you? Kivrin thouAgnhdt. Rosemund?And Father Roche?And fell asleep. When she woke, it was nearly light and Rosemund had crawled in besideKAivgrinnesl.eft them
sleeping, and crept down from the loft and across the gray courtyard, afraid she had missed the bell for mass, but Gawyn was still holding forth by the fire, and the bishop's envoy was still sitting in the high seat, listening to Lady Imeyne.

The monk was sitting in the corner with his arm around Maisry, but the clerk was nowhere to be seen. He must have passed out and been put to bed.
The children must also have been put to bed, and some of the women had apparently gone up to the loft to rest.Kivrin didn't see Sir Bloet's sister or the sister-in-law from Dorset.
"'Halt, knave!' I cried," Gawyn sa"i'Fd.or I would fight you in fair combKati.v'"rin wondered if this was
still the Rescue or one of Sir Lancelot's adventuItrews.as impossible to tell, and if the purpose of it was to impress Eliwys, it was to no avSahiel. wasn't in the haWll. hat was left of Gawyn's audience didn't
seem impressed eitherT. wo of them were playing a desultory game of dice on the bench between them, and Sir Bloet was asleep, his chin on his massive chest.
Kivrin obviously hadn't missed any opportunities to speak to Gawyn by falling asleep, and from the look of things there wouldn't be any for some tSimhee. might as well have stayed in the loft with ASghnees.
was going to have to make an opportunity-waylay Gawyn on his way to the privy or catch up to him on the way to mass and whisper, "Meet me afterwards in the stable."
The churchmen didn't look like they'd leave unless the wine gave out, but it was risky to cut it too close. The men might take a notion to go hunting tomorrow, or the weather might change, and whether the bishop's envoy and his flunkies left or not it was still only five days to the reNndoe,zvfour.It was
already Christmas.
"He aimed a savage blow," Gawyn said, standing up to illustrate, "and had it driven down as earnestly as he feinted, my head would have been cloven in twain."
"Lady Katherine," Imyene saiSd.he had stood up and was beckoning to KivTrhine. bishop's envoy was looking interestedly at her, and her heart began to pound, wondering what mischief they had cooked up between them now, but before Kivrin could cross the hall, Imeyne left him and came across to her, carrying a linen-wrapped bundle.
"I would have you carry these to Father Roche for the mass," she said, folding the linen back so Kivrin could see the wax candles insid"eB.id him put these on the altar and say to him to pinch not the flames from the candles, for it breaks the wBicikd. him prepare the church that the bishop's envoy may say the Christmas mass.I would have the church look like a place of the Lord, not a pAingd's bstidy. him put
on a clean robe."
So you get your proper mass after all, Kivrin thought, hurrying across the courtyard and along the passageway. And you've got rid of mAel.l you need now is to get rid of Roche, persuade the bishop's envoy to demote him or take him to Bicester Abbey.
There was no one on the greTehne.
dying bonfire flickered palely in the gray light, and the snow that
had melted around it was refreezing in icy pudTdlhees. villagers must have gone to bed, and she
wondered if Father Roche had, too, but there was no smoke from his house and no answer to her knock on the doorS. he went along the path and in the side door of the chIturwcha.s still dark inside, and
colder than it had been at midnight.
"Father Roche," Kivrin called softly, groping her way to the statue of St. Katherine.
He didn't answer, but she could hear the murmur of hisHveoiwcea.s behind the rood screen, kneeling in front of the altar.

"Guide those who have travelled far this night safely home and protect them from danger and illness
along the way," he said, and his soft voice reminded her of the night in the sickroom when she had been
so ill, steady and comforting through the flamAensd.
of Mr. DunworthyS.he didn't call to him again, but
stayed where she was, leaning against the icy statue and listening to his voice in the darkness.
"Sir Bloet and his family came from Courcy to the mass, and all their servants," he said, "and Theodulf
Freeman from HenefeldeT. he snow stopped yestereve, and the skies showed clear for the night of
Christ's holy birth," he went on in that matter-of-fact voice that sounded just like she did, praying into the corder. The attendance tally for the mass and the weather report.
Light was beginning to come in through the windows now, and she could see him through the filigreed rood screen, his robe threadbare and dirty around the hem, his face coarse and cruel- looking in comparison to the aristocratic envoy, the thin-faced clerk.
"This blessed night as the mass ended a messenger from the bishop came and with him two priests, all three of great learning and goodness," Roche prayed.
Don't be fooled by the gold and fancy clothes, Kivrin thYouoguh'rte.
worth ten of them"T. he bishop's
envoy will say the Christmas mass," Imeyne had said and didn't seem to be troubled at all by the fact that he hadn't fasted or bothered to come to the church to prepare for the massYhoium'rseelwf. orth fifty of
them, Kivrin thoughtA.
hundred.
"There is word from Oxenford of illnTesosr.d the Cottar fares better, though I bade him not come so far
to the massU.
ctreda was too weak to come to the mIastos.ok her soup, but she ate it nWota.lthef fell
vomiting after the dancing from too much Galyet.ha burned her hand upon the bonfire in plucking a
brand from itI.
shall not fear, though the last days come, the days of wrath and the final judgment, for
You have sent much help."
Much helpH. e wouldn't have any help if she stood here listening much lTohnegesr.un was up now and in the rose and gold light from the windows she could see the drippings down the sides of the candlesticks, the tarnish on their bases, a big blot of wax on the altTahrcelodtha.y of wrath and the final judgment would be the right words for what would happen if the church looked like this when Imeyne marched in to mass.
"Father Roche," she said.
Roche turned immediately and then tried to stand up, his legs obviously stiff with Hthee locokde.d
startled, even frightened, and Kivrin said quickly, "It's Katherine," and moved forward into the light of one of the windows so he could see her.
He crossed himself, still looking frightened, and she wondered if he had been half-dozing at his prayers and was still not awake.
"Lady Imeyne sent me with candles," she said, coming around the rood screen"Stohehbimad. e me tell you to set them in the silver candlesticks on either side of thSehealtbaar.de me tell youS-"he stopped, ashamed to be delivering Imeyne's edic"tIs. have come to help you prepare the church for Wmahsast. would you have me doS?hall I polish the candlesticks?S"he held out the candles to him.
He didn't take the candles or say anything, and she frowned, wondering if in her eagerness to protect him from Imeyne's wrath she had broken some Wruloem. en were not allowed to touch the elements or

the vessels of the masPs.erhaps they weren't allowed to handle the candlesticks either. "Am I not allowed to help?" she as"kSehdo. uld I not have come into the chancel?"
Roche seemed suddenly to come to hims"eTlhf.ere is nowhere God's servants may not go," he Hsaeid. took the candles from her and laid them on the "aBlutatr.such a one as you should not do such humble work."
"It is God's work," she said brisSkhlye. took the half- burned candles out of the heavy branched candlestick. Wax had dripped down the side"Ws. e'll need some sand," she said, "and a knife to scrape the wax off."
He went to get them immediately, and while he was gone, she hastily took the candles down from the rood screen and replaced them with tallow ones.
He came in with the sand, a fistful of filthy rags, and a poor excuse foBruta itknciufet . through wax,
and Kivrin started in on the altarcloth, scraping at the spot of wax, worried that they might not have much time. The bishop's envoy hadn't looked in any hurry to heave himself out of the high seat and prepare for the mass, but who knew how long he could hold out against Imeyne.
I don't have any time either, she thought, starting on the candleSshteickhsa.d told herself there was
plenty of time, but she had spent the entire night actively pursuing Gawyn and hadn't even got close to him. And tomorrow he might decide to go hunting or Rescuing Fair Maidens, or the bishop's envoy and his flunkies might drink up all the wine and set off in search of more, dragging her with them.
"There is nowhere God's servants may not go," Roche hadExscaeidp.t to the drop, she thougEhtx.cept home.
She scrubbed viciously with the wet sand at some wax imbedded in the rim of the candlestick, and a piece flew off and hit the candle Roche was scra"pIi'nmg.sorry," she said, "Lady Imeyne-" and then
stopped.
There was no point in telling him she was being sentIfawheayt.ried to intercede for her with Lady
Imeyne it would only make it worse, and she didn't want him shipped off to Osney or worse for trying to help her.
He was waiting for her to finish her sent"eLncaed.y Imeyne bade me tell you the bishop's envoy will say the Christmas mass," she said.
"It will be a blessing to hear such holiness on the birthday of Christ Jesus," he said, setting down the polished chalice.
The birthday of Christ JesusS.he tried to envision St. Mary the Virgin's as it would look this morning, the music and the warmth, the laser candles glittering in the stainless steel candlesticks, but it was like something she had only imagined, dim and unreal.
She stood the candlesticks on either side of the Tahlteayr. shone dully in the multicolored light of the windows. She set three of Imeyne's candles in them and moved the left on a little closer to the altar so they were even.
There was nothing she could do about Roche's robe, which Imeyne knew full well was the only one he

had. He had got wet sand on his sleeve, and she wiped it off with her hand.
"I must go wake Agnes and Rosemund for the mass," she said, brushing at the front of his robe, and then went on almost without meaning to, "Lady Imeyne has asked the bishop's envoy to take me with them to
the nunnery at Godstow."
"God has sent you to this place to help us," h"eHseaiwd.ill not let you be taken from it."
I wish I could believe you, Kivrin thought, going back across theThgerreeenw. as still no sign of life, though smoke was coming from a couple of the roofs, and the cow had been tuIrtnewdasounti.bbling
the grass near the bonfire where the snow had mePleterhda. ps they're all asleep, and I can wake Gawyn
and ask him where the drop is, she thought, and saw Rosemund and Agnes coming towThaerdy
her.
looked considerably the worse for weRaro. semund's leaf-green velvet dress was covered with wisps of straw and hay dust, and Agnes had it in herSheairb. roke free of Rosemund as soon as she saw Kivrin and ran up to her.
"You're supposed to be asleep,' Kivrin said, brushing straw from her red kirtle. "Some men came," Agnes sa"idT.hey wakened us."
Kivrin looked inquiringly at Rosemun"dH.as your father come?"
"Nay," she said".I know not who they aIre.think they must be servants of the bishop's envoy."
They wereT. here were four of them, monks, though not of the class of the Cistercian monk, and two
laden donkeys, and they had obviously only now caught up with their
Tmhaesyteru. nloaded two large
chests while Kivrin and the girls watched, several wadmal bags, and an enormous wine cask.
"They must be planning to stay a long while," Agnes said.
"Yes," Kivrin saidG. od has sent you to this plaHcee. will not let you be taken from"Coitm. cheerfully. "I will comb your hair."
e," she said
She took Agnes inside and cleaned herTuhpe. short nap hadn't improved Agnes's disposition, and she refused to stand still while Kivrin combed her Ihtaitro.ok her till mass to get all the straw and most of the tangles out, and Agnes continued to whine the whole way to the church.
There had apparently been vestments as well as wine in the envoy's lTughgeagbeis.hop's envoy wore a black velvet chasuble over his dazzlingly white vestments, and the monk was resplendent in yards of samite and gilt embroideryT.he clerk was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Father Roche, probably exiled because of his robKe.ivrin looked toward the back of the church, hoping he'd been allowed to witness all this holiness, but she couldn't see him among the villagers.
They looked somewhat the worse for wear, too, and some of them were obviously badly hAusngover. was the bishop's envoyH. e rattled through the words of the mass tonelessly and in an accent Kivrin
could scarcely understandI.t bore no resemblance to Father Roche's LaNtionr.
to what Latimer and the
priest at Holy Reformed had taught hTehr.e vowels were all wrong and the "c" in excelsis was almost a
"z." She thought of Latimer drilling her on the long vowels, of Holy Reformed's priest insisting on "c as in eggshell," on "the true Latin."
And it was the true Latin, she thou"gI hwt.ill not leave you," he saHide. said, "Be not afraidA."nd I

understood him.
As the mass progressed, the envoy chanted faster and faster, as if he was anxious to be done with it. Lady Imeyne didn't seem to noticSeh.e looked smugly serene in the knowledge of doing good and
nodded approvingly at the sermon, which seemed to be about forsaking worldly things.
As they were filing out, though, she stopped at the door of the church and looked toward the bell tower,
her lips pursed in disapprovaNl.ow what? Kivrin thoughAt.
mote of dust on the bell?
"Saw you how the church looked, Lady Yvolde?" Imeyne said angrily to Sir Bloet's sister over the sound of the bel"l.He had set no candles in the chancel windows, but only cressets as a peasant uses." She stopped."I must stay behind to speak to him ofHtheish.as disgraced our house before the bishop."
She marched off toward the bell tower, her face set with righteousAanndgeifr. he had set candles in the windows, Kivrin thought, they would have been the wrong kind or in the wronOgr phleacew.ould
have put them out incorrectlSyhe wished there were some way to warn him, but Imeyne was already halfway to the tower, and Agnes was tugging insistently on Kivrin's hand.
"I'm tired," she sai"dI.
want to go to bed."
Kivrin took Agnes to the barn, dodging among the villagers who were starting in on a second round of merrymaking. Fresh wood had been thrown on the bonfire, and several of the young women had joined hands and were dancing around Aitg. nes lay down willingly in the loft, but she was up again before
Kivrin made it into the house, trotting across the courtyard after her.
"Agnes," Kivrin said sternly, her hands on her "hWiphsa. t are you doing upY?ou said you were tired." "Blackie is ill."
"Ill?" Kivrin said".What's wrong with him?"
"He is ill," Agnes repeateSdh.e took hold of Kivrin's hand and led her back to the barn and up to the loft. Blackie lay in the straw, a lifeless bun"dWlei.ll you make him a poultice?"
Kivrin picked the puppy up and laid it back down ginItgewrlays. it's dead."
already stiff".Oh, Agnes, I'm afraid
Agnes squatted down and looked at it intereste"dGlyra.ndmother's chaplain died," she sai"dH. ad
Blackie a fever?"
Blackie had too much handling, Kivrin thouHghet. had been passed from hand to hand, squeezed, trodden on, half chokedK. illed with kindnessA. nd on Christmas, though Agnes didn't seem particularly upset.
"Will there be a funeral?" she asked, putting out a tentative finger to Blackie's ear.
No, Kivrin thoughTt.here hadn't been any shoebox burials in the Middle ATghe .contemps had disposed of dead animals by tossing them into the underbrush, by dumping them in a"Wsterewamill.
bury him in the woods," she said, though she had no idea how they would manage that with the ground frozen. "Under a tree."

For the first time, Agnes looked unhap"pFya.ther Roche must bury Blackie in the churchyard," she said.
Father Roche would do nearly anything for Agnes, but Kivrin couldn't imagine him agreeing to Christian burial for an animaTl.he idea of pets being creatures with souls hadn't become popular until the
nineteenth century, and even the Victorians hadn't demanded Christian burial for their dogs and cats. "I will say the prayers for the dead," Kivrin said.
"Father Roche has to bury him in the churchyard," Agnes said, her face pu"cAknedrintgh.en he must ring the bell."
"We cannot bury him until after Christmas," Kivrin said h"aAstfiltye.r Christmas I will ask Father Roche what to do."
She wondered what she should do with the body forShneowc.ouldn't leave it lying there where the
girls slept."Come, we will take Blackie below," she sSahide. picked up the puppy, trying not to grimace and took it down the ladder.
She looked around for a box or a bag to put Blackie in, but she couldn't findShaenyftinhainllgy. laid him in a corner behind a scythe and had Agnes bring handfuls of straw to cover it with.
Agnes flung the straw on h"imIf. Father Roche does not ring the bell for Blackie, he will not go to heaven," she said, and burst into tears.
It took Kivrin half an hour to calm her down Sahgeainro. cked her in her arms, wiping her streaked face and saying, "shh, shh."
She could hear noise from the courtySarhde. wondered if the Christmas merrymaking had moved into
the courtyard.Or if the men were going huntiSnhge.
could hear the whinny of horses.
"Let's go see what's happening in the courtyard," she"Psaeirdh.aps your father is here."
Agnes sat up, wiping her no"sIe.would tell him of Blackie," she said, and got off Kivrin's lap. They went outsideT.he courtyard was full of people and hor"sWes.hat are they doing?" Agnes asked.
"I don't know," Kivrin said, but it was all too clear what they werCeobdowinags.
leading the envoy's
white stallion out of the stable, and the servants were carrying out the bags and boxes they had carried in early this morningL. ady Eliwys stood at the door, looking anxiously into the courtyard.
"Are they leaving?" Agnes asked.
"No," Kivrin saidN. o. They can't be leavinIg.don't know where the drop is.
The monk came out, dressed in his white habit and hisCcolboakw.ent back into the stable and came
out again, leading the mare Kivrin had ridden when they went to find the holly and carrying a saddle.
"They are leaving," Agnes said.
"I know," Kivrin sai"dI.
can see that they are."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Kivrin grabbed Agnes's hand and started back to the safety of thSehebamrnu.st hide until they were gone. "Where are we going?" Agnes asked.
Kivrin darted around two of Sir Bloet's servants carrying a "cThoestth.e loft." Agnes stopped cold".I do not wish to lie down!" she wa"iIle'md. not tired!" "Lady Katherine!" someone called from across the courtyard.
Kivrin scooped Agnes up and started rapidly for the "bI aarnm.
not tired!" Agnes shrieke"dI . am not!"
Rosemund ran up beside h"eLr.ady Katherine!Did you not hear meM? other wants youT. he bishop's envoy is leavingS. he took hold of Kivrin's arm and turned her back toward the house.
Eliwys was still standing in the door, watching them now, and the bishop's envoy had come out and was standing beside her in his red cloKakiv. rin couldn't see Imeyne anywherSe.he was probably inside,
packing Kivrin's clothes.
"The bishop's envoy has urgent business at the priory at Bernecestre," Rosemund said, leading Kivrin to the house, "and Sir Bloet goes with theSmh.e" smiled happily at Kivri"nS. ir Bloet says he will
accompany them to Courcy that they may lie there tonight and arrive in Bernecestre tomorrow."

Bernecestre.Bicester. At least it wasn't GodstowB.ut Godstow was along the wa"yW. hat business?"
"I know not," Rosemund said, as if it were unimportant, and Kivrin supposed for hSeirr iBt lwoeats.
was leaving, and that was all that matteRreods.emund plunged happily through the melee of servants and baggage and horses toward her mother.
The bishop's envoy was speaking to one of his servants, and Eliwys was watching him, frowning. Neither of them would see her if she turned and walked rapidly back behind the open doors of the stable, but Rosemund still had hold of her sleeve and was pulling her forward.
"Rosemund, I must go back to the bIarhna.ve left my cloak-" she began.
"Mother!" Agnes cried and ran toward Eliwys and nearly into one of theIthworhsiensn. ied and tossed its head, and a servant dived for its bridle.
"Agnes!" Rosemund shouted and let go of Kivrin's sleeve, but it was envoy had already seen them and started over to them.
Etoloiwlyaste.and the bishop's
"You must not run among the horses," Eliwys said, catching Agnes against her. "My hound is dead," Agnes said.
"That is no reason to run," Eliwys said, and Kivrin knew she hadn't even hEelaiwrdyshetru.rned back to the bishop's envoy.
"Tell your husband we are grateful for the loan of your horses, that ours may be rested for the journey to
Berncestre," he said, and he sounded distracted,
"toI ow. ill send them from Courcy with a servant."
"Would you see my hound?" Agnes said, tugging on her mother's skirt. "Hush," Eliwys said.
"My clerk does not ride with us this afternoon," he"Isafeida.r he made too merry yestereve and feels
now the pains of too much driInkb.eg you indulgence, good lady, that he may stay and follow when he is recovered."
"Of course he may stay," Eliwys s"aIisd.there aught we can do to help hMimy?husband's mother-" "Nay.Leave him beT. here is naught can help an aching head save sHleeepw. ill be well by evening," he
said, looking like he had made too merry himHseelf.seemed nervous, inattentive, as if he had a splitting
head himself, and his aristocratic face was gray in the bright morningHeligshhti.vered and pulled his cloak around him.
He hadn't so much as glanced at Kivrin, and she wondered if he had forgotten his promise to Lady Imeyne in his hasteS.he looked anxiously toward the gate, hoping Imeyne was still chastising Roche and wouldn't suddenly appear to remind him of it.
"I regret that my husband is not here," Eliwys said, "and that we could not give you betteMr husband-"
ywelcome.

"I must see to my servants," he interrupHte .held out his hand and Eliwys dropped to one knee and kissed his ringB. efore she could rise, he had stridden off towards the sEtalibwley.s looked after him worriedly.
"Do you want to see him?" Agnes said.
"Not now," Eliwys sai"dR. osemund, you must make your farewells to Sir Bloet and Lady Yvolde." "He is cold," Agnes said.
Eliwys turned to Kivri"nL. ady Katherine, know you where Lady Imeyne is?" "She stayed behind in the church," Rosemund said.
"Perhaps she is still at her prayers," Eliwys Sshaeid.stood on tiptoe and scanned the crowded courtyard. "Where is Maisry?"
Hiding, Kivrin thought, which is what I should be doing. "Would you have me seek for her?" Rosemund asked.
"Nay," Eliwys said".You must bid Sir Bloet fareweLlla.dy Katherine, go and fetch Lady Imeyne from the church that she may bid the bishop's envoy goodRboysee.mund, why do you still stand theYreo?u
must bid your betrothed farewell."
"I will find Lady Imeyne," Kivrin said, thinking, I'll go out through the passage, and if she's still in the church, I'll duck behind the huts and go into the woods.
She turned to gTo.wo of Sir Bloet's servants were struggling with a heavy Tchesyt. set it down with a thunk in front of her, and it tipped over onto itsShseideb.acked up and started around them, trying to keep from walking behind the horses.
"Wait!" Rosemund said, catching up with Shhere. caught hold of her sleev"eY.ou must come with me to bid Sir Bloet farewell."
"Rosemund-" Kivrin said, looking toward the passaAgney. there, clutching her book of hours.
second Lady Imeyne would come through
"Please," Rosemund saidS.he looked pale and frightened. "Rosemund-"
"It will but take a moment and then you can fetch GrandmSohtheerp.u"lled Kivrin over to the stable. "Come. Now, while his sister-in-law is with him."
Sir Bloet was standing watching his horse being saddled and talking to the lady with the amIatzing coif. was no less enormous this morning, but had obviously been put on Ihtaslitsiltye.d sharply to one side.
"What is this urgent business of the bishop's envoy?" she was saying.
He shook his head, frowning, and then smiled at Rosemund and stepped fSohrwe asrdte.pped back,

holding tightly to Kivrin's arm.
His sister-in-law bobbed her wimple at Rosemund and went on, "Has he had news from Bath?" "There has been no messenger last night or this morning," he said.
"If there has been no message, why spoke he not of this urgent business when first he came?"
"I know not," he said impatien"tlHy.old. I must bid my betrothed farewelHl."e reached for Rosemund's hand, and Kivrin could see the effort it took her not to pull it back.
"Farewell, Sir Bloet," she said stiffly.
"Is that how you would part from your husband?" he "aWskielld.you not give him a farewell kiss?" Rosemund stepped forward and kissed him rapidly on the cheek, then stepped immediately back and
out of his reach".I thank you for your gift of the brooch," she said.
Bloet dropped his gaze from her white face to the neck of he"r'Ycolouaka.re here in place of the friend
I love,'" he said, fingering it.
Agnes ran up, shouting, "Sir BloSeitr! Bloet!" and he caught her and swung her up into his arms. "I have come to bid you goodbye," she "sMaiyd. hound died."
"I will bring you a hound for a wedding gift," he said, "if you will give me a kiss." Agnes flung her arms around his neck and planted a noisy kiss on each red cheek.
"You are not so chary of you kisses as your sister," he said, looking at RHoseemseutndA.gnes down. "Or will you give your husband two kisses as well?"
Rosemund didn't say anything.
He stepped forward and fingered the broo"c'Iho. suiicien lui dami amo,'" he saHide. put his hands on
her shoulders."You must think of me whenever you wear my broHoceh.l"eaned forward and kissed her throat.
Rosemund didn't flinch away from him, but the color drained out of her face.
He released her".I will come for you at Eastertide," he said, and it sounded like a threat. "Will you bring me a black hound?" Agnes said.
Lady Yvolde came up to them, demanding, "What have your servants done with my travelling cloak?" "I will fetch it," Rosemund said and darted off toward the house with Kivrin still in tow.
As soon as they were safely away from Sir Bloet, Kivrin said, "I must find LadLy oIomke, ytnhee.y are nearly ready to leave."

It was trueT. he jumble of servants and boxes and horses had resolved itself into a procession, and Cob had opened the gateT. he horses the three kings had ridden in on the night before were loaded with their chests and bags, their reins tied togethSeirr. Bloet's sister-in-law and her daughters were already
mounted and the bishop's envoy was standing beside Eliwys's mare, tightening the cinch on the saddle.
Only a few more minutes, Kivrin thought, let her stay in the church a few more minutes, and they'll be gone.
"Your mother bade me find Lady Imeyne," Kivrin said.
"You must come with me into the house first," RosemundHesraidh.and on Kivrin's arm was still trembling.
"Rosemund, there isn't any time-"
"Please," she said".What if he comes into the house and finds me?"
Kivrin thought of Sir Bloet kissing her on the t"hIrowati.ll come with you," she said, "but we must hurry."
They ran across the courtyard, through the door, and nearly into the faHt emwonaks. coming down the steps from the bower, and looked angry or hungoHveer.went out through the screens without a glance at either of them.
There was no one else in the hoTuhse. table was still covered with cups and platters of meat, and the fire was burning smokily, untended.
"Lady Yvolde's cloak is in the loft," Rosemund "sWaiadi.t for me."She scrambled up the ladder as though Sir Bloet were after her.
Kivrin went back to the screens and lookedShoeut.couldn't see the passagewaTy.he bishop's envoy
was standing over by Eliwys's mare with one hand on the pommel of its saddle, listening to the monk, who was leaning close as he spoKkeiv. rin glanced up the stairs at the shut door of the bower, wondering if the clerk was truly hungover or had had some sort of falling out with hisTshuepemrionr.k's gestures
were obviously upset.
"Here it is," Rosemund said, climbing down, clutching the cloak in one hand and the ladder in the other. "I would have you take it to Lady YvIotldwei.ll take but a minute."
It was the chance she'd been waiting"Ifowr.ill," she said, took the heavy cloak from Rosemund and started out.As soon as she was outside, she would give the cloak to the nearest servant to deliver to Bloet's sister and head straight for the passagewLaeyt. her stay in the church a few more minutes, she
prayed. Let me make it to the greSehne.
stepped out of the door, into Lady Imeyne.
"Why are you not ready to leave?" Imeyne said, looking at the cloak in
"hWerhaerrme si.s your cloak?"
Kivrin shot a glance at the bishop's enHvoey.had both hands on the pommel and was stepping onto
Cob's linked handsT. he friar was already mounted.
"My cloak is in the church," Kivrin
"sIaidw.ill fetch it."

"There is no timTe.hey are departing."
Kivrin looked desperately around the courtyard, but they were all out ofElriewaycsh:standing with
Gawyn by the stable, Agnes talking animatedly to one of Sir Bloet's nieces, Rosemund nowhere to be seen, presumably still in the house, hiding.
"Lady Yvolde bade asked me to bring her her cloak," Kivrin said.
"Maisry can take it to her," Imeyne
"sMaida.isry!"
Let her still be hiding, Kivrin prayed.
"Maisry!" Imeyne shouted, and Maisry came slinking out from the brewhouse door, holding her ear. Lady Imeyne snatched the cloak out of Kivrin's arms and dumped it on M"Saitsorpy'ss.nivelling and
take this to Lady Yvolde," she snapped.
She grabbed Kivrin by the wr"iCst.ome," she said, and started toward the bishop's en"vHooyl.y
Father, you have forgotten Lady Katherine, whom you promised to take with you to Godstow."
"We do not go to Godstow," he said and swung himself into the saddle with "aWneefjofourrtn. ey to
Bernecestre."
Gawyn had mounted Gringolet and was walking him toward theHeg'asteg.oing with them, she thought. Perhaps on the way to Courcy I can persuade him to take me to tPherhdarposp.I can persuade him
to tell me where it is, and I can get away from them and find it myself .
"Can she not ride with you to Berncestre then, and a monk escort her to GI owdostuolwd ?have her returned to her nunnery."
"There is no time," he said, picking up the reins.
Imeyne grabbed hold of his scarlet co"pWe.hy do you leave so suddenlHy?as aught offended you?"
He glanced at the friar, who was holding the reins of Kivrin'"sNmaya.r"eH. e made a vague sign of the cross over Imeyne". Dominus vobiscum, et cum spiritu tuo," he murmured, looking pointedly at her hand on his cope.
"What of a new chaplain?" Imeyne insisted.
"I am leaving my clerk behind to serve you as chaplain," he said.
He's lying, Kivrin thought, and glanced up sharply atHheimex. changed another, secretive glance with
the monk, and Kivrin wondered if their urgent business was simply getting away from this complaining old woman.
"Your clerk?" Lady Imeyne said, pleased, and let go of the cope.
The bishop's envoy spurred his horse, and galloped across the courtyard, nearly running down Agnes,
who scurried out of the way and then ran to Kivrin and buried her head inThheer mskoinrtk. Kivrin's mare and rode after him.
mounted

"God go with you, Holy Father," Lady Imeyne called after him, but he was already out the gate.
And then they were all gone, Gawyn riding out last at a flashy gallop to make Eliwys notice him, and they hadn't taken her off to Godstow and out of reach of theKidvrroinp. was so relieved she didn't even
worry over Gawyn's having gone with theImt back by nightfall.
.was only a half-day's ride to CouHrcey.might even be
Everyone seemed relieved, or perhaps it was only the letdown of Christmas afternoon and the fact that they had all been up since yesterday mornNinog. one made any movement to clear the tables, which
were still covered with dirty trenchers and half- full serving bEolwiwlsy.s sank into the high seat, her arms dangling over the side, and looked at the table disinteresAtefdtelyr. a few minutes she called for Maisry, but when she didn't answer, Eliwys didn't shout for her Sahgeainle.aned her head against the carved back and closed her eyes.
Rosemund went up to the loft to lie down, and Agnes sat down next to Kivrin by the hearth and put her head on her lap, playing absently with her bell.
Only Lady Imeyne refused to give in to the letdown and languor of the a"fIterwnouolnd. chaplain say vespers," she said, and went up to knock on the bower door.
have my new
Eliwys protested lazily, her eyes still closed, that the bishop's envoy had said the clerk should not be disturbed, but Imeyne knocked several times, loudly and without rSeshuelt.waited a few minutes,
knocked again, and then came down the steps and knelt at the foot of them to read her Book of Hours and keep an eye on the door so she could waylay the clerk as soon as he emerged.
Agnes batted at her bell with one finger, yawning broadly.
"Why don't you go up into the loft and lie down with your sister?" Kivrin suggested. "I'm not tired," Agnes said, sitting "uTpe.ll me what happened to the naughty girl."
"Only if you lie down," Kivrin said, and began theAsgtonreys. didn't last two sentences.
In the late afternoon, Kivrin remembered Agnes's puEppvyer.yone was asleep by then, even Lady
Imeyne, who had given up on the clerk and gone up to the loft to point and crawled under one of the tabSlehse. was snoring loudly.
Mlieaidsorywnh.ad come in at some
Kivrin eased her knees carefully out from under Agnes's head and went out to bury tThehepreuppy.
was no one in the courtyarTdh.e remains of a bonfire still smouldered in the center of the green, but there
was no one around
Tit.he villagers must be taking a Christmas afternoon nap, too.
Kivrin brought down Blackie's body and went into the stable for a woodenOnslpyadAe.gnes's pony
was there, and Kivrin frowned at it, wondering how the clerk was supposed to follow the envoy to Courcy. Perhaps he hadn't been lying, after all, and the clerk was to be the new chaplain whether he liked it or not.
Kivrin carried the spade and Blackie's already stiffening body across to the church and around to the north side.She laid the puppy down and began chipping through the crusted snow.
The ground was literally as hard as stTohne. wooden spade didn't even make a dent, even when she

stood on it with both feSeth.e climbed the hill to the beginnings of the wood, dug through the snow at the base of an ash tree, and buried the puppy in the loose leaf-mould.
"Requiscat in pace," she said so she could tell Agnes the puppy had had a Christian burial and went back down the hill.
She wished Gawyn would ride up nSohwe. could ask him to take her to the drop while everyone was still asleep.She walked slowly across the green, listening for the hHoresew. ould probably come by the
main road.She propped the spade against the wattle fence of the pigsty and went around the outside of the manor wall to the gate, but she couldn't hear anything.
The afternoon light began to faIdfe.Gawyn didn't come soon, it would be too dark to ride out to the drop. Father Roche would be ringing vespers in another half hour, and that would wake everyone up. Gawyn would have to tend his horse, though, no matter what time he got back, and she could sneak out to the stable and ask him to take her to the drop in the morning.
Or perhaps he could simply tell her where it was, draw her a map so she could finTdhiatt hwearsyelf.
she wouldn't have to go into the woods alone with him, and if Lady Imeyne had him out on another errand the day of the rendezvous, she could take one of the horses and find it herself.
She stood in by the gate till she got cold and then went back along the wall to the pigsty and into the courtyard. There was still no one in the courtyard, but Rosemund was in the anteroom, with her cloak on.
"Where have you been?" she sa"iId'v.e been looking everywhere for yoTuh.e clerk-"
Kivrin's heart jerked".What is it?Is he leaving?"He'd woken from his hangover and was ready to leave. And Lady Imeyne had persuaded him to take her to Godstow.
"Nay," Rosemund said, going into the hItallw. as emptyE. liwys and Imeyne must both be in the bower with him.She unfastened Sir Bloet's brooch and took her cloak"Hoeff.is ailingF. ather Roche sent me
to find you."She started up the stairs. "Ailing?" Kivrin said.
"Aye.Grandmother sent Maisry to the bower to take him somewhat to eat."
And to put him to work, Kivrin thought, following her up th"eAsntdepMs. aisry found him ill?" "Aye.He has a fever."
He has a hangover, Kivrin thought, frownBinugt. Roche would surely recognize the effects of drink, even if Lady Imeyne couldn't, or wouldn't.
A terrible thought occurred to hHeer.'s been sleeping in my bed, Kivrin thought, and he's caught my virus.
"What symptoms does he have?" she asked. Rosemund opened the door.
There was scarcely room for them all in the little Fraotohmer. Roche was by the bed, and Eliwys stood

a little behind him, her hand on Agnes's hMeaadi.sry cowered by the windowL.ady Imeyne knelt at the foot of the bed next to her medicine casket, busyonweithof her foul-smelling poultices, and there was another smell in the room, sickish and so strong it overpowered the mustard and leek smell of the poultice.
They all, except Agnes, looked frightenAedg.nes looked interested, the way she had with Blackie, and
Kivrin thought, he's dead, he's caught what I had, and he'sBudtiedth.at was ridiculousS.he had been
here since the middle of DecembTerh.at would mean an incubation period of nearly two weeks, and no
one else had caught it, not even Father Roche, or Eliwys, and they had been with her constantly while she was ill.
She looked at the clerHke.
lay uncovered in the bed, wearing a shift and no breTehcheesre. st of his
clothes were draped over the foot of the bed, his purple cloak dragging on tHheis fslohoifrt. was yellow
silk, and the ties had come unfastened so that it was open halfway down his chest, but she wasn't noticing
either his hairless skin or the ermine bands on the sleeves of hHiseshwifats. Kivrin thought, not even when I was dying.
illI.
was never that ill,
She went up to the bHede.r foot hit a half-empty earthenware wine bottle and sent it rolling under the bed. The clerk flinchedA. nother bottle, with the seal still on it, stood at the head of the bed.
"He has eaten too much rich food," Lady Imeyne said, mashing something in her stone bowl, but it was clearly not food poisoningN. or too much alcohol, in spite of the wine boHttele'ss.ill, Kivrin thought.
Terribly ill.
He breathed rapidly in and out through his open mouth, panting like poor Blackie, his tongue sticking
out. It was bright red and looked swollHenis. distorted, as if he were terrified.
face was an even darker red, and his expression was
She wondered if he might have been poisoTnhede. bishop's envoy had been so anxious to leave he had nearly run Agnes down, and he had told Eliwys not to disturTbhehimch.urch had done things like that in the thirteen hundreds, hadn't theyM? ysterious deaths in the monastery and the cathedCraoln.venient
deaths.
But that made no sensTeh.e bishop's envoy and the monk would not have hurried off and given orders
not to disturb the victim when the whole point of poison was to make it look like botulism or peritonitis or the dozen other unaccountable things people died of in the Middle AAngdesw. hy would the bishop's
envoy poison one of his own underlings when he could demote him, the way Lady Imeyne wanted to demote Father Roche.
"Is it the cholera?" Lady Eliwys said.
No, Kivrin thought, trying to remember its symptoAmcus.te diarrhea and vomiting with massive loss of body fluids.Pinched expression, dehydration, cyanosis, raging thirst.
"Are you thirsty?" she asked.
The clerk gave no sign that he had hHeaisrd.eyes were half-closed, and they looked swollen, too. Kivrin laid her hand on his foreheHaed.flinched a little, his reddened eyes flickering open and then
closed.

"He's burning with fever," Kivrin said, thinking, cholera doesn't produce this high "aFeftecvherm. e a cloth dipped in water."
"Maisry!" Eliwys snapped, but Rosemund was already at her elbow with the same filthy rag they must have used on her.
At least it was coKoli.vrin folded it into a rectangle, watching the priest's Hfaecew. as still panting, and his face contorted when she laid the rag across his forehead, as if he wasHein cpluaticnh. ed his hand to his belly.Appendicitis? Kivrin thoughtN. o, that usually was accompanied by a low-grade feTvyeprh. oid
fever could produce temps as high as forty degrees, though usually not at thIet enlargement of the spleen, as well, which frequently resulted in abdominal pain.
"Are you in pain?" she ask"eWd.here does it hurt?"
opnrosedtu.ced
His eyes flickered half-open again, and his hands moved restlessly on the cTohvaetrlewt.as a symptom
of typhoid fever, that restless plucking, but only in the last stages, eight or nine days into the progress of the disease.She wondered if the priest had already been ill when he came.
He had stumbled getting off his horse when they arrived, and the monk had had to Bcauttchhehihma.d eaten and drunk more than a little at the feast, and grabbed at HMeaicsroyu.ldn't have been very ill, and typhoid came on gradually, beginning with a headache and an only slightly elevated tempIetradtiudrne'.t reach thirty-nine degrees until the third week.
Kivrin leaned closer, pulling his untied shift aside to look for typhoid's rose-colorTedhereshw. asn't
any. The side of his neck seemed slightly swollen, but swollen lymph glands went with almost every infection. She pulled his sleeve uTp.here weren't any rose spots on his arm either, but his fingernails were
a bluish-brown color, which meant not enough oxygAennd.
cyanosis was a symptom of cholera.
"Has he vomited or had loosening of his bowels?" she asked.
"Nay," Lady Imeyne said, smearing a greenish paste on a piece of sti"fHf elinheans. of sugars and spices, and it has fevered his blood."
but eaten too much
It couldn't be cholera without vomiting, and at any rate the fever was tPoeorhhaipgsh.it was her virus after all, but she hadn't felt any stomach pain, and her tongue hadn't swollen like that.
The clerk raised his hand and pushed the rag off his forehead and onto the pillow, and then let his arm fall back to his sidKei.vrin picked the rag uIpt. was completely dryA. nd what besides a virus could
cause that high a feveSr?he couldn't think of anything but typhoid. "Has he bled from the nose?" she asked Roche.
"Nay," Rosemund said, stepping forward and taking the rag from K"Iivhrianv.e seen no sign of bleeding."
"Wet it with cold water but don't wring it out," Kivri"nFastahiedr.
Roche, help me to lift him."
Roche put his hands to the priest's shoulders and raised hTimheruep.was no blood on the linen under his head.
Roche laid him gently back dow"Tnh. ink you it is the typhoid fever?" he said, and there was something

curious, almost hopeful in his tone. "I know not," Kivrin said.
Rosemund handed Kivrin the raSgh.e had took Kivrin at her woIrtd.was dripping with icy water. Kivrin leaned forward and laid it across the clerk's forehead.
His arms came up suddenly, wildly, knocking the cloth backwards out of Kivrin's hand, and then he was sitting up, flailing at her with both his hands, kicking out with hHisis fefiestt. caught her on the side of her
leg, buckling her knees so that she almost toppled onto the bed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kivrin said, trying to get her balance, trying to clutch at
"hIi'smhsaonrdrsy.."
His bloodshot eyes were wide open now, staring straight a"hGelaodr.iam tuam," he bellowed, in a strange high voice that was almost a scream.
"I'm sorry," Kivrin saiSdh. e grabbed at his wrist, and his other arm shot out, striking her full in the chest. "Requiem aeternum dona eis," he roared, rising up on his knees and then his feet to stand in the middle o
the bed."Et lux perpetua luceat eis."
Kivrin realized suddenly that he was trying to sing the mass for the dead.
Father Roche clutched at his shift, and he lashed out, kicking himself free, and then went on kicking, spinning around as if he were dancing.
"Miserere nobis."
He was too near the wall for them to reach him, hitting the timbers with his feet and flailing arms at every turn without even seeming to notic"eW. hen he comes within reach, we must grab his ankles and knock
him down," Kivrin said.
Father Roche nodded, out of breaTthe others stood transfixed, not even trying to stop him, Imeyne still on her kneesM. aisry pushed herself completely into the window, her hands over her ears and her eyes squeezed shutR. osemund had retrieved the sopping rag and held it in her outstretched hand as if she thought Kivrin might try to lay it on his head Aaganiens. was staring open-mouthed at the clerk's
half-exposed body.
The clerk spun back toward them, his hands pawing at the ties on the front of his shift, trying to rip them free.
"Now," Kivrin said.
Father Roche and she reached for his ankTlhees. clerk went down on one knee, and then, flinging his arms out wide, burst free and launched himself off the high bed straight at RoSsehme upnudt. her hands
up, still holding the rag, and he hit her full in the chest. "Miserere nobis," he said, and they went down together.
"Grab his arms before he hurts her," Kivrin said, but the clerk had stoppedHfelaillaiynga. top

Rosemund, motionless, his mouth almost touching hers, his arms limply out at his sides.
Father Roche took hold of the clerk's unresisting arm and rolled him off RoHseemfulnodp.ped onto his side, breathing shallowly but no longer panting.
"Is he dead?" Agnes asked, and as if her voice had released the rest of them from a spell, they all move forward, Lady Imeyne struggling to her feet, gripping the bedpost.
"Blackie died," Agnes said, clutching at her mother's skirts.
"He is not dead," Imeyne said, kneeling beside him, "but the fever in his blood has gone tIot often thus."
tihs e brain.
It's never thus, Kivrin thougThth.is isn't a symptom of any disease I've ever hearWd hoaft. could it be? Spinal meningitis?Epilepsy?
She bent down next to RosemuTndh.e girl lay rigidly on the floor, her eyes squeezed shut, her hands clenched into whitening fists".Did he hurt you?" Kivrin asked.
Rosemund opened her eye"sH. e pushed me down," she said, her voice quavering a little. "Can you stand?" Kivrin asked.
Rosemund nodded, and Eliwys stepped forward, Agnes still clinging to heTr hsekyirth. elped her to her feet.
"My foot hurts," she said, leaning on her mother, but in a minute she was able to "sHtaen.d..oof na it. sudden..."
Eliwys supported her to the end of the bed and sat her down on the carvAegdnecshecslta.mbered up next to her". The bishop's clerk jumped on top of you," she said.
The clerk murmured something, and Rosemund looked fearfully at"Whiimll. he rise up again?" she asked Eliwys.
"Nay," Eliwys said, but she helped Rosemund up and led her to th"Te adkoeory.our sister down to the fire and sit with her," she told Agnes.
Agnes took hold of Rosemund's arm and led he"rWohuet.n the clerk dies, we will bury him in the
churchyard," Kivrin could hear her say going down the s"tLaiirkse.
Blackie."
The clerk looked already dead, his eyes half-open and unseFeaitnhge.r Roche knelt next to him and
hoisted him easily over his shoulder, the clerk's head and arms hanging limply down, the way Kivrin had carried Agnes home from the midnight maKssiv. rin hastily pulled the coverlet off the featherbed, and
Roche eased him down onto the bed.
"We must draw the fever from the brain," Lady Imeyne said, returning to her "pItouislticthee. that have fevered his brain."
spices
"No," Kivrin whispered, looking at the priHeset.lay on his back with his arms out at his sides, the palms up. The thin shift was ripped halfway down the front and had fallen completely off his left shoulder so his

outstretched arm was exposedU. nder the arm was a red swelli"nNg.o," she breathed.
The swelling was bright red and nearly as large as aHnigehggf.ever, swollen tongue, intoxication of the nervous system, buboes under the arms and in the groin.
Kivrin took a step back from the "bIet dc. an't be," she sai"dI.t's something else."It had to be something else. A boil.Or an ulcer of some kinSdh.e reached forward to pull the sleeve away from it.
The clerk's hands twitcheRd.oche stretched to grasp his wrists, pushing them down into the featherbed. The swelling was hard to the touch, and around it the skin was a mottled purplish- black.
"It can't be," she sa"idIt.'s only 1320."
"This will draw the fever out," Imeyne Ssahied. stood up stiffly, holding the poultice out in front of her. "Pull his shift away from his body that I may lay on the poSuhleticset.a"rted toward the bed.
"No!" Kivrin saidS.he put her hands up to stop
"hSetra.y away!You mustn't touch him!"
"You speak wildly," Imeyne saSidh.e looked at Roche".It is naught but a stomach fever."
"It isn't a fever!" Kivrin saSihde. fever. It's the plague."
turned to Roche".Let go of his hands and get away from Ithimisn. 't a
All of them, Roche and Imeyne and Eliwys looked at her as stupidly as Maisry.
They don't even know what it is, she thought desperately, because it doesn't exist yet, there was no such
thing as the Black Death yIett.didn't even begin in China until 13A3n3d.
it didn't reach England till
1348. "But it is," Kivrin sai"dH. e's got all the symptomTs.he bubo and the swollen tongue and the hemorrhaging under the skin."
"It is naught but a stomach fever," Imeyne said and pushed past Kivrin to the bed.
"No-" Kivrin said, but Imeyne had already stopped, the poultice poised above his naked chest. "Lord have mercy on us," she said, and backed away, still holding the poultice.
"Is it the blue sickness?" Eliwys said frightenedly.
And suddenly Kivrin saw it Talhl.ey had not come here because of the trial, because Lord Guillaume
was in trouble with the kinHge.
had sent them here because the plague was in Bath.
"Our nurse died," Agnes had saAidn.d Lady Imeyne's chaplain, Brother Hubar"dR.osemund said he
died of the blue sickness," Agnes had told Ahnedr. Sir Bloet had said that the trial had been delayed because the judge was iTll.hat was why Eliwys hadn't wanted to send word to Courcy and why she had been so angry when Imeyne sent Gawyn to the bisBheocpa.use the plague was in BaBthu. t it couldn't
be. The Black Death hadn't reached Bath until the fall of 1348. "What year is it?" Kivrin said.
The women looked at her dumbly, Imeyne still holding the forgotten pKouivltricine. turned to Roche. "What is the year?"

"Are you ill, Lady Katherine?" he said anxiously, reaching for her wrists as if he was afraid she was going to have one of the clerk's seizures.
She jerked her hands awa"yT.ell me the year."
"It is the twenty-first year of Edward III's reign," Eliwys said.
Edward III, not the SeconIdn. her panic she could not remember when he had rei"gTneeldl .me the year," she said.
"Anno domine," the clerk said from the Hbe .tried to lick his lips with his swollen ton"Ogunee. thousand three hundred and forty-eight."
BOOK III
Buried with my own hands five of my children in a single grave...NNoo bteelalsr.s.This is the end of the world.
Agniola di Tura
1347

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Dunworthy spent the next two days ringing Finch's list of techs and Scottish fishing guides and setting up another ward in Bulkeley-JohnsonF.ifteen more of his detainees were down with the flu, among them
Ms. Taylor, who had collapsed forty-nine strokes short of a full peal.
"Fainted dead away and let go her bell," Finch rep"oIrttesdw. ung right over with a noise like doom and the rope thrashing about like a live thWingra. pped itself round my neck and nearly strangled Mmse..
Taylor wanted to go on after she came to herself, but of course it wasI todo lwaties.h you'd speak to her, Mr. DunworthyS. he's very despondentS. ays she'll never forgive herself for letting the others down. I told her it wasn't her fault, that sometimes things are simply out of one's control, aren't they?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said.
He had not succeeded in reaching a tech, let alone persuading him to come to Oxford, and he had not found Basingame.He and Finch had phoned every hotel in Scotland, and then every inn and rental
cottage. William had got hold of his credit records, but there were no purchases of fishing lures or waders in some remote Scottish town, as he had hoped, and no entries at all after the fifteenth of December.
The telephone system was becoming progressively disabTlehde.
visual cut out again, and the recorded
voice, announcing that due to the epidemic all circuits were busy, interrupted after only two digits on nearly every call he tried to put through.
He did not so much worry about Kivrin as carry her with him, a heavy weight, as he punched and repunched the numbers, waited for ambulances, listened to Mrs. Gaddson's compAlainndtrse. ws had
not phoned back, or if he had, had not succeeded in getting thBroadurgih.murmured endlessly of death, the nurses carefully transcribing his ramblings on slips of pWapheirl.e he waited for the techs, for the
fishing guides, for someone to answer the telephone, he pored over Badri's words, searching for clues. "Black," Badri had said, and "laboratory," and "Europe."
The phone system grew worsTeh.e recorded voice cut in as he punched the first number, and several times he couldn't raise a dial toHnee. gave up for the moment and worked on the contacts charts.
William had managed to get hold of the primaries' confidential NHS medical records, and he pored over them, searching for radiation treatments and visits to the deOntniset.of the primaries had had his jaw
X-rayed, but on second look, he saw it had been on the twenty-fourth, after the epidemic began.
He went over to Infirmary to ask the primaries who weren't delirious whether they had any pets or had been duck-hunting recentlyT. he corridors were filled with stretcher trolleys, each one of them with a

patient on itT. hey were jammed up against the doors of Casualties and crosswise in front of the elevator. There was no way he could get past them Htoe itto. ok the stairs.
William's blonde student nurse met him at the door of IsoSlahteionw.as wearing a white cloth gown and mask. "I'm afraid you can't go in," she said, holding up a gloved hand.
Badri's dead, he though"tI.s Mr. Chaudhuri worse?" he asked.
"No.He seems actually to be resting a bit more quBieutlty.we've run out of SPGL'so.ndon's promised
to send us a shipment tomorrow, and the staff's making do with cloth, but we haven't enough for visitors." She fished in her pocket for a scrap of p"aIpewr.rote down his words," she said, handing it to"Ih'mim.
afraid most of it's unintelligiblHe.e says your name and-Kivrin's?--is that right?" He nodded, looking at the paper.
"And sometimes isolated words, but most of it's nonsense."
She had tried to write it down phonetically, and when she understood a word, she underscored it. "Can't," he had said, and "black," and "so worried."
Over half the detainees were down by Sunday morning, and everyone not ill was nursing them.
Dunworthy and Finch had given up all notion of putting them in wards, and at any rate they had run out of cots. They left them in their own beds, or moved them, bed and all, into rooms in Salvin to keep their makeshift nurses from running themselves ragged.
The bellringers fell one by one, and Dunworthy helped put them to bed in the oMlds.libTrayrylo. r, who could still walk, insisted on going to visit them.
"It's the least I can do," she said, panting after the exertion of walking across the corridor, "after I let them down like that."
Dunworthy helped her onto the air mattress William had carried over and covered her with a sheet. "'The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,'" he said.
He felt weak himself, bone-tired from the lack of sleep and the constant Hdeefheads.finally
managed, between boiling water for tea and washing bedpans, to get through to one of Magdalen's techs. "She's in hospital," her mother had sSahide.'d looked harried and tired.
"When did she fall ill?" Dunworthy'd asked her. "Christmas Day."
Hope had surged in hiPme.rhaps Magdalen's tech was the source. "What symptoms does she have?" he'd asked eagerly". Headache? Fever? Disorientation?"
"Ruptured appendix," she'd said.
By Monday morning three-quarters of the detainees werTehielyl.
ran out, as Finch had predicted, of
clean linens and NHS masks, and more urgently, of temps, antimicrobials, and
"aIsptirriiend.
to ring
Infirmary to ask for more," Finch said handing Dunworthy a list, "but the phones have all gone dead."

Dunworthy walked to the infirmary to fetch the supTplhie .street in front of Casualties was jammed, a jumble of ambulance vans and taxis and protesters carrying a large sign that proclaimed, "The Prime Minister Has Left Us Here To DiAe.s" he squeezed past them and in the door, Colin came running out. He was wet, as usual, and red-faced and red-nosed from theHcisoldja.cket was unstripped.
The telephones are out," he sa"iTdh. ere was an overloadI.'m running messages."He pulled an untidy clutch of folded papers from his jacket poc"kIest.there anyone you'd like me to take a message to?"
Yes, he thoughTt.o Andrews.To Basingame.To Kivrin. "No," he said.
Colin stuffed the already wet messages back in his po"Ic'mketo. ff thenI.f you're looking for
Great-Aunt Mary, she's in CasualtieFs.ive more cases just came darted off through the traffic jam.
Ain. family.The baby was dead.H" e
Dunworthy pushed his way into Casualties and showed his list to the house officer, who directed him to Supplies. The corridors were still full of stretcher trolleys, though now they were lined lengthwise on both sides so there was a narrow passage betweBeenn.ding over one of the stretcher trolleys was a nurse in a pink mask and gown reading something to one of the patients.
"'The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee,'" she said, and he realized too late that it was Mrs. Gaddson, but she was so intent on her reading she did not lo"'oUkntuilp.he have consumed thee from
the land.'"
The pestilence shall cleave unto thee, he said silently, and thought of"ItBawdaris. the rats," Badri had said. "It killed them alHl. alf of Europe."
She can't be in the Black Death, he thought, turning down the corridor to
ASunpdpreliwess.
had said
the maximal slippage was five yeaTrsh.e plague hadn't even begun in ChiAnan.drews had said the only
two things that would not have automatically aborted the drop were the slippage and the coordinates, and Badri, when he could answer Dunworthy's questions, insisted he had checked Puhalski's coordinates.
He went into SupplieTs.here was no one at the deHske. rang the bell.
Each time Dunworthy had asked him, Badri had said the apprentice's coordinates were correct, but his fingers moved nervously over the sheet, typing, typing in thTehfaitx.can'tbe right.There's something
wrong.
He rang the bell again, and a nurse emerged from among the
Sshheelvheas.d obviously come out of
retirement expressly for the epidemiSche was ninety at the least, and her starched white uniform was yellowed with age, but still stiIftf.crackled when she took his list.
"Have you a supply authorization?" "No," he said.
She handed him back his list and a three-page "fAorlml matron."
.orders must be authorized by the ward
"We haven't any ward matron," he said, his temper fl"aWrineg.haven't any wardW. e have fifty

detainees in two dormitories and no supplies."
"In that case, authorization must be obtained from the doctor in charge."
"The doctor in charge has an infirmary full of patients to take Schaere doofe.sn't have time to sign authorizations. There's an epidemic on!"
"I am well aware of that," the nurse said fri"gAidll walked creakily back among the shelves.
.orders must be signed by the doctor in charge," and
He went back to CasualtieMs.ary was no longer therTe.he house officer sent him up to Isolation, but she wasn't there eitherH. e toyed with the idea of forging Mary's signature, but he wanted to see her, wanted to tell her about his failure to reach the techs, his failure to find a way to bypass Gilchrist and
open the netH.
e could not even get a simple aspirin, and it was already the third of January.
He finally ran Mary to ground in the laboraSthoery.was speaking into the telephone, which was apparently working again, though the visual was nothing but sSnhoew.wasn't watching iSt.he was watching the console, which had the branching contacts chart "oWn hiat.t exactly is the difficulty?" she was saying."You said it would be here two days ago."
There was a pause while the person lost in the snow apparently made some sort of excuse. "What do you mean it was turned back?" she said incredul"oI'uvselyg. ot a thousand people with
influenza here."
There was another pausMe. ary typed something into the console, and a different chart appeared. "Well, send it again," she shout"eId.need it nowI!'ve got people dying herIe!want it here by-hullo?
Are you there?"The screen went deadS.he turned to click the receiver and caught sight of Dunworthy.
She beckoned him into the offi"cAe.re you there?" she said into the telepho"Hneu.llo?" She slammed
the receiver down". The phones don't work, half my staff is down with the virus, and the analogues aren't here because some idiot wouldn't let them into the quarantine area!" she said angrily.
She sank down in front of the console and rubbed her fingers against her che"eSkobroryn,e"s.she said. "It's been rather a bad daIy'v.e had three DOA's this afternooOnn. e of them was six months old."
She was still wearing the sprig of holly on her laBb octhoati.t and the lab coat were much the worse for wear, and Mary looked impossibly tired, the lines around her mouth and eyes cutting deep into her face. He wondered how long it had been since she had slept and whether, if he were to ask her, she would even know.
She rubbed two fingers along the lines above her "eOynees. never gets used to the idea that there is nothing one can do," she said.
"No."
She looked up at him, almost as if she hadn't realized he wa"sWtahserteh.ere something you needed, James?"
She had had no sleep, and no help, and three DOA's, one of themShae bhaabdy.enough on her mind

without worrying over Kivrin.
"No," he said, standing uHpe.
handed her the form"N. othing but your signature."
She signed it without looking a"tI itw. ent to see Gilchrist this morning," she said, handing it back to him. He looked at her, too surprised and touched to speak.
"I went to see if I could convince him to open the netI eeaxrplileari.ned that there's no need to wait until there's been full immunizationI.mmunization of a critical percentage of the virus pool effectively eliminates the contagion vectors."
"And none of your arguments had the slightest effect on him."
"No.He's utterly convinced the virus came through from the pMasatr.y"
sighed."He's drawn up charts
of the cyclical mutation patterns of Type A myxoviruAscecs.ording to them, one of the Type A myxoviruses extant in 1318-19 was an H9NS2h."e rubbed at her forehead aga"inH.e won't open the laboratory until full immunization's completed and the quarantine's lifted."
"And when will that be?" he asked, though he had a good idea.
"The quarantine has to remain in effect until seven days after full immunization or fourteen days after final incidence," she said as if she were giving him bad news.
Final incidenceT. wo weeks with no new case"Hs.ow long will nationwide immunization take?" "Once we get sufficient supplies of the vaccine, notTlhoengP. andemic only took eighteen days."
Eighteen daysA. fter sufficient supplies of the vaccine were manufactuTrehde. not soon enough," he said.
end of January".That's
"I knowW.
e must positively identify the source, that's
Salhl.e"
turned to look at the conso"lTeh. e
answer's in here, you knowW. e're simply looking in the wrong placSeh."e punched in a new cha"rIt'.ve
been running correlations, looking for veterinary students, primaries who live near zoos, rural addresses. This one's of secondaries listed in DeBrett's, grouse-hunting and allButhtatt.he closest any of them's
come to a waterfowl is eating goose for Christmas."
She punched up the contacts chBarat.dri's name was still at the top oSfheit. sat and looked at it a long moment, as remote as Montoya staring at her bones.
"The first thing a doctor has to learn is not to be too hard on himself when he loses a patient," she said, and he wondered if she meant Kivrin or Badri.
"I'm going to get the net open," he said. "I hope so," she said.
The answer did not lie in the contacts charts or the commonItaliltaiyes.in Badri, whose name was still,
in spite of all the questions they had asked the secondaries, in spite of all the false leads, the primary source. Badri was the index case, and sometime in the four to six days before the drop he had been in contact with a reservoir.

He went up to see hTimh.ere was a different nurse at the desk outside Badri's room, a tall, nervous youth who looked no more than seventeen.
"Where's..." Dunworthy began and realized he didn't know the blonde nurse's name.
"She's down with it," the boy s"aYide.sterday. She's the twentieth of the nursing staff to catch it, and
they're out of subsT. hey asked for third-year students to heIl'mp. first-aid training."
actually only first-year, but I've had
Yesterday.A whole day had passed, then, with no one recording what Badr"iDsoaiydo. u remember anything Badri might have said while you were in with him?" he said withoAut fhiorspte-y. ear student. "Any words or phrases you could understand?"
"You're Mr. Dunworthy, aren't you?" the boy wanted to know everything the patient said."
Hsaeid.handed him a set of SPG"E'sl.oise said you
Dunworthy put on the newly-arrived SPGT'hs.ey were white and marked with tiny black crosses along
the back opening of the gowHne.
wondered where they'd resorted to borrowing them from.
"She was awfully ill and she kept saying over and over how important it was."
The boy led Dunworthy into Badri's room, looked at the screens above the bed, and then down at
Badri. At least he looks at the patient, Dunworthy thought.
Badri lay with his hands outside the sheet, plucking at it with hands that looked like those in Colin's illustration of the knight's tomHb.is sunken eyes were open, but he did not look at the nurse or at Dunworthy, or at the sheet, which his ceaseless hands could not seem to grasp.
"I read about this in meds," the boy said, "but I've never actuallyIt's ean ciotm.
mon terminal
symptom in respiratory cases.H" e went to the console, punched something up, and pointed at the top left screen. "I've written it all down."
He had, even the gibberisHhe.
had written that phonetically, with ellipses to represent pauses, and (sic)
after questionable words". Rats," he had written, and "backer (sic)" and "Why doesn't he come?"
"This is mostly from yesterday," he sHaied. moved a cursor to the lower third of the sc"Hreent.alked a big this morningN. ow, of course, he doesn't say anything."
Dunworthy sat down beside Badri and took his hItanwda. s ice-cold even through the imperm glove. He glanced at the temp screeBna.dri no longer had a fever or the dark flush that had gone Hweith it. seemed to have lost all coloHri.s skin was the color of wet ashes.
"Badri," he said".It's Mr. DunworthyI.
need to ask you some questions."
There was no responsHe.is cold hand lay limply in Dunworthy's gloved one, and the other continued picking steadily, uselessly at the sheet.
"Dr. Ahrens thinks you might have caught your illness from an animal, a wild duck or a goose."
The nurse looked interestedly at Dunworthy and then back at Badri, as if he were hoping he would

exhibit another yet- unobserved medical phenomenon.
"Badri, can you remembeDr?id you have any contact with ducks or geese the week before the drop?" Badri's hand movedD. unworthy frowned at it, wondering if he were trying to communicate, but when he
loosened his grip a little, the thin, thin fingers were only trying to pluck at his palm, at his fingers, at his wrist.
He was suddenly ashamed that he was sitting here torturing Badri with questions, though he was past hearing, past even knowing Dunworthy was here, or caring.
He laid Badri's hand back on the sh"Reeets.t," he said, patting it gently, "Try to rest."
"I doubt if he can hear you," the nurse"Wsahide.n they're this far gone they're not really conscious." "No.I know," Dunworthy said, but he went on sitting there.
The nurse adjusted a drip, peered nervously at it and adjusted itHeaglaoino.ked anxiously at Badri, adjusted the drip a third time and finally wentDouuntw. orthy sat on, watching Badri's fingers plucking blindly at the sheet, trying to grasp it but unabTlerytion.g to hold onN. ow and then he murmured something, too soft to heaDr.unworthy rubbed his arm gently, up and doAwfnte. r awhile, the plucking grew slower, though Dunworthy didn't know if that was a good sign or not.
"Graveyard," Badri said. "No," Dunworthy said".No."
He sat on a bit longer, rubbing Badri's arm, but after a little it seemed to make his agitaHtieon worse. stood up."Try to rest," he said and went out.
The nurse was sitting at the desk, reading a copy of CPatriee.nt
"Please notify me when..." Dunworthy said, and realized he would not be able to finish the sentence. "Please notify me."
"Yes, sir," the boy sa"idW. here are you?"
He fumbled in his pocket for a scrap of paper to write on and came up with the listHoef hsuadpplies. nearly forgotten it". I'm at Balliol," he said, "send a messenger," and went back down to Supplies.
"You haven't filled this out properly," the crone said starchily when Dunworthy gave her the form. "I've had it signed," he said, handing her hi"sYloisut. fill it out."
She looked disapprovingly at the l"iWst.e haven't any masks or tempSs.h"e reached down a small bottle of aspirin". We're out of synthamycin and AZL."
The bottle of aspirin contained perhaps twenty tabHleets.put them in his pocket and walked down to
the High to the chemistA's.
small crowd of protesters stood outside in the rain, holding pickets that said,
"UNFAIR!" and "Price gouging!H" e went insideT. hey were out of masks, and the temps and the aspirin
were outrageously pricedH.
e bought all they had.

He spent the night dispensing them and studying Badri's chart, looking for some clue to the virus's source. Badri had run an on-site for Nineteenth Century in Hungary on the tenth of December, but the chart did not say where in Hungary , and William, who was flirting with the detainees who were still on their feet, didn't know, and the phones were still out.
They were still out in the morning when Dunworthy tried to phone to check on Badri's Hcoendition. could not even raise a dialing tone, but as soon as he put down the receiver, the telephone rang.
It was AndrewsD. unworthy could scarcely hear his voice through the st"aStiocr.ry this took so long," he said, and then something that was lost entirely.
"I can't hear you," Dunworthy said.
"I said, I've had difficulty getting throuTghhe.
phones..."More static."I did the parameter checkIs.used
three different L-and-L's and triangulated the.T..h"e rest was lost. "What was the maximal slippage?" he shouted into the phone. The line went momentarily cle"aSr.ix days."
"Six days?" Dunworthy shoute"dA. re you certain?"
"That was with an L-and-L of..." More st"aIticra. n probabilities, and the possible maximal for any L-and-L's within a circumference of fifty kilometers was still five yTehares."static roared in again, and the line went dead.
Dunworthy put the receiver dowHne.
should have felt reassured, but he could not seem to summon any
feeling. Gilchrist had no intention of opening the net on the sixth, whether Kivrin was therhee or not. reached for the phone to phone the Scottish Tourism Bureau, and as he did, it rang again.
"Dunworthy here," he said, squinting at the screen, but the visuals were still nothing but snow. "Who?" a woman's voice that sounded hoarse or groggy"Ssaoirdry. ," it murmured, "I meant to ring-"
and something else too blurred to make out, and the visual went blank.
He waited to see if it would ring again, and then went back across tMo aSgadlavlienn.'s bell was
chiming the hourI.t sounded like a funeral bell in the unceasing Mrasi.n.Piantini had apparently heard the
bell, too.She was standing in the quad in her nightgown, solemnly raising her arms in an unheard rhythm. "Middle, wrong, and into the hunt," she said when Dunworthy tried to take her back inside.
Finch appeared, looking distraugh"tI.t's the bells, sir," he said, taking hold of her othe"rTahremy. upset her. I don't think they should ring them under the circumstances."
Ms. Piantini wrenched free of Dunworthy's restraining h"aEnvde.ry man must stick to his bell without interruption," she said furiously.
"I quite agree," Finch said, clutching her arm as firmly as if it were a bell rope, and led her back to her cot.
Colin came skidding in, drenched as usual and nearly blue WithHicsoljdac. ket was open, and Mary's

gray muffler dangled uselessly about his neHcke. handed Dunworthy a messag"eI.t's from Badri's nurse," he said, opening a packet of soap tablets and popping a light blue one into his mouth.
The note was drenched, toIot .read, "Badri asking for you," though the word 'Badri' was so blurred he couldn't make out more than the B.
"Did the nurse say whether Badri was worse?"
"No, just to give you the messaAgned.
Aunt Mary says when you come, you're to get your
enhancement. She said she doesn't know when the analogue will get here."
Dunworthy helped Finch wrestle Ms. Piantini into bed and hurried to Infirmary and up to Tihsoelraetion. was another new nurse, this one a middle-aged woman with swollenShfeeewt.as sitting with them
propped up on the screens, watching a pocket vidder, but she stood up immediately when he came in.
"Are you Mr. Dunworthy?" she asked, blocking his "wDary. . Ahrens said you're to meet her downstairs immediately."
She said it quietly, even kindly, and he thought, she's trying to spSahre what's in thereS. he wants Mary to tell me first.
"It's Badri, isn't iHt?e's dead."
mdoee.sn't want me to see
She looked genuinely surprise"dO. h, no, he's much better this morniDngid. n't you get my noteH?e's sitting up."
"Sitting up?" he said, staring at her, wondering if she were delirious with fever.
"He's still very weak of course, but his temp's normal and heY'soaul'erert.to meet Dr. Ahrens in casualties. She said it was urgent."
He looked wonderingly toward the door to Badri's r"oToemll. him I'll be in to see him as soon as I can," he said and hurried out the door.
He nearly collided with Colin, who was apparently comin"gWhina.t are you doing here?" he demanded. "Did one of the techs telephone?"
"I've been assigned to you," Colin s"aGidr.eat-Aunt Mary says she doesn't trust you to get your T-cell enhancement. I'm supposed to take you down to get it."
"I can'tT. here's an emergency in casualties," he said, walking rapidly down the corridor.
Colin ran to keep up with h"iWm.ell, then, after the emergencSy.he said I wasn't to let you leave
Infirmary without it."
Mary was there to meet them when the lift op"eWneed.have another case," she said grim"lIyt'.s
Montoya." She started for casualties".They're bringing her in from Witney." "Montoya?" Dunworthy said".That's impossible.She's been out at the dig alone." She pushed open the double doo"rAs.pparently not."

"But she said-are you certain it's the viSruhse?'s been working in the raPine.rhaps it's some other disease."
Mary shook her hea"dT. he ambulance team ran a preliImt .matches the virus.S"he stopped at the admissions desk and asked the house officer, "Are they here yet?"
He shook his hea"dT. hey've just come through the perimeter."
Mary walked over to the doors and looked out, as if she didn't belie"Wveehgimot. a call from her this morning, very confused," she said, turning back to th"eI mte.lephoned to Chipping Norton, which is the nearest hospital, told them to send an ambulance, but they said the dig was officially under quarantine. And I couldn't get one of ours out toI hfeinr.ally had to persuade the NHS to grant a dispensation to send an ambulance."She peered out the doors aga"inW. hen did she go out to the dig?"
"I-" Dunworthy tried to remembSerh.e had phoned to ask him about the Scottish fishing guides on
Christmas Day and then phoned back that afternoon to say, "Never mind," because she had decided to
forge Basingame's signature instead".Christmas Day," he said".If the NHS offices were opeOnr. twenty-sixth. And she hasn't seen anyone since then."
"How do you know?"
the
"When I spoke to her, she was complaining that she couldn't keep the dig dry singSlehheanwdaend.ted me to phone to the NHS to ask for students to help her."
"How long ago was that?"
"Two-no, three days ago," he said, frownTinhge.
days ran together when one never got to bed.
"Could she have found someone at the farm to help after she spoke to you?" "There's no one there in the winter."
"As I remember, Montoya recruits anyone who comes within rPeearchha.ps she enlisted some passerby."
"She said there weren't anTyh.e dig's very isolated."
"Well, she must have found someoSnhee. 's been out at the dig for eight days, and the incubation period's only twelve to forty-eight hours."
"The ambulance is here!" Colin said.
Mary pushed out the doors, Dunworthy and Colin on her Thweeolsa. mbulancemen in masks lifted a stretcher out and onto a trolleDyu. nworthy recognized one of themH.e had helped bring Badri in.
Colin was bending over the stretcher, looking interestedly at Montoya, who lay with her eyes closed.
Her head was propped up with pillows, and her face was flushed the same heavy red as Ms. Breen's had been. Colin leaned farther over her, and she coughed directly in his face.
Dunworthy grabbed the collar of Colin's jacket and dragged him away fro"mComheer. away from

there. Are you trying to catch the virWus?hy aren't you wearing your mask?" "There aren't any."
"You shouldn't be here at Iallw. ant you to go straight back to Balliol and-" "I can'tI.'m assigned to make certain you get your enhancement."
"Then sit down over there," Dunworthy said, walking him over to a chair in the reception area, "and stay away from the patients."
"You'd better not try to sneak out on me," Colin said warningly, but he sat down, pulled his gobstopper out of his pocket, and wiped it on the sleeve of his jacket.
Dunworthy went back over to the stretcher tro"llLeuyp. e," Mary was saying, "we need to ask you some questions. When did you fall ill?"
"This morning," Montoya saiHd.er voice was hoarse, and Dunworthy realized suddenly that she must be the person who had telephoned hi"mL.ast night I had a terrible headache," she raised a muddy hand and drew it across her eyebrows, "but I thought it was because I was straining my eyes."
"Who was with you out at the dig?" "Nobody," Montoya said, sounding surprised.
"What about deliveriesD? id someone from Witney deliver supplies to you?"
She started to shake her head, but it apparently hurt, and she s"tNopop.eId.took everything with me." "And you didn't have anyone with you to help you with the excavation?"
"No.I asked Mr. Dunworthy to tell the NHS to send some help, but heMdaidryn'tl.o" oked across at Dunworthy, and Montoya followed her glanc"eA.re they sending someone?" she asked h"imTh. ey'll never find it if they don't get someone out there."
"Find what?" he said, wondering if her answer could be trusted or if she were delirious. "The dig is half underwater right now," she said.
"Find what?" "Kivrin's corder."
He had a sudden image of Montoya standing by the tomb, sorting through the muddy box of
stone-shaped bones.Wrist bones.They had been wrist bones, and she had been examining the uneven
edges, looking for a bone spur that was actually a piece of recording equKipimvrein'ts.
corder.
"I haven't excavated all the graves yet," Montoya said, "and it's still Trahienyingh.ave to send someone out immediately."
"Graves?" Mary said, looking at him uncomprehendin"gWly.hat is she talking about?"

"She's been excavating a mediaeval churchyard looking for Kivrin's body," he said bitterly, "looking for the corder you implanted in Kivrin's wrist."
Mary wasn't listening".I want the contacts charts," she said to the house oSffhiceert.urned back to
Dunworthy. "Badri was out at the dig, wasn't he?" "Yes."
"When?"
"The eighteenth and nineteenth," he said. "In the churchyard?"
"Yes.He and Montoya were opening a knight's tomb."
"A tomb," Mary said, as if it were the answer to a qSuehsetiobne.nt over Montoya".Did you work on the knight's tomb this week?" she asked.
Montoya tried to nod, stoppe"dI. get so dizzy when I move my head," she said apologet"iIcahllayd. to
move the skeletonW.
ater'd gotten into the tomb."
"What day did you work on the tomb?"
Montoya frowned". I can't rememberT. he day before the bells, I think."
"The thirty-first," Dunworthy saiHd.e leaned over her".Have you worked on it since?" She tried to shake her head again.
"The contacts charts are up," the house officer said.
Mary walked rapidly over to his desk and took the keyboard over froSmhe htiamp.ped several keys, stared at the screen, tapped more keys.
"What is it?" Dunworthy said.
"What are the conditions at the churchyard?" Mary said.
"Conditions?" he said blankl"yI.t's muddy.She's covered the churchyard with a tarp, but a good deal of rain was still getting in."
"Warm?"
"Yes.She said it was muggSy.he had several electric fires hooked Wuph. at is it?"
She drew her finger down the screen, looking for some"thViinrgu.ses are exceptionally sturdy organisms," she said". They can lie dormant for long periods of time and be reLviivviendg. viruses have been taken from Egyptian mummiesH."er finger stopped at a da"teI. thought soB. adri was at the dig four days before he came down with the virus."

She turned to the house offic"eIr.want a team out at the dig immediately," she told"GheitmN. HS
clearance. Tell them we may have found the source of the vSirhues."typed in a new screen, drew her finger down the names, typed in something else, and leaned back, looking at the"Wscereehna.d four secondaries with no positive connection to BadTrwi.o of them were at the dig four days before they came down with the viruTs.he other one was there three days before."
"The virus is at the dig?" Dunworthy said.
"Yes."She smiled ruefully at him"I.'m afraid Gilchrist was right after Talhl.e virus did come from the past. Out of the knight's tomb."
"Kivrin was at the dig," he said.
Now it was Mary who looked uncomprehend"inWgh. en?" "The Sunday afternoon before the drToph.e nineteenth." "Are you certain?"
"She told me before she lSefhte.
wanted her hands to look authentic."
"Oh, my God," she sa"idIf.
she was exposed four days before the drop, she hadn't had her T-cell
enhancement. The virus might have had a chance to replicate and invade her sSyhsetemight have come down with it."
Dunworthy grabbed her arm"B. ut that can't have happeneTd.he net wouldn't have let her through if there was a chance she'd infect the contemps."
"There wasn't any one for her to infect," Mary said, "not if the virus came out of the knHigeht's tomb. died of it in 111T8.he contemps had already had Tith.ey'd be immune."She walked rapidly over to Montoya. "When Kivrin was out at the dig, did she work on the tomb?"
"I don't know," Montoya sa"idI. wasn't thereI.
had a meeting with Gilchrist."
"Who would knowW? ho else was there that day?" "No oneE. veryone had gone home for vac."
"How did she know what she was supposed to do?" "The volunteers left notes to each other when they left." "Who was there that morning?" Mary asked.
"Badri," Dunworthy said and took off for isolation.
He walked straight into Badri's rooTmh.e nurse, caught off-guard with her swollen feet up on the displays, said, "You can't go in without SPG's," and started after him, but he was already inside.
Badri was lying propped against a pillHowe .looked very pale, as if his illness had bleached all the color

from his skin, and weak, but he looked up when Dunworthy burst in and started to speak. "Did Kivrin work on the knight's tomb?" Dunworthy demanded.
"Kivrin?"His voice was almost too weak to be heard.
The nurse banged in the do"oMr.r. Dunworthy, you are not allowed in here-"
"On Sunday," Dunworthy sai"dY. ou were to have left her a message telling her what Dtoid dyoo.u tell her to work on the tomb?"
"Mr. Dunworthy, you're exposing yourself to the virus-" the nurse said.
Mary came in, pulling on a pair of imperm g"loYvoeus.'re not supposed to be in here without SPG's, James," she said.
"I told him, Dr. Ahrens," the nurse said, but he barged past me and-"
"Did you leave Kivrin a message at the dig that she was to work on the tomb?" Dunworthy insisted. Badri nodded his head weakly.
"She was exposed to the virus," Dunworthy said to M"OanryS. unday.Four days before she left." "Oh, no," Mary breathed.
"What is itW? hat's happened?" Badri said, trying to push himself up in th"eWbheedr.e's Kivrin?"He looked from Dunworthy to Mar"yY. ou pulled her out, didn't yoAu?s soon as you realized what had happened? Didn't you pull her out?"
"What had happened-?" Mary said.
"You have to have pulled her out," Badri "sSahide.'s not in 1320S.he's in 1348."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
"That's impossible," Dunworthy said.
"1348?" Mary said bewilderedly. "But that can'tThbaet.'s the year of the Black Death."
She can't be in 1348, Dunworthy thouAghntd. rews said the possible maximal slippage was only five years. Badri said Puhalski's coordinates were correct.
"1348?" Mary said agaiHn.e saw her glance at the screens on the wall behind Badri, as if hoping he was still delirious."Are you certain?"
Badri nodded". I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw the slippage-," he said, and sounded as bewildered as Mary.
"There couldn't have been enough slippage for her to be in 1348," Dunworthy"I chuatdinA. ndrews run parameter checks.He said the maximal slippage was only five years."
Badri shook his hea"dI.t wasn't the slippageT.hat was only four hourIst. was too smalMl. inimal slippage on a drip that far in the past should have been at least forty-eight hours."
The slippage had not been too grIetath.ad been too smaIll.didn't ask Andrews what the minimal slippage was, only the maximal.
"I don't know what happened," Badri s"aIidh. ad such a headachTe.he whole time I was setting the net, I had a headache."
"That was the virus," Mary saSihde.
looked stunned". Headache and disorientation are the first
symptoms." She sank down in the chair beside the "b1e3d4.8."
1348.He could not seem to take thisHien.had been worried about Kivrin catching the Indian flu, he had been worried about there being too much slippage, and all the time she wasTihne 1p3l4a8g.ue had
hit Oxford in 1348A. t Christmastime.

"As soon as I saw how small the slippage was, I knew there was something wrong," Badri said, so I
called up the coordinates- -"
"You said you checked Puhalski's coordinates," Dunworthy said accusingly.
"He was only a first-year apprentiHcee.'d never even done a remoAten. d Gilchrist didn't have the least idea what he was doinIg.tried to tell yoWu. asn't she at the rendezvous?H"e looked at Dunworthy.
"Why didn't you pull her out?"
"We didn't know," Mary said, still sitting there stun"Yneodu. delirious."
weren't able to tell us anythiYngo.u were
"The plague killed fifty million people," Dunworthy "sIatidk.illed half of Europe." "James," Mary said.
"I tried to tell you," Badri s"aTidh.at's why I came to get ySoou. we could pull her out before she left the rendezvous."
He had tried to tell hHime. had run all the way to the Hpueb.had run out in the pouring rain without his
coat to tell him, pushing his way between the Christmas shoppers and their shopping bags and umbrellas as if they weren't there, and arrived wet and half-frozen, his teeth chattering with tThehefreev'ser.
something wrong.
I tried to tell yoHue.
had."It killed half of Europe," he had said, and "it was the rats," and "What year is
it?" He had tried to tell him.
"If it wasn't the slippage, it has to have been an error in the coordinates," Dunworthy said, gripping the end of the bed.
Badri shrank back against the propped pillows like a cornered animal. "You said Puhalski's coordinates were correct."
"James," Mary said warningly.
"The coordinates are the only other thing that could go wrong," he s"hAonuytethdi.ng else would have
aborted the dropY.
ou said you checked them twicYeo. u said you couldn't find any mistakes."
"I couldn't," Badri sai"dB. ut I didn't trust themI .was afraid he'd made a mistake in the sidereal calculations that wouldn't show upH."is face went gray".I refed them myselfT.he morning of the drop."
The morning of the dropW. hen he had had the terrific headacWheh.en he was already feverish and disoriented. Dunworthy remembered him typing at the console, frowning at the display scIreens. watched him do it, he thougIht.stood and watched him send Kivrin to the Black Death.
"I don't know what happened," Badri s"aIidm. ust have-"
"The plague wiped out whole villages," Dunworthy "sSaiod. many people died, there was no one left to bury them."

"Leave him alone, James," Mary sa"iIdt'.s not his faulHt. e was ill."
"Ill," he said".Kivrin was exposed to the Indian
Sflhue. 's in 1348."
"James," Mary said.
He didn't wait to hearHiet. yanked the door open and plunged out.
Colin was balancing on a chair in the corridor, tipping it back so the front two legs were off the ground. "There you are," he said.
Dunworthy walked rapidly past him.
"Where are you going?" Colin said, tipping the chair forward with a"Gcrreaasth-.Aunt Mary said not to let you leave till you'd had your enhancemeHnte."lurched sideways, caught himself on his hands, and scrambled up."Why aren't you wearing your SPG's?"
Dunworthy shoved through the ward doors.
Colin came skidding through the doo"rGs.reat-Aunt Mary said I was absolutely not to let you leave."
"I don't have time for inoculations," Dunworthy
"sSaihde.'s in 1348."
"Great-Aunt Mary?"
He started down the corridor.
"Kivrin?" Colin asked, running to catch "uSph.e can't beT. hat's when the Black Death was, isn't it?" Dunworthy shoved open the door to the stairs and started down them two at a time.
"I don't understand," Colin sa"idH.ow did she end up 1i3n48?"
Dunworthy pushed open the door at the foot of the stairs and started down the corridor to the call box, fishing in his overcoat for the pocket calendar Colin had given him.
"How are you going to pull her out?" Colin a"sTkheed.laboratory's locked."
Dunworthy pulled out the pocket calendar and began turning pHaeg'eds.written Andrews' number in the back.
"Mr. Gilchrist won't let you Hino.w are you going to get into the laboratHorey?said he wouldn't let you in."
Andrews' number was on the last paHgee. picked up the receiver. "If he does let you in, who's going to run thMe r.neCt?haudhuri?" "Andrews," Dunworthy said shortly and began punching in the number. "I thought he wouldn't comBee.cause of the virus."

Dunworthy put the receiver to his "eIa'mr.
not leaving her there."
A woman answered".24837 here," she said".H.F. Shepherds', Limited."
Dunworthy looked blankly at the pocket calendar in his "hIa'mnd.trying to reach Ronald Andrews," he said. "What number is this?"
"24837," she said impatientl"yT. here's no one here by that name."
He slammed the phone dow"nId. iot telephone service," he saiHd.e punched in the number again.
"Even if he agrees to come, how are you going to find her?" Colin asked, looking over his shoulder at the receiver. "She won't be there, will shTe?he rendezvous isn't for three days."
Dunworthy listened to the telephone's ringing, wondering what Kivrin had done when she realized where she was.Gone back to the rendezvous and waited there, no dIofubsht.e was able tIof. she was not ill.
If she had not been accused of bringing the plague to Skendgate. "24837 here," the same woman's voice s"aHid..F. Shepherds', Limited." "What number is this?" Dunworthy shouted.
"24837," she said, exasperated.
"24837," Dunworthy repeated".That's the number I'm trying to reach."
"No, it's not," Colin said, reaching across him to point to Andrews' number on "thYeoup'vaegem. ixed the numbers."He took the receiver away from Dunwort"hHy.ere, let me try it for yoHu.e" punched in the number and handed the receiver back to Dunworthy.
The ringing sounded different, farther awDayu.nworthy thought about KivrinT.he plague had not hit everywhere at onceI.t had been in Oxford at Christmas, but there was no way of knowing when it had reached Skendgate.
There was no answeHr.e let the phone ring ten times, elevHeen.could not remember which way the plague had come fromI.t had come from FrancSe.urely that meant from the east, across the Channel. And Skendgate was west of OxforIdt .might not have reached there until after Christmas.
"Where's the book?" he asked Colin.
"What book?Your appointment calendar, you meanIt?'s right here." "The book I gave you for ChristmWash.y don't you have it?" "Here?" Colin said bewilderedl"yI.t weighs at least five stone."
There was still no answDeru. nworthy hung up the receiver, snatched up the calendar, and started toward the door". I expect you to keep it with you at all tDimone'st. you know there's an epidemic on?"
"Are you all right, Mr. Dunworthy?"

"Go and get it," Dunworthy said. "What, right now?"
"Go back to Balliol and geIt iwt.ant to know when the plague reached OxfordsNhioret. the townT. he villages. And which direction it came from."
"Where are you going?" Colin asked, running alongside him. "To make Gilchrist open the laboratory."
"If he won't open it because of the flu, he'll never open it for the plague," Colin said.
Dunworthy opened the door and went
Iotutw. as raining hardT.he EC protesters were huddled under
Infirmary's overhand.One of them started toward him, proffering a fClyoelri.n was rightT. elling Gilchrist
the source would have no effeHcte.
would remain convinced the virus had come through thHe enet.
would be afraid to open it for fear the plague would come through. "Give me a sheet of paper," he said, fumbling for his pen.
"A sheet of paper?" Colin sa"iWd.hat for?"
Dunworthy snatched the flyer from the EC protester and began scribbling on th"eMrb.acBka.singame is authorizing the opening of the net," he said.
Colin peered at the writin"gH.e'll never believe that, Mr. DunworthOyn.
the back of a flyer?"
"Then fetch me a sheet of paper!" he shouted.
Colin's eyes widened".I will.You wait here, all right?" he said placatin"gDlyo.n't leave."
He dashed back inside and reappeared immediately with several sheets of hardcopyDpuanpweorr.thy snatched it from him and scrawled the orders and Basingame's n"Gamoe.and fetch your booIk'l.l meet you at Brasenose."
"What about your coat?"
"There's no time," he saHide.
folded the paper in fourths and jammed it inside his jacket.
"It's rainingS. houldn't you take a taxi?" Colin said. "There aren't any taxisH."e started off down the street.
"Great-Aunt Mary's going to kill me, you know," Colin called afte"rShheims.aid it was my responsibility to see that you got your inoculation."
He should have taken a taIxt i.was pouring by the time he reached Brasenose, a hard slanting rain that would be sleet in another houDru. nworthy felt chilled to the bone.
The rain had at least driven the picketers aTwhaeyr.e was nothing in front of Brasenose but a few wet

flyers they had droppedA. n expandable metal gate had been pulled across the front of the entrance to
Brasenose. The porter had retreated inside his lodge, and the shutter was down.
"Open up! " Dunworthy shouteHde.
rattled the gate loudl"yO. pen up immediately!"
The porter pulled the shutter up and lookedWohuet.n he saw it was Dunworthy, he looked alarmed and then belligerent". Brasenose is under quarantine," he sa"idIt.'s restricted."
"Open this gate immediately," Dunworthy said.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir," he "sMaird.. Gilchrist has given orders that no one be admitted to
Brasenose until the source of the virus is discovered." "We know the source," Dunworthy sa"iOd.pen the gate."
The porter let the shutter down, and in a minute he came out of the lodge and over "Wto atsheit gate. the Christmas decorations?" he sai"dT. hey said the ornaments were infected with it."
"No," Dunworthy said".Open the gate and let me in."
"I don't know whether I should do that, sir," he said, looking uncomf"oMrtar.blGe.ilchrist..."
"Mr. Gilchrist isn't in charge any more," he Hsaeidp.ulled the folded paper out of his jacket and poked it through the metal gate at the porter.
He unfolded it and read it, standing there in the rain.
"Mr. Gilchrist is no longer Acting Head," Dunworthy "sMaird.. Basingame has authorized me to take charge of the dropO. pen the gate."
"Mr. Basingame," he said, peering at the already-blotted signa"tIu'lrle.find the keys," he said.
He went back in the lodge, taking the paper withDuhnimw.orthy huddled against the gate, trying to keep out of the freezing rain and shivering.
He had been worried about Kivrin sleeping on the cold ground, and she was in the middle of a holocaust, where people froze to death because no one was left on their feet to chop wood and the animals died in the fields because no one was left alive to bring tEhiegmhtyint.housand dead in Siena,
three hundred thousand in Rome, more than a hundred thousand in FloOrenneceh.alf of Europe.
The porter finally emerged with a large ring of keys and came over to "tIh'lle hgaavte it open in a moment, sir," he said, sorting through the keys.
Kivrin would surely have gone back to the drop as soon as she realized it wShaes 1w3o4u8l.d have been there all this time, waiting for the net to open, frantic that they hadn't come to get her.
If she had realizeSd.he would have no way of knowing she was in B13ad4r8i. had told her the slippage would be several daysS.he would have checked the date against the Advent holy days and thought she was exactly where she was supposed to Itbew. ould never have occurred to her to ask the Syheear.
would think she was in 1320, and all the time the plague would be sweeping toward her.

The gate's lock clicked free, and Dunworthy pushed it together far enough to squeeze "tBhrrionuggh. your keys," he said".I need you to unlock the laboratory."
"That key's not on here," the porter said, and disappeared into the lodge again.
It was icy in the passage, and the rain came slanting in, colDdeurnwstiollr.thy huddled next to the door
of the lodge, trying to catch some of the heat from inside and jammed his hands hard against the bottoms of his jacket pockets to stop the shivering.
He had been worried about cutthroats and thieves, and all this time she had been in 1348, where they had piled the dead in the streets, where they had burned Jews and strangers at the stake in their panic.
He had been worried about Gilchrist not doing parameter checks, so worried that he had infected Badri with his anxiety, and Badri, already feverish, had refed the coordiSnoatews.orried.
He realized suddenly that the porter had been gone too long, that he must be warning Gilchrist.
He moved toward the door, and as he did, the porter emerged, carrying an umbrella and exclaiming
over the coldH.
e offered half the umbrella to Dunworthy.
"I'm already wet through," Dunworthy said and strode off ahead of him through the quad.
The door of the laboratory had a yellow plastic banner stretched acDrousnswiotr.thy tore it off while
the porter searched through his pockets for the key to the alarm, switching the umbrella from hand to hand.
Dunworthy glanced up behind him at Gilchrist's rooTmhesy.
overlooked the laboratory, and there was a
light on in the sitting room, but Dunworthy couldn't detect any movement.
The porter found the flat cardkey that switched off the Halearmsw. itched it off and began looking for the key to the doo"rI.'m still not certain I should unlock the laboratory without Mr. Gilchrist's authorization," he said.
"Mr. Dunworthy!" Colin shouted from halfway across the qTuhaedy.
both looked up.Colin came
racing up, drenched to the skin with the book under his arm, wrapped in the"Imt-ufdfildern.'t-hit--parts of Oxfordshire--till--March," he said, stopping between words to catch his b"rSeaotrhry. . I-ran--all the way."
"What parts?" Dunworthy asked.
Colin handed the book to him and bent over, his hands on his knees, taking deep noisy breaths. "It-doesn't--say."
Dunworthy unwound the muffler and opened the book to the page Colin had turned down, but his spectacles were too spattered with rain to read it, and the open pages were promptly soaked.
"It says it started in Melcombe and moved north to Bath anItd seaaysst. it was in Oxford at Christmas
and London the next October, but that parts of Oxfordshire didn't get it till late spring, and that a few individual villages were missed until July."
Dunworthy stared blindly at the unreadable pa"gTesh.at doesn't tell us anything," he said.

"I know," Colin saiHd.e straightened up, still breathing hard, "but at least it doesn't say the plague was all through Oxfordshire by ChristmaPse. rhaps she's in one of those villages it didn't come to till March."
Dunworthy wiped the wet pages with the dangling muffler and shut th"eItbomookv.ed east from Bath," he said softly". Skendgate's just south of the Oxford-Bath road."
The porter had finally decided on a Hke .pushed it into the lock. "I rang up Andrews again, but there was still no answer."
The porter opened the door.
"How are you going to run the net without a tech?" Colin said.
"Run the net?" the porter said, the key still in his"Ihuand.erstood that you wished to obtain data from the computer.Mr. Gilchrist won't allow you to run the net without authorizaHtieont."ook out
Basingame's authorization and looked at it.
"I'm authorizing it," Dunworthy said and swept past him into the lab.
The porter started in, caught his open umbrella on the doorframe, and fumbled on the handle for the catch.
Colin ducked under the umbrella and in after Dunworthy.
Gilchrist must have turned the heat Tohffe.
laboratory was scarcely warmer than the outside, but
Dunworthy's spectacles, wet as they were, steamed Huep. took them off and tried to wipe them dry on his wet suit jacket.
"Here," Colin said and handed him a wadded length of paper"Itits'ssulea.vatory paperI.'ve been
collecting it for Mr. FincTh.he thing is, it's going to be difficult enough to find her if we land in the proper place, and you said yourself that getting the exact time and place are awfully complicated."
"We already have the exact time and place," Dunworthy said, wiping his spectacles on the lavatory paper. He put them on agaiTn.hey were still blurred.
"I'm afraid I shall have to ask you to leave," the port'eIr csaanindo. t allow you in here without Mr. Gilchrist's-" He stopped.
"Oh, blood," Colin muttere"dI.t's Mr. Gilchrist."
"What's the meaning of this?" Gilchrist s"aWid.hat are you doing here?" "I'm going to bring Kivrin through," Dunworthy said.
"On whose authority?" Gilchrist sa"idT.his is Brasenose's net, and you are guilty of unlawful eHntery." turned on the porter".I gave you orders that Mr. Dunworthy was not to be allowed on the premises."
"Mr. Basingame authorized it," he saHide. held the damp paper out.

Gilchrist snatched it from hi"mB.asingame!" He stared down at i"tT. his isn't Basingame's signature," he said furiously."Unlawful entry and now forgerMy.r. Dunworthy, I intend to file chargAesn.d when Mr. Basingame returns, I intend to inform him of your-"
Dunworthy took a step toward h"imA.nd I intend to inform Mr. Basingame how his Acting Head of Faculty refused to abort a drop, how he intentionally endangered an historian, how he refused to allow access to this laboratory and how as a result the historian's temporal location could not be determined." He waved his arm at the conso"lDe.o you know what this fix saTysh?is fix that you wouldn't let my tech
read for ten days because of a lot of imbeciles who don't understand time travel, includDinog yyoouu? know what it saysK? ivrin's not in 1320S.he's in 1348, in the middle of the Black DeHateh.t"urned and gestured toward the screen".And she's been there two weekBse.cause of your stupidityB. ecause of-" He stopped.
"You have no right to speak to me that way," Gilchris"tAsnadidn. o right to be in this laboratIory. demand that you leave immediately."
Dunworthy didn't answerH. e took a step toward the console.
"Call the proctor," Gilchrist said to the po"rItewr.ant them thrown out."
The screen was not only blank but dark, and so were the function lights above it on tTheheconsole. power switch was turned to o"fYf.ou've switched off the power," Dunworthy said, and his voice sounded as old as Badri's ha"dY.ou've shut down the net."
"Yes," Gilchrist said, "and a good thing, too, since you feel you have the right to barge in without authorization."
He put a hand out blindly toward the blank screen, staggering "aYoliutt'lvee. repeated.
"Are you all right, Mr. Dunworthy?" Colin said, taking a step forward.
shut down the net," he
"I thought you might attempt to break in and open the net," Gilchrist said, "since you seem to have no respect for Mediaeval's authorityI. cut off the power to prevent that happening, and it appears I did the right thing."
Dunworthy had heard of people being struck down by bad Wnehwens. Badri had told him Kivrin was
in 1348, he had not been able to absorb what it meant, but this news seemed to strike him with a physica force, knocking the wind out of him so that he couldn't catch his"Ybroeuaths.hut the net down," he
said. "You've lost the fix."
"Lost the fix?" Gilchrist sa"idN.onsense. There are backups and things sureWly.hen the power's switched on again-"
"Does this mean we don't know where Kivrin is?" Colin asked.
"Yes," Dunworthy said, and thought as he fell, I am going to hit the console like Badri did, but he didn't. He fell almost gently, like a man with the wind knocked out of him, and collapsed like a lover into Gilchrist's outstretched arms.
"I knew it," he heard Colin
"sTayh.is is because you didn't get your enhancemGenret.at-Aunt Mary's

going to kill me."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
"That's impossible," Kivrin sai"dI.t can't be 1348," but it all made sense, Imeyne's chaplain dying, and
their not having any servants, Eliwys's not wanting to send Gawyn to Oxford to find out who Kivrin was. "There is much illness there," Lady Yvolde had said, and the Black Death had hit Oxford at Christmas in
1348. "What happened?" she said, and her voice rose out of co"nWtrohla.t happened?I was supposed
to go to 13201.320! Mr. Dunworthy told me I shouldn't come, he said Mediaeval didn't know what they were doing, but they couldn't have sent me to the wrongSyheears!t"opped."You must get out of here! It's the Black Death!"
They all looked at her so uncomprehendingly that she thought the interpreter must have lapsed into
English again."It's the Black Death," she said aga"iTnh. e blue sickness!"
"Nay," Eliwys said softly, and Kivrin said, "Lady Eliwys, you must take Lady Imeyne and Father Roche down to the hall."
"It cannot be," she said, but she took Lady Imeyne's arm and led her out, Imeyne clutching the poultice

as if it were her reliquaMry.aisry darted after them, her hands clutched to her ears. "You must go, too," Kivrin said to Ro"cIhew.ill stay with the clerk."
"Thruuuu..." the clerk murmured from the bed, and Roche turned to lookTahtehcimler.k struggled to rise, and Roche started toward him.
"No!" Kivrin said, and grabbed his slee"Yveo.u mustn't go near him." She interposed herself between him and the bed".The clerk's illness is contagious," she said, willing the interpreter to translate.
"Infectious. It is spread by fleas and by..." she hesitated, trying to think how to describe droplet infection,
"by the humours and exhalations of theItilils.
a deadly disease, which kills nearly all who come near it."
She watched him anxiously, wondering if he had understood anything she'd said, if he could understand it. There had been no knowledge of germs in the 1300's, no knowledge of how diseasesThsepread. contemps had believed the Black Death was a judgment from TGheoyd. had thought it was spread by poisonous mists which floated across the countryside, by a dead person's glance, by magic.
"Father," the clerk said, and Roche tried to step past Kivrin, but she barred his way. "We cannot leave them to die," he said.
They did, though, she thougThth.ey ran away and left thePme.ople abandoned their own children, and doctors refused to come, and all the priests fled.
She stooped and picked up one of the strips of cloth Lady Imeyne had torn for he"rYpoouulmtiucest. cover your mouth and nose with this," she said.
She handed it to him and he looked at it, frowning, and then folded it into a flat packet and held it to hi face.
"Tie it," Kivrin said, picking up another Sohnee. folded it diagonally and put it over her nose and mouth like a bandit's mask and tied it in a knot in the"Lbikaeckt.his."
Roche obeyed, fumbling with the knot, and looked at KSivhreinm. oved aside, and he bent over the clerk and put his hand on his chest.
"Don't-"she said, and he looked up at "hDeor.n't touch him any more than you have to."
She held her breath as Roche examined him, afraid that he would start up suddenly again and grab at Roche, but he didn't move at Talhl.e bubo under his arm had begun to ooze blood and a slow greenish pus.
Kivrin put a restraining hand on Roche's "aDrmo.n't touch it," she sai"dH. e must have broken it when
we were struggling with himS."he wiped the blood and pus away with one of Imeyne's cloth strips and bound up the wound with the last one, tying it tightly at the shTohueldcelre.rk did not wince or cry out, and when she looked at him she saw he was staring straight ahead, unmoving.
"Is he dead?" she asked.
"Nay," Roche said, his hand on his chest again, and she could see the faint ris"eI amndustfabllr.ing the sacraments," he said through the mask, and his words were almost as blurred as the clerk's.

No, Kivrin thought, the panic rising agDaionn. 't go.What if he diesW? hat if he rises up again? Roche straightened". Do not fear," he sai"dI. will come again."
He went out rapidly, without shutting the door, and Kivrin went over to Schleosecoiut.ld hear sounds from below- Eliwys's and Roche's voiceSsh.e should have told him not to speak to anyAognnee.s said,
"I wish to stay with Kivrin," and began to howl and Rosemund answered her angrily, shouting over the crying.
"I will tell Kivrin," Agnes said outraged, and Kivrin shoved the door to and barred it.
Agnes must not come in here, nor Rosemund, nor anTyhoenye. must not be exposeTd.here was no cure for the Black DeatTh.he only way to protect them was to keep them from catchSihneg tirti.ed frantically to remember what she knew about the plaSghuee. had studied it in Fourteenth Century, and Dr. Ahrens had talked about it when she'd given Kivrin her inoculations.
There were two distinct types, no, three-one went directly into the bloodstream and killed the victim within hours.Bubonic plague was spread by rat fleas, and that was the kind that produced the buboes. The other kind was pneumonic, and it didn't have buTbohe .victim coughed and vomited up blood,
and that was spread by droplet infection and was horribly contagBiuotust.he clerk had the bubonic, and that wasn't as contagiousS.imply being near the patient wouldn't do it-the flea had to jump from one person to another.
She had a sudden vivid image of the clerk falling on Rosemund, bearing her down toWthat filfoor. she gets it? she thoughSt.he can't, she can't get Tith.ere isn't any cure.
The clerk stirred in the bed, and Kivrin went over to him.
"Thirsty," he said, licking his lips with his swollen toSnhgeueb. rought him a cup of water, and he drank a few gulps greedily and then choked and spewed it over her.
She backed away, yanking off the drenched mIat's
.the bubonic, she told herself, wiping frantically at
her chest.This kind isn't spread by droplAetn. d you can't get the plague, you've had your inoculation. But she had had her antivirals and her T-cell enhancement, Sthoeo. should not have been able to get the virus either.She should not have landed in 1348.
"What happened?" she whispered.
It couldn't be the slippagMe.r. Dunworthy had been upset that they hadn't run slippage checks, but even at its worst, the drop would only have been off by weeks, noSt oymeaerths.ing must have gone wrong
with the net.
Mr. Dunworthy had said Mr. Gilchrist didn't know what he was doing, and something had gone wrong, and she had come through in 1348, but why hadn't they aborted the drop as soon as they knew it was the wrong date?Mr. Gilchrist might not have had the sense to pull her out, but Mr. Dunworthy would have. He hadn't wanted her to come in the first pWlahcey. hadn't he opened the net again?
Because I wasn't there, she thougIht t.would have taken at least two hours to get thBey fitxh.en she
had wandered off into the woodBsu. t he would have held the net opHeen.wouldn't have closed it again and waited for the rendezvouHs.e'd hold it open for her.

She half-ran to the door and pushed up on thSehebamr. ust find GawynS.he must make him tell her where the drop was.
The clerk sat up and flung his bare leg over the bed as if he would go"Hwelipthmhee,r". he said, and tried to move his other leg.
"I can't help you," she said ang"riIlyd. on't belong here.S"he shoved the bar up out of its sock"Iets.
must find Gawyn."But as soon as she said it, she remembered that he wasn't there, that he had gone with the bishop's envoy and Sir Bloet to CouWrcyit.h the bishop's envoy, who had been in such a hurry to
leave he had nearly run down Agnes.
She dropped the bar and turned on
"hDimid.
the others have the plague?" she demand"Dedi.d the
bishop's envoy have it?S"he remembered his gray face and the way he had shivered and pulled his cloak around him.He would infect all of theBml:oet and his haughty sister and the chattering gAirnlds. Gawyn.
"You knew you had it when you came here, didn'tDyiodun?'t you?"
The clerk held his arms out stiffly to her, like a"Hcehlipld.me," he said, and fell back, his head and shoulder nearly off the bed.
"You don't deserve to be helpYedo.u brought the plague here." There was a knock.
"Who is it?" she said angrily.
"Roche," he called through the door, and she felt a wave of relief, of joy that he had come, but she didn' move. She looked down at the clerk, still lying half off thHe ibs emd.outh was open, and his swollen
tongue filled his entire mouth.
"Let me in," Roche sa"idI . must hear his confession." His confession". No," Kivrin said.
He knocked again, louder.
"I can't let you in," Kivrin s"aIitd's.
contagious.You might catch it."
"He is in peril of death," Roche
"sHaide. must be shriven that he may enter into heaven."
He's not going to heaven, Kivrin thouHghet.brought the plague here.
The clerk opened his eyeTsh.ey were bloodshot and swollen, and there was a faint hum to his breathing. He's dying, she thought.
"Katherine," Roche said.
Dying, and far from homLei.ke I wasS. he had brought a disease with her, too, and if no one had succumbed to it, it was not because of anything she hadTdhoenye.had all helped her, Eliwys and Imeyne and RocheS. he might have infected all of theRmo.che had given her the last rites, he had held her hand.

Kivrin lifted the clerk's head gently and laid him straight in tThehebneds.he went to the door.
"I'll let you give him the last rites," she said, opening it a crack, "but I must speak to you first." Roche had put on his vestments and taken off his Hmeascka.rried the holy oil and the viaticum in a
basket. He set them on the chest at the foot of the bed, looking at the clerk, whose breathing was becoming more labored". I must hear his confession," he said.
"No!" Kivrin said".Not until I've told you what I haveSthoe." took a deep breat"hT. he clerk has the bubonic plague," she said, listening carefully for the transla"tiIot ni.s a terrible diseasNe.early all who
catch it dieI.t is spread by rats and their fleas and by the breath of those who are ill, and their clothes and belongings." She looked anxiously at him, willing him to understHaned.looked anxious, too, and
bewildered.
"It's a terrible disease," she sa"iIdt'.s not like typhoid or choleIrta's.
already killed hundreds of
thousands of people in Italy and France, so many in some places there's no one left to bury the dead."
His expression was unreadabl"eY. ou have remembered you who you are and whence you came," he said, and it wasn't a question.
He thinks I was fleeing the plague when Gawyn found me in the woods, sheIfthIosuagyht.yes, he'll
think I'm the one who brought it hBeruet. there was nothing accusing in his look, and she had to make him understand.
"Yes," she said, and waited. "What must we do?" he said.
"You must keep the others from this room, and you must tell them they must stay in the house and let no one in.You must tell the villagers to stay in their houses, too, and if they see a dead rat not to go near it. There must be no more feasting or dancing on the gTrheeenv. illagers mustn't come into the manor house
or the courtyard or the churcThh.ey mustn't gather together anywhere."
"I will bid Lady Eliwys keep Agnes and Rosemund inside," he said, "and tell the villagers to keep to their houses."
The clerk made a strangled sound from the bed, and they both turned and looked at him.
"Is there naught we can do to help those who have caught this plague?" he said, pronouncing the word awkwardly.
She had tried to remember what remedies the contemps had tried while he wTashegyonhea.d carried nosegays of flowers and drunk powdered emeralds and applied leeches to the buboes, but all of those were worse than useless, and Dr. Ahrens had said it wouldn't have mattered what they had tried, that nothing except antibiotics like tetracycline and streptomycin would have worked, and they had not been discovered until the twentieth century.
"We must give him liquids and keep him warm," she said. Roche looked at the cler"kS.urely God will help him," he said.

He won't, she thoughHt.e didn't.Half of Europe". God cannot help us against the Black Death," she said.
Roche nodded and picked up the holy oil.
"You must put your mask on," Kivrin said, kneeling to pick up the last clSohthe tsiterdip.it over his
mouth and nose". You must always wear it when you tend him," she said, hoping he wouldn't notice she wasn't wearing hers.
"Is it God who has sent this upon us?" Roche said. "No," Kivrin said".No."
"Has the Devil sent it then?"
It was tempting to say yMeso. st of Europe had believed it was Satan who was responsible for the
Black Death.And they had searched for the Devil's agents, tortured Jews and lepers, stoned old women, burned young girls at the stake.
"No one sent it," Kivrin sa"iIdt'.s a diseaseI.t's no one's faulGt. od would help us if He could, but He..." He what?Can't hear us?Has gone away?Doesn't exist?
"He cannot come," she finished lamely.
"And we must act in His stead?" Roche said. "Yes."
Roche knelt beside the beHde.
bent his head over his hands, and then raised it "aIgakinne.w that God
had sent you among us for some good cause," he said. She knelt, too, and folded her hands.
"Mittere digneris sanctum Angelum," Roche pray"eSde.nd us Thy holy angel from heaven to guard and protect all those that are assembled together in this house."
"Don't let Roche catch it," Kivrin said into the c"oDrdoenr'.t let Rosemund catch before it reaches his lungs."
Lit.et the clerk die
Roche's voice chanting the rites was the same as it had been when she was ill, and she hoped it
comforted the clerk as it had comforted Shhere. couldn't tellH.
e was unable to make his confession, and
the anointing seemed to hurt hiHme.
winced when the oil touched the palms of his hands, and his
breathing seemed to grow louder as Roche prayReodc.he raised his head and looked at hHimis. arms
were breaking out in the tiny purplish-blue bruises that meant the blood vessels under the skin were breaking, one by one.
Roche turned and looked at Kivr"iAn.re these the last days," he asked, "the end of the world that God's apostles have foretold?"
Yes, Kivrin though"t.No," she said". No. It's only a bad timAe. terrible time, but not everyone will die.

And there will be wonderful times after tThhise.
Renaissance and class reforms and musWico. nderful
times. There will be new medicines, and people won't have to die from this or smallpox or pneumonia. And everyone will have enough to eat, and their houses will be warm even in theShweinthteoru."ght of
Oxford, decorated for Christmas, the streets and shops"Tlhite.re will be lights everywhere, and bells that you don't have to ring."
Their conversation had calmed the cleHrkis.
breathing eased, and he fell into a doze.
"You must come away from him now," Kivrin said and led him over to theSwheinbdroowu.ght the bowl to him". You must wash your hands after you have touched him," she said.
There was scarcely any water in the b"oWwle.
must wash the bowls and spoons we use to feed him,"
she said, watching him wash his huge hands, "and we must burn the cloths and bTahnedapgleasg.ue is in them."
He wiped his hands on the tail of his robe and went down to tell Eliwys what sheHwe absrotuoghdto. back a bowl of fresh water, but it did not lastTlhoengc.lerk had come out of his doze and asked repeatedly for a drinkK. ivrin held the cup for him, trying to keep Roche away from him as much as possible.
Roche went to say vespers and ring the Kbievlrli.n closed the door after him, listening for sounds from below, but she couldn't hear anythinPge.rhaps they are asleep, she thought, orSihlel. thought of Imeyne bending over the clerk with her poultice, of Agnes standing at the end of the bed, of Rosemund underneath him.
It's too late, she thought, pacing beside the bed, they've all been eHxpoowsedlo.ng was the incubation period? Two weeks?No, that was how long the vaccine took to take eFfofeucrt.days?Three? She
could not rememberA.
nd how long had the clerk been contagioSuhse? tried to remember who he had
sat next to at the Christmas feast, who he had talked to, but she hadn't been watcShhineg'd hbimee.n watching Gawyn.The only clear memory she had was of the clerk grabbing Maisry's skirt.
She went to the door again and opene"dMaiti.sry!" she called.
There was no answer, and that didn't mean anything, Maisry was probably asleep or hiding, and the clerk had bubonic, not pneumonic, and it was spread by Tflheeasc. hances were that he had not infected anyone, but as soon as Roche came back, she left him with the clerk and took the brazier downstairs to
fetch hot coalsA.
nd to reassure herself that they were all right.
Rosemund and Eliwys were sitting by the fire, with sewing on their laps, with Lady Imeyne next to them, reading from her Book of HouArsg. nes was playing with her cart, pushing it back and forth over the
stone flags and talking to Mit.aisry was asleep on one of the benches near the high table, her face sulky even in sleep.
Agnes ran into Imeyne's foot with the cart, and the old woman looked down at her and said, "I will take your toy from you and you cannot play nicely, Agnes," and the sharpness of her reprimand, Rosemund's hastily supressed smile, the healthy pinkness of their faces in the fire's light, were all inexpressibly
reassuring to KivrinI.t could have been any night in the manor.
Eliwys was not sewinSgh. e was cutting linen into long strips with her scissors, and she looked up constantly at the doorI.meyne's voice, reading from her Book of Hours, had an edge of worry, and Rosemund, tearing the linen, looked anxiously at her moEthleiwr.ys stood up and went out through the

screens. Kivrin wondered if she had heard someone coming, but after a minute, she came back to her seat and took up the linen again.
Kivrin came on down the stairs quietly, but not quietly enAogungehs. scrambled up."Kivrin!" she shouted, and launched herself at her.
abandoned her cart and
"Careful!" Kivrin said, warding her off with her free "hTahneds.e are hot coals."
They weren't hot, of coursIfe. they were, she wouldn't have come down to replace them, but Agnes backed away a few steps.
"Why do you wear a mask?" she as"kWedil.l you tell me a story?"
Eliwys had stood up, too, and Imeyne had turned to look"Hatowherd. oes the bishop's clerk?" Eliwys asked.
He is in torment, she wanted to Sshaey. settled for, "His fever is down a lYittoleu. must keep well away from me.The infection may be in my clothes."
They all got up, even Imeyne, closing her Book of Hours on her reliquary, and stepped back from the hearth, watching her.
The stump of the Yule log was still on thKe ivfirrien.
used her skirt to take the lid from the brazier and
dumped the gray coals on the edge of the heAasrthh.roiled up, and one of the coals hit the stump and bounced and skittered along the floor.
Agnes laughed, and they all watched its progress across the floor and under a bench except Eliwys, who had turned back to watch the screens.
"Has Gawyn returned with the horses?" Kivrin asked, and then wasShsoerrayl.ready knew the answer from Eliwys's strained face, and it made Imeyne turn and stare coldly at her.
"Nay," Eliwys said without turning her he"Tadh.ink you the others of the bishop's party were ill, too?" Kivrin thought of the bishop's gray face, of the friar's haggard expr"eIssdion.'t know," she said.
"The weather grows cold," Rosemund sa"iMd.ayhap he thought to stay the night."
Eliwys didn't answerK. ivrin knelt by the fire and stirred the coals with the heavy poker, bringing the red coals to the topS.he tried to maneuver them into the brazier, using the poker, and then gave up and scooped them up with the brazier lid.
"You have brought this upon us," Imeyne said.
Kivrin looked up, her heart suddenly thumping, but Imeyne was not lookingShaet hwears. Eliwys. "It is your sins have brought this punishment to bear."
looking at
Eliwys turned to look at Imeyne, and Kivrin expected shock or anger in her face, but there was neither. She looked at her mother-in-law disinterestedly, as if her mind were somewhere else.
"The Lord punishes adulterers and all their house," Imeyne said, "as now he punishSehseyou."

brandished the Book of Hours in her f"aIcte.is your sin that has brought the plague here."
"It was you who sent for the bishop," Eliwys said c"oYloduly.were not satisfied with Father RocIhte. was you who brought them here, and the plague with them."
She turned on her heel, and went out through the screens.
Imeyne stood stiffly, as though she had been struck, and went back to the bench where she had been sitting. She eased herself to her knees and took the reliquary from her book and ran the chain absently through her fingers.
"Would you tell me a story now?" Agnes asked Kivrin.
Imeyne propped her elbows on the bench and pressed her hands against her forehead. "Tell me the tale of the naughty girl," Agnes said.
"Tomorrow," Kivrin said, "I will tell you a story tomorrow," and took the brazier back upstairs.
The clerk's fever was back
Hupe. raved, shouting the lines from the mass for the dead as if they were
obscenities. He asked for water repeatedly, and Roche, and then Kivrin went out to the courtyard for it.
Kivrin tiptoed down the stairs, carrying the bucket and a candle, hoping Agnes wouldn't see her, but
they were all asleep except Lady ImeySnhee. You have brought this upon us.
Kivrin went out into the dark courtyTarwdo.
was on her knees praying, her back stiff and unforgiving.
bells were ringing, slightly out of rhythm with each other,
and she wondered if they were vespers bells or tolling a fuTnheerrael. was a half-filled bucket of water by the well, but she dumped it onto the cobbles and drew a freSshhe osneet. it by the kitchen door and went in to get something for them toTehaet. heavy cloths used to cover the food when it was brought into the manor were lying on the end of the Stahbelep. iled bread and a chunk of cold beef onto one and tied it at the corners, and then grabubpedthe rest of them and carried all of it upTsthaeirys. ate sitting on
the floor in front of the brazier and Kivrin felt better almost with the first bite.
The clerk seemed better, toHoe.
dozed again, and then broke out in a hot sKwievaritn.
sponged him
off with one of the coarse kitchen cloths, and he sighed as if it felt good, Wanhdenslehpet. woke again,
his fever was downT.hey pushed the chest over next to the bed and set a tallow lamp on it, and she and
Roche took turns sitting beside him, and resting on the windowItsewaat.s too cold to truly sleep, but
Kivrin curled up against the stone sill and napped, and every time she woke he seemed to be improved.
She had read in Fourteenth Century that lancing the buboes sometimes saved aHpiastihenadt. draining, and the hum had gone from his cPherht.aps he wouldn't die after all.
stopped
There were some historians who thought the Black Death had not killed as many people as the records indicated. Mr. Gilchrist thought the statistics were grossly exaggerated by fear and lack of education, and even if the statistics were correct, the plague hadn't killed one third of everySvoimllaegep.laces had
only had one or two caseIns. some villages, no one had died at all.
They had isolated the clerk as soon as they'd realized what it was, and she had managed to keep Roche from getting close most of the timThe.ey had taken every possible precautioAnn. d it hadn't turned into
pneumonic. Perhaps that was enough, and they had caught it in Sthime em. ust tell Roche they must close

the village, keep anyone else from coming in, and perhaps the plague would just pass ovIterhathdem. done that.Whole villages had been left untouched, and there were parts of Scotland where the plague had never reached at all.
She must have dozed oWff.hen she woke, it was growing light and Roche was Sghoenel.ooked over
at the bedT. he clerk lay perfectly still, his eyes wide and staring, and she thought, he's died and Roche
has gone to dig his grave, but even as the thought formed, she could see the coverings over his chest rise and fall.She felt for his pulsIet. was fast and so faint she could scarcely feel it.
The bell began to ring, and she realized Roche must have gone to sayShme aptiunlsl.ed her mask up
over her nose and went over to the "bFeadt.her," she said softly, but he gave no indication at all that he
heard her.She put her hand on his foreheHadis.
fever was down again, but his skin didn't feel noItrmal.
was dry, papery, and the hemorrhages on his arms and legs had darkened andHsipsrendg.orged tongue stuck out between his teeth, hideously purple.
He smelled terrible, a sickening odor she could smell through herShmeasckl.imbed up on the
windowseat and untied the waxed lineTnh.e fresh air smelled wonderful, cold and sharp, and she leaned out over the ledge and breathed deeply.
There was no one in the courtyard, but as she drank in the clean, cold air, Roche appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of something that steaHmeedst.arted across the cobbles to the door of the manor house, and as he did, Lady Eliwys appSehaereds.poke to Roche, and he started toward her and then stopped short and pulled up his mask before he answeHreed's hteryr.ing to keep
clear of people at any rate, Kivrin thouHghet. passed on into the manor house, and Eliwys went out to the well.
Kivrin tied the linen to the side of the window and looked around for something to fan tShheeair with. jumped down, got one of the cloths she had taken from the kitchen, and clambered back up again.
Eliwys was still by the well, drawing up the bSuchkeets.topped, holding to the rope, and turned to look
toward the gateG.
awyn came through it, leading his horse by the bridle.
He stopped when he saw her, and Gringolet stumbled into him and flung his head up,Thanenoyed.
expression on Gawyn's face was the same as it had always been, full of hope and longing, and Kivrin felt a surge of anger that it hadn't changed, even Hnoewd.oesn't know, she thoughHt.e's just returned from
Courcy. She felt a pang of pity for him, that he had to find out, that Eliwys would have to tell him.
Eliwys hauled the bucket up even with the edge of the well, and Gawyn took one more step toward her, holding onto Gringolet's bridle, and then stopped.
He knows, Kivrin thoughHt.e knows after alTl.he bishop's envoy has come down with it, she thought,
and he's ridden home to warn theSmhe.
realized suddenly he hadn't brought the horses back with him.
The friar has it, she thought, and the rest of them have fled.
He watched Eliwys heave the heavy bucket up onto the stone edge of the well, noHt emwovoiunlgd.
do anything for her, Kivrin thought, anything at all, he would rescue her from a hundred cutthroats in the woods, but he can't rescue her from this.
Gringolet, impatient to be in the stable, shook his Ghaewady.n put his hand up to his muzzle to steady him, but it was too laEtel.iwys had already seen him.

She let go of the buckItet.landed with a splash Kivrin could hear, far above them, and then Eliwys was in his armsK. ivrin put her hand to her mouth.
There was a light knock on the dKoiovrr.in jumped down to open Iitt.was Agnes.
"Would you not tell me a story now?" sheSshaeidw. as very draggledN. o one had braided her hair
since yesterday.It stuck out under her linen cap at all angles, and she had obviously slept by the hearth. One sleeve was filthy with ashes.
Kivrin resisted the urge to brush them"Yofof.u cannot come in," she said, holding the door nearly shut. "You will catch the sickness."
"There is none to play with me," Agnes "sMaiodt.her has gone and Rosemund still sleeps." "Your mother has only gone out for water," she said f"iWrmhleyr.e is your grandmother?" "Praying."She reached for Kivrin's skirt, and Kivrin jerked back.
"You must not touch me," she said sharply.
Agnes's face puckered into a po"uWt.hy are you wroth with me?"
"I'm not angry with you," Kivrin said, more ge"nBtulyt. you can't come iTn.he clerk is very ill, and all
who come close to him may..." there was no hope of explaining contagion to Agnes, "...may fall ill, too." "Will he die?" Agnes said, trying to see around the door.
"I fear so." "Will you?"
"No," she said, and realized she was no longer fright"eRnoesde.mund will waken soonA. sk her to tell you a story."
"Will Father Roche die?"
"No.Go and play with your cart till Rosemund wakes." "Will you tell me a story after the clerk is dead?" "Aye.Go downstairs."
Agnes went reluctantly down three steps, holding onto the"Wwaill. we all die?" she asked. "Nay," Kivrin saidN. ot if I can help Sith.e shut the door and leaned against it.
The clerk still lay unseeing and unaware, his whole being turned inward to the struggle with an enemy his immune system had never seen before, had no defenses against.
The knocking came agai"nG. o downstairs, Agnes," Kivrin said, but it was Roche, carrying the bowl of broth he had brought from the kitchen and a hod of redHceoadlus.mped them into the brazier and knelt

beside it, blowing on them.
He had handed the bowl to KivIrtinw. as lukewarm and smelled bittSerh.e wondered if it had willow bark in it and if that was what had brought the fever down.
Roche stood up and took the bowl, and they tried to spoon the broth into the clerk, but it dribbled off his huge tongue and down the sides of his mouth.
Someone knocked.
"Agnes, I told you, you can't come in here," Kivrin said impatiently, trying to mop up the bedclothes. "Grandmother sent me to bid you come."
"Is she ill?" Roche saHide.
started for the door.
"Nay.It is Rosemund."
Kivrin's heart began to pound.
Roche opened the door, but Agnes did not comSeheins.tood on the landing, staring at his mask. "Is Rosemund ill?" Roche asked anxiously.
"She fell down."
Kivrin darted past them and down the steps.
Rosemund was sitting on one of the benches by the hearth, and Lady Imeyne was standing over her. "What's happened?" Kivrin demanded.
"I fell," Rosemund said, sounding bewilder"eId.hit my arm.S"he held it out to Kivrin, the elbow crooked.
Lady Imeyne murmured something.
"What?" Kivrin said, and realized the old lady was praSyhiengl.ooked around the hall for EliwSyhse.
wasn't there.Only Maisry huddled frightenedly by the table, and the thought flickered through Kivrin's mind that Rosemund must have tripped over her.
"Did you fall over something?" she asked.
"Nay," Rosemund said, still sounding daz"eMd.y head hurts." "Did you hit your head?"
"Nay."She pulled her sleeve bac"kI. hit my elbow on the stones."
Kivrin pushed the loose sleeve up past her elIbtowas scraped, but there was no bloKoidv.rin
wondered if she could have brokenSihte.
was holding it at such an odd an"Dgloe.es this hurt?" she

asked, moving it gently. "Nay."
She twisted the forearm gent"lyD.oes this?" "Nay."
"Can you move your fingers?" Kivrin said.
Rosemund dangled them each in turn, her arm still croKokiverdin.
frowned at it, puzzleIdt. might be
sprained, but she didn't think she'd be able to move it so "eLaasdilyy.Imeyne," she said, "would you fetch Father Roche?"
"He cannot help us," Imeyne said contemptuously, but she started for the stairs. "I don't think it's broken," Kivrin said to Rosemund.
Rosemund lowered her arm, gasped, and jerked it up aTghaeinc. olor drained from her face, and beads of sweat broke out on her upper lip.
It must be broken, Kivrin thought, and reached for the armRaogsaeimn.und pulled away, and before
Kivrin even realized what was happening, toppled off the bench and onto the floor.
She had hit her head this tiKmiev.rin heard it thunk against the stoSnhee. knelt beside her". Rosemund, Rosemund," she said".Can you hear me?"
scrambled over the bench and
She didn't moveS.he had flung her injured arm out when she fell, as if to catch herself, and when Kivrin touched it, she flinched, but she didn't open her Keyiversi.n looked round wildly for Imeyne, but the old woman was not on the staiSrsh.e got to her knees.
Rosemund opened her eye"sD. o not leave me," she said. "I must fetch help," she said.
Rosemund shook her head.
"Father Roche!" Kivrin called, though she knew he could not hear her through the heavy door, and Lady
Eliwys came through the screens and ran across the flagged floor.
"Has she the blue sickness?" she said.
No."She fell," Kivrin saidS.he laid her hand on Rosemund's bare, outflung
Iatrmfe.lt hotR. osemund
had closed her eyes again and was breathing slowly, evenly, as if she had fallen asleep.
Kivrin pushed the heavy sleeve up and over Rosemund's shoSuhldeert.urned her arm up so she could see the armpit, and Rosemund tried to jerk away, but Kivrin held her tightly.
It was not as large as the clerk's had been, but it was bright red and already hard tNo ot,he touch. Kivrin thought.No. Rosemund moaned and tried to pull her arm away, and Kivrin laid it gently down, arranging the sleeve under it.

"What's happened?" Agnes said from halfway down the s"tIasirsR.osemund ill?"
I can't let this happen, Kivrin thouIghmt.ust get helpT.hey've all been exposed, even Agnes, and there's nothing here to help themA.ntimicrobials won't be discovered for six hundred years.
"Your sins have brought this," Imeyne said.
Kivrin looked upE.liwys was looking at Imeyne, but absently, as if she hadn't heard her. "Your sins and Gawyn's," Imeyne said.
"Gawyn," Kivrin saidH. e could show her where the drop was, and she could go geDtr.heAlph.rens would know what to dAo.nd Mr. DunworthyD. r. Ahrens would give her vaccine and streptomycin to bring back.
"Where is Gawyn?" Kivrin said.
Eliwys was looking at her now, and her face was full of longing, fullHoef hhaospef.inally got her attention, Kivrin thought". Gawyn," Kivrin said". Where is he?"
"Gone," Eliwys said.
"Gone where?" she sai"dI. must speak with himW. e must go fetch help."
"There is no help," Lady Imeyne sSahide. knelt beside Rosemund and folded her han"Idts.is God's punishment."
Kivrin stood up".Gone where?"
"To Bath," Eliwys sai"dT. o bring my husband."
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (070114-070526)
I decided I'd better try to get this all dMowr. nG. ilchrist said he hoped with the opening of Mediaeval we'd be able to obtain a first-hand account of the Black Death, and I guess this is it.
The first case of plague here was the clerk who came with the bishop'Is deonnv'ot yk.now if he was ill when they arrived or noHt.e could have been and that was why they came here instead of going on to

Oxford, to get rid of him before he infected tHhe w. as definitely ill on Christmas morning when they
left, which means he was probably contagious the night before, when he had contact with at least half the village.
He has transmitted the disease to Lord Guillaume's daughter, Rosemund, who fell ill on...the twenty-sixth? I've lost all track of timBeo. th of them have the classic buboTehs.e clerk's bubo has
broken and is drainingR. osemund's is hard and growing largIetr's.
nearly the size of a walnTuht.e area
around it is inflamedB. oth of them have high fevers and are intermittently delirious.
Father Roche and I have isolated them in the bower and have told everyone to stay in their houses and
avoid all contact with each other, but I'm afraid it's tooNelartley.
everyone in the village was at the
Christmas feast, and the whole family was in here with the clerk.
I wish I knew whether the disease is contagious before the symptoms appear and how long the
incubation period isI.
know that the plague takes three forbmusb:onic, which is spread by fleas on the
rats; pneumonic, which is droplet; and septicemic, which goes straight into the bloodstream, and I know
the pneumonic form is the most contagious since it can be spread by coughing or breathing on people and by touch.The clerk and Rosemund both seem to have the bubonic.
I am so frightened I can't even thItinwk.ashes over me in waveI'sll. be doing all right, and then
suddenly the fear swamps me, and I have to take hold of the bedframe to keep from running out of the room, out of the house, out of the village, away from it!
I know I've had my plague inoculations, but I'd had my T- cells enhanced and my antivirals, and I still got whatever it was I got, and every time the clerk touches me, IFactrhinergeR. oche keeps forgetting
to wear his mask, and I'm so afraid he's going to catch it, orAAndgnIe'ms.
afraid the clerk is going to
die. And Rosemund.And I'm afraid somebody in the village is going to get pneumonic, and Gawyn won't come back, and I won't find the drop before the rendezvous.
(Break)
I feel a bit calmIetr.seems to help, talking to you, whether you can hear me or not.
Rosemund's young and stronAg.nd the plague didn't kill everyonIne. some villages no one at all died.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
They took Rosemund up to the bower, making a pallet on the floor for her in the narrow space beside the bed.Roche covered it with a linen sheet and went out to the barn's loft to fetch bedcoverings.
Kivrin had been afraid Rosemund would balk at the sight of the clerk, with his grotesque tongue and
blackening skin, but she scarcely glanced at hSimhe.
took her surcote and shoes off and lay down
gratefully on the narrow palleKt.ivrin took the rabbitskin coverlet from the bed and put it over her.
"Will I scream and run at people like the clerk?" Rosemund asked.
"Nay," Kivrin said, and tried to sm"iTlery.
to restD. oes it hurt anywhere?"
"My stomach," she said, putting her hand to her m"iAddnlde. my headS. ir Bloet told me the fever
makes men danceI.
thought it was a tale to frighten Hmee.said they danced till blood came out of their
mouths and they diedW. here is Agnes?"
"In the loft with your mother," Kivrin Ssahied. had told Eliwys to take Agnes and Imeyne up to the loft and shut themselves in, and Eliwys had without even a backward glance at Rosemund.
"My father comes soon," Rosemund said. "You must be quiet now and rest."
"Grandmother says it is a mortal sin to fear your husband, but I cannoHt ehetlopuciht.es me in ways that are not seemly and tells me tales of things that cannot be true."
I hope he dies in agony, Kivrin thouIghot.pe he is infected already. "My father is even now on his way," Rosemund said.
"You must try to sleep."
"If Sir Bloet were here now, he would not dare to touch me," she said and closed"Ithewroueyldesb. e he who was afraid."

Roche came in, bearing an armload of bedclothes, and went outKaigvariin . piled them on top of
Rosemund, tucked them in around her, and laid the fur she had taken from the clerk's bed back over him.
The clerk still lay quietly, but the hum in his breathing had begun again, and now and then he coughed. His mouth hung open, and the back of his tongue was coated with a white fur.
I can't let this happen to Rosemund, Kivrin thought, she's only twelve yeTahrsereoldm. ust be
something she could doS.omething. The plague bacillus was a bacterSiatr.eptomycin and the sulfa drugs could kill it, but she couldn't manufacture them herself, and she didn't know where the drop was.
And Gawyn had ridden off to BOatfh.course he hadE.liwys had run to him, she had thrown her arms
around him, and he would have gone anywhere, done anything for her, even if it meant bringing home her husband.
She tried to think how long it would take Gawyn to ride to Bath aInt dwabsacske.venty kilometers. Riding hard he could make it there in a day and Tahrheaelf.days, there and bacIkf. he were not
delayed, if he could find Lord Guillaume, if he did not Dfarl.l Aillh. rens had said untreated plague victims died within four or five days, but she did not see how the clerk could possibly lastHtihsattelmonpg.
was up again.
She had pushed Lady Imeyne's casket under the bed when they brought RosemSuhned puupl.led it out and looked through it at the dried herbs and powTdheers.contemps had used homegrown remedies like St. John's wort and bittersweet during the plague, but they had been as useless as the powdered emeralds.
Fleabane might help, but she couldn't find any of the pink or purple flowers in the little linen bags. When Roche came back, she sent him for willow branches from the stream, and steeped them into a
bitter tea."What is this brew?" Roche asked, tasting it and making a face.
"Aspirin," Kivrin said".I hope."
Roche gave a cup to the clerk, who was past caring what it tasted like, and it seemed to bring his temp down a little, but Rosemund's rose steadily all afternoon, till she was shivering witBhychthilels.time
Roche left to say vespers, she was almost too hot to touch.
Kivrin uncovered her and tried to bathe her arms and legs in cool water to bring the fever down, but Rosemund wrenched angrily away from h"eIrt. is not seemly you should touch me thus, sir," she said through chattering teeth". Be sure I shall tell my father when he returns."
Roche did not come bacKki.vrin lit the tallow lamps and tucked the bedcoverings around Rosemund, wondering what had become of him.
She looked worse in the smoky light, her face wan and pSinhcehemd.urmured to herself, repeating Agnes's name over and over, and once she asked fretfully, "Where Hise hseh?ould have been here ere now."
He should have been, Kivrin thougThht.e bell had tolled vespers half an hour Hageo's. in the kitchen,
she told herself, making us souOpr.
he has gone to tell Eliwys how RosemunHdeisi.sn't ill.But she
stood up and climbed on the window seat and looked out into the coIutrtwyaarsd.getting colder, and

the dark sky was overcasTt.here was no one in the courtyard, no light or sound anywhere.
Roche opened the door, and she jumped down, sm"ilWinghe. re have you beenI? was-" she said and stopped.
Roche was wearing his vestments and carrying the oil and viaNticou, msh. e thought, glancing at
Rosemund. No.
"I have been with Ulf the Reeve," he "sIaihde.ard his confession.T"hank God it's not Rosemund, she thought, and then realized what he was sayIitngw. as in the village.
"Are you certain?" she aske"dD.oes he have the plague- boils?" "Aye."
"How many others are in the household?"
"His wife and two sons," he said tire"dI lyb.ade her wear a mask and sent her sons to cut willows." "Good," she saidT.here was nothing good about Nito. , that wasn't trueA. t least it was bubonic plague
and not pneumonic, so there was still a chance the wife and two sons wouldBn'ut tgheot wit. many other people had Ulf infected, and who had infected hUimlf?would not have had any contact with the clerk. He must have caught it from one of the serv"aAnrtes. any others ill?"
"Nay."
It didn't mean anythinTg.hey only sent for Roche when they were very ill, when they were frightened. There might be three or four other cases already in the vOilrlagae.dozen.
She sat down on the windowseat, trying to think what Ntothdion.g, she thoughtT. here's nothing you can do.It swept through village after village, killing whole families, whole tOownen-st.hird to one-half of Europe.
"No!" Rosemund screamed, and struggled to rise.
Kivrin and Roche both dived for her, but she had already lain backThdeoywcno. vered her up, and she kicked the bedclothes off agai"nI. will tell Mother, Agnes, you wicked child," she murm"uLret .me
out."
It grew colder in the nigRhot.che brought up more coals for the brazier, and Kivrin climbed up in the
window again to fasten the waxed linen over the window, but it was still
Kfreiverziinnga.nd Roche
huddled by the brazier in turn, trying to catch a little sleep, and woke shivering like Rosemund.
The clerk did not shiver, but he complained of the cold, his words slurred and drunken-Hsoius nding. feet and hands were cold and without feeling.
"They must have a fire," Roche s"aWid.e must take them down to the hall."
You don't understand, she thougThth.eir only hope lay in keeping the patients isolated, in not letting the infection spread.But it has already spread, she thought, and wondered if Ulf's extremities were growing cold and what he would do for a Sfihree? had sat in one of their huts by one of theiIrt fwiroesu.ld not

warm a cat.
The cats died, too, she thought and looked at RosemTuhneds.hivering racked her poor body, and she seemed already thinner, more wasted.
"The life is going out of them," Roche said.
"I know," she said, and began picking up the bedcl"oTtheells. Maisry to spread straw on the hall floor."
The clerk was able to walk down the steps, Kivrin and Roche both supporting him, but Roche had to carry Rosemund in his armEs.liwys and Maisry were spreading straw on the far side of thAeghnaesll.
was still asleep, and Imeyne knelt where she had the night before, her hands folded stiffly before her face.
Roche lay Rosemund down, and Eliwys began to cove"rWhhere.re is my father?" Rosemund demanded hoarsely."Why is he not here?"
Agnes stirredS. he would be awake in a minute and clambering on Rosemund's pallet, gawking at the
clerk. She must find some way to keep Agnes safely away fromKthivermin.
looked up at the beams,
but they were too high, even under the loft, to hang curtains from, and every available coverlet and fur was already being usedS.he began turning the benches on their sides and pulling them into a barricade. Roche and Eliwys came to help, and they tipped the trestle table over and propped it against the benches.
Eliwys went back over to Rosemund and sat down besidReohsemr. und was asleep, her face flushed with the reddish light from the fire.
"You must wear a mask," Kivrin said.
Eliwys nodded, but she didn't moSvhee. was my husband's favorite," she said.
smoothed Rosemund's tumbled hair back from her f"aSchee.
Rosemund slept nearly half the morniKngiv. rin pulled the Yule log off to the side of the hearth and piled cut logs on the firSe.he uncovered the clerk's feet so they could feel the heat.
During the Black Death, the Pope's doctor had made him sit in a room between two huge bonfires, and
he had not caught the plaguSeo.me historians thought the heat had killed the plague bacMillourse.
likely
his keeping away from his highly contagious flock was what had saved him, but it was worth trying.
Anything was worth trying, she thought, watching RosemuSnhde.
piled more wood on.
Father Roche went to say matins, though it was past midmoTrhneingb.ell woke Agnes u"pW. ho knocked over the benches?" she asked, running over to the barricade.
"You must not come past this fence," Kivrin said, standing well back "fYroomu mit.ust stay by your grandmother."
Agnes clambered onto a bench and peered over the top of the trest"leI staebeleR. osemund," she said. "Is she dead?"
"She is very ill," Kivrin said ster"nYlyo.u must not come near uGso.
and play with your cart."
"I would see Rosemund," she said, putting one leg over the table.

"No!" Kivrin shouted".Go and sit with your grandmother!"
Agnes looked astonished, and then burst into t"eIarws. ould see Rosemund!" she wailed, but she went over and sat down beside Imeyne.
Roche came in".Ulf's elder son is ill," he sa"iHd.e has the buboes."
There were two more cases during the morning and one in the afternoon, including the steward's wife. All of them had buboes or small seedlike growths on the lymph glands except the steward's wife.
Kivrin went with Roche to see Shhere. was nursing the baby, her thin, sharp face even shSarhpeer. was not coughing or vomiting, and Kivrin hoped the buboes had simply not develo"pWedeayret. masks," she told the stewar"dG. ive the baby milk from the coKwe.ep the children from her," she said
hopelessly. Six children in two roomDs.on't let it be pneumonic plague, she prayDeodn. 't let them all get it.
At least Agnes was saSfeh.e had not come near the barricade since Kivrin shouted aSthehehr.ad sat
for a bit, glaring at Kivrin with an expression that was so fierce it would have been comical under other circumstances, and then gone up to the loft to fetch heSr hcearht.ad set a place for it at the high table,
and they were having a feast.
Rosemund was awakeS.he asked Kivrin for a drink in a hoarse voice, and as soon as Kivrin had given it to her, fell quietly asleeEpv.en the clerk dozed, the hum of his breathing less loud, and Kivrin sat down gratefully beside Rosemund.
She should go out and help Roche with the steward's children, at least make sure he was wearing his mask and washing his hands, but she felt suddenly too tired toIfmIovceo.uld just lie down for a minute,
she thought, I might be able to think of something. "I would go see Blackie," Agnes said.
Kivrin jerked her head around, startled out of what had almost been sleep.
Agnes had put on her red cape and hood and was standing as close to the barricade as"Yshoeu vowed you would take me to see my hound's grave."
"Hush, you will wake your sister," Kivrin said.
dared.
Agnes started to cry, not the loud wail she used when she wanted her own way, but Sqhueie'st sobs. reached her limit, too, Kivrin thougLhte.ft alone all day, Rosemund and Roche and I all off-limits, everyone busy and distracted and frightenePdo.or thing.
"You vowed," Agnes said, her lip quivering.
"I cannot take you to see your puppy now," Kivrin said gently, "but I will tell yWoue amsutostryb. e very quiet, though."She put her finger to her li"pWs.e must not wake Rosemund or the clerk."
Agnes wiped her runny nose with her h"aWndi.ll you tell me the story of the girl in the woods?" she said in a stage whisper.

"Yes."
"Can Cart listen?"
"Yes," Kivrin whispered, and Agnes tore across the hall to fetch the little wagon, ran back with it and climbed up on the bench, ready to mount the barricade.
"You must sit down on the floor against the table," Kivrin said, "and I will sit here on the other side." "I will not be able to hear you," Agnes said, her face clouding up again.
"Of course you will, if you are very quiet."
Agnes got down off the bench and sat down, scooting into position against tShheetasbelte.Cart on the floor beside her". You must be very quiet," she said to it.
Kivrin went over and looked quickly at her patients and then sat down against the table and leaned back, feeling exhausted all over again.
"Once in a far land," Agnes prompted.
"Once in a far land, there was a littleShgeirll.ived by a great forest-"
"Her father said, 'Go not into the woods,' but she was naughty and did not listen," Agnes said. "She was naughty and did not listen," Kivrin "sSahide. put on her cloak-"
"Her red cloak with a hood," Agnes not to."
"saAidn.d she went into the wood, even though her father told her
Even though her father told her no"tI'tlol .be perfectly all right," she had told Mr. Dunwo"rIthcya.n take care of myself."
"She should not have gone into the woods, should she?" Agnes said.
"She wanted to see what was thSehree. thought she would go just a little way," Kivrin said. "She should not have," Agnes said, passing judgm"Ienwt.ould notT. he woods are dark."
"The woods are very dark, and full of frightening noises."
"Wolves," Agnes said, and Kivrin could hear her scooting closer to the table, trying to get as close to Kivrin as she couldK. ivrin could imagine her huddled against the wood, her knees up, hugging the little wagon.
"The girl said to herself, 'I don't like it here,' and she tried to go back, but she could not see the path, it was so dark, and suddenly something jumped out at her!"
"A wolf," Agnes breathed.
"No," Kivrin said".It was a bearA. nd the bear said, 'What are you doing in my forest?'"

"The girl was frightened," Agnes said in a small, frightened voice.
"Yes.'Oh, please don't eat me, Bear,' the girl s'Iaiadm.
lost and cannot find my way hoNmoew.'
the
bear was a kindly bear, though he looked cruel, and he said, 'I will help you find your way out of the
woods,' and the girl said, 'HowIt?is so dark'.W' dark.'"
e will ask the owl,' the bear s'aHide. can see in the
She talked on, making up the tale as she went, oddly comforteAd gbnyes its.topped interrupting, and after awhile Kivrin raised herself up, still talking, and looked over the bar"r'Dicaodey.ou know the way out of the wood?' the bear asked the crow. 'Yes,' the crow said."
Agnes was asleep against the table, the cape spilled out around her and the cart hugged to her chest. She should be covered up, but Kivrin didn't Adallret.he bedclothes were full of plague gerSmhse.
looked over at Lady Imeyne, praying in the corner, her face to th"eLawdyallI.meyne," she called softly,
but the old lady gave no sign she had heard.
Kivrin put more wood on the fire and sat back down against the table, leaning her h"'eIadknboawck.
the way out of the woods,' the crow said, 'I will show you,'" Kivrin said softly, "but he flew away over the treetops, so fast they could not follow."
She must have slept, because the fire was down when she opened her eyes and her neck hurt. Rosemund and Agnes still slept, but the clerk was awHaekec.alled to Kivrin, his words unrecognizable.
The white fur covered his whole tongue, and his breath was so foul Kivrin had to turn her head away to breathe. His bubo had begun to drain again, a thick, dark liquid that smelled like rottiKngivrmineapt.ut
a new bandage on, clenching her teeth to keep from gagging, and carried the old one to the far corner of the hall, and then went out and washed her hands at the well,puring the icy water from the bucket over one hand and then the other, taking in gulps of the cold air.
Roche came into the courtyar"dU.lric, Hal's son," he said, walking with her into the house, "and one of the steward's sons, the eldest, WaltheHf."e stumbled the into bench nearest the door.
"You're exhausted," Kivirn sai"dY. ou should lie down and rest."
On the other side of the hall, Imeyne stood up, getting awkwardly to her feet, as though her legs had fallen asleep, and started across the hall toward them.
"I cannot stayI. came to fetch a knife to cut the willows," Roche said, but he sat down by the fire and stared blankly into it.
"Rest a minute at least," Kivrin s"aIidw. ill fetch you some alSe.h"e pushed the bench to the side and started out.
"You have brought this sickness," Lady Imeyne said.
Kivrin turnedT. he old lady was standing in the middle of the hall, glaring atSRheoche.ld her book to her chest with both handHs.er reliquary dangled from them"I.t is your sins have brought the sickness here."
She turned to Kivri"nH. e said the litany for Martinmas on St. Eusebius' HDiasya. lb is dirty.S"he

sounded as she had when she was complaining to Sir Bloet's sister, and her hands fumbled with the
reliquary, counting off his sins on the links of the
Wednesday."
"cHhaeind. id not shut the church door after vespers last
Kivrin watched her, thinking, she's trying to justify her ownShgeuilwt.rote the bishop asking for a new
chaplain, she told him where they weSrhee.
can't bear the knowledge that she helped bring the plague
here, Kivrin thought, but she couldn't summon up any Ypoituy. have no right to blame Roche, she thought, he has done everything he cAann.d you've sat in a corner and prayed.
"God has not sent this plague as a punishment," she told Imeyne"Icto'sldaly.disease."
"He forgot the Confiteor Deo," Imeyne said, but she hobbled back to her corner and lowered herself to her knees."He put the altar candles on the rood screen."
Kivrin went over to Roch"eN.o one is to blame," she said.
He was staring into the f"irIef. God does punish us," he said, "it must be for some terrible sin." "No sin," she sai"dI.t is not a punishment."
"Dominus!" the clerk cried, trying to sitHuep.coughed again, a racking, terrible cough that sounded like it would tear his chest apart, though nothing cameThuep.sound woke Rosemund and she began to whimper, and if it isn't a punishment, Kivrin thought, it certainly looks like one.
Rosemund's sleep had not helped her atHaelrl. temp was back up again, and her eyes had begun to look sunken.She jerked as if flogged at the slightest movement.
It's killing her, Kivrin thougIhth. ave to do something.
When Roche came in again, she went up to the bower and brought down Imeyne's casket of medicines. Imeyne watched, her lips moving soundlessly, but when Kivrin set it in front of her and asked her what was in the linen bags, she put her folded hand up to her face and closed her eyes.
Kivrin recognized some of theMm.r. Dunworthy had made her study medicinal herbs, and she recognized comfrey and lungwort and the crushed leaves of tTanhseyr.e was a little pouch of powdered
mercury sulfide, which no one in their right mind would give anyone, and a packet of foxglove, which was almost as bad.
She boiled water and poured in every herb she recognized and steeTpheed frita.grance was wonderful, like a breath of summer, and it tasted no worse than the willow-bark tea, but it didn't hBeylp either. nightfall, the clerk was coughing continuously, and red blotches had begun to appear on Rosemund's
stomach and armsH. with pain.
er bubo was the size of an aengdg as hardW.
hen Kivrin touched it, she screamed
During the Black Death the doctors had put poultices on the buboes or lanceTdhetyhehma.d also bled people and dosed them with arsenic, she thought, though the clerk had seemed better after his buboes broke, and he was still alivBeu. t lancing it might spread the infection or, worse, take it into the bloodstream.
She heated water and wet rags to lay on the bubo, but even though the water was lukewarm, Rosemund screamed at the first toucKh.ivrin had to go back to cold water, which did no Ngoonoed.of it's doing

any good, she thought, holding the wet cold cloth against Rosemund's aNrmonpeit.of it.
I must find the drop, she thouBghutt. the woods stretched on for miles, with hundreds of oak trees,
dozens of clearingsS. he would never find
Ait.nd she couldn't leave Rosemund.
Perhaps Gawyn would turn bacTkh.ey had closed the gates of some cities-perhaps he would not be
able to get in, or perhaps he would talk to people on the roads and realize Lord Guillaume must be dead. Come back, she willed him, hurCryo. me back.
Kivrin went through Imeyne's bag again, tasting the contents of the poTuhceheyse. llow powder was
sulfur. Doctors had used that during epidemics, too, burning it to fumigate the air, and she remembered learning in History of Meds that sulfur killed certain bacteria, though whether that was only in the sulfa compounds she couldn't rememberI.t was safer than cutting the bubo open, though.
She sprinkled a little on the fire to test it, and it billowed into a yellow cloud that burned Kivrin's throat even through her maskT.he clerk gasped for breath, and Imeyne, over in her corner, set up a continuous hacking.
Kivrin had expected the smell of bad eggs to disperse in a few minutes, but the yellow smoke hung in the air like a pall, burning their eyMesa.isry ran outside, coughing into her apron, and Eliwys took Imeyne
and Agnes up to the loft to escape it.
Kivrin propped the manor door open and fanned the air with one of the kitchen cloths, and after awhile the air cleared a little, though her throat still felt parTcheedc. lerk continued to cough, but Rosemund
stopped, and her pulse slowed till Kivrin could scarcely feel it.
"I don't know what to do," Kivrin said, holding her hot, dry"I'vweristrti.ed everything. Roche came in, coughing.
"It is the sulfur," she sa"iRdo. semund is worse."
He looked at her and felt her pulse and then went out again, and Kivrin took that as aHegood sign. would not have left if she were truly bad.
He came back in a few minutes, wearing his vestments and carrying the oil and viaticum of the last rites. "What is it?" Kivrin sa"idH.as the steward's wife died then?"
"Nay," he said, and looked past her at Rosemund.
"No," Kivrin saidS.he scrambled to her feet to stand between him and Rosem"Iunwdo.n't let you." "She must not die unshriven," he said, still looking at Rosemund.
"Rosemund isn't dying," Kivrin said, and followed his gaze.
She looked already dead, her chapped lips half-open and her eyes blind and unbHlienrkisnkgin.
had
taken on a yellowish cast and was stretched tautly over her narrowNof,acKe.ivrin thought desperately. I must do something to stop thSihse. 's twelve years old.

Roche moved forward with the chalice, and Rosemund raised her arm, as if in supplication, and then let it fall.
"We must open the plague-boil," Kivrin s"aWid.e must let the poison out."
She thought he was going to refuse, to insist on hearing Rosemund's confession first, but hHeedid not. set the chrism and chalice down on the stone floor and went to fetch a knife.
"A sharp one," Kivrin called after him, "and bring wShinee."set the pot of water on the fire aWgahine.n
he came back with the knife, she washed it off with water from the bucket, scrubbing the encrusted dirt near the hilt with her fingernaiSlsh.e held it in the fire, the hilt wrapped in the tail of her surcote, and then poured boiling water over it and then wine and then the water again.
They moved Rosemund closer to the fire, the side with the bubo facing it so they could have as much light as possible, and Roche knelt at Rosemund's hKeaivdr.in slipped her arm gently out of her shift and bunched the fabric under her for a pillRowoc.he took hold of her arm, turning it so the swelling was exposed.
It was almost the size of an apple, and her whole shoulder joint was inflamed andThsewoedllgenes. of the bubo were soft and almost gelatinous, but the center was still hard.
Kivrin opened the bottle of wine Roche had brought, poured some on a cloth, and swabbed the bubo gently with itI.t felt like a rock embedded in the sSkhien. was not sure the knife would even cut into it.
She picked up the knife and poised it above the swelling, afraid of cutting into an artery, of spreading the infection, of making it worse.
"She is past pain," Roche said.
Kivrin looked down at hSerh.e hadn't moved, even when Kivrin pressed on the sweSllhineg.stared
past them both at something terribIlecan't make it worse, Kivrin thougEhvt.en if I kill her, I can't make it worse.
"Hold her arm," she said, and Roche pinned her wrist and halfway up the forearm, pressing her arm flat to the floorR. osemund still didn't move.
Two quick, clean slices, Kivrin thougShhte.
took a deep breath and touched the knife to the swelling.
Rosemund's arm spasmed, her shoulder twisting protectively away from the knife, her thin hand clenching into a claw".What do you do?" she said hoarse"lIy.will tell my father!"
Kivrin jerked the knife bacRko. che caught at Rosemund's arm and pushed it back against the floor, and she hit weakly at him with her other hand.
"I am the daughter of Lord Guillaume D'Ivrey," she"Ysaoiud. cannot treat me thus."
Kivrin scooted out of her reach and scrambled to her feet, trying to keep the knife from touching anything. Roche reached forward and caught both her wrists easily in oneRhoasnedm. und kicked out weakly at KivrinT. he chalice fell over and wine spilled out in a dark puddle.
"We must tie her," Kivrin said, and realized she was holding the knife aloft, like a Smheurderer.

wrapped it in one of the cloths Eliwys had torn, and ripped another into strips.
Roche bound Rosemund's wrists above her head while Kivrin tied her ankles to the leg of one of the upturned benches.Rosemund didn't struggle, but when Roche pulled her shift up over her exposed chest, she said, "I know yoYu.ou are the cutthroat who waylaid the Lady Katherine."
Roche leaned forward, pressing his full weight down on her forearm, and Kivrin cut across the swelling. Blood oozed and then gushed, and Kivrin thought, I've hit an Sahreterayn.d Roche both lunged for the
pile of cloths, and she grabbed a thick wad of them and pressed them against thTe hweyousnoda.ked
through immediately, and when she released her hand to take the one Roche handed her, blood spurted out of the tiny cuSth. e jammed the tail of her surcote against it, and Rosemund whimpered, a small, helpless sound like Agnes's puppy, and seemed to collapse, though there was nowhere for her to fall.
I've killed her, Kivrin thought.
"I can't stop the bleeding," she said, but it had already stSohpepehde.ld the skirt of her surcote against
it, counting to a hundred and then two hundred, and carefully lifted a corner of it away from the wound.
Blood still welled from the cut, but it was mixed with a thick yellow-gRraoychpeusle. aned forward to
dab at it, but Kivrin stopped h"imN.o, it's full of plague germs," she said, taking the cloth away from him. "Don't touch it."
She wiped the sickening-looking pus awIaty.oozed up again, followed by a watery ser"uTmha.t's all of it, I think," she said to Roc"hHe.and me the wine.S"he looked round for a clean cloth to pour it on.
There weren't anyT.hey had used them all, trying to stop the bleeSdhineg.tipped the wine bottle carefully and let the dark liquid dribble into theRocuset.mund didn't moveH. er face was gray, as if all
the blood had been drained out of even have a clean rag.
Ahesr.it had beenA. nd I don't have a transfusion to give Ihedro.n't
Roche was untying Rosemund' handHse. now," he said.
took her limp hand in his huge "oHner.
heart beats strongly
"We must have more linen," Kivrin said, and burst into tears. "My father will see you hanged for this," Rosemund said.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (071145-071862)
Rosemund is unconsciousI. tried to lance her bubo last night to drain out the infection, and I'm afraid I

only made things worseS.he lost a great deal of bloSohde. 's very pale and her pulse is so faint I can't find it in her wrist at all.
The clerk is worse, toHoi.s skin continues to hemorrhage, and it's clear he's near thIe reenmde. mber
Dr. Ahrens saying untreated bubonic plague kills people in four or five days, but he can't possibly last that long.
Lady Eliwys, Lady Imeyne, and Agnes are still well, though Lady Imeyne seems to have gone almost crazy in her search for someone to blaSmhee. boxed Maisry's ears this morning and told her God was punishing us all for her laziness and stupidity.
Maisry is lazy and stupSidh.e cannot be trusted to watch Agnes for five minutes at a time, and when I sent her for water to wash Rosemund's wound this morning, she was gone over half an hour and came back without it.
I didn't say anythingI.
didn't want Lady Imeyne hitting her again, and it is only a matter of time before
Lady Imeyne gets around to blaming mI es.aw her watching me over her Book of Hours when I went
out for the water Maisry forgot, and I can well imagine what she's thinking-that I know too much about
the plague not to have been fleeing it, that I am supposed to have lost my memory, that I was not injured but ill.
If she makes those accusations, I'm afraid she'll convince Lady Eliwys that I'm the cause of the plague and that she shouldn't listen to me, that they should take the barricade down and pray together for God to deliver them.
And how will I defend myseBlfy? saying, I'm from the future, where we know everything about the
Black Death except how to cure it without streptomycin and how to get back there?
Gawyn still isn't bacEk.liwys is frantic with worrWy. hen Roche went to say vespers she was standing at the gate, no cloak, no coif, watching the rIoawdo. nder if it has occurred to her that he might already have been infected when he left for BHateh. rode to Courcy with the bishop's envoy, and when he came back he already knew about the plague.
(Break)
Ulf the Reeve is near death, and his wife and one of his sonsNohavbeubiot.es, but the woman has several small lumps like seeds inside her thRigohc.he constantly has to be reminded to wear his mask and to not touch the patients more than he has to.
The history vids say the contemps were panic stricken and cowardly during the Black Death, that they
ran away and wouldn't tend the sick, and that the priests were the worst of all, but it isn't like that at all.
Everyone's frightened, but they're all doing the best they can, and Roche is woHnedesrafut l.and held
the reeve's wife's hand the whole time I examined her, and he doesn't flinch at the most disgusting jobs-bathing Rosemund's wound, emptying chamberpots, cleaning up after the cHleerkn.ever seems afraid. I don't know where he gets his courage.
He continues to say matins and vespers and to pray, telling God about Rosemund and who has it now,
reporting their symptoms and telling what we're doing for them, as if He could actually
I talk to you.
Thehaer whiamy.

Is God there, too, I wonder, but shut off from us by something worse than time, unable to get through, unable to find us?
(Break)
We can hear the plaguTeh.e villages toll the death knell after a burial, nine strokes for a man, three for a woman, one for a baby, and then an hour of steady tEolsltihncgo.te had two this morning, and Osney
has tolled continuously since yesterdaTy.he bell in the southwest that I told you I could hear when I first came through has stoppedI. don't know whether that means the plague is over there or whether there's no one left alive to ring the bell.
(Break)
Please don't let Rosemund dPiel.ease don't let Agnes get Site.nd Gawyn back.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The boy who had run from Kivrin the day she tried to find the drop came down with the plague in the
night. His mother was standing waiting for Father Roche when he went to his back, and Kivrin lanced it while Roche and the mother held him.
Tmhaetinbso. y had a bubo on

She didn't want to doTiht.e scurvy had left him already weak, and Kivrin had no idea whether there were any arteries below the shoulder bladReos.semund did not seem at all improved, though Roche claimed her pulse was strongeSr.he was so white, as if she had been utterly drained of blood, and so still. And the boy didn't look as if he could stand to lose any blood.
But he bled hardly at all, and the color was already coming back in his cheeks before Kivrin finished washing the knife.
"Give him tea made from rose hips," Kivrin said, thinking that at least that would help t"hAendscurvy. willow bark."She held the blade of the knife over theItfiwrea. s no bigger than the day she had sat by it, too weak to find the droIpt .would never keep the boy warm, and if she told the woman to go gather firewood, she might expose someone els"eW. e will bring you some wood," she said, and then wondered how.
There was still food left over from the Christmas feast, but they were fast running out of everything else. They had used most of the wood that was already cut trying to keep Rosemund and the clerk warm, and there was no one to ask to chop the logs that lay piled against theTkhietchreeenv.e was ill, the steward
was tending his wife and son.
Kivrin gathered up an armful of the already-split wood and some pieces of loose bark for kindling and took it back to the hut, wishing she could move the boy into the manor house, but Eliwys had the clerk and Rosemund to tend, and she looked ready to collapse herself.
Eliwys had sat with Rosemund all night, giving her sips of willow tea and rebandaging thTehewyound. had run out of cloths, and she had taken off her coif and torn it inSthoestsraipt sw. here she could see
the screens, and every few minutes she had stood up and gone over to the door, as if she heard someone coming. With her dark hair down over her shoulders, she looked no older than Rosemund.
Kivrin took the firewood to the woman, dumping it on the dirt floor next to theThreat ractagwe.as gone, killed, no doubt, and not even gu"ilTtyh.e Lord blesses us," she woman said to Shheer. knelt by the fire and began carefully adding the wood to it.
Kivrin checked the boy agaHini.s bubo was still draining a clear watery fluid, which was good. Rosemund's had bled half the night and then begun to swell and grow harAd nadgaIinc.an't lance it again, Kivrin thoughtS. he can't lose any more blood.
She started back to the hall, wondering if she should relieve Eliwys or try to chop soRmoechwe,ood.
coming out of the steward's house, met her with the news that two more of the steward's children were ill.
It was the two youngest boys, and it was clearly the pneuBmoothnicw. ere coughing, and the mother intermittently retched a watery sputumT.he Lord blesses us.
Kivrin went back to the hIatllw.
as still hazy from the sulfur, and the clerk's arms looked almost black in
the yellowish lightT. he fire was no better than the one in the womanK'sivhruint. brought in the last of the cut wood and then told Eliwys to lie down, that she would tend Rosemund.
"Nay," Eliwys said, glancing toward the dSoohre. added, almost to herself, "He has been three days on the road."
It was seventy kilometers to Bath, a day and a half at least on horseback and the same amount of time

back, if he had been able to get a fresh horse inHeBamthi.ght be back today, if he had found Lord
Guillaume immediately.If he comes back, Kivrin thought.
Eliwys glanced at the door again, as if she heard something, but the only sound was Agnes, crooning softly to her carSt.he had put a blanket over it and was spooning make-believe food "iHnteo hiat.s the
blue sickness," she told Kivrin.
Kivrin spent the rest of the day doing household chores- bringing in water, making broth from the roast joint, emptying the chamberpotsT.he steward's cow, its udders swollen in spite of Kivrin's orders, came lowing into the courtyard and followed her, nudging her with its horns till Kivrin gave up and milked it. Roche chopped wood in between visits to the steward and the boy, and Kivrin, wishing she had learned how to split wood, hacked clumsily at the big logs.
The steward came to fetch them again just before dark to his younger dTahuagth'stere.ight cases so far,
Kivrin thought.There were only forty people in the villaTghee.
Black Death was supposed to have had a
mortality rate of one-third to one-half, and Mr. Gilchrist thought that was exaggOernaetetdh.ird would
be thirteen cases, only five more. Even at fifty per cent, only twelve more would get it, and the steward's children had all already been exposed.
She looked at them, the older daughter stocky and dark like her father, the youngest boy sharp-faced like his mother, the scrawny babYyo. u'll all get it, she thought, and that will leave eight.
She couldn't seem to feel anything, even when the baby began to cry and the girl took it on her knee and stuck her filthy finger in its mouTthirteen, she prayedT. wenty at the most.
She couldn't feel anything for the clerk either, even though it was clear he could not lasHt itshelipnsight.
and tongue were covered with a brown slime, and he was coughing up a watery spittle that was streaked with blood.She tended him automatically, without feeling.
It's the lack of sleep, she thought, it's making us all Snhuemlba.y down by the fire and tried to sleep, but she seemed beyond sleep, beyond tiredneEssi.ght more people, she thought, adding them up in her
mind. The mother will catch it, and the reeve's wife and chiTldhraetn.leaves fourD. on't let one of them be Agnes or EliwysO. r Roche.
In the morning Roche found the cook lying in the snow in front of her hut, half-frozen and coughing blood. Nine, Kivrin thought.
The cook was a widow, with no one to take care of her, so they brought her into the hall and laid her
next to the clerk, who was, amazingly, horribly, still
Talhivee.hemorrhaging had spread all over his body
now, his chest criss-crossed with bluish-purple marks, his arms and legs nearly solidHibslacchke. eks
were covered with a black stubble that seemed somehow a symptom, too, and under it his face was darkening.
Rosemund still lay white and silent, balanced between life and death, and Eliwys tended her quietly, carefully, as if the slightest movement, the slightest sound, might tip her intoKidverainth.tiptoed among
the pallets, and Agnes, sensing the need for silence, fell completely apart.
She whined, she hung on the barricade, she asked Kivrin half a dozen times to take her to see her
hound, her pony, to get her something to eat, to finish telling her the story of the naughty girl in the woods
"How does it end?" she whined in a tone that set Kivrin's teeth "oDnoedthgee. wolves eat the girl?"

"I don't know," Kivrin snapped after the fourth "tiGmoe.and sit by your grandmother."
Agnes looked contemptuously at Lady Imeyne, who still knelt in the corner, her back to alSl hoef them. had been there all nigh"tG. randmother will not play with me."
"Well, then, play with Maisry."
She did, for five minutes, pestering her so mercilessly she retaliated and Agnes came screaming back, shrieking that Maisry had pinched her.
"I don't blame her," Kivrin said, and sent both of them to the loft.
She went to check on the boy, who was so improved he was sitting up, and when she came back, Maisry was hunched in the high seat, sound asleep.
"Where's Agnes?" Kivrin said.
Eliwys looked around blankl"yI. know notT. hey were in the loft." "Maisry," Kivrin said, crossing to the d"aWis.ake up.Where is Agnes?" Maisry blinked stupidly at her.
"You should not have left her alone," Kivrin Sshaeid.climbed up into the loft, but Agnes wasn't there, so she checked the solarS.he wasn't there either.
Maisry had got out of the high seat and was huddled against the wall, looking"Wterhreifrieedi.s she?" Kivrin demanded.
Maisry put a hand up defensively to her ear and gaped at her.
"That's right," Kivrin sai"dI. will box your ears unless you tell me where she is. Maisry buried her face in her skirts.
"Where is she?" Kivrin said, and jerked her up by he"rYaorum.were supposed to watch hSerh.e was your responsibility!"
Maisry began to howl, a high-pitched sound like an animal.
"Stop that!" Kivrin sai"dS. how me where she went!" she pushed her toward the screens. "What is it?" Roche said, coming in.
"It's Agnes," Kivrin sai"dW.
e must find herS.he may have gone out into the village."
Roche shook his hea"dI.
did not see heSrh. e is likely in one of the outbuildings."
"The stables," Kivrin said, relieve"dS.he said she wanted to go see her pony."

She was not in the stabl"eAs.gnes!" she called into the manure-smelling darkness, "AgnAesg!"nes's
pony whinnied and tried to push its way out of its stall, and Kivrin wondered when it had last been fed, and where the hounds wer"eA. gnes." She looked in each of the boxes and behind the manger, anywhere
a little girl might hidOe.r fall asleep.
She might be in the barn, Kivrin thought, and came out of the stable, shielding her eyes from the sudden brightness. Roche was just emerging from the kitch"eDn.id you find her?" Kivrin asked, but he didn't
hear her.He was looking toward the gate, his head cocked as if he were listening.
Kivrin listened, but she couldn't hear anyth"inWg.hat is it?" she aske"dC. an you hear her crying?" "It is the Lord," he said and ran towards the gate.
Oh, no, not Roche, Kivrin thought, and ran afterHheimh.ad stopped and was opening the g"aFtea.ther
Roche," Kivrin said, and heard the horse.
It was galloping toward them, the sound of the hoofs loud on the frozenKgivroriunndth.ought, he
meant the lord of the manoHre. hope, it's Mr. Dunworthy.
thinks Eliwys's husband has finally come, and then, with a shock of
Roche lifted the heavy bar and slid it to the side.
We need streptomycin and disinfectant, and he's got to take Rosemund back to hospital wShiteh'llhim. have to have a transfusion.
Roche had the bar oHffe.
pushed on the gate.
And vaccine, she thought wildHlye. 'd better bring back the orWal.here's Agnes?He must get Agnes safely away from here.
The horse was nearly at the gate before she came to her "sNeon!s"ess. he said, but it was too late. Roche already had the gate open.
"He can't come here," Kivrin shouted, looking about wildly for something to warn him "oHfef'llwith. catch the plague."
She'd left the spade by the empty pigsty after she buried BSlhacekirea.n to get
"itD. on't let him through
the gate," she called, and Roche flung his arms up in warning, but he had already ridden into the courtyard.
Roche dropped his arm"sG. awyn!" he said, and the black stallion looked like Gawyn's, but a boy was riding it.He could not have been older than Rosemund, and his face and clothes were streaked with mud. The stallion was muddy, too, breathing hard, and spattering foam, and the boy looked asHwisinded.
nose and ears were brightened with the cHoled. started to dismount, staring at them.
"You must not come here," Kivrin said, speaking carefully so she wouldn't lapse into"TEhnegrleishis. plague in this village.S"he raised her spade, pointing it like a gun at him.
The boy stopped, halfway off the horse, and sat down in the saddle again.
"The blue sickness," she added, in case he didn't understand, but he was already nodding.

"It is everywhere," he said, turning to take something from the pouch behind hi"sI sbaedadrle.a message." He held out a leather wallet toward Roche, and Roche stepped forward for it.
"No!" Kivrin said and took a step forward, jabbing the spade at the air in fro"nDt rop hiitmo.n the ground!" she said". You must not touch us."
The boy took a tied roll of vellum from the wallet and threw it at Roche's feet.
Roche picked it up off the flagstones and unroll"eWd hita.t says the message?" he asked the boy, and
Kivrin thought, of course, he can't read.
"I know not," the boy sa"iIdt . is from the Bishop of BaItha.m to take it to all the parishes." "Would you have me read it?" Kivrin asked.
"Mayhap it is from the lord," Roche
"sMaida.yhap he sends word that he has been delayed."
"Yes," Kivrin said, taking it from him, but she knew it wasn't.
It was in Latin, printed in letters so elaborate they were hard to read, but it didSnh'te mhadterr.ead it before. In the Bodleian.
She leaned the spade against her shoulder and read the message, translating the Latin:
"The contagious pestilence of the present day, which is spreading far and wide, has left many parish churches and other livings in our diocese without parson or priest to care for their parishioners."
She looked at RochNe.o, she thoughtN.
ot here.I won't let that happen here.
"Since no priests can be found who are willTinhge-"priests were dead or had run away, and no one
could be persuaded to take their place, and the people were dying "without the Sacrament of Penance."
She read on, seeing not the black letters but the faded brown ones she had deciphered in the Bodleian. She had thought the letter was pompous and ridicul"oPueso.ple were dying right and left," she had told
Mr. Dunworthy indignantly, "and all the bishop was concerned about was church proBtouctoln!o"w, reading it to the exhausted boy and Father Roche, it sounded exhausteAd,ndtood.esperate.
"If they are on the point of death and can not secure the services of a priest," she read, "then they should make confession to each otheWr. e urge you, by these present letters, in the bowels of Jesus Christ, to
do this."
Neither the boy nor Roche said anything when she had finished rSeahdeinwg.ondered if the boy had known what he was carryinSg.he rolled it up and handed it back to him.
"I have been riding three days," the boy said, slumping forward tiredly in th"eCsaanddIlen. ot rest here awhile?"
"It is not safe," Kivrin said, feeling sorry for"Whime .will give you and your horse food to take with you."

Roche turned to go into the kitchen, and Kivrin suddenly remembered "ADgindesy.ou see a little girl on the road?" she asked".A five-year-old child, with a red cloak and hood?"
"Nay," the boy said, "but there are many on the Trohaedys.flee the pestilence."
Roche was bringing out a wadmal saKcikv.rin turned to fetch some oats for the stallion, and Eliwys shot past them both, her skirts tangling between her legs, her loose hair flying out behind her.
"Don't-" Kivrin shouted, but Eliwys had already caught hold of the stallion's bridle.
"Where do you come from?" she asked, grabbing at the boy's "sHleaevvee.you seen aught of Gawyn
Fitzroy?"
The boy looked frightene"dI. come from Bath, with a message from the bishop," he said, pulling back on the reinsT. he horse whinnied, and tossed its head.
"What message?" Eliwys said hysterical"lyIs.
it from Gawyn?"
"I do not know the man of whom you speak," the boy said.
"Lady Eliwys-" Kivrin said, stepping forward.
"He rides a black steed with a saddle chased in silver," she persisted, pulling on the stallio"Hn'se has gone to Bath to fetch my husband, who witnesses at the Assizes."
"None go to Bath," the boy s"aAidl.l who can flee it."
Eliwys stumbled, as though the stallion had reared, and seemed to fall against its side.
bridle.
"There is no court, nor any law," the boy"Tsahied.dead lie in the streets, and all who but look on them die, too.Some say it is the end of the world."
Eliwys let go of the bridle and took a stepSbhaecktu. rned and looked hopefully at Kivrin and Roche. "They will surely be home soon, thIesn.it certain you did not see them on the Hroeadr?ides a black steed."
"There were many steedsH."e kicked the horse forward toward Roche, but Eliwys didn't move. Roche stepped forward with the sack of fToohde. boy leaned down, grabbed it, and wheeled the
stallion around, nearly running Eliwys dowSnh.e didn't try to get out of the way.
Kivrin stepped forward and caught hold of one of the"Dreoinns't.
go back to the bishop," she said.
He jerked up on the reins, looking more frightened of her than of Eliwys. She didn't let g"oG. o north," she said".The plague isn't there yet."
He wrenched the reins free, kicked the stallion forward, and galloped out of the courtyard.
"Stay off the main roads," Kivrin called after "hSipme.ak to no one."

Eliwys still stood where she was.
"Come," Kivrin said".We must find Agnes."
"My husband and Gawyn will have ridden first to Courcy to warn Sir Bloet," she said, and let Kivrin lead her back to the house.
Kivrin looked in the barAng. nes wasn't there, but she found her own cloak, left there Christmas Eve. She flung it around her and went up into theShloeftl.ooked in the brewhouse and Roche searched the other buildings, but they didn't find hAer.cold wind had sprung up while they stood talking to the messenger, and it smelled like snow.
"Perhaps she is in the house," Roche
"sLaiodo. ked you behind the high seat?"
She searched the house again, looking behind the high seat and under the bed in Mthaeisrsyolsatri.ll lay whimpering where Kivrin had left her, and she had to resist the temptation to kSihcek ahsekre. d Lady Imeyne, kneeling to the wall, if she had seen Agnes or not.
The old woman ignored her, moving her beads and her lips silently. Kivrin shook her shoulde"rD. id you see her go out?"
Lady Imeyne turned and looked at her, her eyes glitte"riSnhge.
is to blame," she said.
"Agnes?" Kivrin said, outrage"dH. ow could it be her fault?"
Imeyne shook her head and looked past Kivrin at M"aGisordy. punishes us for Maisry's wickedness." "Agnes is missing and it grows dark," Kivrin "sWaied. must find herD. id you not see where she went?" "To blame," she whispered and turned back to the wall.
It was getting late now, and the wind was whistling around the onto the green.
Kscirverein .ran out to the passage and
It was like the day she had tried to find the drop on hTehreroewwn.as no one on the snow-covered green, and the wind whipped and tore at her clothes as shAe braelnl. was ringing somewhere far off to the northeast, slowly, a funeral toll.
Agnes had loved the belltowKeri.vrin went in, shouted up the stairs to the rope even though she could see up to the bellropSe.he went out and stood looking at the huts, trying to think where Agnes would have gone.
Not the huts, unless she had got cHoeldr. puppy.She had wanted to go see her puppy's grKaviver.in hadn't told her she'd buried it in the woAodgsn.es had told her it had to be buried in the churchyard. Kivrin could see she wasn't there, but she went through the lychgate.
Agnes had been therTe.he prints of her little boots led from grave to grave and then off to the north side of the churchK. ivrin looked up the hill at the beginning of the woods, thinking What if she went into the woods? We'll never find her.

She ran around the side of the chuTrhche. prints stopped and circled back to the door of the church. Kivrin opened the doorI.t was nearly dark inside and colder than the wind-whipped churchyard. "Agnes!" she called.
There was no answer, but there was a faint sound up by the altar, like a rat scurrying out of sight. "Agnes?" Kivrin said, peering into the gloom behind the tomb, in the side"Aariesleyso. u here?" she said.
"Kivrin?" a quavering little voice said.
"Agnes?" she said, and ran in its direc"tiWonh.ere are you?"
She was by the statue of St. Catherine, huddled among the candles at its base in her red cape and hood. She had pressed herself against the rough stone skirts of the statue, eyes wide and frHigehrtenfaecde.
was red and damp with tea"rKs.ivrin?" she cried, and flung herself into her arms.
"What are you doing here, Agnes?" Kivrin said, angry with Srheeliehf.ugged her tightly".We've been looking everywhere for you."
She buried her wet face against Kivrin's n"eHckid.ing," she said". I took Cart to see my hound, and I
fell down."She wiped at her nose with her ha"nI dc.alled and called for you, but you didn't come."
"I didn't know where you were, honey," Kivrin said, stroking he"rWhhayir.did you come in the church?"
"I was hiding from the wicked man."
"What wicked man?" Kivrin said, frowning.
The heavy church door opened, and Agnes clasped her little arms in a stranglehold around Kivrin's neck. "It is the wicked man," she whispered hysterically.
"Father Roche!" Kivrin calle"dI.'ve found herS. he's here."The door shut, and she could hear his footsteps. "It's Father Roche," she said to Agn"eHs.e's been looking for you, toWo.e didn't know where you'd gone."
She loosened her grip a lit"tlMe.aisry said the wicked man would come and get me."
Roche came up panting, and Agnes buried her head against Kivrin"Iasgasihne.
ill?" he asked anxiously.
"I don't think so," Kivrin sa"iSdh. e's half-frozen.Put my cloak over her." Roche clumsily unfastened Kivrin's cloak and wrapped it around Agnes.
"I hid from the wicked man," Agnes said to him, turning in Kivrin's arms. "What wicked man?" Roche said.
"The wicked man who chased you in the church," she"Msaaiids.ry said he comes and gets you and gives you the blue sickness."
"There isn't any wicked man," Kivrin said, thinking, I'll shake Maisry till her teeth rattle when I get home.

She stood upA.
gnes's grip tightened.
Roche groped along the wall to the priest's door, and opeBneludishit.light flooded in. "Maisry said he got my hound," Agnes said, shive"rBinugt. he didn't get mIe.hid."
Kivrin thought of the black puppy, limp in her hands, blood around itsNmo,oushthe. thought, and started rapidly across the snowS.he was shivering because she'd been in the icy church soHleorngfa. ce
felt hot against Kivrin's necIkt.'s only from crying, Kivrin told herself, and asked her if her head ached.
Agnes shook or nodded her head against Kivrin and wouldn't aNnsow, eKr.ivrin thought, and walked faster, Roche close behind her, past the steward's house and into the courtyard.
"I did not go in the woods," Agnes said when they got to th"eThheounsaeu. ghty girl did, didn't she?" "Yes," Kivrin said, carrying her over to the"Bfiuret. it was all righTt.he father found her and took her
home. And they lived happily ever afteSr.h"e sat Agnes down on the bench and untied her cape.
"And she never went in the woods again," she said.
"She never did.K" ivrin pulled her wet shoes and hose "oYffo.u must lie down," she said, spreading her cloak next to the fir"eI. will bring you some hot souAp.g"nes lay down obediently, and Kivrin pulled the sides of the cloak up over her.
She brought her soup, but Agnes didn't want any, and she fell asleep almost immediately.
"She's caught a chill," she told Eliwys and Roche almost fi"eSrcheelyw.
as outside all afternooSn.he's
caught cold," but after Roche left to say vespers, she uncovered Agnes and felt under her arms, in her groin. She even turned her over, looking for a lump between the shoulderblades like the boy's.
Roche didn't ring the beHlle.
came back with a ragged quilt that was obviously from his own bed, made
it into a pallet, and moved Agnes onto it.
The other vespers bells were ringiOngx.ford and Godstow and the bell from the southwKeivstr.in
couldn't hear Courcy's double beSll.he looked at Eliwys anxiously, but she didn't seem to be listening. She was looking across Rosemund at the screens.
The bells stopped, and Courcy's started Tuhpe.y sounded odd, muffled and sloKwi.vrin looked at
Roche. "Is it a funeral bell?"
"Nay," he said, looking at Agn"eIst . is a holy day."
She had lost track of the daTyhse.
bishop's envoy had left Christmas morning and in the afternoon she
had found out it was the plague, and after that it seemed like one endFleosusr ddaayy. s, she thought, it's been four days.
She had wanted to come at Christmas because there were so many holy days even the peasants would know what day it was, and she couldn't possibly miss the rendeGzvaowuys.n went to Bath for help, Mr. Dunworthy, she thought, and the bishop took all the horses, and I didn't know where it was.
Eliwys had stood up and was listening to the "bAerlels.those Courcy's bells?" she asked Roche.

"Yes," he said".Fear not.It is the Slaughter of the Innocents."
The slaughter of the innocents, Kivrin thought, looking at ASghneesw. as still asleep, and she had stopped shivering, though she still felt hot.
The cook cried out something, and Kivrin went around the barricade Sthoe hwera.s crouched on her
pallet, struggling to get u"pM.
ust go home," she said.
Kivrin coaxed her down again and fetched her a drink ofTwheatebru. cket was nearly empty, and she picked it up and started out with it.
"Tell Kivrin I would have her come to me," AgnesShseaidw.as sitting up.
Kivrin put the bucket dow"nI'.m here," Kivrin said, kneeling down beside "hIe'mr.
right here."
Agnes looked at her, her face red and distorted with"Trahgee.wicked man will get me if Kivrin does not come," she said".Bid her come now."
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (073453-074912)
I've missed the rendezvouIs.lost count of the days, taking care of Rosemund, and I couldn't find Agnes, and I didn't know where the drop was.
You must be worried sick, Mr. DunworYthoyu.
probably think I've fallen among cutthroats and
murderers. Well, I haveA.
nd now they've got Agnes.
She has a fever, but no buboes, and she isn't coughing or voJmusittinthge.
feverI.t's very high-she
doesn't know me and keeps calling to me to cRomoceh.e and I tried to bring it down by sponging her with cold compresses, but it keeps going back up.
(Break)
Lady Imeyne has
Fita. ther Roche found her this morning on the floor in the cSohrenemr. ay have been
there all nightT. he last two nights she has refused to go to bed and has stayed on her knees, praying to
God to protect her and the rest of the godly from the plague.
He hasn'tS. he has the pneumonicS.he's coughing and vomiting mucus streaked with blood.
She won't let Roche or me tend "hSehre.
is to blame for this," she told Roche, pointing a"Lt omoek. at
her hair.She is no maidL.ook at her clothes."

My clothes are a boy's jerkin and leather hose I found in one of the chests Minythderelsosft.got
ruined when Lady Imeyne vomited on me, and I had to tear my shift up for cloths and bandages.
Roche tried to give her some of the willow bark tea, but she spSaht eitsaoiudt,. "She lied when she
said she was waylaid in the wooSdhse.
was sent here."
Bloody spittle dribbled down her chin as she spoke and Roche wiped"Ititisoftfh.e disease that makes you believe these things," he said gently.
"She was sent here to poison us," Imyene "sSaeide. how she has poisoned my son's childArennd. she would poison me, but I will not let her give me aught to eat or drink."
"Hush," Roche said sternl"yY. ou must not speak ill of one who seeks to help you."
how
She shook her head, turning it wildly from side to"Sshiedes. eeks to kill us aYllo. u must burn herS.he is the devil's servant."
I've never seen him angry befoHre looked almost like a cutthroat aga"iYn.ou know not whereof you speak," he said". It is God who has sent her to help us."
I wish it were true, that I were of any help at all, butAIg'mnesnostc.reams for me to come and
Rosemund lies there as if she were under a spell and the clerk is turning black, and there's nothing I can do to help any of theNmo. thing.
(Break)
All the steward's family haveTiht.e youngest boy, Lefric, was the only one with a bubo, and I've brought him in here and lancedTiht.ere's nothing I can do for the othTehrse.y all have pneumonic.
(Break)
The steward's baby is dead. (Break)
The Courcy bells are tollinNgi.ne strokes.Which one of them is Tith?e bishop's envoy?The fat monk, who helped steal our horsesO?r Sir Bloet?I hope so.
(Break)
Terrible dayT. he steward's wife and the boy who ran from me when I went to find the drop both died this afternoon.The steward is digging both their graves, though the ground is so frozen I don't see how he can even make a dent inRiot.semund and Lefric are both worsReo. semund can scarcely swallow and
her pulse is thready and irregulAarg. nes is not as bad, but I can't get her fever Rdochne. in here tonight.
said vespers
After the set prayers, he said, "Good Jesus, I know you have sent what help you can, but I fear it canno prevail against this dark plaguTe.hy holy servant Katherine says this terror is a disease, but how can it
be? For it does not move from man to man, but is everywhere at once."

It is. (Break)
Ulf the Reeve
Sibbe, daughter of the steward. Joan, daughter of the steward.
The cook (I don't know her name) Walthef, oldest son of the steward.
(Break)
Over fifty per cent of the village hPasleaits.e don't let Eliwys get Oitr.
Roche.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

He called for help, but no one came, and he thought that everyone else had died and he was the only one left, like the monk, John Clyn, in the monastery of the Friars Minor. "I, waiting for death till it come..."
He tried to press the button to call the nurse, but he couldn'Tt hfeinred wit.as a hand bell on the
bedstand next to the bed, and he reached for it, but there was no strength in his fingers, and it clattered to the floor.It made a horrible, endless sound, like some nightmarish Great Tom, but nobody came.
The next time he woke, though, the bell was on the bedstand again, so they must have come while he was asleep.He squinted blurrily at the bell and wondered how long he had beenAaslloenepg. time.
There was no way to tell from the rIotomwa. s light, but there was no angle to the light, no shIatdows. might be afternoon or mid-morninTg.here was no digital on the bedstand or the wall, and he didn't have the strength to turn and look at the screens on the wall behinTdhehriemw. as a window, though he could
not raise himself up enough to see properly out of it, but he could see enough to tell that it Iwt as raining. had been raining when he went to Brasenose-it could be the same aftePrenrohoanp.s he had only
fainted, and they had brought him here for observation. "'I also will do this unto you,'" someone said.
Dunworthy opened his eyes and reached for his spectacles, but they weren'"t'Ithweirlel. even appoint over you terror, consumption, and burning ague.'"
It was Mrs. GaddsoSn.he was sitting in the chair beside his bed, reading from theSBheiblwe.as not wearing her mask and gown, though the Bible still seemed to be swathed in pDluasntwenoer.thy squinted at it.
"'And when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you.'" "What day is it?" Dunworthy asked.
She paused, looked curiously at him, and then went on pla"'cAidnldy. ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.'"
He could not have been here very lMonrgs. Gaddson had been reading to the patients when he went to find Gilchrist.Perhaps it was still the same afternoon, and Mary had not come in to throw Mrs. Gaddson out yet.
"Can you swallow?" the nurse saItidwas the ancient sister from Supplies. "I need to give you a temp," she croa"Ckeadn. you swallow?"
He opened his mouth, and she put the temp capsule on his Stohnegutiep.ped his head forward so he could drink, her apron crackling.
"Did you get it down?" she asked, letting him lean back a bit.
The capsule was lodged halfway down his throat, but he noTdhdeede.ffort made his head ache.

"Good.Then I can remove thisS."he stripped something from his upper arm. "What time is it?" he asked, trying not to cough up the capsule.
"Time for you to rest," she said, peering farsightedly at the screens behind his head.
"What day is it?" he said, but she had already hobble"dWhoautt. day is it?" he asked Mrs. Gaddson, but she was gone, too.
He could not have been here loHneg.still had a headache and a fever, which were Early Symptoms of Influenza. Perhaps he had only been ill a few hoPuerrsh.aps it was still the same afternoon, and he had awakened when they moved him into the room, before they had had time to connect a call button or give him a temp.
"Time for your temp," the nurse sIatidw. as a different one, the pretty student nurse who had asked him all the questions about William Gaddson.
"I've already had one."
"That was yesterday," she sa"idC.ome now, let's have it down."
The first year student in Badri's room had told him she was down with"I tthheoufgluh.t you had the flu," he said.
"I did, but I'm better, and so shall youShbee."put her hand behind his head and raised him up so he could take a sip of water.
"What day is it?" he asked.
"The eleventh," she sai"dI. had to think a bTith.ere at the end things got a bit heNcteiacr.ly all the staff were down with it, and everyone working double shIifqtsu.ite lost track of the daySsh."e typed something into the console and looked up at the screens, frowning.
He had already known it before she told him, before he tried to reach the bell to caTlhl efofrevheerlp.
had made one endless rainy afternoon out of all the delirious nights and drugged mornings he could not remember, but his body had kept clear track of the time, tolling off the hours, the days, so that he had
known even before she'd told hiHme.
had missed the rendezvous.
There was no rendezvous, he told himself bittGerillyc.hrist shut down the neIt would not have
mattered if he had been there, if he had not beTenheilnl.et was closed and there was nothing he could have done.
January eleventhH. ow long had Kivrin waited at the drAop?day?Two days?Three before she began to think she had the date wrong, or the pHlaacde?she waited all night by the Oxford-Bath road,
huddled in her useless white cloak, afraid to build a fire for fear the light would attract wolves or thieves? Or peasants fleeing from the plaguAen. d when had it come to her finally that no one was coming to get
her?
"Is there anything I can fetch for you?" the nurse Sahskeedp.ushed a syringe into the cannula.

"Is that something to make me sleep?" he asked. "Yes."
"Good," he said and closed his eyes gratefully.
He slept either a few minutes or a day or a Tmhoentlhig. ht, the rain, the lack of shadows were the same when he wokeC. olin was sitting in the chair beside the bed, reading the book Dunworthy had given him for Christmas and sucking on somethinItg.can't have been that long, Dunworthy thought wryly, squinting
at him, the gobstopper is still with us.
"Oh, good," Colin said, shutting the book with a"Tclhaapt. horrid sister said I could only stay if I
promised not to wake you up, and I didn't, dYidouI'l?l tell her you woke all on your own, won't you?"
He took the gobstopper out, examined it, and stuck it in his "pHoacvkeet.you seen herS?he must have been alive during the Middle AgSesh.e's nearly as necrotic as Mrs. Gaddson."
Dunworthy squinted at himT.he jacket whose pocket he had stuck the gobstopper in was a new one, green, the gray plaid muffler around his neck even deadlier against the verdure, and Colin looked older in it, as if he had grown while Dunworthy was asleep.
Colin frowned". It's me, ColinD. o you know me?"
"Yes, of course I know yWouh. y aren't you wearing your mask?"
Colin grinned". I don't have toA. nd at any rate you're not contagious any mDoore.you want your spectacles?"
Dunworthy nodded, carefully, so the aching wouldn't begin again.
"When you woke up the other times, you didn't know me Haet arullm."maged in the drawer of the bedstand and handed Dunworthy his spectacle"Ys.ou were awfully badI. thought you were going to pack it inY. ou kept calling me Kivrin."
"What day is it?" Dunworthy asked.
"The twelfth," Colin said impatient"lyY.ou asked me that this morninDgo. n't you remember?" Dunworthy put on his spectacle"Ns.o."
"Don't you remember anything that's happened?"
I remember how I failed Kivrin, he thouIgrhetm.
ember leaving her in 1348.
Colin scooted the chair closer and laid the book on th"eThbeeds.ister told me you wouldn't because of the fever," he said, but he sounded faintly angry at Dunworthy, as if it were "hSihsefawuoltu. ldn't let me
in to see you and she wouldn't tell me anytIhitnhgin. k that's completely unfaiTr.hey make you sit in a
waiting room, and they keep telling you to go home, there's nothing you can do here, and when you ask
questions, they say, 'The doctor will be with you in a moment,' and won't tell you
Tanhyetyhintrge.at
you like a childI. mean, you have to find out sometime, don't Dyo ?you know what Sister did this morning? She chucked me ouSt.he said, 'Mr. Dunworthy's been very Iilld.on't want you to upset him.'

As if I would."
He looked indignant, but at the same time tired, woDrruiendw.orthy thought of him haunting the corridors and sitting in the waiting room, waiting for nNeowsw. onder he looked older.
"And just now Mrs. Gaddson said I was only to tell you good news because bad news would very likely make you have a relapse and die and it would be my fault."
"Mrs. Gaddson's still keeping up morale, I see," DunworthyHseaidsm. iled at Colin".I don't suppose there's any chance of her coming down with the virus?"
Colin looked astonished".The epidemic's stopped," he sai"dT. hey're lifting the quarantine next week." The analogue had arrived, then, after all Mary's pleaHdiengw. ondered if it had come in time to help
Badri, and then wondered if that was the bad news Mrs. Gaddson didn't waInht atvoeld.already been
told the bad news, he thougThth.e fix is lost, and Kivrin is in 1348. "Tell me some good news," he said.
"Well, nobody's fallen ill for two days," Colin said, "and the supplies finally came through, so we've something decent to eat."
"You've got some new clothes as well, I see."
Colin glanced down at the green jac"kTeht.is is one of the Christmas presents from my moSther.sent them after-"He stopped and frowned".She sent me some vids, and a set of face plasters as well."
Dunworthy wondered if she had waited till after the epidemic was effectively over before bothering to ship Colin's gifts, and what Mary had had to say about it.
"See," Colin said, standing up".The jacket strips up automaticalYlyo. u just touch the button, like this. You won't have to tell me to strip it up anymore."
The sister came rustling "inD.id he wake you up?" she demanded.
"I told you so," Colin mutter"eId.didn't, SisterI. pages."
was so quiet you couldn't even hear me turn the
"He didn't wake me up, and he's not bothering me," Dunworthy said before she could ask her next question. "He's telling me only good news."
"You shouldn't be telling Mr. Dunworthy anythHineg.must rest," she said and hung a bag of clear liquid on the drip". Mr. Dunworthy is still too ill to be bothered with visSithoers."hustled Colin out of the
room.
"If you're so worried over visitors, why don't you stop Mrs. Gaddson reading Scripture to him?" Colin protested. "She'd make anybody ill.H" e stopped short at the door, glaring at the s"iIs'tlel r.be back
tomorrow. Is there anything you'd like?"
"How is Badri?" Dunworthy asked and braced himself for the answer.

"Better," Colin said".He was almost well, but he had a relaHpese's. a good deal better now, thouHghe. wants to see you."
"No," Dunworthy said, but the sister had already shut the door.
"It's not Badri's fault," Mary had said, and of course it Dwiassonri'te.ntation was one of the Early
Symptoms. He thought of himself, unable to punch in Andrews' number, of Ms. Piantini making mistake after mistake on the handbells, murmuring, "Sorry," over and over.
"Sorry," he murmuredI.t had not been Badri's fauIltt.was hisH.
e had been so worried about the
apprentice's calculations that he had infected Badri with his fears, so worried that Badri had decided to refeed the coordinates.
Colin had left his book lying on theDbuendw. orthy pulled it toward himIt. seemed impossibly heavy,
so heavy his arm shook with the effort of holding it open, but he propped that side against the rail and turned the pages, almost unreadable from the angle he was lying at, till he found what he was looking for.
The Black Death had hit Oxford at Christmas, shutting down the universities and causing those who were able to flee to the surrounding villages, carrying the plague withThthoesme .who couldn't died in
the thousands, so many there were "none left to keep possession or make up a competent number to bury the dead."And the few who were left barricaded themselves inside the colleges, hiding, and looking for someone to blame.
He fell asleep with his spectacles on, but when the nurse removed them, hIte wwaoskeW. illiam's nurse, and she smiled at him.
"Sorry," she said, putting them in the dra"wI edr.idn't mean to wake you." Dunworthy squinted at he"rC. olin says the epidemic's over."
"Yes," she said, looking at the screens behind "hTihme.y found the source of the virus and got the analogue all at the same time, and only just inPtriombea.bility was projecting an 85 per cent morbidity
rate with 32 per cent mortality even with antibiotics and T-cell enhancement, and that was without adding in the supply shortages and so many of the staff being Adoswint .was, we had nearly 19 per cent
mortality and a good number of the cases are still critical."
She picked up his wrist and looked at the screen behind his head. "Your fever's down a bit," she said. "You're very lucky, you knowT.he analogue didn't work on anyone already infecDterd.. Ahrens-" she
said, and then stoppedH. e wondered what Mary had saTidh.at he would pack it lucky," she said again".Now try to sleep."
"inY.ou're very
He slept, and when he woke again, Mrs. Gaddson was standing over him, poised for attack with her
Bible.
"'He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt,'" she said as soon as he had opene"d'Alhsios eyes. every sickness and every plague, until thou be destroyed.'"
"'And ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy,'" Dunworthy murmured. "What?" Mrs. Gaddson demanded.

"Nothing."
She had lost her placSeh.e flipped back and forth through the pages, searching for pestilences, and began reading."'...Because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world."
God would never have sent him if He'd known what would happen, Dunworthy Htheoruogdhta.nd the slaughter of the innocents and Gethsemane.
"Read to me from Matthew," he s"aCidh.apter 26, verse 39."
Mrs. Gaddson stopped, looking irritated, and then leafed through the pages to M"a'Atthnedwh. e went
a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.'"
God didn't know where he was, Dunworthy thouHgeht.had sent his only begotten Son into the world,
and something had gone wrong with the fix, someone had turned off the net, so that He couldn't get to him, and they had arrested him and put a crown of thorns on his head and nailed him to a cross.
"Chapter 27," he sai"dV. erse 46."
She pursed her lips and turned the p"aIgere. ally do not feel these are appropriate Scriptures for-" "Read it," he said.
"'And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'"
Kivrin would have no idea what had happeSnheed. would think she had the wrong place or the wrong
time, that she had lost count of the days somehow during the plague, that something had gone wrong with the drop.She would think they had forsaken her.
"Well?" Mrs. Gaddson sai"dA. ny other requests?" "No."
Mrs. Gaddson flipped back to the Old Testam"e'Fnot.r they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence,'" she rea"d'.He that is far off shall die of the pestilence.'"
In spite of everything, he slept, waking finally to something that was not endless aIfttewrnaosonst.ill raining, but there were shadows in the room and the bells were chiming four Wo'icllioacmk'.s nurse
helped him to the lavatorTy.he book had gone, and he wondered if Colin had come back without his remembering, but when the nurse opened the door of the bedstand for his slippers, he saw it lying there. He asked the nurse to crank his bed to sitting, and when she had gone he put on his spectacles and took the book out again.
The plague had spread so randomly, so viciously, the contemps had been unable to believe it was a natural disease.They had accused lepers and Jews and the mentally impaired of poisoning wells and putting curses on themA. nyone strange, anyone foreign was immediately suspectIend.Sussex they had
stoned two travellers to deatIhn.
Yorkshire they had burnt a young woman at the stake.
"So that's where it got to," Colin said, coming into the"Irotohmou.ght I'd lost it."

He was wearing his green jacket and was very"Iwheat.d to carry the handbell cases over to Holy
Re-formed for Ms. Taylor, and it's absolutely pouring."
Relief washed over him at the mention of Ms. Taylor's name, and he realized he had not asked after any of the detainees for fear it would be bad news.
"Is Ms. Taylor all right then?"
Colin touched the bottom of his jacket, and it sprang open, spraying water ever"yYwehs.erTeh. ey're doing some bell thing at Holy Re-Formed on the fifteeHnteh.l"eaned around so he could see what Dunworthy was reading.
Dunworthy shut the book and handed it to "hAimnd.
the rest of the bellringerMs?s. Piantini?"
Colin nodded". She's still in hospitaSl.he's so thin you wouldn't know heHr.e" opened the book".You were reading about the Black Death, weren't you?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said".Mr. Finch didn't come down with the virus, did he?"
"No.He's been filling in as tenor for Ms. PianHtien'is. very upsetW.
e didn't get any lavatory paper in
the shipment from London, and he says we're nearlyHoeuth.ad a fight with The Gallstone overHiet." laid the book back on the b"eWd.hat's going to happen to your girl?"
"I don't know," Dunworthy said.
"Isn't there anything you can do to get her out?" "No."
"The Black Death was terrible," Colin s"aSido. many people died they didn't even bury thTehmey. left them lying in big heaps."
just
"I can't get to her, CoWline.
lost the fix when Gilchrist shut the net down."
"I know, but isn't there something we can do?" "No."
"But-"
"I intend to speak to your doctor about restricting your visitors," the sister said sternly, removing Colin by the collar of his jacket.
"Then begin by restricting Mrs. Gaddson," Dunworthy s"aaindd.
tell Mary I want to see her."
Mary did not come, but Montoya did, obviously fresh from thSehediwg.as mud to the knees, and her curly hair was gray with Cito. lin came with her, and his green jacket was thoroughly bespattered.
"We had to sneak in when she wasn't looking," Colin said.

Montoya had lost a good deal of weHigehrt. hands on the bed rail were very thin, and the digital on her wrist was loose.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Better," he lied, looking at her hanTdhse.re was mud under her fingernai"lHs.ow are you feeling?" "Better," she said.
She must have gone directly to the dig to look for the corder as soon as they released her from hospital. And now she had come directly here.
"She's dead, isn't she?" he said.
Her hands took hold of the rail, let go"Yofesi."t.
Kivrin had been in the right place, afteTr haell.locationals had been shifted by only a few kilometers, a few meters, and she had managed to find the Oxford-Bath road, she had found SkAennddgadtiee.d in
it, a victim of the influenza she had caught before sheOwr eonft. starvation after the plague, or of despair. She had been dead seven hundred years.
"You found it then," he said, and it was not a question. "Found what?" Colin said.
"Kivrin's corder." "No," Montoya said.
He felt no relie"fB. ut you will," he said.
Her hands shook a little, holding the "rSahile.
asked me to," she sa"idT.he day of the droSp.he was the
one who suggested the corder look like a bone spur, so the record would survive even if 'Msher. didn't. Dunworthy's worried over nothing,' she said, 'but if something should go wrong, I'll try to be buried in the churchyard so you,'" her voice faltered, "'so you won't have to dig up half of England.'"
Dunworthy closed his eyes.
"But you don't know that she's dead, if you haven't found the corder," Colin b"Yurosut osuaitd. didn't even know where she waHso. w can you be sure she's dead?"
you
"We've been conducting experiments with laboratory rats at theOndliyg. a quarter of an hour's exposure to the virus is required for infectKioinv.rin was directly exposed to the tomb for over three
hours. There's a 75 per cent chance she contracted the virus, and with the limited med support available in the fourteenth century, she's almost certain to have developed complications."
Limited med supporIt.t was a century that had dosed people with leeches and powdered rubies, that
had never heard of sterilization or germs or T-cTehllesy.
would have stuck filthy poultices on her and
muttered prayers and opened her vein"As.nd the doctors bled them," Colin's book had died in despite."
"sbaiudt, many

"Without antibiotics and T-cell enhancement," Montoya said, the virus's mortality rate is forty-nine per cent. Probability-"
"Probability," Dunworthy said bitterl"yA. re these Gilchrist's figures?"
Montoya glanced at Colin and frown"eTdh. ere is a 75 per cent chance Kivrin contracted the virus, and a 68 per cent chance she was exposed to the plMagoureb.idity for bubonic plague is 91 per cent, and
the mortality rate is-"
"She didn't get the plague," Dunworthy s"aSidh.e'd had her plague inoculatioDn.idn't Dr. Ahrens or
Gilchrist tell you that?"
Montoya glanced at Colin again.
"They said I wasn't allowed to tell him," Colin said, looking defiantly at her.
"Tell me whatI?s Gilchrist ill?"He remembered looking at the screens and then collapsing forward into
Gilchrist's arms.He wondered if he had infected him when he fell.
Montoya said, "Mr. Gilchrist died of the flu three days ago."
Dunworthy looked at Coli"nW.
hat else did they instruct you to keep from me?" Dunworthy demanded.
"Who else died while I was ill?"
Montoya put up her thin hand as if to stop Colin, but it was too late. "Great-Aunt Mary," Colin said.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (077076-078924)
Maisry's run awayR. oche and I looked everywhere for her, afraid she'd gallen and crawled into some corner, but the steward said he saw her starting into the woods while he was digging Walthef's grave. She was riding Agnes's pony.
She will only spread it, or make it as far as some village that alreaIdt'ys
halals airto. und us nowT.he
bells sound like vespers, only out of rhythm, as if the ringers had goInte's mimadp.ossible to make out whether it is nine strokes or thrCeeo.urcy's double bells tolled a single stroke this mornIinwgo. nder if it is one of the chattering girls who played with Rosemund.
She is still unconscious, and her pulse is very
Awgeanke.s screams and struggles in her deliriuSmhe.
keeps shrieking for me to come, but she won't let me neWarhheenr.I try to talk to her, she kicks and

screams as if she were having a tantrum.
Eliwys is wearing herself out trying to tend Agnes and Lady Imeyne, who screams, "Devil!" at me when I
tend her and nearly gave me a black eye this moTrnhiengo. nly one who lets me near him is the clerk,
who is beyond caringH. e cannot possibly last the daHye.
smells so bad we've had to move him to the
far end of the roomH.is bubo has started to suppurate again. (Break)
Gunni, second son of the steward.
The woman with the scrofula scars on her neck. Maisry's brother.
Roche's altarboy, Cob. (Break)
Lady Imeyne is very baRdo. che tried to give her the last rites, but she refused to make her confession.
"You must make your peace with God ere you die," Roche said, but she turned her face to the wall and said, "He is to blame for this."
(Break)
Thirty-one casesO.
ver seventy-five per cenRt. oche consecrated part of the green this morning because
the churchyard is nearly full.
Maisry hasn't come bacSk.he's probably sleeping in the high seat of some manor house the inhabitants have fled, and when this is all over she'll become the ancestor of some noble old family.
Perhaps that's what's wrong with our time, Mr. Dunworthy, it was founded by Maisry and Sir Bloet. And all the people who stayed and tried to help, like Roche, caught the plague and died.
(Break)
Lady Imeyne is unconscious and Roche is giving her the lasIt troiltdes.him to.
"It is the disease that speaHkse.r soul has not turned against God," I said, which isn't true, and perhaps she does not deserve forgiveness, but she does not deserve this either, her body poisoned, rotting, and I can scarcely condemn her for blaming God when I blameAnhder.neither is responsibleI.t's a disease.
The consecrated wine has run out, and there is no more olRivoechoeil.is using cooking oil from the
kitchen. It smells rancidW.
here he touches her temples and the palms of her hands, the skin turns black.
It's a disease. (Break)
Agnes is worseI.t's terrible to watch her, lying there panting like her poor puppy and screaming, "Tell

Kivrin to come and get mIe.do not like it here!"
Even Roche can't stand "iWt. hy does God punish us thus?" he asked me. "He doesn'tI.t's a disease," I said, which is no answer, and he knows it.
All of Europe knows it, and the Church knows iItt,
wtoioll. hang on for a few more centuries, making
excuses, but it can't overcome the essential fact-that He let it hTaphpaetnH.
e comes to no one's rescue.
(Break)
The bells have stoppeRd.oche asked me if I thought it was a sign the plague had s"tPoeprpheadp.s
God has come to help us after all," he said.
I don't think sIon.
Tournai church officials sent out an order stopping the bells because the sound
frightened the peopleP. erhaps the Bishop of Bath has sent one out as well.
The sound was frightening, but the silence is wIot'rssel.ike the end of the world.
CHAPTER THIRTY

Mary had been dead almost the entire time he had beSehne ihlla.d come down with it the day the analogue arrived.She had developed pneumonia almost immediately, and on the second day her heart had stopped.The sixth of JanuaryE.piphany.
"You should have told me," Dunworthy had said. "I did tell yoDu.on't you remember?"
He had no memory of it at all, had had no warning even when Mrs. Gaddson was allowed free access to his room, when Colin had said, "They won't tell you anytIhtinhga."d not even struck him as odd that she
hadn't come to see him.
"I told you when she got ill," Colin had said, "and I told you when she died, but you were too ill to care
He thought of Colin waiting outside her room for news and then coming and standing by his bedside, trying to tell him".I'm sorry, Colin."
"You couldn't help it that you were ill," Colin"Istaiwd.asn't your fault."
He had told Ms. Taylor that, and she had not believed him any more than he believed HCeolidnidnow. not think that Colin believed it either.
"It was all right," Colin sa"iEdv. eryone was very nice except SistSerh.e wouldn't let me tell you even
after you started getting better, but everyone else was nice except the Gallstone. She kept reading me
Scriptures about how God strikes down the unrighteoMurs.. Finch rang my mother, but she couldn't come, and so he made all the funeral arrangemHenets.was very niceT. he Americans were nice, too. They kept giving me sweets.
"I'm sorry," Dunworthy had said then and after Colin had gone, expelled by the ancie"In'mt sister. sorry."
He had not been back, and Dunworthy didn't know whether the nurse had barred him from the infirmary or whether, in spite of what he said, Colin would not forgive him.
He had abandoned Colin, gone off and left him at the mercy of Mrs. Gadsson and the sister and doctors
who would not tell him anythinHge.
had gone where he could not be reached, as incommunicado as
Basingame, salmon fishing on some river in ScotlaAnndd.
no matter what Colin said, he believed that if
Dunworthy had truly wanted to, illness or no, he could have been there to help him.
"You think Kivrin's dead, too, don't you?" Colin had asked him after Monto"LyaikelefMt. s. Montoya does?"
"I'm afraid so."
"But you said she couldn't get the plaWguhea.t if she's not deadW? hat if she's at the rendezvous right now, waiting for you?"
"She'd been infected with influenza, Colin."

"But so were you, and you didn't Mdiaey.be she didn't die eitheIr.think you should go see Badri and see if he has any ideaMs.aybe he could turn the machine on again or something."
"You don't understand," he'd sa"idIt.'s not like a pocket torcThh.e fix can't be switched on again." "Well, but maybe he could do another Aonen.ew fixT. o the same time."
To the same timAe.
drop, even with the coordinates already known, took days to
Asent dupB.adri
didn't have the coordinatesH. e only had the datHe.e could "make" a new set of coordinates based on
the date, if the locationals had stayed the same, if Badri in his fever hadn't scrambled them as well and if the paradoxes would allow a second drop at all.
There was no way to explain it all to Colin, no way to tell him Kivrin could not possibly have survived influenza in a century where the standard treatment was blood-le"ttIitngw. on't work, Colin," he'd said,
suddenly too tired to explain anythin"gI'.m sorry."
"So you're just going to leave her thWereh?ether she's dead or noYt?ou're not even going to talk to
Badri?"
"Colin-"
"Aunt Mary did everything for ySohue.
didn't give up!"
"What is going on in here?" the sister had demanded, creak"iIn'mg ing.oing to have to ask you to leave if you persist in upsetting the patient."
"I was leaving anyway," Colin had said and flung himself out.
He hadn't come back that afternoon or all evening or the next morning.
"Am I being allowed visitors?" Dunworthy asked William's nurse when she came on duty. "Yes," she said, looking at the scre"eTnsh.ere's someone waiting to see you now."
It was Mrs. GaddsoSn.he already had her Bible open.
"Luke Chapter 23:23," she said, glaring pestilentiallly at "hSiimnc.e you're so interested in the
Crucifixion. 'And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him.'"
If God had known where His Son was, He would never have let them do that to him, Dunworthy thought. He would have pulled him out, He would have come and rescued him.
During the Black Death, the contemps believed God had abandoned "tWhehmy. do you turn your face
from us?" they had writte"nW.
hy do you ignore our criesB?"ut perhaps He hadn't heard thePme.rhaps
He had been unconscious, lying ill in heaven, helpless Himself and unable to come.
"'And there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour,'" Mrs. Gaddson read, "'and the sun was darkened...'"
The contemps had believed it was the end of the world, that Armageddon had come, that Satan had triumphed at lastH. e had, Dunworthy thoughHt. e had closed the neHt.e had lost the fix.

He thought about GilchrisHt.e wondered if he had realized what he had done before he died or if he had lain unconscious and oblivious, unaware that he had murdered Kivrin.
"'And Jesus led them out as far as to Bethany,'" Mrs. Gaddson read, "'and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.'"
He was parted from them, and was carried up into hGeaovdend.id come to get him, Dunworthy thought. But too lateT. oo late.
She went on reading until William's nurse came on"Nduatpyt.ime," she said briskly, shoving Mrs.
Gaddson out.She came over to the bed, snatched his pillow from under his head, and gave it several sharp whacks.
"Has Colin come?" he asked.
"I haven't seen him since yesterday," she said, pushing the pillow back under h"Iis whaenatd.you to try to go to sleep now."
"Ms. Montoya hasn't been here?"
"Not since yesterday.S"he handed him a capsule and a paper cup. "Have there been any messages?"
"No messages," she saiSd.he took the empty cup from h"imTr.y to sleep."
No messages". I'll try to be buried in the churchyard," Kivrin had told Montoya, but they'd run out of room in the churchyardsT.hey had buried the plague victims in trenches, in ditTchesy. had thrown
them in the riverT.owards the end they hadn't buried them atThalely. fire to them.
had piled them in heaps and set
Montoya would never find the cordAenr.d if she did, what would the message"Ibew? ent to the drop, but it didn't openW. hat happened?"Kivrin's voice rising in panic, in reproach, crying, "Eloi, eloi, why hast thou forsaken me?"
William's nurse made him sit up in a chair to eat hisWlhuinlechh. e was finishing his stewed prunes, Finch came in.
"We're nearly out of tinned fruit," he said, pointing at Dunworthy"'sAntrdayl.avatory paperI.
have no
idea how they expect us to start terHme." sat down on the end of the "bTehde.
university's set the start
of term for the twenty-fifth, but we simply can't be ready byWtheesmti.ll have fifteen patients in Salvin,
the mass immunizations have scarcely started, and I'm not at all convinced we've seen the last of the flu cases."
"What about Colin?" Dunworthy sa"idIs.
he all right."
"Yes, sirH.
e was a bit melancholy after Dr. Ahrens passed away, but he's cheered up a good deal since
you've been on the mend."

"I want to thank you for helping him," Dunworthy"Csaoildin.
told me you'd arranged for the funeral."
"Oh, I was glad to help, Hseir'.d no one else, you knoIw.was certain his mother would come now that the danger's past, but she said it was too difficult to make arrangements on such shoSrthenodtidce.
send lovely flowersL. ilies and laser blossomsW. e held the service in Balliol's chapeHl.e" shifted on the bed. "Oh, and speaking of the chapel, I do hope you don't mind, but I've given permission to Holy Re-Formed to use it for a handbell concert on the fifteTehnethA. merican bellringers are going to
perform Rimbaud's "When At Last My Savior Cometh," and Holy Re-Formed's been requisitioned by the NHS as an immunization centIerd. o hope that's all right."
"Yes," Dunworthy said, thinking about MaHrye. wondered when they had had the funeral, and if they had rung the bell afterwards.
"I can tell them you'd rather they used St. Mary's," Finch said anxiously.
"No, of course not," Dunworthy sa"iTdh. e chapel's perfectly all right. You've obviously been doing a fine job in my absence."
"Well, I try, siIrt.'s difficult, with Mrs. GaddsonH."e stood up". I don't want to keep you from your rest. If there's anything I can bring you, anything I can do?"
"No," Dunworthy said, "there's nothing you can do."
He started for the door and then stop"pIedh.ope you'll accept my condolences, Mr. Dunworthy," he said, looking uncomfortable". I know how close you and Dr. Ahrens were."
Close, he thought after Finch was goInwe.asn't close at aHll.e tried to remember Mary leaning over
him, giving him his temp, looking up anxiously at the screens, to remember Colin standing by his bed in
his new jacket and his muffler, saying, "Aunt Mary's memory there at alNl. othing.
Ddeeaadd.. Can't you hear me?" but there was no
The sister came in and hooked up another drip that put him out, and when he woke he felt abruptly better.
"It's your T-cell enhancement taking hold," William's nurse told"Whime'v.e been seeing it in a good number of casesS. ome of them make miraculous recoveries."
She made him walk to the toilet, and, after lunch, down the c"oTrrhiedofra.rther you can go, the better," she said, kneeling to put his slippers on.
I'm not going anywhere, he thougGhitl.christ shut down the net.
She strapped his drip bag to his shoulder, hooked the portable motor to it, and helped him on with his robe. "You mustn't worry about the depression," she said, helping him out o"Ift'sbead.common
symptom after influenzaI.t will fade as soon as your chemical balance is restored."
She walked him out into the corri"dYoro.u might want to visit some of your friends," she"Tsahiedr.e are two patients from Balliol in the ward at the end of the cMorsr.idPoira. ntini's the fourth beSd.he could do with a bit of cheering."
"Did Mr. Latimer-" he said, and stopp"eIsd.Mr. Latimer still a patient?"

"Yes," she said, and he could tell from her voice that Latimer hadn't recovered from h"Hises'stroke. two doors down."
He shuffled down the corridor to Latimer's roHoem.hadn't gone to see Latimer after he fell ill, first because of having to wait for Andrews' call and then because the infirmary had run out MofarSyPG's. had said he had suffered complete paralysis and loss of function.
He pushed open the door to Latimer's roLoamtim.
er lay with his arms at his sides, the left one crooked
slightly to accommodate the hookups and the dTrihpe.re were tubes in his nose and down his throat, and opfibers leading from his head and chest to the screens above thHeisbefda.ce was half-obscured by
them, but he gave no sign that they bothered him.
"Latimer?" he said, going to stand beside the bed.
There was no indication he'd heaHrdis.
eyes were open, but they didn't shift at the sound, and his face
under the tangle of tubes didn't chanHge looked vague, distant, as if he were trying to remember a line from Chaucer.
"Mr. Latimer," he said more loudly, and looked up at the sTcrheeeynsd. idn't change either.
He's not aware of anything, Dunworthy thouHghet. put his hand on the back of the c"hYaoiru.
don't
know anything that's happened, do you?" he s"aMida. ry's dead.Kivrin's in 1348," he said, watching the screens, "and you don't even knoGwi.lchrist shut down the net."
The screens didn't changTe.he lines continued to move steadily, unconcernedly across the displays. "You and Gilchrist sent her into the Black Death," he shouted, "and you liHe ethsetroep-"ped and sank
down in the chair.
"I tried to tell you Great-Aunt Mary was dead," Colin had said, "but you werCe otloino hilal.d" tried to tell him, but he had lain there, like Latimer, unconcerned, oblivious.
Colin will never forgive me, he thouAghnty.
more than he'll forgive his mother for not coming to the
funeral. What had Finch said, that it was too difficult to make arrangements on such shorHt enotice?
thought of Colin alone at the funeral, looking at the lilies and laser blossoms his mother had sent, at the mercy of Mrs. Gaddson and the bellringers.
"My mother couldn't come," Colin had said, but he didn't believOef thcaotu. rse she could have come, if she had truly wanted to.
He will never forgive me, he thouAghntd.
neither will KivrinS.he's older than Colin, she'll imagine all
sorts of extenuating circumstances, perhaps even the true Bonuet .in her heart, left to the mercy of who
knows what cutthroats and thieves and pestilences, she will not believe I could not have come to get her. If I had truly wanted to.
Dunworthy stood up with difficulty, holding onto the seat and the back of the chair and not looking at
Latimer or the displays, and went back out into the corTrihdeorre. was an empty stretcher trolley against the wall, and he leaned against it for a moment.
Mrs. Gaddson came out of the w"aTrdh.ere you are, Mr. Dunworthy," she sa"iId.was just coming to

read to you."She opened her Bible".Should you be up?" "Yes," he said.
"Well, I must say, I'm glad you're recovering aTt hlainsgt.s have simply fallen apart while you've been ill."
"Yes," he said.
"You really must do something about Mr. Finch, you kHneowal.lows the Americans to practice their
bells at all hours of the day and night, and when I complained to him about it he was quite rude. And he assigned my Willie nursing dutieNs.ursing duties!When Willie's always been susceptible to illneIst's
been a miracle that he didn't come down with the virus before this."
It very definitely has been, thought Dunworthy, considering the number of very probably infectious young women he had had contact with during the epideHmeic.wondered what odds Probability would give on
his remaining unscathed.
"And then for Mr. Finch to assign him nursing duties!" Mrs. Gadsson was"Isadyiidnng't. allow it, of course. 'I refuse to let you endanger Willie's health in this irresponsible manner,' I to'Ildcahnimn.ot stand idly by when my child is in mortal danger,' I said."
"I must go see Ms. Piantini," Dunworthy said.
"You should go back to bYedo.u look quite dreadful.S"he shook the Bible at hi"mIt.'s scandalous the way they run this infirmarAy.llowing their patients to go gadding aboYuot.u'll have a relapse and die, and you'll have no one but yourself to blame."
"No," Dunworthy said, pushed open the door into the ward, and went inside.
He had expected the ward to be nearly empty, the patients all sent home, but every beMd owsat s full.
of the patients were sitting up, reading or watching portable vidders, and one was sitting in a wheelchair beside his bed, looking out at the rain.
It took Dunworthy a moment to recognize Chiomli.n had said he'd had a relapse, but he had not
expected this.He looked like an old man, his dark face pinched to whiteness under the eyes and in long
lines down the sides of the mouHthis.
hair had gone completely whi"teB.adri," he said.
He turned around".Mr. Dunworthy."
"I didn't know that you were in this ward," Dunworthy said.
"They moved me here after-" he stopp"eI dh. eard that you were better." "Yes."
I can't bear this, Dunworthy thougHhot.w are you feelingB? etter, thank youA.
nd you?Much
improved. Of course there is the depression, but that is a normal post-viral symptom.
Badri wheeled his chair round to face the window, and Dunworthy wondered if he could not bear it either.

"I made an error in the coordinates when I refed them," Badri said, looking out a"tI tfheed rianint.he wrong data."
He should say, You were ill, you had a Hfeevesrh. ould tell him mental confusion was an Early
Symptom. He should say, It was not your fault.
"I didn't realize I was ill," Badri said, picking at his robe as he had plucked at the sheet in his delirium.
"I'd had a headache all morning, but I put it down to working Ithsehonueldt. was wrong and aborted the drop."
have realized something
And I should have refused to tutor her, I should have insisted Gilchrist run parameter checks, I should have made him open the net as soon as you said there was something wrong.
"I should have opened the net the day you fell ill and not waited for the rendezvous," Badri said, twisting the sash between his finger"sI. should have opened it immediately."
Dunworthy glanced automatically at the wall above Badri's head, but there were no screens above the bed. Badri was not even wearing a temp paHtceh. wondered if it were possible that Badri didn't know Gilchrist had shut down the net, if in their concern for his recovery they had kept it from Badri as they had kept the news of Mary's death from him.
"They refused to discharge me from hospital," Badri "sIaisdh.ould have forced them to let me go."
I shall have to tell him, Dunworthy thought, but he Hdeidns'tto. od there silently, watching Badri torture the sash into wrinkles, and feeling infinitely sorry for him.
"Ms. Montoya showed me the Probability statistics," Badri "sDaiod.you think Kivrin's dead?" I hope so, he thougIht.hope she died of the virus before she realized where shBeewfoares. she
realized we had left her the"reIt. was not your fault," he said.
"I was only two days late opening theI nweat.s certain she'd be there waitiIngw. as only two days late."
"What?" Dunworthy said.
"I tried to get permission to leave hospital on the sixth, but they refused to discharge me untilI the eighth. got the net open as soon as I could, but she wasn't there."
"What are you talking about?" Dunworthy s"aHido.w could you open the neGt?ilchrist shut it down." Badri looked up at hi"mW. e used the backup."
"What backup?"
"The fix I did on our net," Badri said, sounding bewil"dYeoreud.were so worried about the way
Mediaeval was running the drop, I decided I'd better put on a backup, in case something weInt wrong. came to Balliol to ask you about it Tuesday afternoon, but you werenI't ltehfetrey.ou a note saying I
needed to talk to you."

"A note," Dunworthy said.
"The laboratory was opeIn.ran a redundant fix through Balliol's net," Badri "sYaiodu. worried."
were so
The strength seemed suddenly to go out of Dunworthy'sHlegsa. t down on the bed. "I tried to tell you," Badri said, "but I was too ill to make myself understood."
There had been a backup all aloHneg. had wasted days and days trying to force Gilchrist to unlock the laboratory, searching for Basingame, waiting for Polly Wilson to contrive a way into the University's computer, and all the while the fix had been in the net at "BSoalliwolo.rried," Badri had said through his delirium. "Is the laboratory open?""Back up," he had saiBd.ackup.
"Can you open the net again?"
"Of course, but even if she hasn't contracted the plague-" "She hasn't," Dunworthy cut "inS.he was immunized."
"-she wouldn't still be theIrte's. this time."
been eight days since the rendezvoSuhse.
couldn't have waited there all
"Can someone else go through?" "Someone else?" Badri said blankly.
"To look for heCr.ould someone else use the same drop to go through?" "I don't know."
"How long would it take you to set it up so we could try it?"
"Two hours at the moTsth.e temporals and locationals are already set, but I don't know how much slippage there'd be."
The door to the ward burst open and Colin cam"Teheinre.
you are," he sai"dT. he nurse said you'd
taken a walk, but I couldn't find you anywhIetrheo. ught you'd got lost." "No," Dunworthy said, looking at Badri.
"She said I'm to bring you back," Colin said, taking hold of Dunworthy's arm and helping him up, "that you're not to overdo.H" e herded him toward the door.
Dunworthy stopped at the doo"Wr. hich net did you use when you opened the net on the eighth?" he said to Badri.
"Balliol's," he said".I was afraid part of the permanent memory had been erased when Brasenose's was shut down, and there was no time to run a damage assessment routine."
Colin backed the door ope"nT.he sister comes on duty in half an hYoouur. don't want her to find you

up." He let the door swing sh"uIt'.m sorry I wasn't back sooner, but I had to take immunization schedules out to Godstow."
Dunworthy leaned against the dooTrh.ere might be too much slippage, and the tech was in a wheelchair, and he was not sure he could walk as far as the end of the corridor, let alone back tSoo his room. worried. He had thought Badri meant, You were so worried I decided to refeed the coordinates, but he had meant, I put on a backAup.backup.
"Are you all right?" Colin ask"eYd.ou're not having a relapse or anything, are you? "No," he said.
"Did you ask Mr. Chaudhuri if he could redo the fix?" "No," he said".There was a backup."
"A backup?" he said excited"lyY.ou mean, another fix?" "Yes."
"Does that mean you can rescue her?"
He stopped and leaned against the stretcher tro"llIeyd.on't know."
"I'll help you," Colin sa"idW. hat do you want me to dI'oll? do anything you saIy.can run errands, and fetch things for youY. ou won't have to do a thing."
"It might not work," Dunworthy sa"iTdh. e slippage..." "But you're going to try, aren't yAoure?n't you?"
A band tightened round his chest with every step, and Badri had already had one relapse, and even if they managed it, the net might not send him through.
"Yes," he said".I'm going to try." "Apocalyptic!" Colin said.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (078926-079064)
Lady Imeyne, mother of Guillaume D'Iverie.

(Break)
Rosemund is sinkingI. can't feel the pulse in her wrist at all, and her skin looks yellow and waxen, which
I know is a bad sigAng. nes is fighting hardS.he still doesn't have any buboes or vomiting, which is a
good sign, I thinkE.liwys had to cut off her hSaihre. braid it.
(Break)
kept pulling at it, screaming for me to come and
Roche has anointed RosemunSd.he couldn't make a confession, of courAseg.nes seems better, though
she had a nosebleed a little while aSghoe.
asked for her bell.
(Break)
You bastard!I will not let you take hSehre. 's only a childB. ut that's your specialty, isn't Sitl?aughtering
the innocents?You've already killed the steward's baby and Agnes's puppy and the boy who went for help when I was in the hut, and that's enoIuwgho.n't let you kill her, too, you son of a Ibwitcohn!'t let
you!
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Agnes died the day after New Year's, still screaming for Kivrin to come. "She is here," Eliwys said, squeezing her h"aLnadd.y Katherine is here."
"She is not," Agnes wailed, her voice hoarse but still s"tTroenllg.her to come!"
"I will," Eliwys promised, and then looked up at Kivrin, her expression faintly "pGuozzlaendd. Father Roche," she said.
fetch
"What is it?" Kivrin askeHde.
had administered the last rites that first night, Agnes flailing and kicking at
him as if she were having a tantrum, and since then she had refused to let him"Anreearyohueri.ll, lady?"
Eliwys shook her head, still looking at Ki"vWrinh.at will I tell my husband when he comes?" she said, and laid Agnes's hand along her side, and it was only then that Kivrin realized she was dead.
Kivrin washed her little body, which was nearly covered with purplish-blue bWruhieseres. Eliwys had
held her hand, the skin was completely blaSchke.
looked like she had been beatAens. she has, Kivrin
thought, beaten and torturedA. nd murdered.The slaughter of the innocents.
Agnes's surcote and shift were ruined, a stiffened mass of blood and vomit, and her everyday linen shift had long since been torn into striKpsiv. rin wrapped her body in her white cloak, and Roche and the
steward buried her.
Eliwys did not com"eI. must stay with Rosemund," she said when Kivrin told her it waTshetirme ew. as nothing she could do for Rosemund-the girl still lay as still as if she were under a spell , and Kivrin
thought the fever must have caused some brain dam"aAgned.
Gawyn may come," Eliwys said.
It was very colRd.oche and the steward puffed out great clouds of condensation as they lowered Agnes into the grave, and the sight of their white breath infuriated KShiverind.oesn't weigh anything, she
thought bitterly, you could carry her in one hand.
The sight of all the graves angered her,Tthoeo.churchyard was filled, and nearly all the rest of the green that Roche had consecratedL. ady Imeyne's grave was almost in the path to the lychgate, and the
steward's baby did not have onFea-ther Roche had let it be buried at its mother's feet though it had been baptized-and the churchyard was still full.
What about the steward's youngest son, Kivrin thought angrily, and theWclheerrke? do you plan to put them? The Black Death was only supposed to have killed one-third to one- half of NEoutroaplle.of it.
"Requiescat in pace, Amen," Roche said, and the steward began shoveling the frozen dirt onto the little bundle.
You were right, Mr. Dunworthy, she thought bittWerlhyi.te only gets dirtyY. ou're right about everything, aren't you?You told me not to come, that terrible things would haWppeelnl,. they haveA. nd
you can't wait to tell me I told youBusto.you won't have that satisfaction because I don't know where the drop is, and the only person who does is probably dead.

She didn't wait for the steward to finish shovelling dirt down on Agnes or for Father Roche to complete his chummy little chat with GoSdh.e started across the green, furious with all of twheitmh: the steward
for standing there with his spade, eager to dig more graves, with Eliwys for not coming, with Gawyn for not coming.No one's coming, she thoughNt.o one.
"Katherine," Roche called.
She turned, and he half-ran up to her, his breath like a cloud around him. "What is it?" she demanded.
He looked at her solemn"lyW. e must not give up hope," he said.
"Why not?" she burst o"uWt. e're up to eighty-five per cent, and we haven't even gotten sTtahreted.
clerk is dying, Rosemund's dying, you've all been expoWsehdy.
shouldn't I give up hope?"
"God has not abandoned us utterly," he
"sAaidgn. es is safe in His arms."
Safe, she thought bitterlIyn.
the groundI.n the coldI.n the darkS. he put her hands up to her face.
"She is in heaven, where the plague cannot reachAnhder.God's love is ever with us," he said, "and naught can separate us from it, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor things present-"
"Nor things to come," Kivrin said.
"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature," heHseaidp.ut his hand on her shoulder, gently, as if he were anointing her". It was His love that sent you to help us."
She put her hand up to his where it rested on her shoulder and held "iWt etigmhtulyst. she said.
help each other,"
They stood there like that for a long minute, and then Roche said, "I must go and ring the bell that
Agnes's soul may have safe passage."
She nodded and took her hand aw"aI'yll. go check on Rosemund and the others," she said and went into the courtyard.
Eliwys had said she needed to stay with Rosemund, but when Kivrin got back to the manor house, she was nowhere near herS.he lay curled up on Agnes's pallet, wrapped in her cloak, watching the door. "Perhaps his horse was stolen by those that would flee the pestilence," she said, "and that is why he is so long in coming."
"Agnes is buried," Kivrin said coldly, and went to check on Rosemund.
She was awakeS.he looked up solemnly at Kivrin when she knelt by her and reached for Kivrin's hand. "Oh, Rosemund," Kivrin said, tears stinging her nose and "eSyweese. theart, how do you feel?"
"Hungry," Rosemund said".Has my father come?"
"Not yet," Kivrin said, and it even seemed possible that he "mI iwghiltl. fetch you some broYtho. u must

rest until I come bacYk.ou have been very ill."
Rosemund obediently closed her eyeTsh.ey looked less sunken, though they still had dark bruises under them. "Where is Agnes?" she asked.
Kivrin smoothed her dark, tangled hair back from her"Sfahcee.is sleeping."
"Good," Rosemund said".I would not have her shouting and playSinhge. is too noisy."
"I will fetch you the broth," Kivrin Ssahied. went over to Eliwy"sL. ady Eliwys, I have good news," she said eagerly."Rosemund is awake."
Eliwys raised herself up on one elbow and looked at Rosemund, but distractedly, as if she were thinking of something else, and presently she lay down again.
Kivrin, alarmed, put her hand to Eliwys's forehIetasde.emed warm, but Kivrin's hands were still cold from outside, and she couldn't tell for cert"aAinr.e you ill?" she asked.
"No," Eliwys said, but still as if her mind were on somethin"Wg healste.shall I tell him?"
"You can tell him that Rosemund is better," she said, and this time it seemed to get throEulgiwhysto her. got up and went over to Rosemund and sat down besidBeuht ebr.y the time Kivrin came back from the kitchen with the broth, she had gone back to Agnes's pallet and lay curled up under the fur-trimmed cloak.
Rosemund was asleep, but it was not the frightening deathlike sleep ofHbeerfocreo.lor was better, though her skin was still drawn tightly over her cheekbones.
Eliwys was asleep, too, or feigning sleep, and it was just aWs hwile ls. he had been in the kitchen, the
clerk had crawled off his pallet and halfway over the barricade, and when Kivrin tried to haul him back, he struck out at her wildSlyh.e had to go fetch Father Roche to help subdue him.
His right eye had ulcerated, the plague eating its way out from inside, and the clerk clawed at it viciously with his hands". Domine Jesu Christe," he swore, "fidelium defunctorium de poinefneirsmis." Save the
souls of the faithful departed from the pains of hell.
Yes, Kivrin prayed, wrestling with his clawed hands, save him now.
She rummaged through Imeyne's medical kit again, searching for something to kill tThehepreainw. as no opium powder, and was the opium poppy even in England yet inS1h3e48fo?und a few papery orange
scraps that looked a little like poppy petals and steeped them in hot water, but the clerk couldn't drink it. His mouth was a horror of open sores, his teeth and tongue caked with dried blood.
He doesn't deserve this, Kivrin thougEhvt.en if he did bring the plague hNeroeb. ody deserves this. "Please," she prayed, and wasn't sure what she asked.
Whatever it was, it was not granTtehde.
clerk began to vomit a dark bile, streaked with blood, and it
snowed for two days, and Eliwys grew steadily woItrsde.id not seem to be the plagSuhee.
had no
buboes and she didn't cough or vomit, and Kivrin wondered if it were illness or simply grief or guilt.
"What shall I tell him?" Eliwys said over and over
"aHgaeins. ent us here to keep us safe."

Kivrin felt her foreheaIdt. was warmT. hey're all going to get it, she thouLghort.d Guillaume sent them here to keep them safe, but they're all going to get it, one Ibyhaovnee.to do somethinBg.ut she
couldn't think of anythingT.he only protection from the plague was flight, but they had already fled here, and it had not protected them, and they couldn't flee with Rosemund and Eliwys ill.
But Rosemund's getting stronger every day, Kivrin thought, and Eliwys doesn't have theItp'slaognuley. a fever.Perhaps they have another estate where we couldIngoth. e north.
The plague was not in Yorkshire Syheet. could see to it that they kept away from the other people on the roads, that they weren't exposed.
She asked Rosemund if they had a manor in York"sNhiarye,." Rosemund said, sitting up against one of
the benches."In Dorset," but that was of no
Tushee.
plague was already therAe.nd Rosemund, though
she was better, was still to weak to sit up for more than a few Smheinuctoeus.ld never ride a horsIfe. we had horses, Kivrin thought.
"My father had a living in Surrey, also," Rosemund"Wsaeid.stayed there when Agnes was borSnh."e looked at Kivrin". Did Agnes die?"
"Yes," Kivrin said.
She nodded as if she were not surpri"sIedh.eard her screaming." Kivrin couldn't think of anything to say to that.
"My father is dead, isn't he?"
There was nothing to say to that eiHtheer.was almost certainly dead, and Gawyn, toIot .had been
eight days since he had left for BEatlhiw. ys, still feverish, had said this morning, "He will come now that the storm is over," but even she had not seemed to believe it.
"He may yet come," Kivrin sa"iTdh. e snow may have delayed him."
The steward came in, carrying his spade, and stopped at the barricade in front Hoef thhaedmb. een
coming in every day to look at his son, staring at him dumbly over the upturned table, but now he only glanced at him and then turned to stare at Kivrin and Rosemund, leaning on his spade.
His cap and shoulders were covered with snow, and the blade of the spade was wHete whiatsh it. been digging another grave, Kivrin thougWht.hose?
"Has someone died?" she asked.
"Nay," he said, and went on looking almost speculatively at Rosemund. Kivrin stood up".Did you want something?"
He looked at her blankly, as if he could not comprehend the question, and then back at Rosemund. "No," he said, and picked up the spade and went out.
"Goes he to dig Agnes's grave?" Rosemund asked, looking after him.

"No," Kivrin said gentl"yS. he is already buried in the churchyard." "Goes he then to dig mine?"
"No," Kivrin said, appalle"dN. o! You're not going to diYe.ou're getting betterY. ou were very ill, but the worst is overN. ow you must rest and try to sleep so you can get well."
Rosemund lay down obediently and closed her eyes, but after a minute she opened the"mMyagain.
father being dead, the crown will dispose of my dowry," she"Tshaiindk.
you Sir Bloet still lives?"
I hope not, Kivrin thought, and then, poor child, has she been worrying about her marriage all this time?
Poor little thingH. is being dead is the only good to come out of the worry about him nowY. ou must rest and get your strength back."
Ipflahgeuei.s dead".You mustn't
"The king will sometimes honor a previous betrotRhaols,"emund said, her thin hands plucking at the blanket, "if both parties be agreed."
You don't have to agree to anything, Kivrin thoHugeh'st. dead.The bishop killed them.
"If they are not agreed, the king will bid me marry who he will," Rosemund said, "and Sir Bloet at least i known to me."
No, Kivrin thought, and knew it was probably the best Rthoisnegm. und had been conjuring worse horrors than Sir Bloet, monsters and cutthroats, and Kivrin knew they existed.
Rosemund would be sold off to some nobleman the king owed a debt to or whose allegiance he was trying to buy, one of the troublesome supporters of the Black Prince, perhaps, and taken God knew where to God knew what situation.
There were worse things than a leering old man and a shrewish sisterB-inar-olanw.Garnier had kept his
wife in chains for twenty yeaTrsh.e Count of Anjou had burned his alAivned. family, no friends, to protect her, to tend her when she was ill.
Rosemund would have no
I'll take her away, Kivrin thought suddenly, to somewhere where Bloet can't find her and we'll be safe from the plague.
There was no such placIte.was already in Bath and Oxford, and moving south and east to London, and then Kent, north through the Midlands to Yorkshire and back across the channel to Germany and the Low Countries.It had even gone to Norway, floating in on a ship of deaTdhemrenw. as nowhere that
was safe.
"Is Gawyn here?" Rosemund asked, and she sounded like her mother, her grand"mI owthoeurl.d have him ride to Courcy and tell Sir Bloet that I would come to him."
"Gawyn?" Eliwys said from her pal"lIest. he coming?"
No, Kivrin thoughNt. o one's comingN.
ot even Mr. Dunworthy.
It didn't matter that she had missed the rendezvTohuesr.e would have been no one theBrecause they didn't know she was in 134I8f .they did, they would never have left her here.

Something must have gone wrong with theMnre.t. Dunworthy had been worried about sending her so far back without slippage checks"T.here could be unforeseen complications at that distance," he'd said. Perhaps an unforeseen complication had garbled the fix or made them lose it, and they were looking for her in 1320I.'ve missed the rendezvous by nearly thirty years, she thought.
"Gawyn?" Eliwys said again and tried to rise from her pallet.
She could noSt.he was growing steadily worse, though she still had none of the marks of the plague.
When it began to snow, she had said, relieved, "He will not come now until the storm is over," and gotten up and gone to sit with Rosemund, but by the afternoon she had to lie down again, and her fever went steadily higher.
Roche heard her confession, looking worn Touhte.y were all worn ouItf. they sat down to rest, they were asleep in secondsT. he steward, coming in to look at his children, had stood at the barricade, snoring, and Kivrin had drowsed off while tending the fire and burned her hand badly.
We can't go on like this, she thought, watching Father Roche making the sign of the cross over Eliwys. He'll die of exhaustionH. e'll come down with the plague.
I have to get them away, she thought aTghaien.plague didn't reach everywherTe.here were villages that
were completely untouchedI.t had skipped over Poland and Bohemia, and there were parts of northern
Scotland it had never reached.
"Agnus dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis," Father Roche said, his voice as comforting as it had been when she was dying, and she knew it was hopeless.
He would never leave his parishioneTrhs.e history of the Black Death was full of stories of priests who had abandoned their people, who had refused to perform burials, who had locked themselves in their churches and monasteries and run awaSyh.e wondered now if those statistics were inaccurate, too.
And even if she found some way to take them all, Eliwys, turning even now as she made her confession to look at the door, would insist on waiting for Gawyn, for her husband, to come, as she was convinced they would now that the snow had stopped.
"Has Father Roche gone to meet him?" she asked Kivrin when Roche left to take the sacraments back to the church". He will be here sooHn.e has no doubt gone first to Courcy to warn them of the plague,
and it is only half a day's journey from thSehre "insisted that Kivrin move her pallet in front of the door.
While Kivrin was rearranging the barricade to keep the draft from the door off her, the clerk cried out suddenly and went into convulsionHs.is whole body spasmed, as if he were being shocked, and his face became a terrible rictus, his ulcerated eye staring upward.
"Don't do this to him," Kivrin shouted, trying to wedge the spoon from Rosemund's broth between his teeth. "Hasn't he been through enough?"
His body jerked".Stop it!" Kivrin sobbed".Stop it!"
His body abruptly slackeneSd.he jammed the spoon between his teeth, and a little trickle of black slime came out of the side of his mouth.
He's dead, she thought, and could not believSeheit.looked at him, his ulcerated eye half-open, his face

swollen and blackened under the stubble of his beHairsd.fists were clenched at his sidHese. did not
look human, lying there, and Kivrin covered his face with a rough blanket, afraid that Rosemund might see him.
"Is he dead?" Rosemund asked, sitting up curiously.
"Yes," Kivrin said".Thank God."She stood up". I must go tell Father Roche." "I would not have you leave me here alone," Rosemund said.
"Your mother is here," Kivrin said, "and the steward's son, and I will only be a few minutes." "I am afraid," Rosemund said.
So am I, Kivrin thought, looking down at the coarse blHanekewt.as dead, but even that had not relieved his sufferingH. e looked still in anguish, still in terror, though his face no longer looked even human. The pains of hell.
"Please do not leave me," Rosemund said.
"I must tell Father Roche," Kivrin said, but she sat down between the clerk and Rosemund and waited until she was asleep before she went to find him.
He wasn't in the courtyard or the kitcThhene. steward's cow was in the passage, eating the hay from the bottom of the pig sty, and it ambled after her out onto the green.
The steward was in the churchyard, digging a grave, his chest level with the snowyHegraolurenadd. y knows, she thought, but that was impossibHlee.r heart began to pound.
"Where is Father Roche?" she called, but the steward didn't answer or lTohoek cuopw. beside her and lowed at her.
"Go away," she said, and ran across to the steward.
came up
The grave was not in the churchyIatrdl.ay on the green, past the lychgate, and there were two other graves in a line next to it, the iron-hard dirt piled on the snow beside each one.
"What are you doing?" she demand"eWd.hose graves are these?"
The steward flung a spadeful of dirt onto the mTohuendf.rozen clods made a clattering sound like stones.
"Why do you dig three graves?" she
"sWaidh.o has died?"The cow nudged her shoulder with its horn.
She twisted away from
"itW.
ho has died?"
The steward jabbed the spade into the iron-hard gro"uItndis.
the last days, boy," he said, stepping
down hard on the blade, and Kivrin felt a jerk of fear, and then realized he hadn't recognized her in her boy's cloths.
"It's me, Katherine," she said.

He looked up and nodde"dIt. is the end of time," he said. "Those who have not diedH, ewliella."ned forward putting his whole weight on the spade.
The cow tried to dig its head in under her arm.
"Go away!" she said, and hit it on the Int obsaec.ked away gingerly, skirting the graves, and Kivrin noticed they were not all the same size.
The first was large, but the one next to it was no bigger than Agnes's had been, and the one he stood in did not look much longeIr.told Rosemund he wasn't digging her grave, she thought, but he was.
"You have no right to do this!" she "sYaiodu.r son and Rosemund are getting betAtenr.d Lady Eliwys is only tired and ill with griTefh.ey aren't going to die."
The steward looked up at her, his face as expressionless as when he had stood at the barricade, measuring Rosemund for her grav"eF. ather Roche says you were sent to help us, but how can you avail against the end of the worldH?"e stood down on the spade aga"iYn.ou will have need of these graves.
All, all will die."
The cow trotted over to the opposite side of the grave, its face on a level with the steward's, and lowed in his face, but he did not seem to notice it.
"You must not dig any more graves," she "sIaifdo.rbid it."
He went on digging, as if he had not noticed her either.
"They're not going to die," she s"aTidh.e Black Death only killed one-third to one-half of the contemps. We've already had our quota."
Eliwys died in the nigThth.e steward had to lengthen Rosemund's grave for Eliwys, and when they buried her, Kivrin saw he had started another for Rosemund.
I must get them away from here, she thought, looking at the sHteewastrodo. d with the spade cradled
against his shoulder, and as soon as he had filled in Eliwys's grave, he started in on Rosemund's grave again. I must get them away before they catch it.
Because they were going to catchIt ilta. y in wait for them, in the baccilli on their clothes, on the bedding, in the very air they breathAedn.d if by some miracle they didn't catch it from that, the plague would sweep through all of Oxfordshire in the spring, messengers and villagers and bishop's envoys. They could not stay here.
Scotland, she thought, and started for the maInocor.uld take them to northern ScotlaTndh.e plague didn't reach that farT. he steward's son could ride the donkey, and they could make a litter for Rosemund.
Rosemund was sitting up on her pa"llTeht.e steward's son has been crying out for you," she said as soon as Kivrin came in.
He had vomited a bloody mucHusis.
pallet was filthy with it, and when Kivrin cleaned him up, he was
too weak to raise his heaEdv.en if Rosemund can ride, he can't, she thought despairiWngely'r.e not going anywhere.

In the night, she thought of the wagon that had been at the rendPeezrvhoapus. the steward could help
her repair it, and Rosemund could ride in Sthhaet. lit a rushlight from the coals of the fire and crept out to the stable to look at Rito. che's donkey brayed at her when she opened the door, and there was a
rustling sound of sudden scattering as she held the smoky light up.
The smashed boxes lay piled against the wagon like a barricade, and she knew as soon as she pulled them away that it wouldn't worIkt .was too bigT. he donkey could not pull it, and the wooden axle was missing, carried off by some enterprising contemp to mend a hedge with or burn for fOirrewsotaovde.
off the plague with, Kivrin thought.
It was pitch black in the courtyard when she came out, and the stars were sharp and bright, as they had been Christmas eveS. he thought of Agnes asleep against her shoulder, the bell on her little wrist, and the
sound of the bells, tolling the devil's knPerlelm. loose on the world.
aturely, Kivrin thoughtT. he devil isn't dead yeHt.e's
She lay awake a long time, trying to think of anothePreprhlaanp.s they could make some sort of litter the donkey could drag if the snow wasn't too dOerepp.erhaps they could put both children on the donkey and carry the baggage in packs on their backs.
She fell asleep finally and was awakened again almost immediately, or so it seemeIdt wtoashesrti.ll
dark, and Roche was bending over hTehr.e dying fire lit his face from below so that he looked as he had in the clearing when she had thought he was a cutthroat, and still partly asleep, she reached out and put her hand gently to his cheek.
"Lady Katherine," he said, and she came awake.
It's Rosemund, she thought, and twisted round to look at her, but she was sleeping easily, her thin hand under her cheek.
"What is it?" she sa"idA.re you ill?"
He shook his heaHd.e opened his mouth and then closed it again. "Has someone come?" she said, scrambling to her feet.
He shook his head again.
It can't be someone ill, she thouTghe.re's no one lefSt.he looked at the pile of blankets by the door where the steward slept, but he wasn't th"eIrse.the steward ill?"
"The steward's son is dead," he said in an odd, stunned voice, and she saw that he was"Igone, too.
went to the church to say matins-" Roche said, and his voice fa"Ylteoruedm. and strode out.
ust come with me," he said
Kivrin snatched up her ragged blanket and hurried out into the courtyard after him.
It could not be later than Tsihxe.
sun was only just above the horizon, staining the overcast sky and the
snow with pinkR. oche was already disappearing through the narrow passage to the gKrievernin. the blanket over her shoulders and ran after him.
flung

The steward's cow was standing in the passage, her head through a break in the fence of the pig sty, pulling at the strawI.t raised its head and mooed at Kivrin.
"Shoo!" she said, flapping her hands at it, but it only pulled its head out of the wattle fence and started toward her, lowing.
"I don't have time to milk you," she said, and shoved her hindquarters out of the way and squeezed past. Father Roche was halfway across the green before she caught up wi"thWhaimt .is it?Can't you tell
me?" she asked, but he didn't stop or even look aHt ehetur.rned toward the line of graves on the green,
and she thought, feeling suddenly relieved, the steward's tried to bury his son himself, without a priest.
The small grave was filled in, the snowy dirt mounded over it, and he had finished Rosemund's grave and dug another, larger oneT.he spade was sticking out of it, its handle leaning against the end.
Roche didn't go to Lefric's graHvee. stopped at the newest one, and said, in that same stunned voice, "I
went to the church to say matins-", and Kivrin looked into the grave.
The steward had apparently tried to bury himself with the shovel, but it had proved unwieldy in the narrow space, and he had propped it against the end of the grave and begun pulling the dirt down with his hands.He held a large clod in his frozen hand.
His legs were nearly covered, and it gave him an indecent look, as if he were lying "iWn ehismubsatth. bury him properly," she said, and reached for the shovel.
Roche shook his hea"dI.t is holy ground," he said numbly, and she realized that he thought the steward had killed himself.
It doesn't matter, she thought, and realized in spite of everything, horror after horror, Roche still believed
in God.He had been going to the church to say matins when he found the steward, and if they all died, he would go on saying them and not find anything incongruous in his prayers.
"It's the disease," Kivrin said, though she had no idea whether it was"Tohre nsoetp.ticemic plagueI.t infects the blood."
Roche looked at her uncomprehendingly.
"He must have fallen ill while he was digging," she"Sseapitdi.caemic plague poisons the braiHn.e was not in his right mind."
"Like Lady Imeyne," he said, sounding almost glad.
He didn't want to have to bury him outside the pale, Kivrin thought, in spite of what he believes. She helped Roche straighten the steward's body a little, though he was alreaTdhyeystidffi.d not
attempt to move him or wrap him in a shRrooucdh.e laid a black cloth over his face, and they took turns shoveling the dirt in on hiTmh.e frozen earth clattered like stones.
Roche did not go to the church for his vestments or the Hmeissstaolo. d first beside Lefric's grave and then the steward's and said the prayers for the dKeiavdri.n, standing beside him, her hands folded, thought, he wasn't in his right miHnde. had buried his wife and seven children, he had buried almost

everyone he knew, and even if he hadn't been feverish, if he had crawled into the grave and waited to freeze to death, the plague had still killed him.
He did not deserve a suicide's graHvee. doesn't deserve any grave, Kivrin thougHhet. was supposed to go to Scotland with us, and was horrified at the sudden shock of delight she felt.
We can go to Scotland now, she thought, looking at the grave he had dug for RRoosseemmuunndd.
can
ride the donkey, and Roche and I can carry the food and blSanhkeetosp. ened her eyes and looked at the sky, but now that the sun was up, the clouds looked lighter, as if they might break up by
mid-morning. If they left this morning, they could be out of the forest by noon and onto the Oxford-Bath road. By night they could be on the highway to York.
"Agnus dei, qui tollis peccata mundi," Roche said, "donreaqueiesm."
We must take oats ftohre donkey, she thought, and the ax for cutting firewAonodd. blankets. Roche finished the prayer"sD. ominus vobiscum et cumspiritu tuo," he said". Requiescat in pace.
Amen." He started off to ring the bell.
There isn't time for that, Kivrin thought, and then took off toward theShmeancou.ld be half packed
by the time Roche had tolled the death knell, and she could tell him her plan, and he could load the
donkey, and they could gSo.he ran across the courtyard and into the maTnhoery. coals to start the fire wiTthh.ey could use Imeyne's casket.
would have to take
She went into the haRllo. semund was still asleepT.hat was goodT. here was no point in waking her until
they were ready to leavSe.he tiptoed past her and got the casket and emptied the fire and started out to the kitchen.
Sitheoulta.id it next to
"I woke and you were not here," Rosemund Sshaeid.sat up on her pall"eIt. was afraid you had gone."
"We're all going," Kivrin sa"idW. e're going to go to ScotlandS.h"e went over to he"rY. ou must rest for the journey.I will be back in a bit."
"Where are you going?" Rosemund said.
"Only to the kitcheAn.re you hungry?I will bring you some porridgNeo. w lie down and rest." "I do not like to be alone," Rosemund "sCaaidn. you not stay with me a little?"
I don't have time for this, Kivrin thou"gI'hmt. only going to the kitcheAnn. d Father Roche is herCe.an't you hear him?He's ringing the belIl.'ll only be a few minutAesl.l right?"She smiled cheerfully at Rosemund, and she nodded reluctantl"yI.'ll be back soon."
She nearly ran outsidRe.oche was still ringing the death knell, slowly, steaHdiulyrr.y, she thought, we don't have much timeS.he searched the kitchen, setting the food on the tTahbeler.e was a round of
cheese and plently of manchets left-she stacked them like plates in a wadmal sack, put in the cheese, and carried it out to the well.
Rosemund was standing in the door of the manor, holding onto the"CjaanmbI . not sit in the kitchen
with you?" she askedS.he had put on her kirtle and her shoes, but she was already shivering in the cold air.

"It is too cold," Kivrin said, hurrying over to"Ahnedr. you must rest." "When you are gone, I fear you will not come back," she said.
"I'm right here," Kivrin said, but she went inside and fetched Rosemund's cloak and an armload of furs.
"You can sit here on the doorstep," she said, "and watch meShpeackp.u"t the cloak over Rosemund's shoulders and sat her down, piling the furs about her like "aAlnlersitg. ht?"
The brooch that Sir Bloet had given Rosemund was still at the neck of tShheecfloumakb.led with the fastening, her thin hands trembling a lit"tlDe.o we go to Courcy?" she asked.
"No," Kivrin said, and pinned the brooch forIohesru.iicien lui dami amYo.ou are here in place of the friend I love". We're going to ScotlandW. e will be safe from the plague there."
"Think you my father died from the plague?" Kivrin hesitated.
"My mother said he was only delayed or unable to Schoemesa. id perhaps my brothers were ill, and he would come when they were recovered."
"And so he may," Kivrin said, tucking a fur around Rosemund"'sWfee'lelt.leave a letter for him so he'll know where we went."
Rosemund shook her hea"dI.f he lived, he would have come for me."
Kivrin wrapped a coverlet around Rosemund's thin should"Ierms. ust fetch food for us to take," she said gently.
Rosemund nodded, and Kivrin went across to the kitcThheenr.e was a sack of onions against the wall and another of applesT. hey were wizened, and most of them had brown spots, but Kivrin lugged the
sack outside.They would not need to be cooked and they would all be in need of vitamins before spring. "Would you like an apple?" she asked Rosemund.
"Yes," Rosemund said, and Kivrin searched through the sack, trying to find one that was still firm and unwrinkled. She unearthed a reddish-green one, polished it on her leather hose, and took it to her, smiling at the memory of how good an apple would have tasted when she Owrasa iglll.ass of orange juice.
But after the first bite, Rosemund seemed to lose inStehre tl.eaned back against the doorjamb and looked quietly up at the sky, listening to the steady toll of Roche's bell.
Kivrin went back to sorting the apples, picking out the ones worth taking, and wondering how much the donkey could carryT. hey would need to take oats for the donTkheyer.e would be no grass, though
when they reached Scotland there might be scrub that it coulTdheeyat.shouldn't have to take water. There were plenty of streams, but they would need to take a pot to boil it in.
"Your people never came for you," Rosemund said.

Kivrin looked upS.he was still sitting against the door with the apple.
They did come, Kivrin thought, but I wasn't t"hNeroe,".
Kivrin said.
"Think you the plague has killed them?"
"No," Kivrin said, and thought, at least I don't have to think of them dead or helpless sAomt ewhere. least I know they're all right.
"When I go to Sir Bloet, I will tell him how you helped us," Rosem"uIndwisllaiads.k that I might keep you and Father Roche by meH."er head went up proudl"yI. am allowedattendants and a chaplain."
"Thank you," Kivrin said solemnly.
She set the sack of good apples next to the one of cheese anTdhebrebaedll. stopped, its overtones still echoing in the cold aiSr.he picked up the bucket and lowered it into theSwhellw. ould cook some porridge and chop the bruised apples intoIt iwt. ould make a filling meal for the trip.
Rosemund's apple rolled past her feet to the base of the well and
Kstoivprpineds.tooped to pick it up.
It had only a little bite out of it, white against the shrivellKedivrriend.wiped it against her jerk"inY.ou dropped your apple," she said, and turned to give it back to her.
Her hand was still open, as if she had leaned forward to catch it whe"nOhit, fRelols. emund," Kivrin said.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (079110-079239)
Father Roche and I are going to ScotlTanhder.e really isn't any point in telling you that, I suppose, since you'll never hear what's on this corder, but perhaps someone will stumble across it on a moor someday or Ms. Montoya will do a dig in northern Scotland when she's finished with Skendgate, and if that happens, I wanted you to know what happened to us.
I know flight is probably the worst thing to do, but I have to get Father Roche awayThfreom here. whole manor is contaminated with the plague-bedding, clothes, the air--and the rats are everyI where.
saw one in the church when I went to get Roche's alb and stole for Rosemund'As nfdunevraeln.
if he
doesn't catch it from them, the plague is all around us, and I will never be able to convince him to stay here. He will want to go and help.
We'll keep off the roads and away from the vilWlagee'vse.
got food enough for a week, and then we'll
be far enough north that I should be able to buy food in Tahetowclner.k had a sack of silver with him.
And don't worryW.
e'll be all righAt. s Mr. Gilchrist would say, "I've taken every possible precaution."

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Apocalyptic was very likely the correct term for his even thinking he could rescue Kivrin, Dunworthy thought. He was worn out by the time Colin got him back to his room, and his temp wa"sYobuack up. rest," Colin said, helping him into b"eYd.ou can't have a relapse if you're going to rescue Kivrin."
"I need to see Badri," he said, "and Finch."
"I'll take care of everything," he said, and darted out.
He would need to arrange his and Badri's discharge and med support for the pickup, in case Kivrin
were ill.He would need a plague inoculatioHne.
wondered how long would be required for it to take
effect. Mary had said she'd inoculated Kivrin while she was in hospital for her corder Timhaptlahnat.d been two weeks before the drop but perhaps it didn't take that long to confer immunity.
The nurse came in to check his te"mI'mp. just going off- duty," she said, reading his patch.

"How soon can I be discharged?" he asked.
"Discharged?" she said, sounding surprised, "My, you must be feeling better." "I am," he sai"dH. ow long?"
She frowned". There's a good deal of difference between being ready for a bit of a walk and being ready to go home.S"he adjusted the drip".You don't want to overdo."
She went out, and after a few minutes Colin came in with Finch and the book Dunworthy had given him for Christmas."I thought perhaps you'd need this for costumes and thiHnges.d"umped it on
Dunworthy's legs."I'll just go fetch BadriH."e dashed out.
"You're looking a good deal better, sir," Finch "sIa'mid.so gladI.'m afraid you're badly needed at
Balliol. It's Mrs. GaddsonS. he's accused Balliol of undermining William's heaSlthe.
says the combined
strain of the epidemic and reading Petrarch has broken his hSehaelt'hs. threatening to go to the Head of the History Faculty with it."
"Tell her she's more than welcome toBtarsyi.ngame's in Scotland somewhere," Dunworthy sa"idI . need
you to find how long in advance of exposure an inoculation against bubonic plague needs to be given, and
I need the laboratory readied for a drop."
"We're using it for storage just now," Finch "sWaied'.ve had several shipments of supplies from London, though none of lavatory paper, even though I specifically requested-"
"Move them into the hall," Dunworthy s"aIidw. ant the net ready as soon as possible."
Colin opened the door with his elbow and wheeled Badri in, using his other arm an"Id haadknteoe. sneak him past the ward sister," he said breathleHssely.pushed the wheelchair up to the bed.
"I want-" Dunworthy said, and stopped, looking at BTahderi.thing was impossibleB. adri was in no
condition to run the neHt.e looked exhausted by the mere effort of having been brought from the ward, and he was fumbling at the pocket of his robe as he had at his sash.
"We'll need two RTN's, a light measure, and a gateway," Badri said, and his voice sounded exhausted, too, but the despair had gone out o"fAint.d we'll need authorizations for both drop and pickup."
"What about the protesters who were at Brasenose?" Dunworthy a"sWkeildl. they try to prevent the drop?"
"No," Colin said".They're over at the National Trust HeadquarteTrhs.ey're trying to shut down the dig." Good, Dunworthy thoughMt. ontoya will be too occupied with trying to defend her churchyard against
picketers to interfereT. oo occupied to look for Kivrin's corder.
"What else will you need?" he asked Badri.
"An insular memory and redundant for the backHupe."pulled a sheet of paper from the pocket and looked at it". And a remote hookup so I can run parameter checks."

He handed the list to Dunworthy, who handed it to "FWinec'hll. also need med support for Kivrin," Dunworthy said, "and I want a telephone installed in this room."
Finch was frowning at the list.
"And don't tell me we're out of any of these," Dunworthy said before he coul"dBpergo,tebsot.rrow, or
steal them."He turned back to Badr"iW.
ill you need anything else?"
"To be discharged," Badri said, "which, I'm afraid will be the greatest obstacle." "He's right," Colin sai"dS. ister will never let him oIuth. ad to sneak him in here." "Who's your doctor?" Dunworthy asked.
"Dr. Gates," Badri said, "but-"
"Surely we can explain the situation," Dunworthy inter- rupted, "explain that it's an emergency." Badri shook his hea"dT. he last thing we can do is tell him the circumstaInpcesrs. uaded him to
discharge me to open the net while you werHe eilld.idn't think I was well enough, but he allowed it, and then when I had the relapse..."
Dunworthy looked anxiously at hi"mA.re you certain you're capable of running the Pneerth?aps I can get Andrews now that the epidemic's under control."
"There isn't time," Badri sa"idA.nd it was my fauIlt.want to run the nPete.rhaps Mr. Finch can find another doctor."
"Yes," Dunworthy said".And tell mine I need to speak with hHime."reached for Colin's book.
"I'll need a costumeH."e flipped through the pages, looking for an illustration of mediaeval clo"Nthoing. strips, no zippers, no buttonsH."e found a picture of Boccaccio and showed it to F"Iincdho.ubt we'll
have anything in Twentieth CenturTy.elephone the Dramatic Society and see if they've got something." "I'll do my best, sir," Finch said, frowning doubtfully at the illustration.
The door crashed open, and the sister rattled in, enr"aMger.d.Dunworthy, this is utterly irresponsible," she said in a tone that had no doubt caused casualties from the Second Falklands Wa"rIf teyroruors.
will not take care of your own health, you might at the least not endanger that of the otheSrhpeatients."
fixed her gaze on Finc"hM.
r. Dunworthy is to have no more visitors."
She glared at Colin and then snatched the wheelchair handles from"Whhiamt. can you have been
thinking of, Mr. Chaudhuri?" she said, whipping the wheelchair round so smartly Badri's head snapped back. "You have already had one relapsIeh. ave no intention of allowing you to have anotShheer."
pushed him out.
"I told you we'd never get him out," Colin said.
She flung the door open aga"iNn.o visitors," she said to Colin. "I'll be back," Colin whispered and ducked past her.

She fixed him with her ancient e"Nyeo.t if I have anything to say about it."
She apparently had something to say abouCt oilti.n didn't return till after she'd gone off-duty, and then only to bring the remote hookup to Badri and report to Dunworthy on plague inocFuilnatcihonhs.ad telephoned the NHSI.t took two weeks for the inoculation to confer full immunity, and seven days before partial."And Mr. Finch wants to know if you shouldn't also be inoculated against cholera and typhoid."
"There isn't time," he saTidh.ere wasn't time for a plague inoculation eitKheivr.rin had already been there over three weeks, and every day lowered her chances of suArvnivdalh. e was no closer to being discharged.
As soon as Colin left, he rang William's nurse and told her he wanted to see discharged," he said.
She laughed.
"I'm completely recovered," he sa"idI . did ten laps in the corridor this morning."
"hIi'smdorecatodry.
to be
She shook her hea"dT. he incidence of relapse in this virus has been extremelyIhsigimh.ply can't take the risk."She smiled at him".Where is it you're so determined to gSou?rely whatever it is can survive another week without you."
"It's the start of term," he said, and realized that wa"sPlterausee.
tell my doctor I wish to see him."
"Dr. Warden will only tell you what I've told you," she said, but she apparently relayed the message because he tottered in after tea.
He had obviously been hauled out of a senile retirement to help with the eHpeidetomldic.a long and
pointless story about medical conditions during the Pandemic and then pronounced creakily, "In my day we kept people in hospital till they were fully recovered."
Dunworthy didn't try to argue with hHime .waited until he and the sister had hobbled down the corridor, sharing reminiscences from the Hundred Years' War, and then strapped on his portable drip and walked to the public phone near Casualties to get a progress report from Finch.
"The sister won't allow a phone in your room," Finch said, "but I've good news about tAhe plague. course of streptomycin injections along with gamma globulin and T-cell enhancement will confer temporary immunity and can be started as little as twelve hours before exposure."
"Good," Dunworthy said, "Find me a doctor who'll give them and authorize my diAschyaorugneg. doctor. And send Colin overI.s the net ready?"
"Very nearly, sirI.'ve obtained the necessary drop and pickup authorizations and I've located a remote hookup. I was just going to fetch it now."
He rang off, and Dunworthy walked back to the
Hroeomh.adn't lied to the nursHee.
was feeling
stronger with each passing moment, though there was a tightness around his lower ribs by the time he made it back to his rooMm.rs. Gaddson was there, searching eagerly through her Bible for murrains and agues and emerods.

"Read me Luke 11:9," Dunworthy said.
She looked it u"p'.And I say unto you, "Ask and it shall be given you,"'" she read, glaring at him suspiciously. "'"Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."'"
Ms. Taylor came at the very end of visiting hours, carrying a measuri"nCgoltianpes.ent me to get your measurements," she said". The old crone out there won't let him on the fSlohoer."draped the tape
around his waist". I had to tell her I was visiting Ms. PiaHntoinldi. your arm out straightS."he stretched
the tape along his arm"S. he's feeling a lot betteSr.he may even get to ring Rimbaud's 'When At Last My Savior Cometh' with us on the fifteenWthe. 're doing it for Holy Re- Formed, you know, but the NHS has taken over their church so Mr. Finch has very kindly let us use Balliol'Ws chhaatpseilz. e shoe do
you wear?"
She jotted down his various measurements, told him Colin would be in the next day and not to worry, the net was nearly readSy.he went out, presumably to visit Ms. Piantini, and came back a few minutes later with a message from Badri.
"Mr. Dunworthy, I've run 24 parameter checks," it "rAealdl .24 show minimal slippage, 11-slippage of less than an hour, 5-- slippage of less than five miIn'mutesru. nning divergence checks and DAR's to try to find out what it is."
I know what it is, Dunworthy thouIgth'st.the Black DeathT.he function of the slippage was to prevent interactions which might affect historFyi.ve minutes' slippage meant there were no anachronisms, no critical meetings the continuum must keep from happenIitngm. eant the drop was to an uninhabited area. It meant the plague had been theAren.d all the contemps were dead.
Colin didn't come in the morning, and after lunch Dunworthy walked to the public phone again and rang
Finch. "I haven't been able to find a doctor willing to take on new cases," Fin"Ic'hvesateidle.phoned every doctor and medic within the perimeAter.good many of them are still down with flu," he apologized, "and several of them-"
He stopped, but Dunworthy knew what he had intended tSoevsaeyra.l of them had died, including the
one who would certainly have helped, who would have given him the inoculations and discharged Badri.
"Great-Aunt Mary wouldn't have given up," Colin had sSahide. wouldn't have, he thought, in spite of the sister and Mrs. Gaddson and a band of pain below thIef srihbes. were here, she would have helped him however she could.
He walked back to his rooTmh.e sister had posted a large placard reading, "Absolutely No Visitors Allowed," on his door, but she was not at her desk or in hiCs orloinomw.as, carrying a large damp parcel.
"The sister's in the ward," Colin said, grinn"iMngs. Piantini very conveniently fainteYd.ou should have seen her.She's very good at itH."e fumbled with the strin"gT. he nurse just came on duty, but you needn't worry about her eitheSrh. e's in the linen room with William GaddsoHne." opened the parceIl.t
was full of clothinga: long black doublet and black breeches, neither of them remotely mediaeval, and a pair of women's black tights.
"Where did you get this?" Dunworthy s"aAid.production of Hamlet?"

"Richard III," Colin sai"dK. eble did it last termI .took the hump out."
"Is there a cloak?" Dunworthy said, sorting through the clo"tThienlgl .Finch to find me a cloAak.long cloak that will cover everything."
"I will," Colin said absentHlye.
was fumbling intently with the band on his green jIatckseptr.ang open,
and Colin threw it off his shoulde"Wrs.ell? What do you think?"
He had done considerably better than FinTchhe.
boots were wrong-they looked like a pair of
gardener's Wellington's--but the brown burlap smock and shapeless gray-brown trousers looked like the illustration of a serf in Colin's book.
"The trousers have a strip," Colin said, "but you can't see it under
I'm supposed to be your squire."
Ithecosphieirdt. it out of the book.
He should have anticipated th"iCs.olin," he said, "you can't go with me."
"Why not?" Colin sai"dI. can help you find hIe'mr.
good at finding things."
"It's impossibleT. he-"
"Oh, now you're going to tell me how dangerous it is in the Middle Ages, aWrene'ltl, yiot'us?rather dangerous here, isn't itW? hat about Aunt MaryS?he'd have been safer in the Middle Ages, wouldn't she? I've been doing lots of dangerous thinTgask. ing medicine to people and putting up placards in the wards. While you were ill, I did all sorts of dangerous things you don't even know about-"
"Colin-"
"You're too old to go aloAnen.d Great-Aunt Mary told me to take care of Wyohua.t if you have a relapse?"
"Colin-"
"My mother doesn't care if I go." "But I doI. can't take you with me."
"So I'm to sit here and wait," he said bitterly, "and nobody will tell me anything, and I won't know whether you're alive or deadH."e picked up his jacke"tI.t's not fair."
"I know."
"Can I come to the laboratory at least?" "Yes."
"I still think you should let me go," heHseaibde. gan folding the tights".Shall I leave your costume here?"
"Better notT. he sister might confiscate it."

"What's all this, Mr. Dunworthy?" Mrs. Gaddson said.
They both jumpedS.he came into the room, bearing her Bible.
"Colin's been collecting for the clothing drive," Dunworthy said, helping him wad the clothing into a bundle. "For the detainees."
"Passing clothes from one person to another is an excellent way of spreading infection," she said to
Dunworthy.
Colin scooped up the bundle and ducked out.
"And allowing a child to come here and risk catching someHtheinogf!fered to come and walk me home from the infirmary last night, and I said, 'I won't have you risking your health for me!'"
She sat down next to the bed and opened her "BIti'sblep.ure negligence, allowing that boy to visit you. But I suppose it's no more than what I should have expected from the way you run yoMurr.college. Finch has become a complete tyrant in your abseHncee.simply flew at me in a rage yesterday when I requested an extra roll of lavatory paper-"
"I want to see William," Dunworthy said.
"Here!" she sputtered".In hospital?!"She shut her Bible with a sn"aIp.simply won't allow Tit.here are still a great many infectious cases and poor Willy-"
Is in the linen room with my nurse, he tho"Tugehllt.him I wish to see him as soon as possible," he said. She brandished the Bible at him like Moses bringing down the plagues on"I Eignytepnt.d to report your
callous indifference to your students' well-being to the Head of the History Faculty," she said and
stormed out.
He could hear her complaining loudly in the corridor to someone, presumably the nurse, because William appeared almost immediately, smoothing down his hair.
"I need injections of streptomycin and gamma globulin," Dunworthy"Isaaidls.o need to be discharged from hospital, as does Badri Chaudhuri."
He nodded". I know.Colin told me you're going to try to retrieve your history stuHdenlto."oked thoughtful. "I know this nurse..."
"A nurse can't give an injection without authorization by a doctor, and the discharges will require authorization as well."
"I have a friend up in RecoWrdsh.en do you want this by?" "As soon as possible."
"I'll get right on Iitt.might take two or three days," he said, and starte"dI omuet.t Kivrin onceS.he was at Balliol to see yoSu.he's very pretty, isn't she?"
I must remember to warn her about him, Dunworthy thought, and realized he had actually begun to

believe he might be able to rescue her in spite of everyHthoilndg.on, he thoughIt.'m coming.Two or three days.
He spent the afternoon walking up and down the corridor, trying to build his strBenagdtrhi'supw.ard
had an "Absolutely No Visitors Allowed" placard on each of the doors, and the sister fixed him with a watery blue eye each time he approached them.
Colin came in, wet and breathless, with a pair of "bSohoets.has guards everywhere," he sa"idM. r. Finch says to tell you the net's ready except he can't find anyone to do med support."
"Tell William to arrange it," he s"aHide.'s taking care of the discharges and the streptomycin injection." "I knowI.'ve got to deliver a message to Badri from Ih'llimb.e back."
He did not come back, and neither did WilWliahme.n Dunworthy walked to the phone to ring Balliol, the sister caught him halfway and escorted him back to his Eriotohmer. her tightened defenses excluded Mrs. Gaddson as well, or Mrs. Gaddson was still angry over WSilhlieamd.id not come all afternoon.
Just after tea a pretty nurse he hadn't seen before came in with a"Ssyisrtienrg'se.been called away on an emergency," she said.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the syringe.
She tapped the console keyboard with one finger of her freeShheanldo.oked at the screen, tapped in a
few more characters, and came around to inject
"hSimtre. ptomycin," she said.
She did not seem nervous or furtive, which meant William must have managed the authorization
somehow. She injected the largish syringe into the cannula, smiled at him, and wSenhte ohuatd. console on.He got out of bed and went round to read what was on the screen.
left the
It was his charHt.e recognized it because it looked like Badri's and was as unreaTdhaeblela. st entry read, "ICU15802691 14-1-55 1805 150/RPT 1800 CRS IMSTMC 4ML/q6h NHS40-211-7 M AHRENS."
He sat down on the bOedh., Mary.
William must have obtained obtained her access code, perhaps from his friend in Records, and fed it into the computer.Records was no doubt far behind, swamped by the paperwork of the epidemic, and had
not yet got to Mary's deaTthh.ey would catch the error someday, though the resourceful William had no doubt already arranged for its erasure.
He scrolled the screen back through his cThahretr.e were M. AHRENS entries up through 8-1-55, the day she had diedS.he must have nursed him until she could no longer Nstaondw. onder her heart had stopped.
He switched the console off so that the sister wouldn't spot the entry and gotHientowobnede. red if William planned to sign her name to the discharges asHweelhl.oped soS. he would have wanted to help.
No one came in all eveniTngh.e sister hobbled in to check his tach bracelet and give him his temp at eight o'clock, and she entered them in the console but didn't appear to notice aAnyt thtein .a second

nurse, also pretty, came in, repeated the streptomycin infection, and gave him one of gamma globulin.
She left the screen on, and Dunworthy lay down so he could see MaryH'se ndaimdne'.t think he would be able to sleep, but he dHide. dreamed of Egypt and the Valley of the Kings.
"Mr. Dunworthy, wake up," Colin whisperHede. was shining a pocket torch in his face.
"What is it?" Dunworthy said, blinking against the Hligehtg.roped for his spectacle"sW. happened?"
hat's
"It's me, Colin," he whispereHde.
turned the torch on himseHlfe.
was wearing, for some unknown
reason, a large white lab coat, and his face looked strained, sinister in the upturned light of the torch. "What's wrong?" Dunworthy asked.
"Nothing," Colin whispered".You're being discharged."
Dunworthy hooked his spectacles over his eHares.still couldn't see anythin"gW. whispered.
hat time is it?" he
"Four o'clock."He thrust his slippers at him and turned the torch on the "cDlo ehtu. rry."He took
Dunworthy's robe off the hook and handed it to "hSihme.'s likely to come back any moment."
Dunworthy fumbled with the robe and slippers, trying to wake up, wondering why they were being discharged at this odd hour and where the sister was.
Colin went to the door and peeked Hoeut.switched the torch off, stuck it in the pocket of the too-large lab coat, and eased the door shAuftt.er a long, breath-holding moment, he opened it a crack and looked out. "All clear," he said, motioning to Dunwort"hWy.illiam's taken her into the linen room."
"Who, the nurse?" Dunworthy asked, still grog"gWy.hy is she on duty?" "Not the nurseT.he sister.William's keeping her in there till we're gone." "What about Mrs. Gaddson?"
Colin looked sheepish".She's reading to Mr. Latimer," he said defensiv"eIlyh. ad to do something with her, and Mr. Latimer can't hear heHr.e" opened the door all the wTayh.ere was a wheelchair just outside. He took hold of the handles.
"I can walk," Dunworthy said.
"There isn't time," Colin whispere"dA.nd if anyone sees us I can tell them I'm taking you up to
Scanning."
Dunworthy sat down and let Colin push him down the corridor and past the linen room and Latimer's room. He could hear Mrs. Gaddson's voice dimly through the door, reading from Exodus.
Colin continued on tiptoe to the end of the corridor and then took off at a rate that could not possibly b mistaken for taking a patient to Scanning, down another corridor, around a corner, and out the side door where they had been accosted by the "The End of Time Is Near" sandwich board.

It was pitch black in the alley and raining Hheardco. uld only dimly make out the ambulance parked at
the street endC. olin knocked on the back of it with his fist, and an ambulance attendant jumpeIdt was the medic who had helped bring BadrAi nind. had picketed Brasenose".Can you climb up?" she asked, blushing.
Dunworthy nodded and stood up.
"Pull the doors to," she told Colin and went round to get in the front.
"Don't tell me, she's a friend of William's," Dunworthy said, looking after her.
down.
"Of course," Colin sai"dS. he asked me what sort of mother- in-law I thought Mrs. Gaddson would be." He helped him up the step and into the ambulance.
"Where's Badri?" Dunworthy asked, wiping the rain off his spectacles.
Colin pulled the doors
"toA.t Balliol.We took him first, so he could set up theHneetl."ooked
anxiously out the back window"I.
do hope Sister doesn't sound the alarm before we're gone."
"I shouldn't worry about it," Dunworthy sHaied.had clearly underestimated William's poweTrsh.e sister
was probably on Willam's lap in the linen room, embroidering their intertwined initials on the towels.
Colin switched on the torch and shone it on the stre"Itchberor.ught your costume," he said, handing
Dunworthy the black doublet.
Dunworthy took off his robe and put iTt hoen.ambulance started up, nearly knocking him oHveer. sat down on the side bench, bracing himself against the swaying side, and pulled on the black tights.
William's medic had not switched on the siren, but she was going at such a rate she should have. Dunworthy clung to the strap with one hand and pulled on the breeches with the other, and Colin, reaching for the boots, nearly went over on his head.
"We found you a cloak," Colin s"aMidr.. Finch borrowed it of the Classical Theatre SocieHtye."shook it out.It was Victorian, black and lined in red Hsielk.draped it over Dunworthy's shoulders.
"What production did they put oDnr?acula?"
The ambulance lurched to a stop, and the medic yanked open theCodloinorsh.elped Dunworthy down, holding up the train of the voluminous cloak like a pagTehbeoyy.ducked in under the gaTteh.e rain pattered loudly on the stone overhead and under it was a clanging sound.
"What's that?" Dunworthy asked, peering out into the dark quad.
"'When At Last My Savior Cometh,'" Colin
Necrotic, isn't it?"
"sTaihde.
Americans are practicing it for some church thing.
"Mrs. Gaddson said they were practicing at all hours, but I'd no idea she meant five in the morning." "The concert's tonight," Colin said.

"Tonight?" Dunworthy said, and realized it was the fifteTehneth.sixth on the Julian calendEarp.iphany, the Arrival of the Wise Men.
Finch hurried toward them with an umbre"lSlao.rry I'm late," he said, holding it over Dunworthy, "but I
couldn't find an umbrellaY. ou've no idea how many of the detainees go off and forgetEsthpecia.lly the Americans-"
Dunworthy started across the qua"dIs.
everything ready?"
"The med support's not here yet," Finch said, attempting to keep the umbrella over Dunworthy's head, "but William Gaddson just telephoned to say it was all arranged and she'd be here shortly."
Dunworthy would not have been surprised if he had said the sister had volunteered fo"rI tdhoe job. hope William never decides to take to a life of crime," he said.
"Oh, I don't think he would, Hsisr. mother would never allow iHt."e ran a few steps, trying to keep up. "Mr. Chaudhuri's running the preliminary coordinatAesn. d Ms. Montoya's here."
He stopped". Montoya? What is it?"
"I don't know, siSr.he said she had information for you." Not now, he thoughNt.ot when we're this close.
He went in the laboratorBya.dri was at the console, and Montoya, wearing her terrorist shirt and muddy jeans, was leaning over him, watching the screBeand.ri said something to her, and she shook her head
and looked at her digitaSl.he glanced up and saw Dunworthy, and an expression of compassion came into her faceS. he stood up and reached in the pocket of her shirt.
No, Dunworthy thought.
She walked over to hi"mI . didn't know you were planning this," she said, pulling out a folded sheet of paper. "I want to help.S"he handed him the pape"rT. his is what information Kivrin had to work with
when she went through."
He looked at the paper in his hIatndw.as a map.
"This is the dropS."he pointed to a cross on a black "liAnne.d this is SkendgateY. ou'll recognize it by the church.It's Norman, with murals above the rood screen and a statue of St. AnSthensym."iled at him. "The patron saint of lost objecItsf.ound it yesterday."
She pointed to several other cross"eIsf. by some chance she didn't go to Skendgate, the most likely villages are Esthcote, Henefelde, and ShrivenduI'nv.e listed their distinguishing landmarks on the back."
Badri stood up and came ovHeer. looked even frailer than he had in the ward, if that were possible, and he moved slowly, like the old man he had bec"oIm'me.still getting minimal slippage, no matter what
variables I feed in," he saHide.
put his hand under his ri"bI'sm.
running an intermittent, opening for five
minutes at two-hour intervalsT.hat way we can hold the net open for up to twenty-four hours, thirty-six if we're lucky."
Dunworthy wondered how many of those two-hour intervals Badri would hold Huep lfooor.ked done

in already.
"When you see the shimmer or the beginnings of moisture condensation, move into the rendezvous area," Badri said.
"What if it's dark?" Colin askHede. had taken off the lab coat, and Dunworthy saw that he was in his squire's costume.
"You should still be able to see the shimmer, and we'll call out to you," BHaedrigrsuanitde.d softly and put his hand to his side aga"iYn.ou've been immunized?"
"Yes."
"Good.All we're waiting for then is the med suppHoret."looked hard at Dunworth"yA. re you sure you're well enough to do this?"
"Are you?" Dunworthy asked.
The door opened and William's nurse came in wearing aSshleickb.lushed when she saw Dunworthy. "William said you needed med suppoWrt.here would you like me to set up?"
I must remember to warn Kivrin about him, Dunworthy thoBuagdhrti. showed her where he wanted her, and Colin ran out after her equipment.
Montoya led Dunworthy over to a chalked circle under the s"hAierledsy. ou going to wear your spectacles?"
"Yes," he said".You can dig them up in your churchyard."
"I'm certain they won't be there," she said solem"Dnloy.you want to sit or lie down?"
He thought of Kivrin, lying with her arm across her face, helpless an"dI'llblsintadn.d," he said.
Colin came back in with a steamer trHunek.set it down by the console and came over to the net. "You've no business going by yourself," he said.
"I must go by myself, Colin." "Why?"
"It's too dangerousY. ou can't imagine what it was like during the Black Death."
"Yes, I canI. read the book through twice, and I've had Hmey-"stopped."I know all about the Black Death. Besides, if it's as bad as all that, you shouldn't go by yoI uwrsoeulfl.dn't get in the way, I promise."
"Colin," he said helplessly, "you're my responsibiIlitcya. n't take the risk."
Badri came over to the net, carrying a light me"aTsuhree.nurse needs help with the rest of her equipment," he said.

"If you don't come back, I'll never know what happened to you," CoHline stuairdn.ed and ran out.
Badri made a slow circuit of Dunworthy, taking measuremHeentsf.rowned, took hold of his elbow, took more measurementsT. he nurse came over with a syrinDgeu.nworthy rolled up the sleeve of his doublet.
"I want you to know I don't approve of this at all," she said, swabbing Dunwor"thByo'sth aormf .you properly belong in hospital.S"he plunged the syringe in and walked back to her steamer trunk.
Badri waited while Dunworthy rolled down his sleeve and then moved his arm, took more measurements, moved it againC. olin carried a scan unit in and went back out without looking at Dunworthy.
Dunworthy watched the display screens change and change aHgaeinc.ould hear the bellringers, an
almost musical sound with the door shCuot.lin opened the door, and they clanged wildly for a moment while he maneuvered a second steamer trunk through the door.
Colin dragged it over to where the nurse was setting up, and then went over to the console and stood beside Montoya, watching the screens generate numbeHrse. wished he had told them he would go
through sitting downT. he stiff boots pinched his feet, and he felt tired from the effort of standing still.
Badri spoke into the ear again, and the shields came down, touched the floor, draCpeodlina sbaid. something to Montoya, and she glanced up, frowned and then nodded, and turned back to the screen. Colin walked over to the net.
"What are you doing?" Dunworthy said.
"One of the curtain things is caught," he Hsaeidw. alked to the far side and tugged on the fold. "Ready?" Badri said.
"Yes," Colin said and backed away toward the prep "dNooo,r.wait."He came back up to the shields. "Shouldn't you take your spectacles ofIfn? case somebody sees you come through?"
Dunworthy removed his spectacles and tucked them inside his doublet.
"If you don't come back, I'm coming after you," Colin said, and backe"dRaewadayy,".
he called.
Dunworthy looked at the screenTsh.ey were nothing but a blSuro.
was Montoya, who had leaned
forward over Badri's shoulderS.he glanced at her digitaBl.adri spoke into the ear.
Dunworthy closed his eyeHs.e could hear the bellringers banging away at "When at Last My Savior
Cometh." He opened them again.
"Now," Badri saidH. e pushed a button, and Colin darted toward the shields and under, straight into
Dunworthy's arms.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
They buried Rosemund in the grave the steward had dug f"oYr ohuerw. ill have need of these graves," the steward had said, and he was riTghe.y would never have managed to dig it themseIlvt ews.as all they could do to carry her out to the green.
They laid her on the ground beside the gSrahvee.looked impossibly thin lying there in her cloak, wasted almost to nothingT. he fingers of her right hand, still half-curved around the apple she had let drop, were nothing but bones.
"Heard you her confession?" Roche asked.
"Yes," Kivrin said, and it seemed to her that shRe ohsaedm. und had confessed to being afraid of the
dark and the plague and being alone, to loving her father and to knowing she would never see him again. All the things that she herself could not confess.
Kivrin unfastened the loveknot pin Sir Bloet had given Rosemund and wrapped the cloak around her, covering her head, and Roche picked her up in his arms like a sleeping child and stepped down into the grave.
He had trouble climbing out, and Kivrin had to take hold of his huge hands and puAllnhdimwhoeunt. he began the prayers for the dead, he said, "Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina."

Kivrin looked anxiously at hiWm.e must get away from here before he catches it, too, she thought, and
didn't correct himW.
e don't have a moment to lose.
"Dormiunt in somno pacis," Roche said, and picked up the shovel and began filling in the grave.
It seemed to take forevKeri.vrin spelled him, chipping at the mound that had frozen into a solid mass and trying to think how far they could get before nigIhttfwalal.sn't noon yeIt.f they left soon, they could
get through the Wychwood and across the Oxford-Bath road onto the MidlandThPelayinc.ould be in
Scotland within the week, near Invercassley or Dornoch, where the plague never came.
"Father Roche," she said as soon as he began tamping down the dirt with the flat of "tWhee shovel. must go to Scotland."
"Scotland?" he said, as if he had never heard of it.
"Yes," she said".We must go away from heWre.e must take the donkey and go to Scotland."
He nodded". We must carry the sacraments with uAs.nd ere we go I must ring the bell for Rosemund, that her soul may pass safely unto heaven."
She wanted to tell him no, that there wasn't time, they must leave now, immediately, but sh"Ie nodded. will fetch Balaam," she said.
Roche started for the bell tower, and she took off running for the barn before he had even reached it. She wanted them to be gone now, now, before anything else happened, as if the plague were waiting to leap out at them like the bogeyman from the church or the brewhouse or the barn.
She ran across the courtyard and into the stable and led the donkSehye obuetg.an to strap his panniers on.
The bell tolled once, and then was silent, and Kivrin stopped, the girth strap in her hand, and listened, waiting for it to ring agaTinh.ree strokes for a woman, she thought, and knew why he had stOopnpeed.
for a childO.
h, Rosemund.
She tied the girth strap and began to fill the panniers. They were too small to hold
Sevhe ywthoiunlgd.
have to tie thseacks on.She filled a coarse bag with oats for the donkey, scooping it out of the grain bin with both hands and spilling whole handfuls on the filthy floor, and knotted it with a rough rope that hung on Agnes's pony's stalTl.he rope was tied to the stall with a heavy knot she couldnS'thuenteien.ded by
having to run to the kitchen for a knife and back again, bringing the sacks of food she had gathered up earlier.
She cut the rope free and sliced it into shorter sections, threw down the knife and went out to the donkey. He was trying to gnaw a hole in the sack ofShoeattsi.ed it and the other bags to his back with the pieces of rope and led him out of the courtyard and across the green to the church.
Roche was nowhere in sigKhti.vrin still needed to fetch the blankets and the candles, but she wanted to put the sacraments in the panniers fiFrsoto. d, oats, blankets, candlesW. hat else had she forgotten?
Roche appeared at the dooHre.
was not carrying anything.
"Where are the sacraments?" she called to him.

He didn't answerH. e leaned for a moment against the church door, staring at her, and the look on his face was the same as when he had come to tell her about theBumt iltlheery. 've all died, she thought,
there's nobody left to die.
"I must ring the bell," he said and started across the churchyard toward the belltower.
"There's no time to ring the funeral toll," she"Wsaeid.must start for ScotlandS."he tied the donkey to
the gate, her cold fingers fumbling with the rough rope, and hurried after him, catching him by the sleeve. "What is it?"
He turned, almost violently, toward her, and the expression on his face frightenHeed lhoeork.ed like a cutthroat, a murderer". I must ring the bell for vespers," he said and shook himself violently free of her hand.
Oh, no, Kivrin thought.
"It is only midday," she sa"iIdt . isn't time for vespers yeHt."e's just tired, she thoughWt. e're both so
tired we can't think straighSt.he took hold of his sleeve aga"iCn.ome, Father.We must go if we're to get through the woods by nightfall."
"It is past time," he said, "and I have not yet rungLatdhyemIm. eyne will be angry." Oh, no, she thought, oh no oh no.
"I will ring it," she said, stepping in front of him to st"oYpouhimm.ust go into the house and rest."
"It grows dark," he said angrHilye. opened his mouth as if to shout at her, and a great gout of vomit and blood heaved up out of him and onto Kivrin's jerkin.
Oh no oh no oh no.
He looked bewilderedly at her drenched jerkin, the violence gone out of his face.
"Come, you must lie down," she said, thinking, we will never make it to the manor house. "Am I ill?" he said, still staring at her blood-drenched jerkin.
"No," she said".You are but tired and must rest."
She led him toward the churHche. stumbled, and she thought, if he falls, I will never get hSihme up. helped him inside, bracing the heavy door open with her back, and sat him down against the wall.
"I fear the work has tired me," he said, leaning his head against th"eI swtoonuelsd.
sleep a little."
"Yes, sleep," Kivrin saiAd.s soon as he had closed his eyes she ran back to the manor house for blankets and a bolster to make him a paWllehte.n she skidded in with them, he was no longer there.
"Roche!" she cried, trying to see up the dark "nWavhee.re are you?"
There was no answeSr.he darted out again, still clutching the bedding to her chest, but he wasn't in the

bell tower or the churchyard, and he could not possibly have made it to thSehehoruasne. back in the church and up the nave and he was there, on his knees in front of the statue of St. Catherine.
"You must lie down," she said, spreading the blankets on the floor.
He lay down obediently, and she put the bolster behind his"Itheiasdt.he bubonic plague, is it not?" he asked, looking up at her.
"No," she said, pulling the coverlet up over "hYimou.'re tired, that's alTl.ry to sleep."
He turned on his side, away from her, but in a few minutes he sat up, the murderous expression back, and threw the covers of"fI. must ring the vespers bell," he said accusingly, and it was all Kivrin could to
to keep him from standing uWp.hen he dozed again, she tore strips from the frayed bottom of her jerkin and tied his hands to the rood screen.
"Don't do this to him," Kivrin murmured over and over without know"Pinlegasiet!. Please! Don't do this to him."
He opened his eye"sS. urely God must hear such fervent prayers," he said, and sank into a deeper, quieter sleep.
Kivrin ran out and unloaded the donkey and untied him, gathered up the sacks of food and the lantern
and brought them inside the churcHhe.
was still sleepingS.he crept out again and ran across to the
courtyard and drew a bucket of water from the well.
He still did not appear to have wakened, but when Kivrin wrung out a strip torn from the altar cloth and bathed his forehead with it, he said, without opening his eyes, "I feared that you had gone."
She wiped the crusted blood by his mo"uI thw. ould not go to Scotland without you." "Not Scotland," he sai"dT. o Heaven."
She ate a little of the stale manchet and cheese from the food sack and tried to sleep a little, but it was too cold.When Roche turned and sighed in his sleep, she could see his breath.
She built a fire, pulling up the stick fence around one of the huts and piling the sticks in front of the rood screen, but it filled the church with smoke, even with the doors proppedRoocpheen.coughed and
vomited again.This time it was nearly all bloSohde.
put the fire out and made two more hurried trips for
as many furs and blankets as she could find and made a sort of nest of them.
Roche's fever went up in the niHghet. kicked at the covers and raged at Kivrin, mostly in words she couldn't understand, though once he said, clearly, "Go, curse you!" and over and over, furiously, "It grows dark!"
Kivrin brought the candles from the altar and the top of the rood screen and set them in front of St. Catherine's statue.When his ravings about the dark got bad, she lit them all and covered him up again, and it seemed to help a little.
His fever rose higher, and his teeth chattered in spite of the rugs heaped oItvesreehmimed.
to Kivrin
that his skin was already darkening, the blood vessels hemorrhaging under thDe osnk'itn.do thisP. lease.

In the morning he was betHteirs.
skin had not blackened after all; it was only the uncertain light of the
candles that had made it seem mottlHedis.
fever had come down a little and he slept soundly through the
morning and most of the afternoon, not vomiting atShaell. went out for more water before it got dark.
Some people recovered spontaneously and some were saved by praNyoetrse. veryone died who was infected. The death rate for pneumonic plague was only ninety per cent.
He was awake when she went in, lying in a shaft of smokSyheligkhnte.lt and held a cup of water under his mouth, tilting his head up so he could drink.
"It is the blue sickness," he said when she let his head back down.
"You're not going to die," she sNaiidn.ety per centN.
inety per cent.
"You must hear my confession."
No.He could not dieS.he would be left here all aloSnhee.
shook her head, unable to speak.
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned," he began in Latin.
He hadn't sinnedH. e had tended the sick, shriven the dying, buried the Idt ewada.s God who should have to beg forgiveness.
"-in thought, word, deed, and omissiIonw. as angry with Lady ImeynIe.shouted at Maisry.H" e swallowed. "I had carnal thoughts of a saint of the Lord."
Carnal thoughts.
"I humbly ask pardon of God, and absolution of you, Father, if you think me worthy."
There is nothing to forgive, she wanted toYsoauyr.
sins are no sinCs.arnal thoughts.We held down
Rosemund and barricaded the village against a harmless boy and buried a six- month-olIdt ibsabthye. end of the worldS.urely you are to be allowed a few carnal thoughts.
She raised her hand helplessly, unable to speak the words of absolution, but he did not seem to notice. "Oh, My God," he said, "I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee."
Offended theeY.
ou're the saint of the Lord, she wanted to tell him, and where the heWll hiys He?
doesn't he come and save you?
There was no oSil.he dipped her fingers in the bucket and made the sign of the cross over his eyes and ears, his nose and mouth, his hands that had held her hand when she was dying.
"Quid quid deliquiste," he said, and she dipped her hand in the water again and marked the cross on the soles of his feet.
"Libera nos, quaesumus, Domine," he prompted.
"Ab omnibus malis," Kivrin said, "praeteritis, praesentibetusf,uturis."Deliver us, we beseech, Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present and to come.

"Perducat te ad vitam aeternam," he murmured.
And bring thee unto life everlasti"nAg.men," Kivrin said, and leaned forward to catch the blood that come pouring out of him.
He vomited the rest of the night and most of the next day, and then sank into unconsciousness in the afternoon, his breathing shallow and unsteadKyi.vrin sat beside him, bathing his hot forehe"Dado.n't
die," she said when his breathing caught and struggled on, more la"bDoorend't. die," she said softly. "What will I do without yoIu?will be all alone."
"You must not stay here," he sHaied.opened his eyes a littTleh.ey were red and swollen. "I thought you were asleep," she said regretf"uIllyd.idn't mean to wake you."
"You must go again to heaven," he said, "and pray for my soul in purgatory, that my time there may be short."
Purgatory.As if God would make him suffer any longer than he was already. "You will not need my prayers," she said.
"You must return to that place whence you came," he said, and his hand came up in a vague drifting motion in front of his face, as if he were trying to ward off a blow.
Kivrin caught his hand and held it, but gently, so as not to bruise the skin, and laid it against her cheek. You must return to that place whence you cWamoeu.ld that I could, she thougShth.e wondered how
long they had held the drop open before they gavFeourp.days?A week?Perhaps it was still open.
Mr. Dunworthy wouldn't have let them close it while there was any hopBe uatt thalelr.e isn't, she thought. I'm not in 1320I.'m here, at the end of the world.
"I can't," she sai"dI. don't know the way."
"You must try to remember," Roche said, freeing his hand and wa"vAinggneist., pass the fork." He was deliriousK. ivrin got up on her knees, afraid he might try to rise again.
"Where you fell," he said, putting his hand under the elbow of the waving one to brace it, and Kivrin realized he was trying to poi"nPt.ass the fork."
Past the fork.
"What is past the fork?" she asked.
"The place where first I found you when you fell from heaven," he said and let his arms fall. "I thought that Gawyn had found me."
"Aye," he said as if he saw no contradiction in what sh"Ie msaeitd.him on the road while I was bringing you to the manor."

He had met him on the road.
"The place where Agnes fell," he said, trying to help her rem"eTmhbeerd.ay we went for the holly." Why didn't you tell me when we were there? Kivrin thought, but she knew Htheath, atdooh. ad his
hands full with the donkey, which had balked at the top of the hill and refused to go any farther.
Because it saw me come through, she thought, and knew that he had stood over her, in the glade, looking down at her as she lay there with her arm over hIerhfeaacred. him, she thoughIt.saw his
footprint.
"You must return to that place, and thence again to heaven," he said and closed his eyes.
He had seen her come through, had come and stood over her as she lay there with her eyes closed, had put her on his donkey when she wasAnildl. she had never guessed, not even when she saw him in the
church, not even when Agnes told her he thought she was a saint.
Because Gawyn had told her he had foundGhaewr.yn, who was 'like to boast', and who had wanted more than anything to impress Lady Eliw"yIs.found you and brought you hence," he had told her, and
perhaps he didn't even consider it to be aThleie.village priest was no one, after Aanlld.
all the time,
when Rosemund was ill and Gawyn had ridden off to Bath and the drop opened and then closed again forever, Roche had known where it was.
"There is no need to wait for me," he"Nsaoidd. oubt they long for your return." "Hush," she said gentl"yT. ry to sleep."
He sank into a troubled doze again, his hands still moving restlessly, trying to point and plucking at the coverings. He pushed the covers off and reached for his groin aPgoaoirn.man, Kivrin thought, he was
not to be spared any indignities.
She placed his hands back on his chest and covered him, but he pushed the covering down again and pulled the tail of his tunic up over his breeHcheesg.rabbed for his groin and then shuddered and let go,
and something in the movement made Kivrin think of Rosemund.
She frownedH.
e had vomited bloodT. hat, and the stage the epidemic had reached had made her think
he had the pneumonic plague, and she hadn't seen any buboes under his arms when she took his coat off. She pulled the tail of his robe aside, exposing his coarsely woven wooleTnhehyosew. ere tight around
his middle and entangled with the tail of hisShaelb.would never be able to pull them off without lifting him, and there was so much wadded cloth she couldn't see anything.
She laid her hand gently on his thigh, remembering how sensitive Rosemund's arm hHade
bfleinecnh. ed
but did not waken, and she slid her hand to the inside and up, only just touchingItthweacslohtoht.. "Forgive me," she said and slid her hand between his legs.
He screamed and made a convulsive movement, his knees coming up sharply, but Kivrin had already jerked back out of the way, her hand over her mTohuethb. ubo was gigantic and red hot to the touch.
She should have lanced it hours ago.
Roche had not awakened, even when he screamHeisd.face was mottled, and his breath came steadily, noisily. His spasmodic movement had sent his coverings flying agSahien. stopped and covered himH.is

knees came up, but less violently, and she pulled the coverings up around him and then took the last candle from the top of the rood screen, put it in the lantern and lit it from one of St. Catherine's.
"I'll be back in just a moment," she said, and went down the nave and out.
The light outside made her blink, though it was nearly evTehneings.ky was overcast, but there was little wind, and it seemed warmer outside than in the chSuhrceh.ran across the green, shielding the open part of the lantern with her hand.
There was a sharp knife in the bSahren. had used it to cut the rope when she was packing the wagon. She would have to sterilize it before she lanced the Sbhueboh. ad to open the swollen lymph node
before it rupturedW.
hen the buboes were in the groin, they were perilously close to the femoral artery.
Even if Roche didn't bleed to death immediately, all that poison would go straight into his bloIotdstream. should have been lanced hours ago.
She ran between the barn and the empty pig sty and into the coTuhretyasrtda.ble door stood open, and she could hear someone insidHe.er heart jerked". Who is there?" she said, holding the lantern up.
The steward's cow was standing in one of the stalls, eating the spillSehdeoraatsis.ed her head and lowed at Kivrin, and started toward her at a stumbling run.
"I don't have time," Kivrin saSihde.
snatched up the knife from where it lay on the tangle of ropes and
ran out.The cow followed, lumbering awkwardly because of its overfull udder and mooing piteously.
"Go away," Kivrin said, near tea"rIs.have to help him or he'll dSieh.e" looked at the knifIet. was filthy.
When she had found it in the barn, it had been dirty, and she had laid it down in the manure and dirt of the barn floor betweentimes while she was cutting the ropes.
She went over to the well and picked up the bTuhcekreet. was no more than an inch of water in the bottom, and it had a skim of ice oTnheirt.e was not enough to even cover the knife, and it would take
forever to start a fire and bring it to aTbhoerile.
was no time for thTath.e bubo might already have
ruptured. What she needed was alcohol, but they had used all the wine lancing the buboes and giving sacraments to all the dyinSg.he thought of the bottle the clerk had had in Rosemund's bower.
The cow shoved against h"eNr.o," she said firmly, and pushed open the door of the manor house, carrying the lantern.
It was dark in the anteroom, but the sunlight streamed into the hall through narrow windows, making long, smoky, golden shafts that lit the cold hearth and the high table and the wadmal sack of apples Kivrin had spilled out across it.
The rats didn't ruTn.hey looked up at her when she came in, their small black ears twitching, and then went back to the appleTs.here were nearly a dozen of them on the table, and one sat on Agnes's
three-legged stool, his delicate paws up to his face as if he were praying.
She set down the lantern on the f"loGoert.
out," she said.
The rats on the table didn't even lookThuep.one who was praying did, across his folded paws, a cold, appraising look, as if she were an intruder.
"Get out of here!" she shouted and ran toward them.

They still didn't ruTn.wo of them moved behind the salt- cellar, and one of them dropped the apple it was holding with a thunk onto the taIbtler.olled off the edge and onto the rush- strewn floor.
Kivrin raised her knif"eG. et." She brought it down on the table, and the rats scat"tOeruetd.". She raised it again."Of." She swept the apples off the table and onto the Tflhoeoyr. bounced and rolled onto the rushes. In his surprise or fright, the rat that had been on Agnes's stool ran straight towar"dHeKreiv."rin. She threw the knife at it, and it sprinted back under the stool and disappeared in the rushes.
"Get out of here," Kivrin said and buried her face in her hands. "Mwaa," the cow said from the anteroom.
"It's a disease," Kivrin whispered shakily, her hands still over her "mIto'sutnho. body's fault."
She went and retrieved the knife and the lanTtehren.cow had wedged itself halfway through the manor door and got stuckI.t lowed at her piteously.
She left it there and went up to the solar, ignoring the sounds of skittering aTbhoeverohoemr.
was icy
cold. The linen that Eliwys had fastened over the window had torn loose and was hanging by one corner. The bed hangings were down at one side, too, where the clerk had tried to pull himself up on them, and the flock mattress lay half off the bTehde.re were small sounds from under the bed, but she didn't try to
see where they were coming froTmh.e chest was still open, its carved lid propped against the foot of the bed, and the clerk's heavy purple cloak lay folded in it.
The bottle of wine had rolled under theKbievdri.n flung herself down on the floor and reached under the bed for iIt.t rolled away from her touch, and she had to crawl halfway under the bed before she could get hold of it.
The stopper had come out, probably when she had kicked it under tAhelitbtleed.wine clung stickily to the mouth.
"No," she said hopelessly, and sat there for a long minute, holding the empty bottle. There wasn't any wine in the chuRrcohc.he had used it all for the last rites.
She suddenly remembered the bottle he had given her to use on AgnesS'sheknwerei.ggled under the bed and swept her arm carefully along the bedboard, afraid of knocking Sitheovceor.uldn't remember how much had been in it, but she didn't think she'd used it all.
She nearly knocked it over, in spite of her carefulness, and grabbed for the wide neck Sahs eit tilted. backed out from under the bed and shook it geItntwlya.s nearly half fuSllh. e stuck her knife in the waistband of her jerkin, tucked the bottle under her arm, grabbed up the clerk's cloak and went
downstairs. The rats were back, working on the apples, but this time they ran when she started down the stone steps, and she did not try to see where they'd gone.
The cow had worked over half of its body through the anteroom door and was now hopelessly blocking the way.Kivrin set everything down inside the screens, sweeping a space clear of rushes so she could
stand the bottle upright on the stone floor, and pushed her back out, the cow lowing unhappily the whole time.

Once out, the cow promptly tried to come back in to
"KNivor,"in.she said". There's no time," but she
went back into the barn and up into the loft and threw down a forkfuTl hoefn hsahye. everything and ran back to the church.
scooped up
Roche had lapsed into unconsciousneHssi.s body had relaxedH. is big legs sprawled out in front of him, wide apart, and his hands lay out at his sides, palmHse ulpo.oked like a man knocked out by a blow. His breathing was heavy and tremulous, as if he were shivering.
Kivrin covered him with the heavy purple cl"oIa'mk. back, Roche," she said, and patted his outflung arm, but he didn't give any indication that he had heard.
She took the guard off the lantern and used the flame to light all theThcearnedlwese.re only three of
Lady Imeyne's candles left, all of them over half buSrnheed.lit the rushlights, too, and the fat tallow
candle in the niche of the statue of St. Catherine, and moved them closer to Roche's legs, so she would be able to see.
"I'm going to have to take your hose off," she said, folding back the "cIovhearvlet.to lance the bubo."
She untied the ragged points on the hose and he didn't flinch at her touch, but he moaned a little, and it sounded liquid.
She pulled at the hose, trying to get them down over his hips, and then yanked at the legs, but they were
too tight.She would have to cut them oSfhfe.
should have thought to fetch Rosemund's scissors, too.
"I'm going to cut your hose off," she said, crawling back to where she'd left the knife and the bottle of wine. "I'll try not to cut youS.h"e dug at the seal and then cut it with the Kkinvirfien. sniffed at the bottle
and then took a little swig and chokGeodo. d. It was old and full of alcohSohle.
poured it over the blade
of the knife, wiped the edge on her leg, poured some more, careful to leave enough to pour over the wound when she had it opened.
"Beata," Roche murmuredH. is hand groped for his groin.
"It's all right," Kivrin saSidh.e took hold of one of the legs of his hose and slit th"eI
wknooowl.
it hurts
now, but I'm going to lance the bubSoh.e" pulled the rough fabric apart in both hands and, blessedly, it tore, making a loud, ripping sounRdo. che's knees contracted". No, no, leave your legs down," Kivrin
said, trying to push on the"mI . have to lance the bubo."
She couldn't get them dowSnh.e left them for the moment and finished tearing the leg of his hose,
reaching under his leg to split the rough cloth the rest of the way up, so she could seIet
twheasbubo.
twice as big as Rosemund's and completely blaItcks.hould have been lanced hours ago, days ago.
"Roche, please put your legs down," she said, leaning on them with all her"Iwheaivgeht.to open the plague boil."
There was no responsSe.he was not sure he could respond, that his muscles were not somehow
contracting on their own, the way the clerk's had, but she couldn't wait until the spasm, if that was what it was, had passedI.t might rupture at any minute.
She stepped away a minute and then knelt down by his feet, and reached up under his folded legs, gripping the knifeR. oche moaned, and she pulled the knife down a little and then moved it forward slowly, carefully, till it touched the bubo.

His kick caught her full in the ribs, sending her sprawShliengl.et go of the knife, and it skittered
loudly across the stone flooTr.he kick had knocked the wind out of Kivrin, and she lay there, gasping for air, taking long, wheezing breathSs.he tried to sit uPp.ain stabbed at her right side, and she fell back, clutching at her ribs.
Roche was still screaming, a long, impossible sound like a tortured aKniivmrianl. rolled slowly onto her left side, holding her hand tightly against her ribs, so she could sHeee hriomc.ked back and forth like a child, screaming all the while, his naked legs drawn up protectively to hiSs hcehecsot.uld not see the bubo.
Kivrin tried to raise herself, bracing her hand against the stone floor until she was half-sitting, and then
edging it toward her till she could put both hands down and get onto heSrhekncereiesd.
out, little
whimpering screams that were lost in RochHe'se. must have broken some ribSsh.e spat on her hand, afraid of seeing blood.
When she was finally on her knees, she sat back on her feet a minute, huddling agains"tI'mthe pain. sorry," she whispered, "I didn't mean to hurt ySohue." half-crawled towards him on her knees, using her right hand as a crutcTh.he effort made her breathe more deeply, and every breath stabbed into her side. "It's all right, Roche," she whispere"dI'.m coming.I'm coming."
He pulled his legs up spasmodically at the sound of her voice, and she moved around to his side,
between him and the side wall, well out of his
Wreahcehn.
he kicked her, he had knocked over one of
St. Catherine's candles, and it lay in a yellow puddle beside him, still bKuirvnriin .set it upright and laid her hand on his shoulde"rS. hh, Roche," she said".It's all rightI.'m here now."
He stopped screaming".I'm sorry," she said, leaning over h"imI .didn't mean to hurt yoIuw. trying to lance the bubo."
as only
His knees pulled up even tighter than beKfoirver.in picked up the red candle and held it above his naked backside.She could see the bubo, black and hard in the candle'sShlieghht.ad not even pierced it. She raised the candle higher, trying to see where the knife hadIt ghoande. clattered away in the direction of the tombS.he held the candle out in that direction, hoping to catch a glint oSfhme etal. couldn't see anything.
She started to stand up, moving carefully to guard against the pain, but halfway to her feet it caught at her, and she cried out and bent forward.
"What is it?" Roche saHidi.s eyes were open, and there was a little blood at the corner of his mouth. She wondered if he had bitten through his tongue when he was scre"aHmaivneg. I done hurt to you?"
"No," she said, kneeling back down beside with the sleeve of her jerkin.
"hNimo.. You have done no hurtS."he blotted at his mouth
"You must," he said, and when he opened his mouth, more blood leakHeed sowuat.llowed."You must say the prayers for the dying."
"No," she said".You will not die.S"he wiped at his mouth aga"inB.ut I must lance your bubo before it ruptures."
"Do not," he said, and she did not know whether he meant don't lance the bubo or dHoins'tteleetahve. were gritted, and blood was leaking between thSemhe. sank into a sitting position, careful not to cry out,

and took his head onto her lap.
"Requiem aeternam dona eis," he said and made a gurgling sound, "et lux perpetua."
The blood was seeping from the roof of his mSohuethp. ropped his head up higher, wadding the purple coverlet under it, wiping his mouth and chin with her jIetrkwina.s sodden with blooSd.he reached off to
the side for his al"bD. o not," he said. "I won't," she sai"dI.'m right here."
"Pray for me," he said and tried to bring his hands together on h"iWs rcehceks-t". He choked on the word he was trying to say, and it ended in a gurgling sound.
"Requiem aeternam," Kivrin saiSdh. e folded her own hand"sR. equiem aeternam dona eis, Domine," she said.
"Et lux-" he said.
The red candle beside Kivrin flickered out, and the church was filled with the sharp smell Sohfe smoke. glanced round at the other candleTsh.ere was only one left, the last of Lady Imeyne's wax candles, and it was burnt nearly down to the lip of its holder.
"Et lux perpetua," Kivrin said.
"Luceat eis," Roche saiHd.e stopped and tried to lick his bloody Hlipiss.tongue was swollen and stiff. "Dies irae, diesilla." He swallowed again and tried to close his eyes.
"Don't put him through any more of this," she whispered in E"nPgleliasshe.. It's not fair."
"Beata," she thought he said and tried to think of the next line, but it didn't begin with "blessed." "What?" she said, leaning over him.
"In the last days," he said, his voice blurred by his swollen tongue. She leaned closer.
"I feared that God would forsake us utterly."
And he has, she thougShth.e wiped at his mouth and chin with the tail of herHje khinas. . "But in His great mercy He did not," he swallowed again, "but sent His saint unto us."
He raised his head and coughed, and blood rushed out over both of them, saturating his chest and her knees. She wiped at it frantically, trying to stop it, trying to keep his head up, and she couldn't see through her tears to wipe the blood away.
"And I'm no use," she said, wiping at her tears. "Why do you weep?" he said.

"You saved my life," she said, and her voice caught in a sob, "and I can't save yours." "All men must die," Roche said, "and none, nor even Christ, can save them."
"I know," she saiSd.he cupped her hand under her face, trying to catch herTtheeayrs.collected on her hand and fell dripping onto Roche's neck.
"Yet have you saved me," he said, and his voice sounded c"Fleraormer. fear."He took a gurgling breath. "And unbelief."
She wiped at her tears with the back of her hand and took hold of RochIte'fselht acnodl.d and already stiff.
"I am most blessed of all men," he said and closed his eyes.
Kivrin shifted a little so her back was against theIt wwaalls.
dark outside, no light at all coming in
through the narrow windowsL.ady Imeyne's candle sputtered and then flamed agSahine. moved
Roche's head so it didn't push against her Hribes.groaned, and his hand jerked as if to free itself of hers, but she held onT.he candle flickered into sudden brightness and left them in darkness.
TRANSCRIPT FROM THE DOMESDAY BOOK (082808-083108)
I don't think I'm going to make it back, Mr. DunwRoortchhye.
told me where the drop is, but I've
broken some ribs, I think, and all the horses are Igodnoen.'t think I can get up on Roche's donkey without a saddle.
I'm going to try to see to it that Ms. Montoya finTdesllthMis.r. Latimer adjectival inflection was still prominent in 1348A. nd tell Mr. Gilchrist he was wroTngh.e statistics weren't exaggerated.
(Break)
I don't want you to blame yourself for what happIenkendo.w you would have come to get me if you could, but I couldn't have gone anyway, not with Agnes ill.
I wanted to come, and if I hadn't, they would have been all alone, and nobody would have ever known how frightened and brave and irreplaceable they were.
(Break)
It's strangeW.
hen I couldn't find the drop and the plague came, you seemed so far away I would not
ever be able to find you agaBinu.t I know now that you were here all along, and that nothing, not the

Black Death or seven hundred years, nor death nor things to come nor any other creature could ever
separate me from your caring and conceIrtnw.
as with me every minute.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
"Colin!" Dunworthy shouted, grabbing Colin's arm as he dived under the drape and into the net, head down. "What in God's name do you think you're doing?"
Colin twisted free of his gra"sIp.don't think you should go alone!"
"You can't just break through the
Tnehti!s isn't a quarantine perimeteWr. hat if the net had openeYd?ou
could have been killed!H" e took hold of Colin's arm again and started toward the co"nBsaodleri.! Hold the drop!"
Badri was not therDe.unworthy squinted nearsightedly at where the console had bTeheeny.
were in a
forest, surrounded by treesT. here was snow on the ground, and the air sparkled with crystals.

"If you go alone, who'll take care of you?" Colin"Wsahiadt. if you have a relapseH?"e looked past
Dunworthy, and his mouth fell ope"nA.re we there?"
Dunworthy let go of Colin's arm and grabbed in his jerkin for his spectacles.
"Badri!" he shouted".Open the drop!"He put on his spectacleTs.hey were covered with frosHt.e yanked them off again and scraped at the len"Bseasd.ri!"
"Where are we?" Colin asked.
Dunworthy hooked his spectacles over his ears and looked around at thTehteryeesw. ere ancient, the ivy twining their trunks silver with froTsht.ere was no sign of Kivrin.
He had expected her to be here, which was ridicuTlhoeuys. had already opened the drop and not found
her, but he had hoped that when she realized where she was, she would come back to the drop and wait. But she wasn't here, and there was no sign she had ever been.
The snow they were standing in was smooth and free of fooIttprwinats deep enough to hide any she
might have left before it fell, but it wasn't deep enough to hide the smashed cart and the scattered boxes. And there was no sign of the Oxford-Bath road.
"I don't know where we are," he said.
"Well, I know it's not Oxford," Colin said, stamping through the"Bsneocawu.se it's not raining." Dunworthy looked up through the trees at the pale, cleaIrf stkhyer.e had been the same amount of
slippage as in Kivrin's drop, it would be midmorning.
Colin darted off through the snow toward a thicket of reddish willows. "Where are you going?" Dunworthy said.
"To find a roaTd.he drop's supposed to be near a road, isn'tHiet?p"lunged into the thicket and disappeared.
"Colin!" he shouted, starting after h"imCo. me back here."
"Here it is!" Colin called from somewhere beyond the wi"llTohwes.road's here!" "Come back here!" Dunworthy shouted.
Colin reappeared, holding the willows apart.
"Come here," he said more calmly.
"It goes up a hill," he said, squeezing through the willows into the "cWleaerincgan. where we are."
climb it and see
He was already wet, his brown coat covered with snow from the willows, and he looked wary, braced for bad news.

"You're sending me back, aren't you?"
"I must," Dunworthy said, but his heart sank at the proBsapdercit. would not have the drop open for at least two hours, and he was not certain how long it would stayHeopdeind.n't have two hours to spare, waiting here to send Colin through, and he couldn't leave him b"eYhoinud'r.e my responsibility."
"And you're mine," Colin said stubborn"lAy.unt Mary told me to take care of Wyohua.t if you have a relapse?"
"You don't understandT.he Black Death-"
"It's all righRt.eally. I've had the streptomycin and all thIamt. ade William have his nurse give them to
me. You can't send me back now, the drop isn't open, and it's too cold to just stay here and wait for an hour. If we go look for Kivrin now, we might have found her by then."
He was right about their not being able to remainTherec.old was already seeping through the
outlandish Victorian cape, and Colin's burlap coat was even less protection than his old jacket and as wet.
"We'll go to the top of the hill," he said, "but first we must mark the clearing so we can Afinndd it again. you can't go running off like thIawt. ant you in sight at all timI edso. n't have time to go looking for you as well."
"I won't get lost," Colin said, rummaging in his Hpeackh.eld up a flat rectang"leI. brought a locatorI.t's already set to home in on the clearing."
He held the willows apart for Dunworthy, and they went out to thIte wroaasd.scarcely a cowpath and covered with snow unmarked except by the tracks of squirrels and a dog or possiblyCoalinwolf.
walked obediently at Dunworthy's side till they were halfway up the hill and then couldn't restrain himself and took off running.
Dunworthy trudged after him, fighting the tightness already in hisTchheesttr.ees stopped halfway up the hill, and the wind began where they leftItofwf.as bitingly cold.
"I can see the village," Colin shouted down to him.
He came up beside ColTinh.e wind was worse here, cutting straight through the cape, lining or no lining, and pushing long streamers of cloud across the paleFsakryo. ff to the south a plume of smoke climbed straight into the sky, and then, caught by the wind, veered off sharply to the east.
"See?" Colin said, pointing.
A rolling plain lay below them, covered in snow almost too bright toTlhoeokbaarte.
trees and the
roads stood out darkly against it, like markings on a TmheapO. xford-Bath road was a straight black line, bisecting the snowy plain, and Oxford a pencil drawHiengc.ould see the snowy roofs and the square tower of St. Michael's above the dark walls.
"It doesn't look like the Black Death is here yet, does it?" Colin said.
Colin was righIt.t looked serene, untouched, the ancient Oxford of legIetnwd.as impossible to imagine
it overrun with the plague, the dead carts full of bodies being pulled through the narrow streets, the

colleges boarded up and abandoned, and everywhere the dying and the alreadyImdpeoasds.ible to imagine Kivrin out there somewhere, in one of those villages he could not see.
"Can't you see it?" Colin said, pointing sou"tBhe. hind those trees."
He squinted, trying to make out buildings among the cluster oHf etreceos.uld see a darker shape among the gray branches, the tower of a church, perhaps, or the angle of a manor house.
"There's the road that leads to it," Colin said, pointing to a narrow gray line that began somewhere below them.
Dunworthy examined the map Montoya had given Thihmer.e was no way to tell which village it was even with her notes without knowing how far they were from the intended dIrfopthseiyte.were directly
south of it, the village was too far east to be Skendgate, but where he thought it should be there were no trees, nothing, only a flat field of snow.
"Well?" Colin said".Are we going to it?"
It was the only village visible, if it was a village, and it looked to be no more than a kiloIfmietter away. was not Skendgate, it was at least in the proper direction, and if it had one of Montoya's "distinguishing characteristics," they could use it to get their bearings.
"You must keep with me at all times and speak to no one, do you understand?"
Colin nodded, clearly not listenin"gI . think the road is this way," he said and ran down the far side of the hill.
Dunworthy followed, trying not to think how many villages there were, how little time there was, how tired he was after only one hill.
"How did you talk William into the streptomycin inoculations?" he asked when he caught up to Colin. "He wanted Great-Aunt Mary's med number so he could forge the authorizIat tiwonas. in the kit in her
shopping bag."
"And you refused to give it to him unless he agreed?"
"Yes, and I told him I'd tell his mother about all his girls," he said and ran off ahead again. The road he'd seen was a hedDguen. worthy refused to set off through the field it bord"eWreed. must
keep to the roads," he said.
"This is quicker," Colin proteste"dIt. isn't as if we can get lWoset.'ve got the locator."
Dunworthy refused to arguHe.e continued on, looking for a turniTngh.e narrow fields gave way to woods and the road turned back to the north.
"What if there isn't a road?" Colin said after half a kilometer, but at the next turning there was one. It was narrower than the one past the drop, and no one had travelled along it sinceThtheey snow.
waded into it, their feet breaking through the frozen crust at everDy usntwepo.rthy looked anxiously

ahead for a glimpse of the village, but the woods were too thick to see through.
The snow made it slow going, and he was already out-of- breath, the tightness in his chest like an iron band.
"What do we do when we get there?" Colin asked, striding effortlessly through the snow. "You stay out of sight and wait for me," Dunworthy"Issatihda. t perfectly clear?"
"Yes," Colin said".Are you certain this is the right road?"
He was not certain at Iatllh. ad been curving west, away from the direction Dunworthy thought the village lay in, and just ahead it bent north aHgaeinp.eered anxiously through the trees, trying to catch a glimpse of stone or thatch.
"The village wasn't this far, I'm sure of it," Colin said, rubbing h"iWs aer'vmes.been walking for hours."
It had not been hours, but it had been at least an hour, and they had not come to so much as a cottar's hut, let alone a villagTe.here were a score of villages here, but where?
Colin took out his locato"Sr.ee," he said, showing Dunworthy the reado"uWt.e've come too far soutIh. think we should go back to the other road."
Dunworthy looked at the readout and then at the mThaepy.
were nearly straight south of the drop and
over three kilometers from
Tit.hey would have to retrace their steps nearly all the way, with no hope of
finding Kivrin in that time, and at the end of it, he was not certain he would be able to goHeany farther. already felt done in, the band tightening round his chest with every step, and he had a sharp pain midway
up his ribsH.
e turned and looked at the curve ahead, trying to think what to do.
"My feet are freezing," Colin saHide. stamped his feet in the snow, and a bird flew up, startled, and flapped away.Dunworthy looked up, frowningT.he sky was becoming overcast.
"We should have followed the hedge," Colin
"sIatidw. ould have been much-"
"Hush," Dunworthy said.
"What is it?" Colin whispere"dIs.
someone coming?"
"Shh," Dunworthy whisperedH. e backed Colin to the edge of the road and listened Hage'adint.hought he'd heard a horse, but now he couldn't hear anytIhtinmgi.ght only have been the bird.
He motioned Colin behind a tr"eSet.ay here," he whispered and crept forward till he could see around the curve.
The black stallion was tied to a thorn bDuusnhw. orthy backed hastily behind a spruce tree and stood still, trying to see the ridTerh.ere was no one in the roHade. waited, trying to quiet his own breathing so he could hear, but no one came, and he could hear nothing but the stallion's pacing.
It was saddled, and its bridle was chased with silver, but it looked thin, its ribs standing out sharply against the girthT. he girth itself was loose, and the saddle slipped a little to the side as it stepped backward. The stallion tossed his head, pulling hard against the rHeeinsw. as obviously trying to free

himself, and as Dunworthy moved closer he could see he was not tied but tangled in the brambles. He stepped into the roaTdh.e stallion turned his head toward him and began to whinny wildly.
"There, there, it's all right," he said, coming up carefully on its lHefet spiudte.his hand on its neck, and it stopped whinnying and began nosing at Dunworthy, looking for food.
He looked for some grass sticking up through the snow to feed her, but the area around the thornbush was nearly bare of snow.
"How long have you been trapped here, old boy?" he Hasakdedt.he stallion's owner been stricken with
the plague as he rode, or had he died, and the panicked horse bolted, running until his flying reins got tangled in the bush?
He walked a little way into the woods, looking for footprints, but there werTenh'et astnayll.ion began to
whinny again, and he went back to free him, snatching up stalks of grass that stuck up through the snow as he went.
"A horse!Apocalyptic!" Colin said, racing u"pW.
here did you find it?"
"I told you to stay where you were."
"I know, but I heard the horse whinnying, and I thought you'd run into trouble."
"All the more reason for you to have obeyedHme eh."anded the grass to Col"inF.eed him these."
He bent over the bush and pulled out the Trehienss.tallion, in his efforts to extricate himself, had twisted the rein hopelessly round the spiked bramblDesu.nworthy had to hold the branches back with one hand and reach in with the other to unwinHd eit.was covered with scratches within seconds.
"Whose horse is it?" Colin asked, offering the horse a piece of grass from a distance of sTevhe al feet. starving animal lunged at it and Colin jumped back, droppi"nAgreit.you sure it's tame?"
Dunworthy had incurred a near-fatal injury when the stallion jerked his head down for the grass, but he had the rein freeH. e wrapped it around his bleeding hand and took up the other one.
"Yes," he said.
"Whose horse is it?" Colin said, stroking its nose timidly.
"Ours."He tightened the girth and helped Colin, protesting, up behind the saddle, and mounted.
The stallion, not yet realizing he was free, turned his head accusingly when he kicked her gently in the sides but then cantered off back down the snow-packed road, delighted at his freedom.
Colin clutched frantically at Dunworthy's middle, just at the spot where the pain was, but by the time
they had gone a hundred meters, he was sitting up straight and asking "How do you steer it?" and "What if you want it to go faster?"
It took them no time at all to return to the maiCnorlionadw. anted to go back to the hedge and strike out across- country, but Dunworthy turned the stallion the otherTwheayr.oad forked in half a mile, and

he took the lefthand road.
It was a good deal more travelled than the first one, though the woods it led through were even thicker. The sky was completely overcast now, and the wind was picking up.
"I see it!" Colin said, and let go with one hand to point past a stand of ash trees to a glimpse of dark g stone roof against the gray skAy. church, perhaps, or a manor houIste.lay off to the east, and almost immediately a narrow track branched from the road, over a rickety wooden plank bridging a stream, and across a narrow meadow.
The stallion did not prick up its ears or attempt to speed his pace, and Dunworthy concluded it must not be from the villageA. nd a good thing, too, or we'd be hanged for horse- stealing before we could ask
where Kivrin is, he thought, and saw the sheep.
They lay on their sides, mounds of dirty gray wool, though some of them had huddled near the trees, trying to keep out of the wind and the snow.
Colin hadn't seen".What do we do when we get there?" he asked Dunworthy's"Dbaockw. e sneak in or just ride up and ask somebody if they've seen her?"
There will be no one to ask, Dunworthy thoHugehtk.icked the stallion into a canter and they rode through the ash trees and into the village.
It was not at all like the illustrations in Colin's book, buildings around a centralTchleeyariwnger.e scattered in among the trees, almost out of sight of one anHoethegrl.impsed thatched roofs, and farther
off, in a grove of ash trees, the church, but here, in a clearing as small as that of the drop, was only a timbered house and a low shed.
It was too small to be a manor house-the steward's perhaps, or the Trheevwe'so.oden door of the shed stood open, and snow had driftedTihne.re was no smoke from the roof, and no sound.
"Perhaps they've fled," Colin sa"idL.ots of people fled when they heard the plague was coTmhiantg's. how it spread."
Perhaps they had fleTd.he snow in front of the house was packed flat and hard, as if many people and horses had been in the yard.
"Stay here with the horse," he said, and went up to theTheudseo.or here was not shut either, though
it had been pulled nearly
Htoe.
ducked in the little door.
It was icy inside and so dark after the bright snow that he could see nothing except the red after-image. He pushed the door open all the way, but there was still scarcely any light, and everything seemed tinged with red.
It must be the steward's houTshe.ere were two rooms, separated by a timbered partition, and matting on the floorT. he table was bare, and the fire on the hearth had been out fTorhedaliytstl.e room was
filled with the smell of cold ashTehs.e steward and his family had fled, and perhaps the rest of the villagers, too, no doubt taking the plague with thAenmd. Kivrin.
He leaned against the door jamb, the tightness in his chest suddenly a paOinf aagllainh.is worries over
Kivrin, this one had never occurred to him, that she would have gone.

He looked into the other rooCmo.lin ducked his head in the do"oTrh. e horse keeps trying to drink out of a bucket that's out heSreh.ould I let it?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said, standing so Colin couldn't see round the pa"rtBituiotnd. on't let him drink too much. He hasn't had any water for days."
"There isn't all that much in the bucHkeet."looked round the room interested"lyT.his is one of the serf's huts, right?They really were poor, weren't theDy?id you find anything?"
"No," he said".Go and watch the horsAe.nd don't let him wander off." Colin went out, brushing his head against the top of the door.
The baby lay on a bag of flocking in the cItorhnaedr. apparently still been alive when the mother died;
she lay on the mud floor, her hands stretched out towBarodthit.were dark, almost black, and the baby's swaddling clothes were stiff with darkened blood.
"Mr. Dunworthy!" Colin called, sounding alarmed, and Dunworthy jerked around, afraid he had come in again, but he was still out with the stallion, whose nose was deep in the bucket.
"What is it?" he asked.
"There's something over there on the grounCdo.l"in pointed toward the hut"sI. think it's a bodyH."e
yanked on the stallion's reins, so hard the bucket fell over and a thin puddle of water spilled out on the snow.
"Wait," Dunworthy said, but he was already running forward into the trees, the stallion following. "It is a b-" Colin said, and his voice cut off sDhaurnpwlyo.rthy ran up, holding his side.
It was a body, a young maInt 'sl.ay sprawled face up in the snow in a frozen puddle of black liquid. There was a dusting of snow on his fHacise.buboes must have burst, Dunworthy thought, and looked at Colin, but he was not looking at the body, but at the clearing.
It was larger than the one in front of the steward's Ahtouitsse.edges lay half a dozen huts, at the far end
the Norman churchA.
nd in the center, on the trampled snow, lay the bodies.
They had made no attempt at burying them, though by the church there was a shallow trench, a mound of snow-covered dirt piled beside Sito.me of them seemed to have been dragged to the
churchyard-there were long, sled-like marks in the snow--and one at least had crawled to the door of his hut. He lay half-in, half-out.
"'Fear God,'" Dunworthy murmured, "'for the hour of His judgment is come.'" "It looks like there was a battle here," Colin said.
"There was," Dunworthy said.
Colin stepped forward, peering down at the b"oDdyo. you think they're all dead?"

"Don't touch them," Dunworthy sa"idD.on't even go near them."
"I've had the gamma globulin," he said, but he stepped back from the body, swallowing. "Take deep breaths," Dunworthy said, putting his hand on Colin's sho"uAlndder.look at something
else."
"They said in the book it was like this," he said, staring determinedly at an"Aoacktuatlrleye,. I was afraid it might be a good deal woIrsme.ean, it doesn't smell or anything."
"Yes."
He swallowed again".I'm all right now.H" e looked round the clearin"gW. likely to be?"
Not here, Dunworthy prayed.
here do you think Kivrin's
"She might be in the church," he said, starting forward with the stallion again, "and we need to see if the tomb's there.This might not be the villagTe.h"e stallion took two steps forward and reared his head, his
ears back.He whinnied frightenedly.
"Go and put him in the shed," Dunworthy said, taking hold of th"eHereicnasn. frightened. Tie him up."
smell the blood, and he's
He led the stallion back out of sight of the body and handed the reins to Colin, who took them, looking worried. "It's all right," he said, leading him toward the steward's h"oI uksen.ow just how you feel."
Dunworthy walked rapidly across the clearing to the churchTyahredre.
were four bodies in the shallow
pit and two graves next to it, covered with snow, the first to die perhaps, when there were still such things as funerals.He went round to the front of the church.
There were two more bodies in front of the Tdhoeoyr. lay face-down, on top of one another, the one
on top an old maTn.he body underneath was a womaHne.
could see the skirts of her rough cloak and
one of her handsT. he man's arms were flung across the the woman's head and shoulders.
Dunworthy lifted the man's arm gingerly, and his body shifted slightly sideways, pulling the cloak with it. The kirtle underneath was dirty and smeared with blood, but he could see that it had been bHrieght blue. pulled the hood backT. here was a rope around the woman's neHcekr. long blonde hair was tangled in
the rough fibers.
They hanged her, he thought with no surprise at all.
Colin ran up".I figured out what these marks on the ground are," he"Tshaeidy.'re where they dragged the bodies.There's a little kid behind the barn with a rope around his neck."
Dunworthy looked at the rope, at the tangle ofIthawira.s so dirty it was scarcely blonde.
"They dragged them to the churchyard because they couldn't carry them, I bet," Colin said. "Did you put the stallion in the shed?"

"Yes.I tied it to a beam thing," he
"sIatidw. anted to come with me."
"He's hungry," Dunworthy".Go back to the shed and give him some hay." "Did something happen?" Colin aske"dY.ou're not having a relapse, are you?"
Dunworthy didn't think Colin could see her dress from where he"Nsto,o"d.he said". There should be
some hay in the sheOd.r some oatsG.
o and feed the stallion."
"All right," Colin said defensively, and ran toward the Hsheedst.opped halfway across the gree"nI . don't have to give it the hay, do I?" he sho"Cutaend. I just lay it down in front of it?"
"Yes, " Dunworthy said, looking at her hTanhder.e was blood on her hand, too, and down the inside of her wrist.Her arm was bent, as though she had tried to break hHere faclolu. ld take hold of her elbow
and turn her onto her back quite easAillyl. it required was to take hold of her elbow.
He picked up her hanIdt .was stiff and colUd.nder the dirt it was red and chapped, the skin split in a dozen places.It could not possibly be Kivrin's, and if it were, what had she gone through these past two weeks to bring her to this state?
It would all be on the corHdeer.turned her hand gently over, looking for the implant scar, but her wrist was too caked with dirt for him to be able to see it, if it was there.
And if it was, what theCna?ll Colin back and send hfimor a knife in the steward's kitchen and chop it out of her dead hand so they could listen to her voice telling the horrors that had happenHeed to her?
could not do it, of course, any more than he could turn her body over and know once and for all that it was Kivrin.
He laid the hand gently back next to the body and took hold of her elbow and turned her over.
She had died of the bubonic variTethye.re was a foul yellow stain down the side of her blue kirtle where the bubo under her arm had split and Hruenr . tongue was black and so swollen it filled her entire mouth, like some ghastly, obscene object thrust between her teeth to choke her, and her pale face was swollen and distorted.
It was not KivriHn.e tried to stand, staggering a little, and then thought, too late, that he should have covered the woman's face.
"Mr. Dunworthy!" Colin shouted, coming at a dead run, and he looked up blindly, helplessly at him. "What's happened?" Colin said accusing"lyD.id you find her?"
"No," he said, blocking Colin's wWaye.'re not going to find her.
Colin was looking past him at the womHaenr . face was bluish-white against the white snow, the bright blue dress."You found her, didn't youIs? that her?"
"No," Dunworthy saidB. ut it could beI.t could beA.
nd I can not turn over any more bodies, thinking it
might be.His knees felt watery, as though they would not support"Hhiemlp. said.
me back to the shed," he

Colin stood stubbornly where he w"aIsf. it's her, you can tell mI ec.an bear it." But I can't, Dunworthy thougIht.can't bear it if she's dead.
He started back towards the steward's house, keeping one hand on the cold stone wall of the church and wondering what he would do when he came to open space.
Colin leaped beside him, taking his arm, looking anxiously a"tWhihmat.'s the matter?Are you having a relapse?"
"I just need to rest a bit," he said and went on, almost without meaning to, "Kivrin wore a blue dress when she went."When she went, when she lay down on the ground and closed her eyes, helpless and trusting, and disappeared forever into this chamber of horrors.
Colin pushed the door of the shed open and helped Dunworthy inside, holding him up with both hands on his armT. he stallion looked up from a sack of oats.
"I couldn't find any hay," Colin said, "so I gave it someHogrrsaeisn. eat grain, don't they?"
"Yes," Dunworthy said, leaning into the sa"cDkso.n't let him eat them aHlle.'ll gorge himself and burst." Colin went over to the sack and began dragging it out of the stallion"'Ws rheyacdhi.d you think it was
Kivrin?" he said.
"I saw the blue dress," Dunworthy s"aKidi.vrin wore a dress that color."
The bag was too heavy for CoHlien.yanked on it with both hands, and the side split, spilling oats on the straw. The stallion nibbled eagerly at the"mN.o, I mean all those people died of the plague, didn't they? And she's been immunizedS.o she couldn't get the plaguAen. d what else would she die of?"
Of this, Dunworthy thoughNt.oone could have lived through this, watching children and infants die like animals, piling them in pits and shoveling dirt over them, dragging them along with a rope around their dead necks.How could she have survived this?
Colin had maneuvered the sack out of reHaceh.let it fall next to a small chest and came over and stood in front of Dunworthy, a little breathle"sAs.re you sure you're not having a relapse?"
"No," he said, but he was already beginning to shiver.
"Perhaps you're just tired," Colin sa"iYd.ou rest, and I'll be back in a moment."
He went out, pushing the shed's door shut behindThems.tallion was nibbling the oats Colin had
spilled, taking noisy, chomping biteDs.unworthy stood up, holding to the rough beam, and went over to the little casketT. he brass bindings had tarnished and the leather on the lid had a small gouge in it, but otherwise it looked brand-new.
He sat down beside it and opened theThlied.steward had used it for his toTohlse.re was a coil of
leather rope in it and a rusty mattock hTehaed. blue cloth lining Gilchrist had talked about in the pub was torn where the mattock had lain against it.
Colin came back in, carrying the buc"kIetb. rought you some water," he sa"iId.got it out of the

stream." He set the bucket down and fumbled in his pockets for a "bI'voettleo.nly got ten aspirin, so you can't have much of a relapsIes. tole them from Mr. Finch."
He shook two into his han"dIs.stole some synthomycin, too, but I was afraid it hadn't been invented yet. I figured they had to have had aspirHine."handed the aspirin tablets to Dunworthy and brought the bucket over."You'll have to use your hanIdt.hought the contemps' bowls and things were probably full of plague germs."
Dunworthy swallowed the aspirin and scooped a handful of water out of the bucket to wash it down. "Colin," he said.
Colin took the bucket over to the stal"liIond.on't think this is the right villIagwe.ent in the church and the only tomb in there was of some laHdye."pulled the map and the locator out of another pocket.
"We're still too far easIt.think we're here," he pointed at one of Montoya's notes, "so if we go back to that other road and then cut straight east-"
"We're going back to the drop," he sHaeid.stood up carefully, not touching the wall or the trunk. "Why?Badri said we had a day at least, and we've only checked one Tvhilelaregea.re lots of villages.
She could be in any of them."
Dunworthy untied the stallion.
"I could take the horse and go look for her," Coli"nI scaoiudl.d ride really fast and look in all these villages and then come back and tell you as soon as I fiOndr wheer.could split up the villages and each take half, and whoever finds her first could send some kind of sWigenacl.ould light a fire or something and then the other one would see it and come."
"She's dead, ColinW. e're not going to find her."
"Don't say that!" Colin said, and his voice sounded high and c"hSilhdeishi.sn't dead!She had her inoculations!"
Dunworthy pointed at the leather cask"eTth. is is the casket she brought through."
"Well, what if it is?" Colin s"aTidh.ere could be lots of chests likeOrit.she could have run away, when
the plague cameW.
e can't go back and just leave her hWerhea!t if it was me that was lost and I waited
and waited for somebody to come and nobody dHidi?s"nose had begun to run.
"Colin," Dunworthy said helplessly, "sometimes you do everything you can, and you still can't save them."
"Like Great-Aunt Mary," Colin saHide.
swiped at his tears with the back of his "hBauntd.not always."
Always, Dunworthy though"t.No," he said". Not always." "Sometimes you can save them," Colin said stubbornly.
"Yes," he said".All right."He tied the stallion up aga"inW. e'll go and look for hGeri.ve me two more aspirin, and let me rest a bit till they take effect, and we'll go and look for her."

"Apocalyptic," Colin saidH. e grabbed the bucket away from the stallion, who had gone back to slurping it. "I'll fetch some more water."
He went running out, and Dunworthy eased himself to sitting against th"ePlewaaslel,." he said". Please let us find her."
The door opened slowlCy.olin, standing in the light, was outlined in radia"nDcied. demanded. "Listen."
you hear it?" he
It was a faint sound, muffled by the walls of theAnshdedth. ere was a long pause between peals, but he
could hear itH.
e stood up and went outside.
"It's coming from over there," Colin said, pointing toward the southwest. "Get the stallion," Dunworthy said.
"Are you certain it's Kivrin?" Colin s"aIitd's. the wrong direction."
"It's Kivrin," he said.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The bell stopped before they even got the stallion sadd"Hleudr.ry!" Dunworthy said, cinching the girth strap.
"It's all right," Colin said, looking at the "mItapra. ng three timesI.'ve got a fix on Iitt's.
due southwest,
right? And this is Henefelde, right?H"e held it in front of Dunworthy, pointing to each place i"nThtuenrn. it's got to be this village here."
Dunworthy glanced at it and then toward the southwest again, trying to keep the direction of the bell clear in his mindH. e was already unsure of it, though he could still feel the throbbing of itHs etolling. wished the aspirin would take effect soon.
"Come on, then," Colin said, pulling the stallion over to the door of t"hGeetshoend,. and let's go."
Dunworthy put his foot in the stirrup and swung the other leHgeowvears.
instantly dizzyC. olin looked
speculatively at him, and then said, "I think I'd better drive," and swung himself up in front of Dunworthy.
Colin's kick on the stallion's flanks was too gentle and his yanking on the reins too violent but the stallion, amazingly, moved off docilely across the green and onto the lane.
"We know where the village is," Colin said confide"nAtll .we need to find is a road that goes in that direction," and almost immediately declared that they had founItd wita. s a fairly wide path, and it led
down a slope and into a stand of pines, but only a few yards into the trees it split in two, and Colin looked questioningly back at Dunworthy.
The stallion didn't hesitatIet. started off down the right-hand pa"tLho. ok, it knows where it's going," Colin said delightedly.
I'm glad one of us does, Dunworthy thought, pressing his eyes shut against the jouncing landscape and the throbbing.The stallion, given its head, was obviously going home, and he knew he should tell Colin that, but the illness was closing him in again, and he was afraid to let go of Colin's waist for even a moment, for fear the fever would get away from Hheimw. as so coldT. hat was the fever, of course, the throbbing, the dizziness, they were all the fever, and a fever was a good sign, the body marshalling its forces to fight off the virus, assembling the troTohpes. chill was only a side-effect of the fever.
"Blood, it's getting colder," Colin said, pulling his coat closed with on"eI hhaonpde.
it doesn't snow."
He let go of the reins altogether and pulled his muffler up around his mouth aTnhde nstoasleli.on didn't
even notice.It plodded steadily ahead through deeper and deeper woTohdesy.
came to another fork
and then another, and each time Colin consulted the map and the finder, but Dunworthy couldn't tell which fork he chose or whether the horse had simply kept on in the direction it had set.
It began to snow, or they rode inAtollita. t once it was snowing, small steady flakes that obscured the path and melted on Dunworthy's spectacles.
The aspirin began to take effeDcut.nworthy sat up straighter and pulled his own cloak aboutHheim.

wiped his spectacles on the tail ofHiist. fingers were numb and bright rHede. rubbed his hands together and blew on themT.hey were still in the woods, and the path was narrower than when they started.
"The map says Skendgate is five kilometers from Henefelde," Colin said, wiping snow off the locator, "and we've come at least four, so we're nearly there."
They were not nearly anywheTreh.ey were in the middle of the Wychwood, on a cowpath or a deer trail. It would end at a cotter's hut or a salt lick, or a berry bush the horse had fond memories of.
"See, I told you," Colin said, and there, past the trees, was the top of a bTehlel tsotawlleiro.n broke
into a canter". Stop," Colin said to the stallion, pulling on the
"reWinasi.t a minute."
Dunworthy took the reins and slowed the horse to a reluctant walk as they came out of the woods, past a snow-covered meadow, and to the top of the hill.
The village lay below them, past a stand of ash trees, obscured by the snow so that they could only make out gray outlinesm: anor house, huts, church, bell towIetr.wasn't the right village-Skendgate didn't
have a bell tower--but if Colin had noticed, he didn't say anyHtheinkgic. ked the stallion ineffectually a few times, and they rode slowly down the hill, Dunworthy still holding onto the reins.
There were no bodies Dunworthy could see, but there were no people either, and no smoke from the huts. The bell tower looked silent and deserted, and there were no footprints around it.
Halfway down the hill, Colin said, "I saw somethDinugn."worthy had seen it, toAo. flicker of movement that could have been a bird or a moving bra"Jnucsht. over there," Colin said, pointing toward the second
hut. A cow wandered out from between the huts, untied, its teats bulging, and Dunworthy was certain of what he'd feared, that the plague had been here, too.
"It's a cow," Colin said disgustedTlyh.e cow looked up at the sound of Colin's voice and began to walk toward them, lowing.
"Where is everybody?" Colin sa"idS.omebody had to ring the bell."
They're all dead, Dunworthy thought, looking toward the churchTyahredr.e were new graves there, the earth mounded up over them, and the snow still not completely coveringHtohpeemfu.lly, they're all
buried in that churchyard, he thought, and saw the first Ibtowdya.s a young boHy.e was sitting with his back to a tombstone, as if he were resting.
"Look, there's somebody," Colin said, yanking back on the reins and pointing at t"hHe ublloodyth.ere!" He twisted around to look at Dunwor"thWy.ill they understand what we say, do you think?"
"He's-" Dunworthy said.
The boy stood up, hauling himself painfully to his feet, one hand on the tombstone for support, looking around as if for a weapon.
"We won't hurt you," Dunworthy called, trying to think what the Middle English wHoeuldslibde.down from the stallion, clinging to the back of the saddle at the abrupt diHzzeinsetsrsa.ightened and extended his hand, palm outward, toward the boy.

The boy's face was filthy, streaked and smeared with dirt and blood, and the front of his smock and rolled-up trousers were soaked and stiff withHeit.bent down, holding his side as if the movement hurt him, picked up a stick that had been lying covered with snow, and stepped forward, barring his way. "Kepe from haire.Der fevreblau hast bifallen us."
"Kivrin," Dunworthy said, and started toward her.
"Don't come any closer," she said in English, holding the stick out in front of her liIktes eansdpewara.s broken off jaggedly.
"It's me, Kivrin, Mr. Dunworthy," he said, still walking toward her.
"No!" she said and backed away, jabbing the spade a"t Yhoimu .don't understandI.t's the plague." "It's all right, KivriWn. e've been inoculated."
"Inoculated," she said as if she didn't know what the word "mIteawnat.s the bishop's clerHk.e had it when they came."
Colin ran up, and she raised the stick again.
"It's all right," Dunworthy said aga"iTnh. is is ColinH. e's been inoculated as weWll. e've come to take you home."
She looked at him steadily for a long minute, the snow falling aroun"dTothetamk.e me home," she said, no expression in her voice, and looked down at the grave at hIetr wfeaest.shorter than the others, and narrower, as if it held a child.
After a minute she looked up at Dunworthy, and there was no expression in her faIceameitthoeor.
late, he thought despairingly, looking at her standing there in her bloody smock, surrounded by graves. They have already crucified her. "Kivrin," he said.
She let the spade fa"lYl.ou must help me," she said, and turned and walked away from them toward the church.
"Are you sure it's her?" Colin whispered. "Yes," he said.
"What's the matter with her?"
I'm too late, he thought, and put his hand on Colin's shoulder for Sshueppworitll.
never forgive me.
"What's wrong?" Colin aske"dA. re you feeling ill again?"
"No," he said, but he waited a moment before he took his hand away.
Kivrin had stopped at the church door and was holding her sideAacghailnl. went through himSh. e has it, he thoughtS. he has the plague".Are you ill?" he asked.
"No," she saidS.he took her hand away and looked at it as if she expected it to be covered in blood.

"He kicked me."She tried to push the church door open, winced, and let "CI otlhinin. k he broke some ribs."
Colin got the heavy wooden door open, and they went
Dinusindwe.orthy blinked against the darkness,
willing his eyes to adjust toTiht.ere was no light at all from the narrow windows, though he could tell
where they wereH.
e could make out a low, heavy shape ahead on the left-a body?--and the darker
masses of the first pillars, but beyond them it was completelyBdesairdke. baggy pockets.
him, Colin was fumbling in his
Far ahead, a flame flickered, illuminating nothing but
Iittsewlfe. nt outD.
unworthy started toward it.
"Hold on a minute," Colin said, and flashed on a pocketIttobrlcinhd. ed Dunworthy, making everything outside its diffused beam as black as when they first camCoeliinn.shone it around the church, on the
painted walls, the heavy pillars, the uneven flToohre. was a bodyI.t was a stone tomb.
light caught on the shape Dunworthy had thought
"She's up there," Dunworthy said, pointing toward the altar, and Colin obligingly aimed the torch in that direction.
Kivrin was kneeling by someone who lay on the floor in front of the rooIdt wscarseean. man,
Dunworthy saw as they came closHeri.s legs and lower body were covered with a purple blanket, and his large hands were crossed on his chKesivt.rin was trying to light a candle with a coal, but the candle
had burned down into a misshapen stub of wax and would not came up with his torcHh.e shone it full on them.
Ssthaey sleite.med grateful when Colin
"You must help me with Roche," she said, squinting into thSe hleighlet.aned toward the man and reached for his hand.
She thinks he's still alive, Dunworthy thought, but she said, in that flat, matter-of-fact voice, "He died this morning."
Colin shone the pocket torch on the bTodhye. crossed hands were nearly as purple as the blanket in the harsh light of the torch, but the man's face was pale and utterly at peace.
"What was he, a knight?" Colin said wonderingly. "No," Kivrin said".A saint."
She laid her hand on his stiff Honere. hand was calloused and bloody, the fingernails black with dirt. "You must help me," she said.
"Help you what?" Colin asked.
She wants us to help her bury him, Dunworthy thought, and wTehecanm'ta. n she had called Roche
was huge.He must have towered over Kivrin when he was aElviveen. if they could dig a grave, the three
of them together could not carry him, and Kivrin would never let them put a rope around his neck and drag him out to the churchyard.
"Help you what?" Colin sa"idW. e don't have much time."
They hadn't any timeI.t was already late afternoon, and they would never find their way through the

forest after dark, and there was no telling how long Badri could keep the intermittenHteghoaindg.said
twenty-four hours, but he had not looked strong enough to last two, and it had already been nearly eight. And the ground was frozen, and Kivrin's ribs were broken, and the effects of the aspirin were wearing
off. He was beginning to shiver again here in the cold church.
We can't bury him, he thought, looking at her kneeling there, and how can I tell her that when I have arrived too late for anything else?
"Kivrin," he said.
She patted the stiff hand gen"tlWy.e won't be able to bury him," she said, in that calm, expressionless voice. "We had to put Rosemund in his grave, after the stewSahred-"looked up at Dunworth"yI. tried
to dig another one this morning, but the ground's too Ihbaro.ke the spade.S"he looked up at
Dunworthy. "I said the mass for the dead for
Ahinmd. I tried to ring the bell."
"We heard you," Colin sa"idT.hat's how we found you."
"It should have been nine strokes," she said, "but I had toShsetopu."t her hand to her side, as if remembering pain."You must help me ring the rest."
"Why?" Colin said".I don't think there's anybody left alive to hear it." "It doesn't matter," Kivrin said, looking at Dunworthy.
"We haven't time," Colin sa"idIt.'ll be dark soon, and the drop is-"
"I'll ring it," Dunworthy saHide.
stood up". You stay there," he said, though she had made no move to
get up."I'll ring the bell.H" e started back down the nave.
"It's getting dark," Colin said, trotting to catch up with him, the light from his torch dancing crazily over
the pillars and the floor as he ran, "and you said you didn't know how long they could hold the net open. Wait a minute."
Dunworthy pushed open the door, squinting against the expected glare of the snow, but it had grown darker while they were in the church, the sky heavy and smelling oHf esnwowal.ked rapidly across the churchyard to the belltowerT.he cow which Colin had seen when they rode into the village ducked through the lychgate and ambled across the graves toward them, its hooves sinking in the snow.
"What's the use of ringing it when there's no one to hear it?" Colin said, stopping to switch off his torch and then running to catch up again.
Dunworthy went in the towIetr.was as dark and cold as the church and smelled oTfheratcso. w poked its head in, and Colin squeezed past it and stood against the curving wall.
"You're the one who keeps saying we have to get back to the drop, that it's going to close and leave us here," Colin said". You're the one who said we didn't have time even to find Kivrin."
Dunworthy stood there a moment, letting his eyes adjust and trying to catch hiHs ebrheadth.walked too fast, and the tightness in his chest was bHaeckl.ooked up at the ropIte.hung above their heads in the darkness, a greasy-looking knot a foot from the frayed end.

"Can I ring it?" Colin said, staring up at it. "You're too small," Dunworthy said.
"I'm not," he said and jumped up at the Hroepcea. ught the end, below the knot and hung on for several moments before dropping, but the rope scarcely moved, and the bell only clanged faintly and out of tune, as if someone had hit the side of it with a"Irto'sckh.eavy," he said.
Dunworthy raised his arms and took hold of the roughItrowpaes.
cold and bristlHy.e yanked sharply
down, not sure he could do any better than Colin, and the rope cut into hBisonhga.nds.
"It's loud!" Colin said, clapping his hands over his ears and gazing delightedly up at it.
"One," Dunworthy saidO. ne and upR. emembering the Americans, he bent his knees and pulled straight down on the ropeT. wo. And up.And three.
He wondered how Kivrin had been able to ring any strokes at all with herThhuertbreilbl s.was far
heavier, far louder than he had imagined, and it seemed to reverberate in his head, his tightening chest. Bong.
He thought of Ms. Piantini, bending her chubby knees and counting to Fhievres.eHlf.e had not
appreciated what difficult work it waEsa.ch pull seemed to yank the breath out of his
Sluinxg. s.
He wanted to stop and rest, but he didn't want Kivrin, listening inside the church, to think he had quit, that he had only intended to finish the strokes she had bHeegutnig.htened his grip above the knot and
leaned against the stone wall for a moment, trying to ease the tightness in his chest. "Are you all right, Mr. Dunworthy?" Colin said.
"Yes," he said, and pulled down so hard it seemed to tear his lunSgesvoenp.en.
He should not have leaned against the wThalel. stones were cold as icTeh.ey had set him shivering
again. He thought of Ms. Taylor, trying to finish the Chicago Surprise Minor, counting how many strokes were left, trying not to give in to the pounding in her head.
"I can finish it," Colin said, and Dunworthy could scarcely hea"rI hciamn. go get Kivrin, and we can do the last two strokesW. e can both pull on it."
Dunworthy shook his hea"dE. very man must stick to his bell," he said breathlessly and yanked down on the rope.Eight. He must not let go of the roMpes. Taylor had fainted and let it go, and the bell had
swung right over, the rope whipping like a live tIhtinhga.d wrapped itself around Finch's neck and nearly strangled him.He must hold to it, in spite of everything.
He pulled down on the rope and hung onto it till he was certain he could stand and the"Nn inleet,"it rise. he said.
Colin was frowning at hi"mA.re you having a relapse?" he said suspiciously. "No," Dunworthy said, and let go of the rope.
The cow had its head in the dHoeor.pushed it roughly aside and walked back to the church and went

inside.
Kivrin was still kneeling beside Roche, her hand still holding his stiff one. He stopped in front of h"eIr.rang the bell," he said.
She looked up without nodding.
"Don't you think we'd better go now?" Colin "sIat'isd.getting dark."
"Yes," Dunworthy said".I think we'd best-T"he dizziness caught him completely unaware, and he staggered and nearly fell into Roche's body.
Kivrin put out her hand, and Colin dived for him, the torch flashing erratically across the ceiling as he
grabbed Dunworthy's armH.
e caught himself on one knee and the flat of his hand and reached out with
the other for Kivrin, but she was on her feet and backing away.
"You're ill!"It was an accusation, an indictme"nYt.ou've caught the plague, haven't you?" she said, her voice showing emotion for the first tim"He.aven't you?"
"No," Dunworthy said, "it's-"
"He's having a relapse," Colin said, sticking the torch in the crook of the statue's arm so he could help
Dunworthy to a sitting positio"nH. e didn't pay any attention to my placards."
"It's a virus," Dunworthy said, sitting down with his back to the"Ist'tsatuneo.t the plagueB. oth of us have had streptomycin and gamma globulWin.e can't get the plague."
He leaned his head back against the sta"tIut'se. a virusI.'ll be all righIt. only need to rest a moment."
"I told him he shouldn't have rung the bell," Colin said, emptying the burlap sack onto the wrapped the empty sack around Dunworthy's shoulders.
"Are there any aspirin left?" Dunworthy asked.
Hstoene floor.
"You're only supposed to take them every three hours," Colin said, "and you're not supposed to take them without water."
"Then fetch me some water," he snapped.
Colin looked to Kivrin for support, but she was still standing on the other side of Roche's body, watching Dunworthy warily.
"Now," Dunworthy said, and Colin ran out, his boots echoing on the stonDeunflwoor.thy looked across at Kivrin, and she took a step back.
"It isn't the plague," he sa"iIdt'.s a virusW.
e were afraid you had been exposed to it before you came
through and had come down withDiitd.
you?"
"Yes," she said, and knelt beside Roc"Hhee. saved my life."

She smoothed the purple blanket, and Dunworthy realized it was a velveItt chloaadk.a large silk cross sewn in the center of it.
"He told me not to be afraid," she Sshaeid.pulled the cloak up over his chest, under his crossed hands, but the action left his feet, in thick, incongruous sandals, uncovDeurendw.orthy took the burlap bag from around his shoulders and spread it gently over the feet, and then stood up, carefully, holding onto the statue so he wouldn't fall again.
Kivrin patted Roche's hands under the clo"aHke.
didn't mean to hurt me," she said.
Colin came back in with a bucket half-full of water he must have found in Hae pwudadsleb.reathing hard. "The cow attacked me!" he said, scooping a filthy dipper out of the Hbeucekmetp. tied the aspirin into Dunworthy's handT. here were five tablets.
Dunworthy took two of them, swallowing as little of the water as he could, and handed the others to
Kivrin. She took them from him solemnly, still kneeling on the floor.
"I couldn't find any horses," Colin said, handing Kivrin the d"Jipupstera.
mule."
"Donkey," Kivrin said".Maisry stole Agnes's pony.S"he gave Dolin the dipper and took hold of
Roche's hand again". He rang the bell for everyone, so their souls could go safely to heaven." "Don't you think we'd better be going?" Colin whisp"eIrte'sd.almost dark out."
"Even Rosemund," Kivrin said as if she hadn't h"eHared.was already ilIl. told him there wasn't time, that we had to leave for Scotland."
"We must go now," Dunworthy said, "before the light fails."
She didn't move or let go of Roche's h"Haned.held my hand when I was dying." "Kivrin," he said.
She laid her hand on his cheek and got to her Dkunneweso.rthy offered her his hand, but she stood up by herself, her hand pressed to her side, and walked down the nave.
At the door she turned and looked back into the dar"kHnessto. ld me where the drop was when he was dying, so I could go back to heaHve .told me he wanted me to leave him there and go, so that when he came I would already be there," she said, and went out into the snow.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The snow fell silently, peacefully on the stallion and the donkey waiting by the Dlyucnhwgaotreth. y
helped Kivrin onto the stallion, and she did not flinch away from his touch as he had been afraid she would, but as soon as she was up, she leaned away from his grasp and took hold oAf sthesooreninas.s
he removed his hands, she slumped back against the saddle, her hand against her side.
Dunworthy was shivering now, clenching his teeth against it so Colin wouldInt 'ttosoeke. three tries to get him onto the donkey, and he thought he might slip off at any minute.
"I think I'd better lead your mule," Colin said, looking disapprovingly at him. "There isn't time," Dunworthy sa"idIt.'s getting darkY. ou ride behind Kivrin."
Colin led the stallion over to the lychgate, climbed up on the lintel, and scrambled up behind Kivrin. "Do you have the locator?" Dunworthy said, trying to kick the donkey without falling off.
"I know the way," Kivrin said.
"Yes," Colin saidH. e held it up".And the pocket torch.H" e flicked it on, and then shone it all around the churchyard, as if looking for something they might have left bHeheinsde.emed to notice the graves for the first time.
"Is that where you buried everybody?" he said, holding the light steady on the smooth white mounds.

"Yes," Kivrin said.
"Did they die a long time ago?"
She turned the stallion and started it up the"Nhoil,l". she said.
The cow followed them partway up the hill, its swollen udders swinging, and then stopped and began
lowing pitifully.Dunworthy looked back at
Iit mooed uncertainly at him, and then ambled back down
the road toward the villagTe.hey were nearly to the top of the hill, and the snow was letting up, but below, in the village, it was still snowing hTahred. graves were covered completely, and the church was obscured, the bell tower scarcely visible at all.
Kivrin did not so much as glance bSahcek. rode steadily forward, sitting very straight, with Colin on behind her, holding not to Kivrin's waist but to the high back of theThsaeddsnleo.w came down fitfully, and then in single flakes, and by the time they were in thick woods again, it had nearly stopped.
Dunworthy followed the horse, trying to keep up with its steady gait, trying not to give way to the fever. The aspirin was not working-he had taken it with too little water--and he could feel the fever beginning to overtake him, beginning to shut out the woods and the donkey's bony back and Colin's voice.
He was talking cheerfully to Kivrin, telling her about the epidemic, and the way he told it, it sounded like an adventure."They said there was a quarantine and we'd have to go back to London, but I didn't want
to do thatI.
wanted to see Great-Aunt MarSyo.
I sneaked through the barrier, and the guard saw me
and said, 'You thereS!top!' and started to chase me, and I ran down the street and into this alley."
They stopped, and Colin and Kivrin dismounCteodl.in took off his muffler, and she pulled up her blood-stiff smock and tied it around her rDibusn. worthy knew the pain must be even worse than he'd
thought, that he should try at least to help her, but he was afraid that if he got down off the donkey, he would not be able to get back on.
Kivrin and Colin mounted again, she helping him up, and they set off again, slowing at every turning and side path to check their direction, Colin hunching over the locator's screen and pointing, Kivrin nodding in confirmation.
"This was where I fell off the donkey," Kivrin said when they stopped a"tThaatfofrirks.t nightI. so sick.I thought he was a cutthroat."
was
They came to another forIkt .had stopped snowing, but the clouds above the trees were dark and heavy. Colin had to shine his torch on the locator to reHaed pito.inted down the right- hand path, and got on behind Kivrin again, telling her his adventures.
"Mr. Dunworthy said, 'You've lost the fix,' and then he went straight over into Mr. Gilchrist and they
both fell down," Colin sai"dM.
r. Gilchrist was acting like he'd done it on purpose, he wouldn't even help
me cover him upH. e was shivering like blood, and he had a fever, and I kept shouting, 'Mr. Dunworthy! Mr. Dunworthy!' but he couldn't hear mAen.d Mr. Gilchrist kept saying, 'I'm holding you personally responsible.'"
It began to spit snow again, and the wind pickeDdunuwp.orthy clung to the donkey's stiff mane, shivering.
"They wouldn't tell me anything," Colin said, "and when I tried to get in to see Great-Aunt Mary, they

said, 'We don't allow children.'"
They were riding into the wind, the snow blowing against Dunworthy's cloak in freezinHge gleuastnse.d forward till he was nearly lying on the donkey's neck.
"The doctor came out," Colin said, "and he started whispering to this nurse, and I knew she was dead," and Dunworthy felt a sudden stab of grief, as if he were hearing it for the Ofihrs,t Mtimarey., he thought.
"I didn't know what to do," Colin said, "so I just sat there, and Mrs. Gaddson, she's this necrotic perons, came up and started reading to me out of the Bible how it was GoIdh'satwe ilMl. rs. Gaddson!" he said
violently. "She's the one who deserved to get the flu!"
Their voices began to ring, the overtones echoing against and around the woods so that he shouldn't
have been able to understand them, but oddly they rang clearer and clearer in the cold air, and he thought they must be able to hear them all the way to Oxford, seven hundred years away.
It came to Dunworthy suddenly that Mary wasn't dead, that here in this terrible year, in this century that was worse than a ten, she had not yet died, and it seemed to him a blessing beyond any he had any right to expect.
"And that was when we heard the bell," ColinMsra.idD. unworthy said it was you calling for help." "It was," Kivrin sai"dT. his won't workH. e'll fall off."
"You're right," Colin said, and Dunworthy realized that they had dismounted again and were standing next to the donkey, Kivrin holding the rope bridle.
"We have to put you on the horse," Kivrin said, taking hold of Dunworthy"'Ys owu'areist.going to fall off the donkeyC. ome on.Get down.I'll help you."
They both had to help him down, Kivrin reaching around him in a way he knew had to hurt her ribs, Colin almost holding him up.
"If I could just sit down for a bit," Dunworthy said through chattering teeth.
"There isn't time," Colin said, but they helped him to the side of the path and eased him down against a rock.
Kivrin reached up under her smock and brought out three a"sHpierrien.. Take these," she said, holding them out to him on her open palm.
"Those were for you," he sa"iYd.our ribs-"
She looked at him steadily, unsmiling"lIy'l.l be all right," she said, and went to tie the stallion to a bush. "Do you want some water?" Colin s"aIidc.ould build a fire and melt some snow."
"I'll be all right," Dunworthy saHide. put the aspirin in his mouth and swallowed them.
Kivrin was adjusting the stirrups, untying the leather straps with practiceSdhsekiklln. otted them and came back over to Dunworthy to help him"Ruepa. dy?" she said, putting her hand under his arm.

"Yes," Dunworthy said, and tried to stand up.
"This was a mistake," Colin sa"iWd.e'll never get him on," but they did, putting his foot in the stirrups
and his hands around the pommel and hoisting him up, and at the end he was even able to help them a little, offering a hand so Colin could clamber up the side of the stallion in front of him.
He had stopped shivering, but he was not sure whether that was a good sign or not, and when they started off again, Kivrin ahead on the jolting donkey, Colin already talking, he leaned into Colin's back and closed his eyes.
"So I decided that when I get out of school, I'm going to come to Oxford and be an historian like you," he said."I don't want to come to the Black DeIatwha. nt to go to the Crusades."
He listened to them, leaning against CoItlinw. as getting dark, and they were in the Middle Ages in the woods, two cripples and a child, and Badri, another cripple, trying to hold the net open and susceptible to relapse himselfB. ut he could not seem to summon any panic or even any Cwoolirnry.had the locator
and Kivrin knew where the drop wTahs.ey would be all right.
Even if they could not find the drop and they were trapped here forever, even if Kivrin could not forgive him, she would be all rigShht.e would take them to Scotland, where the plague never went, and Colin
would pull fishhooks and a frying pan out of his bag of tricks and they would catch trout and salmon to eat. They might even find Basingame.
"I've watched sword-fighting on the vids, and I know how to drive a horse," Colin said, and then, "Stop!"
Colin jerked the reins back and up, and the stallion stopped, its nose against the donTkheeyy's tail. were at the top of a little Ahitll.its bottom was a frozen puddle and a line of willows.
"Kick it," Colin said, but Kivrin was already dismounting.
"He won't go any farther," she s"aHide.
did this beforeH. e saw me come througIh.thought it was
Gawyn, but it was Roche all alonSgh."e pulled the rope bridle off over the donkey's head, and it immediately bolted back along the narrow path.
"Do you want to ride?" Colin asked her, already scrambling down.
She shook her hea"dI.t hurts more mounting and dismounting than walkinSgh.e"
was looking across at
the farther hillT. he trees went only halfway up, and above them the hill was white witIht msnuoswt .
have stopped snowing, though Dunworthy hadn't been aware between them the sky was a pale, clear lavender.
Tofheit.clouds were breaking up, and
"He thought I was St. Catherine," she
"saHide. saw me come through, like you were afraid would
happen. He thought I had been sent from God to help them in their hour of need."
"Well, and you did, didn't you?" Colin
Hsaeid.jerked the reins awkwardly, and the stallion started
down the hill, Kivrin walking beside"Yit.ou should have seen the mess the other places we Bwoedriee.s everywhere, and I don't think anybody helped them."
He handed the reins to Kivr"iIn'l.l go see if the net's open," he said and ran "aBheaaddri. was going to

open it every two hoursH."e crashed into the thicket and disappeared.
Kivrin brought the stallion to a stop at the bottom of the hill and helped Dunworthy down.
"We'd best take his saddle and bridle off," Dunworthy"Wsahide.n we found him, he was tangled in a bush."
Together they got the girth uncinched and the saddlKe iovfrfin. stroke the stallion's head.
"He'll be all right," Dunworthy said. "Maybe," she said.
unhooked the bridle and reached up to
Colin burst through the willows, scattering snow everywh"Ietr'se. not there." "It'll open soon," Dunworthy said.
"Are we taking the horse with us?" Colin a"sIketdh.ought historians weren't allowed to take anything
into the futureB. ut it'd be great if we could take
Ihimco.uld ride him when I go to the Crusades."
He exploded back through the thicket, spraying sn"oCwom.
e on, you guys, it could open any time."
Kivrin noddedS. he smacked the stallion on its flaIntk.walked a few paces and then stopped and looked back at them questioningly.
"Come on," Colin said from somewhere inside the thicket, but Kivrin didn't move. She put her hand against her side.
"Kivrin," he said, moving to help her.
"I'll be all right," she said and turned away from him to push aside the tangled branches of the thicket.
It was already twilight under the trTeehse.
sky between the black branches of the oak was
lavender-blue. Colin was dragging a fallen log into the middle of the cle"Ianrincga.se we just missed it and have to wait a whole two hours," he Dsauindw. orthy sat down gratefully.
"How do we know where to stand when the net opens?" Colin asked Kivrin.
"We'll be able to see the condensation," she Sshaeid.went over to the oak tree and bent down to brush the snow away from its base.
"What if it gets dark?' Colin asked.
She sat down against the tree, biting her lips as she eased herself onto the roots.
Colin squatted down between the"mI. didn't bring any matches or I'd start a fire," he said. "It's all right," Dunworthy said.

Colin switched on his pocket torch and then switched it off"Iagtahiink I'd better save this in case something goes wrong."
There was a movement in the willoCwosl.in leaped up". I think it's starting," he said. "It's the stallion," Dunworthy sa"idH.e's eating."
"Oh."Colin sat back down".You don't think the net already opened and we didn't see it because it was dark?"
"No," Dunworthy said.
"Perhaps Badri had another relapse and couldn't keep the net open," he said, sounding more excited than scared.
They waitedT. he sky darkened to purple-blue, and stars began to come out in the branches of the oak. Colin sat on the log beside Dunworthy and talked about the Crusades.
"You know all about the Middle Ages," he said to Kivrin, "so I thought perhaps you'd help me get ready, you know, teach me things."
"You're not old enough," she sa"iIdt'.s very dangerous."
"I know," Colin sai"dB. ut I really want to gYoo. u have to help mPe.lease?" "It won't be anything like you expect," she said.
"Is the food necroticI?read in this book Mr. Dunworthy gave me how they ate spoiled meat and swans and things."
Kivrin looked down at her hands for a long m"iMnuotes.t of it was terrible," she said softly, "but there were some wonderful things.
Wonderful thingsH. e thought of Mary, leaning against Balliol's gate, saying, "I'll never forget it." Wonderful things.
"What about Brussels sprouts?" Colin ask"eDd.id they eat Brussels sprouts in the Middle Ages?" Kivrin almost smiled".I don't think they were invented yet."
"Good!"He jumped up". Did you hear thatI? think it's startingI.t sounds like a bell."
Kivrin raised her head, listenin"gA.
bell was ringing when I came through," she said.
"Come on," Colin said, and yanked Dunworthy to his"Cfeaent'.t you hear it?" It was a bell, faint and far away.
"It's coming from over here," Colin sHaied. darted to the edge of the clear"inCgo.me on!"
Kivrin put her hand on the ground for support and got to heHr ekrnefreese.
hand went involuntarily to

her side.
Dunworthy reached his hand out to her, but she didn't t"aIk'lle biet. all right," she said quietly. "I know," he said, and let his hand drop.
She stood up carefully, holding onto the rough trunk of the oak, and then straightened and stood free of it.
"I got it all on the corder," she "sEavide.rything that happened."
Like John Clyn, he thought, looking at her ragged hair, her dirAty tfraucee.historian, writing in the empty church, surrounded by graveIs,. seeing so many evils, have put winrtioting all the things that I have witnessed.Lest things whichshould be remembered perish with time.
Kivrin turned her palms up and looked at her wrists in the t"wFialtighhert. Roche and Agnes and
Rosemund and all of them," she sa"iId.got it all down."
She traced a line down the side of her wrist with her"Ifoingsueur.icien lui damo amo," she said softly. "You are here in place of the friends I love."
"Kivrin," Dunworthy said.
"Come on!" Colin sai"dI.t's starting.Can't you hear the bell?"
"Yes," Dunworthy saidI.t was Ms. Piantini on the tenor, ringing the leadin to "When At Last My Savior
Cometh."
Kivrin came and stood next to DunworSthhye. placed her hands together, as if she were praying.
"I can see Badri!" Colin saHide. cupped his hands around his mou"tShh. e's all right!" he shoute"dW. e saved her!"
Ms. Piantini's tenor clanged, and the other bells chimed in joyTohueslya.ir began to glitter, like snowflakes.
"Apocalyptic!" Colin said, his face alight.
Kivrin reached out for Dunworthy's hand and clasped it tightly in her own. "I knew you'd come," she said, and the net opened.
THE END