5

Mary looked around and suddenly realized what was wrong, it was the sound of her parents’ breathing. It no longer sounded strained as it had done in the past week, but it was not the breathing that Mary used to lie and listen to when she couldn’t sleep when her parents had been healthy either. This breathing came quickly; it was as light as a feather and sometimes it seemed to stop for several minutes. Mary knew nothing about sickness, let alone death. But in her heart, she knew the breathing she heard from her parents was wrong. Something was very wrong. The panic quickly crept into her, and Mary felt it take a firm hold of her heart. Why had she stayed so long looking for eggs? She should have stayed inside and taken care of her parents. What would she do now? No one could or would help her. Mary sank to the floor in the middle of the room and cried. All the fear and sadness she had inside her came out in the desperate cry of a ten-year-old girl. After the worst of the crying subsided, Mary tried to pull herself together. It didn’t help her parents if she was sitting there howling like a child. But how could she help them? No one could cure the sickness. She felt the panic grow again. Desperately, she thought of people she knew, of someone she could ask for help. Just as she was about to give up and start to cry again, she heard in her head what the lady in the market had said about the Lady who was coming: “I’ve heard they can do things no one else can, they have knowledge that was forgotten by the rest of the world.” She said that didn’t she? The Lady was supposed to be here tonight. Mary got up off the floor. She had no time to waste; she had to find that Lady and ask her to help her parents. She had to get the Lady to come here. She didn’t know how, but right now the most important thing wasn’t how to get her to come here. Right now, she had to find her.

Mary ran through the alleyways like she had never run before. She had to hurry. If the Lady were comeing tonight, she’d probably come through the big gate to the south. It was always through it that important people came; Mary knew that. She and her parents had been there to watch a king from a neighbouring kingdom come to their city. It was a long time ago, at a time when the sickness didn’t exist. It was late at night and darkness had settled over the city. Only the little lanterns that hung here and there on the walls of the houses gave light to the road where she ran. She knew she shouldn’t be outside when it was dark. The city was much more dangerous in the dark. Mary knew the gates were closed during the dark hours. But she still had to go to the south gate. If the Lady had already arrived, someone might know where she was. Had she not come, Mary could find somewhere to wait until it was day, and the gate was opened again. A block to go, she thought as she ran. It hurt in her side and every breath she drew down into her lungs was burning. She rounded a corner and knew she was getting close. But instead of finding a big, deserted place, she ran straight into a man. She paused in amazement and looked around. The main street going from the south gate through the city was lined with people and illuminated by torches. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She stood there panting, looking at all the people, who seemed to be looking towards the gate.

“What’s going on?” she asked a woman holding a small child.

“The Lady is on her way,” the woman replied.

“It’s dark; the gate is locked for the night.”

“That doesn’t stop the Lady. They will make an exception for her. It would be unthinkable to let her, and her entourage wait outside all night,” the woman said impatiently. Just as she said this, there was a cry from the wall surrounding the city, and the soldiers guarding the gate began to open it quickly. When they opened the huge gate, the sound of hooves could be heard. First came a troupe of riding men and women. Their horses were the most beautiful horses Mary had seen; the manes and tails seemed to sway in a wind that didn’t exist. The women and men all wore sombre grey robes with a hood. After the riders came a white carriage drawn by four horses. Inside the carriage were three women, all dressed in shiny white clothes. The carriage was followed by another group of men and women in grey robes on horseback. When the carriage came within sight of the crowd, they began shouting, “The Lady, the Lady has come,” and a cheer broke out. Mary understood that one of the women in the carriage must be the Lady and she desperately tried to make her way through the crowd. But though she was small and quick, she didn’t get anywhere. Soon the carriage had disappeared. Mary felt the panic creeping again. No, she had to talk to the Lady. Instead of trying to push forward, she turned around and ran back the way she came. After a while, she turned left. The Lady must be on her way up to the castle. If she could intercept the wagon somewhere along the way, maybe she could ask the Lady for help.

She ran through alleys and across roads. She thanked God she had spent so much time playing in the city that she knew these roads inside and out. She felt no fear, no panic; all she had time to feel was the hope of getting ahead of the carriage. When there was a gap between the buildings, she saw the crowd was still dense along the road where the carriage was to come. Of course, there would be people all the way up to the castle, she thought. Her plan wouldn’t work. She stopped for a moment at a crossroad and caught her breath. What would she do now? If Erik had been here, he would have known what to do, she thought. He always knew what to do. It was he who had figured out where to access Mrs. Kaster’s apples where the branch hung outside the wall. She stopped breathing for a moment. A branch hanging outside the wall. It wasn’t just Mrs. Kaster who had a tree stretching outside the garden. Mary started running again. She ran towards a new goal. She had to get there before it was too late.

After what seemed to be several hours but was more like ten minutes, she arrived at the house where Mr. Sansi lived. His house was surrounded by a large garden, which in turn was surrounded by a thick wall. One side of the wall was adjacent to the road from the south gate. Mary saw there were people in the windows of the house who looked out to see the Lady as she passed by. The people in the street had pushed themselves against the wall. But there, almost at the bottom of one corner of the wall, a large tree grew. One of its branches hung sweeping out over the wall and across the street. It was so high up that it almost formed an arch across the road. Mary ran around the block, so she could get to the corner of the wall which was closest to the branch. She was looking for a way to get up. The wall was high and smooth. But someone had put a couple of empty wooden boxes a little farther away in an alley. By dragging them to the wall and setting them on the high end, Mary formed a ladder, albeit unsteady, to climb. She felt the boxes tremble beneath her as she stretched up to reach for the edge of the wall. She couldn’t quite make it. She gently stood on her tiptoes and felt the boxes underneath her vibrate even more from the changing of balance. Just as she felt her fingers reaching the edge, the boxes underneath her collapsed. There she hung, high on the wall, with only her fingers around the edge. She breathed calmly and felt the edge chafing under her fingers. What would she do now? She turned her head and looked down. It was a long way down and if she jumped, she would end up amongst the boxes and probably hurt herself. But at the same time, she felt her fingers couldn’t maintain their grip much longer. She saw her parents in front of her, echoes of their breathing sounded in her mind. With a groan, she ground her teeth and tried to pull herself up over the edge. Slowly, slowly, she came a little farther up and finally she was able to put her whole hand up on the top of the wall. She caught her breath a little before trying again. This time she got hold of the other side of the wall and started kicking her legs and soon she was lying with her stomach on the wall. Her fingers, one arm and both knees were scratched by the climb. But she was up and the joy of it blocked out the pain. She quickly swung her legs up on the wall and began crawling towards the branch. Then she saw the first riders approaching. She wouldn’t make it. She was sure of it. With new energy, she began to carefully get out on the branch. It was much higher than she had thought and soon she sat above the middle of the road on the branch and looked down. No one had seen her and now the riders were passing by under her. What would she do? No one would hear if she called. The carriage was approaching quickly. Mary made the decision without thinking about it. She let herself slide down the branch, so she was just hanging by her arms, and when the carriage was underneath her she let go.