|
|
|
|
|
|
whole front of their shop on the bridge had fallen on her husband and two older sons, exposing a cavern of flame that had not been there when they fled the house only a few minutes before. She did not know how she had come off the bridge. A man, hearing Joanna's voice, had turned the wild eyes of a madman upon her. "The mouth of hell," he screamed. "I have looked into the mouth of hell. The whole world will burn. I have seen it, a wall of flame flying forward to engulf us all." |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
His screeching made the whole crowd uneasy, and the people looked fearfully to the east and surged forward so that Joanna's men needed to draw their swords and apply the flat of them to heads and shoulders to keep order. Obviously it was dangerous to question these people. Another madman or hysteric might create so great a panic that the armed troop could not control them. Joanna's eyes were drawn to a wailing babe and she winced, seeing the raw and blackened flesh on a tiny arm and leg. If only she had her unguents and medicinal creams . . . |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The tired wailing tore her mind from its fixed image of Geoffrey surrounded by flames. Unguents Unguents How stupid I am, Joanna thought. There are apothecary shops right here near the Chepe. She had even been in some of them, seeking rare simples that would not grow in the cool climate of England. Purposefully she looked about, trying to remember exactly where the shops were. Without thinking, she lifted a hand to hold down the edge of her wimple which had flown up into her face. Her mare danced uncertainly and blew heavily through her nostrils. Joanna coughed as hot, smoke-tinged air caught her lungs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Joanna glanced uncertainly toward the east. Surely the cloud of smoke that hung over the city was lower and heavier? Still, there were no shouts of alarm from the lord mayor's men who were to the east of the Chepe in the Poulterer's Lane and up toward Cornhill. Poulterer's Lane and Cornhill reminded her. The apothecaries were hard by the spice merchants, and some dealt in both spices and medicinals. They were to the south of the Chepeside, east of where |
|
|
|
|
|