Down through time, we wander again,
Until we stop to see a woman fleeing down a lane,
Wonder where she is going, why she is so scared?
Well I have a story for you, have I got you snared?
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Dana – 1399AD
The woman ran, for all she was worth, she had left the pathway now, knowing it wasn't safe. Over fields she sprinted, sinking in the mud, always carrying the bundle in her arms. She had to get away, she had to get to safety, even now she could hear them thudding behind her, she on foot, they on horseback.
She darted to the left, down a small embankment, maybe if she could cross the river she reasoned. Her skirt snagged against brambles and angrily she ripped it away, and continued to run.
She reached the river, and looked for a place where it would be easy to get across, but she wasn't paying attention, she was too frightened and her foot slipped in the mire.
Before she knew it she was floundering in the water, the bundle she had held dragged out of her arms by the current.
The last thing she saw before she went under to her watery grave, was the little hand waving in amidst the clothes as the babe floated down the river.
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The only thing that Dana knew about the life she had been born to was her name. it had been embroidered along with into the little silk nightdress she had worn, and the purple velvet wrap that had protected her from the course woollen blankets that had saved her life.
her new parents had found her by the side of a river, they were simple folk, but they knew about the trouble that had been going on in London, how the King had been locked up, and his crown taken from him. It was said that there had been no children from his marriages, but they had wondered when they saw the royal crest next to the child's name.
That day they had vowed that they would never reveal to her or anyone else what they suspected about who she was. They knew that she would be only used to try to win back the crown for wicked men, and Henry Bolingbrook, Henry the fourth seemed a good King and man and they had no wish to rock the boat, and put the young child's life in danger in the process.
They had been childless, the woman seemed to loose babe after babe, and finally they had travelled across to Assisi in Italy to seek the help at the shrine of the Patron Saint of Fertility, St. Clare. They had been returning to their home empty handed, and for the woman empty bellied, but when they saw the small wet pitiful child, they took it as a sign from God that they should raise her, as their own.
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She had known him all her life, as long as she could remember she had memories of him. When her new parents had found her, he had been only three months old. often his mother would come and visit her dearest friend, and place him next to Dana in her cot. Side by side, they had investigated each others toes, often she had been found rolled over to be closer to him, sucking the hem of his sleeve.
And when they were older it was the same, as toddlers they had played together, sharing their toys, making each other giggle. They had been the best of friends.
And the friendship grew as they aged, by the time they were nine they had been inseparable. Always together, they had terrorised the country side with their jokes and pranks, but everyone knew that there was only joy and lights in their hearts, so would laugh with them when they realised what was going on.
in Dana's childish mind, she had envisioned a day when she would marry her closest friend, but when they were ten this came crashing down.
His mother died, and as he was the youngest of ten children, his father didn't think he could cope any longer. He was given to a monastery, he promised to educate him, feed and clothe him under the proviso that when he was of age, he would enter the ministry and became a monk.
All Dana's dreams were shattered the day that he left, they had faded to nothing, and he wouldn't be the man she had thought after all.
But life went on, for some time she had refused to accompany her mother to take food to the holy order where he now resided, so angry was she, but eventually she missed him so much that she had joined her mother, and had spent stolen moments with the boy who was her soul mate.
When they turned twelve, everything changed yet again. She still went with her mother, took food to the monks who looked after him, but they were not allowed to see him, for the next four years he was only allowed contact with the brothers, never with the outside world. And then for the last two years until he took his vows, he was sent to work in another parish up north, far far away.
So on the morning of the eighteenth anniversary of the day her parents had found her, the day she celebrated as her birthday, she had no hope that she would see him. Her dream, though matured, was only that. She knew that she would never be his wife, he belonged else where, for she knew that on the very next day, he would become Brother Joseph.
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Dana stared glumly at the presents that sat on a table in front of her. She didn't want to open them, the only gift she wanted she couldn't have.
"Oh Joe" she sighed softly to herself, "why did your father have to put you into a monastery?"
Tears trickled down her face. For as many years as she could remember she had dreamt that on her eighteenth birthday she would marry the man of her dreams. Even after the eight years of him being away, and the four of knowing what was to become of him, she had hoped that one day he would come for her, turn his back of the profession his father had chosen for him, and give his heart to her.
"Dana" her mother shouted from upstairs, "can you come upstairs, and I have something for you."
quickly she wiped her tears on the sleeve of her dress, and hurried up the stairs.
Dana's mother was standing in her room, a large box sat on the bed next to her. she took one look at her daughter's reddened eyes, and went over to her. "Oh Dana, don't cry" she said, feeling the girl's shoulders shake with grief. she put her arms around her, and tried to comfort her, she didn't need to be told what ailed her, she already knew of Dana's love for the son of her dead friend. She knew that nothing she could say would help heal the pain that existed in her daughter's heart, so instead she distracted her.
"Have a look in the box" she told the girl.
Dana yet again used her sleeve to dab the tears that prickled her eyes, and turned to the box. She prised the lid of and peered in at the contents.
It contained robes, the like she had never seen before. For most of her life she had worn serviceable brown dresses, they didn't show stains so easily, that were so prevalent when you worked on a farm. She stared at it reverently, barely daring to touch it as if it would fade away like a dream.
Her mother started to laugh, "they won't melt you know" she said kindly, and stepped forward and lifted part of it out of the box.
Dana's breath caught in her throat when she saw the beauty of the surcotte, the outer dress "but how?" she asked, wondering how they had managed to afford such wonderful clothes.
"Your father and I have been saving all these long years, we wanted you to have something of great beauty when you came of age, something that could also be your wedding attire.
"My wedding garments?" she queried in wonder as she reached out and touched the white cotte still in the box, it was underskirt that she would wear under the surcotte. It was soft, more delicate while the clothes she was used to were rough in comparison. "They are beautiful" she murmured, examining the intricate dark blue embroidery on the pale blue surcotte.
Her mother helped her into the outfit, placing the slippers that had been in the bottom of the box on her feet. "You look lovely" she smiled.
Dana examined her appearance in the reflector; the cotte peaked out where the surcotte divided at the front of her skirt.
"It laces at the back" her mother said, tightening them so that her waist was more visible. She put her hand in her pocket and pulled out strands of pearls. She put one around her neck, and the others she used to arrange Dana's blonde hair in a complicated style. "Pretty as a picture" she sighed, "You will make a beautiful bride."
Dana looked thoughtfully at the older woman, "that is the second time you have mentioned my wedding. Do you know something I don't?" For a wild moment she was considering that Joe was going to come for her but that died as it arose, he was going to be a monk, there was no way that he would change his mind.
Her mother took a breath, and then uttered the words that would change her life forever, "your father has found you a husband."
Shocked, Dana looked at her mother, "who?" she asked breathlessly.
"The son of an old friend of your fathers, he met them when he went to Oxford farming fayre last week. They got talking; the son is only twenty, and a good man. Your father is adamant that you must marry him."
"But I don't know him, how can I marry him if I don't love him?"
"Love will grow" her mother told her, "I have seen many young women marry men they hardly knew, but it always works out in the end. You will be happy I promise, and just think of the babies you will have."
Dana smiled in spite of herself, she had longed for a child since she had started her moon times.
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Half heartedly she joined in the revelry of her birthday party. She didn't enjoy it, how could she? With such a sentence over her head, she could think of nothing but being married to a man she didn't know, while the one that she loved was elsewhere.
She was so caught up in her misery, her melancholy that she didn't hear the hooves of horses drawing up outside her home. She did not take notice when the front door opened and a man walked in. She was still in her dream like state when he went right up to her, and tapped her on the shoulder.
Startled she looked around; the person she saw was someone she had thought she would never see again. He had grown up in the years since she had last saw him, but she would have known his dear face anywhere.
"Hello Dana" the near monk greeted her.
"Joe" she said with a strangled cry, hungrily examining every inch of his glorious face.
"It has been a long time" he commented, staring into her eyes.
"Aye, it has, too long. I have missed you more than I can say" she responded, widening her view to take in every aspect of his appearance.
Joe, or Brother Joseph as he would soon be known was wearing the typical cassock that a monk wore, and his head had been shaved to make a bald cap surrounded by a crown of wonderful red hair.
"You have a slap head" she teased, touching his bare skin.
"Hey, it is called a tonsure" he defended, grabbing her hand and pulling it away from his head. Their hands lingered for a moment before they self consciously pulled them apart.
"Well do I get a drink?" he asked, trying to ignore the uncomfortableness of the situation and how he had felt a spark when they had touched.
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"I have an announcement" her father said later, "this party isn't just to celebrate our daughter's birthday but it is to announce that she will be getting married soon. May I introduce the man who will be her groom" he pointed to a man she had never seen before. He was short, fat, and extremely ugly. She was a sensible girl, and knew that those things didn't matter, but what did was the way he was looking at her like she was a slab of meat, and peering at the home and land around them, with a speculative glint in his eye.
She looked away in terror, and immediately saw Joe staring at her with shock and pain in his eyes. She ripped her eyes away from his; she couldn't stand the hurt in them, as it echoed so excruciatingly in her heart.
As she stared at her shoes, she didn't see the man come up behind her, she didn't realise he was there, not until he slapped her bottom and whispered something rude in her ear.
With revulsion she looked at the man that would be her husband, she tried to move away from him, but his hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist. "I am going to have fun with you."
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Later that night she lay in bed thinking about her life, "how could it had turned out like this?" she wondered as she thought about how much she loved Joe.
She didn't know that Joe was thinking about her too, or that he had made a decision.
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The morning after her birthday dawned bright and true, so different to her mood that was stormy and apprehensive.
When she walked into the kitchen to break her fast she was upset to see her intended sitting on a chair one foot up on the table.
"Well if it isn't the lovely Dana" he smiled insincerely, "come to join her husband to be for breakfast." He put his foot on the floor and patted the chair next to him.
Dana sat on another one, as far away from him as possible.
He got up, and swaggered over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders, he bent down and whispered in her ear, "you should do as I say" he angrily spat, "but I will make sure you always obey me once we are married."
She sat rigid in her seat, trying not to breathe in his rancid breath, but when one of his hands started to sliver down towards her chest she tried to scurry away.
He was about to slap her across her head, for having the audacity to flinch away from him, but her father walked into the room at that moment.
He saw the flushed face of his daughter, but took it not for embarrassment and fear but that she was enamoured of the man. "I am glad to see you two are getting on" he said and plonked down on a chair and helped himself to some of the freshly made bread, and churned butter. He eyed his daughter and the man that would soon be her husband and said "I am glad I met you and your father at that fayre, I was worried that you wouldn't like each other but I believe you will have a good marriage. You are such a good upstanding man; I know you will look after my daughter."
"I only wish to be a good husband and look after my wife" her intended simpered, "and to be a pillar of society."
"Yes indeed" her father answered, his eyes crinkling with joy at the respectful man before him.
Dana opened her mouth, about to tell her father exactly what this man that still hovered by her was like. But when she felt his fingers painfully tighten on her shoulder, she closed it again. But she didn't hold much hope for the future.
"After breakfast why don't you both take a walk down by the river" her father suggested.
Her husband to be, kept his pressure on her shoulder, "I think that would be a most excellent idea, don't you my dear?"
"Um yeah" she responded, knowing that at that moment there was nothing more unpleasant that having to take a walk with him.
"You can get to know each other better."
"Oh I intend to get to know my future wife much more" he said on the surface seemingly respectful, though only she heard the undertone that promise at something that she wouldn't like.
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He was supposed to be preparing for taking his vows, but all he could think of was their childhood together, and the look of horror and disgust that had crossed her beautiful features when that thug had touched her. He couldn't bare the thought of such innocence being corrupted by such wickedness; he had to rescue her from it.
When he had tossed and turned the night before he had realised how much he loved the girl but he had still held to the belief that he was meant to be a monk and serve God in that way. He had meant to ride over this morning and talk to her father, to reveal what he had seen, to tell him what he feared, for he was pretty sure that her father had no idea of what the man he was giving his daughter to was really like.
His plans had changed by the morning. When he had finally fallen asleep, he had found himself in a dream that was unlike any that he had ever had before. In it he was standing before the throne of God, at the end of times. The Messiah had looked at him, making him cower in his sinfulness, and said "I never knew you, for years you worked in my name but never achieving the plans that I had set out for you. Your path never lay in that ministry, but in another, one that should have involved a wife. Go away from me."
Sadly he stared at the glorious face as it turned away from him.
Quite suddenly his dream was drawn in another direction, he was in a misted field, and could only just make out the image of a woman some distance from him.
A man had stepped up to him, "go to her" he had urged, "she is your destiny."
Joe had turned around and looked full into the face of the Messiah, "but I am to be a monk" he had said.
"But that is not my will for you. It never has been, it was humans that set you on that path, not me. Go to her, she needs you, rescue her, and together you will find your mutual futures" he had been told.
Joe had left the smiling Jesus behind and had run to the woman, the mist clearing around her face and he had seen that it was his dear beloved Dana.
So now after that dream, he rode to claim what was meant to be.
By the river he heard what sounded like a couple arguing, and was just urging his mount to go a different way when he recognised the voice of his dear childhood friend.
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"Leave me alone" Dana screamed, trying to prise herself away from the man's controlling arms.
"But i just want a little taste" the man said, trying to press his lips to hers.
"It isn't right" she still struggled in his arms and managed to squirm away. She ran towards the line of trees that ran along the river bank, hoping that she could hide herself behind one, thereby protecting herself from his repulsive onslaught.
With one thunderous step he caught up with her, grabbing her hair, he ripped her head back, "you won't escape from me so easily" he sneered all the while eyeing her body.
"No" she creid as he put his hand towards her chest.
"Shut up" he roared, striking a blow across her face.
"You have done it now" she yelled, "my father will see my face, and won't let me marry you."
"i will tell him you walked into a tree, he will believe me. He is stupid anyway, he thinks I am good, but i am telling you I am anything but, and I intend to plunder his riches in much the same way as I intend to plunder your body."
"My father isn't stupid, he is the wisest man I know. Just because you have managed to convince him that you are a good man doesn't mean he won't see through your disguise" she shouted at him, "and I intend to tell him what sort of man you really are, with this to back me up."
"Well I had better make sure that I get to enjoy your body at least once then."
She shuddered as she saw the look of lust in his eyes, "please" she pleaded.
"I am going to be your husband madam" he insisted, "don't you worry about that. But to make sure that the fool can't take back his owrd, I am going to ruin you. Plus I want to make sure you are all that your body promises. You will obey me" and he crushed his disgusting mouth onto hers.
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Her blonde hair shone over his dull lifeless greesy mop. He would have known it anywhere, but at that moment was more concerned how the girl was struggling against the man.
He jumped off his horse, and ran to the tree that she was pressed up against.
Anger filled him as he saw the man's hands wander over her body.
"Oy" he shouted, pulling the man of her, "leave her alone."
The man looked at him condensdedly, "you are a monk, what do you know of womankind. Anywya we are to be married and she wanted to…."
He didn't get the chance to continue, as Joe punched him in his mouth.
"Joe" she creid, as he continued to pummel the man onto the leaf strewn ground, "don't, you will hurt him."
His eyes were ablazed when he looked at her, "do you mean you liked what he was doing to you?"
She sighed, "of course not" she said adamantly, "and I don't give a fig about him, I am just worried that you will get into trouble."
His gaze softened, "worried about me Dana?"
"Always" she asserted, "I love….."
he grabbed her hand, and led her towards his horse, "we will go and tell your father what he did" he told her.
"He will never believe it" the man spat blood, "he loves me, wants me for his son in law, why should he suddenly change him mind?"
"Because…." Joe started.
Dana laid a hand on joe's, "he is right, father won't believe us, I will have to marry him, and you will be punished."
"I won't let you marry him."
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They rode as it the devil was behind them, which in a way he was. For sometime they just let the world flash them by, each wrapped up in their little worlds of blossoming love, and hopes realised. Finally sense prevailed, and Joe stopped the horse.
"Don't stop" she urged, staring at him with frustration and worry.
"But I have to; I have been letting the horse lead us. We have to make plans, where should we make for?"
Dana thought for a moment, and then said "my father would probably think we would make for the South, to somewhere like Portsmouth, so we can get across the channel. He would never consider that we might head north instead, we could find a little village near Leamington Spa or Coventry."
"And you don't think your father will realise that we would go North instead of South?"
"Maybe" she worried, "I don't know, but whatever happens we can't stay here."
Joe nodded his head in agreement, and clutched the reigns of the horse he rode. "Come on Lady" he urged, encouraging the animal to start their flight again, this time in the right direction, and hopefully to safety.
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By nightfall they had covered a lot of ground, so far there had been no sight of pursuers. They decided to stop for the night, bury themselves in leaves to keep warm.
"I'm just glad it isn't the middle of winter" Dana murmured as she fell asleep.
Joe watched her as she slept, he wasn't really tired so used he was to surviving on only a couple of hours sleep a day, and sometimes forgoing that as a penance.
"What have I done?" he mumbled to himself, "I have given away my faith in God for a woman.
A voice seemed to echo within his head, "you are not alone, my path wasn't in a monastery, but that doesn't mean I haven't something for you to do. Follow my laws, and you will find the completeness you have always sought. Teach her my ways, and when you marry I will put my stamp of approval on your marriage."
Joe didn't know what to say, everything within him seemed so little compared with the Lord, "thank you" he sighed, thankful that God was still close.
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Dana was dreaming; she was in a Church; music was playing enticing her on up to the altar. There she saw a man waiting for her, and when he turned around she saw it was Joe.
"Beloved" he said as she reached him, "look at all your friends and family here to celebrate our wedding."
She looked around and only saw happiness on the faces before her.
"But I thought…."
Joe put his finger on her lips, "ssh" he said, "just enjoy the moment."
She put aside the thoughts of how her family were suddenly pleased for her to marry him, somehow she realised that it was a dream, and was content to just enjoy the wedding she would never have in real life.
She had just started to speak her vows, when she heard the sound of hooves outside the Church.
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Dana was ripped from her dream by the noise, lurching out of her blankets, she started to grab their belongings and stuff them in bags.
She saw that Joe was doing to same, as well as settling the horse.
But it was too late; she saw a solitary figure riding hard towards them.
"Is it father?" she asked, trembling when she considered that it might be the man she was supposed to marry.
As the rider came closer, she realised that it was a woman, one who kept turning from staring at them to glance around at the way she had come, like she was afraid.
"It is your mother Dana" Joe said softly.
"No" Dana cried, stumbling towards the woman, "please don't take me back."
Her mother jumped off the horse, something that Dana had never seen her do before, and rushed at her, enveloping her in an embrace. She stroked her daughter's hair, and said "you have my blessing."
Dana stared at her mother, "you don't mind?"
Her mother shook her head, "I should have never agreed to your father's idea. Even more so I should have objected when he brought that young man home. I saw the way he looked at you, and even that he took liberties when he thought no one saw, but he was careful and your father wouldn't hear a word against him, thinking he was a fine upstanding man like his old friend."
"Couldn't you get father to listen?"
"No my love" the elder woman crooned, "I wish I could set everything straight but your father has decided what your fate will be. It is the way of things, how it has been done for a very long time."
"Surely if it is an old tradition then it is time that it was changed?"
Her mother laughed at this, bitterly, "maybe one day a woman will always be able to choose who she marries, without having to resort to such a drastic course of action as you have had to."
"So there is no hope?"
"There is every hope; I see it in the love that is evident in Joe's eyes. You two will have good lives, fruitful ones, but sometimes remember your old mum won't you?"
"Of course" tears stung Dana's eyes, "I will never see you again will I?"
"No, I don't think so." She looked around, "but we have talked to long, you need to go. Your father; and that man are not far behind me. Tell me where are you going?"
Dana frowned for a moment, could she trust her mother?" she wondered.
"We are heading north" Joe told her, "Dana thought your husband would head north for Portsmouth, so we decided we should head upwards."
"I thought so" her mother said grimly, "and so does your father." She looked again at her daughter, "you must travel east, head for Colchester. Go to a little bakers shop on West Stockwell Street; ask for John, he will help you. Just tell him I sent you."
"Won't father think of Colchester if you have friends there?"
"No, he has never met John. I knew him as a girl, we were friends."
Dana didn't ask any more, she could see from the look of deep pain on her mother's face that she shouldn't question her, "okay" she agree, and embraced her one last time.
She started to walk to where Joe was waiting to help her onto the horse, when her mother stopped her.
"I almost forgot, since the day we found you by that river, I have been making something for you to give to you on your wedding day." She paused for a moment as her emotions came to much. "This is as good a time as any to give it to you." She took a parcel out of the saddle bag of her horse, "it is a quilt. Don't open it now, your father might arrive at any time, but I made it with old material that was too important to just throw away, your first dress I made you, the blanket you refused to be parted with, that pair of pants you used to wear when your father taught you to ride, and then there is the silken wrappings we found you in by that river, I used the bit that had your name embroidered in it."
"And that funny sign?"
"Yeah the one that your father said was your emblem." She gave her the quilt, "try not to think to badly of your father, he is a good man."
"I know he is mother" Dana hugged her again, and then Joe helped her onto the horse, jumped up behind her and they were gone.
"My sweet little baby" her mother sobbed, "God gave you, and God took you away."
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They reached Colchester a couple of days later and didn't have any trouble locating the bakers shop on West Stockwell Street.
"Do you think he will help us?" Dana asked feeling unsure of herself.
"Well, we won't find out unless we knock" he responded, his hand on the knocker of the door. He banged it three times, hearing it echo around the empty shop.
Moments later they heard a man muttering, and a flour dusted man appeared at the door, "we aren't open yet" he told them, looking at them angrily.
"Oh I am sorry" Dana mumbled embarrassed, and feeling too frightened to tell him who she was.
"Are you John?" Joe shouted.
The man looked shrewdly at him, "everyone knows John the baker."
"Maybe that is true around here" Joe said, "but we come from further afield, and have been told to find you, and ask for your help."
"How can I help you?" John queried, but interested despite himself, he opened the door, "maybe you should go and visit the town's priest, and he might be able to assist you in whatever the problem is."
"But my mother told me to find you" Dana interrupted, "she said that you had known each other as children, that you were her friends, and that you would help us."
"And her name?"
"She is called Elizabeth."
The man went very pale, paler than the flour that sprinkled his clothes, "Elizabeth, your mother?" his voice trembled, "Elizabeth?" Suddenly he staggered back into the shop and sat down heavily on a chair. "Could it be?" he muttered to himself, "my Elizabeth?"
He looked up at Dana, "what does she look like?"
"She has white hair, though I remember when I was a child that it was rich ebony."
"Are her eyes the deepest blue, like the reflection of the sky on water on a summer's day?"
Dana thought for a moment "yeah she does."
"How is she?" John asked, his face hopeful, "is she well?"
"I saw her a few days ago; she was fine then….."
"Enough" Joe interrupted, "Dana's mother sent us to you for help, and we need it badly. Will you assist us? For surely we can't continue in the way we have."
"Come through to the back, and tell me about it. If Elizabeth has sent you to me, then I know that you are in dire need."
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He made them tea, and gave them some of his staler bread smothered with honey, and then sat back to hear their story. Tears fell down his face as he listened, "history repeating itself" he mumbled as he heard their sad tale.
Finally he knew everything, though not Dana's birth origins. He set down his cup, and said, "I will help you, of course I will. If someone had helped us….." he trailed off.
"You and my mother, you were more than friends weren't you?" Dana suddenly asked.
He nodded his head, "I loved her from the first moment I saw her, I was only five, and she was two, but I knew that my life would be incomplete without her in it. We grew up always together, our parents planned that we would wed, but then her father died, and her mother remarried. Her step father had other ideas, he wanted to make allegiances, and gave her to the son of an old friend of his. I tried to get her to run away with me like you have done, but she didn't dare cross him, cruel man that he was. But from what we had heard, your father was a good kind man, though from what you have told me, I think I want to change that opinion."
"He is a good man" Dana said quietly, "it is just that he is set in his ways. I don't believe that he would have tried to marry me off to that man if he had known what he was really like."
"Maybe not" John said thoughtfully, scratching his chin, he looked across at them, "are you married yet?"
"No" Joe said, "but that is something that needs to be rectified."
"Yes, you are quite right, though I must ask, is there any hurry?" he asked perceptively.
"Only that my father might find us, and drag me back."
"And" Joe looked at the girl he loved, "you have been alone with me, your reputation is in tatters."
Dana waved the thought away, "what do I care about reputation?"
"You might not know, but in the cold light of day you will" John told her, "I think you should marry today, I will go to the local priest and arrange it."
"But…."
"Don't worry, I will only tell him what I must. Anyway he is a kind man, and a good priest, he would be angry the way that the monastery tried to force Joe to join them."
And with that he hurried off, flour flying behind him, leaving two trembling fearful you people in his home.
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They were married later that day. The priest had managed to worm out of John the full story of the eloping couple but had great sympathy for them.
Though after the wedding, he had drawn Joe aside.
"I believe that in marrying your girl, you are doing God's will" he started, "but I also believe that he has a special future for you, something for you to accomplish. You are a man of God; just because you don't take the cloth doesn't mean that you aren't."
"Yes I feel it too, I had a dream not long ago that I believe was from God confirming what you have just said, it also said that Dana was part of my destiny."
"I will pray to God and see if he reveals anything else to me" the priest told him, "but for now, just enjoy married life, and do God's will."
Joe nodded his head, and bid the priest goodbye, and then he went to find his bride.
-----------------------
"I can't believe we are really married" Dana said later that night as they entered the small room that the baker had given them. "It is a dream come true, one that for a long time I thought would amount to nothing."
"I know my love" Joe replied, catching her around the waist and pulling her to him, "but maybe this will make you know that it is all real" he kissed her.
Dana smiled up at him, "now I feel even more dreamlike, woozy."
"Well then I will have to hold you tight until the dizziness goes away."
"I don't think it will ever go away as long as I am in your arms." Tears in her eyes, she told him what her heart sang out to him, sinking on the bed together, they embraced, and then Joe sat up and drew the thick velvet curtains around the bed.
"I love you" he murmured in the darkness.
----------------------
Time past; and they settled into married life. Dana saw no sign of her father, or the man she had been supposed to marry. Still she knew that as a married woman she was safe from them; there was nothing they could do to her.
Joe managed to get a job making bread at John's bakery, so along with the money that Dana brought in from doing people's laundry, they were able to afford the rent of a small house.
Life was good, each day they grew more and more in love, and that love had grown into something else, a baby.
And now at nearly nine months pregnant, Dana was nesting.
"I have to get everything ready for when the baby arrives" she muttered to herself, as she stood over a hot barrel of soapy water, pummelling the material inside with a battledore.
All the walls had been lime washed, cleaned top to bottom, a cradle now stood next to their bed, and the baby's clothes were all ready, both made by Dana, and given by other mothers.
All that really remained was to wash the quilt that her mother had made her. She picked up the edge of the material, and looked at it. Steam rose from it, and it looked clean.
"That will do" she decided, and squeezed as much of the water out and then put it in a wicker basket to drain.
She took it outside and tied one end of the quilt to a short rope that she had got Joe to put in the garden, then she twisted it around, wringing out the water. Finally she draped it over the washing line to dry, spreading it out to decrease the wrinkles.
---------------------
The man sauntered down the road; he was unused to this part of Colchester, more familiar with London as he was. He was looking for an inn that he had visited the day before, having become enamoured of a bar maid there.
He saw a woman in a nearby garden, taking washing down from a line. "My dear lady" he said to her, "can you direct me to the Rose & the Crown inn." He smiled at her politely, noting that she was a striking woman even as obviously pregnant as she was.
She opened her mouth to respond, tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear, and that is when he saw it.
On a line drying outside for all to see was what looked like a quilt, and on it was a small segment of material that was embroidered with a name and the royal crest of the previous King.
"Where did you get that?" he asked, his voice trembling with emotion.
"Oh that, my mother made it" she smiled at him.
"No that material" his finger traced the embroidery.
Fear clutched her as she realised her mistake, terror poured out of her eyes.
The man saw the look of fear, "my name is Edmund Mortimer, I am the 5th Earl of March" he said gently, taking her hand "now tell me where did you get this?"
"Dana" a voice echoed from within the house.
"Dana?" the man asked, and looked again at the embroidery, specifically the name, "it is you" he suddenly realised, "you are the lost child, the child of Richard the second."
-----------------
Dana stared at the man with horror, fear shocking her to silence.
"Da-na" she heard Joe shout, "where are you?"
She didn't answer.
The back door opened, and out of the corner of her eye she saw her husband enter the garden.
"Dana" he said on seeing her, "why didn't you answer me?" That was when he saw the man, "who are you?" he asked immediately on the defensive.
--------------------
Before he had discovered Dana hanging out washing, Edmund had been the true King of Britain, when he had been a young child, he had briefly been the heir presumptive to King Richard II of England, until his destiny had been stolen from him, now before him he saw a way to push his rights forward, the only thing that stood in his way was Dana's husband.
---------------------
Joe didn't like the look of calculation in the man's eyes, "I ask again, who are you?" he repeated.
"I am Edmund Mortimer, the 5th Earl of March" he responded, looking at Joe like he was dirt beneath his feet, "I am your servant, sir, and also I am the distant cousin of this dear lady" he indicated Dana.
"Okay I know who you are, but what do you want?" Joe asked, knowing all to well from the look of avarice on the man's face what he wanted.
"I don't want anything" Edmund told him, "I was just acquainting myself with my cousin here."
"Well you have done that now" Joe rudely said, "you can go now. I don't want my wife worried by anything; she is due to give birth any day."
"As I see" Edmund hissed.
"That was a bit rude" Dana commented as he hurried her back into the house, grapping the revealing quilt on the way.
When they were in the house, Joe turned to her, "what was all that about?"
------------------------
Edmund paced his luxurious bedroom, he had no eye for the beauty it held, or how lucky he already was. All he could think about was the woman who would bring the crown of England to his head.
"I will have to get rid of the man" he mused, "and that baby she is carrying too."
He continued to pace, and then he suddenly had an idea, "James" he shouted, opening the door and bellowing into the narrow pathway, "James, where are you?"
'James' the servant hurried to his master's side, in truth he was one of many James, his real name being Matthew but Edmund Mortimer called all his male servants that name caring nothing about them, only thinking of his own care and comfort.
"James" the irritated voice of the master shouted again.
"M'lord?" Matthew greeting him as he walked through the door.
"Send the boy to find Jack Abattage; I hear he has been seen in an inn not far from here."
Matthew's eyes felt like they would pop out of his head, Jack Abattage was a murderer, and a hired one at that. "What can the master want with him?" he wondered.
"James, don't tell anyone and make sure the boy doesn't talk either."
Matthew gulped and nodded his head, "I won't tell a soul sir" he mumbled.
Just as he was about to leave the room, Edmund called him back, "bring me a bottle of Malmsey wine" he ordered, "I am in the mood for celebrating."
--------------------------
Joe had heard enough, putting his hand up, he told Dana to stop.
"I'm sorry I never told you" she apologised limply.
"This is one secret I would have rather never found out. Surely you must have realised how dangerous it would be to hang that quilt outside?"
Dana shook her head, "I didn't think, too caught up in having this baby I suppose. But everything will be okay, I liked Edmund, I think he was nice."
Joe put his arm around his naïve wife, "I think that he is probably far from that. We will have to flee."
Horror filled her eyes, "it isn't that serious is it?"
"I don't know" his blue eyes bored into hers, "but we can't take any chances."
She looked down at her bloated stomach, "but I am due any day" she reminded him.
"Then we had better hope that our child is patient. Pack what you need, and be ready to leave within the hour."
------------------
Tears prickled Dana's eyes, as she looked at the cradle that they would leave behind. Joe had taken ages on it, and now their baby would never get to sleep in it. She wondered where they would go, and how they would live. She hoped that the child wouldn't arrive on the way."
"Are you ready?" Joe had quietly entered the room.
Dana wiped the tears away, and glumly looked at her husband, "where are we going?" she asked.
Joe shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, but I think we should leave England. He is sure to follow you; you are his ticket to the throne of England."
------------------------
Jack Abattage stood in an elegantly decorated room, waiting for the Earl to join him. He eyed a small silver vase on a table, and decided he liked it so much he would have it. "That will make me a pretty penny" he muttered as he slipped it into his pocket moments before the door to the room opened.
"You must be Jack" Edmund, the Earl, greeted him.
"I am, what do you want?" he responded, arrogance mixed together with interest.
"I have a job for you. I have a plan, and there is a man in my way, I want him removed."
"You want him dead?"
Edmund winced at the blunt statement, but nodded his head, "he has a wife, leave her be, I don't want her hurt, though she is pregnant, and I don't want the brat to survive."
"I don't do babies" Jack told him, "but when the man is dead, you can take his wife, and make sure that the baby she delivers is dead. So many babies die in childbirth, no one would be at all suspicious."
"Excellent, but what if the child lives?"
Jack shook his head at how stupid the Earl was, "hire an unscrupulous midwife, one who won't mind doing the job for you."
-----------------------
They didn't tell anyone they were going, once it was dark Joe helped Dana to climb into the seat of their cart. He placed their belongings in the back, and jumped up next to her. Then he picked up the reigns and urged the horse to a walk.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her, noting that she looked very pale under the starlight sky.
"I am fine" she answered, feeling weariness roll over her.
"You look tired" he commented, "shall I stop the cart so you can get in the back and get some sleep?"
"We have only just started?"
Joe sighed, "it will only take a minute to get you settled in the back, and you can lie on the hay, and cover yourself with some to keep warm."
Dana nodded, and moments later she was buried in the hay, rocked to sleep by the motion of the cart.
--------------------
Jack galloped down the lane, it was his favourite time of day, night, and that was all the cover he needed for his task ahead. Tooled up with a sword and a couple of daggers, along with a rough wooden club, he knew that he would have no trouble dispatching the man to the afterlife.
He wasn't far off from the house where his target lived, and was thankful to see the area was pretty quiet, just a farmer riding past in his cart, straw in the back.
He could see the house now, dark with no flickering candles. He assumed that the couple had gone to bed, so he jumped of his horse and after tethering it to a fence, he crept up to the front door.
"I am in luck" he thought as he tried to door and it opened. He walked into the kitchen, noting that the fire was out. It was too dark to see, but he could just make out a candle sat on a windowsill. Hurriedly he lit it and went deeper into the home. His foot kicked something, which made a loud noise, but still there was no sound, no movement, no even the sound of the couple snoring or deep breathing in sleep.
"They have gone" he suddenly realised, his fear realised as he reached the empty bed. Angry that his prey had escaped him, he kicked out at the little cradle that stood next to the bed.
"Now the snooty Earl won't pay me" he frowned, "even if I could trick him to believe I had killed the man, he would still want the woman too. He threw the candle on the bed, enjoying the way it ignited the hay in the bed.
"Hay" he suddenly said, realising that the farmer he had seen might have been the fleeing man, the woman lying in the back.
He turned to run out, to follow them, but then realised that some of the bed had fallen onto a shoe, and it was ablaze. Thankful that he hadn't been wearing boots, he flung it off, and stamped the flames out with his other foot. Then he picked up the damaged shoe, and turned around to make his escape, and to follow the couple so he could carry out his mission.
The time it had taken him to put out the fire on his shoe was all the time that it had needed to spread. While he had been otherwise occupied, the fire had taken hold of the cot, and the straw on the floor. Right now the door was aflame, there was no window, and there was no way out.
Jack didn't have long to berate himself, he couldn't curse the Earl, for the smoke overcame him, knocking him out, killing him, and then he burned.
------------------
"James, has Jack Abattage arrived back yet?"
"No m'lord" Matthew replied respectfully, "but there was a fire in Colchester last night, and the gossip is he was seen nearby and was probably responsibly. It was a little house near the Rose & the Crown inn; a couple are reported to live there."
"The fool" Edmund shouted, kicking a small stool over, "are there any survivors? Did the woman survive?"
"I don't know sir." Matthew stood quietly and waited to be told he could go.
"What are you waiting for, go away" Edmund shouted at him, grabbing his riding whip and lashing out with it.
Matthew flinched away from the mad man, and hurried out of the room. He was use to his behaviour, and was just glad that this time he wasn't hurt.
Edmund grabbed the glass of wine he had been drinking, and gulped the rest down to calm his nerves, then he threw smashed it against the wall, and wiped his mouth, "if you want a job doing, do it yourself" he sneered, taking his sword of the wall.
------------------------
She was giving birth, surrounded in an enclosed airless room; she moaned with pain but was told to be quiet.
"But it hurts" she told them, but they laughed at her, not interested, like vultures waiting for prey.
Finally a baby girl was born into the world, but snatched up immediately by one of the attendants, "please" she said, raising a limp arm wanting to see the baby.
The woman shook her head, her face was hard, but she saw in her eye a small tear trickle.
"Don't let them hurt her" she asked.
The woman stared at her, for a moment she saw the slightest of nods, and then she was gone, with the babe in her arms.
She would never know what became of her. On her lips was the name that they had chosen for the child, she shouted it out in desperation.
------------------
Dana woke up in a cold sweat; she was still in the back of the cart as it trundled down the bath. With fear she clutched her swollen stomach and was gratified to feel the baby kick her.
"It was just a dream" she said to herself, but then she remembered the name that the woman had called. It was her own.
-----------------
Dana told her husband all about her dream, she now realised a bit more what life would be like if she had trusted the Earl. She would have been an object, to be used and thrown away.
By the time they reached their destination, the port of Felixstowe, news had already arrived of the death of the notorious outlaw Jack Abattage perishing in a house fire in Colchester. What they didn't realise was that it was there house, and he had been hired to kill Joe.
They had booked beds aboard a boat that would be travelling through the English Channel and around to Spain. That would be where they would start their new lives, but the boat wasn't sailing for two days so they would have to wait, and hope that trouble wouldn't come looking for them.
----------------------
Edmund smiled when he finally managed to find a trace of them, of r the last two days he had searched far and near for sightings of them, but until now had found none.
He stared at the boat they were hoping to be travelling in later that day; he would make sure that they never left.
He started to laugh, turning his back on the boat; he walked the short distance to the inn they were staying in. He walked in, and order himself a cup of mead, and sat down, and waited for the opportunity to slip unseen upstairs.
-----------------
Dana woke up, and stretched in the double bed, the sheets were scratchy against her legs, but she felt warm, and drowsy. She snuggled against her husband, and started to go back to sleep but then she heard banging on the bedroom door.
"Joe" she shook him awake, "there is someone at the door."
She trembled as he got out of bed, "who is it?" he shouted through the door.
"Get out" a voice hissed, "you are not safe. Get out of the inn as fast as you can."
"Who are you?" he asked, opening the door, he found there was no one there.
"We have to go" he said as he turned around.
-----------------
The man jumped on his donkey, and looked towards the inn. He had managed to slip in and out without being seen, for which he was thankful, he just hoped that the risk would be worth it, and they got away.
"Call me James would you" he sniggered as he rode away.
------------------
Edmund sauntered up the stairs; all the doors were open except for the last one at the end of that corridor. "trapped like a rat in a trap" he sneer, and he kicked the door open.
The room was empty, angry at being thwarted yet again.
"Oy what are you doing in here?" a voice yelled. The inn keeper was stood in the doorway, "get out of my inn, and don't let me ever catch you here again."
Edmund rudely pushed past the man, and ran down the stairs, throwing open the back door, he ran out and scanned the area. There were plenty of people around, but none of them were the couple he was searching for.
----------------
They shivered as they hid behind a coal bunker, waiting for Edmund to move. They didn't dare move, or make any noise or he and his sword would find them. Finally he moved away from the inn, and after getting his horse he rode away towards the docks.
"He is heading for the boat" Joe groaned, "we won't be able to get past him.
"He is not going to win" Dana told him, now convinced that the Earl did mean them harm. "We are going to get on that boat; we just have to get past him."
"It is alright for you, he won't kill you."
"No, goodness knows what his plans are for me, though I very much doubt he would be willing to let our child live. No I have just as much as you to lose, but he isn't going to make me stay in this country with the threat of him hanging over me. I am going to go to Spain, are you coming?"
Joe grinned at his feisty wife, he took her outstretched hand, and kissed it, "yeah, I would go anywhere with you."
---------------
Edmund stood at the dock side, his hand in his pocket gripping a sharp dagger. His eyes furtively looked around for the first site of his prey, and he didn't have long to wait.
They walked down the street, hand in hand, like they didn't have a care in the world. When they saw him, they faltered for a moment, but then ignored him, and continued coming closer. When he thought they were within his grasp, the man shouted out to a sailor, who came over to them, and started chatting to them.
"That clever devil is using that man as a shield" he muttered, feeling almost respectful, he started to walk behind them, waiting for an opportunity.
Suddenly Dana turned around, and stared at him, confronted him. "If you don't go away, I will scream. How will it look for the Earl of March to be found here, following a couple like a lap dog? Leave us alone, I don't want you and I don't want the throne."
"I don't care what you want; I am the rightful King of England."
"Well I don't care what you want, even if you revealed who I was, even if by some miracle I was allowed to live, do you really think I would let you use me? I would be the monarch not you. I would never marry you, so just go away."
By now she had marched right up to him, and was shouting in his face. When she had said her piece, she pulled back her arm, and punched him full in the face, making him fall to the ground, knocking him unconscious.
"When he came around again, they were gone, and so was the boat. Edmund went to his favourite inn to lick his wounds and plan his revenge.
-----------------------
Safely ensconced on the boat, Dana felt that she could finally relax. The lack of stress worked a wonder on her body, which had decided that it was safe to go into labour now. She was strolling down the deck with Joe looking out to sea when she felt the first twinge.
She put her head against the coolness of the metal rail dragging the sea air into her lungs as her body ripped with pain.
"Are you alright Dana?" Joe asked with worry.
"It is the baby" she told him through gritted teeth, "it is on its way."
"What!" he exclaimed, "already, can't you wait a couple of weeks?"
"No!" she groaned as another strong contraction convulsed her womb, "it doesn't work like that."
"I will get you some help" he said starting to run off.
"Joe" she screamed, "don't leave me here; I could fall over the rail. Get me back to my bed and then go for help."
Joe nodded, and helped her walk, taking most of her weight, and stopping whenever the pain grew too much.
"Isn't this pain coming a bit fast?" he asked, strain showing on his face.
"You are telling me!" she moaned, nearly swearing at him.
Finally he managed to get her back to the communal cabin, people leered at them.
"Is she drunk?" a man laughed.
Joe shook his head, angry at the man's question, he turned to him, "she is in labour if you must know" he told him.
"Well in that case I am going up on deck; I would rather sleep up there tonight than listen to her scream." He looked around at all the other stirring men and women, "and I recommend all you men join me. Let the woman look after her."
Joe looked around at Dana, already a couple of woman were sat next to her, and a few more were pulling mattresses on the bunk beds making a larger bed area in the middle of the room.
"Go with the men" one of them told him, "this isn't the place for a man at the moment; we will come and get you when the baby has arrived."
"No" he tried to refuse, but the men were already pushing out the door.
"Go with them" Dana smiled at him, even though her face showed how much pain she was in, "I will be okay, the women will look after me."
"Will you?" he looked at an older woman; she seemed to be in control of the situation, organising the rest of the women.
"We will do what we can, giving birth is dangerous."
He nodded, that was all he could ask for and he already knew that if his beloved died it would be his fault as he had got her that way. He just hoped that all the stress of the last few days didn't add to the danger.
He took one more look at her flushed face, dragging himself away from the men, he went over to her, and kissed her. "If you want me then get one of the women to come and get me" he told her, "and Dana, I love you."
"I love you too" she said weakly, and then her face grimaced as the pain came again.
----------------------
Up on deck, Joe paced. Every so often he tried sitting down, but found that he couldn't keep still, he was too agitated. Every so often, Dana's screams floated up to them, "she is in so much pain" he groaned, "what have I done to her?"
"Will you shut up" one of the men groaned, pulling a tarpaulin over his head.
"Leave the lad alone" another said, "just because you haven't ever had a woman to worry about."
That comment started a fight and Joe didn't have time to think about his wife as he was too busy trying to break it up.
That was until one of the women came out and started shouting at them. "Will you all be quiet" she yelled, "there is a poor little girl trying to push out her baby down stairs and all she can hear is the stamp of all your great feet."
"I'm sorry" Joe instantly apologised, "is she okay?"
"She is fine" the woman said to him in a softer voice, and then she turned back to the rest of the men, "I warn you, be quiet."
-----------------
Dana felt like the pain was never going to end. It felt like she had been in labour all her life. In between contractions, she rocked, humming to herself, as she tried to still her quaking stomach that was increasing feeling sick.
"Am I nearly there yet?" she asked wearily, drenched in sweat she tried to push her limp hair of her face.
"You have got some way to go yet love" an old woman told her kindly.
"How is your pain?" the elder woman queried, "I can make you another tea if you would like one. It took the edge of the pain before didn't it?"
Glumly she nodded her head, as another pain ripped through her.
The woman quickly took the kettle of the cooking stove, and poured hot water into a bowl with crushed willow bark already in it. She let it all steep, and then added some cold water and took it to Dana to drink.
Dana gulped down the bitter concoctions quickly, it tasted horrible but she knew that within the space of ten minutes the pains would ease.
The woman stood over her, and after seeing her eyelids droop a little was satisfied that the tea had worked. "Try to get some more sleep dear" she whispered, "because when you are fully open you will need every ounce of energy."
-------------------
Joe counted the stars in the sky, he couldn't sleep, and the sounds of the snoring men around him didn't help. He sat up, as he heard a boom in the distance, straining his eyes, he looked out over the sea. A boat was sailing towards them, and it was flying the jolly roger.
He grabbed the tarpaulin of the nearest man, and shook him.
"Geroff" the man moaned, his hand searching for the cover that until a moment before had laid over him.
"Wake up" he told him, "there is a ship, coming this way, and I think it is pirates."
Instantly the man was awake and running to the captain's cabin. Within the space of a couple of minutes the deck of the boat was lined with men, each holding whatever weapon they could find.
-------------------------
Dana was rudely awakened by the feel of the ship bumping into something, "what is going on?" she asked.
"Hush" the elder woman tried to calm her, "don't worry about what is happening up there, you need to concentrate on birthing this baby. I am going to examine you now to see if you are fully ready."
Dana opened her legs, and felt the woman's fingers prod her; she winced as a contraction ripped through her as the woman was still doing her examination.
"You are fully dilated" the woman said wiping her fingers on a piece of material. "When you get the next contraction, I want you to push."
Dana nodded, and closed her eyes; sure enough the pain came quickly but this time she worked with it, pushing at the pain with all her might.
"Don't forget to breathe" the woman reminded her.
Dana took a deep breath and started to push again, this continued for the next half hour all the while the noise of fighting coming down from the deck above.
-------------------
Joe swished his sword at the big pirate in front of him, he was an ugly brute, and hair grew from every orifice and other places as well. The only place he didn't have hair was on the top of his head that was as bald as a new born baby's. the skull and crossbones had been tattooed where his hair should be, continuing over his face, giving him a look of something out of tale of horror that the travelling minstrels would sing. He wore a large hoop in his nose, which was encrusted with what had once been the content of his nose. He only had one ear, the other one looked like it had been chewed off.
"Hello little boy" he sneered as he pushed Joe back, the pirate's breath nearly making him collapse.
Joe continued to fight bravely, the man he fought was a monster, but he was also stupid, and slow. Joe stabbed his sword forward right into the flabby stomach of the man. When he pulled it out again, the pirate's rancid guts followed, spilling out onto the deck.
"I will get you for this" the man promised, desperately trying to push it back in but it was too late. His face went pale and then white as his guts seeped blood and gore out onto the deck. And then he fell in it, dying in his own mess.
-------------------------
Dana gave one last push, feeling the baby's head come out; she started to pant as her midwives unwound the cord from its neck.
It was at this delicate and extremely embarrassing moment, not to mention painful that the door opened and a knife wielding man ran into the cabin.
Quickly he took in what was happening and grinned, "big busy are you love?" he said marching over to her.
"Go away" one of her midwives shouted.
The pirate instantly lashed out with his hand, hitting her across her jaw, "shut up" he shouted, and laughed as he saw an angry welt appear.
Then he looked at Dana, "it is a shame that we have to give you up" eh mused, looking at her bare legs, and everything else. "we have been paid to find you and deliver you back to England. Got a client waiting for you, though once that baby is born, I suppose he wouldn't mind if we had a bit of fun with you first. We will throw the brat in the sea."
"No" Dana sobbed, struggling to get up.
"Leave her alone" the elder woman stepped in front of the man, a knife in her hand, "you are not going to hurt either the mother or the child." And with that she plunged the weapon into his chest, right into his beating heart, that suddenly stopped.
As he fell onto the floor, another man rushed into the cabin, the elder woman pulled out her knife and held it up at the man.
"It is me" the man said, "I am Joe, her husband, the father of the baby she is birthing" he winced when he saw where the baby was. "are you alright?" he asked her.
Dana nodded, "what is going up there?" she asked, wincing as another contraction started.
"Pirates" he answered breathlessly, "I saw one heading here, and came after him. Where is he?"
"He is right here" the elder woman told him, as she dragged the dead body out of the cabin.
"Joe" Dana screamed as she pushed again.
Joe just managed to get over to her, just in time to catch the newborn baby in his arms. He looked at Dana with shock.
She panted with tiredness for a few moments, and then asked "what is it?"
Joe looked between the baby's legs, "it is a boy Dana, we have a son."
Dana collapsed back on her makeshift bed with exhaustion and happiness, "a son" she sighed, "I am a mother."
----------------
The pirates were dead, the danger gone and Dana sat up in a bed, pillows behind her, with her newborn held to her breast. She watched as the child suckled, stroking the fluff on his head.
The baby turned his head towards her, looking at her with its bright blue eyes, but she knew that he couldn't see her, not yet.
"He is wonderful" Joe said in wonder. "He looks just like you."
Dana started to laugh, "how can you tell?" she asked, "he just looks like any newborn to me."
"Not for long" one of her midwives who was still looking after her said, "soon if he was in a room with a hundred babies and cried, you would know it was him."
Dana shook her head, and smiled, she couldn't believe that was true.
"You wait and see" the woman said wisely.
"Joe, the pirate" her jaw shook with fright as she continued, "he said that they had been sent to get me, that they had a client."
"The Earl."
"He is never going to stop is he?"
"Hush, don't worry about it. He doesn't know exactly where we are going; maybe he will just give up now."
"I hope so."
"So do I" Joe thought to himself.
-------------------------
The Earl stood on the dockside, his eyes straining for the little boat that would come his way. He had been there for some time, and was starting to feel extremely annoyed at how they kept him waiting, especially as it had started to rain some time before, and he was now soaked, droplets of rain falling of his large nose.
"But at least I will have her" he thought, pushing his dripping hair of his face, "and the throne of England."
Finally he saw the boat in the distance, but it was going far too slow, as if only one man was rowing it.
And he saw as it came closer that this was the truth.
"Is she lying in the bottom of the boat" he wondered, "they better not have hurt her." But he could now see that there was no one in the boat, except the one man, and he looked worse for wear.
"What happened?" the Earl demanded, taking no notice on how blood seeped out of a dirty bandage on the man's head.
"Everyone else is dead" the man gasped, weak from his injury and rowing a large boat on his own.
"You failed me" the Earl seethed, "you won't again" he told him, and with a wicked look in his eyes, he took his sword and cut of the man's head.
Then he took himself of to a little inn to drown his sorrows for he had no idea where they were going, so he knew that his chance of getting the crown through Dana was gone.
It was while he sat there, in his cups that he received notice to attend court as the King wanted to see him. But even though he trembled when he met his majesty, worried he had been found out, he was appointed the lieutenant of Ireland, a role he would perform until his dying day which came sooner than later in 1425 when he died of the plague.
-------------------------
Dana stood at the boat's bow, enjoying the moments of peace. The baby she had born less than a week ago was soundly asleep, and she had left Joe to look after him, while she escaped for a while.
They had travelled quite a long way now, but still they hadn't arrived at their destination, she had never realised the world was so large. She didn't mind the long journey though, the sea air felt wondrous as it blew against her skin, the sun was warm on her hair, and her eyes beheld the beauty of the sea.
Little white waves were caused by the boat gliding effortlessly through the water, like a knife through butter it sailed along.
The sea glittered, seeming to call her to it, but she ignored her desire to dive into its coolness, knowing it would be the death of her.
"It is so beautiful" she murmured to herself, "if only I could stay here forever."
"But you can't" a voice interrupted her reverie, "you have a baby who needs you, and you have your lessons."
Dana shook her foolish thoughts away, and turned and greeted the woman who had helped her birth her child into the world and was now teaching her the skills of a midwife. "Is it time already?" she grinned.
-------------------
Sat on her bunk, a sleeping child next to her, Dana listened to the wise words of the woman.
"I have told you how you can prepare a woman for labour" the woman said, "but as you know giving birth can be a painful experience. One of the midwife's best friends is the bark from the willow tree. Without it many women would probably not survive the ordeal of birth, they would faint from the pain, or drop dead when their heart gave out in protest."
Dana nodded, absorbing all of the woman's words, "how do you prepare this bark?" she asked.
"Arhhh!" the woman laughed, "if you are asking something like that, then you are already a midwife, at least in heart if not in knowledge and ability as yet. The inquisitive mind is a wonderful thing young woman, always ask questions, don't just do something because you are told to, strive to understand."
Dana blushed, happy to have received such praise, "well how do you prepare it?"
And the old woman happily told her.
-------------------
"You are like a sponge" declared the old woman, shaking her head about how much Dana had learned in such a short time. "Was your mother a healer, or someone in your family?"
Dana shook her head, "my mother was a simple farmer's wife" she told her, neglecting to tell the woman that she had no idea what her true birth mother had been.
"You have a natural inclination towards healing" the woman continued, "like you come from a family of healers."
"I don't know" Dana said, "but I do know that I want to learn everything you know."
"You already do" the woman smiled, "I can teach you no more. All that I have learned in my long life and you have memorised it in a few short weeks, you are amazing."
Dana frowned, she liked that she was being complimented, but was unhappy to hear that the woman had no more to teach her.
"Don't be upset" the woman comforted her, "I know a few healers in Seville who I will introduce you to. They will teach you more." Gently the woman took a book of Dana, "now no more learning for now" she instructed, "you have a son to feed."
And sure enough her son was bawling his little heart out.
--------------------
Dana clutched the edge of the table that was secured to the floor. She held the babe tightly to her chest, wrapped in her clothes so he would fall. Outside, the wind ripped through the sails, throwing the boat about in the waves.
It felt like any moment the boat would overturn, and all their lives would be lost.
The child started to wail, frightened by how agitated his mother was.
"Sit down" the old woman advised, "you are just upsetting the boy."
Dana nodded, and tried to sit on the chair, but it was difficult, for it was like sitting on a jelly.
She wondered what had happened to the calm sea and the blue sky of the morning. She didn't understand how the weather could change so quickly and violently.
It didn't help that Joe was on deck, trying to assist the sailors in saving the cargo. She wanted him with her, safe and secure, well as much as anyone could be in the middle of a storm.
"Will this never end?" she cried, hardly hearing her voice over the sounds outside.
One of the men ran through the door, a gust of air, and sea spray following him.
"Have you seen my husband?" she asked, but he ignored her.
Dana noted that the man was drenched; his hair was strewn around his face, which was pale. He looked exhausted. She quickly got up, and went to the barrel holding the ship's precious grog supply. She glanced at the old healer, who nodded, and then ladled a cupful out.
"Here drink" she told the man, thrusting the cup under his nose, "it will warm you up."
The man started to shake his head, "we have set times when we are allowed to drink it, and I wouldn't dare."
"I will talk to the captain" she said gently, laying her hand on his arm, "he will understand that at a time like this those rules don't always apply. You are cold, this will warm you up."
Warily, he took the cup, and swallowed the contents in one gulp, and then he hurried out again.
"That will help him to cope with the next hours up on deck" the old healer said wisely.
Dana nodded, "and if others come in, I will make them drink a cup too."
-----------------
The next couple of hours were like hell on earth, or water as was the case. By the time the storm was over, or they had sailed through it, her ears were aching, and her head was splitting.
But when she saw the bedraggled men coming into the cabin, she pushed away how she felt and rushed to help them, all the while keeping an eye out for her precious husband.
"He will be here" the old healer comforted her, "the captain isn't here yet."
Dana nodded but she couldn't help but be worried, "what if he has been swept overboard" she sobbed, receiving a look of reproach from the woman for her foolishness.
Because it was silly, within moments he was safely in her arms. "I know the path we must follow when we get to Spain" he told her, "I can't tell you now, but once we are on land and safe, then I will let you know everything."
--------------------
The rest of the time spent on their voyage was peaceful; there were no more storms, or pirates. Finally they reached their destination, the port of Punta Umbria, Spain. Joe quickly found them lodgings, but still wouldn't tell her his plan, not until he took her on a picnic on a particularly sunny day.
"You said you would tell me what we are to do" she reminded him.
"As I did" he conceded. He hurriedly looked around but seeing no one around felt it was safe enough. "I saved the captain's life, that was why I came in later than the other men, he asked me into his cabin for a drink."
Dana nodded, she had already heard of his heroism, how he had risked his own life to throw a line to the captain after he had been washed overboard.
"We started chatting, and he told me he was worried about an old friend of his, one he had grown up with. The man is a Jew and lives in Cordoba, where a part of the city has been set aside, and all the Jews forcefully moved there."
"Forcefully?" Dana asked in a quiet voice.
Grimly he nodded his head, "it is called the Juderia, but it is little more than a prison. The people within are poverty stricken, and the laws stop them from pulling themselves out of it. Their healers are not allowed to practise, even if they are trained doctors. They are not allowed to sell any food or engage in any handicrafts or trade of any king. They can not take public office or act as money brokers. The richer ones are only allowed to hire servants who are not Christians; they are also not allowed to be hired to be farm hands, lamplighters, grave diggers. They are not allowed to eat with a Christian, or drink. Nor can they hold intimate conversation with them, visit or give them presents."
"Surely someone must be able to help them?"
he shook his head, "the law has made that very difficult, Christian woman, married or unmarried are forbidden to enter the Juderia at any time of day or night so they can't help them."
"So only men can help them?"
"Possibly" he agreed, at least maybe face to face, but I am sure there would be lots you could still do."
She was quiet for a moment, and then said, "you want to go and help them don't you?"
He nodded his head, "I think that is what God wants me to do, I can feel it burning here" he touched his heart, "what do you think? Will you come?"
"I will go wherever you lead" she gently smiled.
-------------------------
Before they left for Cordoba they had one important thing to do. The child, born on a boat at sea, needed a name and the protection of the Church. So the day before they were due to leave, they went to a nearby chapel to present him to the priest.
The large wooden door was slightly ajar, like they were expected. Joe pushed it creakingly open. Through the myriad of candle flames they saw the holy man knelt at the altar. He arose and turned around as they approached.
"My children, how can I help you?" he said, holding his arms wide.
Joe quickly told him why they were there, "we want him baptised" he finished.
The priest smiled, "it would be my honour, what will be his name?"
"We can't decide" Dana told him, "we have thought and thought about it, but no name seemed right."
"I prayed about it, and in the end I felt that God was telling us that we should present him to you, and his name would become evident to you."
"So it is in God's hands" the priest held his arms out for the child, and immediately started to prophecy. "This boy will be known as John, like his predecessor he will work with the people calling them to Christ, but unlike the Baptist, he will do this in secret, no one will know where he has come from, or where he is going. He will work for God until his dying day, never receiving anything for himself. He will build up his treasures in Heaven, where he will get all the reward he will ever want, the blessing of the Lord saying welcome good and faithful servant."
Dana glowed with pleasure at what the priest was saying.
"This child will be an ambassador of God" he continued, "it would be my honour, no my privilege to baptise him." And that he carried him carefully over to a small column. "Let us pray."
Dana closed her eyes and started to recite the words she knew so well, "Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. When in temptation, Thy Love sustains us, and deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory. For ever and ever. Amen."
"Our God and Father" the priest intoned, "we turn to Thee with thankful hearts for these Thy children and their child. They, expressing their nearness to Thee in this trinity of love, bring the miracle sent from Thee; to be dedicated in loving homage to the One Who gave it. Help them, O Father, that they may be wise and patient and understanding in the unformness of the infant mind, and the care of the growing body. Give them courage in times of difficulty, and self-denial in bringing up their child; and so bless them, drawing them very close to Thyself, that they may give of their best and ever dwell in love under Thy protection. Amen. O Saviour Christ, we humbly ask Thee to enfold in Thy protection this little one. Surround him with Thy radiance, shower upon him Thy spiritual strength and be very near to him; so that he may hear Thy voice and follow Thy call. Open his eyes to the beauty of Spirit, and help him as he grows to see that beauty in all Thy Creation. We pray Thee to inspire his spiritual helpers so that they may hold his safety and his well-being in truth and under Thy guidance. O Thou Who was a little child, knowing a child's sorrows and joys, be Thou his Companion in play, in sleep, in wakefulness, and in all his growing days; and be his Friend most dear, to understand, to console, and to bless. Amen."
He scooped his hand into the bowl on top of the column, and sprinkled water over the child's head. "I baptise you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"
John woke up with shock as the droplets of cold water hit his tiny head, his limbs flung out, and he started to cry, but then instead looked up in wonder at the blue eyes of the holy man who was holding him.
"See, he is destined for the work of the Lord" the priest smiled as he saw the small child stick his thumb in his mouth, "he recognised me as part of the Kingdom of God, and therefore not a threat."
Tears were now in Dana's eyes, "thank you" she shook the holy man's hand.
They were just about to leave, when the priest called out after them, "be careful in Cordoba."
They looked at him with amazement, "how?"
"How do I know where you are headed, and to what? God told me, and he wants you to know that He is with you, and will protect you all while you do His will."
And with that they went on their way.
--------------------
They quickly found work when they arrived in Cordoba. Joe started farming again, and Dana worked alongside a local healer. She soon found out that this healer had learnt all she knew from a Jew, who secretly still worked by her side. Dana quickly grew great respect for both these women, and helped them as much as she could.
One day when she was preparing for the sick that came every day, the Jewish healer Martha came running in.
"My daughter is ill" she shouted, "I need medicine."
"Martha won't you get into trouble if you treat her yourself" Dana reminded her.
She nodded her head, "maybe, but I don't care. I love my girl, I want her to live."
Dana thought about how much she loved her son, and made a decision. "I will help you."
Martha gasped, "no I can't ask that of you, Christian women are not allowed in the Juderia."
"The authorities will punish me less than you, I have to do this."
It was still early, and they were in luck. The guards on the Juderia had just changed, and the new ones were busy preparing for their day. The two women were able to slip in.
Dana followed Martha to her house, entering within she recognised a basket on the table as one of her own. It was filled with bread, "is my husband here?" she asked, knowing that each day he brought supplies for the Jews.
"You mean Joe?" Martha smiled, "that is a good man you have there, he has been a blessing to our people, as you have too. I bless Jehovah for sending you both to us."
They entered the room where Martha's young daughter, lay stricken. Joe sat in vigil by her bedside.
"Dana, what are you doing here?" he rose to greet her.
"The same as you I would say" she responded, "i am here to help this child, and this family."
He nodded, and told her what the symptoms of the little girl were. She has nausea, a fever, diarrhoea and abdominal cramps."
"Sounds like food poisoning to me" Dana commented, "has she eaten anything you and your family hasn't?"
Martha nodded her head, and then helped her daughter to sit up, and gave her a drink. "She had a chicken pie at the fair last night."
Dana opened her rabbit skin bag, and pulled out some small vials of medicine. She sat the child up and got her to drink them.
Within a few hours, the child was feeling better, "thank you" Martha smiled, "she is my only daughter, I would do anything for her. I know that soon you will know how I feel when you have the girl you carry within your womb."
---------------------
Shocked into silence, Dana doesn't know what to say,
But Martha is right, for soon she becomes a mother again,
And one day they will find the troubles in Cordoba are over,
And move to France where their children will work for God.
And there we will meet our next descendant of the healer.