Forgiveness

Abbess Elinor continued scratching away at the parchment when the little note slipped through her door. Upon reading it, she knew who was waiting for her.

The curtain was drawn open and, on the other side of the iron bars, was little Agnes giving her a wide smile.

“This sounds grave,” Abbess Elinor said.

“Archbishop Gregory intends to bless the Lorian River for the burial of bodies,” Agnes blurted out without ceremony. “Remains have already washed ashore ahead of it. Here and in villages farther south.”

”I see,” Elinor said.

“You must write to him, Abbess Elinor,” Agnes urged. “The doctors are prepared to make their case in person to support your appeal.”

”Have the doctors reached out to the monks?”

”Our Brothers are contending with their own hardships, Mother. As you well know,” Agnes said. “It falls on us, nuns, I’m afraid.”

“Normally, I would send a messenger, but since this is for the Archbishop, it ought to be a sister.”

“I will go,” Agnes said.

“I was just going to say I have no escort for such a message.”

”Ooh…I have a knight!” Agnes said excitedly, as if suddenly remembering. “A knight of my very own! Sir Ignatius. A former defender of the Lord’s Temple, no less!”

”You mean the Templar who roams around the convent?! I had heard he was pining after a postulant.”

Agnes nodded excitedly.

“Ignatius does no such thing! He is righteous through and through, and he’s sworn himself to me!”

”Has he? On what grounds?”

Agnes shrugged.

”I am cute and little.”

”Little Sister Agnes, that is not a proper reason…”

“A knight is what the abbot would send with a trusted courier to the Archbishop. All I would need is a carriage. The doctors and the knight will keep me safe. Alaric the apothecary offered to tend to the tavern in my absence. All will run accordingly.”

Elinor still said nothing.

”The Plague Doctors are just outside, waiting to show you the bodies found in the river if you need further proof of how dire...”

Elinor leaned forward.

“I don’t care to be pressed,” she declared.

Agnes said nothing.

“If I am to allow the smallest of my daughters on this journey, I must be assured she will have EVERY protection.”

Agnes blinked slowly and then spoke with a more adult demeanor after a longer pause.

“Your littlest daughter will have every protection.”

Elinor studied her through the bars for a moment, then seemed to relax.

”Then we have an understanding…. You may depart by first light tomorrow. With the grace of God.”

Agnes smiled and bowed.

✨✨✨

Dawn.

The carriage awaited, just beyond the abbey’s boundary. The plague doctors had marked the wagon themselves the night before. Three broad crosses had been painted on each door and along the side panels; a clear warning to thieves and travelers alike that passengers infected with plague rode within.

The horses stamped and blew white breath into the cold morning air while Lorenzo checked the traces one final time, and Cedric secured the satchels. Edgar stood a little apart, mask turned toward the tree line.

They were ready.

Then, the sound of hooves and light footsteps came together along the track.

Little Agnes appeared first, small in her habit, veil neat, and a formal black traveling cloak pinned under her little chin with the seal of the abbess.

“Good morning!” she skipped forward, waving in cheerful spirits.

Behind her rode Ignatius on a sturdy bay. A second horse followed, laden with the little nun’s luggage and baskets and warm pots for tonight’s supper.

All three doctors went still.

“Him?” one doctor whispered.

”Oh, no…” the other groaned.

But Lorenzo was too shocked to notice who had asked what.

Ignatius dismounted in one clean, expert motion, and then rested a gauntleted hand on the girl’s shoulder, making it unmistakably clear that she was under his protection.

Lorenzo’s gloved hand tightened on the side of the carriage. Cedric sighed and shook his head, and Edgar took a single step back to find something to do in the rear of the carriage in order to conceal his vexation.

“Ignatius is to escort us!” Agnes said, happily. “Isn’t it magnificent? We have the bravest knight in all the land! No rogues or highwaymen will even think of approaching us with ill intent.”

Ignatius inclined his head to the doctors, attuned to their discontent.

“The road is uncertain. Even with your markings,” Ignatius's muffled voice came through the full helmet. “I will see Lady Agnes safely to the city of Ansel and back again. As well as all three of you. On my honor.”

Every plague doctor behind his mask secretly rolled his eyes at once. Only Lorenzo spoke, and his words sounded flatter than he had intended.

”We are grateful for your…company.”

Ignatius nodded, then moved to tie his packhorse to the rear of the carriage and remained mounted on the bay.

”No need,” Ignatius said. “I ride ahead.”

Lorenzo offered his hand out so Agnes could climb up the official ecclesiastical wagon.

“No,” Agnes said. “Not you, Lorenzo.”

Ignatius immediately moved to dismount again, but Agnes raised her hand.

“Not you either, Ignatius,” she said. “Nor you, Cedric.”

All the men then turned to Edgar, who had taken the far side to load Agnes’s luggage and now looked surprised. Agnes still refused to look at him.

Slowly, the tallest Plague Doctor climbed down and began to walk. He approached where Agnes stood waiting. Eyes still lowered, he raised his tentative hand.

”Am I… ”

His voice softly trembled.

“Am I forgiven?”

Agnes finally looked at him, his extended hand still hovering.

She didn’t respond and still refused to take it.

Edgar looked confused, but for only a moment. Soon a grim realization dawned on him.

And so, he got down to his knees. Then, he leaned forward beside the open carriage door. The other men stood to watch in horror as Edgar the plague doctor got down on all fours.

Agnes blinked slowly in approval.

”Now…” she said. “Hold very still.”

And she walked away.

The doctors and the knight had no other choice but to watch Agnes back away several paces. Then, she began to run. As she gained momentum, the fabric of her habits jostled and flew with impetus. One single jump and she was airborne. With the brightest smile. She then landed hard and heavy directly on Edgar’s spine before bouncing straight into the carriage. The wagon lurched sideways when she landed with force.

Edgar’s beak collapsed into the mud as Agnes cheered and gushed, immediately expressing admiration for Abbess Elinor's roomy carriage and its plush seats.

The men continued to stand, observing Edgar suppress his grunts of pain.

Agnes then poked her head out of the carriage window, just above where Edgar lay still flattened on the ground.

”Yes, Plague Doctor Edgar. I forgive you.”

With this, Cedric climbed into the box. Edgar dragged himself back to the far side. Lorenzo stepped up, closed the door, and gave the order to move.

The carriage rolled forward.

And so, their brave and awkward company left behind the sheltered valley of Eatonbury. The track widened, and behind them, the convent wall, the tavern’s latticed window, and the last low roofs of the village shrank out of sight.