We Are The Cure : The Plague Doctor's Tale.

Chapter 35

In the morning, Rosalynn was woken up by gentle knocking on her door. It was one of the maid which announced that breakfast is ready and Lady Catchstone is expecting them downstairs in the dinning room. 

Rosalynn got up, washed her face and dressed up in her plague nurse suit. When she looked at the flowers outside her windows, she started to wonder why are people as fragile as flowers. Definitely, she would think about it more but she had to hurry. She knew everyone were expecting her indeed. Rosalynn braided her hair and hid it under the white scarf. She took her bag and mask, and left the room. It was surprising for her to see the maid patiently waiting for her.

"May I take your bag?" Asked the young girl politely. 

"Oh, I'm sorry but no... Sterility." Said Rosalynn and the maid looked at her confused. "Nobody but me can touch the bag. Oh my, I will sound like Doctor but...See, the pestilence spreads through direct touch so I can't allow you to touch my things." She tried to explain it on their way down and the maid was nodding her head. Probably she understood what Rosalynn meant.

"Good morning. How was your sleep?" Lady Margaret greeted her in the moment she noticed Rosalynn in the dinning room. 

"Oh, it was good, Madame. Thank you for asking." She looked around and noticed only Doctor and Natalie. "Where is Giovanni?"

"He should be here in a minute." Said Doctor sitting with his arms crossed. Rosalynn sat down next to him. Natalie was giving them a cold look.

"Please, feel free to help yourself. Choose whatever you want. Perhaps you have more appetite than your friend here." By that Lady Margaret meant Doctor who, as usually, denied eating around people.

"As I have already said, Lady Catchstone, I would rather eat alone in my room-" He was interrupted by Rosalynn when she noticed the shocked look on Lady Margaret and Natalie's faces.

"My Lady, please don't get him wrong. It's Doctor's habit to eat alone. He didn't mean to sound disrespectful by any means." Doctor shrug his shoulders and Lady Catchstone nodded with understanding. 

"I'm so sorry for being late." Hopefully Giovanni appeared and changed the mood which before his presence was quite awkward. 

...

After breakfast Lady Margaret took them to the family tomb at the local cemetery where the bodies of her dead relatives were resting. There they met the priest and the parish constable who were already waiting for them. 

"Greetings, Lady Catchstone." Spoke the constable and Lady Margaret curtsied elegantly. He looked like a typical Englishman, tall, slender, with dark hair, and thick moustache. The quiet priest, however, was plump, bald and not very tall. They were polar opposites and looked quite funny when standing next to each other. "As I see, you've found somebody who would be able to do a post mortem." When the priest noticed them, his eyes opened wide with surprise. He hadn't seen plague doctors before. The constable didn't look much surprised. 

"Oh, yes. Please, meet Doctor Rae and his companions, Miss Seward and Mister Da Ventura." Lady Catchstone introduced them and each of them greeted the priest and the constable in their own unique way. Doctor lifted his hat a bit, Rosalynn curtsied lifting her dress up a bit, and Giovanni just nodded his head. All of them were wearing their plague doctors' clothes. 

"I guess I might have heard about you, Mister Rae." Said constable looking at Doctor cautiously.

"Please, call me Doctor. And that is quite possible. Shall we proceed to post mortem?" He looked at Lady Margaret who nodded confidently and led the way to the inside of the tomb. It was dark there but the remaining light was showing the way as the tomb wasn't much big. Inside, there were three stone tombs, one big and two smaller ones.

" I would appreciate if all of you would stay outside. Although the sick are dead, the pestilence might have not died yet." The constable, the priest, and Lady Catchstone nodded their heads. Natalie was the only one who didn't react. When the three were alone Doctor spoke loudly "Rosalynn, light the oil lamp. Giovanni, I will need your help with the gravestone removal." They did as he said and with Giovanni's help, they managed to get rid of thegravestone and examine the first body. It was Lady Margaret's child. 

Before they started the examination, they heard a long weep and saw Lady Catchstone standing in the door of the tomb. When she saw her little girl laying there, all nearly purple with swollen body, she collapsed. The constable and Giovanni grabbed her hands and ankles, and carried her out of the family tomb where Natalie, the priest, and another woman were waiting. The woman looked as luxurious as Lady Catchstone but dressed all in yellow dress. 

"Don't let anyone enter the tomb." Said Giovanni directly to the constable who promised to do so.

Inside Rosalynn was lighting the body and Doctor began to examine the body. It was truly the plague. All the symptoms were present. It was quite the same case with Lady Margaret's husband and other daughter who looked similar to the first dead body. The same look, the same symptoms, the same disease.

With Giovanni's help they closed all the tombstones and left the family tomb. Outside they saw Lady Margaret already gained consciousness and the woman dressed in yellow dress was arguing with her. The constable was trying to calm the women down but in vain. The priest, however, was napping under the tree and it seemed like the screams didn't wake him up. No wonder, that day was hot enough and the tree's shade was the best way to stay outside, especially when wearing black clothes. 

"And? What are the results?" Asked Lady Catchstone impatiently. 

"Without a doubt that was plague that killed you family, Lady Catchstone." Said Doctor and noticed the confusion on the other woman's face.

"I see. Then Lady Catchstone is no longer suspected of murder on her family members." Said the constable, the priest woke up from the nap and nodded, and Lady Margaret started sobbing. She hugged Natalie who hugged her back. 

"Wiat a minute." Said the Lady in yellow. "How come is Margaret no longer suspected of such horrible things? It is obvious she is the killer!" In her green eyes there was anger and disappointment. 

"Do you truly believe, Janette, that I killed the man I loved and my two daughters?" It looked like the two knew each other quite well. 

"Of course I do!" Because you're a greedy bit-" She didn't even finish the sentence when Doctor interrupted her.

"Excuse me, but would you care to introduce yourself first?" The lady in yellow seemed offended but answered Doctor's question.

"I'm Janette Catchstone and I'm the true Lady Catchstone here." Rosalynn, Giovanni, and even Doctor were so confused that they were able only to look at the two women and wait what would happen next.