The Carmen Chronicles: Rebirth

Chapter 10: Babington Cottage

"You invited who?" A man asked.

"Please, John. Be pleasant" Mary pleaded. "Emily said her name was Carmen".

"What do we know about her?" John asked, the sound of wood creaked slightly as something heavy was placed against it, I imagined he had just sat down in his favourite wooden chair.

"Well she has an accent, she's obviously not from here" Mary said as she began plating food.

I supposed the scent of tomatoes, garlic, rosemary and lamb would have smelt appealing to a hungry human. But as for me, I found it completely unappealing.

"All I know is she found our child. I cannot ignore that" Mary said, a finality in her tone.

"A strange woman appears in the wilderness with our child and you have no questions" John said, sounding increasingly annoyed.

I had made my way toward the small settlement and even from its edges I could easily trace the unmistakable scent of the iron from the armourer that stood right beside Babington Cottage; the home of Emily and her parents. Not wanting to interrupt the argument, however, I chose to wait outside the village.

"She was probably exiled from her family over something, perhaps she's Protestant, aren't they strictly Catholic in the south?"

"Oh, probably" John said in a bored tone.

"Honestly, you should have seen what the poor thing was wearing. A dozen different articles of clothing draped over every inch of her body, she probably needs all that to keep warm at night" Mary continued.

Wood scraped against wood, followed by a light thud. I assumed Mary had just taken her seat at the table.

"We can at least give her some proper attire and a blanket to keep her warm at night".

"I suppose" John replied, clearly not liking the idea.

"You know, now I think of it, she did appear to be in quite a lot of pain...You don't suppose she has the speckled monster?!" Mary asked, a sudden worried tone in her voice.

"If I see even a single rash or blister on her skin, I am not allowing her inside this house, Mary" John said firmly.

I could hardly blame them. The latest plague to grip the world seemed to be what locals called the "speckled monster", I had heard stories in my travels from the humans. It certainly was something for them to be fearful about, the death toll was already in the thousands.

"We can't just throw her out!" Mary argued.

"She's probably riddled with disease, I bet that's the reason she has been exiled from her own country!" John declared loudly.

I was beginning to grow increasingly uncomfortable at listening to this conversation about me, the diseased homeless woman with no eye for fashion; though admittedly it was hardly something I could ignore. Even as I walked through the village at a dull human pace, their voices were so clear it was as though they stood right beside me, arguing the whole way until I finally arrived at their home. I decided the polite thing would be to wait until they had finished arguing, however the husband seemed to be in no hurry to end their conversation. I was already late enough. I sighed. Putting on a pair of old spectacles with dark tinted lenses to cover my crimson eyes, I stretched forth my hand and gently tapped on the door.

"That must be her, just be pleasant will you?" Mary pleaded in a hushed voice.

"Wait! Let me see her first, if she's diseased, she isn't coming in!" John whispered back.

Hurried footsteps made their way toward me, the handle turned with a quiet creak, and Mary stood before me, a welcoming smile on her face.

"Carmen, right? It is so nice to see you again, please do come in" she said.