The Brat Page 0,71

catch her breath, she waved her hand in front of her face to displace the remaining dust cloud and peered up at what she'd achieved. Her shoulders slumped as she saw that the cloth was so fragile that it had torn away where she'd grasped it and no higher.

Murie glared at the results, then squared her shoulders and clambered onto the top corner of the bed.

Clinging to the post there, she reached up to grab the cloth as near to the frame as possible, having to stretch up on to her tiptoes to manage the task.

"Oh! My lady! What are you doing? Get down! You shall hurt yourself!"

Murie glanced down with surprise to find Cecily had arrived. Her maid was looking absolutely frantic as she rushed across the room to her side.

"I am just going to pull down these curtains. I thought if we remove them and remake the bed with fresh linens, it would do for the night." She reached up again, tugging at the cloth, adding,

"I wish we could change the rushes as well, but that is not possible at this hour. Those shall have to wait until the morrow."

"My lady, this is ..."

Murie glanced down again to see the maid staring around the room in horror. Sighing, she turned back to give the cloth another tug.

"It is rather awful, but - Aiyeee!" Murie squealed as the cloth suddenly tugged free and she lost her balance, falling back on the bed. A cloud of dust immediately rose up to envelope her, and then Murie gasped in alarm as the bed itself suddenly collapsed beneath her, crashing to the floor.

Chapter Twelve

"My lady!" Cecily hurried forward and began to crawl across the remains of the collapsed bed toward her. "Are you all right?

Were you hurt?"

"Nay. I am fine." Murie sat up to peer around and forced a smile for the woman, but was unable to maintain it and finally let her breath unhappily out. The room looked no better from this angle than it had standing.

"There most-like were no fresh linens to replace these anyway," Cecily said as she peered at the ruined bed, wrinkling her nose. "It seems little enough is done around here, I doubt laundry is at the top of their list of concerns."

Murie frowned, not having thought of it herself, and then her gaze swiveled to the door Cecily had left open. Men began to cart in her chests.

"Oh." The first man paused sharply as he spotted the pair on the ruined bed, forcing the others to an abrupt halt as well. The four men simply stood there staring for a moment, and then one said, "We can fix it."

"Do not bother," Cecily began. "We have no - "

"Aye, do," Murie countered, scrambling quickly up. Cecily followed.

"But, my lady - "

"There may be linens in one of my chests," Murie interrupted hopefully.

"What?" Cecily said. "I hardly think - "

"Everyone at court knew Gaynor was in a bad way," Murie pointed out. She rushed over to the first chest the men were now setting down and threw the lid open to begin rifling through the contents. "The queen may have had the forethought to send some of my own linens with me in case they were needed. Queen Phillippa is very good with such details."

"But..." Cecily's words died on her lips as Murie gave a sudden squeal of glee and pulled out a set of pure white linens.

"Oh, what a wonderful woman!" Murie exclaimed happily. "I shall have to write and thank her for such forethought." Shoulders slumping, Cecily simply shook her head and got out of the way. The men had moved over to take a look at the bed.

"You cannot sleep in this chamber. Is there nowhere else - "

"Certainly," Murie said dryly. "My husband and I could sleep together in the men's garrison this night."

The comment made all four men pause and turn to gape at her.

"Well," the one who had suggested he'd fix the bed said finally.

"You would be most welcome there, my lady."

Murie turned to Cecily, arching one eyebrow.

"I shall fetch a broom to sweep out these rushes. We may not be able to replace them until the morrow, but at least the chamber will smell less," Cecily said with defeat. She hurried from the room.

Murie set the linens back in the chest, where they were safe from getting dirty, and stood to inspect the room. Her gaze landed on the bed as the men began to raise the frame, and