village caring for someone else and was not able to administer last rites to her. This was very disturbing to Ian and Lind. All her life, she had been devout, and now, because the priest was not available, they felt that her soul was in jeopardy. The thought of this caused Lind to weep more bitterly.
Because of the number of the dead and dying, there wouldn't be a wake. Her body was placed in the ground later that day in a hole dug by Lind.
Lind didn't return to the fields for several days after putting his mother into the ground. Instead, he stayed by his father's bed, knowing that Ian didn't have much longer to live. Ian had quit eating and drinking shortly prior to Winifred's death. He seemed mostly dead already, but would occasionally open his eyes, eyes that had once been bright and blue were now gray and hollow.
Late in the afternoon of the third day that Lind was with him, Ian opened his eyes and looked at Lind. His mouth moved as though he wanted to speak, but only small whispers of air escaped his lips. Lind placed his ear close to Ian's mouth and listened intently, assuring his father that he was there.
Ian half whispered, half mouthed the words, 'I 'ave seen 'er. Aye, I 'ave seen 'er.'
'Who?' asked Lind intently.
'Win...red,' whispered his father. 'She is luv..ly.' 'Luv..ly,' he whispered almost for emphasis.
Lind squeezed gently on his father's withered hand and asked him to please rest. His father had more to say. 'She saw...Je..Je..sus.' 'She is coming.......for me.' Then a gentle, brief smile formed on his lips.
That was the last the Ian spoke to Lind. He quit breathing shortly there after. Oddly, he hadn't asked for the priest to come one last time. Lind wondered what it meant that his father had seen his mother and that she was coming for him. And what did it mean that she had seen Jesus. Surely, he thought, this illness was not brought on by wickedness.
Lind dug another grave next to Winifred's on the grounds of All Saints'. He hoped that someday he'd be able to afford a stone with their names engraved, but for now, a wooden marker would have to do.
The death of his father and mother meant that Lind could move his family into his father's cottage. The cottage was nicer than the small quarters that they had been living in just outside the village and the cottage was closer to the village and to the church. It also meant that Lind's wife, Gleda, no longer had to carry water from the stream. She could easily visit the village well instead. This was a wonderful thing for her as it meant that she no longer had to carry water so far. Lind and Gleda waited until the illness was gone from the towne before they moved into the cottage.
The illness had been such a sever blow to the village that nearly every family had been affected in some way. Most had lost a family member. Lind didn't like to think about it, but the plague had also been a good thing for his family. They now had a cottage of their own far sooner than they might have otherwise. The farm was entirely his. Without the plague, he would have been required to find his own land to farm. That wouldn't be easy since most of the land was already leased from Saint Leonard's Priory or from Lord Burghley. After the plague there was ample land to lease and at a better price. The devastation of the plague though was horrible to watch as families were removed from the land when their husbands and fathers died and the lease could no longer be paid. Such poor creatures were turned off the land that they had been on for generations and were left to beg or to make do as best they could. So, despite the bitterness of losing his father and his mother, Lind's situation had improved greatly on account of the plague. These mixed feelings did cause him to feel ashamed before God.
Lind and Gleda had been married now for five years. They had one child, a boy that they called Bromley and now Gleda was with child again. The prospect of the added responsibility of feeding and clothing another human being weighed heavily on Lind. He had always been a jovial sort, but with the plague and the loss of his parents and now