There had been a spatter of rain earlier and we had to dodge the mud and muck in the street. It looked like an army of geese had marched this way before us. Widow Primmer looped her arm through Claire’s right arm, Mama through Claire’s left, and they made a game of dodging round the dirt. The May Day dancing had already started in the square, weaving the ribbons flowing from the maypole in and out. Some of the dancers were very serious, while others were laughing so much they were tangling themselves up. A piper and a drummer accompanied them, though the dancers seemed to be moving to different tunes in their own heads.
Outside the church, an acrobat bent over backwards until his hands smacked on to the cobbles. He scuttled from side to side like a crab while giggling children surrounded him. He stopped by a group of young men and invited one to stand on his stomach. Just as I persuaded Mama to come over with me for a better look, a juggler threw three red clubs into the air and Claire laughed out loud.
“I think we’ll be staying here,” Mama said. “You go and look round then come and find us.”
I walked back past the acrobat. He was still scuttling around but now he had a young man sitting on his stomach, laughing and waving a tankard of ale. In the far corner was a table bearing three big boxes. A crowd was stooping low looking into them. They were cabinets and in each one were miniature rooms, furnished like a rich man’s home – if the rich man had been very small. The dresser looked so real that I was sure the doors must open. There were even tiny pots and pans in the kitchen and a shelf of bowls and plates. It looked like the craftsman had shrunk down to the size of a beetle to make them.
A drum started up. The May Queen must be on her way. Widow Primmer had said that the cart would be decorated with garlands of flowers and that the queen handed out posies as she went. I couldn’t see the cart yet, but the drumming was getting louder.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” Bang! Bang! Bang! “It’s time for the stars to foresee your luck!”
Gina? It was her. The white costume was a little too small now and had grown grubbier since Bartholomew Fair. I searched around for Griffin, but I didn’t see him. That was because he was right behind me. I heard his voice in my ear.
“Has our fortune been made, Eve Cartwright?”
I shook my head. I heard a sound that I knew was wooden beads knocking against each other.
“Are you keeping all the gold for yourself?”
I turned to face him. He looked even thinner than before. He was wearing midnight-blue breeches and a doublet. A dove-grey cape hung from his neck. The costume was frayed and looked like it had been pulled straight from a sack on his cart.
I said, “There is no gold, Griffin. Nothing at all.”
His shoulders hunched down as he bent towards me. “I don’t believe you, Eve Cartwright. We had an agreement.”
“No,” I said. “You had an agreement. You gave Mama the medicine first and then told us there was a price. You brought us to Southampton, even though you were coming this way anyway, and then told me that we were in debt. You have told me that we owe you money, but never told us the price for your services! I will pay you back, but there is no treasure.”
“Hear ye! Hear ye!” The town crier strutted into the square. “Prepare for the queen!”
The crowd cheered and a piper started a tune. When I looked back, Griffin was gone.
We returned home soon after the May Queen was crowned. I kept peering through the crowd expecting to see Griffin appear next to Mama holding his bag of beads. He didn’t. He must have been busy with his star charts. We ate supper together, Claire, Mama and I, a real feast of roast mutton and cabbage. I loved Mama, but this was how it felt to be in a real family, something bigger than the two of us. I had always known I wanted to be safe and warm at night, but I hadn’t realized before that I’d wanted more than one person to care about me. Someone who could help me catch Mama if she started sinking again.
I don’t remember my dreams that night. Perhaps I didn’t have time to have any. A few hours later, before it was light, Widow Primmer shoved me so hard I almost fell out of bed.
TWO STONES AND A ROPE
A candle flickered on the dresser. It was Widow Primmer. Shadows often soften a face, but her fury was stark.
“I should have listened to my neighbours!” she hissed.
“M … Mistress Primmer?”
She pushed me again. My shoulder jolted and a punch of pain shot up my neck and across my skull.
“I should never have let you stay here. You and your foul mother! I should never have agreed!”
She wrenched off the covers and I felt the rush of cold air across me. Where was Mama? Had Widow Primmer already wrenched her
