Page 18

As soon as Claire uttered the words the barrels fell from the wagon and shattered on the ground.

“I am back and I am safe. I was not going to stand here and watch a small child get crushed to death like my aunt.”

This last was said in a hissed whisper while she covered the child’s ears. It was unnecessary as the young girl was crying her eyes out. It took Elizabeth a minute or two to calm the child and get her name.

“Louisa.”

“How old are you Louisa?”

“I will be six in October.”

Attempts to find out her family name were not successful.

“We need to find her.”

Elizabeth stopped. Find the person responsible for her, but who would that be? The young girl was in very fine clothes, clearly she was the daughter of a wealthy family. She might be out with her mother, or indeed both her parents, but it was more likely to be a nurse or governess.

“Let us see what we can find.”

The falling beam had partially blocked the street preventing any traffic from heading west. The north side of the street was a mess of blocked and jammed carriages and wagons. The coach- and draymen had the horses calm and under control but they were a tangled mess. Fortunately the shout of ‘fire’ had been premature and the situation could be calmly resolved without additional worries of a fire spreading. One long look was all it took for everyone to realise that they were on the calmer side of the accident and to continue walking west.

The collapsing beam had impacted on the street and so in addition to settling dust, there was also a more pungent aroma than normal in the air. It encouraged a purposeful gait. It was the footman Robert that spotted the family.

“Miss Elizabeth, over there.”

She followed his arm and saw a large group on the other side of the street. There appeared to be five children, assorted footman and nurses, together with two older ladies. Even as they crossed the street and drew closer Elizabeth saw panic start to spread amongst the group as they searched for the missing child.

“Is that your family, your mama?”

Elizabeth’s question was spoken quietly to the child in her arms. She in turn looked up and immediately started wriggling in Elizabeth’s arms.

“Mama!”

One of the ladies spun round and when she saw the girl you could see her whole posture relax, just for a moment. It was definitely ‘blink and you will miss it’.

“Louisa, you are safe.”

Elizabeth carefully lowered the wriggling girl to the pavement and she was off on her short legs to her mother. Elizabeth could understand how she had ended up in the middle of the street. It was clear that she was not a child that liked to be held.

“Where were you? I thought you had been crushed.”

Now that the child was safe the questions started. The child Louisa looked up at Elizabeth.

“She was in the middle of the street, just over there. I do not know how she came to be separated from the rest of her family.”

This was a very edited version of the incident. Rather than respond to Elizabeth the mother turned and started berating her staff. It was turning into a spectacle and Elizabeth glanced at the group and made her mind up. When she spoke she did so quietly, almost a whisper.

“I wish you a good day.”

--

Elizabeth did not recite anything to do with her own family, rather starting the tale from the moment of the huge beam falling into the street. She did make sure to include her quiet comment of departure so that she could not be accused of being impolite. Her audience sat quietly, Elizabeth could see the lady was processing what she had just heard with what she had been previously told and witnessed.

“It was a frantic few minutes. You paint an accurate, yet incomplete, picture of the event.”

“You were there?”

Lady Maria smiled.