Plugging her nose, Jessica pulled Leif back before he could enter the room. Katherine and Lauren were plugging their noses as well, and Lauren had that speculative look on her face, almost as if she were listening to voices in her head.

But no. Lauren wasn’t crazy. She was just Jessica’s eccentric drama-club roommate from college. This was probably some kick she was on, ‘minute meditation’ or some such.

Jessica addressed her comments to Leif, the man of this house.

"Is there a window in this room?"

Leif nodded, but his face looked perplexed.

"Aye, but o' course ‘tis blocked by furs for the coming winter."

To Jessica's horror, Amena broke free of Taran’s grasp and ran into the room to rumple the furs, touching the end table to climb up on it.

"See?” said the little girl. “This is them. Father always puts them over the windows when the weather gets cold…"

Amena trailed off to silence, and her face went sad.

Catching the panicked look on Jessica’s face, Lauren called the little girl out of her departed parents’ room.

"Amena, will ye show me where ye sleep?"

Next to Lauren, Taran held out his arms.

After just a moment of indecision, Amena ran to her brother with tears streaming down her face and was enfolded in his arms. The three of them went down the hall, with Taran carrying Amena.

Thanking God the girl had left the sickroom, hopefully in time, Jessica called after them.

"Lauren, take the furs away from her window and leave the door open sae there wull be a cross breeze from her window tae this one in their parents’ room."

Lauren turned back, answering Jessica in the slang of their time.

"I'm already on it."

Jessica turned to Leif.

"Everyone should go downstairs except one person. Since I canna reach the furs, it must needs be ye.”

She took one of PenUlt’s breathers out of her bag and handed it to him. It looked like a cloth mask, but was chemically enhanced. One of PenUlt’s most popular survival items.

He turned it over and over in his hands, marveling.

“What dae I dae with this?”

“Put it on ower yer nose and mouth, tae keep out the contagion. Here, I wull help ye. There. Now ye can pull the furs away from this window here in yer parents’ room. That’s it. Nae leave this door open, but close the door tae the stairs on yer way doon. We need tae give the upstairs a good airing out afore anyone comes in here without a breathing cloth."

Leif looked skeptical. He raised his voice to those in the other room. "Everyone doonstairs."

They all went down except Lauren, who waited by the door to the stairs.

Leif once again addressed Jessica. “Ye seen sae certain that allowing the night air intae the house wull be tae the good. Dinna ye ken o' the ill in the night air?”

Superstitious, indeed.

But she searched his face and found he wasn’t crazed about it, just incredulous that she wasn’t afraid.

“Ye hae sent Amena doonstairs. The rest o' us can fight off some airy demons, aye?”

He laughed.

Jessica turned to follow the others. When Lauren gave her a reassuring thumbs-up and gestured to the open window, Jessica breathed a sigh of relief and went down. Once in the great room, she pictured in her mind Leif moving the furs and then walking down the hallway and opening the door at the top of the stairs.

But he still hadn't opened that door.

Give it time. You can imagine things much faster than they happen in real life. Perhaps it's more difficult to move the furs than you thought. Give it —

To her great relief, the door at the top of the stairs opened and Leif came down.

Lauren and Katherine were already in the kitchen with Senga, explaining they would need the big wash tub filled with hot water and being instructed on where to get the pots full of water to put over the fire to heat up and where to get the soap to put in the hot water for washing the clothes.

So Jessica felt fine about staying to talk to Leif. Matters were in good hands.

"Thank ye for taking my word that yer upstairs needs airing out."

He raised his eyebrows and furrowed his brow.

“I still think ye daft for such a notion."

She put up what she hoped was a reassuring hand, and pulled it back quickly when he again looked worried that she might touch him.

"Airing out the room will merely allow us tae get in there and clean every last piece o' clothing, every last piece o' linen, all o' the walls, the floors, and all o' the furniture with hot water and soap. Lots o' soap. The areas near where yer parents were breathing and anything they likely touched often, such as the headboard o' the bed and the side tables, would be best washed in an antiseptic — some aught stronger than soap and hot water. Vinegar would work. Ye hae any o' that?"

Leif’s face showed mixed emotions. There was very strong interest, fascination even, in her strange healing methods. But there was also worry.

"Dae ye fear as I dae that Amena will come doon with the sickness?"

Jessica smiled a pained smile at him, not wanting to give him false hope, nor misinformation.

"I dae fear that. We will need tae keep an eye on her. There are things we can dae tae lessen the severity o' the illness if she does come doon with it. In fact, starting right away, keep her extra warm. If the body is tae busy keeping itself warm, its ability tae fight the contagion is diminished. Also, see that she drinks plenty o' fresh water and nay alcohol. The fresh water washes through a person. And lastly, keep her away from the upstairs until after we clean. Senga mentioned she'd make up beds for Lauren, Katherine, and me on the hearth furs near the fire. Mayhap Amena should be allowed tae sleep there as well."

Leif glowed with pleasure at her regard for his baby sister.

"Aye, we dae hae vinegar. Ye hae only tae ask Senga and she will find it for ye. I will see aboot Amena sleeping doon in the common room. Alvin will hae tae bide the night with us. Alvin! Alvin, bide the night. The clothing will na be ready till morning, sae bide the night. I dinna want ye out after dark. Mauve will understand. Ye wull be bunking with me, as oor common room will be taken up with lasses this night." He looked to Jessica again. “Now let us set about filling and heating these pots o' water ye require, eh?"

It took hours to fill the washtub in the kitchen with enough hot water and soap. Once this was done, Leif called his brother and Luag over to the stairs.

"The lasses will do the washing, but let us men carry all these things doon the stairs."

They nodded and started climbing.

Jessica stood up and shouted.

“Wait!”

They turned on the stairs.

Jessica dug her other breather out of her bag for herself.

“Leif and I are protected. Lauren, dae ye hae any breathers on ye? Katherine?”

Katherine held up one and then put it on.

Lauren looked around at everyone and then at Jessica significantly.

It turned out she had a handful of breathers stashed in one of the many bags she had under her stiff woolen leine, and Jessica took her into the kitchen away from the men and helped her get them out, with Senga casting sidelong looks at them but saying nothing as she prepared the pots of soapy wash water.

Among many jokes from Luag, impossibly charming eyerolls from Katherine, and raised eyebrows from Taran, Leif helped his brother and Luag figure out how to wear the masks.

Jessica watched him, ready to step in if needed but admiring how he made it look so natural to be covering one’s mouth and nose. He soon had the other men wearing their breathers as if they wore them every day.

Once the six of them all had breathers on, Senga came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel. She stared at the breathers for a moment, then shrugged and plainly chose not to comment.

"We are na new tae laundering linens, lass. I will set up the drying ropes, aye."

Jessica nodded her thanks to Senga.

“Please keep Amena doon here with ye while we go up, aye?”

Senga nodded, holding out her arms for the little girl, who ran into them and rested her head on the old woman’s chest.

There wasn’t much in the room at all, compared to modern times. Leif and Taran’s parents had all of four outfits each. There was only one set of linen for the bed. The featherbed posed a problem, however. Delicate, and certainly full of germs.

Shaking her head in resignation, Lauren started to pick the featherbed up, but the men took over that task. She spoke as they did so.

"There's naught for it but tae wash this thing as wull. Sure, 'tis inconvenient, being feathers, but geese swim, ye ken. All will be right once it dries — which should take aboot five days, by my reckoning."

They hauled it all downstairs in loads that would fit in the washtub, shutting the door to the upstairs whenever possible so as not to let the germs in the air up there come down. As soon as the men carried a load down, the women thrust it — and the men’s hands — into the hot soapy water, pushing up and down to make sure every bit of all the fabric was doused in the cleansing fluid, then doing the same in a tub of clear water.

Wringing things out by hand grew wearisome after the first time, so Lauren the engineer cast about for a mechanical solution. Spotting a few wooden rolling pins up on a shelf, she got them down and dug through the things in the kitchen and in all three of their purses until she had a makeshift wringer set up.

The men were so impressed, they each took a turn cranking the handle while all the clothing and linens were washed and put through the wringer. And then they all helped hang everything to line dry by the large fire in the great room, where the women and Amena’s sleeping furs lay.

Senga nudged Jessica on the shoulder.

"Supper is a sit-down affair at this house, and—"

Jessica gently squeezed one of Senga's hands.

"Na this evening it is na. Just make us some sandwiches please, and we wull eat quickly. Just two. Katherine has already eaten, sae she can continue in the meanwhile."

Wringing her hands, Senga looked out to where Leif and Taran were gathering more firewood from a stack leaned against the kitchen wall outside.

Leif nodded his assent, and so Senga gave a grimacing smile and nodded her assent as well.

"It shall be as ye say, lass. Just ye tell me what sandwiches are, and I will make them."

* * *

Leif enjoyed watching Jessica eat her bread and meat with her hands, but whenever she looked up, he looked away. It wouldn’t do for their eyes to find each other. She was only passing through.

When the meal was finished, he nodded to Taran and Luag and eyed the stairs. They took his meaning and got up to follow him. He addressed the lasses.

“If ye think ‘tis safe now, we wull be going up tae retire and leaving ye lasses tae dae the same.”

He didn’t look away in time, and Jessica’s eyes met his. Such calm eyes, so full of concern. Such a remarkable lass.

She smiled awkwardly and composed herself, then addressed the group.

“Aye, ye should be fine sae long as ye close yer parents’ door. We thank ye again for yer hospitality, and we bid ye hae a good night.”