Charlotte stumbled, and fell to the road, hair flying in her face, than sticking to her. She peeled her hair away clumsily, annoyed that she was sweaty despite the extreme cold. Her thoughts tumbled in her head, pulling up distant memories and thoughts…
Bodies don't stink as much when they're frozen…
She shook her head to clear it, and let out a hollow laugh, that if her neighbors had heard would have given them cause to believe she was insane. She stood up slowly, coughing and heaving. She would have been throwing up if there had been any food in her belly.
Have to keep going…Edward…I promised…
She started forward, dragging her legs in a most ungainly walk. But it was all she could manage.

Kat set down the bit of mending she finished and crossed to the door to close it. A sudden gust of wind had opened it, letting in cold air. She stopped and peered outside, eyes scanning the village of Hedgerow. Suddenly she noticed a shape in the dirt. It seemed…to be moving. She squinted, trying to make out what it was. A stray dog perhaps? She gripped the door firmly. They didn't need any wild dogs here, especially as they were thought to carry the Plague. Her heart skipped a beat as the thing straightened up, and her eyes widened in recognition. Could it be? Her hand flew to her throat, and then a smile appeared on her face. Laughing, she ran out the door, calling, forgetting all about the cold weather. "Charlotte, Charlotte!" She ran, smiling, down towards her daughter, but then she stopped, and shaded her eyes from the harsh winter sun. By now there should have been others behind Charlotte, or distant rumbles, from the carts coming back from the city market. "Charlotte?" she called again, hesitantly, and quieter. Her daughter looked up, "Mama!" she called. Relief flooded through Kat's body. If nothing else, her daughter was home. But she had to know what happened.
She kneeled in front of her daughter, studying with a small frown the ragged clothing, and the thinness of her daughter's face. Her daughter, husband, and eldest son had been due back from the market almost a month earlier. She had been worried, not having gotten any news. Now only her daughter appeared, and in a most terrible state.
She heard footsteps behind her, curious villagers and their children, wanting to know what had happened to her family. Normally Kat would appreciate their concern, but right now she felt as if they were scavengers, come to pick to shreds the little gossip they could get. But she could not spare her daughter. She had to know the fate of her husband. She gripped her daughter's elbows firmly, forcing Charlotte to look her in the eye. "Where is your father" she asked clearly. The girl's eyes grew distant and sad, then blank. She let out a frightening laugh, one that was full of mourning and…a touch of something else. Fear bit Kat's stomach hard. "Tell me" she commanded, shaking her daughter slightly. She began to grow more afraid as her daughter did not respond intelligibly, but with some sort of sing-song chant.
"Ashes…ashes. Ring around the Rosy..."
She shook her daughter again, harder, making her head lol crazily on her neck. This was strange behavior for Charlotte, who usually was very honest and straightforward. "Tell me!" she cried, hysteria beginning to color her voice.
Now Charlotte looked up, eyes hard and clear. "I'll tell you" she whispered harshly. But instead of saying anything she went and took her little brother's hands, and her best friend, Sarah's hands. Kat frowned at her son, Connor. He wasn’t supposed to be outside, but then her attention was drawn back to Charlotte as she began moving. She spun them in a slow circle, chanting, "Ring around the rosy, pockets full of posy, Ashes, Ashes…" she paused and looked at her mother, than quietly sang, "We all fall down” she sat abruptly on her rump, pulling the children with her. There was a shocked silence, which was broken by the shriek of the village children's laughter. "More, more" they cried, "teach us Lottie!"
Kat pulled her daughter away from the children, noticing out of the corner of her eyes the other mothers drawing their children closer.
"Charlotte, speak sense." Charlotte just laughed and began to chant again, "Ashes, Ash…" Wack , her song was cut off by Kat's hard clap to her face. Kat felt shock; she had spanked her daughter before of course, but slapped her, in public? But she plowed on anyways, "Charlotte. Now."
Charlotte's eyes cleared again, and she gave a hacking cough. Then she looked up, face pinched with misery and remembering. She began in a dry, whispery voice, "Edward told me, he told me to come…"hack hack, "H said to tell you what happened." Her eyes filled with tears that she quickly wiped with the back of her dirty hand.
"Everyone's dead mum." She began to laugh again, craziness returning to her eyes. "Pockets full of posies mum. For the stank. It stank mum." She giggled, and twirled, "Pockets full of posies…"
Kat sucked in her breath, "Your father? Is he…is…is he dead too?"
Charlotte tilted her head thoughtfully, "He's close mum. And Edward too. I was the only one strong enough to get past the watch guards. They weren't letting anyone out."
Confusion settled over Kat, "Why?" she asked in bewilderment, "What's going on?"
"What do you mean by ring around the rosy?"
Charlotte studied her, then grinned, "You want to see mum? Is that it? I can show you mum. Come here."
Kat walked over to her daughter and kneeled down again, feeling utterly confused as she watched her daughter slowly roll up her sleeve. Then an arm, pale and skinny, was stuck in her face. Kat turned the arm, trying to figure out what she was supposed to see. Then it was there. A dark blemish, huge and rippling, a ring…" she suddenly understood all to well what she was seeing. "Ring around the rosy" Charlotte whispered.

Charlotte watched her mum's face, and saw the horror awaken. Her mum dropped the arm as if burned, and stared at her daughter's face in terror, "Why did you come here? You brought it!" she cried. Then she turned and fled, screaming to her watching neighbors, "The Plague! It's the Plague!"
The villagers scattered, yelling and running to their homes as fast as they could. In a few moments, Charlotte was left all alone on the dusty road.
She sank down in the dirt, staring numbly around her.
"Ring around the rosy…" she touched her arm.
"Pockets full of posy" she touched the small bag of flowers in her pocket, to help ward off the smell of decaying bodies.
"Ashes, Ashes…" she laid down in the dirt, feeling chills spread through her body.
"We all fall down." Within a few weeks, the village of Hedgerow would be completely empty. Not a living soul to be found.