The Gunpowder Plot (6 page)

“Your father is a loyal servant of the King, and you know he attends the Protestant church.”

“But…”

“
But the old queen, Elizabeth, said she did not want to look into men's hearts. And I think King James is the same.” She put her arms around both girls. “You have nothing to fear.”

Eliza felt comforted. But another thing had been worrying her.

“There's Mouser…” she began.

“Who is Mouser?” Eliza's mother did not spend much time in the kitchen.

Eliza and Lucy gabbled to explain.

“The kitchen cat – ”

“We last saw him in the cellar – ”

“But then soldiers came in and cleared it – ”

“And we heard they stopped up some of the entrances – ”

“
We don't know whether Mouser escaped! You told us we must not go into the kitchen again – ”

“Enough!” cried Eliza's mother. “You may ask Mistress Rowley about Mouser. Go and ask her now.”

* * *

Mistress Rowley was pleased to see them.

“I have news for you young gentlewomen,” she said. “Your friend Mouser –”

“Is he safe?” Eliza looked around anxiously. There was no sign of Mouser.

“He's not only safe, he's had kittens!”

“
Kittens!
”

“Come and see,” said Mistress Rowley.

There were some shelves near the fireplace with kitchen things stored on them: a pestle and mortar, some jugs and bowls. On the bottom shelf was a basket full of rags. And in the basket was Mouser, curled up and purring, with three – no, four! – kittens.

“Oh!” exclaimed Eliza in delight.

Both girls dropped to their knees beside the basket. The kittens were not at all pretty yet; they were damp, blind and scrabbling. But their tiny mewing made Eliza and Lucy love them already.

“
None of us noticed,” confessed Mistress Rowley. “Looking back, I remember he was a bit fat, and extra hungry – ”

“She,” said Lucy.

“She – yes. And she kept disappearing. Down that cellar, hunting, I suppose, or looking for somewhere to make a nest.”

“Will you keep the kittens?” asked Eliza.

“Well, I'd like a couple more cats, to keep the mice down. But the other two… Walter will drown them, I expect.”

“Oh, no!” Eliza and Lucy protested together. And Eliza said, “I could take one – for a pet – if Mother will let me.”

“And I want one, too!” said Lucy.
“
But you're going home soon, aren't you, Mistress Lucy? They won't be weaned for several weeks.”

“Then
I'll
take both,” said Eliza. “One for me and one for Lucy, when she visits. I'm sure my mother will say yes.”

* * *

Eliza
dipped her quill pen in the freshly squeezed orange juice she had begged from Mistress Rowley, and wrote:

‘
8th January, 1606.

Dear cousin Lucy,

Secret news!

At last the kittens are weaned and I have ours with me. I wish you could see them. They interrupt my lessons and make me laugh. I have drawn you a picture of them – in ink, because they are both black. Yours is a girl and has a white bib and two white feet, and mine is a boy and has a white tip to his tail.

Many more gunpowder plotters have been
arrested.
Mistress Perks says they will all be executed.

My kitten is called Midnight. What will you call yours? Write soon and tell me.

Your loving cousin,

Eliza Fenton.
'

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In the long, hot summer of 1665, the plague comes to London. Sam is a servant boy with no family of his own. When his master dies, Sam is left alone, a prisoner in an empty building with a cross on the door to mark it as a plague house.

The first of Sam's adventures. Can he escape? And even if he does, will he be able to survive on London's ravaged streets?

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“In sixteen hundred and sixty-six,

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Left alone and homeless by the Great Plague, Sam struggled to survive. He was lucky to get a job working for the Giraud family. Though Andre, the son of his boss, doesn't make life easy.

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The Gunpowder Plot Unclassified:

Secrets Revealed!

Nick Hunter

The Gunpowder Plot
could have potentially destroyed the House of Lords, taking with it countless lives, including that of King James I of England. How was this great tragedy prevented?

From Robert Catesby to Guy Fawkes and exactly how this plot was uncovered,
The Gunpowder Plot Unclassified
takes readers on a journey back in time to discover the plans behind this incredible part of history and how they were prevented just in time.

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