Free A Plague of Sinners by Paul Lawrence Page B

simply write us all a sign telling us to stay or to leave?’
    His eyes widened in sweaty surprise. ‘You have not been read to before?’
    I shook my head wearily. ‘Though now you’ll tell me it depends upon the hour at which the question is asked. What I cannot fathom is how your reading depends on the hour when the plague itself is constant.’
    ‘The answer is simple.’ Price’s nose twitched like a rabbit. ‘You may ask only once. You may indeed discover a different answer each time you ask the question, but only the first answer is true.’
    ‘Is now then a good time to ask?’
    ‘Were I to work out my readings aforehand then the readings would have no value,’ Price explained. ‘That is the rule.’
    ‘Very well, Mr Price,’ I consented. ‘Tell me what to do.’ I sat back and readied to watch him.
    He nodded happily, opened his tome to a fresh page and stabbed his quill into an inkpot. ‘So will I draw the twelve houses of Heaven.’ With great diligence he scratched out a sequence of cross-hatched boxes. ‘Now will I write in the day of the year and the time.’ Which he proceeded to do with utmost care. ‘Now we can assess your fate through the asking of several questions.’ He sat back. ‘First, I might ask if you are likely to live long, which is a question of the first house.Or I might ask if you shall have children, a question of the fifth house. The sixth house might tell us of disease, though it would be better if you had the disease first.’ His smile faded. ‘The eighth house shall tell me of your death, the ninth house the wisdom of a long journey, the tenth house whether or not you shall acquire high office and the eleventh house if you shall have the thing you wish for.’
    I immediately thought of Liz Willis. I unfolded my arms and leant forwards. ‘All sound interesting to my ears.’
    He seemed pleased, and set to penning cramped little symbols all upon the lines, representing the different planets in whatever trajectories they might be today. I recognised the three sticks of Scorpio and the small head and long horns of Taurus. He incised his etchings with great seriousness, tongue stuck between his teeth so hard I feared he might bite off its tip.
    I waited in stifling sufferance for longer than I thought possible before he smiled wistfully and coughed into his hand.
    ‘Not good news?’ I ventured.
    ‘You are certain you have not asked these questions before?’ he asked, brows arched hopefully.
    I shook my head.
    ‘Oh dear.’ He returned to his book. ‘I have rarely seen such a dismal prognosis.’ He grimaced. ‘The Lord of the Ascendant be under the influence of the Sun, which indicates combustion. Also it is unfortunated by the planet that has dominion in the eighth house.’
    ‘What does that signify?’ I asked, dry-mouthed.
    Price put his hands together and squirmed apologetically. ‘That the sickness you are soon to be troubled with shall end your life.’
    I felt a sharp pain in my belly. ‘Plague, then.’
    ‘The ascendant in the fifth house is Scorpio, which indicates ye shall remain barren.’ His brows beetled together to form one thick black line. ‘You don’t have children now?’
    ‘No,’ I confirmed, busy reassuring myself that my belief in astrology was no greater than my belief in God.
    ‘Have ye taken your urine to be inspected by a physician?’ he asked.
    ‘No,’ I replied again. ‘I am not sick.’ Not that I knew of. Some men died sudden of the plague though. Like Hedges, one sneeze was all that signalled it.
    ‘Aye, well, if you do contract the plague then rest assured ye will know of it.’ Price pointed at the ink upon the page. ‘The Lord of the sixth house is an earthly sign, which signifies a long painful fever.’
    ‘Do you have no good news at all?’ I demanded, angry.
    ‘No.’ Price shook his head regretfully. ‘Your significators are extremely afflicted and the Lord of the first house be in conjunction with the Lord of