97.The Thief Among The Dead
Beneath the streets of London exist many corpse-inhabited pits in which thousands of victims of the plague were unceremoniously buried. One eerie incident connected with the coming of the plague took place during the extraordinarily hot June of 1665. As the countryside, and indeed many of homes in the City of London became parched, weird symbols began to appear on the doors of residents. These signs were red crosses, daubed by those in fear of death, with many inscriptions accompanying the symbols reading "Lord have mercy on us".
The gloomy streets were choked to death; those who wallowed in the sombre alleyways believed the Devil was coming. The king and his entourage fled the community, leaving the capital to succumb to the plague, as death carts were pushed through the streets, their drivers telling the frightened to "bring out your dead". Those unfortunate souls ravaged by disease were the twisted cadavers dumped in pits, whilst those that survived existed in ghastly terror and dread.
As death stalked the streets of London, so did Robinson, a strange and forlorn being who, like a sick predator looted houses under the cover of night, as families cowered in fear from the shadow of disease. Those that fled their homes left their valuables, and it was Robinson who plucked these personal treasures for personal gain. Robinson then loaded up his rickety wagon and travelled home to the North of the country, expecting to reap his rewards. However, upon arriving he was greeted with disgust. Not for his sins as being a thief, but for the possibility that the man may well have bought the devilish disease with him. He was cast into the wilds, where he washed his treasures and eventually purchased an estate and built a glorious mansion where he would live, die, and also haunt.
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