Sister Agatha knew she had made a big mistake when icy sleet began to fall. She had left the Leper village a few hours before under leaden skies, hoping to catch-up with Father Dubois and her fellow Holy Sisters before nightfall, but there was no sign of the pilgrims on the muddy road as dusk was descending.
The middle-aged nun considered briefly whether to return to the village and shelter, or press-on in the hope of finding her brethren on the road before dark. She guessed that with the bad weather, they had parked-up the wagon to see-out the storm and await her arrival the next day. Surely, they would not be too far ahead.
The trees around her started to bend and swirl as the wind picked-up and sleet and hailstones whipped down upon the small, vulnerable figure as she hunched into the storm. Lightning flashes and thunder boomed, coming closer and closer. A huge gust blew her wimple from her head, which flew-off high into the trees and within moments her hair was soaked, as was the rest of her body, encased within a simple, grey, woollen habit.
Sister Agatha's teeth began to chatter and she shivered uncontrollably with cold, but pressed-on, staggering through the wind and cloying mud of the track. She knew she was in a desperate situation and would likely die right there alone in the wilderness if she could not find shelter and warmth very soon. Another furious blast of wind blew the little Sister into a cart rut full of freezing water; struggling to her knees, she dragged herself to collapse, bedraggled on the grassy verge.
As she faded in and out of consciousness, Agatha was sure she glimpsed within a flash of lightning, a dark horseman looming above her on the road. Perhaps Death himself, or a Horseman of the Apocalypse, come to claim her soul...
The flicker of a small fire was dancing when the nun slowly opened her eyes. The storm was still raging, but sounded somewhat muted, as she realised she was in a small space out of the wind. Looking-up, she could see cathedral-like wooden arches glowing in the firelight and realised that she must be huddled within the hollowed-out centre of an ancient oak tree.