by Ann Benson
Her eyes twinkled.
Chaucer tipped his hat to her and said, “That settled, I bid good day to you, Mother.”
“What, without a story?”
“You hold one in your hands,” he said with a smile. And with that, he turned his horse around and rode out along the path to the meadow. The oaks let him pass without so much as a puff of air. In the middle of the field, he got down off his horse and picked up a small handful of earth. He put it to his nose and took in its pungent odor, then placed it on the ground again and patted it reverently back in place.
About the Author
ANN BENSON lives in Connecticut with her husband and is the mother of two grown daughters. She is also the author of the acclaimed novels The Plague Tales, The Burning Road, and Thief of Souls. She is an avid and expert beader, and has written eight books on beadwork.
Also by Ann Benson
The Plague Tales
The Burning Road
Thief of Souls
THE PHYSICIAN’S TALE
A Delacorte Press Book / December 2006
Published by Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2006 by Ann Benson
Delacorte Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Benson, Ann.
The physician’s tale / Ann Benson.
p. cm.
1. Physicians—Fiction. 2. Healers—Fiction. 3. Great Britain—History—14th century—Fiction. 4. Plague—Fiction. 5. Survival—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.E547659P48 2006
813'.54—dc22 2006046260
www.bantamdell.com
eISBN: 978-0-440-33645-7
v3.0