Year of Wonders: Part 2: Among Those That Go Down to the Pit Summary & Analysis

When Elinor and Anna return to the rectory, they find Mompellion in the churchyard, furiously digging one grave after another. He’s exhausted, but he refuses to stop, since six people need to be buried right away and the sexton, whose job it is to dig graves, was overtaxed by the unceasing work and died of heart failure that morning. Anna worries that Mompellion suffer the same fate, since he spends all his time attending to the dead and dying and never sleeps. She suggests that they find another man to do the work, but Mompellion says there aren’t enough healthy men to carry out the normal work of the village as it is.

Mompellion performs rites over the dead and immediately leaves to attend those who are sick that evening. Elinor worries aloud that the force of his will is greater than the strength of his body. She says that his will makes him “do what any normal man cannot do.”

The next day, Anna accompanies Mompellion to the Merrill farm, where Jakob Merril is dying. Brand, still living at the farm, is distracting Jakob’s son Seth while Anna relieves the ten-year-old Charity of the household chores, preparing food for their supper. Jakob confesses to Mompellion his guilt over his treatment of his late wife, Maudie; he says he was never kind to her and spent all their money on drink and prostitutes. Now, he worries that God is inflicting punishment for his sins on his children, who as orphans will be destitute and vulnerable to exploitation, likely to end up married too early or languishing in a poorhouse.

Mompellion comforts Jakob, telling him that even sins and “low ways” originate with God. Even the lustful King David was favored by God, who gave him the Psalms. God has taken Maudie away to a better life in heaven, and when Jakob dies they will be able to reconcile.

On a more earthly note, Mompellion says that God has sent Brand to Jakob as a gift, to protect and take care of his children. He arranges for Jakob to leave his farm jointly to Brand, Charity, and Seth. When they leave, the children are comforted and Jakob is ready to die, finally at peace with himself.

That night, Mompellion has to dig two more graves without even a pause for dinner, and Anna knows he can’t go on like this. Reluctantly, she visits Josiah’s cottage, where she finds her many stepsiblings ill-fed and bearing bruises and her father still in bed. Pretending to be deferent and respectful, she begs him to undertake the job of gravedigger, offering to pay him in lambs from her flock. He agrees, and Anna is happy to have lightened Mompellion’s burdens.

As the winter progresses, Anna is so busy nursing the sick she barely has time to sleep. She doesn’t even notice the passing of Yuletide, instead marking time by the babies she delivers, to Kate Talbot and Lottie Mowbray.

Since most laborers and skilled workers are sick, the town doesn’t produce enough to support itself and relies for sustenance on the Earl of Chatsworth, who continues to send provisions diligently. On the other hand, while the Bradfords are safe and sound in Oxforshire, they send neither money nor food or even any words of support.

Anna and Elinor turn the rectory kitchen into a laboratory, in which they experiment with different ways of preparing herbs in order to best “extract a plant’s virtues.” They make teas, syrups, and salves, which are used for two main purposes: to alleviate pain in those afflicted by the plague, and to strengthen the healthy and prevent them from getting sick. They even embark on a primitive public health campaign, teaching people how to recognize wild plants that are good for their health and immunity.

Anna comes to dread Sundays, since the empty pews in the church emphasize the limitations of their attempts to “arrest the Plague’s ravages.” However, to show solidarity in the face of catastrophe, the Puritan Thomas Stanley begins attending services, as well as Eyam’s few non-conformist families. Moreover, Elinor invites Anna to share her pew, saying that their work together has made them family. Anna regards these changes as “wonders.”

However, in March Mompellion closes the church, since the plague thrives in warm weather and large assemblies are an opportunity for contagion. Instead, they will meet in Cucklett Delf, a large field where families can stand at a safe distance from each other. Mompellion continues explaining the plague as the test of a loving God, saying that even the most loving parents must inflict punishment on children so that they grow into good adults.

The villagers are devastated at having to give up one of their few sustaining rituals – even more so when Mompellion says that, to stop the spread of disease, they must bury the dead immediately on their own property rather than in the hallowed ground of the churchyard. The congregation almost revolts, and the strain of calming them causes Mompellion to faint. However, Mr. Stanley steps forward and scolds the congregation for clinging to superstitions, reminding them that God will know where the dead are buried even if it isn’t in the churchyard. As Brand carries a dazed Mompellion out of the church, the congregation recites Psalm 88, a desperate plea for god’s help. Mompellion continues to whisper the psalm even as he falls asleep in the rectory.

While Mompellion continues to attend to the dying, Elinor and Anna take on the case of nine-year-old Merry Wickford, the daughter of Quaker couple George and Cleath Wickford. The Wickfords moved to Eyam after they were run out of another town for their dissenting faith. One night, George Wickford saw a shooting star, which local superstitions said indicated the location of lead seams in the moors. George staked a claim and worked at it with his entire family to produce the dish of ore required by law to prove the seam was good and cement ownership of the claim. The mine claim was the sole sustenance of the Wickford family, lifting them out of poverty; but now the plague has killed the entire Wickford family except for Merry, who risks having her claim “nicked” by another miner, David Burton, since she can’t produce a dish of ore every nine weeks, the amount stipulated by law to keep a claim.

As the ninth week approaches, Anna informs Elinor of the problem and Elinor suggests that they “get the dish out” themselves. Anna thinks this is even more ill-advised than Elinor’s insistence that she become a midwife; her own husband died in a mine accident, and women generally aren’t allowed in the mines out of a superstition that they cause bad luck. However, Elinor is set on undertaking the task and even lies to Mompellion about their whereabouts, so he doesn’t do it himself and die of exhaustion.

Anna and Elinor go to the Wickford cottage, where Merry now lives alone. When they tell her they intend to save her mine claim, she is elated and decides to help them. The women arm themselves with Sam’s old tools and the Wickford’s leather mining suits and hats. Elinor remarks wryly that her highborn ancestors would disapprove of her descent into common labor, while Anna reflects that Sam would be horrified if he knew what danger she was exposing herself to.

Anna and Elinor descend via ladder into the mine, which is slick, wet and dark. At any moment, the walls could cave in, or they could slip and injure themselves fatally. Remembering her husband’s death, Anna panics, but Elinor calms her and cautions her not to “let your fears be your master.” The women follow the trail of old pick-work and, when it ends, begin chipping on the rock. The work is punishingly hard, even for Anna, who has spent her whole life doing hard manual labor. But for Anna the greatest challenge is keeping her fear and frustration at bay, especially as after hours they have only eked out a small amount of “bouse,” or viable ore.

Finally, Elinor admits that they won’t be able to produce a dish by the end of the day. Anna knows another technique to extract ore, called fire-setting. It’s a complicated and volatile process and caused the accident that killed Sam, so she’s reluctant to suggest they try it. But when she sees Merry’s disappointed face she tells Elinor, who thinks they should take the risk.

Anna and Merry gather wood and tinder, then drip cold water into the mine and cram boughs of wood into every crevice in the walls. Anna insists that Elinor climb out of the mine and leave her to face the final danger alone. As she lights the fire and smoke begins to fill the mine shaft, she reflects that she’d rather die of the plague than down here, alone.

The ore begins to fall from the walls, but large slabs of it pin Anna down. Mud fills her mouth and she knows she will die, but as she loses consciousness she is calmed by a hallucination of Jamie and Tom, their faces sharper and clearer than they have been for a long time.

Anna regains consciousness to find Elinor and Merry, neither of whom actually left the mine as instructed, frantically working to free her. She finally crawls out of the mine and they stumble into the village, covered in mud, to present the ore to the Barmester (a local judge), who is stunned that two women have achieved this feat. When Mompellion arrives Anna worries he will be angry, but instead he laughs and proudly embraces his wife.

Everyone goes to the Miner’s Tavern – even Elinor, who normally couldn’t put her gentlewoman’s reputation at risk by frequenting such a seedy locale. The miners applaud the women for their work, except for the frustrated David Burton, and the Barmester says that although a miner could nick the claim in another nine weeks, no one will be shameless enough to do so.

Anna goes to sleep nursing bruises on her face and back, but sleeps better than she has since her flirtation with the poppy oil. She’s satisfied that for once since the onset of the plague, something has “come out right.”