The Great St Mary's Day Out

Summary

''Everyone deserves to get away for a bit. Even the miscreants at St Mary's. Astonishingly, Dr Bairstow has declared a holiday. Even more astonishingly – he's paying for it. Needless to say, there are strings attached. The trip is to record the 1601 performance of Hamlet, with Shakespeare himself in the role of the Ghost. It doesn't go well, of course. With Dr Bairstow and Mrs Mack turning a simple visit to a street market into a public brawl, Professor Rapson inadvertently stowing away on a vessel bound for the New World, and Shakespeare himself going up in flames, it would seem that Max, of all people, is the only one actually completing the assignment.''

Spoiler Plot Summary for short story The Great St. Mary's Day Out (GSMDO)
 * Dr. Bairstow takes nearly everyone in St. Mary's to see Shakespeare's Hamlet.
 * Max, Peterson, and Leon are still trying to determine if Markham and Nurse Hunter are really married.
 * Ms. Sykes, Dr. Dowson, Professor Rapson, Keller (Security) and Afferton went to the docks to check out the ships moored under London Bridge.
 * Dr. Bairstow, Ms. North, Mrs. Enderbee, Mrs. Mack, and Major Guthrie went to the markets to investigate Tudor food and habberdashery.
 * Max, Peterson, Evans and Markham (Security), and Ms. Lingoss explore Barrow Street and London Bridge (the only bridge across the Thames).
 * The Professor wanders onto a ship and has a great time asking the crew all about it. Peterson and Evans go to help sort the situation out before the ship sails across the Atlantic. Their solution is to give rum to everyone, which delays the sailing, giving the Professor time to get off the ship.
 * When someone tried to pick Mrs. Mack's pocket, she hit him between the eyes with a skillet. When a market stall is overturned, they sneak away in the chaos.
 * At the play start, only Max's team is in place. When Shakespere's Ghost costume catches fire, Markham jumps on stage and gets the flames out.
 * Shakespere and Markham disappear from the stage (dropped through a trap door on the floor?). When the Ghost returns to the stage, Markham is playing the role of the Ghost.
 * Peterson, Evans and the Professor's group give up on the show and hit the pub.