Black-eyed Devils Read Free Page B

asked in confusion.
    â€˜It’s what the colliers call Irish blacklegs,’ Amy whispered.
    Jim’s face darkened in anger. ‘Look at Amy again and you’ll go back to Ireland in a box.’
    â€˜Dad, Tom is Father Kelly’s nephew,’ Amy said swiftly.
    â€˜Why are you here?’ Jim demanded of Tom.
    Tom wasn’t sure whether Amy’s father meant Tonypandy or the picket line so he gave both explanations. ‘To say goodbye to my uncle because I’m on my way to America. There was a spot of bother in town. I volunteered to escort Miss Watkins here as my uncle was busy on parish business.’
    â€˜What kind of bother?’ Jim asked Amy.
    â€˜One of the London policemen told me to warn Jack that he’s been seen digging in the drift mines.’
    â€˜Damn him,’ Jack said angrily.
    â€˜Language, boy. Ladies present,’ his father scolded.
    â€˜What we supposed to do, Dad? Freeze and starve to death so Arnold Craggs and management can make us work for next to nothing again?’
    â€˜Quiet, Jack. We’ll talk about this when we get home.’
    â€˜Mr Kelly, you’ve met my father Jim Watkins. This is my eldest brother Jack and my brother Mark.’ Amy tried to divert Jack’s attention before he started an argument that would put their father in an even worse mood. ‘Where’s Mathew?’
    â€˜Helping the farmer with his potatoes,’ Jack answered. It was the excuse the miners gave the police whenever they were looking for someone. It meant that Mathew was doing something he shouldn’t. Like scavenging for wood and coal on colliery property.
    Jim finally shook hands with Tom. ‘I’m sorry if I misjudged you, boy. But a lot of the blacklegs are Irish. However, saying that, there isn’t a man or woman in Tonypandy who doesn’t respect your uncle. He’s a good man.’
    â€˜Thank you, sir. That’s good to know.’
    â€˜Go home, Amy,’ Jim ordered. ‘It’s freezing and likely to get colder. Tell your mother we’ll be home around seven o’clock.’
    â€˜I will, Dad.’
    â€˜Thank Annie for the tea?’ Gwilym held up his tin can.’
    â€˜I will, Uncle Gwilym.’
    â€˜There’s no need to walk Amy home,’ Jim said to Tom. ‘She knows the way well enough.’
    â€˜It’s me that doesn’t know the way, Mr Watkins. I told my uncle I’d meet him back at the soup kitchen. I’ll never find it from here without Miss Watkins’s help.’
    â€˜I have to go there anyway, Dad, to help out.’ Amy pulled the hood of her cloak down against the wind. The temperature seemed to have dropped since she had stopped walking.
    â€˜Aren’t you meeting the boys to go rabbiting with the dogs today, Mark?’ Jim asked.
    â€˜Yes, Dad.’
    â€˜Then you can walk Amy and Tom Kelly to the hall.’
    Mark pushed his hands deep into the pockets of his old working jacket in an effort to keep warm. ‘If we’re going, Amy, let’s go.’
    â€˜Hope you have more luck today than you did yesterday, Mark. As I probably won’t see you again, Mr Kelly, good luck in America.’ Jim couldn’t resist smiling at the look of disappointment on Tom’s face.

CHAPTER THREE
    â€˜I walked Miss Watkins to the picket line because Father Kelly thought there might be trouble there. But it looked peaceful enough,’ Tom said to Mark as they headed into town. Given Amy’s father’s attitude and her brother’s presence, Tom hadn’t offered Amy his arm.
    â€˜Fighting only breaks out when management try to smuggle blacklegs in to take our jobs. Would you believe it, Amy, they hid them in an empty coal cart this morning. Dad and some of the others stopped it from going through the gates. They climbed up and lifted the tarpaulin to find six of the bastards … ’
    â€˜Language,’ Tom