Copper Kingdom Read Free

stream.
    â€˜There’s still the smell of fish,’ she said desperately. ‘It’s in the wood, nothing will shift it.’
    Davie rose to his feet, like a man about to go to his doom. ‘Don’t fret about that, girl.’ His voice held bitterness. ‘There’s no one to notice, ’cept us.’
    The silence was heavy, a coal moved in the grate and the room was full of shadows. ‘I’ll just be a minute, Dad,’ Mali said. ‘I’m going to cover the cart with a piece of silk.’
    In the room upstairs, the window stood open and a rush of cold January air swept over Mali, but it was not from coldness she shivered. She would not look towards the double bed but rummaged beneath it, dragging out the trunk, selecting the material from sense of touch rather than sight, for the room was almost dark.
    She left the place quickly, closing the door with a sigh of relief. She knew that Mam would not hurt her while she was alive so why should she fear her in death? Yet she was glad to reach the warmth of the kitchen once more.
    She paused to catch her breath before going towards the back door. ‘I won’t be a minute, Dad.’
    Outside, she heard Big Jim breathing gently as she covered the rough boards with the silk.
    â€˜It’s all right, boy, I won’t keep you standing here much longer,’ she said reassuringly.
    â€˜Come on girl, time you were dressed.’ Her father was calling to her from the doorway. ‘Go on, your job is finished, it’s all up to me now.’
    In her small room, Mali leaned against the windowsill, sighing deeply. She listened to the heavy tread of her father’s footsteps as he entered the next bedroom and she closed her eyes, not wanting to imagine his task.
    She pressed her hands to her face, wondering how her life could have changed so much in the space of a few short months. Now the very cottage in which she had been born was no longer hers. The copper boss owned it and would want it back, for yesterday Dad had been dismissed from his job.
    Mali flung off her damp apron with the smell of soda still clinging to it. It was good to feel anger against someone and the owner of the Richardson Copper company would do very well indeed.
    It had been wrong of him to give Davie his marching orders when he had worked all his life at the furnace mouth. It was so unjust that because Davie had been forced to spend time with his sick wife these last weeks, he was to be no longer employed by the richest family in Sweyn’s Eye.
    Her anger faded as panic began to beat within her. She could vividly imagine how it would feel to have their new possessions put out of the house into the dust of the lane, for she had seen such a thing happen when she was a child. Once the copper had done with you it was out into the streets and no going back.
    She dressed quickly, the cold bringing goose bumps to her flesh. Her crisp blouse with its Peter Pan collar was quickly buttoned over her woollen chemise. She drew her one good flannel skirt up over her boots and stood for a moment, hands against her cheeks, summoning up the strength to face the coming ordeal.
    Her father’s voice rang out harshly in the stillness, calling to her that he was ready. She pulled on her shawl and hurried down the stairs, ignoring the trembling of her limbs.
    Davie’s only concession to the occasion was that he had slicked down his hair with water in a vain attempt to tame the unruly curls. His shirt sleeves were rolled up above the elbows and only his waistcoat offered any protection from the chill of the evening air.
    â€˜You’ll be cold, Dad,’ Mali said, and her tongue felt thick in her mouth. He shook his head without replying and, silently, she followed him outside.
    The cart drew Mali’s eyes and she saw that the dark silk now covered the coffin. The horse had been standing in patient submission and jerked into movement at the clicking of