The Black Mountains Read Free Page A

eyes.
    â€œStop it!” she cried, her control gone. “Leave me alone, d’you hear?”
    â€œYes. Leave her alone!” A young man elbowed his way to the front of the group. “Can’t you see she’s a decent girl?”
    â€œOh, sod off, Hall,” the tall lad told him. “ I like a bit of class myself.”
    But the other raised his fist threateningly.
    â€œLeave her. I’m warning you!”
    For a moment they squared up, surely and determined, and Charlotte held her breath. Then the taller lad relaxed, sticking his hands into his pockets and laughing.
    â€œAll right, Hall you can have her. Come on, lads, let’s see what else we can find.”
    Laughing and calling, they rolled off down the street, and when they had gone Charlotte turned to look at the young man who had rescued her. He was no taller than she, wiry, with hair that looked fair in the light of the gas lamp, but he was older than she had first thought—twenty-four, maybe, or twenty-five.
    â€œThank-you, I’m all right now,” she said, but her voice was still uneven.
    He stood looking at her, summing her up.
    â€œI’ll see you home,” he said after a moment “You shouldn’t be out on your own at this time of night.”
    â€œI’ve been at work,” she protested. “We’re not allowed to close the doors while there’s a customer anywhere to be seen, and tonight we had stock-taking as well.”
    â€œThen your father ought to come and meet you,” he told her.
    â€œMy father’s a soldier. He doesn’t live with us,” she replied abruptly. She was still upset by her encounter with the youths, and there was something disconcerting in the way this young man was looking at her. “I’ll be all right. You need not trouble yourself any more.”
    She turned and began to walk, but he fell into step beside her.
    â€œYou might meet more trouble yet. There’s been a rumpus at the pit today, and a lot of lads have come in on the train looking for mischief. They don’t mean any harm, but when they’ve had a drink, well, they get stupid.”
    She cast a sidelong look at him.
    â€œAre you a miner, too?”
    He laughed. “Course, I am. Why?”
    She bit her lip, embarrassed. “ You don’t seem like the others. I’ve heard terrible stories about miners, how they’re always fighting and that. Don’t you know about the notices they put up in Bath when they’re advertising for servants? “ Hillsbridge girls need not apply.” That’s because they’re supposed to be so rough.”
    He laughed again. “They’re no different to you. Except…” He paused, eyeing her appreciatively. “ I haven’t seen any as pretty.”
    â€œOh!” she said, pleased.
    She’d never considered herself pretty. Her mouth was, she thought, too wide, dominating her small, straight nose, and although her eyes were a good, clear blue, the lashes around them were stubby and too light in colour. She’d tried to darken them once with the black-lead her aunt used on the grate but a fine mess she’d made, for it had been days before she’d been able to wash away the last traces of the dark smudges under her eyes.
    â€œI’d like to see you again,” he said.
    Beneath her tight-laced stays her heart began to beat very fast, and she began to feel a little sick again.
    â€œI don’t know your name,” she said.
    â€œI don’t know yours either,” he teased. Then, taking pity on her, he added, “I’m James Hall. Does that make it all right?”
    â€œI don’t know,” she confessed. “And I’m not sure I should tell you my name. You might be up to something.”
    â€œI am. I want to make sure I can find you again,” he told her honestly.
    They turned a corner and came upon a row of small houses whose doors opened directly on