Read Online A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett - Free Book Online Page B

fired. Just as Jay’s gun went off, a booted foot kicked the barrel. It jerked upward, and the ball went harmlessly up into the air. Fear and guilt possessed Jay’s heart and he looked up into the enraged face of Sir George.
    “You murdering little bastard,” his father said.

7
    T HE DAY IN THE OPEN AIR MADE L IZZIE SLEEPY, AND soon after supper she announced that she was going to bed. Robert happened to be out of the room, and Jay politely sprang up to light her way upstairs with a candle. As they mounted the stone staircase he said quietly, “I’ll take you down the mine, if you like.”
    Lizzie’s sleepiness vanished. “Do you mean it?”
    “Of course. I don’t say things I don’t mean.” He grinned. “Do you dare to go?”
    She was thrilled. “Yes!” she said. Here was a man after her own heart! “When can we go?” she said eagerly.
    “Tonight. The hewers start work at midnight, the bearers an hour or two later.”
    “Really?” Lizzie was mystified. “Why do they work at night?”
    “They work all day too. The bearers finish at the end of the afternoon.”
    “But they hardly have time to sleep!”
    “It keeps them out of mischief.”
    She felt foolish. “I’ve spent most of my life in the next glen and I had no idea they worked such long hours.” She wondered if McAsh would be proved right and the visit to the pit would turn her view of coal miners upside-down.
    “Be ready at midnight,” Jay said. “You’ll have to dress as a man again—do you still have those clothes?”
    “Yes.”
    “Go out by the kitchen door—I’ll make sure it’s open—and meet me in the stable yard. I’ll saddle a couple of horses.”
    “This is so exciting!” she said.
    He handed her the candle. “Until midnight,” he whispered.
    She went into her bedroom. Jay was happy again, she noted. Earlier today he had had another row of some kind with his father, up on the mountain. No one had seen exactly what happened—they had all been concentrating on the deer—but Jay missed his stag and Sir George had been white with rage. The quarrel, whatever it was, had been easily smoothed over in the excitement of the moment. Lizzie had killed her stag cleanly. Both Robert and Henry had wounded theirs. Robert’s ran a few yards, then fell, and he finished it off with another shot; but Henry’s got away, and the dogs went after it and brought it down after a chase. However, everyone knew something had happened, and Jay had been quiet for the rest of the day—until now, when he became animated and charming again.
    She took off her dress, her petticoats and her shoes, then she wrapped herself in a blanket and sat in front of the blazing fire. Jay was such fun, she thought. He seemed to seek adventure, as she did. He was good-looking, too: tall, well dressed, and athletic, with a lot of wavy fair hair. She could hardly wait for midnight.
    There was a tap at the door and her mother came in. Lizzie suffered a guilty pang. I hope Mother doesn’t want a long chat, she thought anxiously. But it was not yet eleven: there was plenty of time.
    Mother was wearing a cloak, as they all did to go from one room to another through the cold passages of Jamisson Castle. She took it off. Underneath she had on a wrap over her nightclothes. She unpinned Lizzie’s hair and began to brush it.
    Lizzie closed her eyes and relaxed. This always took her back to her childhood. “You must promise me not to dress as a man again,” Mother said. Lizzie was star tied. It was almost as if Mother had overheard her talking to Jay. She would have to be careful: Mother had a remarkable way of guessing when Lizzie was up to no good. “You’re much too old for such games now,” she added.
    “Sir George was highly amused!” Lizzie protested.
    “Perhaps, but it’s no way to get a husband.”
    “Robert seems to want me.”
    “Yes—but you must give him a chance to pay court! Going to church yesterday you rode off with Jay and left Robert behind.