All of the women of the house immediately rushed to the kitchen window to see what was going on outside and with the sound of anger intensifying I decided I would go out to try and diffuse the situation. On my attempt to stand from my seat both Mrs Hopkin and Mair put a hand on my shoulders and pushed me back down and Nellie shook her head at me as an indication to stay put.
“Who is it? At least tell me what they’re talking about,” I pleaded.
“It’s Arthur,” Mair replied, but she stopped short of translating what either of the men were saying to each other.
The commotion continued for several more minutes before Mr Hopkin came back inside, seemingly unscathed but red-faced and visibly angry. He began to converse in Welsh with the others and I heard my name come up a couple of times as they each took glances at me. I refrained from speaking up or interrupting and instead sat listening as though I had any clue what was being discussed until, as if suddenly remembering I was in the room, Mrs Hopkin came and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. She cast a look over at her husband that indicated that it was time for him to stop.
“I’ve got a mind to go and speak with that boy’s father,” he said, switching back to English. “Talking to me like that in my own home. If he were my son I’d have taken the belt to him long ago.”
“I’d like to see that,” Mair added, moving away from the window and taking her seat again beside me. Mrs Hopkin sat down on the other side of me and took both my hands into hers and gave me one of those smiles that you give to someone just before you tell them something bad.
“We want you to know, John and I, that we don’t think you had anything to do with Jack running away, no matter what anyone else might be saying in the village.”
I looked around perplexed at all the faces staring back at me. “What? What are people saying? I’ve never even met your son, I promise.” I felt feeble professing my innocence to a situation I knew nothing about, especially to the parents of the missing man, but the last thing I wanted if I was to be stuck here was to be accused of kidnap. Or worse.
“We know that, don’t we John?” She looked up at her husband and he gave a nod but stayed silent. “But it seems Mr Morgan thinks otherwise. He’s convinced you know where Elinor is. He’s demanding that we put you out on the street.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” I said.
“Well we aren’t, you’ve no worry of that.”
“Maybe If I just speak to him I ca-”
“There’s no talking to him,” Mair interjected. “He won’t listen. The whole village knows that they’ve run off and as soon as they’re settled we’ll get a letter to say as much, just you watch. If it wasn’t for...” she paused herself, looked at Mr Hopkin and reconsidered her words. “Well let’s just say we all thought they’d get together in the end and this is just how they’ve gone about it. Arthur needs to accept that.”
I glanced over at Mr Hopkin, jaw clenched and eyes facing the ceiling and wondered what Mair was about to say.
“Right, that’s quite enough of this nonsense,” Mrs Hopkin said, letting go of my hands. “This food won’t cook itself.”
I stood from my chair ignoring the looks from everyone around the table and walked out into the back yard. Before the door had even had time to close behind me, Mair was following me through it.
“Don’t let him upset you,” she said as I paced around the yard.
“I don’t care about him,” I said, pointing off into nothingness. “I just want to go home and I don’t want to bring any trouble to the farm while I’m stuck here. They’ve already lost a son and now they have an extra mouth to feed and village busybodies to fend off. It isn’t fair.” I was trying not to raise my voice but I could feel myself getting louder and angrier with every word.
“Who does he think he is coming up here and threatening them? Telling them who can and can’t stay under their roof?” I ceased my pacing and turned to face Mair head-on. “Fucking wanker,” I spat out.
She looked a bit taken aback by my language at first but then her eyes went wide and her lips turned up into a big devilish grin.
“Well,” she dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned in close to me, her eyes darting around to make sure nobody could hear her, “that fucking wanker is the son of the man who owns half of the land around these parts. Most of the people in the village are just tenants on his land and know better than to speak back. There’s also the fact that the local constable is Arthur’s cousin and you’ve got yourself a family who think they can do as they wish and a village too afraid to tell them otherwise.”
I indicated to the house behind us. “Does he own this place?”
“No, and it’s a good job for everyone that he doesn’t or you’d all likely end up on the street but that doesn't mean he won’t try to make things difficult for them and you.”
“I still think I should go and speak to him.”
“You’d only make things worse. You’ll be gone in the morning and then you won’t have to ever see each other again.”
I considered her comment for a moment. The carriage into the city would be arriving the next day to take me away but I had no money and nowhere to go. “Actually,” I said, “I was thinking of maybe staying for a little while. Just until I can earn enough to pay back Mr Hopkin and buy a ticket home. Assuming they let me, anyway.”
“Of course they will,” Mair smiled at me. She looped her arm into mine and began walking us back towards the house. “And if they don’t, we’ll sneak you in at my house until you’re on your feet again. I suppose that means I’m going to be stuck looking after you for a few more weeks?”
I smiled and looked down at her. “I’m afraid so.”
As we reached the back door I could hear footsteps running along the cobbles beside the house. Expecting the return of Arthur, I put myself between Mair and whoever was approaching and prepared myself for a fight, but the man who rounded the corner was unfamiliar to me. He was coated with sweat and panting heavily and as he came to a stop, he rested his arm on the corner of the house to catch his breath.
“Ioan?” Mair questioned, puzzled to see the man standing before us. “What’re you doing up here?”
“It’s the mine,” he panted. His eyes went wide and I watched as Mair’s face changed to a look of dread. “It’s blown, Mair. The mine’s blown.”