Chapter
Four : The Hour Maketh The Man
It
took several days for Tomas to catch up with some sleep and attain at least a
little bit of colour in his scrawny pale cheeks, during that time Sam carried
on at the quarry working more and more hours while Jake did his level best to
avoid school by dragging his feet with the farm chores and found great entertainment
was to be had with his new friend Tomas. Eileen had kept an eye on the runaway
youth but was touched by how he and Jake had bonded, Tomas was always kept busy
helping Jake feed stock and tend the other farm needs and had fitted in very
well, though she was all too aware that this was just temporary as Tomas would have
to go back to the base and face the consequences for running off, but for now
however he was a very handy addition to Pole Farm.
Jake
showed Tomas many of his tricks and dodges over the next few weeks, he showed
him his favourite rope swing across the fast flowing brook and how to catch
sheep without being dragged for yards across a field, Tomas was intrigued by
the fact he could stand next to a ewe with just the slightest hold just under
the front of her rear leg and the sheep would stand there and not move, it was commonly
known on The Hill as grabbing a ewe “under the hock”, it is still very widely practiced
nowadays and is remarkably effective, Tomas enjoyed his days with Jake and he
caught on quickly for a lad who was brought up in such a large city in Poland. Just as Jake had mentioned the first time he
had met Tomas, the lad was becoming an asset to the farm while Sam worked long
hours in the quarry, Tomas helped with many chores for his bed and food, he was
always very polite. Eileen sat Tomas down one afternoon and brought up the
subject of The Camp and going back to face the music, she noticed a fear in the
lads eyes with mention of the camp that she hadn’t seen since the first day
they had found him, clearly there was something or someone that had frightened
the lad and it was etched on his face. “Never mind Tomas we will speak again,
you go find Jake and help him bring the cattle in there’s a good lad”. But
Eileen knew there would come a day when the truth would have to be faced and
the lad would be forced to return, but for now at least the lad was being fed
and sheltered, a far better situation for all concerned and in any case they
needed his help.
Jake
was walking across the top fields that were so unusually flat for such a hilly
area when Tomas caught up with him, Jake was leading the old mare by the rains
and following the sheep tracks towards the old barn. In the distance there was
a haze of smoke and dust that stood out on the horizon, Tomas pointed to it “What
is that?” the youngster enquired “That’s where Dad is Tomas, that’s the quarry,
it’s a horrible place, noisy and dusty, it frightens me too” “It frightens you?
Why?” Tomas asked looking concerned for his friend, “lots of men get hurt up
there and I worry about my Dad, its long hours and there is very little time to
rest” “can we go see?” Tomas asked, “If dad catches me up there Tomas I will
get my backside tanned” “tanned?” said Tomas looking and pointing at the sun as
he did so, “No you daft beggar, tanned! Smacked! You know!” and with that Jake turned his hips
sideways on and pretended to smack himself on the backside, “Oh I see” said
Tomas “tanned!” as they both chuckled, “we had better not go up there Tomas it’s
a bad place for youngsters to be, come on let’s get back into the yard at home
and see if mum wants owt from the orchards”
With
that the two jumped on the mares back with no saddle on and went hell for
leather back down towards the farm, as they sped across the fern covered
headlands they were stopped by a man with a blackened face, he had been
kneeling down and looking at the hoof of the horse he had been riding, “She is
lame lads, can one of you give me a lift back to the quarry with this fresh
milk for the rest of the lads?” “My dad says I am not allowed up at the quarry
mister” Jake replied immediately, “Aye like as not you are a bit young lad your
Dad is right, but your brother here can go I am sure?” “He is not..” Tomas
poked Jake in the side before he had chance to say anymore, “OK I will take you
not a problem” Tomas tried hard to talk without his accent, but the man was
more interested in getting the milk off the saddle of his lame horse than just
how Tomas spoke. “Take my horse back to the blacksmith at Hopton for me young
man and tell them it’s for The Alexander Mine Co and we need her back as soon
as possible, here is a penny for your troubles,” Jakes eyes lit up, he knew a
penny meant toffees! “OK I will see you later at the farmhouse Tomas” said Jake
and with that he was off like a shot.
Tomas
helped the miner up on to the back of the old mare and the two made their way
up on to the quarry site, Tomas could see what his friend Jake had meant by
frightening, the dust and the noise were so much out of touch with all the raw
beauty that surrounded the site, it was almost surreal. “Drop me here lad I can
walk the rest of the way”, with that Tomas stopped and helped the man down with
his precious milk cargo. As Tomas was about to turn and go a huge rattle
accompanied by a massive cloud of dust heralded the appearance of Sam’s team of
horses as they strained at the full load of Dhustone ore they were pulling out
of the quarry pit, Tomas just sat there for a moment and watched as Sam handled
the horses to perfection, pushing them at just the right speed so as not to
overtax them on the steep climb or make them lose their grip, as they reached
the level of the tipping point Sam looked across at the man carrying the milk
and waived, he then looked to his right and saw Tomas sat on the old mare
looking straight at him, “What the bloody hell” Sam mumbled to himself and with
that shouted out “Whoa Whoa” to the team of horses he had just brought up the
hill, he put the brakes on the outfit and jumped down and strode straight up to
Tomas, “What the bloody hell do you think you are doing lad?” Sam shouted at
the youngster who immediately looked scared to death, “Hold on Sam, that lad
just brought us the milk from the village, my horse went lame and your boy and
his brother helped me out” “Brother?” Sam looked momentarily confused, “Yes my
brother Jake, father” Tomas replied almost immediately, “Oh, right, yes well
then OK in that case lad stop sitting about and go and help your brother with
the feeding” Sam had caught up with what was being said, he winked at Tomas and
Tomas turned the Mare towards Pole Farm, but just at that moment there was a
huge bang as the brake handle that Sam had pulled broke away from its
mountings, it started the trucks moving slowly backwards, pulling the valuable
team of horses with it, Sam ran as fast as his legs could carry him and grabbed
a steel spike from by the dinner hut, he held the spike above his shoulder like
a javelin and threw it at the rear wheel of the last truck in the row, it went
through the wheel and went round until it hit the body of the truck and slammed
against it locking the wheels up as it did, Sam was barely a few feet away as
the whole lot came to a shuddering halt with the horses screaming and jumping
around for all they were worth as they were being pulled backwards.
Sam strode over to the truck and put the
emergency brakes on, but just as he secured the line of trucks the spike
snapped in two and the one half of the spike went off like a bullet and
embedded itself deep into Sam’s shoulder knocking him to the ground and on to
the rail track the trucks were sat on, this set the horses off again and they
pulled and pushed violently as slowly the emergency brake began to fail, Sam
was reeling in agony on the tracks, Tomas shouted but it was too little too
late, Sam lay there dazed for a few moments and suddenly felt a warm liquid
dripping down his arm, he looked and it was his own blood, Sam tried to stand
up but couldn’t because of the spike, “Sam!” Tomas shouted and jumped from the
old mare and raced to calm the team of horses down just as the last truck was
inches from where Sam lay, Tomas went to the lead horses and pulled on their
reins with all his might and they pulled the trucks screeching further up the
track and away from Sam, then Tomas ran to his barely conscious friend, “Go get
the doc lad, he is next to the camp in Ditton, please lad, go now you are my
only hope” Tomas ripped his shirt off and tore it into thin shreds, he bandaged
the wounded Sam up as best he could before leaping on to the old mare. Tomas
rode like he had never done before, he jumped over hedgerows and gates, the old
mare seemed to know the urgency, they galloped across the open fields and down
into Ditton Priors, past the camp where he was a wanted man and straight to the
Doctors doorstep, “Doctor !” shouted Tomas as he jumped from the mare before
she had stopped running “Doctor!” “Steady boy, steady what on earth is the
matter?” Doctor Egan came out wearing just a shirt and bracers with his sleeves
rolled up, “It Sam, he been stabbed by spike up in quarry, please you come
quick, is bleeding!” “Well why didn’t you just say that lad” the Doctor shouted
as he ran inside to get his bag, he grabbed his black stallion by the reins from
the stable opposite his large garden and jumped up on the huge horse as he
shouted at Tomas to lead the way, the two set off at break neck speed.
By the
time the two reached Sam he was out for the count, none of the other quarrymen
had spotted him lying there because of the dust, Doctor Egan tended the stab
wound, Sam being Sam he had pulled the huge metal spike out of his shoulder, “Listen
boy I am going to need your help to save this man, help me put him on his side
so that I can stitch his wound through his back” with that Tomas and the Doctor
turned the big man on his side and he let out an almighty groan as the pain had
started to become all too much even for such a big man as Sam, the boy held his
friend and stopped him from rolling over as the Doctor sewed Sam’s wound up
firstly on his back and then his front, Tomas winced as the Doctor poured neat
Iodine straight into the fresh open wound and Sam’s cry could be heard for
miles. The Doctor bandaged Sam’s chest up and lay him back down and gave the
big man some Morphine as Tomas went over to find some transport in the shape of
a horse drawn cart for the journey to Bridgnorth Infirmary, before long Sam was
surrounded by willing helpers and within minutes Sam was on his way back down
the valley to the hospital.
