Free Gracie's Sin by Freda Lightfoot Page B

two trestles and using a sharp knife and firm downward sweeps, the skin of the props was sliced away.
    ‘As is the skin from my knuckles,’ yelped Gracie, but her skill improved with practise. It also taught them why it was important for them to remove all the small branches and arms, not only for the safety of the miners, but for the poor soul who had to do this job all day.
    After that they were given helmets, so heavy Gracie could barely keep her head upright, and promised a ride in a cage that went deep into the ground.
    ‘Hell’s teeth, I’m not sure I fancy that,’ Lou whispered. ‘Why do we need to go?’
    ‘Because,’ said the Super, right in her ear, ‘you’re the ones cutting the poles which will hold the roof up for the miners. If you’ve been down a mine yourselves, you’ll know how it feels and make sure that you cut strong ones.’
    The point was certainly driven home as they were led through the shafts and galleries where the men worked, and the purpose of various pieces of machinery carefully demonstrated. There was electric light for part of the way but they were then shown shorter, narrower passages where the miners were expected to work in difficult and cramped conditions, where they were often dependent upon the lamps affixed to their helmets. The atmosphere grew hot and airless, though the ventilation fans were working normally. It was explained to them about the pumps, and how these were constantly at work, preventing the mine from flooding.
    Today, being a Sunday, the miners were not working and the silence was profound, broken only by the constant dripping of water and strange creaking that echoed in the empty vastness. Their guide carried a candle and a canary in a cage, both of which he used to test the quality of the air at the head of each shaft. When they reached the coal face, he showed them the pitprops, some of them cracked and bent.
    ‘Don’t worry, girls. These aren’t any of yours. They’ve been here a long time,’ their guide reassured them. Even so, they felt guilty, as if they were responsible for sending inferior wood.
    He offered them all a turn with a pickaxe to cut some coal, which they all tried with great trepidation. On the way back in the lorry, Lou said that the next time they were felling softwoods for pitprops, she’d make doubly sure that they chose good strong poles with no sign of weakness in any of them.
    Gracie agreed. She’d felt quite certain that the great mass of earth above her head had been about to collapse on top of her and press her into the blackness. But despite these fears, she’d gained a great deal from the trip. More than she felt comfortable with.
     
    Gordon was waiting for them when they arrived back at camp. He lifted Lou bodily from the back of the lorry and carried her off to great whoops of delight from the other girls.
    ‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,’ chorused Tess and Jeannie together.
    ‘To the woods!’ yelled Enid.
    ‘I think not.’ The voice of Matron boomed out and poor Gordon very nearly dropped his beloved in the mud as he instantly responded with a smart salute.
    ‘Have you permission to be on this site, sailor?’
    ‘No sir... er ma’am. I mean, I’ve got a late pass. Just for tonight.’
    ‘This is a work area. And women only.’ Matron hoisted her ample bosom onto her folded arms and glared at him.
    ‘Yeah, I can see that.’ His eyes roved over the beaming faces surrounding him, all filled with curiosity and avid interest at this gorgeous hunk of male they’d discovered in their midst. Lou decided it was time to pitch in with her four pennyworth. The sooner she got her lovely Gordon away from their adoring gaze, the better.
    ‘What he means is he understands all of that but just popped in to let me know he was here, that he’d be available later.’
    ‘Ooh,’ cried a voice from the crowd. ‘Is he taking bookings?’
    Fresh gales of laughter from the audience and a few more ribald remarks.