Free Firebird by Iris Gower Page A

examined the fading bruises.
    â€˜Well enough to go back to Maura’s house,’ Binnie said. ‘Take a word of advice, Llinos, don’t let that man come anywhere near you, he’s insane.’
    â€˜I know, Binnie, I hate him for what he’s done to you, and to me and my mother come to that.’ Binnie touched her shoulder and sighed. ‘I’d better go. You do understand that my place is with Maura now, don’t you?’
    Llinos forced a smile. ‘Of course. I’ll drive you over to Greenhill, if you like.’
    â€˜Thanks.’ Binnie had been moody and noncommunicative since the beating but now she felt they might just get back to the old footing.
    As she drove away from Pottery Row with Binnie seated beside her, Llinos glanced at his set face and wondered what he was thinking. She could not help wondering if he was going out of her life for ever.
    â€˜You will come back to work when you are fully recovered, won’t you?’
    He was silent for a long moment. ‘Aye, I’ll come back so long as that man keeps away from the place. I swear I’ll be ready for him if he tries anything again.’ Binnie’s voice was low, strained, his anger almost tangible.
    â€˜If once I started hitting him,’ Binnie said, ‘I wouldn’t know when to stop.’
    When she reached Greenhill, Llinos looked around at the small houses and the narrow courts. She watched as a small boy urinated in the street, and wrinkled her nose.
    â€˜It must be difficult to keep up standards in a place like this.’
    Binnie looked at her. ‘Sometimes you sound such a snob, Llinos, do you know that?’
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Llinos was angry, ‘but if these people have to use the middle of the roadway as a privy it’s no wonder that plagues and pestilences begin here.’
    â€˜Go home, Llinos.’ Binnie lifted his small bag of possessions from the cart and climbed down into the road. ‘If you are too high and mighty to see the clean linen blowing on the washing lines and the gleam of the glass in the windows and the scrubbed steps then it’s time you found out what real life is all about.’
    â€˜You think I don’t know?’ Llinos was hurt by his tone. ‘I work like a slave at the pottery, I do all the jobs that the apprentices do and more. I go hungry sometimes and when I fall into bed I ache so much I can’t sleep.’
    Binnie rested his hand on her arm, looking up at her from the roadway, his eyes dark in his pale face. ‘I’m sorry, Llinos, I suppose I’m still out of sorts. I’ll see you soon, right?’ He walked rapidly away and without turning round, vanished into one of the houses.
    After their exchange of angry words, Llinos thought Binnie might give in his notice but to her relief he resumed work the following Monday. His presence made the load lighter for Llinos but somehow the old spirit of camaraderie that had existed between them was gone. Binnie was respectful but that was all.
    Llinos knew, with a sense of loss, that Binnie’s life had changed, he had grown away from her. The easy friendship they had shared had vanished when Binnie had fallen in love with Maura. It was obvious that the Irish girl was far more important to him than Llinos or the Savage Pottery could ever be.
    They worked hard that week. Llinos, Watt, Binnie and the apprentices, as well as some of the women from the row, turned out a sizeable stock of pottery. Old Ben needed to work extra time to keep the fires alight in the kilns.
    Much of the stock was needed to fulfil existing orders. At last, trade seemed to be picking up.
    An enterprise the size of the Savage Pottery should be turning out a great deal more pottery than it was but at least now they were producing enough wares to make it a viable proposition.
    On Saturday night, the workers had time off to relax and spend their wages in town. When everyone had left it