15th December

Thomas is such a pig. At breakfast this morning, he was making fun of my height. I’m small for my age, see. Lottie and Bert are both half a head taller than me, while Millie can look into my eyes. Thomas towers above everyone except Pa and was strutting about calling me ‘Little Lizzy’.

I gave him a hard punch for that one, which he returned and mother gave us a good clip round the ear for it. I was so glad when he left to go to the mines with Pa and Tim, or he would have ended up even more crippled than Charity Stuart.

Anyway, the skies were turning pink so it was time to head to work. Mr Finnfit was beating someone in the forecourt when we arrived; it was a boy, my age maybe? It didn’t really matter what age he was, only that he was crumpled and bleeding on the ground while everybody watched. No one went to help him. That might put you out of a job and that would make your family suffer and, in these times, you only looked out for your own.

The boy was whimpering, begging for rest from the belt, but he got no such peace from The Boss, “So what if your witch of a mother had another demon? I expect you to be here working everyday!”

What a vile thing to say! Tom called Mrs Hutchison a witch once and Ma, Pa and Granma all hit him. Hard.

But the sentence pulled at my memory. This must be a Samson child, Mrs Samson had recently been ill because of childbirth. He must have stayed with her the care for her and the new baby. What a silly thing to do. Him being at work would benefit him more than staying at home because they’ve got another mouth to feed. If the baby survives and his job goes it will probably die anyway, whether from hunger or illness whose medicine they can no longer afford. Although, many people die of hunger and illness whether they’ve got a job or not!

In the end the excitement died down when the boy finally got inside (The Boss doesn’t hit you once you’re inside because he might get blood on the floor) and the rest of the day was quite uneventful. The boy went to his spot, did his job, went home, just like he should do.