Lodestone Book 2: Of Greed & Lies & Puppets

Part 4

'There it is, they're coming!' Flora called. She scurried off from her watch to warn the others.

The trap doors swung open and the personnel lift of The Righteous Anglian Mining Company Of Our Lady's Hallowed Earth began its descent.

'I hope the ore's had enough time to charge. With the poor quality of the load this time, we need every last minute in the beam,' Henry said as he hoisted the sacks down.

'There's no way of knowing which bag has good rock, so we may as well grab one each and hope for the best,' said Irene.

'Good luck everyone,' said Zachary.

'We all know someone isn't going to have good luck because their bag will be full of rubbish, don't we?' Percy gave a snarky response.

'Shut up Percy, you know what he means,' said Flora.

'Well it's true!' Percy retorted with sleep-deprived grumpiness.

'Then I hope it's you!' Flora clapped back.

In the hurry to reach the lift before it touched down, Aisling's bag snagged and tore. The ore inside spilled among the rocks. Even by the dim light of her lantern she could see with dismay that her bag was already filled with off-cuts and overburden.

Aisling scooped handfuls back into the ruptured sack, but much of it was lost in between loose stones. In her desperation to bring the bag back up to weight, Aisling stuffed the gold nugget inside.

The Company's lift jerked to a halt, this time a short distance before it crashed to the ground.

'By God, Corporal, you'll get it right one of these days, so help me!' The Duchess's muffled scream could be heard from inside.

The lift jerked down further, again came to an abrupt halt, but had still not met the ground.

'Corporal!' There was a joint yell from the Duchess and Sergeant.

'Sergeant, don't shout over me!' The Duchess shrieked.

The lift jerked down a couple of times more, until it came to land on the cavern floor with the gentlest touch, and the doors were hauled open.

'...can't help it, stopping a short way above ground like that. 'Least I'm not crashing to the ground like before. It's hard to time it,' the Corporal gave a petulant stream of mumbling excuses.

The Sergeant clutched his belly and looked unwell from the motion, and the Duchess stood with her eyes screwed shut and nostrils flared as she fought with her temper.

'We have arrived for the first weekly exchange of supplies and goods delivery. Our Lady be praised,' the Duchess announced in a strained voice. Veins stood out on her neck.

The Duchess performed the hand gesture of the order of The Righteous Anglian Mining Company of Our Lady's Hallowed Earth. The gesture was mimicked by the Sergeant and Corporal with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

'In register order, I want you to approach the lift with your delivery where it will be quality checked and weighed. Supplies shall then be dispensed according to satisfaction. Are we clear?' The Duchess' voice rang out and dislodged a nearby stalactite.

The miners gave a hotchpotch variety of responses, varying from "We are clear," "Clear ma'am" or "Yes, we understand."

'Who said that?' snapped the Sergeant. 'One of you said "Yes, your majesty."

The miners remained silent.

'Well, own up! Which cheeky sod said that?' roared the Sergeant. He leaned in past the lift's doorframe to glare at the miners.