curiousers under way

Part 17 - A Profuse Sanguinary Discharge

Alfie lit a stump of a candle from the embers of the boiler fire and we found a wooden bucket of water and several pieces of lumber and arranged these with a few empty coal baskets about the floor and then we huddled against the boiler brickwork - the water in the boiler was still warm - and settled down to wait.

By this time it was nearly dark and the place was dead silent until the door creaked open and we saw a shower of sparks as someone struck a flint for a lantern. This illuminated two men just as one of them bumped into the wooden prop holding the bucket above the door. The bucket hit one of the men on the head and the water extinguished the lantern.

'Dan,' one of them whispered urgently. 'Dan . . . are y' alright.'

Dan groaned. 'Sod! Summat 'it me 'ead . . . Le' me set awhile.'

'Where be the lantern?'

'Dunno, Nate . . . And I dropped the flint too. 'elp me find it.'

I flapped a rope, dangling from the beam, against the cylinder. It made an eerie tapping and there was another crash followed by curses as Dan or Nate fell over one of the baskets.

'Bloody hell,' Dan said with a quaver. 'Wha' wa' zat?'

Miguel hit the underside of the copper boiler with a steel fire rake. The boom reverberated with a dull resonance.

'Er, Dan . . . there's summat in 'ere.'

'I don't like this Nate.' Dan's teeth were chattering together. 'Le's bugger off afore summat evil 'appens.'

A high pitched ululation echoed around the building. The effect was so unearthly I felt my skin crawl even though I knew it was Alfie with his head inside the furnace door.

A series of thuds, bangs and vulgar words recorded Dan and Nate's blind, erratic progress back to the door which they threw open before they crashed out into the night and battered their way through the coal basket maze outside. We helped them on the way with a chorus of wolf howls accompanied by the Miguel on the boiler drum and then we groped our way back to Mr Hornblower's house with the news.

Late the next morning, we were all at the engine house for the ceremonial inauguration of the engine. Mr Hornblower's wife was there with Megan and Mr and Mrs Watt. Denny, Alfie, Licia, Miguel and I were all standing around looking elegant in our borrowed clothes and everyone in village who could spare the time including all the miners and their families had come for cake and beer. The engine crew had already fired the boiler and the steam was boiling off nicely. The ceremony was short and simple. Mrs Hornblower cut a ribbon and Mr Hornblower opened the steam valve to start the engine and with a roar the engine creaked into action.

'The velocity, violence, magnitude and horrible noise of the engine gives universal satisfaction to all beholders . . . believers or not,' Mr Watt shouted to Mr Hornblower above the cheers and applause.

It started raining just after the ceremonies were finished and the crowd quickly dwindled. Licia went back to the house with Mr and Mrs Hornblower and Megan but Mr Watt wanted to measure the performance of the engine and Denny, Alfie, Miguel and I helped by counting the number of bushel basket of coal burned compared to the number, and the length, of the piston strokes. The stroke length varied, as Mr Watt explained, because air leaked into the cylinder with the steam as it was sucked into the cylinder each time the heavy pump chain pulled the piston up.

Later in the morning, we were enjoying the warmth of the boiler and the engine was roaring away so we didn't notice the carriage which stopped outside the engine house or the man wearing a heavy woolen coat and tricorn hat who came in and tapped Miguel on the shoulder. Miguel and I froze with astonishment for several seconds before I manage to ask. 'What took you so long?'