The Colonel's Spinster - Audrey Harrison Page 0,67

look.”

“I am coming with you,” Prudence said, immediately standing.

“Oh, no you are not, Missy,” Mr. Bamber said pausing mid-step. “You are going to promise me that you will remain here and lock the door behind me.”

“But I―”

“No buts, Prudence. I do not know what is going on, and I am not letting you go headlong into a scrape. I accept you would have been more worried sitting at home, but in this instance you will listen to me and do as I say,” Mr. Bamber said, all his usual mildness gone.

“Fine, but you must promise to return as soon as you can,” Prudence acquiesced.

“No following me?”

“No. I promise. I shall lock the door the moment you leave the office.” She would be troubled the whole time he was out of the mill building but knew she had to obey his wishes. It was not fair for him to be worried about her.

“Good.”

Mr. Bamber left the office with Fred, and Prudence did as she promised. She stood at the window but could see hardly anything, the fog was so thick. When the footsteps of the two men had died away, she was left to listen to the ticking of the clock. Time was going to drag until her father returned.

Mick seemed relieved to see his master arrive at the mill gates. Mr. Bamber did not need to ask what was going on; he could see and hear enough to know there was a problem outside the mill.

Pleading voices begged him to let them into the yard.

“Open the gates,” Mr. Bamber instructed Mick.

“Are you sure, sir?”

“Yes. Otherwise, people are going to get crushed. I have no idea what’s going on, but I do know these people are in danger.”

Mick reluctantly released the lock on the gates and had to step back quickly to get out of the way of the surge of people who stumbled into the now unrestricted space. Dozens of people filled the yard, with more following.

“What’s happening?” Mr. Bamber asked one of the men he recognised.

“There’s rioting started, sir. Some mischief makers from across the Pennines have come to stir up trouble,” the man explained. “They have been charging at mills and causing all sorts of damage. The cavalry are driving them back, but that just means that we at the back were being pushed farther and farther back into smaller places. Thank you for opening the gates.”

Mr. Bamber looked around. It would not be long before the mill yard would fill if people continued to pour in as they were still doing. “You need to return home.”

“We can’t turn everyone around,” the man said. “There are some at the back still wanting to reach the fight at the front. It’s madness.”

“Damn it,” Mr. Bamber muttered half to himself. He turned to Mick. “When the yard is full we close the gates again. I am not letting it overfill, and we just cause a crush in here instead of outside.”

There was some shouting out of the gate, and a group of men rushed into the yard. “Up the workers!” they shouted, waving arms and batons in the air.

Starting to strike anything they could, a few others began to follow them. Mr. Bamber and Mick rushed at the original group but were thrown off in their attempts to stop any damage to the property in the yard.

A hard baton struck Mr. Bamber between his shoulders as he fought with one of the ring leaders. “I stopped you being crushed!” he gasped as the pain ripped across his back.

“You’re making money while your workforce starves,” the man in front of him snarled and brought the baton down on the side of his head.

Mr. Bamber fell to the ground.

*

Fitzwilliam charged along with his fellow cavalrymen. The order had been given to try to disperse the crowd without causing injury. It had been a vain hope.

Since his arrival at the barracks in which they were housed, he had been desperate to get a message to the Bambers or to see Prudence. Unfortunately for him, his late arrival had meant that, as soon as he had been brought up to date with what was happening, he was sent out on duty.

That had been yesterday, but today things had changed.

He had been moving closer to Bamber Mills with the crowds and the cavalry. He had been told that most places were closed for the day, the workers going on strike, but he was uneasy as to whether Mr. Bamber was in the mill. He knew