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ahead, arrest me,’ Tom answered.
    â€˜You slept in this house last night?’ Sergeant Martin questioned.
    â€˜I did,’ Tom acknowledged.
    â€˜In which case we will also have to arrest you, Father Kelly, for harbouring a criminal, and your housekeeper for feeding him.’
    â€˜You can’t do that,’ Tom protested.
    â€˜We can and we will,’ Sergeant Martin threatened.
    â€˜The colliers have been creating trouble in the valley for months. There’s a backlog of cases waiting to go before the courts,’ Constable Shipton warned. ‘You, your uncle and his housekeeper could be kept in prison on remand for months.’
    â€˜My uncle and his housekeeper aren’t responsible for my actions,’ Tom protested.
    â€˜They aided and abetted you.’
    â€˜They’re needed to run the soup kitchen,’ Tom insisted.
    â€˜We’re needed to bring in donations and distribute what little food there is,’ Father Kelly pleaded. ‘Without us, people will go hungry.’
    â€˜The hungrier the better from our point of view,’ Constable Shipton narrowed his eyes. ‘If the people around here were really starving, the men would return to work and the constables and soldiers from outside Wales could go home to their own families.’
    â€˜That’s enough Shipton.’ Sergeant Martin looked at Tom. ‘It’s your choice, boy, either you come with us, or we arrest your uncle and his housekeeper as well as you.’
    â€˜I’ll come with you.’
    Tom saw Constable Shipton reach for the handcuffs clipped to his belt and held out his hands.
    â€˜If you give us your word that you’ll come quietly we won’t handcuff you,’ Sergeant Martin offered.
    â€˜I’ll come quietly.’
    â€˜Put your handcuffs away, Shipton.’
    â€˜Where are you taking Tom?’ Father Kelly asked.
    â€˜Eventually to the colliery. Mr Craggs has had beds made up for the workers in the lamp room.’
    â€˜I’m sorry, uncle.’ Tom apologised. ‘If I’d known what it was like here, I would have never shamed you.’
    â€˜Why didn’t you tell me that you’d signed a contract with management last night?’
    â€˜Because I thought I was just taking a job that paid my passage here. It’s a long way to America. I couldn’t even afford the fare out of Ireland. I thought that if I worked here for a few months I could save the money I’d need for a ship’s ticket.’
    â€˜You must have heard of the strike here, even in Ireland.’
    â€˜I’d heard of it, but I didn’t realize how much the miners were suffering because of it. I only found out when Miss Watkins showed me around today. The last thing I’d do is knowingly hurt you. You have to believe me.’
    â€˜I believe you, boy,’ Father Kelly murmured.
    â€˜Tell the strike leaders, the truth. That I didn’t tell you about the contract I signed with colliery management. If it helps, disown me. And, please tell Miss Watkins, I would never steal another man’s job. Not willingly.’
    â€˜I’ll tell her boy. And I’ll tell the strike leaders that you didn’t know what you were doing when you signed the agent’s paper. Not that it will do any good. Tempers are running too high for anyone to want to listen to the truth.’
    Father Kelly watched Constable Shipton grip Tom’s arm and march him out of the door.

CHAPTER FIVE
    Amy tried to concentrate on peeling apples. But she kept glancing at the door, watching and waiting for Father Kelly or Tom to return. She started every time it opened, and struggled to conceal her disappointment when she saw that it wasn’t either of them. She heard Father Kelly talking to someone before he finally entered the hall. Seconds later she heard the thunder of footsteps and when she looked out of the window she saw a small boy running down the