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down
together.’
    As they began to undress down to their shifts, some of the other girls clustered around them, staring at the newcomers. Nell shouldered her way through and began the introductions, reeling off
names so fast that after a moment Hannah laughed. ‘Oh, stop, stop. I’ll never remember.’
    ‘You’ll get to know us all soon.’ Nell laughed good-naturedly. ‘You’ll be sick of the sight of us all in a bit ’cos we never get away from each
other.’
    Again Hannah nodded, but silently she was thinking, Well, I will. I’ll get out of here sometimes. Walk down the lane to see that nice Mrs Grundy. Climb the hills and . . .
    ‘Come on, we’d best get into bed,’ Nell shooed the others away. ‘She’ll be up in a minute.’
    The ‘she’ was Mrs Bramwell, who walked through both the girls’ and the boys’ dormitories to make sure they were all in bed, to make sure they were all still there.
    The only segregation between the boys and the girls in the apprentice house was in the sleeping arrangements. Everywhere else they mingled freely. It was still dark when the
door of the dormitory was flung open and a tall, broad-shouldered man with a stick walked between the beds, banging the end of each one to wake them.
    ‘Time to get up.’
    Dragging themselves out of bed and shivering in the cold, the girls dressed hurriedly.
    ‘Quick as you can,’ Nell whispered, ‘else you’ll not get a turn in the privy before we have to leave for the mill.’
    ‘What about breakfast?’ Hannah asked.
    ‘They bring it to the mill at eight o’clock. We can’t stop working, you just have to snatch it when you can.’
    Summoned by the bell in the tower on the roof of the main building, they hurried down the steep hill towards the mill, following the clatter of the other children’s clogs.
    Hannah greeted Luke and Daniel. ‘You all right? Sleep all right?’
    ‘Not really,’ Luke yawned. ‘There was a boy in the next bed to us. Joe, I think his name is. Well, he—’
    ‘Snored,’ Daniel added.
    ‘How about you?’ Luke asked.
    ‘Slept like a log. We were both tired.’
    Luke grinned. ‘Is it true you were sent to the punishment room last night?’
    Hannah laughed wryly. ‘Yeah. Made a good start, didn’t I?’
    ‘Whatever did you do? You’ve only been here five minutes. I’d’ve thought even you could’ve kept your nose clean for that long.’
    Hannah pulled a face and murmured, ‘I’ll tell you sometime.’ With her eyes, she gestured towards Jane running alongside her.
    Luke glanced from one to the other. ‘Ah, right.’
    Jane said nothing. She was still clinging to Hannah’s hand as if she would never let it go.
    ‘Don’t we get breakfast before we start work?’ Daniel grumbled as they passed through the gate into the mill yard.
    Hannah repeated what Nell had told them, and Luke murmured, ‘You know, I reckon this could be worse than the workhouse.’
    For once, Hannah said nothing. She had a feeling that he could well be right.
    A man was standing by the door into the nearest building. At the sight of him, the children behind them began to run forward, passing the four newcomers until they were left at the back, the
last to arrive before him. He was more smartly dressed than the workmen hurrying into the mill from all directions. He wore black trousers, a waistcoat and jacket, with a crisp, white shirt and red
necktie. Whereas all the workmen wore caps, this man wore a black top hat.
    ‘Ah, you’re the new ones. How do?’ As he stroked his drooping moustache and long sideburns, Hannah noticed that the third and fourth fingers on his left hand were missing. His
voice was gruff and his face pockmarked, but she thought his brown eyes were kindly.
    The four youngsters stared up at him wordlessly, until Hannah shook herself, cleared her throat, and said politely, ‘Good morning, Mr Critchlow.’
    The man stared a moment and then threw back his head. His laughter echoed through the