Cold and Ash

chapter 2

It was night now, and James still hadn't come home. A part of me was panicking as I kept glancing at the door.

"The greeks were..." Alis was reading.

She glanced at me.

"Ash, are you even listening to me?"

I nodded absently.

"What did I just read?" She asked.

Sighing I replied, "Strawberries?" I hoped it was close.

Alis shook her head and started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I inquired.

"You want to be a governess and cannot even pay ten minutes of attention!" She exclaimed. That wasn't true.

"I am a little distracted today.."

Alis's eyes twinkled. "Well, that's pretty obvious," She said grinning.

I glared at her, "Enough of lessons today, this class is dismissed!" I said as I stood up.

"This class never even truly began," Alis replied cheekily, and ran upstairs to her room before I could retort.

"Ungrateful child. I am teaching you for absolutely free!" I shouted and went into my room to grab my coat. Muttering some words that shouldn't be muttered, I made my way into the street quietly. It was time to see where James was.

There was no woman out at this time of the night. Under the dim street lights, drunken men and stray cats were the only creatures to be encountered. My feet tapped on the wet pavement as I walked. It was getting cold, so I wrapped the coat tighter around myself and made my way to the factory offices. The guard at the door looked at me curiously.

"What is the matter, miss? What are you doing out here so late at night alone?" he said as he looked at me, and his eyes trailed over my attire.

"I am looking for my brother. He came to meet Mr. Arthur in the noon and hasn't returned home yet. Is he still inside?" I asked sternly. He gave me a sarcastic look as he replied, "Go inside and find out yourself, missy."

"Thanks," I muttered under my breath.

As I stepped inside, I realized the building had two floors. I was at the upper one which overlooked the down one. There were crowds of men shouting everywhere, and one man was standing alone on the stage. It was probably Mr. Arthur. His face was devoid of all emotion. His jaw was set tight, he seemed tall and had dark hair. His eyes were sweeping over the whole crowd as if he was looking at a group of peasants, and he would rather be anywhere else. Looking around I realized, some men were staring at me oddly. I stepped back into the shadows as I tried to conceal myself.

"Silence!" Mr. Arthur shouted.

His voice held authority, and the room abruptly quieted down.

"I am tired of you fools. It has been five hours, and it's obvious you don't want any decisions to be made that will benefit both you and the industry. All you want is huge amounts of money while doing little to no work. If any of you actually wanted your honestly earned wages, you would do the work rather than striking and protesting all day!" he said with anger lacing his every word.

The crowd started getting restless again, and I could see from the corner of my eye that the men would do something violent. I had foolishly put myself amidst a crowd who would soon burst. I started looking around—panicking.

"Where are you, James?" I whispered.

As if on cue, I saw James near the stage. He was staring angrily at Mr. Arthur. I gritted my teeth as I prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid. A man suddenly pushed me and I let out a squeal as I almost slipped to the floor.