The Iron Masters -Volume 1 For the Love of Eira.

  Chapter 5

  Nye returned to the Star and said nothing of what had taken place with Delyth Thomas. Seeing he was upset, Meir decided to wait until Nye was ready to talk and went to bed leaving him to lock up. He was alone in the bar when three large men burst in and dragged him outside to where Isaac Thomas was waiting. Thomas produced the torn cloth and brown button. It matched the tear on Nye’s shirt. Nye protested his innocence but the brown button was all the evidence Isaac needed. Hearing shouting, Meir got up and peered through her bedroom window.

  The first blow was a punch from behind. It landed on Nye’s kidneys. Pain seared up his spine. His legs buckled. More blows followed. Nye stumbled and fell. Then, the thugs kicked him. He covered his face with his arms but they gave little protection from the heavy boots. Isaac Thomas watched as his ruffians did their work.

  ‘That’s enough. We don’t want to kill him,’ said one of the men. The three villains stood over their victim breathing heavily. Clouds of vapour hung in the damp air.

  Isaac Thomas stepped forward, bent down and whispered to Nye, ‘Vaughn if you ever again come near my family, I will kill you.’ Then he stepped back and lunged forward to deliver a powerful kick. Nye heard his ribs crack before pain overwhelmed him and he passed out.

  Delyth recovered her composure surprisingly quickly when Isaac announced he would deal with Vaughn. Eira was sitting with Delyth when they heard a crash from upstairs followed by moaning. They found Mr. Thomas sitting on the landing.

  ‘What’s wrong father?’ asked Eira. Mr. Thomas tried to answer but his words were incomprehensible.

  ‘What’s wrong with his face?’ said Delyth. The right hand side of Mr. Thomas’s face was contorted and he was dribbling.

  ‘Help me get him to his room,’ said Eira and the two women manhandled the old man, who was a dead weight, to bed.

  In the morning the doctor examined Mr. Thomas and told them he had suffered a massive stroke.

  ‘Did something upset him last night?’ asked the doctor.

  ‘Will he recover?’ asked Isaac, ignoring the doctor’s question.

  ‘I can’t cure him. There is a possibility he will recover some movement, God willing, but for now he’s bed ridden and will need constant nursing. There is something else. He has lost the ability to talk and it’s unlikely he will ever speak again,’ added the doctor.

  Delyth waited until she was alone with Isaac. ‘You know what this means? Now the old fool won’t be there to interfere with the way you run the foundry,’ she said and smiled at her husband. Isaac was surprised by Delyth’s remark.

  ‘You never liked my father. Why is that?’ he asked.

  ‘Rubbish, I’m just thinking how much better it will be now you have a free hand,’ she lied.

  When Nye regained consciousness and tried to move, there was a sharp pain in his chest. Slowly, he moved his hand down the front of his body. It was tightly bandaged. Nye lay still and tried to focus but his left eye would not open. He was in a double bed in a strange room. A water jug painted with flowers stood on a washstand by the window. A framed embroidery sampler, with a quote from the bible, hung on the wall behind the door. Rays of sunlight illuminated the room, revealing particles of dust floating in the air. He could hear distant laughter and shouts. Children were playing outside. Then, black oblivion returned.

  The next time Nye woke the room was dim. Meir was sat on a chair beside the bed.

  ‘I’m dry. Can I have some water?’ Nye drank awkwardly from the cup Meir held to his lips. His face was swollen and he could feel a large cut across his mouth. He touched his face and winced. His nose was broken. Meir went downstairs and returned with a bowl of broth which she fed to him with a spoon. ‘Where am I?’ asked Nye.

  ‘At the Star, in my bedroom,’ replied Meir. Then he slept again.

  Nye was in bed for six days. The kicking had broken three ribs, knocked out a tooth and left him cut and bruised. Both eyes were black and his nose was twice its normal size.

  ‘You were lucky they didn’t kill you,’ said Meir as she washed him. ‘Why did they beat you?’ Nye didn’t answer. The next day Meir asked again and Nye began to talk. As he described what happened, Nye tried to understand but nothing made any sense. He held nothing back from Meir, describing how Delyth had kissed him, how she ripped his shirt and how Isaac Thomas threatened to kill him.

  ‘I had a son once,’ said Meir, after a brief silence, ‘He would be about your age.’

  ‘I didn’t know you were married,’ said Nye.

  ‘I wasn’t. I was nineteen, working as a housemaid for a mine manager in Dowlais. He took advantage of me and I got pregnant. When I began to show, his wife found out and threw me on the street. All I had were the clothes on my back.’

  ‘What happened?’ asked Nye.

  ‘The owner of this place, John Price, took me in and raised the boy as his own. He never married me but was good to me. John even left me the pub when he died.’

  ‘Where is he now?’ asked Nye.

  ‘I told you he died.’

  ‘No I meant the boy, your son. Where is he now?’

  ‘He went down the mine when he was eight and was killed in an explosion. His real father, the old bastard, never acknowledged him, not once. Not even when I buried my boy. That’s the masters for you. We can all rot in hell for all they care.’

  Nye pushed back the blankets and asked for his clothes. ‘Where are you going?’ asked Meir.

  ‘To see Mr. Thomas and talk to him. He’s a decent man, he’ll understand,’ replied Nye.

  ‘They won’t let you see him. He’s had a stroke. Some say he’s gone mad,’ said Meir and pushed Nye back into bed. The door opened and Will Jones came in. ‘Will’s been helping look after you. It was Will who carried you up here the night they gave you the beating,’ explained Meir.

  ‘How’s the invalid today?’ asked Will.

  ‘My chest hurts like hell when I move or cough. What’s happening at the foundry?’ asked Nye.

  ‘Isaac Thomas is strutting around like he owns the place. He’s made quite a few changes,’ replied Will.

  ‘And Eira, have you seen her?’

  ‘She came into the foundry one morning and there was a row. I heard Isaac tell her to go home where she belonged. He said she was no longer going to embarrass him by working in the office,’ said Will, ‘There is some other news which will interest you both,’ he added.

  ‘What’s that?’ asked Meir.

  ‘We’ve made peace with the American colonists. The war’s over. The Americans have won their independence,’ replied Will.

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