Banished Prince Charming

Chapter 96 - Work Hazard

"Hah... Didn't expect that we have company right now," exclaimed Innes who was traversing the wagon as they neared the once-abandoned mines as he parked Sir Victory underneath a tree before he put a barrel filled with water for the horse and some wheat for it to eat under the shade.

"Heya, mates. Are you working for the union?" greeted Chadwell as he clambered down the side of the wagon as he carried his pickaxe and a sack with him. He usually would jump from the sides but he was afraid that his healed calf would do him some damage if he does so.

"Oh hello there. No, we quit the union a while back and decided to be on our own. How about you guys? With the union too?" asked another miner as he held a small cage with a canary in it. This is being used to detect low oxygen and the possibility of poisonous gases. If the bird in the cage dies, they have no choice but to make their way out immediately towards the surface or only the next miners would find their petrified bodies.

"No, we're renegades just like you. Why should we tool like a fool for 6 coppers a day where we can sell these ores and coal ourselves, am I right? I'm a Chadwell, what's yours, buddy?"

"Chadwell, I heard of you before. We're you the one that stayed to work for two months when that time....." the other miner started to narrate the sorry take that had befallen the Chadwell and the latter just waved his hands and simply said, "I'm a changed man now. I was given a chance in this period of time and the heavens, even t.h.i.g.h he punished me twice but my boy now has regained his hearing and able to talk...!"

Chadwell began to narrate what had happened to his boy and before that prior to coming to the new village called GraceHaven. He spoke of the way he dealt in business negotiations with the young master then.

"Don't you think you got exploited and played like a fiddle? You should be earning some coins but now you are working for free! Think about it... You escaped from the jaws of a crocodile, only to find yourself in the jaws of a lion the next...!" the other miner who had introduced himself as Warwick stated the facts that he finds appropriate to say at this moment.

Truth to be told, these people were simply simpletons. Even though they may realise the good that they were having but with constant tugging at their heartstrings, one would definitely yield to the instigation of the other party.

"Do you realise that you were earning 6c per day before under a union and was selling as high as 20c for a 50 pounder coal and ores before. *SPIT* If I were you, I would be better off selling those ores and coal to other merchants, even though they paid me lower than what you claimed you had gotten from the so-called Lord that you are dealing with right now."

The miner named Warwick spat on the ground to show his disgust and was joined by his other band of miners as well to continue the instigation.

"Listen here carefully, my newfound friend, you may have a house and have a family under your roof, plenty of food you say and clothes on your back as well. Would it be better off if you are being paid as well? You are missing a lot of goodness, my friends. Wake up...!"

"What happens, if one day your Lord chases you off from that piece of land? Would you be ending up as a pauper? You will have absolutely nothing...! Your family would have nothing...! Not even a single piece of copper to buy you even a piece of bread. Your Lord would one day be just like the foreman." Warwick further extended his words as he knew that his instigation worked perfectly.

Not only he did that because he intended to wake those fellows out, but he was a bit jealous as he discovered that the 6 fellows were having a better life than they used to. They don't even have to mine daily and only goes out to mine twice a month. Or what those 6 claimed to be...!

"Aahh..." Warwick waved his hands off as if he was buzzing off a fly. "I and my brethren here are going off to mine. You can hear me out and follow your heart or be at the mercy of your Lord that had a lot of hidden agendas." after saying so, he gingerly picked his pickaxe and headed down a mine, carrying several small lanterns and a caged bird.

=*=

"God forbid...! I can't really put in my head right now that His Majesty is trying to play us like a fiddle and make us his fools, isn't he? Bummer... That Warwick really had me thinking right now. Would we just mine and sell those ores and coal ourselves and bring back just a sack each?" Kensington m.o.a.n.e.d at the thought that had been nagging at him.

In fact, he was not alone to think that way because those words burned through each and everyone that seemed to echo endlessly as it was being tattoed permanently.

All the 6 men squatted down, holding their pickaxes as all of them were contemplating and even had the heart to leave the mines and head back...! Little did they realise what their Lord had done for them so far and these little nitty-gritty things that were done for them and their families could easily be forgotten.

It took some time before Jennings stretched and stood up before finally imploring to the rest, "We are already here in this mines. We've got 3 days here before we head back to GraceHaven. When we head back there, we can demand to be compensated."

"No point of thinking of this matter over and over again. The sacks won't be filled with ores and coal by themselves, would it? Come on guys, we may be played like a fiddle and thanks to Warwick, our minds have been opened and we were once blind, but now can see."

"If truly our Lord is treating us like fools or cattle with a noose around its nostrils and thought that we are a pushover, there's one option left for us, we leave with our families to where we came from. What do you say, my brothers?"

Kensington finally stopped speaking and was peering at all of the faces that were staring at him blankly before everyone slowly stood up and hoisted their pickaxes over their shoulders and muttered a weak" Alright" before heading down the mineshaft that they usually mine for their ores and coal.

It was a long tunnel and it would be dark if not for their beeswax coated twines, they would have a hard time traversing in the darkness. These twines that they had with them ever since they worked in the mines are better than the ones in a lantern form.

The twines could be cut in various lengths as everyone could hold them and stick it between the crevices of the mine's wall. Even if it produces a very mellow light, it's not as combustible and dangerous, unlike the lanterns.

Since the men had brought along quite a few yards of beeswax twine, they were not afraid that it would run out of light soon. Once Sir Victory had enough feed and water by its side, they walked in a single file through the mines for about a mile before they could see the first signs of I harvested ores and coal.

Since they would be spending a lot of time under this mines shaft, they brought along their supplies and 2 portable single wheel handcart that looked like wheelbarrows with them and would only emerge through the surface once they had successfully managed to have a few sacks of ores and coals with them.

No one is in the right mind to make several trips to the surface just to take a meal break and everything would be done in the mines, including peeing and pooping.

Three days had since passed since they left the surface and had gone down the tunnels. They emerged triumphantly as the sun rays hit their faces, pushing the wheelbarrows ahead of them as Sir Victory neighed and complained due to the water on the bucket that had been drunk dry with a few strands of wheat in a bucket.

Horses need about 25 gallons of water a day. It's was just plain luck that there is no body of water nearby. Fortunately, the horse was shaded under a tree but tethered to the wagon for security.

They loaded up their harvest and gear and saw that Warwick and his brethren had also reached the surface. "Hey buddy, come on down to GraceHaven if you want to find out more about our Lord."

"We also welcome you if you think the favours are on your side. By the way, heads towards Roecliffe and you would see a village surrounded by a barricade. That's where we come from."

"Thanks for the chat the other day, we would be demanding what's ours from our Lord and see what he says. If not we would be seeing you more often by then. Hahaha." Hereford mentioned to Warwick as the rest immediately poured water into the drinking bucket and immediately Sir Victory lapped it up.

"It seems the horse might be dehydrated since it was left alone for 3 days straight with no water." thought Chadwell to himself as he brushed the mane gently as he appeased the horse's mind by offering it the balances of bread that they had brought into the mines earlier.

"Oi... Thanks for the offer but no thanks. However, we may drop in a visit there if we have some troubles in our town. GraceHaven, right? I would remember that, Chadwell. We are taking some hot meals before we head down back again."

"There's so much to harvest in this mine, rather than the ones you just exited," exclaimed Warwick as some of his buddies went to get some wood to start a fire and cook up some hot gruel to gain some energy and perhaps catch some snooze.

Chadwell and the rest knew if the bountiful harvest they could get from that particular mine Warwick and his brothers had just exited. They had gone before when they worked as a union and they had suffered a productive cough that ended up to 3 months before curing.

This was the result of prolonged exposure to coal dust. Even after medications, their cough did not clear away as the foreman that time decided to close the mineshaft up due to health reasons. Anyone could earn money anytime but health is much more important.

The temptation to get those coals and ores were simply too enticing to let it go. Since the ores and coals that they got were considered as minimal right now, but the thought of getting that c.h.e.s.t wracking cough proved too much for them to handle, especially when one's phlegm was tainted with black coal dust and dotted with blood too.

They decided to head to the nearest body of water to fully refresh Sir Victory, provide plenty of food to eat and then once the men had settled themselves, they would head back to the village. But before that, they all wanted to voice their thoughts together and not as an individual.