The Goldminer's Sister by Alison Stuart

Author:Alison Stuart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2020-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Eliza had read accounts of the witch trials of the seventeenth century—a woman hauled into a room full of men and forced to recite the Lord’s Prayer to save herself from hanging. Under such pressure most failed. No one had asked Eliza to recite the Lord’s Prayer but the wrath of Maiden’s Creek had descended on her.

While Alec returned the horses, she had paid a call on Netty to reassure her that Charlie was with her mother and to see if Netty minded her parlour being used as a rendezvous. As she had expected, Netty seemed delighted to be involved in such a meeting. On her return to her uncle’s house, however, Eliza found the entire Board of Advice and Flora Donald assembled in the parlour. She had never felt quite so alone.

Charles Cowper had evidently been summoned and he came to stand by her side. Given everything she had come to know about him, he seemed an odd ally, but she would take whatever support that was offered.

‘Well?’ Angus Mackie roared at her. ‘Your little protégé attacked my daughter and you have the temerity to prevent Miss Donald chastising the child?’

Eliza hadn’t been aware of holding her breath and now she let it out in a rush. ‘There is chastisement and there is torture, Mr Mackie, and Charlotte O’Reilly did not deserve either.’

Russell raised a hand. ‘That’s enough, Mackie. Your Mavis is unhurt. Childhood disputes happen. What we cannot condone, Miss Penrose, is your wilful undermining of Miss Donald’s position as head teacher.’

‘And I do not condone the punishment of a child who has done no wrong,’ Eliza said, ‘and neither can I tolerate a teacher who beats a child so hard with a leather strap that her hand is so bruised she cannot move her fingers.’

Russell turned to Flora Donald. ‘Miss Donald? What strap did you use?’

‘I believe the Scots call it a tawse, Mr Russell,’ Eliza said.

‘I don’t recall the board approving use of such a thing, Miss Donald?’

Flora’s chin came up. ‘I felt the situation demanded stronger chastisement than the cane. The good Lord knows the cane has not mended Miss O’Reilly’s wayward behaviour in the past. The tawse is commonly used in schools in Scotland to no ill effect. I gave her only two lashes across the palm of her hand before Miss Penrose saw fit to interfere. They were not hard.’

‘Not hard? I wouldn’t be surprised if she hasn’t sustained permanent damage,’ Eliza said.

‘Perhaps the doctor should attend the child,’ Charles Cowper spoke for the first time, ‘and give his opinion on the severity of the punishment?’

Eliza cast her uncle a grateful glance. ‘I think that would be an excellent idea.’

‘Nonsense,’ Flora Donald said. ‘The child is a malingerer.’

‘And it doesn’t change the fact that Charlotte O’Reilly does not belong in the company of decent, God-fearing children,’ Angus Mackie said.

‘Who see fit to tell her that her mother is a whore?’ Eliza said. ‘Do you think Charlotte attacked your Mavis unprovoked?’

Mackie blinked behind his glasses.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.