Joshua was nearly eleven and he’d worked down the Blists Hill coal pit since he was seven and a bit. He hated it down there. He hated working in the dark, he hated the rats and the stink of the tunnels, and he especially hated it when the mine flooded and his wet boots rubbed his feet raw. Then on the day that Bradley the horsekeeper gave him another beating so bad he ached all over, he made up his mind to run away and find work on the Severn trows. But what would happen to poor Drummer, left behind in the dark? What would happen to his Mum and sisters if he left them to the mercy of the evil Isaac Whitlock? And how could he sail to Bristol, when his Dad had been set to work in the most dangerous part of the mine? Afraid of the river gangs and worrying about his Dad, Joshua must decide whether to run for his life, or to stay in Coalport and try to protect his family.
