Off The Beaten Track
an excerpt

...There were good and bad parts to working down the pits. The good part mainly being the miners themselves. Simon was a people person anyway and got on with most folks he met, but there was something a bit different about the camaraderie he had found so easy with the men of the deep pit. The older men, like Arthur and Timothy had been a great help when he’d first arrived, shaking in his over large boots. They’d been intimidating at first, with their faces dark from the coal dust and their big booming voices. Once he’d got over that though, he found them to be kind hearted and have a sense of humour that ran dry and deep. They’d shown him the ropes, tricks and dangers of working in one of the deepest pits in the country and helped him with his work until he built up enough muscle to keep up himself. There was also a group of lads his own age, with whom he shared similar tastes, namely being the girls from the pot banks. He hung about with them, played a bit of football, when time allowed. And of course there were the newcomers. Young teenage boys, like he had been once, who’d got no idea, but of course no choice, of what they’d let themselves in for. Simon did as the older men had done for him, helping them out where he could. Picking them up when they felt down, feeling proud when they got something right. All the time wondering if he’d ever been so wide-eyed and scrawny.
The bad part was the job itself. The hours were long and punishing. It was bloody dangerous. He’d seen more injuries and accidents than most people would see in a lifetime. While he’d only had that one accident himself, leaving him forever wary of pit ponies, it was just as bad when things happened to your co-workers, your friends. And then there was the dust. He hated the dust. When you were down the pit it was thick and everywhere, kicked up by the people in front of you, no choice but to breathe it in and feel it sticking on places it shouldn’t. Most of the time if Simon spat, the saliva came out black. It was something that the older miners were used to, Simon was still struggling to adjust to that one. He was lucky that the dust didn’t effect his eyes too badly, it still stung like nothing else if he was careless and got a face full but it didn’t effect him like some. One of Timothy’s brothers had worked down the same pit for most of his life but had been forced to finish six months ago. All that time working in near pitch black had made his eyes go funny, Timothy had told him, it’d made him almost completely blind. Horror stories like that made Simon really hope that he could somehow find alternative employment. He had no desire to let the pit claim his life.
“Alright Simon?” an eager voice sounded behind him. Simon turned to see the fresh face of Charlie Kilpin smiling up at him from beneath him helmet.
“Alright Charlie?” Simon said in response, adjusting his own helmet with one hand, in his other he held a short handled pick. Charlie was one of the newest recruits and at barely fifteen his baby face made him seem even younger. Simon had been giving the kid a helping hand and even though there were only a couple of years separating them, being around Charlie made Simon feel like an old man. “You wanna watch where you’re swinging that?” he asked, as Charlie slung his pick off his shoulder. “It’s got two ends, you know?”
“Right,” Charlie chuckled, adjusting his grip. “Sorry boss man!” the nickname was said with a touch of teasing respect. The conversation was ended as they neared the mouth of the pit and more miners pressed around them. Finally they reached the cage.
This was the one part that Simon had never adjusted to, had never become routine, had never felt safe. He caught Charlie’s eyes as they filed into the cage and managed to give him a reassuring smile, despite the fact that his own heart was doing a military tattoo against his ribcage. The doors slid shut and they began their decent. He always felt like he left his heart and stomach back up there in the mouth of the pit was his body was lowered into the belly of the beast. So many things that could go wrong. It was almost insane to think that they trusted to ropes and metal to defy gravity’s inexorable pull and keep so many miners with the living.

* * *

“Come on, boy,” Arthur said, as Charlie slumped to the floor of the shaft breathing heavily, pick falling beside him. “Keep at it lad,”
Four hours into the shift and Simon had found his rhythm. His body was slick with sweat and grime but it responded easily to the task at hand, lifting the pick again and again. He glanced over at Charlie, the poor kid just hadn’t got the stamina yet.
“Give him five minutes, hey?” he suggested. Arthur looked from Simon to the new kid. Three years ago this would have been Simon, exhausted and fighting to stand, look at him now. Arthur felt a surge of paternal pride and smiled.
“Five minutes then,” he agreed. “Go sit over there out the road,” he pointed further down the shaft and with a relieved sigh Charlie picked himself up and moved.
Simon heard Charlie breath a “thank you”, in his direction as he passed. He ignored it and continued on with his work. Lost in the monotony he allowed his mind to drift. He wondered what his youngest brother was up to and if he’d hit his growth spurt yet. He hoped his mum was spending the money he sent home well and that his dad wasn’t acting like old Arthur and spending it all down the pub. Not that he resented sending nearly all his hard-earned money home. Not him. Not in the slightest. They’d better send him something good for his birthday, he decided, not minding that the day was still two months off.
“Ey, lad,” Arthur’s unusually serious voice broke into his thoughts and caught his attention instantly. “Do you hear that?” Simon put his pick down on the floor and strained his ears. For a moment all he heard were the dull thuds and low chatter of the other colliers and then he caught it. A deep, ominous crack that made his blood turn cold. For a moment the two men looked at each other, trapped in shock. Then the cracking sound came again, louder this time. The background noise ground to a halt as the other miners heard the sound. Another moment of silence. And then came a rumbling and chaos.
“Rock fall!” a voice shouted and people began to move for the exit. Dust came down in thick sheets, blinding Simon and leaving him choking. He clung to the wall, not sure which way to move and heard the terrific noise of rock tumbling down very nearby. It continued for the longest moment Simon had ever experienced and then as just as suddenly as it had began, it was over. The dust began to settle. Time to see what the damage was.