For the moment he was glad to have been given a toehold in milling, and he was determined to show his worth; and then he thought of Filip Bosco, who had taken such a risk with the lives of his family to come to another country. How daring, how courageous he had been, as had Anna too for having faith in him. Filip had justified that faith, as he must justify the faith Ellen placed in him. In this expanding town work was available, and he must keep his eyes open for all options. One day, he would succeed in something other than simply labouring to put food on the table.

He reached the gates, which were half open, although the mill doors were firmly closed. I’m first here again. Nobody else here. He looked up the office stairs. The door wasn’t padlocked; Tannerson must be in. He glanced again at the mill and then up to the top floor. The three opening vents along the top of the wall that had been open when he’d left at midday on Saturday were closed.

He stood for a moment, considering. Could he smell something or was he imagining it? Heat within the waiting grain could have built up if the doors and vents had been closed all Sunday. And although Ellison didn’t seem concerned about the possibility of the rape’s firing, he was. Impulsively, he ran up the stairs to the office, rapped on the door and opened it.

‘Sir,’ he called, and Tannerson turned from where he was leaning behind a half opened filing drawer with a sheaf of papers in his hand, raising his eyebrows at the interruption. ‘Yes?’

‘Sorry, sir. I might be barking up ’wrong tree, but aren’t ’top vents usually open when ’mill is full o’grain?’

Tannerson looked at him and frowned, and Harry had a sinking feeling that he’d said the wrong thing. After all, he was a newcomer to milling grain, still a raw and inexperienced worker who should do as he was bid and not interfere. Tannerson put down the papers and glanced through the window. ‘Yes. Always!’ He peered forward and saw what Harry had seen, that the vents were firmly closed. ‘What the—’

‘I’ll get a ladder!’ Harry ran down the stairs with Tannerson following swiftly. The wooden ladders were usually stacked vertically against the wall but for some reason they had been laid flat on the ground. They were very long, solid, heavy and awkward to handle; the two men hoisted one and it teetered and swayed as they manoeuvred it upright below the middle louvred wooden frame.