Hester had no idea how to make him at ease. She ought to have been able to call on her experience with injured and mutilated soldiers. She had seen enough of them, and enough of those wasted by disease, racked with fever, or unable even to control their body's functions. But this was different. She was not a nurse here, and these people had no idea why she had come. For an instant she was furious with Sutton for the imposition upon them, and upon her. She did not dare meet his eyes, or he would see it in her. She might then even lash out at him in words, and be bitterly sorry afterwards. She owed him more than that, whatever she felt.

As if aware of the rage and misery in the silence, Sutton spoke. "We just bin and looked at the diggin'," he said to Andrew Collard. "Freezin at the moment, and not much rain, but it's drippin' quite a bit, all the same. 'Ow long dyer reckon it'll take some o' that wood ter rot?"

Mrs. Collard glanced from one to the other of them, then told Essie to go outside and play.

"They're movin' too fast for it ter matter," Collard answered. "In't the wood rottin' as is the trouble, it's them bleedin' great machines shakin' everythin' ter bits. Does it even more if they in't tied down like they should be. Only Gawd 'isself knows what's shiftin' around underneath them bleedin' great things."

"Tied down?" Hester asked quickly. "Aren't they dug in?"

"Staked," he answered. "But they shake loose if yer don't do 'em real ard an' careful, miss. Them machines is stronger than all the 'orses yer ever seen. Stakes look tight ter begin wi', but arter an hour or two they in't. Yer need ter move the 'ole engine a dozen yards or so ter fresh ground an' start over. But that takes time. Means that-"

"I understand," she said quickly. "They're losing loads going up and down when they take up the bolts and move the machine, then stake it and start it up again. And the more firmly they bolt it, the longer it takes to move it."

"Yeah, that's right." Collard looked slightly taken aback that she had grasped the point so quickly.

"Don't all companies work the same way?" she said.