“Compositor’s thumb,” he said, holding it up for me to have a closer look.

“I should know better than to stare.”

“You’re welcome to stare. It’s a mark of my trade, that’s all.” He stepped down from his stool. “We all have one. But I’m sure you didn’t come here to talk about thumbs.”

I’d come into the composing room in defiance of some perceived bar. Now, I felt foolish.

“Mr. Hart,” I fumbled. “I thought I might find him here.” I looked around as if he might be hiding behind one of the benches.

“I’ll see if I can find out where he is.” Gareth dusted the seat of his stool with a white cloth. “You can sit here if you like, while you wait.”

I nodded and let him push the stool beneath me. I looked at the type still held on the stick. It was almost impossible to decipher; not just because the letters were back to front, but because there was so little differentiation from the background. It was all gun-metal grey.

If the other compositors had been interested in the strange woman talking to Gareth, they no longer were. I picked up a bit of type from the nearest compartment.

It was like a tiny stamp, the letter slightly raised on the end of a piece of metal about an inch long and not much wider than a toothpick. I pressed it against the tip of my finger—it left the imprint of a lowercase e.

I looked at the stick again. He said it would fit into a page of the Dictionary. It took a while, but the words finally started to make sense. When they did, I felt a rising panic.

b. Common scold: a woman who disturbs the peace of the neighbourhood by her constant scolding.

Was that what they were, those women in Winson Green? I looked at the proofs beside the forme. It appeared this type wasn’t being set for the first time; rather, Gareth was attending to edits. There was a note from Dr. Murray pinned to the edge of an entry.

No need to define SCOLD’S BRIDLE; simply cross-reference to the relevant entry for BRANKS.

I read the entry that would be edited.

c. scold’s bit, bridle: an instrument of punishment used in the case of scolds etc., consisting of a kind of iron framework to enclose the head, having a sharp metal gag or bit which entered the mouth and restrained the tongue.

I imagined them being held down, their mouths forced open, a tube shoved in, their cries muted. What damage must it do to the sensitive membrane of their lips and mouths and throats? When the procedure was over, would they even be able to speak?