“With Henry Hunt we’ll go me boys,
With Henry Hunt we’ll go,
We’ll mount the cap of liberty,
In spite of Nadin Joe…”
and the words came back to Ruth and Joshua as they came to the last verse:
“And let us not forget the day,
That we held up our hands,
And hope to flourish once again,
All in our native land.”
Although the singing went on till midnight, Ellen took Jess and the children away within an hour. She could never be comfortable in a public house and feared that Joshua would be led astray. Jess was not in the frame of mind to argue against her. He was happy enough that Jim and Marion were together. Whatever happened to the Charter, that was one good outcome of the march. The days in Birmingham had been difficult: the leaders had quarrelled, Lovett and others had been jailed, public support had weakened; above all, Parliament seemed indifferent to the million and more signatures. He was no longer sure of the way forward. He wanted time to think.
It was a brilliant night sky as the family walked back along the canal. The canal bank was frozen, the moon was nearly full and there seemed to be more brighter stars than Ruth had ever seen. As Jess and Ellen crossed the footbridge and began the walk up the footpath, he put his hand in hers, and the children fell behind.
‘An’ what do you think, Josh?’ said Ruth. ‘Will we flourish once again all in our native land?’
‘’Ow should I know?’ said Joshua.
‘I mean Davey an’ Jack, an’ Eric, an’ Ellie an’ Mick, an’ Joe an’ Danny. Will they be all right? Or will they be like dad, an’ Judd an’ Jethro – kind of stranded?’
‘I can’t say, Ruth,’ said Joshua. ‘An’ I can’t see.’
Ruth looked up at the moon and looked down at its light on the frost. Smiling, and looking at the ground, she said to Joshua:
‘Well, as long as there’s moonlight shining on frost like that, there’ll be summut worth marching for. An Charter’s best thing I know. Aye. Lad?’
Northern Stars Page 19