I am lernin my lettuz
I am lernin mi letterz
I am lerrnin my lettiss

I am lernin my letterz.
I am learnin my letters.

Better, says Thomas as he blows out the lyte.

Tis hard work usin my brayne.

Thomas teeches me at lunch when the uvvers are at caban an sometimes on Maykers Day I have lessuns arfter prayers.

In the week, the men sit an diskuss things for grown ups at caban an us youngs arnt alloud in. Menstalk they say. Not for youngs.

So I sits out here wi Thomas an he teeches me my letters. They are hard. Only me an Tobe are learnin letters. The rest are too old. Tobe is more young than me but he learns fast an all.

Thomas is my best frend tho hes twyce my ayge an more. He looks arfter me, keeps an eye out. I am diffrent see. I am not one thing or the uvver. They call me YouNuck for I am not a boy nor yet a wimmin an they hold no truck for gels down here so I must by all akkounts be a YouNuck. Not one thing or the uvver. Thomas dunt lyke them calling me that tho so he calls me Newt.

En ee double yoo tee. Newt.

I lyke that.

Thomas says its an undergrawnd creeture, small an nimball. Lyke me.

Learnin letters is hard. My eyes strayne at the end o lessun wi the bryteness o the candul lyte. Then tis back to work for all three o us.

When I first cayme, I was a trapper see. Baysic rayte o not very much coinage but an important job shore. Lettin the air in an out, openin doors for ponys an the rest.

Now I am a trayler workin to my hagger. We are a team me an Jack. He shouts at me when I am not fast enuff. He cuts wi his mandril an I packs an moves it.

A trayler has a hole nuvver langwidge you must learn fast. When I startd, I knew nun o it but Jack teeched me. He says Im smart. He dunt kno his letters at all. But he can count. An he works fast. Very fast. Sometimes tis hard to keep up wi him. But the more we cuts, the more we earns.

I earn more being a trayler. One day Ill be a hagger too, lyke Jack.

I gets fiffteen at the moment. Haggers gets more lyke sixtee wuld you believe.

I can do my job blindfold pretty much.

Which is a good thin cos it sayves on canduls.

Canduls are spensive.

I spends fyve on canduls evry week. Fyve on food an matchiss, two on hot water an the rest. Which leeves three wot I sends to Ma.

I ent seen Ma an the rest since I cayme here. Maykers Day ent long enuff to get there an back arfter prayers an the lyke. An I only has that one day a week.

It taykes most harf a day to get back up there, to the surfiss. An it costs. Thirtee each way cos o the lift sharft. So I stays here. Tis cheeper in the dark. I ent seen daylyte since I was fore. Not shore how long ago that were in all trooth but it feels a long time since.

Bein a trayler is tuff but it helps me learn my letters. See, when I pushs the basket to an fro from tram to main road, up the inklyne, in the heat an the dust an dark, I goes over the letters in my head.

When we finishes today, there is a new boy in Gambles bunk. He lays there all day an cry cryes in the corner til Jack slaps him an tells him to shuddup an keep choired so we could get some sleep.

Gamble died last week. Blown up silly bugger an then Harrison got it an all from the vapours tryin to rescue him. Arfterdamp can kill they say. An it did for Harrison.

Two emptee beds.

Now just one.

The new boy looks so spinky clene see. Lyke a newborn foal.

His eyes are massiv. He looks frytend too. Petryfyed.

He ent sed a word.

On first shift, the new lad shivers by the doors from tram to main road. Trappin. Nicholson is teechin him wot to do but hes twyce the ryte ayge an more, an he ent goin to be sayvin much coinage if hes usin up canduls at a rayte o nots.

Neether the new lad nor Nicholson are in the mood for talkin. Tis black as nyte but I can hear the new lad holdin his tears in.

When I sees him layter, at end time arfter shifts, they hav slit his nose. The ryte nostril. Lyke they always do. See if yore man enuff to work. A sharp peece o stone see, zip, strayte up. If you cryes, they beats you.

We all got the scar. Tis how you kno yore a Bearmouth boy.

Hes one o us now. Whevver he wants it or not.

Thomas says the new boy is calld Devlin.

I ent herd him talk as yet but Thomas is good at gettin stuff out o folk. He listerns. Waytes til folk have summat to say an then listerns to them. He says he could o bin a learned man an I believe him. Hes the most learned man I ever met.

Devlin.

Devil In.

We ent bin spectin anyone new down here speshully not a young lad. I ent shore about him. We should be cayreful. Maybe his nayme is a warnin. He is handsum enuff. Devil in disguys. He myte lead us to temptayshun. I pray xtra hard to the Mayker to sayve us.

To keep vigil over us.

An to keep speshul watch on Devlin. Mayker protekt me.

He dunt cry no more tho Devlin. Not now. Hes bin here most o a week an he dos have a steely look now. Eyes as black as the coal we digs out. Hard an tuff lyke Jack says you got to be.

I think o wot he says to me earlier. Devlin. Whisperin, lyke a spyder tippy toein along a wall.

It only taykes one person to start it, he says, voyce ticklin my ears. Just one.

Wot? Start wot? I whispers back as I pushs my load past the trap hes holdin open for me.

A revolushun, he says. Just one, he says. Think on that.

I hear his smyle in the darkness. I feels him shut the door behind me an the breeze blows ryte down my neck an maykes me shudder.

I asks Thomas at letters what (double yoo haytch ay tee, he says) revolushun meens, he tells me ryte off to keep my voyce down. He says I durnt say such things out loud. Not even think em. Not even whisper.

Layters he says to me what it ment. Rebellion. Disobeyin. I think about the Mayker. He sees evrythin. He knos evrythin. If the Mayker sees rebellion, he will skwash it lyke an ant. Lyke Jack did that baby mouse in my bed that time. Skwish skwash flat. Tis the Maykers will. Tis always the Maykers will. I prays xtra hard to be sayved.

Mayker protekt me. Mayker protekt us all. Amen.