"I'm keeping my distance, in case I smash his face in." "Don't do that." "Esther'll be gone soon, then things'll change." "Leave her alone from now on." "Or what?" "Are you going to go running to Esther?" "I don't need Esther." "Are you sure about that?" "It's very sad to drink alone, Miriam." "Just one, then." "I have a sweetheart back home," "Emily." "I can't walk out with you." "If you change your mind, you'll know where I'll be, I'll be dancing!" "You're not warming to her, are you?" "I'm relying on you to get the girls there." "Where?" "Kersal Moor, Chartist rally." "What's this?" "Well, what's this?" "A shoemaker keeping factory hours?" "Next you'll be using your tools to mend our broken furniture." "What's broken?" "My bed." "It rolls and shakes." "And I'm not one that likes to keep stone-still on my back." "Do you think you've the right tool for the job?" "I may have." "Come see me tonight, then." "Right." "This rally is our chance to prove that the Charter is the will of the people." "That we are united and can't..." "We WON'T be ignored." "Once we have a vote, we have a voice." "And this is just the beginning." "It's on a Monday." "Who can go to a rally on a Monday?" "We'll ask them to close the mill for the day." "It'll never happen." "Other mills are closing for the day." "Goyt's, Orrell's." "There's a march from Oldham." ""A vote for all men 21 years of age." It's all men." "We must start with what we can win." "Tonight's the night I finally start on Will Whittaker." "What makes you so sure?" "The stink on you ruined my dinner." "It's like eating in the privy!" "Was that your porridge?" "And she poured the pot on me this morning." "She's done it before, too." "You let her?" "Well, what can we do?" "I wish you were still in the dorm." "Get a bucket of horse piss from the wash barrel, see how she likes it." "No!" "You'll only make it worse." "I said to keep Maud away!" "Maud!" "Maud!" "Oh, damn!" "Here, it's a two-man job." "Well, then our husbands should do it." "Angela, watch your sister!" "I don't know how you manage with four." "Job and Will were working by the time I had the younger ones." "The mill was easier." "A walk to Kersal Moor on Monday will feel like a holiday." "You coming?" "I don't get involved." "We take care of the men, let the men take care of the world." "Don't you find it lonely?" "At home all day?" "The harder they work, the more we must make a home they want to return to." "Oi!" "Who has it, who's got me clog?" "It wasn't me!" "There!" "It's there." "Do you think this is funny?" "And that's an end to it!" "You leave Mary-Ann alone!" "Now, got to run." "I'm expecting a visitor." "According to James Windell, they seem unsettled." "Windell understands facts and figures, not flesh and blood." "Our hands are content." "They appreciate what I do for them." "This Chartist nonsense, it won't affect us." "Enter." "Ah, good." "Great news, Peter." "Wonderful news." "Will you fetch me my address book and the seal on your way out, darling?" "Parliament has decided." "From August 1st, negro apprenticeship will be abolished in the colonies." "Can you believe it?" "Congratulations." "Long overdue." "Now, as you know, Joseph Sturge has worked tirelessly for this, so I thought it right to send him a letter of thanks." "Shall I read it out, or do you trust me enough just to sign it?" "It is a little overwhelming, I know." "But it's true." "You and your people are finally free." "Sign here." "If you need furniture fixing, pay a carpenter." "All done." "You may go now, Peter." "Thank you, ma'am." "My uncle saw me leave, demanded to know where I was going and I answered." "And you couldn't say the alehouse?" "Or the shop?" "Or hell in a handcart?" "He asked." "I heard myself tell the truth." "I could have cut out my tongue." "What use would you be then?" "I could come tonight?" "Does your bed still shake?" "It's all yours." "Morning, Mr Howlett." "You better go first." "Much work on next week, Will?" "No." "Might be a good time to go and see Emily." "And it would be good to hear if there's been any news of Job's regiment." "That's a great idea, John." "Emily wouldn't want me just to turn up with no warning." "She'd want nothing better." "Someone would have heard something by now." "The four lads from the village joined up together." "One of them would have sent a letter or some kind of message." "I don't know." "You made a promise to that girl." "And she's from a good family." "When I've saved enough, I'll bring her up here." "She'll be all cobwebs and no teeth." "For the journey." "Ask her to come back with you, if you like." "I'll do you some food to take." "All the workers are behind it." "All the workers are behind it?" "Mills are closing right across the north." "The march from Macclesfield will pass here on the way." "How will that look?" "Macclesfield masters supporting the call for democracy, while the Greg family, who pride themselves on listening to the workers, turn a deaf ear." "What do you think, Windell?" "If he speaks for himself, he can afford to lose a day's pay." "Most people would give up a day for such a cause." "Most now?" "A moment ago it was "all"." "But, I respect and have no reason to fear the honest opinion of my workforce." "May I ask you something?" "If you want." "Will you teach me to read?" "To read?" "Um..." "If you want to read, I'm sure Mrs Greg will teach you." "I want you to teach me." "Oh, but I..." "I don't know when we'd find the time." "An early finish." "Sorry, Mr Bate tells me that sacrificing a few hours' pay for some greater cause is acceptable." "Desirable, even." "What greater cause, sir?" "This rally." "Monday." "I'm informed that attending is worth a day's pay to you." "Do you feel it your duty to walk to this meeting, or is this rabble-rousing by a noisy few?" "An honest day's work for me." "If I want to be preached at, I go to church." "And the minister would tell you to know right from wrong." "The system needs reforming." "No reform will ever be enough for the likes of you." "What did the last great reform give us?" "Greg and Sons employ 2,000 people." "How many of us were granted the right to vote in the last election?" "Barely more than Samuel Greg and his five sons." "And now Robert Greg is an MP." "And that's reform?" "Why should only money have a voice in parliament?" "I want to work Monday." "Where's my voice?" "We're listening to it now, aren't we?" "Every man has the right to be heard and Kersal Moor is the next big step on the road to universal suffrage." "I'll see a show of hands." "Who'd have me close the mill on Monday?" "Esther Price." "It's not a vote, it's a question." "Who'll put their hands up and risk the knacker's yard?" "Are you suggesting I'd hold this vote against you?" "I'm suggesting who'd risk it?" "So what would you have me do?" "Not see who votes what." "A secret ballot." "There you go, one of them." "It's in the charter!" "How many men have got into Parliament because voters work and live on their land and have to raise their hands in front of them?" "Stones in a sack." "Two different sacks." "Hide them somewhere." "Here you are, take this." "This one means close the mill." "This, keep it running." "One man, one vote." "Behind the cart." "The final decision rests with me." "Oversee proceedings, Windell." "You'd give the vote to every drunk and dullard in the country." "What next?" "Women?" "Negroes?" "Eh." "Vote to close for your Will's sake." "Shoes will wear out marching to Kersal Moor." "There'll be a queue outside your door." "It'll have to be a long 'un." "He'll be halfway to Bledlow by now." "Gone to be with his sweetheart." "Vote!" "Vote for a day off!" "Yeah!" "Come on!" "The final decision rests with you." "But I know you respect the honest opinion of your workforce." "Ensure the stokers are an hour early on Tuesday." "The boiler will need some work if left unattended for two whole days." "Is this wise, master?" "It could be the thin end of the wedge." "No-one but Bate will actually go." "It'll save us a day's wages and the goodwill shall serve me well." "A day off Monday!" "Don't waste it!" "So that's when we can start your lessons." "If you still want to." "I want to very much." "If Will couldn't see what he had..." "He didn't 'have' me." "I'd sooner dock a pig." "I'll skip tea tonight, come over." "You'll not miss him if you've got me there." "I know how to look after you." "Oh, Windell'll catch you and have you working overtime." "Ha!" "I'll cook something." "I've been practising." "Patience'll get me." "If she was going to do something, she'd have done it last night." "Said she were thinking." "Thinking, and thinking, and now she's thought!" "Just stay out of her way." "Hang on, Lucy." "What are you doing here?" "Oi!" "I've spent all day in cold, damp clothes." "So I thought, after tea, I'll dunk you and Lucy in the trough." "And I'll do it every night until one of you drowns." "Lucy!" "I was right!" "She's in there now, and she's mad." "Keep away from her." "Be at the rally later." "See you at Kersal Moor." "Meeting at Kersal Moor." "If everyone thinks like that, there'll be no-one there." "If people are going from all over, they're not going to miss me." "I might follow you on." "Miriam can't come." "The Windell's are making the apprentices do chores about the house." "Are you ready, Boon?" "Long walk with my feet." "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." "Can I have a horse?" "No." "No, we're going on a big walk with your dad." "A big walk with lots and lots of people." "Will there be horses there?" "I'll be your horse." "Come on." "Walk on." "We should get out, we've been here all weekend." "Someone could see us - HE could see us." "What are you so scared of?" "He's not your dad." "I know." "My dad died at Waterloo." "I was still in my mother's belly." "She died a few weeks after I was born - a broken heart." "John took me in." "He didn't have to, but he did." "I owe him a lot." "It doesn't mean you have to live by his rules." "Just live your own life, Will, not the one he wants you to have." "I'm here, aren't I?" "Yeah, as long as we're in hiding, you're happy." "Aren't you happy?" "Like this?" "I'm going!" "Come with me, or I might just find someone more exciting." "At a Chartist meeting?" "It's not all speeches, you know." "No?" "They have nude races there, too." "They do." "Well, used to." "It was a tradition at Kersal Moor Fair." "Single men looking for a wife would strip off and run a race to impress the local maids." "You're making it up." "They had nothing to hide." "I'm going, see if I can find a man who's not ashamed to be seen with me." "Are you not joining us, brother?" "They don't care." "They do." "Not enough to prise them from their beds or the inns." "Look." "This is not the only way to Kersal Moor." "Have faith." "If anyone asks, I'm delivering coal." "There's more than one door." "'Wet floor." "Do not enter'." "Which is Africa?" "Um..." "All of this." "And Dominica?" "Well, that is somewhere... here." "And where are we now?" "Here." "We'd better get started." "Can we start with names?" "I think we should do letters first." "Letters and names." "The important people, like..." "Miriam." "It's a horse!" "It's a tired horse." "Do you want to get down and walk for a bit?" "No, it's a horse." "I told you." "Have faith." "Unstoppable." "We are!" "Unstoppable!" "Come on!" "Good!" "Very good." "Any more?" "Vernon." "V..." "E..." "R..." "N..." "O and then another N." "Vernon." "That's an unusual name." "Is it your father?" "No." "My father was Peter." "Then who's Vernon?" "Who's Vernon?" "What's going on?" "I've nearly finished, Mr Windell." "Oh, Peter's just delivering coal." "Do you know where Mary-Ann and Lucy are?" "They've been missing since this morning." "No." "Do you know why Lucy's face is like it is?" "No." "I should go." "What'll they do to us when we get back?" "What'll Patience do?" "But she looked more like Despair And she cried out in the air" "My father Time is weak and grey" "With waiting for a better day" "Rise like lions after slumber" "In unvanquishable numbers" "Shake your chains to earth like dew" "Which in sleep had fallen on you." "Ye are many, they are few!" "We are many, they are few!" "We are many, they are few!" "Esther'll help us, won't she?" "When we get back?" "We are many, they are few!" "Don't worry, it's going to be all right." "We are many, they are few!" "We are many, they are few!" "We are many, they are few..." "Let's go back to the edge where there's room to have our picnic." "I'm sure that's Feargus O'Connor." "100 yards nearer and we could hear what he's saying." "Daniel, we ARE stoppable." "We can't get any nearer, there's too many people." "O'Connor's speech, copies of O'Connor's speech!" "Pass it on!" "Here!" "Over here." "And every year since, on that anniversary, she flew the black petticoat she were wearing that day from a flagpole!" "But this year, this year the troops raided her home and seized 'em." "Is this why our boys joined the army?" "To attack innocent protestors and seize our petticoats?" "Women too can help in the struggle." "Aye up." "What's this?" "Are you here for the race?" "What race?" "Ah, now you've seen the competition, you're backing out?" "Put your clothes on, Will." "Backing out?" "Of what?" "The naked race." "The boys show the girls what they've got and the winner bags the bread." "I thought that was just a story." "Does it really happen?" "Not this year." "Doesn't look like your boys are man enough." "I'll show you who's man enough." "And where's the finishing line?" "First to the nearest beer cart and back again." "We stand together as one, brothers and sisters!" "Shoulder to shoulder to shake the very foundations of Parliament." "If anyone asks me what I mean by universal suffrage," "I would answer that every working man in the land had a right to a good coat to his back." "That's a scandal!" "Every working man has the right to a coat!" "..No more work than was necessary for keeping him in health, and as much wages as would afford him all the blessings and enjoyment of life." "And the means to achieve all that, the best means, is to get a voice in Parliament." "Sign the petition." "Add your name to the demand for democracy and justice!" "800,000 people signed the Tolpuddle petition, and we got them back from Australia." "This will be even bigger." "I'll make a banner with some of the women from the village." "Look who it is!" "Esther!" "You came!" "I did." "Does John Howlett know?" "He will do." "Weren't it unbelievable?" "We're on our way!" "Do you want me to come in with you?" "They should hear it from me first." "Eh, good luck." "Who's that?" "Will?" "Back already?" "Any news of Job?" "His regiment?" "Let the lad get through the door first." "Sorry, yes." "Did you hear anything?" "No, sorry." "Did you see Betty Carter?" "She must have heard something." "Or Sarah Cooper, has she heard from her Ben?" "Someone must have heard something!" "No news is good news, Bec." "How was young Emily?" "Um..." "Emily's..." "Well, she's... she's with another man." "Oh, Will." "I'm so sorry, you poor boy." "That's why you're back so soon." "It's OK." "I mean, I'm fine." "Smells like you've been drowning your sorrows." "We should never have come here." "No, we should." "Emily's the past now." "Just be sure Esther Price ain't your future." "She had a man in her rooms all weekend." "You're a liar, Will Whittaker." "Mr Windell tells me you were missing without permission." "And I'm guessing you got that at that damn fool meeting." "You'll make it up in overtime." "Go on." "Wind it up!" "What's happened?" "We threw wash over Patience." "Why didn't you come to see me?" "Well, you were busy docking a pig." "Is there a problem, Mr Howlett?" "Yes!" "Why haven't you started yet?" "Anything we want, we can achieve." "We just have to stand together, work together." "We are many." "But she is few." "You didn't vote." "I didn't see the point." "We closed the mill." "So my vote didn't matter." "But you had one, you had one." "I gave it to you." "You think I couldn't pick that up for myself?" "Don't you understand it, or don't you care?" "You had your day out, a nice walk in the country." "What's changed?" "I'm still a nigger with a shovel." "Why should I care about you and Parliament?" "Every decision they make affects every one of us, every day of our lives." "Not me!" "They abolished slavery." "I became an apprentice." "So it affected you?" "It was worse!" "Worse than slavery?" "Show me the difference." "Which is a slave stripe, which is an apprentice?" "Can you tell?" "Can you?" "Well, now that's over, too." "So my vote didn't matter." "There were 300,000 people there yesterday." "We're gonna create the biggest petition the world has ever seen." "You can shrug, or you can sign." "Sign." "And one day we'll have working men like us in Parliament." "Not like me." "Men like us wouldn't have taken hundreds of years to abolish slavery, and we'd ensure a fair day's wage for a fair day's work." "This matters." "I can write my name." "Then sign." "Miriam taught me whilst you were at your meeting." "Oi!" "You forgetting something?" "No." "No more." "This stops now." "Who says?" "Me." "Me." "Me." "Me." "Me." "Er, what's happening here?" "They're picking on me, Mrs Greg." "Is that true, all of you?" "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves." "The Times estimate's 30,000 in attendance." "The Chartists are saying significantly more." "I fear the genie's out of the bottle." "Tell him he can't do that here." "Will this take long?" "When you were a boy, don't you remember how exciting it was getting news from home?" "I don't remember our lessons being interrupted for it." "Here he is now." "Come in, Peter." "I've a letter from your mother." "I wonder if she's heard yet...?" "No!" "Thank you, Mrs Greg." "A friend will read it to me later." "May I?" "Thank you." "It seems he doesn't need you as much as you thought." "Well, I'm glad he's making friends." "Mother, your letters, they meant the world to me." "I know." "I beg your pardon, Mrs Greg, but may I speak to you about Patience Dunne?" "I'm worried about her." "Why?" "I think she may run away or worse." "The other girls make her life a misery, Miss." "They even poured a bucket of wash on her the other day." "Is there any way you could move her before something terrible happens?" "It's never wise to bow to mob rule." "She cries herself to sleep every night." "Patience Dunne does?" "She was a very melancholy little child when she first came here." "Was she?" "She's known more than her fair share of misfortune." "Have her moved to the servant's quarters." "We need another pair of hands in the house." "Your cuts and bruises sustained in defence of Patience, were they?" "Nothing gets past you, Mr Windell." "What's happened?" "Every night, I lie in bed worrying about Job." "Don't you worry about him?" "Don't you wonder how he is?" "He's been like a brother to you since you were a baby." "I told 'em." "Then when you said Emily had found another and all the time it was you, down there with her." ""They say the market square we have hated" ""with all our hearts will become our playground." ""Even old Mary-Alice with legs as bent as palm trees has promised" ""on the day we are free, she will dance there." ""How do folks forget so quickly?" ""I will not dance." ""Not until you stand before me" ""and tell me that our family is truly free" ""in blood and spirit." ""I long for that day." ""Ever yours..." ""Mother."" "She must feel a long way away." "Let me take you for a drink to thank you for reading." "Bec is the only woman I've ever known." "I love her with all my heart." "And I'm proud to call her my wife." "But I was a boy like you, once." "I understand temptation." "Did you two find the time to talk?" "Yeah." "And you had things in common?" "Lots." "It's not just temptation." "I really do like her." "You both lost your parents when you were young." "Am I right?" "You had a family to take you in." "She went to the workhouse." "And that's who she is." "That's not all she is." "Were you her first?" "Were you?" "You won't be her last." "Women like that will never be tamed." "I just want the best for you, Will." "I owe that to your ma and pa." "What's up?" "Have you never seen Miriam Catterall before?" "Take a seat." "Miriam." "Will you sign the petition for the charter?" "I hear you used the day off to teach Peter how to write his name." "That's right." "Once Parliament represents us all, everyone will have the time to learn to read and write." "And that would be good." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "At last!" "I was beginning to think Big John had killed you." "I've made a mistake." "A huge mistake." "I shouldn't have gone with you and it can't happen again." "Are you serious?" "Me and you are no good." "Sorry." "No, I... thought I knew who you were, Will Whittaker, but I was wrong." "You're weak." "You're a weak, pathetic little boy and I don't need you any more." "Go away!" "Do you want to dance?" "No, thank you." "Your sweetheart doesn't mind, do you?" "She's not my sweetheart." "Maybe you should just go home, Esther." "Dance." "Oh, come on." "Dance." "What's the matter?" "Dance." "Have you never danced before?" "Dance!" "Well done, Esther." "Esther didn't mean to upset you or anything." "She's just, you know, Esther - and drunk." "Back home... when the master wasn't happy with an apprentice, we were sentenced to the workhouse to dance the treadmill." "Six or eight at a time, we stand along a step on a big wheel, strapped to a bar overhead by our wrists and we keep it turning." "The women was obliged to tie up their clothes and half-expose themselves." "There was one woman, belonged to Mr Wallace." "She don't tie up her clothes high enough so her foot catch and she slip." "She hang by the wrists and the mill steps keep on batter her legs and knees and the driver with the cap keep on flog her." "And all the time we keep on running and turning the mill." "If we stop so she can catch the step... ..the driver flog us most dreadful and say, "Dance, boy..." ""..dance."" "No-one will tell me when to dance ever again." "I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry." "You're sorry?" "I told you I'm a good talker." "I make them cry, I make them laugh." "I shouldn't have done that." "No, I'm glad that you did." "That's not why I'm here." "You should be getting home." ""Vernon..." Who is Vernon?" "He was close to my grandfather when he died." "Vernon lives in England now." "I hope to meet him one day." "Lucy?" "We're getting ready for bed." "Go home, Esther." "No, not until I've sorted Patience out." "Well, you're too late." "We've sorted it." "Well, good for you." "Aye, that's great news, Luce, come with me." "Where to?" "Dunno." "For a walk somewhere?" "Aye, I know how to take care of ya." "No." "Miriam?" "If Black Peter isn't your sweetheart, it's a lucky escape." "He's a mardy bastard, what's the matter with him?" "I had a lucky escape today." "Will doesn't want to see me any more." "Oh, so that's the real reason why you're here?" "No." "Well, yeah, I..." "Oh, go home, Esther." "Just go home." "Fine, I don't need you." "And I don't need you." "I'd like to go to Westminster and smash their smug faces in!" "I'm going back to the mill." "No, you're not." "It's about your son." "Timothy or Jack, sir?" "The one in the Army." "Joe?" "Oh, Peter." "If you love me, marry me." "You weren't even a virgin." "Neither were you." "There's more chance of me milking a pigeon than taking Will Whittaker back."