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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nMisconception
Chapter Seventeen (opening)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Near the pig tunnel Noah and Jarli followed their noses over a wall and saw an opening below the road. To their left there were steps leading down beside a red brick enclosure. A pair of six-foot high iron gates hung open twenty feet from the tunnels entrance. They were elegant and beautifully decorated in an Art Deco style that didn\u2019t fit with their purpose. One had the word \u201cMOORS\u201d intricately cast into it, the other said \u201cMEAT\u201d.\u00a0
Jarli ran down first to get a better view.
Noah held back. \u2018That would hold about a wagons worth of pigs at a time,\u2019 he suggested as he took in the scene. Then, leaning over the wall he described in some detail how they would probably be enticed into that smelly square with a single fat cabbage.\u00a0
Jarli stepped into the pen, breathed in deeply and imagined the drove of beasts grunting around him. In his mind the ghostly pigs scurried past to squabble over a leafy ball, then ran off with it, following the cabbage smell into the tunnel. The corporal moved amongst the remaining apparitions towards the opening, then leaned on its rusty industrial shutter to duck his head beneath. He considered the sounds of the herdsmen, first closing the main gates behind him and then eventually releasing a rope or lever as the last hoof chased the other pigs inside. Then the shutter would have clattered down and cut off the hungry hogs decision making abilities, for the rest of their lives.
\u2018Smells all kinds of wrong down there mate,\u2019 Noah choked out as he reluctantly descended the steps.\u00a0
Jarli cautiously crept into the tunnel mouth, looked back at Noah and said, \u2018Captain Dreyer told us to check if some German blokes is hiding down there.\u2019 Crouching down he poked at the ground with a finger and examined the results. \u2018So that\u2019s what we do.\u2019
\u2018You\u2019re the bloke who finds people, then I shoot at \u2018em, right?\u2019 Noah did a similar ground inspection and added, \u2018So I think I\u2019ll just wait here to challenge any one that gets past yer.\u2019
Jarli came back out and sucked his teeth at Noah. \u2018We both goin\u2019 in mate, with you thirty yards back. Like you say, just in case they is sneaky.\u2019 Jarli handed over his rifle to Noah and took out his trusty revolver. Before going back in he added as an afterthought, \u2018No shooting mind, less you sure it\u2019s a white fellah.\u2019
\u2018Right-o, and should I check he\u2019s German too?\u2019 Noah asked sarcastically.
There was no reply.
Noah suddenly remembered the equipment he\u2019d scavenged on the way over and shouted after his Corporal, \u2018Here, you need these.\u2019
A second or two later a hand reached back out into the daylight. Noah placed a helmet containing a small metal box into Jarli\u2019s pale palm.
\u2018What\u2019s this?\u2019 Jarli quizzed with a strange echoing voice.
Noah crouched down and pointed inside the helmet, \u2018That box of tricks is a torch, mate.\u2019
Jarli switched it on hopefully, but the objects nameplate was about the only thing it illuminated. \u2018LAMP ELECTRIC NUMBER ONE,\u2019 Jarli read out slowly.
\u2018And that\u2019s a helmet mate,\u2019 Noah tapped the upturned hard hat with his fingernail. \u2018Made of Duperite.\u2019
\u2018Sounds duper-wrong,\u2019 Jarli suggested with dissatisfaction.
Noah shrugged, \u2018There ain\u2019t enough tin hats to go around blue. Captain Dreyer won a crate of these beauts in a warehouse poker game before we boarded ship,\u2019 Noah explained. \u2018And this, is the only one left in town.\u2019
The helmet was handed back. \u2018Them is for dispatch riders mate, I don\u2019t want it,\u2019 Jarli insisted as he moved further inside.
\u2018Fair enough, you wouldn\u2019t fit yer fat frizzy head in there anyways,\u2019 Noah grunted.\u00a0
As his corporal moved deeper inside, the private remained to sort out their remaining kit. It took him a while to get Jarli\u2019s rifle comfortable on his back and re-sling his own weapon up in front. Eventually he tugged the helmet on himself, counted to thirty and headed off into the hillside hole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is the opening to chapter 17 of ‘Misconception’ which features the pig tunnel we cleared all the rubbish from today in Brierley Hill; as stage one of trying to preserve the historic site. What is below is fiction, but the place and its history, its legacy are very real. Obvs. you may not have … <\/p>\n