Superman and Wonder Woman emblems with wings

The Co-op sent the new tin of boot blacking up the hill yesterday, and Mr Eddowes swore he'd never seen a man so pleased to pay for something so dull. Nell has copied the picture you sent onto a bit of card in her best pencil, the red shield at the top and the yellow W underneath, with wings she's shaded grey like a pigeon's breast. It's pinned above the mantel where the clock used to be. I told her it was daft to draw wings on a shield, but she said the wings were for you, so you'd have something to look up at when the cage comes down.

You'll have heard about the Maddock seam. Two men came up on Thursday and the rest of the shift stood in the rain by the head gear until the lamps went out one by one. I won't write more than that, because you asked me not to. Only the Bevan lad asked after you, and he's back on the coal face already, saying there's nothing to fear if you keep your mind on the roof and your hands on the pick.

Nell says the shield is for strength and the W is for the women who waited at the pit gate, and she's wrong on both counts, because it's a comic book and the two of them never met. But I stood in front of it this morning with the kettle going and found I didn't mind. The grey wings caught the light from the window, and for a minute the whole thing looked like it might lift off the wall and go and fetch you.

Write soon, and keep the lamp lit on the left side of the pit cage where I can see it from the top.

Your loving mother, Annie