Raventon sized up Thomas and asked:
"Are you very familiar with the Pine Tree Coal Mine?"
Thomas patted his thin chest and said:
"Don't look at my current age of twelve, I've been going down the mines with my father since I was six and a half. I spend at least fourteen hours a day in the mine shafts, and I know the place inside out."
He lowered his voice and spoke to the two of them:
"The deeper the mine shaft, the narrower it gets. Adults need to crawl forward, but we can move around much more easily."
"When I was young, I was smaller than my peers, so I could easily move through the mines, often tasked with delivering messages between different shafts."
"Esteemed gentlemen, I'm not boasting, but the majority of miners only work in specific shafts. There aren't many like me who know all the shafts."
