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Vocabulary: Six uses of ‘stay’ – Jamaica Inn part 1


Hello, I’m Mariam. Today’s story is set on the bleak and windy moors of Cornwall and

features a young strong woman who witnesses some strange goings on when she goes to live

in a pub called Jamaica Inn.

The woman is called Mary and after her mother dies she goes to stay with her aunt at Jamaica

Inn. It’s a cold and lonely place and is run by her scary and abusive uncle, Joss. Mary’s

aunt tells her to stay out of his way. Mary soon realises that Jamaica Inn is not a nice

place to live but she decides to stay on to look after her aunt and then things start

to happen.

The Inn is a quiet place because nobody chooses to stay over due to its terrible reputation

but one Saturday night, a noisy group of Joss’s friends come to drink. They’re very rude to

Mary and she goes to hide in her bedroom. That night she stays up to see what’s going

on, and out of her window, she sees horses and wagons horses moving in the yard. She

also hears Joss arguing with a man who he then hits knocking him to the floor. Mary

doesn’t like what she sees and the next day, she tells the local magistrate, Squire Bassat.

He searches the Inn for any clues but finds nothing. She then meets the local vicar, Mr

Davey, who she confides in but he tells her that she doesn’t know enough about Joss

and shouldn’t involve the law.

Later, Mary meets a man called Jem who turns out to be Joss’s brother. She is suspicious

of him and decides to stay away from him but after a while she realises he can be trusted

and they spend some happy time together at a horse fair, where Jem sells ponies. However,

at the end of the fair, Jem disappears and Mary is worried he’s been arrested for selling

stolen ponies. She runs back to the Inn across the dark and wet countryside. When she gets

back, she is met by Joss and his gang of drunken men. They are up to no good.

I’ll leave the story there for now. But join me in again in part two to find out what Joss

and his friends are up to. Bye for now.

”

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