Beneath the chalk hill

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

At the mouth of the passage, Miriam looked back once at the afternoon fields. Then she lowered her head and followed the lantern underground. The daylight narrowed behind her until it was no more than a pale coin, and soon even that was gone.

The roof pressed close above her bonnet. Loose stones shifted beneath her boots, while drops of water counted out the seconds somewhere in the darkness. Miriam kept one hand against the wall and tried not to imagine how much earth rested over her head. Ahead, the lantern flame appeared pinched and weak.

The passage turned. Suddenly, the wall fell away from her hand and the roof lifted beyond the lantern’s reach. Miriam stopped. The smallest sound travelled outwards and returned softened, as though the darkness itself had answered her.

When the lantern was raised, ribs of white stone shone along the walls. Below them lay a pool so still that every bright point appeared again in its surface. Miriam stepped forwards. She had expected to find a hole inside the hill; instead, it seemed that the hill contained a silent sky of its own.

Analyse how the writer uses language and structure to show Miriam’s feelings changing as she explores beneath the hill. Support your answer with references to the passage.