The runaway coach
An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.
The coach began to gather speed halfway down the moor road. At first, Elinor believed that the driver was urging the horses towards the next village. Then a wheel struck a stone, the coach lurched, and his cry vanished behind them.
Elinor pressed herself against the seat. Opposite her, a stout gentleman gripped the window strap and shouted that somebody must stop the horses, although he made no movement towards the door. A child began to sob beside him. Outside, the loose reins struck the front of the coach again and again.
Elinor reached for the door handle. When the wheels slid across the wet road, she pulled her hand back. The gentleman told her to remain where she was. Ahead, the road curved sharply beside a low stone wall. Beyond the wall, the ground fell away into mist.
“Hold the child,” Elinor said.
She opened the door before the gentleman could answer. Wind seized her bonnet and tore it from its pins. For a moment she remained on the narrow step, one hand fixed to the rail and her face turned from the road. Then she climbed towards the driver’s empty seat.
The reins had fallen almost beyond reach. Elinor lowered herself until one knee struck the footboard and caught the leather with the ends of her fingers. Her father had taught her to drive on quiet lanes, but never at such speed. She pulled once. Nothing changed. She wound the reins around both hands and pulled again, calling to the horses in a voice she scarcely recognised as her own.
An open gate appeared before the bend. Elinor drew the horses towards it. The coach crossed the grass with a violent jolt, climbed a gentle slope and at last came to a halt. For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The gentleman stepped down and declared that Elinor had shown remarkable courage. She did not reply to him. Her hands were shaking too much to release the reins.
“Go back for the driver,” she said. “Take your coat for him.”
“Elinor is presented as frightened, but increasingly decisive.”
Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.
456 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE English Language 1.3 Content: prose fiction study requirements, covering 1.3.1 Read challenging prose fiction for the unseen 19th-century extract. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.