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Back The Darkest Shore Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Karen Brooks
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. EXPLANATORY NOTE
  7. PART ONE
  8. One
  9. Two
  10. Three
  11. Four
  12. Five
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Fifteen
  23. Sixteen
  24. Seventeen
  25. Eighteen
  26. Nineteen
  27. Twenty
  28. Twenty-One
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. PART TWO
  37. Twenty-Nine
  38. Thirty
  39. Thirty-One
  40. Thirty-Two
  41. Thirty-Three
  42. Thirty-Four
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. PART THREE
  45. Thirty-Six
  46. Thirty-Seven
  47. Thirty-Eight
  48. Thirty-Nine
  49. Forty
  50. Forty-One
  51. Forty-Two
  52. Forty-Three
  53. Forty-Four
  54. Forty-Five
  55. Forty-Six
  56. Forty-Seven
  57. Forty-Eight
  58. Forty-Nine
  59. Fifty
  60. Fifty-One
  61. Fifty-Two
  62. PART FOUR
  63. Fifty-Three
  64. Fifty-Four
  65. Fifty-Five
  66. Fifty-Six
  67. Fifty-Seven
  68. Fifty-Eight
  69. Fifty-Nine
  70. Sixty
  71. Sixty-One
  72. Epilogue: Autumn 1706
  73. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  74. GLOSSARY
  75. LIST OF CHARACTERS
  76. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

‘Save your anger for the reverend,’ said Sorcha. ‘And the bailies, the fucking cowards. The Stuart lads do what they’re told — they’ve no choice. Remember, the crowd didn’t hesitate to attack them either when they thought the lads were protecting Janet. They’ll be worried for their own safety and standing with the bailies as much to protect themselves as to try and quell this… this madness.’ She drew in her breath and, not caring if Mrs Cook or the other wives who remained inside the house saw her, stepped back onto the lane. ‘At least none of them have worked out where she went yet.’

Nettie managed to find a smile. ‘Aye, there’s that at least.’

With one last withering look in the men’s direction, they strode down a nearby street towards Nicolas Lawson’s house.

After all, they didn’t need to hurry. Not any more. Listening to the reverend and the councillors cover their spineless tracks, she knew with certainty Janet was in the last place they’d look. A place where there’d be medick, poultices for her wounds; a place where, Nicolas had whispered, Janet would go in her hour of need.

Fifty-One

FIFTY-ONE

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Peine forte et dure.

(Strong and hard punishment.)

When Sorcha found Janet at Nicolas’s house, she was being washed gently by Nicolas’s sister, Jenny. Nettie rushed to assist. Standing by the window, arms wrapped tightly about each other, their faces pale, were Nicolas’s mother, aunt, a cousin and some of the neighbours. As soon as Sorcha explained that Nicolas knew Janet would come here, but rather than arouse suspicion by coming herself, had gone to the Tolbooth, potentially facing another kind of danger, the men left to see what they could do. Only as they sealed the door again did Sorcha worry about what they might encounter out there. What would happen to those who tried to restore order when there was only chaos?

With her cheeks washed and the worst of the wounds on her face and head patched, Janet still looked terrible. Her breathing was raspy, loud. One eye was swollen closed, the other redder than a robin’s breast.

‘They’ve broken my ribs,’ she wheezed, flinching as she tried to move in the chair.

‘Hush. Don’t speak,’ said Sorcha, kneeling at Janet’s feet. She and Nettie dabbed some warm water infused with fennel and lavender on Janet’s ruined hands. The barnacles on the hull of the Sophia had ripped her aged skin, torn strips from her arms and legs. Sorcha could barely look at her face. It was distended with bruises, lumps where rocks and sticks had struck. Her front teeth were missing, her nose had been badly broken and even as she sat there, bubbles of blood and snot leaked from her nostrils.

Sorcha reached up and softly wiped it away. ‘Och, Janet, I’m so, so sorry.’