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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

Awake even though it was still dark, Mr Brown listened with wide eyes and exclamations of first disgust, then glee, as the meaning of what Sorcha had seen became clear. He tried to persuade her to stay until at least the wind abated, but Sorcha was determined to deliver her message before the sun rose and declined. When she arrived Mr Brown had been pallid and drawn, but now as she waved goodbye he had colour in his cheeks and a sparkle in his eyes. She continued on to the Adams’s cottage.

The blanketed roads shimmered in the moonlight. It wouldn’t be long before the white covering was trampled to sludge by numerous boots, hooves and carts. It was market day, so the farmers and their wives would be coming to town to sell produce; tinkers too. As far as Sorcha was concerned, the more people in Pittenweem today, the better. More witnesses if the reverend reacted badly, not only once news about the escaped prisoners spread, but in case he should turn on those who remained when he discovered Beatrix really had slipped his grasp.

A few rats scurried down the wynd, ducking into holes in walls, finding a pile of rubbish to burrow into as they sensed they were no longer alone. There was a flash of lightning over the Forth followed by a long, low rumble of thunder. The storm hadn’t blown itself out at all, but was preparing to return with renewed force. The idea invigorated Sorcha and she inhaled the acrid smells of nature, tasted the twirling wet snowflakes on her tongue and blinked them out of her eyes as she made her way to the Adams’s cottage on the eastern side of town, before heading to the Lawsons and then on to the shore.

Nicolas and her husband took Sorcha’s news to heart. Seeing their hollow eyes fill with purpose and their shoulders straighten, Sorcha knew her decision to share what she’d seen was the right one.

Having informed her friends, she continued towards the harbour, approaching the pier from the west. Lost in thought, hoping that now, with this new knowledge, their torment would be over, she only slowly became aware that the air was closer, colder, and the copper tang that presaged a mighty storm had grown. The sense of something off-kilter began to grow in Sorcha, as if a giant hand had wrapped itself around her and was pressing upon her lungs. It was hard to breathe. She kept glancing at the tenebrous sky, noting how swiftly the stars were being extinguished. It was as if the world was being swallowed.