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Back The Darkest Shore
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

Sorcha threw back her head and laughed. It was more like a scream. ‘’Twas not the devil in her, but the demon in you!’

With a yowl of rage, he stepped forward and slapped her hard. Sorcha’s head rebounded against the wood and blood filled her mouth.

‘Liar! Bitch! ’Twas your filthy incomer mother who tempted me, with hair like silver and those blue eyes. She came to me in my dreams and whispered in her strange tongue and told me to take her. Who was I to resist? I’m a mere man and she, she was a witch. A witch in league with the devil, just like her daughter. A witch who, from the moment I arrived in the Weem, cast her spell upon me.’ The ship tilted and he fell against her again. His mouth was so close, his nose bent against her cheek. ‘Just like you.’

Sorcha felt his sour desire in his every panting breath. Just as she feared he was about to kiss her, he pushed himself away with a cry of rage.

‘But God has spoken to me. He has shown me what I must do to save myself; to save us all.’ As he spoke, half his words were whipped out to sea. He picked up the remainder of the rope and wrapped it tightly around her waist, restraining her arms by her sides. ‘Janet Cornfoot shouldn’t have died,’ he yelled as he worked. ‘Not the way she did.’ For a fleeting moment Sorcha thought he was expressing regret.

‘She should have been lynched good and proper, like the witch she was.’

With a sinking heart, Sorcha understood what was about to happen. Through the heavy rain, she tried to see the harbourfront, the shore. There was not a soul about. No one to witness what this deranged man intended to do. No one to stop him.

He untied her from the mast, casting aside the bindings. The rope around her waist had been flung over the crosstree of the main mast and hung loosely until the reverend grabbed it and twined it around his forearm. Sorcha eyed it warily as it tightened as he dragged her towards the middle of the deck. She tried to free her arms, her wrists, but it was no use. Helpless, shaking uncontrollably, she stood looking from the deck to the freezing roiling waters, aware of the binding about her middle growing increasingly taut. She knew she didn’t have much time.

‘Reverend,’ she shouted, facing him. ‘Listen to me. Edinburgh will not tolerate another death. Not without a trial. You have me now, arrest me, lock me up and await their judgement. Prove to them I’m the witch you believe me to be. But don’t do this.’