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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

All too soon for Sorcha’s liking, the walls of the town loomed, the red rooftops of the nearest cottages peeping above them. Built on the rise, these houses had views of the entire Forth. Sorcha inwardly sighed. She’d so much she wanted to ask the captain — about himself, about soldiering, and here was her chance. The way to get people to reveal aspects of themselves was to offer the same. What did she do? Waste the opportunity.

As if reading her thoughts, the captain spoke. ‘Do you mind if I ask you something, Mrs McIntyre?’

Sorcha gave a flourish of her hand. ‘Be my guest.’

‘Why did you leave town? Seems to me when folk do, they rarely come back. But you did.’

Throwing caution to the wind, Sorcha began to talk, telling him about Dagny’s invitation, which led to her explaining about her mother, father and brothers as well. She even told him about Andy. Of Davan and the reason she left Dagny’s she made no mention. When she’d finished, they’d breached the walls and reached the corner of Charles and James Streets. The captain had been a good listener. It was only as they nodded greetings to Mr Walker coming out of his cottage, an axe across his shoulders, his dog bounding at his heels, that the captain commented.

‘I’m sorry for your losses, Mrs McIntyre.’ He shook his head. ‘Such inadequate words, but I don’t ken what else to say.’ The captain cleared his throat. ‘I’d heard why you left, truth be told. There’s not much you don’t glean in the Weem.’ His mouth curved in a smile that could have been mistaken for a grimace, but disappeared before she could tell. ‘But I wanted to hear it from you. The fishing life is a hard one, but it seems to me you’ve had it harder than most.’

How curious, thought Sorcha, that was what Nettie said too. A wave of self-pity rose and she felt ashamed of herself for it. There had been enough of that over the years to fill a harbour’s worth of creels and, anyway, wasn’t she alive? Aye, she’d no father, mother, brothers any more, no husband or son, and even her sister was dead to her — well, she was to Dagny. But didn’t that mean she owed it to each and every one of those no longer here to live?

Unaware she’d said this last bit out loud, it wasn’t until the captain stopped and stared at her, that she understood she had. Red-faced, she found her feet very interesting. ‘That must make me sound so selfish,’ she said quietly.