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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

‘Nettie,’ she said, standing. She finished her milk and left the cup by the hearth. ‘We have to find Captain Ross.’

‘Why? What can he do?’ said Nettie. Her shoulders were slumped, her face pinched.

‘What he’s sworn to do — protect us.’

Nettie began to laugh, but there was no humour in it. ‘No one can protect us from Cowper. Not even God. As the reverend reminds us every kirk session — God is on his side.’

Sorcha swung her shawl around her shoulders, checked the pins in her hair and gave a grim smile. ‘Maybe he can’t protect us from Cowper’s God, but perhaps he can protect us from the man himself. But we won’t know if we don’t try. Haven’t you always said as much?’

She stood before Nettie and held out her hands.

Reluctantly, Nettie placed hers in them and allowed herself to be hauled to her feet. ‘I have. I do. I just pray I’m not made to eat my words.’

As they left the house in search of Captain Ross, Sorcha prayed for that too.

Fifteen

FIFTEEN

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Keep the heid.

(Stay calm, don’t get upset.)

When Captain Aidan Ross saw it was the lovely widow Sorcha McIntyre who wished to speak to him, he regretted he’d no news of her brother to share. He’d written to the civic officials in Edinburgh, and even sent missives to an old friend fighting in France. Thus far he’d heard nothing. He knew the chances of Robbie McIntyre being alive were slim, especially since he’d been taken prisoner four years earlier. No one he knew survived that long in a Bavarian prison, let alone a French one. A swell of pity rose for the woman who, he understood from some of the Weem folk, had never given up hope. With what she’d suffered, it made him admire her even more, marvel at her resilience. There were so many in this small fishing community like her. Hardened by a life dependent on the whims of the sea, yet not above compassion; deeply superstitious, yet accepting of God’s will, too. He’d thought he’d hate every minute he spent in this seaside town with its strange sea-customs and oft unwelcoming folk, but he’d come to know and respect what they did and what they stood for — most of them, anyway.

He invited Sorcha and her friend Janet Horseburgh, who everyone bar her husband and the reverend called Nettie, into the main room of the cottage where he was quartered.