Page 5 of Highland Crown
“Help him,” he shouted at the sailors when they’d reached the submerged gunwale. Another wave crashed over them, but the ship held steady, for the moment at least. Standing in the froth, he handed the gunner into the longboat. “Cast off and get clear. If she rolls, you won’t have time.”
“Come with us, Captain,” the helmsman shouted through the wind.
The ship moved with the grinding shriek of wood on stone.
“Do as I say.”
He waited until the longboat cast off the lines. What was left of theHighland Crownnow joined the tumult of the storm in trying to stop him from reaching his destination. A railing collapsed and tumbled over him, nearly taking him with it into the sea. He climbed over rigging and ducked a spar that swung at his head like a club before he plunged through the hatch.
The lantern swung where they’d left it. With one last look at his cargo, he lit the fuse. With a hiss, the sparks shot toward the kegs, undulating like a fiery serpent. He had no time to consider the loss of all that he’d scratched and fought and bled to build in his life.
The longboat was battling the waves on the leeward side when he reached the open deck. Cinaed leaped into the churning sea. The chill of the water knocked the breath from his lungs. A wave drove him under.
As the sea enfolded him in her arms, the pain of his loss was a dirk driven into his heart. He was not a rich man. He was not born to wealth with a university education or a bought commission or a loving patron ready to cushion his fall. He’d been rejected by the only family he knew. And now the winds of ill-fortune had dashed Cinaed upon a stony shore, ripping from him his home, his life, his future. Beaten back from all he’d gained, his path had been decimated. Was he strong enough to start again?
He turned his gaze up toward the heaving froth of the sea and clawed his way upward. Bursting through, he swam toward the longboat.
Eager hands reached out to help him clamber on board.
“Row, lads,” he ordered, climbing into the stern. “All you’ve got now.”
Behind him, theHighland Crownexploded in a rapid-fire series of blasts, and pieces of the vessel rained down on the longboat. Cinaed stood beside the helmsman and looked back at his precious ship. What was left of the hull on the reef was on fire, and black smoke billowed above her.
A knot formed in his throat as he watched her burn. Then, lifted by the storm surge, the ship washed off the reef and sank from sight. Planks and rigging were all that remained, burning as they tossed on the tumultuous waves.
Cinaed tore his eyes away and turned to the task at hand, getting his men safely to shore. Through the murk and heavy mist, a rocky point appeared, jutting out from some unseen mainland.
“What’s behind us is gone,” he shouted above the wind. “Row hard, men. The shore is near.”
CHAPTER3
With head upraised, and look intent,
And eye and ear attentive bent,
And locks flung back, and lips apart,
Like monument of Grecian art,
In listening mood, she seemed to stand,
The guardian Naiad of the strand.
—Sir Walter Scott, “Lady of the Lake,” Canto I, stanza 17
The loud bang shocked her awake, and Isabella sat bolt upright.
Looking about her, she remained where she was for a few moments and tried to clear away the filmy webs of confusion. She couldn’t quite grasp her surroundings. The place was unfamiliar, and she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten here or why she was here. It was like a dream she could not escape.
But was the bang part of her dream?
She blinked and tried to clear her head.
Jean, John Gordon’s aunt. Isabella was in the Highlands, in the old woman’s cottage. The driftwood fire on the hearth had burned down to embers, casting a flickering glow over the floor and the walls and the humble furnishings.
The door swung hard, driven by a gust of wind, and banged once more against the scarred table by a shutteredwindow. A briny gust swept in through the open door, spattering the stone floor with rain that glistened like drops of amber.
Fanned by the sweep of salt air, the meager flames leapt up momentarily, and she glanced around the small cottage.
