A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter

Author:Mollie Hunter [Mollie Hunter]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781782500865
Publisher: Floris Books
Published: 2014-10-06T04:00:00+00:00

10. Nicol

For two days after the rescue in the geo, Robbie waited for his chance to speak alone with Nicol Anderson.

“I need a word with you, Nicol,” said he, the moment he found this chance. “A private word about Finn Learson and Elspeth.”

“That’s none of your business,” Nicol told him sharply. “But if you must talk about it, talk to your Mam and Da. I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”

“But you’ve got to,” Robbie insisted. “My Mam and Da thought the world of him even before he saved me from drowning, and now that’s happened, they’ll not hear a word against him. I’m sure of that, and so what use is it to try talking to them?”

“Then try holding your tongue for a change,” Nicol retorted. “You should think shame, anyway, for even wanting to speak against a man who has just saved your life.”

“If he had guessed what I was thinking about him,” said Robbie miserably, “he would have tipped me back into the water and left me to drown in good earnest. That’s something else I know for sure.”

“Robbie Henderson!” Nicol exclaimed. “That’s a terrible thing to say about anybody!”

“I know it is,” Robbie admitted, “but I’ve got a good reason for saying it about Finn Learson. It came to me suddenly when he was shoving me back into the boat, and I’m certain I know the truth now.”

“The truth about what?” Nicol demanded. “You’re talking in riddles, boy.”

“Then I’ll begin at the beginning,” Robbie told him. “Do you remember the night he came ashore, Nicol – the night of the storm that wrecked the Bergen?”

“Of course,” Nicol nodded. “But what’s that got to do with it?”

“Just this,” Robbie answered. “He came ashore looking like a survivor of that wreck, and so everybody took it for granted that he was. But he never claimed to be a survivor. He never spoke about the Bergen as my ship. Whenever he mentioned it, he called it ‘the’ ship.”

“And what’s that but a slip of the tongue?” Nicol asked. “He’s a Norwegian, isn’t he? At least, the ship was Norwegian, and you can tell from the way he speaks that he’s some sort of foreigner. And anyway, if he didn’t come from the ship, where could he have come from?”

“I’ll get to that in a minute,” said Robbie. “But have you noticed, Nicol, that little smile he sometimes gives – as if he was enjoying some secret sort of joke?”

“Well – now you mention it, I suppose I have,” Nicol admitted. “But, Robbie –”

“Wait!” Robbie interrupted. “Let me tell you about his first night in our house, Nicol. We had trouble with Tam barking and growling then; but late that night he stared into Tam’s eyes, and the creature was frightened of him. It was after we were all in bed that this happened, but I saw it because I was awakened by Finn Learson playing on my Da’s fiddle.”

“Playing what?” Nicol asked curiously. “And why would he do that?’

“I can’t tell you why,” Robbie admitted, “but I do know what he played.

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