Firelight Rising: The Lindisfarne Series #1 by Johanna Craven

Author:Johanna Craven [Craven, Johanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-29T16:00:00+00:00

The sea is choppy, grey. Fine weather, Nathan thinks, for tossing a man overboard. He forces the thought away. Think guilty and he will look guilty.

Or at least, look as though he is hiding a secret for his guilty sister.

Nathan is sailing with Martin Macauley and Joseph Holland, from the fishing fleet. Martin had been deliberate in directing Nathan onto the same boat as himself. It is hard not to imagine he knows what he is hiding. After all, Martin had been there the moment Eva had returned to Holy Island after knocking his father into the sea. Surely he has his suspicions.

Three fishing boats have left the harbour. One is moving towards the mainland, another out into open water. Holland’s boat heads towards the Farnes.

Nathan feels the urge to speak; to convince Martin he and his family are not working for the government. But he stops himself. Donald had told his suspicions to Eva moments before he had ended up in the water. There is no way Nathan ought to know about them. He has no choice but to keep quiet. To let Martin and the other villagers sit with their suspicions, with his family in their firing line.

For far too long, there is silence, broken only by the rhythmic hiss of sea against the fishing boat’s hull. The two other boats are tiny shapes on the horizon. Nathan hears his heart thudding in his ears. His stomach turns over at the constant roll of the sea and he prays he can keep his breakfast down. He despises boats at the best of times.

Holland glances at Nathan; at his white-knuckled fingers gripping the gunwale. He chuckles. “Not got your sea legs then, Blake?”

Nathan forces a smile. “Far from it.”

“Typical Londoners.”

While Holland’s words are predictable, there’s warmth in his tone. Is it designed to lull him into a false sense of security? Or is he seeing conflict where there is none to be found? His dealings with Joseph Holland so far have been civil; friendly even. When he had visited the man to borrow the frame saw, they had spent much of the evening chatting over whisky glasses, while Theodora chased Holland’s dog around his house. Nathan would almost consider him a friend. But Martin Macauley’s presence makes him nervous.

“I’m afraid you’re right,” Nathan says to Holland. If the man truly is attempting a little geniality, he does not want to destroy it with suspicion. “Us city folk have plenty to learn about island life.”

“Did you tell that to your sister when she got caught out by the tide?” asks Martin.

Nathan’s stomach dives. “Indeed. Though I suspect she has learnt her lesson.”

“Heard about that, Joseph?” Martin keeps his eyes on the sea. “Miss Blake stranding herself on the mainland for the night? Same night Da disappeared.”

The back of Nathan’s neck prickles. Joseph Holland stands suddenly; points. “Up ahead. What’s that?”

Nathan squints. There’s a small shape ahead, bobbing on the water. From this distance, he cannot make out what it is.

Martin leans on the tiller.

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