Island of Whispering Winds E-Book

Elizabeth Haran

• Herausgeber: Bastei Lübbe
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Seitenzahl: 797

Beschreibung

Australia, 1845: On the way to Kangaroo Island, a passenger ship strikes a hidden reef in a storm and sinks. From prisoners to the privileged, everyone on board is cast into the sea, and only two young women survive: Amelia Divine and Sarah Jones. Just when it looks like they are about to get rescued, Amelia suffers a bad head injury and loses her memory. She can not even recall her name. Using her companion's ill fate to her advantage, Sarah jumps at the chance to change her identity and to escape her own grim future. From impossible love to heartbreaking misfortune, the ripple effect of that fateful day will follow both women in ways Sarah had never imagined... A twisting tale of deception and consequence, "Island of Whispering Winds" whisks you away to the fantastic Australian countryside, while Sarah and Amelia find themselves. Just how far with Sarah go? Will Amelia ever learn who she really is?

With an eye for detail, Elizabeth Haran is the author of numerous other romantic adventures including "Under a Flaming Sky," "River of Fortune," "Flight of the Jabiru," and "Staircase to the Moon," available as eBooks.

For fans of sagas set against a backdrop of beautiful landscapes, like Sarah Lark's, "Island of a Thousand Springs" or Kate Morton's, "The Forgotten Garden."

About the author: Elizabeth Haran was born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia and migrated to Australia as a child. She lives with her family in Adelaide and has written fourteen novels set in Australia. Her heart-warming and carefully crafted books have been published in ten countries and are bestsellers in Germany.

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title

Copyright

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Annotation

ELIZABETH HARAN

ISLANDOFWHISPERINGWINDS

Novel

BASTEI ENTERTAINMENT

May 2013

Digital original edition

Bastei Entertainment is an imprint of Bastei Lübbe AG

This title was acquired through the literary agency Thomas Schlück GmbH, 30827 Garbsen, Germany

Copyright © 2013 by Bastei Lübbe AG, Cologne, Germany

Edited by Melanie Blank-Schröder, Cologne

Cover designed by Jeannine Schmelzer, Cologne

Cover illustrated by © shutterstock/ian woolcock/EVA 105

E-Book produced by Urban SatzKonzept, Düsseldorf

ISBN 978-3-8387-4133-8

www.bastei-entertainment.com

I'd like to dedicate this book to our dog Scully, not only a loyal, faithful and intelligent companion, but a real character. We have eight years of wonderful memories of your time with us, Scully, and you were truly brave to the end. You'll be forever in our hearts. RIP

CHAPTER ONE

Australia, September 1845

Off the southern coast of mainland Australia

“Lucy! Bring my parasol at once, do you hear?” The beautiful young dark-haired woman called impatiently. She was obviously worried about her peaches-and-cream complexion.

“If your skin is burning, Miss Divine, perhaps you should come out of the sun,” Lucy advised her employer in a kindly tone. She was aware of how powerful the sun’s reflection off the sea could be. With her blonde hair and fair skin, she burned in a matter of minutes. She was standing in the shade of the aft deck, sheltering as much from the rising wind as the sun, while the S.S. Gazelle rolled and dipped over mounting waves. They were traveling along the southern coast of Australia, heading for Backstairs Passage, a notoriously volatile stretch of water that separated Kangaroo Island from the mainland, but with strong head winds the crew claimed it would be dark before they got there. It was almost October, and the weather should have been mild to warm, but the wind was as chilled as a winter’s morning.

Amelia Divine was standing at the ship’s railing, glaring at her servant. “This terrible rocking motion is making me feel ill, Lucy. If I don’t keep the breeze in my face, I am likely to feed those horrible mutton chops we had for lunch to the fish.”

Lucy inwardly groaned. Amelia had done nothing but whine since they set sail from Van Diemen’s Land five days ago on the steamer Lady Rosalind, and it was taking its toll on her nerves. It was too warm. It was too cold. The food was terrible. The crew were rude. They were being forced to mix with steerage passengers. On and on and on …

Even the brief stopover in Melbourne, before boarding the steamer Gazelle, had not improved her mood.

Lucy was convinced it was too windy to hold a parasol, but she went below to fetch it, just to keep her ladyship happy. She’d no sooner given it to Amelia when the bracing wind whipped it from her hand, and she screeched in annoyance as it flew over the side and was quickly swept away on the crest of a wave.

“Perhaps it would be wise to come out of this wind, Miss Divine,” Lucy suggested. Amelia was so slight that Lucy feared the strong wind might carry her overboard.

“I told you, I’ll be sick. If you haven’t any more helpful suggestions, leave me be,” Amelia said sullenly. She was turning the same pea-green as the sea, Lucy noted, and was obviously bent on making Lucy bear the brunt of her ill temper, as she had done more than once in the past few weeks. Lucy returned to the shelter of the aft deck, where she was awaited by a fellow passenger, who’d introduced herself as Sarah Jones.

Sarah had overheard Amelia’s tirade. “I don’t know how you put up with your employer’s whining and the disrespectful way she talks to you,” she said, glaring at Amelia, who was clinging to the railing with a snooty expression on her pretty face. She’d had the displeasure of meeting lots of Amelia Divines over the years. She’d been spoken to in the same insolent tone many times. Due to her circumstances, she’d had no choice but to accept it, but she didn’t understand why Lucy put up with it. She was a servant, yes, but obviously a free person.

Sarah had an expert eye for those who were in the same position as herself, and Lucy wasn’t one of them. If she’d been in Lucy’s shoes, she’d have told Miss Divine exactly what she thought of her. It would probably have cost her position, but the satisfaction would be worth it.

“I need the work and lodgings,” Lucy said by way of explanation. “I came out to Australia eighteen months ago with one hundred and fifty-six children from a London orphanage. The minute any of us turn sixteen, we are expected to make our own way in the world. I had my sixteenth birthday only last month, but I was lucky enough to get this position with Amelia.”

“Miss Divine can’t be much older than you,” Sarah commented, still glaring at Lucy’s employer. “Where are her parents?” They were obviously rich and had brought her up to look down on the working class, which only increased Sarah’s dislike of her.

“She’s nineteen. Her life was one to envy … until a few weeks ago, when her parents and young brother were killed.”

“What happened?”

“An enormous gum tree fell on their carriage during a violent gale in Hobart Town. Apparently they didn’t stand a chance. I was hired to accompany her out to her appointed guardians, who live in the town of Kingscote, on the island. Amelia hasn’t seen them since she was about eleven, but the family butler told me they’re wonderful people, so I’m sure they’ll be very kind to her. I’m praying she keeps me on as her companion because despite how difficult she’s been, looking after her is certainly not hard work.” Lucy was way too sweet-tempered to feel anger about Amelia’s behaviour. Her soft nature even showed in her gentle features and her warm smile.

Sarah gave Lucy a look that suggested she’d rather put up with scrubbing outhouses than be anywhere near Amelia.

“If I wasn’t Amelia’s companion, I’d be working in a factory or doing cleaning work, and I don’t fancy that,” Lucy said. She glanced at the cracked skin on Sarah’s hands and knew they’d been in water more than they’d been out. Her own hands had been in a similar condition when she lived in the orphanage.

Sarah’s dislike of the haughty Amelia was not softened by hearing of her loss. She was sure she wasn’t penniless, and she had guardians to look out for her. There was no doubt her future was going to be anything but hard. Besides, she was too beautiful to be pitied. In fact, Sarah disliked her because they were so different. Though they both shared the same features – long, dark brown hair, a fair complexion and brown eyes –, Amelia’s face was beautiful, while Sarah’s was rather plain. Though they both were going to live on Kangaroo Island, their new homes could not be more different. And of course, while Amelia was born with wealthy parents, Sarah came from an English working-class family.

Sarah could, however, see Lucy’s point of view. Even so, it still galled her that the Amelia Divines of this world thought they had the right to treat anyone of a lower class like doormats.

Lucy noticed dark clouds were gathering over the mainland and prayed they would reach their destination before a storm hit them. “I am so curious to see the island. One of the other passengers told me the beaches there have beautiful white sand, and that the fishing is excellent. Amelia was a little dismayed when she heard the population is so small, because she thinks there won’t be many stores where she can shop, but I’m looking forward to seeing the seals and penguins. I was also told the climate is similar to Van Diemen’s Land so we shouldn’t have too many hot days.”

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. It didn’t matter to her what the island was like. She had not had the choice to go there.

“What type of work are you going to be doing on the island?” Lucy asked Sarah.

It was an innocent enough question, but Sarah had every intention of telling Lucy a pale version of the truth. “I’ll be living on a farm and taking care of some children who lost their mother nearly a year ago.”

“Oh dear, what happened to her?”

“I believe she died giving birth to her seventh child.”

“Does that mean one of your charges will be a newborn?” Lucy asked. Although she felt sorry for the farmer’s children because they’d lost their mother, she couldn’t keep a hint of excitement from her voice. She just adored babies.

“I was told the baby died, too,” Sarah replied. Not for the first time she was thinking that the farmer’s wife should have refused her husband’s amorous attentions. If she had done so, their children might still have a mother. But Sarah was realistic enough to know that the poor farmer’s wife had no choice but to accept her fate and be a dutiful wife, and she’d paid the highest price.

Lucy was still thinking about the poor baby who’d died at birth. “So you’ll be a governess to six children,” she said. It was a naïve statement that did little to hide the fact that she was reminded of the toddlers and babies she’d taken care of at the orphanage, the poor unwanted mites who had not a soul in the world to love them. Leaving them behind had been one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. She could remember the day, just a month ago, when she’d walked out of the orphanage. It felt like only yesterday. The babies were screaming and the toddlers were wailing, but the nuns wouldn’t let her stay. It had broken her heart, and she still felt a tremendous sense of guilt for deserting them.

Sarah was relieved with how Lucy perceived her situation. Being thought of as a governess was far better than Lucy knowing she was an indentured convict, a ticket-of-leave prisoner. At the age of fourteen she had been convicted and sentenced to a term of seven years for stealing. She’d served five hard years at the Cascade Female Factory in Degraves Street, South Hobart, doing laundry work. As there was a labour shortage on farms in Australia, the men and women from penal settlements who had been on good behaviour were allowed to finish their terms working on the land.

Sarah had been escorted aboard the Montebello in Hobart Town by a prison guard and accompanied to Melbourne, where she was put aboard the S.S. Gazelle. She was to check in at the police station in Kingscote upon her arrival and they were to see to it that she got to Evan Finnlay’s farm on the far west coast of the island. She’d been dismayed that he wasn’t meeting her, because apparently the farm was a hundred miles from the town, but he’d told the authorities that he couldn’t leave his livestock or children. However, she’d been assured that someone would take her out to the farm, by all accounts situated in a very wild part of the island.

There were eighty-one passengers aboard the Gazelle and twenty-eight crew members. Her cargo consisted of copper, flour, general merchandise and seven horses, four of them racehorses bound for Adelaide. Three of the passengers, Messrs. Hedgerow, Albertson and Brown were the owners and they’d been heard bragging about one of their horses’ successes in the Flemington races in Melbourne.

An hour later, the sky had darkened ominously and the wind had become fierce. The masts and rigging on either side of the Gazelle’s central funnel creaked and groaned under the strain and the crew feared her sails would be unfurled and ripped to shreds. There was nothing they could do as the ship was tossed from one crest of a savage wave to the next. They were five miles south of the Cape Willoughby light on Kangaroo Island, flashing its perilous warning, when the heavy ocean swell threw one of the racehorses on his back in his box. The captain ordered the ship’s bows turned southwest, out to sea and into the swell, and the speed reduced while the horse was righted.

Soon the seas had become mountainous and the S.S. Gazelle was being lashed by a squall. The captain decided it was safer to circumnavigate the island to get to the port of Kingscote, rather than try to turn back and go through Backstairs Passage in the storm. He’d then wait for calmer weather before traveling on to Adelaide.

“When will we reach port on that wretched island?” Amelia complained for the hundredth time. She’d been forced into the passenger lounge by the rain, where she’d been violently ill, and the brief glimpses they’d had of the island had faded in the falling darkness and heavy rain. As the hours passed and the ship was completely enveloped in darkness and a heavy squall, Sarah and Lucy prayed for salvation, while Amelia continued to complain.

Captain Brenner saw the flash from another lighthouse, and knew they must be off course. He hastily consulted his charts. Visibility was almost non-existent and he hadn’t realized they were so close to the island. He searched the charts for treacherous reefs.

His first mate joined him. “If that’s the Cape du Couedic light, sir, and it can’t be anything else, then we should go wide of the island.” He’d been on ships in the area before and knew only too well that many had come to grief.

Captain Brenner swung the wheel to portside, but too late. Just as one of the crew called out a warning from the bow, a violent jolt knocked most of the passengers and crew to the boards beneath their feet.

“God have mercy on our souls,” the captain said. The ship had hit a partially sunken reef. The terrifying grinding sound as the wooden hull scraped over the jagged reef was something no one could ever forget. Screams filled the ‘tween decks as the children aboard clung to their weeping mothers. Prayers were hastily offered up as a swell lifted the ship a further twenty or more feet onto the rocks, impaling her. Hit by another powerful wave, she keeled over onto one side, with her port side out of the water. Bodies were flung on top of each other and cries snuffed out by shock as seawater flooded the lower decks. The engines were immediately stopped to avoid the propeller being smashed on the reef. The sounds of crashing waves and the screams of the passengers were deafening. The crew waited anxiously for two minutes to find out their fate.

When the ship seemed to be holding steady, Captain Brenner gave orders to get the passengers into the life rafts. A moment later the Gazelle’s funnel smashed onto one of the rafts, separating the bow from the stern. The ship’s beams gave way under the strain and she broke into three sections. The cabins and lounge areas fell into complete darkness, leaving the passengers terrified. Several of the passengers, crew and cargo were swept – along with more life rafts – into the volatile sea. Over the portion of the reef where the mid-ship and fore section lay, there was a greater depth of water than where the aft section rested, high out of the water. The panicking passengers in the mid and fore sections of the ship tried to scramble to the aft, using a line they’d thrown which was secured by a crewman, but most were swept away.

Lucy, Amelia and Sarah Jones were in the lounge in the stern of the ship. They were unaware that most of the life rafts had been torn from the ship and floated away, but were still overwhelmingly petrified. Amelia could only think that she was to follow her family to the grave and Lucy was too shaken to reassure her.

As the stern of the Gazelle rocked on her precarious perch, at the mercy of the churning sea and howling wind, the crew frantically tried to save lives. Messrs. Hedgerow, Albertson and Brown offered them one hundred pounds to get them to safety, as they witnessed three of their prized racehorses swim for it and the fourth dashed on protruding rocks by waves. William Smith, a second-year seaman, was horrified, especially when witnessing the look of sheer disbelief on the face of a mother of four small children when she overheard the offer. He told the rich men that the women and children were to be saved first, but two other members of the crew were tempted. Ronan Ross and Tierman Kelly, both first-year seamen, would have gladly taken the rich men’s money, but they could not guarantee anyone would get to safety, rich or poor. They all knew it would be a miracle if anyone survived.

So the crew concentrated on emergency procedures. They found a few rockets and fired them, hoping to attract the attention of the lighthouse keeper, but they were too damp and fizzled ineffectively. The ship’s bell was rung in the hope that a passing ship or the lighthouse keeper might hear their distress call, but in the howling gale, it was unlikely.

One of the crewmen in the bow spotted an upturned raft floating nearby. One of the passengers, a Dutch seaman, offered to try and swim to it with a rope attached to his waist. He miraculously made it to the raft, and was given a round of applause, but the attached line came undone, stranding him. In no time he was swept out to sea, still clinging to the raft’s hull.

The two crew members in the stern of the boat managed to loosen the ropes of the only life raft left available to them and set it right. While one, who was holding a lamp, climbed into the raft, the other managed to move up the steeply angled deck to the lounge doorway and lowered passengers down into thigh-deep water, where the crewman within the raft helped them aboard. It was tricky work with waves constantly washing over them.

The crew estimated there were about thirty-five passengers in the stern, too many for the raft, but they were determined to save as many as they could. The children were put in the raft first, along with their mothers, followed by some of the eldest women and men. Lucy, Amelia and Sarah were at the very back of the lounge, in pitch darkness, as the panic-stricken passengers pushed forward. Those related were desperate to stay together but confusion reigned in the darkness.

Somehow Lucy and Sarah became separated from Amelia, who was still suffering the effects of sea-sickness. It was pandemonium as people pushed, shoved and cried, all desperate to get out of the lounge and into the raft before the stern was swept into deep water by the relentless surf.

“Lucy,” Amelia called when she realized she had lost her. “Lucy! Lucy! Where are you?” Amelia was terrified of being left alone, and fought her way to the opening of the lounge. Gazing down at the raft, she searched for Lucy, but in the dull lamplight and rain, she couldn’t see clearly enough to recognize her.

“Sorry, no more,” the crewman in the raft shouted up. “The raft is full.”

“Lucy,” Amelia screamed when she thought she caught sight of the top of her head in the raft.

Lucy had wanted to wait for Amelia, but she’d been thrust forward in the push for the lounge door and the crewman had practically pulled her out. Sarah was also in the raft, just behind her.

Lucy looked up and Amelia caught sight of her. “Lucy, wait for me,” she screamed.

“I’m sorry,” the crewman beside her said. “The raft is full, miss.”

“Lucy,” Amelia screamed. “You can’t go without me.” She turned on the crewman holding onto her. “Lucy is my servant. She can’t go in the raft unless I’m with her.”

“The raft will capsize if it’s overloaded, and it’s full to capacity now, miss.”

“You don’t understand. I must get into the raft,” Amelia said almost hysterically. She scrambled free of the crewman, and fell into the water, beside the raft. When she surfaced, she clung onto the side of the raft. “I must go with Lucy,” she cried, gasping. She couldn’t comprehend being left aboard the Gazelle, and surely as a first-class passenger, she had more right than steerage passengers to a place in the raft.

“I’m sorry, only one of you can go,” the crewman reiterated. He tried to pull Amelia from the water, but she would have none of it, flailing her arms like a madwoman and causing those in the raft to become near hysterical, fearing she might rock the raft so much they’d all end up in the water.

“It should be me,” Amelia screamed. She glared at Lucy, huddled in front of Sarah.

“Stay here,” Sarah said urgently to Lucy. She clasped Lucy’s arm as she tried to get up.

Lucy didn’t know what to do. If Amelia caused the raft to capsize, then no one aboard would have a chance to be saved. She glanced at the faces of the terrified children around her. How could she be responsible for them not making it to safety? “Please let Miss Divine come aboard,” she pleaded to the crewman in the raft.

“We can’t,” the crewman said. “The raft will be overloaded.”

“Lucy,” Amelia screamed. “You can’t go. You can’t.”

Taking a deep breath, Lucy stood up. “I’m coming,” she cried to Amelia, pushing forward.

“No, Lucy,” Sarah pleaded. “Stay aboard.”

“I can’t,” Lucy said. She knew she had no right to take a place that Amelia could have, so she shook free of Sarah’s clasp and climbed out of the boat. As she did so, the crewman fished Amelia from the water, and helped her aboard.

“Lucy, come with us,” Amelia shouted angrily. She had not even understood that Lucy had sacrificed her own safety for her. She stamped her foot like a child. The life raft rocked, and those aboard screamed in terror.

“I’ll get her to safety,” the other crewman called, as he took hold of Lucy’s arm and lifted her back to the lounge door. Using an oar, the crewman in the raft pushed away from the stricken ship.

Sarah looked up at Lucy, who was watching them from the lounge doorway. Even in the dull glow of the crewman’s lamp, she could see her expression was of someone sentenced to death after thinking she was going to make it to safety. Sarah was so livid she wanted to attack Amelia Divine, but as waves battered them, she had more pressing things on her mind.

The crewman aboard the life raft tried to turn the boat for the coast, but even in the darkness he could see the black outlines of jagged rock outcrops protruding from the sea. To get the raft safely through a space between the rocks was going to be difficult because of the unpredictable waves. They needed a miracle, on a night that had so far been short of miracles.

The life raft hadn’t got more than a hundred yards from the ship when the bow section of the Gazelle broke up and disappeared to the ocean’s depths. Those in the raft heard the timbers being smashed against the rocks, and then the strange eerie noise of air spurting from the cabins as the bow sank to her watery grave. There were no cries for help on the wind, as the poor wretches aboard didn’t stand a chance. Amelia and the other passengers in the raft held on to the boat and each other for grim death. They couldn’t help wondering whether they were the lucky ones, or were they also doomed?

When the raft reached the breakers, it was hurled forward. There was only one small beach on which it was possible to safely land, as the rest of the coast was cliffs. Just when it seemed they might ride the breakers into shore, the raft hit rocks and was flung sideways. A few moments later it was hit by another wave, and capsized.

Amelia’s scream was swamped by seawater as she was dragged under the surf and tumbled over and over. When she finally surfaced, she was thrown against something hard. She was dazed, but instinctively reached out and clung on to rocks. The next instinctive thing she did was suck air into her bursting lungs as the seawater withdrew, trying to drag her battered body with it. She could barely catch her breath as another wave crashed over her. Her face, arms and legs all throbbed with pain, but she couldn’t see a thing, as her long, wet hair covered her face.

With her arms wrapped around the rock, Amelia clung on for dear life, constantly pounded by the surf that sucked and dragged at her weary body. Minutes felt like hours, but her numb fingers held fast as her body was battered time and again. She had no idea how far from shore she was. In a break between the waves, she pushed her hair out of her eyes. With what little strength she had left, she climbed as high as she could on the rocks, where she could rest, but her lower body was still below the water line.

Amelia lost track of time. When she opened her eyes the next time, the light was strange and she realized dawn must be breaking. She was holding on to a large, barnacle-encrusted rocky outcrop. Her fingers, arms, knees and shins were bleeding, and she was shivering so hard her teeth were chattering. She turned to see land some distance away. It was mostly a sheer cliff face, but further along the coast there was one small strip of sand. She tried to focus, as something was moving on the sand. As she watched, fascinated and frightened at the same time, she realized it was a colony of sea lions. Amelia also suddenly remembered being told the sea around the island was shark infested. She shuddered with fear and tried to pull her legs up out of the water, but it was impossible. She glanced up at the cliff where the lighthouse stood, still flashing its warning. Could the keeper see her? Did he know the Gazelle had gone down just offshore?

Amelia wondered if the tide was coming in or going out. She thought about when it had been dark. She’d barely had her head above water, and now the waves lapped at her feet, so she assumed it was low tide, which gave her a little time to contemplate how she was going to get to safety.

Turning, Amelia looked out to sea and gasped in horror. There was no sign of the mid or stern section of the Gazelle, but not far away she could see bits of timber, a cushion, a shoe, a suitcase floating on the ocean’s surface – morbid reminders of all the lives lost.

“Oh God, am I the only survivor?” she cried.

Amelia closed her eyes and sobbed. Gulls mewed overhead and the waves crashed against the rocks. She’d never felt so utterly alone. Suddenly she thought she heard something. It sounded like a groan of pain, but she was sure she must be hallucinating. She turned and looked around her. “Who’s there?” she called, daring to hope she was not alone. When she couldn’t see anyone in the water, she realized the noise must have come from the other side of the rocky outcrop.

“I’m … over here,” she heard someone say. A wave crashed against the rocks as the survivor spoke, but Amelia was sure it was a woman’s voice she’d heard.

“Lucy,” Amelia cried, her heart swelling with hope. “Is that you, Lucy?”

“No,” Sarah Jones said flatly. She realized it must be Amelia Divine on the other side of the rocks, if she was asking for Lucy.

Amelia turned her head to look out to sea again, wondering … praying … that Lucy had somehow survived, and yet in her heart, she knew the chances were slim to none. Her eyes filled with salty tears and not for the first time she wondered why God had spared her life, not once, but twice now. If she hadn’t been feeling unwell on the day her parents and brother, Marcus, had been crushed in their carriage by a tree, she would have been with them. If she hadn’t been in the life raft, she would have gone down with the Gazelle.

Amelia was sure the water lapping at the rocks had started to rise. “The tide’s coming in,” she cried, turning to look at the land again. Just thinking about trying to swim to shore scared her to death. She wasn’t a good swimmer and she was terrified of being attacked by a shark.

Suddenly a head came around the side of the rock. Amelia was so relieved to see another person, but Sarah was thinking of Lucy, and glared at her.

“Are you alone? Are there any other survivors?” Amelia asked her.

“I don’t think so. I saw a body. I think it was the crewman.” He’d had a huge gash in his head, so Sarah assumed he’d been smashed against the rocks. She glanced at the strip of beach. “What is that on the sand over there?” she asked, daring to hope there were other survivors. She could make out dark shapes and some were moving, but she had sea spray in her eyes and couldn’t see clearly.

“Sea lions,” Amelia said.

“Will they attack us?” Sarah hadn’t had much education.

“No, I don’t think so, but I believe sharks feed on them,” Amelia said, glancing at the vast water around them. “Oh, God. When the tide comes in, the sharks will get us.” Amelia started screaming.

“Will you shut up,” Sarah snapped. “Becoming hysterical will not help us.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up,” Amelia sobbed.

“Well, what good is screaming? I am going to swim for shore. Are you coming?”

“No, I am not. There are sharks in the water.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Don’t you dare leave me here alone,” Amelia said.

There was that insolent tone again. “You can’t cling to these rocks forever. If we are to save ourselves, we have to swim for shore.” Sarah was loath to help Amelia, especially as she’d cost Lucy her life, but she didn’t want to be alone either.

Amelia glanced at the water surrounding the rocks, and suddenly screamed again.

“Stop that,” Sarah shouted at her.

“I saw … a fin. Sharks are circling us.” Her eyes were wide with terror.

Sarah looked at the water. “I can’t see anything,” she said, not sure whether to believe Amelia or not.

“It’s gone below the surface,” Amelia cried. She pulled her feet up out of the water.

Sarah glanced at the beach again and saw two sea lions dart out of the water. Perhaps it was likely Amelia was telling the truth. If she was, then it was too dangerous to try and swim for shore. But what was their alternative?

“The tide is coming in,” Sarah said. “We can’t stay here. We might get washed off the rocks.”

Amelia shook her head, crying and shivering, as much with fright as the cold. The sky was still dismally grey, hiding any sun that might have warmed the girls, and the wind was icy.

Sarah glanced at the water, searching the surface for a black fin. If Amelia hadn’t mentioned seeing a fin, she would have tried to swim to land.

“Perhaps the lighthouse keeper can see us and will come to our rescue,” Amelia said.

Sarah was sickened that Amelia always presumed someone would come to her aid. In her experience, that rarely happened. “He would have been here by now. It’s been light for some time.”

“Then what can we do? Wait for a shark to take us?” Amelia snapped.

Sarah was too exhausted to think. She closed her eyes, believing if she snatched a few minutes of sleep, she’d wake up and know what to do.

Amelia glanced up at the lighthouse again. She was certain the lighthouse keeper would come. He had to. She too closed her eyes, utterly exhausted.

By midday, the tide had risen considerably. As waves pounded the rocks, they huddled as close as they could. Sarah had just summoned up the courage to swim for land when she thought she saw a fin in the water.

“Oh, God. There is a shark circling us,” she screamed.

Amelia almost fainted with fright. She closed her eyes and clutched the rocks as waves washed over her. Even though they’d climbed as high as they could on the rocks, the water had reached the girls’ waists, so their legs were completely submerged.

“We’re going to die,” Amelia sobbed. She wished she had died with the others. It would have been a much kinder death than being eaten by a shark.

Sarah said nothing. She had been keeping an eye out for a large piece of timber that they could use as a raft. Several pieces of wood from the shipwreck had floated within their reach, but none had been big enough to support one person, let alone two. She could see a barrel about fifty yards away and prayed it would come closer.

Sarah was watching the barrel intently, with her back towards the land, when suddenly she heard a splashing noise that was different from the crashing of waves. She turned to see a rowboat coming their way. The man at the oars had his back to them, but he was making straight for them.

“Someone is coming,” she said. “We’re going to be saved.”

Amelia lifted her head and pushed her sodden hair from her face. Just as she did, a wave washed over her, and she spluttered as she swallowed seawater.

“Help us,” Sarah called before she too was swamped by a wave.

The man turned the boat when he was about ten yards from the rocks. “I’m going to throw you a rope,” he called. “Take hold of it and I will pull you towards the boat.”

Amelia closed her eyes. “Sh-ar-ks,” she cried. She was so cold and frightened she could barely speak.

“You’ll be all right,” the man called. “I can’t come any closer because of the rocks.”

“I saw a shark fin a little while ago,” Sarah called.

The man looked around him. “That would have been a dolphin,” he lied. “There are lots of dolphins in this area.”

“Do you hear that?” Sarah said. “It was a dolphin we saw. They’re harmless.”

“It was a sh-ar-k,” Amelia said. “I … know it was.”

The man was having trouble keeping the boat in one position because of the crashing waves. “One of you grab for the rope and I’ll pull you in,” he said as he wrestled with the oars. When he had the boat in position, he whirled the rope above his head and then let it go. It landed on the rocks. Sarah reached for it but a wave washed it away before she could grasp it. He drew the rope in, and then turned the boat side-on to the rocks again. “I can’t stay here much longer,” he said, twirling the rope again.

This time, Sarah caught the rope with one hand. As a wave washed over her, she let go of the rocks and allowed the wave to take her. The man pulled her towards the boat, and then hoisted her aboard. Amelia was watching, but she had no idea how she was going to find the courage to let go of the rocks. Her hands were so cold, they were numb. She couldn’t pry them off the rocks if she tried.

As waves crashed around the rocks, the boat was flung sideways. The man quickly battled with the oars to turn it back. Amelia was sure she was going to be left behind. She closed her eyes, too weak to fight her fate.

The man could tell he was going to have trouble getting her off the rocks, so he made a lasso. When he got close enough and had the boat in position, he threw the rope and miraculously it went over Amelia’s head.

“Put your arm through the rope,” he called. He knew if she didn’t, the noose would tighten around her neck. “Hurry,” the man called as he watched another large wave rolling towards the boat.

“No,” Amelia said, shaking her head.

The man had to think quickly. “In about an hour, the crabs will come.”

Amelia looked at him.

“Giant crabs,” he called. “I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but they’ll eat you alive.”

Amelia took one hand off the rock and moved her stiff arm to put it through the rope over her shoulders, but as she did, a wave crashed over her and she lost her grip on the rocks. The rope quickly tightened around her, and she felt herself being dragged through the water. The same wave pushed the boat further away. Amelia struggled as she was dragged under the surf. With the rope around her neck and under one arm, she couldn’t swim, even if she’d had the energy to do so. As she was dragged, she went limp and seawater filled her lungs.

By the time the man had pulled Amelia out of the water, she was a dead weight. “Christ,” he muttered. When he had her in the boat, he hung her head and chest over the side, and pummeled her back. “Come on,” he shouted, pummeling again, and Amelia coughed up several mouthfuls of seawater.

“Take care of her,” he told Sarah as he manned the oars.

Sarah glanced thankfully at the young dark-haired man who had rescued them. She was soon to know that his name was Gabriel Donnelly, the lighthouse keeper from Cape du Couedic. He had seen the girls from the cliffs through a telescope, but was forced to wait until high tide before attempting to rescue them. As luck would have it, there’d been a brief lull in the wind, but dark clouds were looming again now and the wind was picking up. He had yet to get the girls up the cliff face, so he had to hurry. If another storm came in before he could get them to safety, they’d all be in trouble.

CHAPTER TWO

Cape du Couedic

As had happened the previous night, gusts of wind came out of nowhere. Gabriel cussed under his breath as he pulled with all his might on the oars, trying to keep the small boat from being pushed in the direction of the rocks at the base of the cliffs. To make their journey more difficult, they were being lashed with salt spray as the wind whipped the foamy caps off the aqua-green waves.

Sarah and Amelia huddled in the hull of the boat with their heads down. They were freezing cold, wet, bruised and cut, and absolutely exhausted. But they were alive. That in itself was miraculous. Their savior was a man around thirty years of age, draped in oilskin, who had yet to introduce himself. His hair was covered by an oilskin hat from which sea spray ran off, falling on shoulders as broad as an easy chair. His face was deeply tanned, suggesting he spent a lot of time outdoors, but the dark stubble on his chin indicated he cared little for habitual grooming. He spoke sparingly, but his piercing eyes, almost the same hue as the wild sea, seemed to miss nothing. The girls couldnt tell whether he was angry or just doggedly determined to get them to safety. They didnt stop to think that hed been up all night, tending the light and watching helplessly through a telescope as the Gazelle broke up after shed hit the reef, and that he was exhausted, too. Sarah was thinking that perhaps rescuing them was an imposition, something he had to do. Either way, she and Amelia were grateful. They owed him their lives.

Gabriel was tiring as he battled with the oars, but somehow he managed to maneuver the boat around the headland upon which the lighthouse stood, and into Weirs Cove, where there was a jetty at the base of a three-hundred-foot cliff. He tied the boat to the jetty, and helped the girls alight. Once they were standing on the jetty, they both glanced up and their mouths dropped open.

We cant get up there, Amelia said through chattering teeth. Steps had been carved into the rock to give foot access up the cliff face, but they looked extremely slippery and the climb was almost vertical. She was sure even a mountaineer would have second thoughts about tackling them.

Two tons of stores go up there every three months, so it shouldnt be too hard for you, Gabriel said matter-of-factly.

Amelia found being compared to sacks of grain rather insulting. Were not stores, to be tied in a bundle and hoisted up, and were not mountain goats, either.

The lighthouse keepers eyes narrowed and Amelia had the impression he was ready to throw her back to sea, like a fish that was too small to fry. She folded her arms and glared back at him. She didnt care if she sounded churlish. After all shed been through, she thought she deserved to be handled with care.

Sarah dropped her head. As much as Amelias whining annoyed her, she had to agree the cliff face looked insurmountable.

Gabriel turned to Sarah. Im going up. When I get to the top, Ill lower a rope with a harness on it. You fix the harness on her, he gestured towards Amelia. When you have it secure, Ill winch her up. Once shes up, Ill lower the harness again for you.