Page 11 of The Midnight Secret

‘...Who?’ For a moment she felt befuddled; the visions often left her drained afterwards.

‘The Royal Navy,’ he chuckled.

‘Oh. Of course.’ She felt foolish, as lethargic as if she’d drunk a sleeping potion. Lorna had many remedies in her medical bag and had given one to Norman to calm him after Molly’s death; when he had woken the next morning, he too had been in a stupor. It had taken him several minutes to remember what had happened – and Jayne’s role in it.

‘Look.’

She sat up slowly. David was pointing to the huge ship now dropping its whaler in the bay. The scale of it stunned her: masts and rigging both fore and aft, a giant smokestack and several decks. How could something so huge move so silently?

‘So then it’s real,’ she murmured. ‘They actually did it. We’re leaving here.’

David swallowed, his gaze falling to her and then the grassy grave beside her. ‘Aye.’ He rocked back on his heels for a moment, hugging his knees contemplatively, before he rose to standing, holding out his hand for her. She gripped it tightly as he pulled her up and they stared out to sea together, seeing the naval men in their white ducks moving on the deck as a rowing boat was lowered down to the water.

In the village, people were stirring. Jayne saw Old Fin step out of his cottage in his long johns and lean with his hands on the wall, watching intently. She wondered whether he had slept at all. It was no secret he had wanted to stay.

Jayne looked for the sun’s position in the sky and calculated the time to be no later than five. She had had maybe four hours’ sleep. Interrupted, of course. Murky images rose from her muddied mind.

David glanced at her. ‘We should probably get back.’

‘Aye, before...’ Before anyone notices, she had been going to say. Even though they had nothing to hide. They had come here for Molly.

She realized she was still holding his hand, or he hers, and she pulled away. David stepped back, watching as she bent to retrieve her blanket, but her gaze fell to the grave and she sank to her knees with a sudden rush of emotion, pressing her palms to the grassy mound.

‘I love you, Moll,’ she whispered desperately. ‘I’ll never forget you. I promise I’ll always look for you in the stars.’ She bent forward and lightly kissed the hand-painted cross. ‘I’ll keep you with me, sister.’

She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer before she pulled back, looking up and seeing tears in David’s eyes. She stood again, clutching her blanket in one hand as she pressed the other to his arm. ‘I’ll go.’

He looked panicked. ‘Why? You don’t need to.’

‘Aye, David. You should say your goodbyes in private.’ She could see the pain in his eyes; this was going to be harder for him than he had anticipated, but she knew he had to say goodbye in his own way, without the worry of being watched. ‘Take your time. We’ve several hours here yet.’ TheDunara Castlehad already left with the majority of their belongings, but all the beds would be coming back with them on the HMSHarebell. ‘I’ll see you back down there.’

She walked away, feeling his eyes on her back. She knew he wanted her to stay, that there was comfort in company. But today wasn’t going to be easy for anyone, and in her own best interests she had to get back before Norman woke. The thought of his anger at finding her out all night chilled her blood, and her mind raced as she walked back quickly towards her home. Perhaps if she was in the kitchen when he awoke, she could make him believe she’d come in late and slept beside him after all?

She slipped through the narrow opening in the dyke and headed left, past the backs of the cottages, just as she had come. It would be best to stay hidden from sight till she could put down her blanket; she didn’t want people to guess she had slept out.

She was passing Donald and Mary McKinnon’s cottage when an unmistakable sound stopped her dead – the mewl of a newborn.

Mary had had her baby?

Her mouth dropped open as she realized this was either very good news or very bad: if Lorna had come calling for Jayne in the middle of the night, needing extra hands for wet towels, fresh sheets, sustenance, then Norman would know that she hadn’t come home. On the other hand, if Lorna hadn’tcome by – or at least, if she’d calledbeforeNorman had returned – Jayne could tell him she had been here with the other women all night.

It would be a bald-faced lie to her husband and she didn’t like it, but she could do it; she was used to keeping secrets.

She moved quickly, hearing voices beginning to drift as more and more people stepped out. She went round the far end of her own cottage, holding the blanket at her back and slipping in through the front door, unnoticed. Everyone’s eyes were upon the ship.

She let the latch drop and stood for a moment in the bare croft, her body straining for clues as to her husband’s whereabouts. She had long ago learned to keep her back to the wall.

No sound came from the bedroom, and as her eyes travelled she could see the slate and the oatcakes still out, exactly as she’d left them. They were untouched. With a frown, she moved further into the room and saw that the bedroom door was wide open, the bed sheets tucked in and unrumpled.

Norman hadn’t come home either?He’dbeen out all night?

If she was confused, she still didn’t hesitate. She knew opportunity when it came knocking and he would be back at any moment now. She rubbed the message from the slate and ran into the bedroom, stripping the bed of its sheets and folding them down into a final bundle.

Her heart pounded with relief. There was nothing now to indicate her own absence from the marital bed, and even better, she wouldn’t have to lie about it. He wouldn’t ask after her final night here.

She plucked a few stray grass stems from the blanket and carefully placed it with the sheets, thinking of David still sitting with Molly as the sun steadily rose into a peerless blue sky. They, at least, were getting to have a proper goodbye;but for her...? She looked around at the four stone walls of the bedroom. There had been precious little joy here and certainly never any love.

She dropped the linen bundle on the front step and walked out without looking back, going to stand with her neighbours by the wall. The sun was at their backs as they watched the sailors row across the bay. Coming for them...The dogs, of course, were barking on the beach. They had always been St Kilda’s first line of defence.

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