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Chapter 1

"Fishing?"

Aulay noted the horror in his youngest brother's voice and felt histoward the door to the hunting lodge, heI told ye I was co here to relax"

"Aye, but I thought ye "

"Ye ested dryly

"Aye," Alick agreed eagerly

"Nay" Aulay opened the door, allowing sunshine to cascade into the roo length of hair that he usually let drape over the ruined side of his face He wasn't surprised when Alick sed and shifted his gaze away frolare of sunlight ly scar that cleaved the side of his face

"I', or the irritation o' giggly bar wenches who shriek like babies when they see rowled as he let the hair fall back into place "I ca lodge rebuilt close to the ocean after the fire, instead of where the original stood" Shifting his feet, he glanced out the door and then back before saying, "You're welcome to come do ye wish it Otherwise, yeor drinking here"

Alick didn't bother to hide his disappoint forward, he added, "But I' is fishing A couple o' days, mayhap"

"As ye like," Aulay said with feigned disinterest as he headed out of the lodge But, in truth, he was glad the lad didn't plan to stay long He'd wanted to come on his own anyway He always preferred to be alone when his black moods struck, and they always overtook him this time of year Tomorroas the anniversary of the battle that had taken his twin brother's life, and gifted him with the scar that had ruined his own Aulay knew from experience thaton hiood week or two It hy he'd planned this trip He preferred to be alone to deal with his dark humors His family tended to interfere and try to ed to do was add to histhem worry

"Fine Where are we going fishing then?" Alick e

"The ocean," Aulay said dryly "Where the devil do ye think I'd take ye to fish?"

"Oh Right," Alick murmured

"Right," Aulay agreed, and shook his head as he walked to where his horse was tethered with his fishing gear already waiting He'd gathered fishing rods, nets and the other ite for Alick to wake

Any other time of year, Aulay would have walked to the beach It wasn't that far The new lodge was nestled in a clearing in a well-treed valley, so that it would be sheltered from the cold winter winds off the ocean It h to necessitate riding a horse thereunless one found the that distance, lugging his net and fishing gear along with him, as he did now

It was a quick jaunt by horseback and Aulay and Alick were soon in the s away from shore

"How far out are we going?" Alick asked after a few minutes

"Not far," Aulay responded patiently

Alick was silent for barely the count of ten before asking, "Are we nearly there?"

Aulay rolled his eyes, but then stopped rowing and raised his oars as he spotted so, he peered past his brother's shoulder, trying to identify what he was seeing

"What?" Alick asked, noting where his attention had gone and glancing over his shoulder to the water beyond the bow of the s in the water"

"Aye" Aulay started to row again He couldn't tell what they were looking at It was large At least, part of it was Part of it was narrow too

"What is it?" Alick asked, turning right around on his bench seat now, to face forward and better see what lay ahead

"I'm no' sure," Aulay admitted

They both squinted into the distance as the boat h the water, and then Alick said, "I think 'tis a ship's mast"

Aulay grunted, able now to see for hi out of the water was part of a crow's nest It was on its side, with one half of it subed, and the other half above water

They both fell silent as he propelled them toward it and then Alick said, "I think there's a body laying across the far end A woman"

"A woman?" Aulay asked dubiously and hoped it wasn't Whatever lay ahead wasn'tthe bloated body of a dead wo in the water wasn't like to improve his mood any

"I think I see bosoms," Alick explained

"Of course ye do Only you could make out bosoms from a hundred feet away," Aulay said acerbically, but as he rowed the boat closer, he could see what his brother was talking about In the center at the far end of theskyward

"It is a woman," Alick said with certainty

Aulay didn't comment His attention was on the cloth of the sails he could see lying across thein the water around it as they moved past the crow's nest He shifted direction a bit to avoid getting caught up in it

"A ship must have sunk," Alick said in a hushed voice as he et a better view "But--"

"But what?" Aulay asked, putting more effort into the oars

Alick leaned out over the bow, hanging far enough forward in an attempt to see that Aulay worried he'd fall out Finally, Alick said, "She's tied to the mast Why the devil would they tie her to the mast? Row faster, Aulay!"

"I arunted, but dipped only one oar in the water this tiet a better look at the angle of their approach and see how far they noere from the dead woman He had no desire to ram into her

"Was it to keep her fro overboard in the storm, do ye think?" Alick asked

Aulay was able to see the woman strapped to the far end of thewater, but didn't see anything else floating nearby

"It ht's storm," Alick commented

Aulay nodded silently The store The wind had battered and torn at the log building so violently, he'd worried about losing the roof That hadn't happened, but the stored furiously for hours and he hadn't slept until it had ended

His gaze ski to see If a ship did sink, everything but this one one downwhich didn't see Not just a lone mast with a dead woman on it

"Take us to the left a bit, Aulay," Alick said suddenly "I won't be able to reach her and we'll just float right past her at this angle"

Aulay raised the right oar out of the water, and sank the left one in for a hard pull

"Good, good, just a little closer and I'll be able to reach her," Alick said, his upper body disappearing froht as he bent over the front of the boat

Aulay gave one more pull on the oars, and then lifted the them inside the boat, he stood tojust as the younger man cursed

"What is it?" Aulay asked

"Do you have a knife? I can't get the ropes untied They're tight as the devil and must be knotted somewhere under the water"

Aulay leaned over the side of the boat to survey the situation They were next to the woht The start of the rope was nowhere in sight There would be no untying her She'd have to be cut free

"Move," he ordered, retrieving his dirk