‘Home tomorrow. The surgeon said I’m a tough cookie, and lucky with it. Vital bits were only grazed. They sewed up the holes, bunged me full of antibiotics, and left me to sleep it off.’ I shifted, gently. ‘It swees.’
He sat down and took my hand, our fingers meshing naturally, as if we’d been together for years. ‘I asked for a couple of days’ leave, just to make sure you’re properly on your feet again, but it seems a trial I’m involved in has been brought forward, and I have to be there.’ He grimaced. ‘Police work is like that.’
I nodded. ‘I know.’ His fingers were warm around mine. ‘Life at sea is like that too. You go when the wind says you can.’
He nodded. ‘It can be easier, sometimes, to get leave at short notice. If you got a text, say, to tell you that a particular ship is about to have two days in La Rochelle or Dublin.’
‘That could work,’ I agreed. ‘Assuming I get a tall ship.’
‘You’ll get one.’
The lady in the next-door bed was absorbed in giving what looked like her daughter a full run-down of her latest symptoms. I spoke softly. ‘Just an academic question, of course, but have you locked Julie up, and thrown away the key?’
Gavin rose. ‘Are you well enough to see me off the ward?’ He helped me ease myself upwards and gave me his arm again, as he had after the dance. Walking hurt, but a nurse smiled and nodded in approval as I hirpled past. We came past the reception desk and into the quiet of the stairs.
‘She’s saying nothing,’ Gavin said. ‘She just asked for a lawyer, then sat tight. So we’re focusing on evidence. We’ll chase up the Inverness end, see if we can prove she really wasn’t there. Her work computer has her logged on in the college in Lerwick on the evening of Hubert’s death, with timings that mean she could have switched it on, driven over, shot him, and driven back to switch it off. Her own computer will have the details of the eBay sale of the chart plotter, and we should be able to recover the boat’s track from that, though it’s only circumstantially helpful. If we’re really lucky, it was switched on as they came into our loch. That would be harder for her to talk away. She might have had to buy more fuel, if Ivor hadn’t refuelled in Mallaig; we’ll check out Plockton and Kinlochbervie.’
‘Did you know it was her?’
‘Not know. She was my front-runner, if only on statistics. It usually is the spouse.’
‘I thought she couldn’t have done it. I just never thought of using a yacht as a motorboat.’
He smiled. ‘I didn’t have your sailing bias. The idea of her killing Ivor where we found him and motoring home occurred to me as soon as she changed her story. We questioned her again yesterday morning, but we didn’t have anything to hold her on. Now we do: your accusation.’
‘My word against hers.’
Gavin’s voice was confident. ‘Now we’re looking we’ll find the evidence. Just one credit card transaction in the wrong place will do it. She wasn’t thinking of a police investigation.’ He changed tack. ‘Is Cat okay?’
‘Missing me.’
‘I’ll miss you too.’ We’d been leaning against the stair-well bannister; now he turned me to face him. ‘My part in all this is wound up now. I go back on the 18.25 flight.’
I felt a rush of dismay. ‘Today?’
He made a face. ‘Spring in France sounded good. If you’re not half-way round the world on a tall ship.’ He bent forward to kiss me, a brief touching of lips that left us both trembling. There was a long pause while we looked at each other, then we kissed properly, passionately, as if we’d always been lovers, and only jumped apart when footsteps clattered on the stairs above us.
‘Take care of yourself,’ I said. ‘Beannachd leat.’
‘I’ll see you soon.’
I watched as he went down the stairs, footsteps light and unhurried. At the bottom he stopped and tilted his head to look up at me. ‘Keep away from murderers until you’ve healed.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ I promised.
I knew what the letter was straight away, by the stamped address on it: Stiftelsen Fullriggeren Sørlandet | The Ship Sørlandet Skippergaten 55 | N-4611 Kristiansand | Norway. My hands shook and my heart thumped as I opened it. Below the stamped heading and my address were half a dozen lines:
Dear Cass,
Congratulations on your college course. I remember you very well from your previous voyages, and will be delighted to welcome you back aboard Sørlandet. We are now in the process of assembling the crew for this year’s voyages, which will start in April. We are considering you for the post of third mate/navigation officer, which would involve looking after equipment, passage planning with me, and standing the 8-12 watch. I will contact you soon with an interview date, initially by phone, then here in Kristiansand.
With best wishes,
Gunnar Halvorsen, Captain.
I picked up Cat and hugged him. ‘You’ll like it, Cat. Life aboard a tall ship.’ Then I dived for my computer. www.sørlandet.org. Unforgettable sailing trips, it said. April and May were taken up with weekend trips out from her home port of Kristiansand, then June and July was the Tall Ships Race: Kristiansand, Stavanger, Belfast, then back to Alesund and a fortnight of sailing through the fjords before the regatta across the North Sea.
My heart sang at the names. I picked up my mobile and sent off a text to Gavin: Sørlandet wants me! How about meeting in Norway or Belfast? Have u seen the fjords?
I paused, then added x
APPENDIX: CASS’S PASSAGE PLAN
Scalloway to Gavin’s loch
Distance: 270 nautical miles
Time @ 5 knots = 2 days 6 hours.
ETA: to arrive at point of Rona for 06.30, 23 December.
Arrive at loch head 14.10.
Hazards:
1) Tides round Sumburgh: avoid by going straight out from Scalloway, heading 235° to keep clear of Cape Wrath. Fair water from 4 hours before HW Dover to 3 hours after HW Dover – pushing me to east, but then will push westwards. Avoid 2 hours each side of LW.
2) Submarine zone in Minch – keep to sides of channel
3) Tides at Kyleakin (Skye Bridge) and Kyle Rhea: on 23 December HW Kyle of Lochalsh = 09.39, 22.21. First of East-going tide HW -3, but weak for five hours so be at Skye Bridge between 6:10 and 12:10 – no later. Best between 09.10 and 10.10.
4) Wind turbines in Kyle Rhea
5) Two rocks in Gavin’s loch: Sgeir Ulibhe day marked, Ellice shoal not.
6) Narrows into head of loch – ask for escort boat?
Saturday 21st December
Scalloway, UT:
LW 04.52, 0.7
HW 11.12, 1.7m,
LW 17.27, 0.6,
HW 23.43, 1.5
Sunrise 09.15
Moonset 10.28
Sunset 14.51
Moonrise 20.05
Gibbous moon, last of spring tides.
Winter solstice.
ETD: Leave Scalloway 05.30 Saturday 21st December.
Sunrise 09.07, but will have quarter moon, sets 10:28.
Course : 234°T, 144 nms.
Lerwick LW 06.52, 0.7 HW 13.12, 1.7m, so should get fair tides for next 7 hours southwards from Sumburgh head. Tide at 09.00 slack at Roost.
Might just see loom of Fair Isle lights.
Sunset 14.51, moonrise 20.05.
Passing 12.5nms of Noup Head lighthouse, fl w 30 secs, elevation 79 m, range 22M. White tower 24m high. ETA 21.00
Might also see Brough Head light, fl 3w 25 secs, elevation 52m, 18M
Bolt hole: Stromness, east-going stream 18.12 to 00.10. Clyde Cruising Club p28
WPT2 KDUR: Kyle of Durness light.
(WPT co-ordinates) 58°41’91 N 05°03’04W
Fl r w alt every 2 minutes. Visible 43 kilometres / 26 miles. Should see from 04:30.
Approaching coast, keep in 21+ fathoms of water.
ETA 09.30 Sunday 22nd December.
Bolt hole: Durness Bay/Loch Eriboll.
Sunday 22nd December
Ullapool
, UT:
LW 03.35, 1.6
HW 09.24, 4.8
LW 16.09, 1.6
HW 22.02, 4.5
Sunrise 09.11
Moonset 10.55
Sunset 15.27
Moonrise 21.38
Waning gibbous moon.
Course : 208°T, 56.7 nms.
Butt of Lewis light to starboard, fl w every 5 secs. Elevation 52 m, range 25 nms, red brick tower 37m high.
Bolt holes: Kinlochbervie – sheltered all winds. Imray p131; Loch Nedd, Imray p118, 121, 122.
Pass between
Stoerhead light , fl W every 15 secs, elevation 59m, range 24 miles. White tower 14 m high.
and Tiumpan Head light fl 2 W every 15 secs, elevation 55m, range 25 nms, white tower 21m high
WPT3 STRH Stoer Lighthouse. 58°16’38 N 05° 27’21 W
ETA: 15.00 at Raffin Bay, 3nms on from Stoer Lighthouse. Shingle beach.
Bolt hole: Lochinver, Imray p116.
Sunset 15.27, moonrise 21.38.
STOP FOR A REST.
Leave at 21.00 to be back on course for
WPT 4 RURD: Rubha Reidh light, fl (4) W 15 secs, elevation 37m, height 25m, white circular tower. 57° 52’34N 05 °50’96W
ETA: 02.00 Monday 23 December
Course: 177°, 31.9nms.
Continue past Gairloch, Loch Torridon, hugging mainland shore, well away from the scatter of rocks north of Rona.
Bolt hole: Gairloch, Loch Torridon, Imray p 91.
Rona light, fl W every 12 secs , elevation 69m, range 19nms, white tower 13m high. Passing it 06.30. 57 ° 36’94 N 05 ° 54’24 W
Now into inner Sound of Sleat.
WPT5 CRWL: Crowlin islands lighthouse, fl w 6 secs, 32m, 6M, 57°20’67 N 05°53’04 W. Imray p 84
ETA: 08.00 Monday 23 December
Sunrise 09.07, moonset 11.15.
Course: 133°T, 6nm.
Bolt hole: Plockton, Imray, p 80
WPT6 SKYB: Skye Bridge. Flashing p and s buoys, lit, + lights on bridge. 4 knot current. 57°17’09 N 05° 44’81 W Imray p74-6
ETA: 09.10 Monday 23 December
Continue into Loch na Beiste and Loch Alsh.
WPT7 ALSH: Turning for Kyle Rhea light. fl WRG 3s 7m 11-8M 57°16’29 N 05°37’94 W Imray p71-2
Course: 96°T, 3.8nm
This heading until Kyle Rhea light visible, then turn to starboard.
ETA: 10.00
Course: 204°T, 2.3nms
WPT8: KREA: Kyle Rhea light. fl WRG 3s 7m 11-8M 57°14’18 N 05°39’74 W
ETA: 10.30
Course : 168°T, 1.3nms
WPT9: end of Kyle Rhea 57°12’84 N 05°39’20 W
ETA: 10.50
Course : 215°T, 3.8nms
WPT10: SDGL: Sandaig islands light – fl 6 s 12m 8M leave well to port. 57°09’78 N 05° 43’28 W
ETA: 11.35 Monday 23 December. Now off entrance to Gavin’s loch. Imray p69-70
Eyeball pilotage.
Course: 130°T for 2.0nms, hugging north shore to avoid Sgeir Ulibhe
WPT11 SGUL: Sgeir Ulibhe, marked, unlit buoy on skerry. 57°08.44 N 05°40’36 W
ETA 12.00
Continue down loch, keeping central – 3.3nms at 109°T,
WPT12: LHRN, 2.1 nms at 141°T, 57°07’37 N 05°34’58 W
ETA 12.40
Steer for south side of loch, towards Barrisdale, to avoid Ellice Shoal, unmarked.
WPT13 ISLD: islands marking entrance to inner loch. 57°05’65 N 05°32’31 W
ETA 13.10
Steer roughly 74°, avoiding Barrisdale point, Caolas Mor point and island.
WPT14 SKRY: 57°06’72 N 05°25’50 W
ETA 14.00 Now 10 mins to head of loch.
At Skiary, head 103°T towards Narrows. Chart datum 0.2 – need tide to get through. Going in on falling tide -get escort boat, be very careful, or anchor until tide rising.
LW Mallaig 15.59, 2.2m. = 0.7 m of water under keel. Will only be about 1.1 -1.5 at 14.00.
Anchorage in tidal pool at head of loch. Sheltered north and south, may be exposed in E and W winds.
ETA: Arrive head of loch 14.10 .
Very important author’s note: This is Cass’s passage plan, worked out on paper, and based entirely on these dates and tides. It is not under any circumstances to be used for real-life navigation, and the author is not in any way responsible for the safety of anyone who so uses it.
A Note on Shetland
Shetland has its own very distinctive language, Shetlan or Shetlandic, which derives from Old Norse and Old Scots. In Death on a Longship, Magnie’s first words to Cass are,
‘Cass, well, for the love of mercy. Norroway, at this season? Yea, yea, we’ll find you a berth. Where are you?’
Written in west-side Shetlan (each district is slightly different), it would have looked like this:
‘Cass, weel, fir da love o’ mercy. Norroway, at dis saeson? Yea, yea, we’ll fin dee a bert. Quaur is du?’’
Th becomes a d sound in dis (this), da (the), dee and du (originally thee and thou, now you), wh becomes qu ( quaur, where), the vowel sounds are altered (well to weel, season to saeson, find to fin), the verbs are slightly different (quaur is du?) and the whole looks unintelligible to most folk from outwith Shetland, and twartree (a few) within it too.
So, rather than writing in the way my characters would speak, I’ve tried to catch the rhythm and some of the distinctive usages of Shetlan while keeping it intelligible to soothmoothers, or people who’ve come in by boat through the South Mouth of Bressay Sound into Lerwick, and by extension, anyone living south of Fair Isle.
There are also many Shetlan words that my characters would naturally use, and here, to help you, are some o’ dem. No Shetland person would ever use the Scots wee; to them, something small would be peerie, or, if it was very small, peerie mootie. They’d caa sheep in a park, that is, herd them up in a field – moorit sheep, coloured black, brown, fawn. They’d take a skiff (a small rowing boat) out along the banks (cliffs) or on the voe (sea inlet), with the tirricks (Arctic terns) crying above them, and the selkies (seals) watching. Hungry folk are black fanted (because they’ve forgotten their faerdie maet, the snack that would have kept them going) and upset folk greet (cry). An older housewife like Jessie would have her makkin, (knitting) belt buckled around her waist, and her reestit (smoke-dried) mutton hanging above the Rayburn. And finally… my favourite Shetland verb, which I didn’t manage to work in this novel, but which is too good not to share: to kettle. As in: Wir cat’s just kettled. Four ketlings, twa strippet and twa black and quite. I’ll leave you to work that one out on your own … or, of course, you could consult Joanie Graham’s Shetland Dictionary, if your local bookshop hasn’t just selt their last copy dastreen.
The diminutives Magnie (Magnus) and Gibbie (Gilbert) may also seem strange to non-Shetland ears. In a traditional country family (I can’t speak for toonie Lerwick habits) the oldest son would often be called after his father or grandfather, and be distinguished from that father and grandfather and perhaps a cousin or two as well, by his own version of their shared name. Or, of course, by a Peerie in front of it, which would stick for life, like the eart kyent (well-known) guitarist Peerie Willie Johnson, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday. There was also a patronymic system, which meant that a Peter’s four sons, Peter, Andrew, John, and Matthew, would all have the surname Peterson, and so would his son Peter’s children. Andrew’s children, however, would have the surname Anderson, John’s would be Johnson, and Matthew’s would be Matthewson. The Scots ministers stamped this out in the nineteenth century, but in one district you can have a lot of folk with the same surname, and so they’re distinguished by their house name: Magnie o’ Strom, Peter o’ da Knowe.
Glossary
For those who like to look up unfamiliar words as they go, here’s a glossary of Scots and Shetlan words.
aa: all
an aa: as well
aabody: everybody
aawye: everywhere
; ahint: behind
ain: own
amang: among
anyroad: anyway
ashet: large serving dish
auld: old
aye: always
bairn: child
ball (verb): throw out
banks: sea cliffs, or peatbanks, the slice of moor where peats are cast
bannock: flat triangular scone
birl, birling: paired spinning round in a dance
blinkie: torch
blootered: very drunk
boanie: pretty, good looking
breeks: trousers
brigstanes: flagged stones at the door of a crofthouse
bruck: rubbish
caa: round up
canna: can’t
clarted: thickly covered
cludgie: toilet
cowp: capsize
cratur: creature
crofthouse: the long, low traditional house set in its own land
daander: to travel uncertainly or in a leisurely fashion
darrow: a hand fishing line
dastreen: yesterday evening
de-crofted: land that has been taken out of agricultural use, e.g. for a house site
dee: you du is also you, depending on the grammar of the sentence – they’re equivalent to thee and thou. Like French, you would only use dee or du to one friend; several people, or an adult if you’re a younger person, would be you.
denner: midday meal
didna: didn’t
dinna: don’t
dis: this
doesna: doesn’t
doon: down
drewie lines: a type of seaweed made of long strands
duke: duck
dukey-hole: pond for ducks
du kens: you know
dyck, dyke: a wall, generally drystane, i.e. built without cement
ee now: right now
eela: fishing, generally these days a competition
everywye: everywhere
fae, frae: from
faersome: frightening
The Body in the Bracken Page 28
