Chapter One
Geordie MacEnroy picked up a small stone and tossed it into the creek. It should have been a fast-flowing river at this time of year, but rain had been scarce so far this spring. The snowmelt was late as well. There was even a lot of ice still on the water, although much of it was breaking up, but the slow current allowed the ice to gather in untidy lumps close to the banks.
Picking up a flat stone, he again tried to skip it across the river, but it ended up caught in the ice dams. He had come here to try to ease a yearning he was suffering more often, and it grew stronger as time passed. Now that the weather was warming, that yearning was growing keener. He wanted to see the ocean.
As he scrambled up the hillside to make his way back home, he struggled to understand why he even had such a yearning. Usually he just tried to shake it off, but this time he fought to find out what he was actually wanting. There was a chance his yearning for the ocean meant something else, the ocean simply a symbol.
When he and his family had arrived on the East Coast of this country from Scotland, they had not found the best of lives. For a while they had lingered in New York, but the only places they could find to live were rat-infested tenements. Worse, crime had been pervasive and one never felt safe. His mother had yearned for a small place, a quieter place with a small patch of land for gardening, so his father had painted again and sold his paintings until he had earned enough to buy them a wagon like the ones people used to move west. They packed up and wandered up the coast until they reached a place called Boston, only to find the living there was little better than it had been in New York. Disappointed, they had continued wandering up the coast, thinking it might be better to go west like so many others.
That was definitely not what he was yearning for, he told himself firmly when he reached the road, mounted his horse, and started on his way home. The journey west had been interesting, but they had found little to make a good life for them all. Their hopes had not completely died with their parents, but they had taken a long time to be fulfilled. Geordie did not even want to think about where they would all be now if Iain had not been ready, willing, and eminently able to step up in their place.
What they had now was good, and he could not really see how he could do much better. The land provided a decent living for all of them and room to grow. Two of his brothers were now married and growing their own families. Their land had provided for the Powell brothers, the shepherds hired by the MacEnroys, and their new families, as well as a living for Mrs. O’Neal and her children. They had gained more land from Iain’s and Matthew’s wives to add to their living opportunities. It was just what most people would want, yet Geordie still battled this yearning to see the ocean.
It was as if the ocean called to him, a thought which, he decided, was a ridiculous fancy. He rode by his brother Matthew’s house and waved at Abbie, Matthew’s wife, who was weeding her garden with little Caitlin’s help. As he rode through the big open gates of the stockade, enjoying that sign that things had calmed in the hills since the end of the War Between the States, Geordie returned his brothers’ greetings as he went to put his horse in its stall. He removed the saddle and the rest before he began to brush down his mount. By the time he had finished that as well as fed and watered the animal, his brother Robbie walked up to him.
“Hey, ye coming in for the evening meal?” Robbie asked.
“Aye. Didnae ken so much time had slipped by. Got lost in my thoughts.”
“Ye have been doing that a lot, Geordie. Troubles?” Robbie asked as they walked out of the stables and headed toward the back of the house.
“Nay. Just trying to make up my mind about something.”
“What?”
Geordie shrugged. “Whether to stay or to go.”
“Go? Go where? Have ye found some land ye want, or a lass ye fancy?”
“Nay, sad to say, I haven’t found either of those things here. I just have an urge to see the ocean again.”
“So, ye want to go west?”
“East. What tales of traveling west I have heard make me think it might be far more dangerous than I want to deal with. The way east is more settled and has regular train service.”
“Isnae that safe. Still has some lingering troubles from the war.”
“Nay so much. Talked with Emily’s grandfather, the Duke, when he came last, and got a lot of information. He did say a man needs to harden his heart when he rides through the country now. There is still some ugly destruction and a lot more signs that people are in dire need than he had seen before. Too many people crippled and limbless. Too many children without a father or with a mother either broken or dead.”
“So have ye decided yet?”
“Nay, I was trying to figure out why I had such a fool longing.”
“Oh, nay so foolish, I wouldnae mind seeing the ocean again. It’s a wondrous thing to watch. Strangely calming.”
“Aye, it is.”
They stopped at the porch to wash up. When they entered the kitchen it was to find everyone already seated around the table. Geordie and Robbie quickly took their seats and hurried to fill their plates before anyone began reaching out to take second servings.
“So where have ye been for most of the afternoon?” Iain asked Geordie as he passed him the rolls, which Geordie quickly passed on to Emily after taking what he wanted.
“Why? Was there something I needed to do?”
“Nay, ye did all your chores. I was just curious. Ye dinnae often go off on your own like that.”
Geordie finished the bit of lamb he was eating and then sighed. “I just had something to think over and needed to be alone to do it.”
“Hard to find solitude here, no doubt about that. Care to share? Lot of people here who could help.”
