North Berwick, 1592

31st October 1592

The sea boiled.

It boiled and it raged until the rocks wept and the dawn cursed.

The women of North Berwick gathered to thunder against the ferocity of the storm. Shouts and screams drowned out by the furious crashing of waves. Their eyes fell upon the fleet trying to make harbour. The King’s ships. Manned by town men. And all the while the sea was trying to swallow them whole.

Marion could think of nothing but her husband as the ships disappeared from sight. Spinning. Turning. Sails cracking like thunder. She clung to her young daughter, all she had left of him. Both sodden with sea-spray and rain, barely able to hold their feet. She had begged him not to leave.

A widow in the blink of an eye.

‘Ma,’ she grasped at her mother’s skirts. ‘Will Da be home soon?’

‘ Aye, afore ye know it,’ Marion squeezed her tighter.

‘Will he have the doll he promised?’

‘He would never break a promise,’ the words tripped on her tongue.

Marion tried to shake the image of her husband from her mind but it stuck like hardened tallow, gripping her heart. She knew her words were true but it was no longer his promise to keep, now it belonged to the sea.

All around her, mothers, sisters, daughters clutched at each other, open mouths screaming at the sea. It would not help, for the storm was a wicked mistress who would not be beaten back by man nor beast.

They watched on as the King’s ship, The Grace of God pitched and rolled, battered by waves across deck, slamming into the men and knocking them from their feet. Maybe the men were screaming, shouts drowned out by the sounds of the storm.

An extract from Burnt Offerings by Danielle Devlin. A historical fiction novel published October 5th 2023 with Polygon. Burnt Offerings was winner of The Future Bookshelf award and Blackwell's Scottish Book of the month November 2023 Burnt Offerings: Amazon.co.uk: Danielle Devlin: 9781846976162: Books