The Stormy Petrel Page 17

  ‘For as long as you like, and rent-free at that,’ said my landlord. ‘Crispin’s missed a whole week as it is, so why not stay over and make it up? I’ll fix it for you with the agents. Now I really must go. I’m just hoping that the lawyers or the police won’t drag me straight back to Glasgow, but I’ll be round with the boat just as soon as I can make it. So – see you soon. And in any case—’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘See you next term,’ he said, and went.

  The sound of the boat’s engine died. Crispin came back to help with the dishes, and then he went up to bed while I set the place tidy for the night. Before I locked the door I went outside, and down the steps to the edge of the beach. Crispin’s light was out already. My own tiredness had gone, but I welcomed the silence and the solitude.

  It closed me round, the blessed silence, made up of all the peaceful sounds of night; the whisper of sea on the shingle, the breeze in the bracken, the rustle of some creature in the grass, a splash from the tide’s edge, and a movement among the rise and fall of the sea-tangle, dark in the dark.

  ‘Good night,’ I whispered, and went indoors to bed.

  I was just falling asleep when, from somewhere just outside the bay, I heard a boat’s engine mutter softly past.

  ‘See you next term,’ I said, and smiled into my pillow.

  I believe I was still smiling when I fell asleep.

  About the Author

  Mary Stewart, one of the most popular novelists, was born in Sunderland, County Durham and lives in the West Highlands. Her first novel, Madam, Will You Talk? was published in 1955 and marked the beginning of a long and acclaimed writing career. All her novels have been bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic. She was made a Doctor of Literature by Durham University in 2009.

  Also by Mary Stewart

  Madam, Will You Talk?

  Wildfire at Midnight

  Thunder on the Right

  Nine Coaches Waiting

  My Brother Michael

  The Ivy Tree

  The Moonspinners

  This Rough Magic

  Airs Above the Ground

  The Gabriel Hounds

  Touch Not the Cat

  Thornyhold

  Rose Cottage

  THE ARTHURIAN NOVELS

  The Crystal Cave

  The Hollow Hills

  The Last Enchantment

  The Wicked Day

  The Prince and the Pilgrim

  POEMS

  Frost on the Window

  FOR CHILDREN

  The Little Broomstick

  Ludo and the Star Horse

  A Walk in Wolf Wood