“Who?”she asked when he reached her.
“Mybrother, Sean,” he answered, his voice cracking in grief.
Theelation she had felt at seeing him safe evaporated. “Oh, William. I’m so sorry.What happened? He had sheep to spare.”
“Hewas tired, and with Jenna gone, he felt he had nothing to live for. He lockedhis sheep in the barn and left his door open. When the sun came, he was gone.”
Mandashivered in his arms. Leaving his door open was as good as suicide. If thelegends were true, he was with them now. The next time they came, Sean would beamong their number.
“Weshould leave this island. Go somewhere safe,” she told him.
“Wecan’t leave. You know that. We have nowhere to go, and they would never letus,” he answered, nodding at the men and women who were staring at them.
Mandalooked around at the knot of villagers and knew he was right. They would neverbe permitted to leave. They were part of the island’s future. Already therewere whispers that they should be married and that she should be pregnant,heavy with the next generation. Without children, the island would die.
Whatof it? she thought.Maybe it should die. Any children she might have would be doomed to thesame fate as all the island folk. The men would fish the angry sea. The womenwould till the earth and breed. The lucky ones would die on land and be buriedin the rocky soil. The rest would drown or be taken by the dead that came withthe first winter storm.
Williamtook her hand and stared into her eyes. “Marry me,” he said for what seemedlike the hundredth time. “Sean’s cottage and sheep are mine now. He left anote, leaving them to me. We can be married and raise a family there.”
Shejust shrugged and slipped her hand from his. In another place she would havefallen into his arms and kissed him with abandon. But here, on this island ofthe doomed, she would not. She would not conceive a child only to feed it tothe insatiable appetites of those that came with the storm.
* * *
“Isaw you with William,” her Da said that night at the dinner table. “Has heasked you to marry him yet?”
“Ofcourse he did,” her Ma said. “What did you tell him?”
“Nothing,”Manda admitted.
HerMa frowned and her Da shook his head. “You should marry that boy before hefinds another. He has a cottage now and can provide for you. If you love himyou should take him for your husband. He won’t wait forever. Justine hasflowered and she has eyes for him. She would take him in an instant.”
Sheknew they were right. She did love him . . . and he wouldn’t wait forever. Likeall things, even love will die if left unfed. If she wasn’t willing to accepthis love, Justine, or some other girl would. The next time he asked, she wouldaccept.
Buthe didn’t ask the next day, or the next. Manda was tempted to ask him, but thatwasn’t the way things were done. She would be patient. But, as the days turnedinto weeks, William drifted away from her. They spent less time together andshe sometimes found him in the presence of Justine. William seemed uninterestedin the girl, but she was obviously infatuated with him.
Finally,when enough was enough, she approached him. “You’ve been a bit distant lately?Is something wrong?”
Williamshook his head and stared at his hands before answering. “You’ve made it clearwe have no future together. I can’t go on that way. I hope we’ll always befriends, but I need to be with someone who wants to share their life with me.”
Mandawas dismayed by his answer. “Oh, William . . . I do want to share my life withyou. I was foolish to deny you all the times you asked to marry. Ask me againand my answer will be different.”
Williamglanced around nervously, but didn’t answer. Then Manda saw Justine watchingthem from across the lane. “Fine,” Manda told him. “Decide which one of us youwant. Just don’t take too long. I could change my mind again.”
William’smind was made up for him when Justine’s belly started to swell.
Mandaheard the whispers and went in search of William to demand to know if they weretrue. When she found him, he was holding Justine’s hands in his and she wascrying. That was all the answer Manda needed. Heartbroken, she turned and fledwithout approaching them. What a fool she had been. She had lost the boy shehad loved since they were children.
Justineand William were married the next week. Most of the village was there. Mandadid not attend the wedding or the reception. Instead, she sat alone on a cliffstaring out to sea, shed the last of her tears for him, and then hardened herheart. She vowed she would never love another.
Mandastruggled through the pregnancy, watching Justine’s belly swell with the lifegrowing inside her, and with each day her resentment and anger grew. Justinehad stolen her man and her future because the trollop had been willing tospread her legs while she had not. When the babe was born, and it was abeautiful, healthy girl, Manda lost any good feelings she might have harboredfor William. Only hate now filled her heart.
Inthe days, weeks and months that followed, Manda sank into a deep depression.She longed to leave the island, but none would take her and she could not do iton her own. She would sit on the cliffs overlooking the sea or seclude herselfin the cottage to avoid a chance meeting with William or Justine and the babe.
InNovember, when the sky turned dark and the winds blew with a chill from thenorth, Manda’s mood was as black as her future. Her only relief would be tofollow Sean into oblivion.
* * *
Mandawatched from the bluff as the approaching storm howled on the horizon. Sheheard voices crying in the wind, hollow laments filled with sorrow and desirefrom the throats of kindred spirits to her despair. Let William and the rest ofthe village hide behind stone walls and
