Boldly Prologue

 Prologue

    Lorna leaned over the railing of the ship's deck, shading her eyes with her hand as she strained to catch one last glimpse of her homeland. There it lay, in the distance, wild and green and misty with its craggy cliffs and hills of heather. As she watched, a sudden gust of icy wind blew in from the land, whipping her loose red locks about her face. She made no effort to brush them away as she clung tighter to the railing, trying to ignore the empty ache in her heart. She should be used to it by now. But her eyes filled with unbidden tears and she pressed her lips tightly together to keep back a sigh of regret and pain.

    "Gu dàna," she whispered softly. "Boldly." She lifted her head high at the remembrance of her clan motto… that one word that had carried her through the past terrible months. She must not shame her ancestors. She must give them a reason to be proud of her. And yet it hurt… it hurt so badly.

    Another blast of the chilling wind slammed into her and she gathered her tartan arisaid close about her shoulders. As she clutched her hands to her chest, she could feel beneath them the cold silver metal of her locket… her most cherished possession… beside her clan badge that she used to fasten her arisaid and the precious family Bible. The locket… engraved with the Scottish thistle and the words "Gu dàna"... held the only portraits she had left of her mother and father.

    "Miss McAllister?" The deep voice startled the girl from her reverie and she turned to see the captain standing just behind her. "It's rather cold on deck. Perhaps you would wish to retire to your cabin?"

    Lorna shook her head fiercely. In less than an hour, she would be out on the open sea… never again to set her eyes on the land she had loved for seventeen long years.

    "I canna." she said simply. "There will be time enough for that later."

    The captain nodded in silent understanding and moved on. Lorna stood alone on deck, watching… watching… as her beloved highlands faded into the mist.