What if?
That’s the question all writers ask, the question that starts a thousand stories. Below is a photo of a beach near Baltimore, Ireland, where my first novel is set.
Terrorism in the seventeenth century
‘Daddy, you going?’ Nadine asked, her frightened voice barely audible.
‘I’m going back for your aunt and cousin. Then I’ll come back for you.’
The terrified child seemed less than convinced. Nadine’s small mouth quivered.
Sarah linked an arm about Nadine’s shoulders, holding her close.
‘What if you don’t come back?’ Nadine said, her tone fearful and perplexed. John could only imagine how Nadine felt, for she had already lost her mother. The child needed reassurance that he wasn't going to abandon her now.
John gazed into Nadine’s innocent eyes, which pooled with tears, his expression tortured. ‘I’ll be back for you, I promise,’ John said, almost as if to assure himself that despite any risks he faced while attempting to rescue Ellyn and David, he would return. His heart skipped, for he dared not think of the alternative possibility.
Nadine blinked and tears trickled down her plump cheeks. John gently brushed the tears away with his thumbs, then drew Nadine to him and hugged her.
When John rose to face Sarah, moisture blurred her eyes. Only days ago he had visited Sarah, as he sometimes did, seeking companionship and the warmth he had missed since his wife’s passing. Sarah’s hair was swept up and tied in a loose chignon, showing off her wide cheekbones and striking eyes that never wavered. There was warmth within their depths. John knew Sarah was at heart a genuine and decent person. Someone he could trust with his life.
‘I’ll look after her. God be with you,’ Sarah said.
John couldn’t linger a moment longer; his eyes skimmed Sarah and Nadine one last time.
The above is an extract from my debut historical fiction novel, The Diamond City.
My novel is inspired by real events. It was pre-dawn, after 2 a.m. on 20 June, 1631 when Barbary pirates disembarked on the shingle beach, with the sole aim of kidnapping its terrorised inhabitants. Pirates hacked open doors and set thatch alight, awakening the sleeping villagers and forcing them from their beds, restraining them and pulling them by ropes towards the awaiting boats. 107 people—men, women and children—found themselves aboard a pirate ship bound for Algiers.
The best stories explore the human condition and the fact that you can’t take things for granted. Lives can change forever in an instant. The answers aren’t simple, there’s no black and white.
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