23
A week after his arrival, Thomas stood on the north end of the island, where the land reached out into the sea in a couple of narrow points. Jagged cliffs fell away from where he stood, down to the churning water below. There the waves battered against the rocks, smashing against them in a wild surging rush of foam, the sound of them thunder in his ears.
Lauds, the morning prayer service, had just ended, and he was alone. He squinted against the bright dawning of the day, grateful for a respite from the rain that had fallen every day since his arrival. Although it didn’t look as if the fine weather would last, if the clouds scudding in over the ocean were any indication.
Thomas took a deep breath of the salty air, knots of tension easing within him as he gazed at the vast expanse of
