SIXTEEN
HAZEL WAS GLAD FOR RUTH’S vest. Once they reached the open water of James Bay, even the August sun was no match for the winds that bore down the channel out of the north, stirring waves a foot high. The bow of the boat lifted up and out of the water at the crest of each wave, crashing back down on the other side. Lachlan suggested that she go into the hold for safety, but she refused. He would not, she was certain, have given the same advice to any man on board. Besides, though she was not prone to seasickness like Charlie was, the surest way to bring it on was to go below deck in waves like these. The summers she’d spent with cousins in Nova Scotia taught her that much. She stood at the railing and pulled the knitted cap Lachlan gave her over her kerchief. Water to the horizon in
