Today, the first in a series of introductions to the stories in Moonlight Madness, the new collection from the Bluestocking Belles, now on preorder at a special introductory price of only $1.99

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Always With You

By Elizabeth Donne

Jessie and Florrie Dobbs live a simple, happy life selling fish at Weymouth docks. That is, until the Royal Navy press-gangs Jessie into service, forcing husband and wife apart without any idea of where he will be going, how long he will be away, or whether he will ever return.

The hatch opened for the first time. The bright noonday sun blinded them. Perhaps another tactic to keep them on the back foot.

Jesse only knew that he could breathe again. The fresh salt air filled his nostrils. His lungs had hungered for it as his belly had for food and his parched lips had for water.

He closed his eyes, helping them grow accustomed to the blazing light. It still shone pink through his eyelids, and his head pounded with the needs his body wanted met. But he could inhale deeply, expand his chest, sip again a little of real life beyond the hellish hold. These small moments must be savored. They would be his salvation when dread threatened to overcome him.

“All right, you lot. Get up here!” called a voice from above.

The two youngsters were first up the laddered steps. The older men were not as keen to find out what awaited them.

One by one they surfaced onto the deck. It was manned by uniformed sailors and officers with swords. Beyond the gunwale, the coastline receded. This, more than anything, hit Jesse hard. His life had been on that strip of land. And it was slipping away.

Meet Elizabeth Donne

Elizabeth Donne’s writing is a natural outpouring of a lifelong love affair with English literature. Although she has spent most of her life in Cape Town, South Africa, she now lives in the American Midwest, where she enthusiastically introduces her visitors to the joys of drinking rooibos tea. With a biscuit, of course