Storm

Hardcastle rides home through mist-heavy highlands as autumn deepens, carrying the weight of his ancestors' legacy and the knowledge that his land borders something ancient and dangerous. The Lost Folk have haunted these moors for generations, their reputation for violence and theft woven into the stories farmers tell their children. When three gaunt men emerge from the mist to test him, Hardcastle fights them off, but the victory feels like the first thunderclap of a gathering storm. Meanwhile, a pedlar named Donald and his daughter Causleen make their own precarious journey toward Logie, drawn into tensions they barely understand. As Hardcastle grapples with his lineage and the threat pressing against his borders, the novel builds toward a conflict that will ripple through the entire community. This is a story about pride and fear, about the stories we inherit and the battles we cannot escape. For readers who love the dark poetry of early twentieth-century British rural fiction.