Rob Ewing - The Last of Us

Slow to give her story. Kept asking if we were real.

Scabbed burns to her arms. Gave her a shot of penicillin and tetanus when we got back to the boat.

She started to talk. That’s when we found out about the others. Skip radioed Stornoway: a band of us there – about half a dozen adults – who still had access and could sweep south to look for the kids. Problem was, they reckoned in Stornoway they were further off than us, plus their boats were dry, so any rescue was gonna end up ours.

We filled up from the cars. Settled her by the cabin. Rucksack, toys. Tatty letter she wanted to keep. Then as we motored away the kid said she wanted to stand free.

Watched her as she watched the sea-churn, the bay, the birds. Kept asking me: When will you know?

Said I’d keep radioing Stornoway. Gave her a jumper, oilskins for heat if she was going to stand out like that.

One thing she said – boats of the fishermen came out with us. Tailed us. That gave Murdo his fright, but he’s soft in the head that way, he believes in spirits.

Held onto her, and we both watched. And that made things better – I guess – because when we got out the sound, out past the trawler, she said, ‘They’re gone.’

Thank you to Karolina Sutton, Norah Perkins and Lucy Morris of Curtis Brown, and to Katie Espiner, Charlotte Cray, Suzie Dooré, Cassie Browne and Ann Bissell and all the team at the Borough Press. Thanks to Claire Ward for her fantastic cover design. Thanks also to Donald Sinclair for checking my Gaelic; and to Jamie and Elspeth Traynor and Miranda Barkham.

Special thanks to Karin for all her support and encouragement over the years, and to our three children, whose book title suggestions – Life’s a Beach, Staying Alive – were better than any I came up with. Thanks also to the real-life Elizabeth, for the gifts you gave. And thank you mum, for everything.

A final thanks to the people of Barra and Vatersay, for their warmth, humour and kindness during our stay there.

Rob Ewing is a GP who spent several years living on a small island off the Scottish coast (with more than five other people). His poetry and short fiction have been published by New Writing UK, New Writing Scotland, and performed on BBC Radio. The Last of Us is his first novel.

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First published by HarperCollins Publishers 2016

Copyright © Rob Ewing 2016

Cover design by Claire Ward © HarperCollins Publishers 2016

Cover photographs © Marie Liesse/Plain Picture (children); Image Source/Plain Picture (landscape); Shutterstock.com(flies).

Rob Ewing asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Source ISBN: 9780008149581

Ebook Edition © April 2016 ISBN: 9780008149604

Version: 2016-03-22