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Author Insight
The Tide That Didn't Recede
Queen Ethelberga doesn't feel safe at Coldingham Abbey. She's afraid her husband will kidnap her and force her to his bed. Ethelberga decides to take two sisters with her and escape by climbing down to the shore and persuading a fisherman to take them south. But she may be too late. The refugees descend to the headland, only to discover the king's army camp. When the tide recedes, they will be discovered. But, according to the Venerable Bede, the tide doesn't recede and the queen escapes to her lands in the south.
Book Excerpt
Saxon Heroines
The next morning, we look across the bay, and I see I was right about the source of the noise. Egfrid’s camp stretches out before us. When the tide ebbs, he’ll be able to reach us. If he wasn’t looking for me earlier, I’m sure he is now that I’ve slipped through his fingers. The sisters and I fall to our knees and pray for God’s mercy. We steel ourselves to hear the tide recede, fully prepared to become martyrs for God
But the tide doesn’t recede. Every day and night, high tide blocks Egfrid’s access to us. On the seventh day, Egfrid’s men break camp, and I know the king will not pursue me further. When the tide ebbs, the sisters and I find a fisherman willing to take us as far south as the mouth of the Humber River. Once there, we find a boat to take us to East Anglia and across the marshes to my dower lands on the island of Ely.
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