OUT OF THE DARK is set in Britain a generation after the Norman Conquest.

This excerpt from OUT OF THE DARK is a night-time, horseback ride. The sight-impaired Anglo-Saxon heroine and the Norman sheriff are in the company of other riders travelling to the king’s residence for a dance. This is the first time the hero (Basil) realizes he’s developing feelings for the heroine (Lynnet).

The journey through the moonless night profoundly affected Basil. Somewhere along the miles covered during the hour-long ride, he developed an intense, protective feeling toward the blind woman on the smooth-gaited horse.

The protectiveness was not because she was helpless. Just the opposite. Her willingness to face a cold, hour-long ride on the back of an unknown horse impressed Basil. There was always the chance of the horse stumbling into a darkened pothole, a possibility which would have had some sighted women clinging to the saddle in terror. Lynnet sat upright, dignified and balanced.

The lack of light tonight gave him some understanding of the world she lived in day-to-day. The torches of the king’s retainers were not sufficient to cut through the gloom of a moonless night. The shadows of the riders elongated and diminished as the landscape changed, creating a weird, moving pattern.

No wonder, he thought, Lynnet is accused of seeing ghostly images.