Rory's Fortune — Catherine Cookson

‘You'll hold my life in your hands. Whatever happens, nobody must know what you are carrying…'

Life changes overnight for fifteen-year-old Rory McAlister, an apprentice wheelwright, when his master, John Cornwallis, who had been kind to Rory and his poverty-stricken family, is injured in an accident and asks Rory to take his place on a vital errand.

With a secret letter hidden under a patch on his shirt, Rory travels south to meet the sinister Miss Bluett â€" who sends him off on a terrifying voyage across the seas to Jersey. But what is the mysterious ‘blue baccy' he is to carry home? And why is it so important that they can only come for it by night? Plunged into terrible danger, Rory's very life is suddenly at stake as he finds himself caught up in the dangerous world of smuggling.

Set in the mid-nineteenth century, Rory's Fortune is a dramatic and action-packed tale of one young man remaining loyal to his master only to find his life changed forever.