Sink or swim to survive Solway's black water... Down by the coast, black water swirls and hides its secrets. Dumfries, 1792. Henry may only be twelve, but he has already begun his training in the Excise, combating smuggling like his father does.

But when a large smuggling schooner is stranded nearby, the stakes are high - even with reinforcements, and the newly recruited officer, a poet called Robert Burns. Musket fire, obstructive locals, quicksand and cannonballs-it is a mission of survival. As it turns out: Henry has a crucial part to play. A Scottish smuggling novella based on real events.