Kidnapped

Aboard the brig Covenant, David is beaten and held prisoner until the ship runs down a small boat and picks up its only survivor, Alan Breck Stewart, a proud, quick-tempered Highlander who supports the exiled Stuart cause. When the crew plan to rob and kill Alan, David joins him in defending the ship's roundhouse in a famous fight. After a shipwreck, David is stranded on a tiny island before making his way across the mainland.

David and Alan meet again just as a government agent known as the Red Fox is shot dead in the Highlands, and both are suspected of the murder. They flee across the heather, hiding from soldiers, sleeping in the open, enduring hunger and exhaustion, and quarreling bitterly before their friendship deepens. Stevenson based the story on a real historical murder and shows the divisions in Scotland after the failed rebellion of 1745. The Scots dialect can be challenging at first, but the action and the characters are unforgettable. Finally David returns to confront his uncle.

Exciting, atmospheric and timeless. About 304 pages in the Penguin Classics paperback.