This book is called Kidnapped: The Adventures of David Balfour by Robert Louis Stevenson, also the author of Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It revolves around an 18th century young man named David Balfour, who lost his inheritance, got kidnapped, and had to evade enemies in the Scottish Highlands.
The story begins during the morning of a day in early June, 1751, when he left the home of his deceased father. Mr. Campbell, the minister of Essendean, was waiting for him near the gate. He then guided him to the ford to lead him on his journey. Mr. Campbell told him that when his father was beginning to sicken, he got a letter telling him to give the letter to David, then tell him to go to the House of Shaws, where David‘s father was born. Mr. Campbell gave him another letter addressed to “Mr. Ebenezer Balfour, Esquire, of Shaws”. When David asked Mr. Campbell where to go, he suggested walking to Cramond, the nearest city to the House. He gave him some money and three gifts, one round, one square and flat, and the other cubical. Mr. Campbell soon left him where he would start his journey alone, and David opened his gifts. The round one was a shilling piece, the square and flat was a piece of paper that contained instructions on making remedies, and the cubical one was a Bible.
He left off, departing for the House of Shaws. On the way, he asked people about the House of Shaws and directions to it. He continued with his journey until he met and asked a lady about it, and she replied with what she said was the twelve hundred and nineteenth time that she cursed the House. Continuing on his way, David spotted the House of Shaws and cautiously knocked on the door. The noises that he heard from inside the house had stopped. Moments later, he knocked even more loudly and called for Mr. Balfour. Finally, someone answered from a window, and David stated he had a letter to deliver to Mr. Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws. The man let him in. After letting him read the letter and having dinner, Ebenezer directed him to his room, but with no lights, as he did not like light. The room and bed was musty and damp, but David found a plaid and slept on the floor.
The next day, he went to the well and washed his face, then to the kitchen, where he ate breakfast and told Ebenezer about the lady’s message. Ebenezer replied that she has cursed the House every day since she was released from it. Then Ebenezer told him that he would be locked out since he couldn’t leave him in the house alone. After some conversation and inquiries, he led him to a stairwell five stories high - without a light, as always - and told him to follow the wall to the top and get a chest filled with papers there. After climbing the stairs to the top, he found a cupboard filled with papers and medicine. He found three chests, one filled with money, another filled with moneybags, and the third filled with many things. David found Ebenezer in a weakened state, and Ebenezer directed him to fetch a blue vial from the cupboard. Ebenezer drank it and went to bed.
The next morning, Ebenezer and David were having a conversation on how they mistook each other’s behavior for their opposites, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was a young boy who was hungry and needed to deliver a letter from Heasyoasy (a mispronunciation of the captain‘s name) to Mr. Belflower. They let him in as he explained that they would need to walk over with him to the Covenant, a ship departing for overseas that day. The boy later said his name was Ransome, and that the captain of the ship, Hoseason, was someone who would “crack on all sail into the day of judgment”. Mr. Shuan navigated the brig, and wounded Ransome. He showed this wound to David. The three boarded the ship and talked to a landlord there. Later, David was wondering what they would see in the Carolinas, where they were heading. That’s when he saw his uncle laying on the floor. David tried to help him, but he was grabbed from behind!
He woke up to find himself in a warm, moist and dark brig with his hands and feet bound together by what seemed to be ropes of fire. He felt miserable as days passed without food or water. But one day, he was awoken by a lantern shining in his face, and someone named Mr. Riach called up Captain Hoseason to cut his bounds. They led him to the dining room, where he ate and rejuvenated his spirits. He later found out that they were repeatedly being blown off course, and were only between the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
Mr. Shuan, Mr. Riach, and Hoseason were talking in the dining room when Hoseason asked David to go in to the roundhouse and get weapons (pistols and swords) from there. In the roundhouse, David met a Jacobite (one who opposed King George) named Stewart, but preferred to be called Alan Breck. He talked about how he opposed the ship’s crew, as they supported King George, while he did not. He also talked about how the ship’s crew killed Ransome, the boy who David and Ebezener followed to the ship. He gave David a pistol as he plotted to kill some of Hoseason’s crew. Soon after, a few crew members busted through the roundhouse door, and some more through the watchtower. David and Alan worked together and killed the six crew members that attacked three apiece, in an event appropriately titled “The Siege of the Roundhouse”.
A few days after the roundhouse incident and killings, high winds tormented the ship’s course. They rounded the top of Scotland and kept within reach of the Scottish coast when a storm blew David overboard and sent the Covenant spiraling down into the deep, dark sea. Alan managed to survive, though it is not mentioned how, and we don’t hear about him until David reaches mainland Scotland.
Meanwhile, David tried to reach land, but wandered for an hour until he reached a small islet named Earraid. There were no animals or any material for shelter. Instead, he ate raw shellfish and oysters that occasionally washed up on the shore. He slept without any blankets or material to cover his body, apart from his clothes. He saw a passing ship but unfortunately, it did not come to his rescue. He was starting to get tired when he saw another ship, but this time, it turned in his direction and saved him. Onboard he met a few more people, including a noble and his wife. They sailed to the bigger isle of Mull. David had to get to Torosay, a city in the northeastern part of the island that had access to the Scottish mainland. He was assisted by Mr. Rankeillor, one of the people on board the ship. When they got to Torosay, David met up with Alan and continued the journey.
On the mainland, they heard about some prisoners held in Fort William, which was not far from where they just arrived. However, David and Alan had more important things to do. David and Alan were heading to Queensferry, where Alan would leave Scotland for unknown reasons (until later in the story). Their trek across the Scottish Highlands remained largely uneventful until they encountered a scuffle (nope, that word is too weak to describe the situation) between two opposing clans. One of the people involved in the fight died from the stab of a sword, but even though Alan did not commit the slaying, he was still blamed for it and became a fugitive.
The two were becoming extremely tired and weak, so they found a place to stay (but it wasn’t that easy back then as it is now), and though the people who ran the inn were of Alan’s opposing clan, he was admitted anyway. The two had courteous service and their own maids and entertainers. They stayed until they were feeling better, which took about one month. The rest of the trip was also uneventful, but when they arrived in Queensferry, someone approached them, saying that Ebenezer was offering the House of Shaws (from earlier) to him. He eventually accepted the offer, and also let Ebenezer stay.
The two then walked to Queensferry where David and Alan went separate ways. Each of them said their final words before parting, and David watched Alan sail into the sea.
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