March 19th, 2010
PROLOGUE
CYPRUS 1955.
It was late afternoon when a man, aged before his years, came down from the northern Pentadaktylos mountains. For him, the stone path which led to the stone cottage had become refuge, become home again, despite the troubles.
He had seen trouble before, of course, had dealt with it in his own fashion. Now all he wanted was to be left in peace with his sons, his herd of goats, and his memories.
A smile crossed his dry lips as he thought of her. The way she would look at him, how her bright eyes sparkled and danced under the light from a full moon, and how she made fun of his dark skin and brown gaze. And he remembered too, the lilt in… Continue reading Prologue
March 19th, 2010
CHAPTER ONE.
Doctor Edmond Fitzgerald sat with his back to the wall, and watched two men outside Antonella’s Sandwich Bar. His gaze changed with a slight movement of the head, as he first observed through his glasses, then studied them over the rim of his bifocals.
“Now isn’t that a curious thing,” he muttered, more to himself than to me.
“Curious?” I answered, resting my pencil from my sketch of tall Palms and flowering bushes, encased in unsightly concrete squares the local council considered sophisticated.
He turned, smiled, and tipped his head towards the objects of his study.
“Them pair of Irish immigrants,”
I laughed. “You’re joking of course.”
“Joking did you say. Now why on earth should I joke about such a… Continue reading Chapter One
March 19th, 2010
CHAPTER TWO.
As I opened my eyes, my first thought was how silent everything was. There was no traffic noise outside, or the ever present brouhaha which normally drones on in the background no matter where you are.
I tried to say ‘where am I’ but the words jumbled into a dull tone, deep at the base of my neck.
Then a bright light, small yet very intense was being shone into my eyes, from right to left, then back again.
As I began to focus, a warm hand encircled mine, and I could see Fitzgerald’s impish grin. He spoke something and raised his eyebrows, then tapped my hand in reassurance.
I watched him say something to a nurse on the other side of the… Continue reading Chapter Two
March 19th, 2010
CHAPTER THREE.
I went to Tiffany’s hair stylist, while Fitzgerald took a walk down Burelli Street to the council office block.
It had been almost a week since coming out of hospital, and I’d never spent such a miserable time in all my life. Not because of the operation or even my hair, despite the pain they both brought me whenever I looked in the mirror, but mainly because of the small child who ran out in front of me during the hold-up.
There still hadn’t been any word of her, and the papers had relegated any mention of the story to page seven.
“There’s not a lot I can do with this,” Lisa said, dragging the hair to the right side of my head between… Continue reading Chapter Three
March 19th, 2010
CHAPTER FOUR.
In a small weather-board home, not far from the beach, a woman prepared food for herself and two others.
She placed a tossed salad in a large oval bowl, then turned two T-Bone steaks on the grill.
She was content, and smiled as she went about her chores. Every day should be as wonderful as this, she thought, and found herself humming to a song on the radio.
She laughed as the announcer, Steve Parsons, made some churlish remark, then sliced sausage onto a tea plate, adding salad and potatoes cut into small pieces. Finally, she poured an orange drink into a plastic cup.
She turned to the man with her, placed the salad and steak on the kitchen table, turned to her… Continue reading Chapter Four