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Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. Acknowledgements ♦ Diolchiadau
  50. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

His words had left him. Worn away by his tiredness and the loss of adrenaline. He leant on Nefyn, feeling again the bones of her shoulders through her dress. ‘This way,’ she said, leading him to Joseph’s room. There, she sat him on the bed, removed his shoes and laid him down on his side. She knelt, her hand on the edge of his ribcage. Counting his breaths until he had settled into sleep. Then, she took him in once again. The dark curls matted with salt, the curve of his earlobe down to his jaw. She hadn’t been so close to someone apart from her brother in so long. Her father, she remembered, was shorter, his skin sea-weathered, his hands rope-roughened and hard. Joseph was different, reddish hair the colour of sea pine. She listened to him for a moment longer before getting to her feet and closing the door gently. She moved towards the fire, loaded on some more wood to keep it burning through the night, and looked up at the old maps, luminous in the golden light.

12

Dunes ♦ Twyni ♦ Kuthban

THE LIEUTENANT COLONEL KNOTTED his tie in front of the mirror. He was wearing full dress uniform today. The car would pick him up at noon. He could count on one hand the number of times when it had been necessary to cross out of the base into the village, but they had to be seen at the Doctor’s funeral. He had, after all, given the base many years of faithful service. They had taken advice from their public relations officers, and they had agreed: they did not want to draw attention to the fact that the incident occurred on army operations, but they didn’t want to risk being conspicuous by their absence either. They would cover the funeral costs of course, out of courtesy, but they’d been at pains to point out to the Doctor’s widow that the accident had been an unfortunate act of God. That the Doctor, having attended to a soldier at the base, returned to his car to find that the engine would not turn over. He had accepted a lift back to the village on a truck going that way with supplies, and it was so terrible that it was at that moment the storm had hit, and the cliff road had fallen away.

He straightened his tie and noticed that he had nicked himself whilst shaving that morning. He swore under his breath and licked his finger to rub away the blood from his immaculate collar.