BooksBarbecue
Back Drift
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

There was a fondness in his eyes now, a familiar tenderness for the ancient mapmakers he had studied and taught. Hamza sat back in his seat. ‘You know there are other peoples that sing their maps, link their songs to the stars to know where they are.’ Hamza shrugged. ‘A map is just a way of thinking about the world,’ he said, ‘but it can sometimes tell you more about the one making it than anything else.’ Nefyn smiled. ‘The military, they map places, use helicopters. Aerial photography, but the world doesn’t work like that. Doesn’t give away its secrets so easily.’ There was a stillness in his face now as he continued. ‘There are caves, overhanging rocks, places they cannot see if they only look from above. Things hidden in shadows.’ Hamza shook his head. ‘If you want to map a place properly, you must feel it. Know it. That is what they do not understand.’

Nefyn nodded, watched as he overlaid map after map, studying their contours, a growing agitation inside her. As the light weakened, she made her way outside. She could hear the water in the cove below. Deep and dark. The light of the moon weighing on the tide. The nightjars calling. The sight of Hamza studying the maps had unsettled her. His searching. The way he had held his head in his hands, not knowing where to turn. She waited, until she heard him push back his chair, extinguish the light. She waited until she was sure that he was fast asleep before she got up, and made her way down to the cove.

19

Longitude ♦ Khatu altuwl ♦ Hydredd

HAMZA WOKE EARLY AFTER a forced, fitful sleep. He got up stiffly, made his way to the kitchen. The door to Nefyn’s room was ajar and he looked in on her instinctively but she wasn’t there, her bed seemingly unslept-in. The morning light on the sheets. He listened for her but there was nothing save the sound of the gulls over the cottage. She must have made her way to the cove early. He walked into her room a few steps. It was simple, austere. Whitewashed walls, a deep-set window, an old wardrobe, the door open. He reached out to touch her clothes, all moss greens and blues. A single bed, a desk, rows of old books. There was a sense of simplicity here, and calm. Then, he caught sight of himself in a small mirror on her desk. His presence there suddenly obtrusive, obscene. He turned, feeling her absence grow.