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Chapters (32)
  1. Cover
  2. PART ONE
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. PART TWO
  18. 1
  19. 2
  20. 3
  21. 4
  22. 5
  23. 6
  24. 7
  25. 8
  26. 9
  27. 10
  28. AFTERWORD
  29. 1
  30. 2
  31. 3
  32. 4

I picked the samannous up and examined it in the red glow that climbed from the horizon. Then I turned to the sea, and just beyond the line where the first waves gathered to run in, I saw something bobbing in the water. I heard the growl of an outboard motor. A naval launch, heading for the object. From where I stood I couldn’t tell what exactly they lifted out of the water, but it quickly became clear that, whatever it was, it was only the beginning. Suddenly, the sea was full of them, surfacing like bubbles then slowly, slowly, washing in on the tide, and if the wooden doll had told me something, the smell that now filled my lungs told me everything. Bright colors, bobbing in the surf, brought me back to what I had forgotten. The first sign that I would return. That I would make the trip back here.

Along the shore where Bahr and I were sitting, sandgrouse swooped to earth. They would dive in, then stop abruptly and hang there, frozen in midair. As the light grew stronger we made out the net strung between two poles. Eager and inexperienced, the birds were snarling in the fine lines of its mesh.

9

Image

WHAT’S LOST IN SLEEP

In the little hotel where we were staying, in the closest town to the smugglers’ beach, I opened my eyes and tried the phone again. Then again. After repeated attempts I found a faint signal, and a notification informed me that I had received several calls from a single number: Leila. My heartbeat quickened as I thought back to the missed calls on that other, distant day, and I tried calling her. No answer, so I called the magazine, where they asked me to hold. Seconds later her voice came through the line and I breathed again. “Are you all right?” she asked, urgency in her voice.

My misgivings returned. “Why, what is it?”

“All these people came to the office yesterday, asking about you and Bahr. We told them you hadn’t been in for a while and they left without leaving their names. They seemed worried.”

I said, “Well, I’ll ask Bahr. Maybe he knows who they are.”

There was a moment’s silence, then Leila said, “Please take care. Things aren’t great here, you know.”

I asked her what she meant. “Just take care,” she said, and I felt a stinging in the corner of my eye. I thanked her and hung up.

Suddenly, I remembered something that had happened the night before. I’d been woken by the sound of banging. Like someone banging on the wall. I’d assumed it was a dream, and maybe it had been, but now I wasn’t so sure.