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Contents ( 54)
  1. The Hour Before Dawn
  2. Table of Contents
  3. PROLOGUE
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. EPILOGUE
  49. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  50. About the Author
  51. THE HOUR BEFORE DAWN
  52. By the same author
  53. Copyright
  54. About the Publisher

‘He walked away towards the lighthouse path and Saffie followed him, calling out that she wanted to walk with him to see the monkeys. He told her that her mother would be worried and she should go home. Saffie said Mum was sleeping and then she ran up the steps quickly in front of him and I ran after her, but she had disappeared and I could not see her in the shade of the trees after the brightness. I kept calling but she took no notice.

‘The man called out for her too. He was getting cross and suddenly Saffie appeared again in front of him. She was being annoying and dancing round him saying she could walk with him because he knew her dad, she knew he did, because she remembered…

‘He grabbed her and asked her what she meant and began shaking her, and I tried to pull her away and I kept shouting at her to say she didn’t remember him. But she was scared now, very scared, and she went still and silent. I wrapped my arms around her to pull her away and then she started kicking and screaming to get away from him.

‘Then his hand was over my mouth and he held it there and I couldn’t breathe, and I wriggled and kicked but he would not let me go. He was hurting my neck…he hurt me…he made me scream with pain…he pressed my neck so hard I heard it crack and then there was darkness…but no more pain.

‘He…looked down at me. He was whimpering. He picked me up and I saw myself dangling over his arms and he carried me into the jungle and he…he…made a hole in the undergrowth. He pushed me down into the darkness between two stones…He used his feet to push me down into the ground…I was being buried…I was going to be under the ground forever…I screamed and…screamed…and Saffie came running and pulled me out of the earth and we ran, we both ran back together over the beach to the house…’

‘Nikki. OK. Enough! Enough! Open your eyes. Open your eyes.’

My eyes flew open. I realised it was me making those small, terrified noises. The horror lived on in me. I could not stop my whole body shaking. I kept my eyes on Mohktar’s face as if he could save me. He shivered and the hairs stood out cold on his arms. He leant towards me and lifted me upwards and stared into my face and I do not think he liked what he saw there.

He hesitated for a second and then he sat on the bed and held me up against him, as if the heat of his body could warm me back to this room and to this place. I leant in towards him and he held me, rocking me in silence. I was very conscious of him in the still room. I knew he was carefully going over my words. I knew he was troubled at his own distress as well as mine.