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Back The Year the Maps Changed Save as PDF
Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Map
  6. Prologue
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. 64
  71. 65
  72. 66
  73. Acknowledgments
  74. About the Author
  75. About the Publisher

I watched as Luca knelt down to Sam’s height, and saw his face change while Sam told them what had happened.

“Get in the car” was all Luca said when I came up to them. He wouldn’t even look at me when he said it.

That trip home was so quiet. As our car crawled down the mountain I felt my belly sink lower and lower with us. I found a new worst feeling in the world when we reached the bottom.

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3

Bright and Terrible

Sorrento has always been the type of place where the houses have names, and ours was called Il Castello di Maria, for my mom.

Pop started building it the year she was born, and our family have lived here ever since. The name is a fancy Italian way of saying Maria’s Castle, which was also kind of a joke. We were part of the Sorrento regulars, not the holiday-chasers—the house was a low weatherboard many roads over from the beach, about as royal as Arthurs Seat. And our surname was Owen, nothing Italian about that. Not until Mom married Luca, then she and I became Owen-Ricci.

When we pulled into the gravel driveway of Il Castello, Anika and Sam got out of the car but Luca told me to stay put. We watched them walk inside, Anika with an arm around Sam’s shoulders, his head bowed. It wasn’t until the front door closed behind them that Luca turned around.

“I’m so disappointed in you, Winifred.”

“I know,” I said, and I took the bottom of my T-shirt between my fingers, kept my eyes down, and concentrated hard on that little strip of fabric.

“Can you look at me?”

Luca always says that people have “tells” that give them away when they’re guilty of something. It’s his job to pick up on them, since he’s a policeman—which means he knows exactly how hard it is to look someone in the eye when you’ve done the wrong thing. It’s why my head felt like lead, and I needed to take a deep breath to meet his stare.

“What you did with Sam was inexcusable, but worse than that it was reckless and dangerous. One of you could have been seriously hurt!”

Reckless and dangerous were policeman words. Inexcusable was too—they all meant I’d been bad today, as if I’d broken something.

“It was an accident. I didn’t even want to be up there with him in the first place!”

“What? I asked and you said you were fine—”

“No, I didn’t! Today was our thing, and you just stuck me with him!”

“That’s no excuse for terrifying the kid!” Luca’s voice rose.