by Oliver Tidy
He saw the beautiful face of his beautiful wife; he saw his angelic baby daughter lying on her back, thrashing and laughing; he saw random details of his island; he saw Tallis and finally he saw Eda, framed in the candlelight of their final meal together, her eyes locked on to his own with the promise of a life.
***
Epilogue
The older gentlemen of the community of Akyarlar, who liked to spend their days sitting in the shade of the cluster of mature palms beside the beach, would reminisce to each other, or anyone who was interested in listening to them, how the explosion rattled windows all over the town; how, for several days the chickens of the little settlement refused to lay. It was even claimed that the deafening report had been heard as far away as Kos.
For a while there were plenty who were interested: the police, coastguard and media. In a slow news week, all duly reported and theorised at length on the extraordinary maritime incident that, for a short time, put the remote and sleepy settlement of Akyarlar on the news map.
A tragic accident was how it was eventually recorded. One recklessly-piloted or malfunctioning craft colliding with another bigger craft, causing an explosion of a magnitude unprecedented in Bodrum since records for that sort of thing began.
Of neither craft were survivors reported. The story was made all the more newsworthy when it was realised that one of those killed was the owner of the larger craft, none other than Mr J V Botha, an alleged high-profile member of the Istanbul criminal classes and an international arms trader. This revelation refuelled the story, with speculation abounding of assassination squads in a struggle for power on the highly-lucrative world stage of arms dealing.
The older members of the Akyarlar community had plenty to say on this subject also. They recounted sightings and encounters with several foreign-looking and unfamiliar recent visitors to the bay. One particularly eccentric old English gentleman was singled out for special attention.
Several of the newspaper reports ended with the sad detail that Mr Botha, whatever kind of businessman and person he may have been, was survived by a wife and four children: three sons: Matthew, ten; Clive, eight; Harry, six, and one daughter, Pearl – which one newspaper thought it appropriate to explain meant, gift from the sea – aged twenty-three months.
The End
Hello,
Firstly, thank you for taking a chance on downloading this book. I hope you found something in it to enjoy.
Secondly, I invite you to visit me at olivertidy.wordpress.com where you can find out more about other books I’ve written. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter .
Thirdly, if you enjoyed the read, please leave a comment to that effect with the retailer you obtained it from. That sort of thing is really important for an indie author/publisher. Readers’ comments are all we’ve got to go by. Alternatively, I would be genuinely pleased to receive any comments, corrections or suggestions regarding any aspect of this book and my writing at the web address above where I have made a page available for feedback.
Best wishes
Oliver Tidy
E-book titles available in my Acer Sansom series:
#1 Dirty Business
#2 Loose Ends
#3 Smoke and Mirrors
#4 Deep State
E-book titles available in my Romney and Marsh Files series:
#1 Rope Enough
#2 Making a Killing
#3 Joint Enterprise
#4 A Dog’s Life
#5 Particular Stupidities
#6 Unhappy Families
#7 A White-Knuckle Christmas
E-book titles in my Booker and Cash series:
#1 Bad Sons
#2 He Made Me
#3 Waifs and Strays (In production).
E-book collection of three short stories - one in each of the above series.
Three Short Blasts