Kostas got up and went over to the bar. Imogen looked at Kate, then looked away again. Daniel felt a chill creep into the room.
Kate spoke, ‘It’s Véronique. She’s gone, Daniel. Véronique is dead.’
Chapter 22
Lisanne wandered into the travel shop. It was still early and, save for the staff, she was the only person in there. It made her feel conspicuous.
She had left Daniel fast asleep, as usual. Following the previous evening’s disastrous confrontation she had decided to do a little detective work herself. If Daniel would not tell her what was going on, she would find out for herself. And she would start by finding out about the origins of this ridiculous dream world of his.
Feigning nonchalance, she headed over to the racks of brightly coloured brochures, picked one up at random, and flicked through it absentmindedly. Most of the travel agents in the area were run by Greek Cypriots: if anyone knew about Greek islands...
‘Can I help you?’
Lisanne looked over her shoulder at the young woman behind the counter and smiled uneasily.
‘I’m not sure.’
The travel agent glanced at the brochure in Lisanne’s hands. ‘You’re interested in Greece?’
Lisanne nodded. ‘Yes, I...’ She hesitated, fearing that her prepared question would yield nothing but blank looks. ‘Do you know of a place - it may be an island, I’m not sure - called Atheenaton?’
The young woman’s polite expression turned to one of sly amusement, and Lisanne’s creeping discomfort erupted into full-blown dread. ‘What?’ she said. ‘What is it?’
The travel agent leant across to her colleague, a handsome young man with sleek black hair and deeply chiselled features, and rattled something off in the language that Lisanne heard every day in the shops and stores of the neighbourhood, but of which she understood not a word. The young man burst out laughing. Lisanne felt her face redden. What had she said, for God’s sake?
‘It’s not a place,’ said the young woman, giggling. Αδηνατο: it’s a Greek expression. It means “impossible”. You want to go to an island called “Impossible”?”
Lisanne felt her heart explode in her chest. As she ran out into the crowded street, she could still hear the woman laughing.
Daniel was still in bed. Lisanne had had enough. She was determined to have it out with him once and for all and did not care about disturbing him.
‘Daniel?’
Daniel did not stir. She sat on the bed beside him, and touched his arm. He did not respond. She grabbed his arm and shook him roughly, but Daniel remained fast asleep, and try as she might, she could not wake him.
Chapter 23
Daniel recognised the place the moment he came round the corner: the empty sand, the same azure sea; the branches of the olive tree that intruded into the scene were the same shape as those on the cover of Greek Idyll. And there on the sand, its pages fanned open, was a book which cast the shadow of a face on the sand.
Daniel stood for several minutes staring at this extraordinary sight. He wondered where the owner of the book had gone, and why it had been left open. With a hint of trepidation, he wandered across the sand until he stood just a metre away from the book. He looked along the beach in both directions, and even peered out to sea, but there was not a soul to be seen. He knelt down and picked up the book; he turned it over and examined the front cover. There were no pictures or photos on the front, just the name of the author, and the title: Daniel’s Dream.
Daniel sat down on the warm sand, opened the book at page one, and started to read.
About the Author
Peter Michael Rosenberg is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter and self-confessed nomad. He has travelled in over seventy countries around the world but has yet to find one to call home.
To learn more about Peter Michael Rosenberg visit his website http://www.petermichaelrosenberg.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Also by Peter Michael Rosenberg
Acclaim for Peter Michael Rosenberg
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
About the Author
Daniel's Dream Page 24