It is May 1977, a quiet house in the English Cotswolds. Emily,an emotionally fragile,gentle, nature-loving girl, is approaching her eighteenth birthday. Her father, Martin, has become worried about her since the death of her mother, as she has begun to walk in her sleep and says she sees her mother’s ghost. When Martin gets the chance to join his friend Barnaby on an archaeological dig on Crete, he welcomes Emily’s suggestion that she and her older brother David join him out there. Staying with their father’s Greek friends, Emily and David are introduced to the thoughtful young son of the family, Petros, who is prepared to go along with David’s constant quest for fun and girls but who falls in love with the shy, distant Emily. When the siblings notice a mysterious island in the bay, now deserted and a source of superstitious fear among the local villagers, David is eager to explore it, despite Petros’ warnings, but Emily feels afraid and troubled. Eventually the island draws them in, and soon Manolis, a local fisherman who is obsessed with the island for his own reasons, leads them all into a terrifying adventure. The story winds its way through Cretan labyrinths to a strange and surprising conclusion. 
Suitable for age 16+ Some mild sexual scenes and one violent scene

The Glass Madonna is created by Loretta Proctor, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author



The Glass Madonna

As their eyes became accustomed to the gloom they noticed that there was a narrow gap at the back of the room.


'I wonder if that leads anywhere,' said David. 'We need light though. I'm going to swim back to the boat and fetch our shoes and a torch. I'm not going barefoot in there. It smells like shit in here and it feels dodgy underfoot. You never know if it's going to be soft or hard and I've already scuffed my big toe.'


He returned some time later, swimming on his back, holding up over his head their shoes and a torch in a plastic bag. Petros grabbed the bag and helped haul him up out of the water. David had even put an old towel in the bag. They re-joined Emily in the cave-room, dried their feet and put on their trainers. 


They now shone the torch upon the long narrow gap and squeezed through.


'Your dad would never make it through here, Petros,' joked David. 'Not sure mine would either. He's getting a beer belly these days.'


Chapter 30: Who were Alexis and Polixeni?