"Tomorrow I want to go outside and take more pictures of you wearing this," Justine said.

The photographer in her was at work now, picturing this gorgeous dress against the canals, the picturesque buildings.

As she worked, she asked casually, "Who was that man who passed us on the water this morning, the one Guido called Riccardo?"

"I've never met him," Dulcie said. "Guido has a lot of boatman friends, so he's probably one of them."

Justine let it go. It would be a mistake to seem too curious.

They set out next morning so that Justine could photograph Dulcie in the lovely dress against the background of Venice. She took picture after picture, exhilarated by the beauty she was capturing.

"Just one more," she said at last as they stopped in a little square by the water. "Stand by that fountain."

She arranged her shot, focused and took a step back, then another, and another.

Totally absorbed, she failed to notice that she was getting closer to the canal. Dulcie's cry of warning came too late, and the next moment Justine was stepping back into nothing, and falling.

She gave a yell of despair as she thought of what the water would do to her precious camera.

But there was no water. Instead she landed on something that felt relatively soft. Sprawled inelegantly on her back, she had a grandstand view of the man she'd seen yesterday, standing over her, regarding her with recognition and delight.

He gave her a mock bow, reaching forward to pull her into a sitting position, and saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you at last."

Chapter Three

It was definitely the boatman from the previous day, wearing slightly more today: a sleeveless black vest and a pair of threadbare jeans that ended just below the knees.