Cave of Silence

by Kostas Krommydas

  “Who you really are?” she snapped, worried. “Dimitri, what does all this mean?”

  “I’ll explain it all, Anita, just tell me what happened. I vaguely remember watching an elderly woman get on the stage. Then everything is a blur.”

  “Well, the elderly woman is the one sitting downstairs in the courtyard. She got up to give a blessing and spoke of the last war and everything that had happened here. I can’t remember what that was exactly; I’d drunk a fair bit myself. Then she said something about her school teacher. That’s when you jumped up and shouted that the teacher was your grandfather.”

  “And then?”

  Anita raised her shoulders in a shrug. “Then you passed out and everyone was asking me if what you said was true, but I didn’t know what to say.”

  My mind was starting to clear up, my thoughts slowly falling into place in some kind of order. I was filled with a sense of dread at the possible repercussions of my impulsiveness. But if we were in any danger, wouldn’t Mihalis already be here, to whisk us away? He was a trustworthy man. Surely he wouldn’t have left us alone.

  I decided to come clean to Anita, who was looking at me tensely. I held her hand and took a deep breath. “I haven’t told you everything about why I am here, on the island. I don’t know that much myself. As you already know, I scattered my uncle’s ashes at Mantani yesterday, carrying out his dying wish. He and my mother were born here, but after everything that happened during the war they left, never to return. They always discouraged me from coming here, giving a number of vague excuses. My mother made me swear to never mention my grandfather’s name. He was executed in the village square, as were all her other relatives and many of the men on the island. She and her brother managed to escape at the last minute on a boat, crossing to the island where we are filming. They were discovered on the beach by a young novice, who gave them shelter at the monastery. That’s how they survived.”

  Anita drew a sharp breath, as if suddenly recollecting something. “Dimitri, that’s incredible! When I was at Aghios Mámas yesterday, I spoke to the Abbot and he told me the exact same story. He hinted that he was the young man who had rescued the children on the beach. The exact same story… how can it be?”

  I stared at her blankly. Was this some kind of joke? What were the chances of such a coincidence?

  “Did he tell you when that happened?” I asked.

  “At the end of the war, when the Germans burned down the monastery. The two children ran off and were never seen again or something like that. Could it be they were your mother and uncle?”

  “Honestly, Anita, I’ve been having the strangest feeling of déjà vu ever since I set foot in this place, ever since I got on the boat. So many things are happening… It must be my uncle and mother, what are the chances they rescued another pair of children arriving alone on a boat on the same island? I don’t know what to say. I must speak to the Abbot when we go back. I wonder what my mother will say when I tell her all this…” I rubbed my eyes. “I haven’t told you any of this because there is so much I still don’t know. I had decided not to stir things up. But everything is now coming to light. It’s making me want to find out exactly what happened. I just meant to scatter the ashes and come back to you as soon as possible. I’ve missed you so much these two days. I felt like you were with me all the time.”

  “I’ve missed you too. I know that perhaps I shouldn’t have come, but I couldn’t stand being away from you. Anyway, here we are and I think you must find your answers. I’ll help you.”

  My mind now beginning to process all this new information, I shared my suspicions with her. “There is something very dark at the heart of all this, Anita. Something terrible must have happened here, maybe even worse than the violent death of all those people.”

  I stopped, remembering everyone waiting downstairs. I wondered whether I should walk downstairs and finally confront the ghosts that had been haunting my family for so many years. A small part of me shrank back from this, afraid of what the answer might be.

  My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. We both jumped up. Anita shouted rather too loudly, “Who is it?”

  Mihalis’ voice came muffled from the other side of the door. We both sighed with relief and Anita hurried to the door while I threw on some clothes. Mihalis hovered on the corridor outside. “Good morning, I saw that you were up and I knocked.”

  Anita did not beat about the bush. “What’s happening? Why are all those people downstairs? Should we stay up here?”

  “I don’t think there is anything to worry about. They just want to speak to you. They tried to tell me some of it, it’s all very confusing. Agathe says she will only speak to you, Dimitri. We’ll leave in the afternoon when you are done. Not because there is anything to worry about, because the weather will turn bad tomorrow and it will make crossing difficult.”

  I looked at him suspiciously, not sure I believed what he said about the weather. I could tell something was bothering him, but what?

  Anita was looking at me expectantly, letting me decide. Drawing strength from her presence beside me, I said, “We’ll be downstairs in a couple of minutes, Mihalis. Thank you.”

  I quickly splashed some water on my face and we walked down to the courtyard, hand in hand. The chatter drifting into the house grew stronger as we approached. As soon as we stepped out into the sunshine everyone hushed. They looked at us without uttering a single word. I was no longer afraid. I wanted to know everything.

  Thomas was the first one to move toward us, a restrained smile on his lips. He touched my shoulder, compassionately. “Good morning, my boy. Come sit with us.”

  The small circle of people shifted to let us through, and we stood before the table where Thekla and her mother were seated. Agathe had been looking at me fixedly ever since I had appeared. Everyone was waiting for her to speak. She kept examining me for a long moment and then said, “You look like him.”

  “Who do I look like?” I asked, guessing the answer.

  “Your grandfather’s brother.”

  I was taken aback by her reply. I had expected to hear my grandfather’s name. I knew almost nothing about my great-uncle, Manolis, just that he had been executed along with everyone else. I fixed my gaze on her, stunned, neither one of us uttering a word. Her eyes were moist, but I couldn’t tell whether it was emotion or old age.

  The silence was broken by the running footsteps of a man who burst into the courtyard. He was the young man who had welcomed everyone to the festival. He greeted everyone and came to sit beside us. “Good morning! Antonis Kantounas, president of the Cultural Association.”

  “Good morning, Dimitri Voudouris,” I replied, shaking his hand.

  “Last night, you said Yiannis Reniotis was your grandfather,” he said, suddenly serious.

  “The truth is I don’t really remember what I said. I had a bit too much to drink and it’s all a blur.” For a split second, I was tempted to say it was all a drunken outburst, nothing more. I decided not to. “Yes, I am Yiannis Reniotis’ grandson, the son of Maria Reniotis. Voudouris is my father’s last name.”

  He looked at Agathe who was watching our conversation keenly, then turned back to me and said, compassion creeping into his voice, “Let’s take things one by one. If you are who you say, you are the first member of your family to visit the island after the end of the war. I have researched the history of the island and know a lot about what happened then. I’ve even written a book about it. Your presence here changes what we knew about your family, and maybe more. Is your mother alive?”

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “Does she have any siblings?”

  “She had a brother, Nikos,” I said impatiently. I was starting to get angry; this was beginning to feel like an interrogation.

  “Had? He is no longer alive?”

  “No, he died earlier this year, that’s why I’m on the island.” I tried to keep the anger from creeping into my voice. I no longer cared what I would fi
nd out. I wanted this to be over with. “Why are you asking me all these questions? Why are we all here? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  He smiled at me and said reassuringly, “No, you certainly have done nothing wrong. Your family went through a lot in the war. I guess your uncle must have told you all that. What we didn’t know was that your mother and her brother had survived. After everything that happened here they got lost on a boat and all trace of them disappeared. Everyone assumed they must have drowned that day.”

  I gave Anita a look full of meaning.

  “Two children, alone at sea,” he continued. “Their chances were not good. The first thing I must do is apologize. On behalf of everyone here and those who are gone, I apologize for what your family went through and what this island did to your grandfather’s brother, Manolis Reniotis.”

  I seized upon this chance to find out what happened, untangle this web of half-spoken facts and secrets. Hide the fact that I knew nothing, in case that made them change their mind or lie to me. “I will accept your apology after I hear your version of what happened. I know enough, but not all the details. My family did not speak of it often.”

  “Rightly so,” Agathe chimed in, interrupting us.

  Antonis looked at me disbelievingly, as if he suspected that I was ignorant of what had happened, but made no comment. He turned toward Agathe and said, “The only one alive on this island who lived through what happened is you. I think it’s best if you tell the story.”

  Agathe looked down at her hands, folded in her lap. She took a deep breath and spoke. “Your grandfather was my teacher before the war. I was already too old for school and did not know how to read and write. He took in all the children like me and taught us Greek. He was a good man. I remember your uncle, Nikos, riding past our house proudly every day. Your mother was a toddler, two, maybe three years old.

  “The Germans came to our island after the Italians. Things were calm in the beginning but started to become violent as the end of the war neared. I, too, lost many people I loved then: my father, my brother, others… Manolis Reniotis had gone to the front to fight the Italians when the war broke out. We all thought he’d been killed until one day we saw him, alive.” She stopped talking, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her voice broke into a heartbreaking sob as she said, “The very day we found out he was alive… that very day, we killed him.”

  I thought I misheard, that she meant something other than what I had just heard. Trying to understand, I asked urgently, “What do you mean, you killed him?”

  She stopped crying and spoke as if in a trance. “I can see it in your eyes. Your family never told you what happened. Maybe your mother does not remember. Maybe your uncle did not see it all. There is no way you would be here if you knew the truth. I will tell you everything, my son; everything that happened to your grandfather and what we did to Manolis. Us and that cursed harlot who betrayed him.”

  As she heard these last words, Anita turned toward me and gave me a worried look. We were both impressed and surprised. Even if I had had no connection to the story it would have all sounded very interesting and mysterious.

  I gave Anita’s hand a little squeeze and turned back to Agathe, who was ready to continue her tale from the past.

  The Island, April 1945

  * * *

  Dawn was breaking outside. The milky light crept into the small bedroom through the slats of the wooden blinds, chasing away the dark. Eleni, lying fully clothed on her bed, stared absentmindedly at the ceiling, reliving the rapture of the night with Manolis. She had never imagined that making love would satiate all her senses in this way.

  The bedroom in Yiannis’ house had been her home ever since her father’s death. She had returned there from the cave and spent a white night lost in her thoughts. Thoughts of the evening at the cave, the pleasure, those snatched moments of bliss alternated with worry over what the coming day would bring. She hoped and prayed that everyone would be safe at the end of the day, that those she loved and her fellow countrymen would come through unscathed.

  A soft, persistent tap on the blinds interrupted her thoughts. She jumped up from her bed and cautiously approached the window. “Who is it?” she whispered.

  “It’s me, Alexander,” whispered a male voice outside. “Open the window.”

  She hesitated, unsure of what to do. What was he doing here, at this hour? She thought about alerting Yiannis or Nikos, but then remembered that she was alone in the house with Anna and Maria.

  She decided to do as he asked and cracked the window open. Peeking outside, she saw her unexpected visitor looking ruffled and worried.

  “You must come with me, right now Eleni. Hurry! There is no time to lose.”

  “Why should I come with you? What’s happening?”

  “Listen to me carefully. Any minute now they will start rounding the whole village up, at the square. We know what you are planning to do. You’ve been betrayed.”

  She stared at him feeling the panic rise, her thoughts flitting between Manolis, Yiannis, Anna, and the children…What would befall them?

  “I can’t come, I can’t leave them.”

  “Anna and her children will be safe. They are looking for you and the others. Hurry up, I’m begging you!”

  The sound of screeching engines broke the deathly silence. They pulled up somewhere near. Sharp orders and the thud of heavy boots, running footsteps and the crack of rifle butts on neighboring doors broke out like a sudden storm, to be followed by alarmed cries, barking dogs, and children crying.

  Eleni ran to her bedroom door and peeked out. She saw three soldiers kick down the door and drag Anna outside, Maria still in her arms. She let out a small yelp, stifling the cry that was forming in her throat. Terrified, she turned to Alexander, who was beckoning her toward him. Without thinking, she grabbed her coat, shoved her feet in her shoes, and made to climb outside the window. Maria’s crying and Anna’s desperate screams made her freeze mid-step. Alexander grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out.

  “Come, hurry before they return.”

  “I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me where they are taking them. I’ll stay with them.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to them. It’s you they are looking for and the others. You must believe me,” he beseeched her. “Follow me now or you’ll die. I’ll explain everything later.”

  Hearing the footsteps return to the house, Eleni decided to place her fate in Alexander’s hands. She followed him down the narrow alleyway behind the house and they ran to his Κübelwagen which he’d parked behind a neighbor’s outhouse, hood raised to hide the small car’s interior.

  He opened the door and tried to push her into the back seat. Eleni still hesitated, something making her hold back.

  “Please, get in,” he said as calmly as he could. “If we don’t leave now, they’ll find us and kill us both. It’s not just your life on the line now, it’s my life too. Please understand that.”

  Her heart was torn. What was she about to do? Run away, leaving Anna alone with Maria? Betray Manolis’ trust, everyone’s trust, by running away with a German Captain to save her life?

  Alexander gently pushed her into the car, onto the floor of the back seat. She obeyed unthinkingly like a sleep-walker, a puppet in someone else’s hands.

  “Stay still until I give you the all-clear,” he warned her, covering her with a blanket and some military clothes that were scattered on the back seat. He then closed the door and hastily sat behind the wheel. His camera was lying on the passenger seat behind him.

  He started the engine and drove off, trying to look as calm as he always did, but his heart was drumming out a frenzied beat. He knew that the road block was waiting at the road that led away from the village.

  Thankfully, as he approached it the guards recognized him and waved him through. He heaved a big sigh of relief. The rising sun behind the mountains greeted him in all its splendor as he drove away from the village.

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  A short while later, he pulled up where the road came to an abrupt stop. He stepped out of the car, carefully checking that no one was around, then walked to the back, and pulled the door open.

  Eleni flung the covers away in one abrupt movement. He gave her his hand and helped her out of the car. The scene before her made her sway and she grabbed the hood of the car to stop herself from collapsing to the ground. A thick black cloud of smoke rose from the village, the houses burning. She stared at Alexander, dumbfounded. “Why? Why are they doing this? How can you think this is our fault?”

  He ignored the question and determinedly said, “Eleni, I want you to listen to me very carefully and do exactly as I say. Believe me, this is not a trap. You were betrayed last night. We know about the radio. We know about the meeting and what you were planning. A few hours ago, a patrol arrested Yiannis carrying the weapons. They are keeping him at the old school. It saddens me that you are in the Resistance, but it is irrelevant now. Here is what matters—the Commander will gather everyone at the square, the entire village. Well, not everyone...you understand who will be spared. If your fiancé does not turn himself in by lunchtime, they will all be executed. They caught Yiannis’ son waiting at the safe house where the guns were being taken. He was tortured but did not break. He refused to tell them where his uncle is hiding. They have now released him and asked him to take that message to his uncle.”

  “No,” she whispered and burst into tears.

  “The war is ending, Eleni, and the Nazis want to avenge their defeat. I want you to be safe from this madness. I don’t know what will happen today, but I am afraid it is all out of control.”

  A sharp gut-wrenching spasm made Eleni double over in pain. “What will happen to Manolis if he turns himself in? I want the truth.”

  For a moment he did not speak, as if weighing up his answer. “If he does, I will try to persuade the Commander to punish him and maybe not—” He broke off, seeing her on the verge of collapse and reconsidered his words. “I will try for the lesser of two evils. Now I want you to go hide. Do not go anywhere near the village. Whatever happens today, I will go to the mill and wait for you there.”