Spiridakis nodded. 'Yesterday.'
'How is she?'
'In good health,' the lawyer assured her.
Katerina gazed out of the window. 'I have not seen her you know. And we have not spoken. Not since that day at Dhafnai when she betrayed me,' she said bitterly.
Spiridakis sighed. 'She did not betray you, Katerina.
What she did, she did because she thought it was right and just. Not to hurt you. She acted out of conscience,' he argued quietly. And then he added. 'And conscience is everyone's cross, Katerina. As guilt is our crown of thorns.'
She swung round to look at him, frowning slightly.
'And it grieves me that there is this rift between you,' continued Spiridakis. 'If there is anything I can do to ... '
Katerina's mouth hardened into a tight, unyielding grimace. 'No,' she interrupted him and her tone was adamant. 'There is nothing you can do. It was her choice.' She studied the lawyer. Tell me,' she said. 'Is it true what I have heard? That Elena and Nikos have taken the Englishman you call brother as a partner?'
'Yes.'
'Against your advice?'
Spiridakis shook his head. 'No. Leandros is a good man.'
'The bargain has been made?' she probed. 'The terms settled?'
'Yes. I am preparing the agreement. It will be signed on Sunday. At Annika's house.' Spiridakis suddenly had an idea and it seemed like a good one to him. 'Be there, Katerina,' he pleaded. 'I will come and drive you there myself if you wish it. Meet Leandros. Heal the wound between you and Annika. Nothing would please her more. That I know. She loves you.'
The old woman shook her head. 'Perhaps,' she replied icily. 'But not enough. It would be a wasted journey. And, as I said, I do not like travelling.'
The lawyer could see from her expression that any further argument or entreaty would be to no avail. He sighed once more.
'Andio, Babis', she said.
Spiridakis took the hand she was holding out to him and kissed it. 'Andio'.
Katerina went to the window again. He was dismissed.
He picked up his briefcase and walked over to the sitting room door.
'Oh, one more thing', Katerina said as he was about to step into the hallway. Spiridakis paused and looked across at her. She kept her back to him.
'I am going to make Matheos Noukakis manager of my brickworks'. It was a casual statement. 'Do you approve?'
The lawyer shrugged. 'If you believe that a change is necessary I would say that you have chosen well', he replied. 'He is a good businessman'. Katerina nodded. 'When will he be taking up the position?'
'Very soon I think', the old woman said softly.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The following day Major Krasakis was sitting at his desk studying a report when there was a knock on the door of his office.
'Come,' he called.
The door opened and the duty Sergeant entered and crossed to the desk. Krasakis looked up at him enquiringly.
'An Englishman,' the Sergeant informed him. 'A Kyrie Haldane is asking to see you, Major.'
Krasakis' eyes narrowed slightly behind his tinted glasses. Then he nodded. 'Show him in.'
Krasakis initialled the report and tossed it into the out tray on his desk. Then he took out a cigarette and lit it.
The Sergeant ushered Haldane into the room and hovered. Krasakis stood up. 'Thank you, Sergeant,' he said. The man retreated, closing the door behind him.
The Major stepped out from behind his desk, put out a hand to Haldane and smiled. 'Leandros! This is an unexpected pleasure.'
'Major,' Haldane greeted him as they shook hands.
'Are you well?' asked Krasakis.
'Yes, thank you. I am well,' replied the Englishman.
And then he gave a faint smile and added. 'And richer.'
The Major regarded him with a puzzled look. From out of his pocket Haldane took the envelope which he had found lying on the floor by the front door when he had come down to breakfast that morning. He handed it to Krasakis.
'I thought you ought to see this,' he said.
The Major examined the envelope. It was unaddressed. Inside it was a single sheet of cheap notepaper. Krasakis unfolded it and read what was written on it. There were just two words in block capitals; For Charon.
'And these came with it,’ said Haldane holding out his hand again.
The Major took the two twenty-drachma coins from him, glanced at them and then re-read the note aloud. 'For Charon.' Frowning deeply, and with his eyes still on the note, he moved back behind his desk. Then he looked up at Haldane with a grave expression on his face. 'Do you know who Charon is?' he asked quietly.
'Was', replied Haldane, correcting him.
Krasakis shook his head. 'Remains. For some. For many even here on Crete.'
'The Ferryman,' said Haldane.
The Major nodded. 'On the river which all souls must cross to enter the Underworld and the Elysian Fields beyond. And for that service Charon demands a fee. The Ferryman must be paid.'
He studied Haldane and he was clearly very disturbed. 'Someone wishes you dead, Leandros,' he said.
Haldane did not mention the warning letter to anyone other than Krasakis. He had absolutely no wish to alarm his friends and certainly not Annika. So, over the next few days, he had kept to his usual routine; working on The Knot, eating in the taverna and putting some time in each day at his drawing board.
But, as the Major had advised. when he had laughingly but firmly declined Krasakis' offer of a round-the-clock protection, he had kept on the alert and had taken what precautions he could, including locking and bolting all the doors and windows of the house at night. He had also avoided, as much as he could, straying too far from the village or, except in the relative safety of his own home and within reach of a telephone, of being alone too often.
Not that he felt really threatened. He never had. His first reaction on reading the note had been that it was either some sick joke or yet another attempt to intimidate him and that whoever had written it had no intention whatever of following through on it. And when, by Sunday morning, nothing had happened he was convinced that this was the case. Just the same he opened the doors of the garage with care and, remembering the booby traps which he and the Andarte had often used during the war, checked his car inside and out before climbing into the Fiat and setting off, with the hood down, on the drive to Annika's house.
As he approached the taverna he saw Nikos' car parked outside with the bonnet raised and Nikos peering in at the engine.
Haldane pulled the Fiat into the kerb, got out and walked back to him. Elena was sitting in the front passenger seat with Alexis, standing in the back, leaning forward over her shoulder and gazing anxiously at his father. Haldane noticed that all three members of the Vassilakis family had dressed for the occasion in their Saint's Day, weddings and christening best and for a moment thought of returning home and changing out of the short-sleeved shirt and slacks he was wearing into something more formal. But that would probably embarrass them he decided, so he dismissed the idea.
"Yassou,' he said as he came up to the car.
Elena smiled at him. Kalimera, Leandros,' she said.
'Kalimera, " echoed Alexis.
Nikos nodded. "Yassou."
'What's the problem?' asked Haldane.
Nikos shrugged. 'The engine turns but it does not start.'
Moving to his side and joining him in his renewed
inspection of the engine, Haldane checked the sparking plug leads and found one of them to be loose. He pressed the cap home. 'Try it now,' he said.
Nikos got into the car and turned the ignition key. Still the engine would not fire. Cursing silently, Nikos came back alongside Haldane. Elena and Alexis hung out of the windows and watched them.
'Could be that the plugs are dirty,' suggested Haldane. 'Look, leave if, he said. 'We'll all go in my car.' Nikos looked down the road at the Fiat and shook his head. 'There is no room for four in that, Leandros,' he
said. 'No. You go on. You will see. I will get this started. It is temperamental.' He winked. 'Like a woman. And, like a woman, you have to know how to handle it. To coax it.' He grinned. 'And I am an expert with women.'
'Po! Po! Po!,' mocked Elena. 'Omar Sharif, eh?'
Haldane looked doubtful. 'Are you sure you can get it going?'
Nikos laughed. 'Am I not a genius,' he exclaimed.
Elena shook her head in mock despair. 'Listen to the man,' she cried. 'Now he is Einstein.'
'Take no notice, Leandros,' retorted Nikos, giving his wife a look of playful disdain. 'I will fix it. You go on ahead. We will follow. Tell Annika we are coming'.
'Well, all right', agreed Haldane reluctantly. 'But I still think it would be a lot easier ... '
Elena interrupted him. 'Do as he says, Leandros.' She sighed. 'That he is a genius I doubt. But that he is stubborn I know for sure.'
Haldane laughed. 'See you there, then,' he said. And then added. 'Hopefully.'
'Papa,' called Alexis. 'May I go with Leandros?' Nikos and Elena exchanged glances. 'Please,' pleaded the boy.
Nikos looked questioningly at Haldane. The Englishman was delighted by the prospect. 'Of course he can come with me,' he said. 'Elena too, if she wants to.'
Elena shook her head and laughed. 'No. I will stay with Einstein,' she said. This magic way he has with women. That I want to see.' She turned to Alexis. 'Go with Leandros then.'
Excitedly the boy jumped down out of the car and ran to the Fiat. Haldane picked him up and swung him into the passenger seat and then he moved round to the other side.
'If you are not there soon after we are,' he called to Elena and Nikos. 'I'll come back for you.'
'And meet us on the way,' shouted Nikos, 'I guarantee it.'
Laughing, Haldane got in behind the steering wheel, put the car into gear and drove off. Alexis turned to wave to his parents. In the rear view mirror Haldane saw Elena and Nikos wave back and then Nikos plunge under the bonnet once more to tinker with the engine.
By the time they reached the outskirts of the village and turned on to the main road, Alexis was standing up alongside Haldane holding on to the windscreen and enjoying the sensation of the warm wind on his face. Haldane glanced at him, saw the look of pleasure on the boy's face and accelerated a little.
And soon they were climbing up into the mountains and as they did so, so the bends in the road became tighter and the many curves more dangerous. Haldane maintained a good speed but drove carefully and kept alert. Around any of the bends, they could suddenly come upon a bus bearing down on them or one of the many minor landslides which so often occurred in the mountains after the spring thaw. In which case he would have to brake hard and edge gingerly past. Very gingerly, for there was no guardrail along the edge of the road and as they corkscrewed and wound higher and higher so there was always, on one side or other of them, a steep, almost sheer drop.
Haldane took the Fiat into a particularly sharp hairpin bend. Alexis looked down over the side of the car and at the precipitous drop only a few feet from the nearside wheels of the car and, confident in the Englishman's skill as a driver, he was thrilled by the sight.
Noukakis sat in his car. I will wait just a little longer, he thought. Let them all get settled.
In the half hour since he had seen first Spiridakis and his wife and, finally, Nikos and Elena drive past him down the track he had smoked five cigarettes.
Although Haldane had been totally unaware of the fact, Noukakis had never been more than a few hundred yards behind him from the moment when the Englishman had turned the Fiat on to the main road outside Elounda. And Noukakis had stayed with him, always keeping enough distance between them to remain undetected, throughout the climb into the mountains. And when Haldane had turned off the road and driven down the track through the olive grove, Noukakis had parked his car out of sight among the trees but in a spot where he had a good view of the entrance to the track.
He looked at his watch. Now, he decided. And he smiled. He stubbed out his cigarette and got out of the car. Reaching under the passenger seat he pulled out a canvas wrapped tool kit, laid it on the seat and unrolled it. From the tools inside he selected a wrench which he slipped into his pocket. Then, closing the car door quietly and keeping in the cover of the olive trees, he started to move cautiously in the direction of the house.
'Tackle him,' shouted Nikos. 'Get the ball away from him! Oh, foul! Foul! Bravo! Bravo!'
Nikos and Elena, laughing, their arms around one another, stood on the edge of the clearing in the olive grove and watched Haldane and Alexis playing football.
Encouraged by his father's support, Alexis got possession of the ball and dribbled it across the open ground with Haldane in pursuit. The boy stumbled and Haldane got the ball back from him, turned with it and ran towards Nikos and Elena. But Alexis caught up with him and neatly regained control of the game. And as he got close to his parents, keeping the football just ahead of him, Nikos, no longer able to resist the temptation, broke away from his wife and, with a wild cry, tackled Alexis, got possession and raced across the clearing with his son only just behind him.
Out of breath, Haldane gave up and, breathing heavily, joined Elena. 'I'm getting too old for football I think,' he gasped.
Elena smiled. 'That is not so, Leandros,' she said consolingly. 'You are still a young man. How do you say, in your prime.'
Haldane smiled and bowed to her still panting. 'You are too kind,’ he said before adding ruefully, 'I only wish that were true.' He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face.
Elena studied him thoughtfully. 'Watching you playing with Alexis, I was thinking,' she said, 'if my father had lived he would have been about your age now.'
Haldane gave a slight start and shot a look at her. He nodded. 'A year or two younger, I think,' he said almost casually.
'Of course. I forgot,' she said. 'You knew him. In the Andarte.'
'Yes. I knew him.'
Elena shook her head. 'It is strange,' she mused. 'But he has been in my thoughts a great deal during the past few weeks. I do not know why. I do not even remember him. But I wish he were here today. With us. With you. His comrade of the war.' She looked at Haldane and smiled. 'He would be pleased do you not think? About our partnership.'
Haldane held her gaze and then he said quietly. 'Yes, Elena. Your father would be very pleased.'
While Annika gave a final basting to the suckling pig which was spit roasting over the barbecue pit and Sia laid the table for the lunch which they had decided they would eat out on the terrace, Spiridakis helped himself to another drink from the bar trolley and then settled in one of the wicker armchairs facing another, smaller, marbled topped table on which he had previously and ceremoniously placed the two copies of the partnership agreement.
The boisterous sounds from the clearing just a little way off from the house invaded the quiet of the terrace.
It had been a wonderful day, The agreements had been signed and witnessed and the new partnership toasted in champagne. Then they had eaten well. sitting under the shade of the large carob tree which grew in the middle of the terrace. They had lingered over the meal. And then they had moved to more comfortable seats out of the heat of the sun and sat and talked and lazed.
Now it was late afternoon and cooler and. at the far end of the terrace, Haldane was giving Alexis a lesson in how to the fly kite which he had given him. Elena and Sia, sitting side by side on a canopied hammock seat, and Annika, Nikos and Spiridakis, relaxing in three of the cushioned wicker armchairs. watched them. amused and interested as the kite soared high and far out over the olive grove.
'Alexis loves his present, eh?' said Sia.
Nikos nodded, then shook his head and smiled. 'Leandros spoils the boy,' he sighed.
'And only Alexis?' demanded Elena, raising her arm and jiggling the silver bracelet around her wrist.
Nikos gazed at the new wristwatch he was wearing. 'No,' he admitted thoughtfully. A
gain he shook his head. 'Such handsome gifts.'
'As Leandros said,' smiled Annika. 'To mark the occasion.
Nikos gave her an embarrassed look. 'But we gave him nothing,' he protested.
'You have given him happiness,' Annika assured him.
'More than you know,' confirmed Spiridakis quietly.
Elena stretched contentedly. 'This has been a beautiful day,' she murmured dreamily. 'One I shall never forget.' She looked at Annika and smiled gratefully. 'Thank you, Aunt.'
Annika shrugged. 'I have also enjoyed it', she said. 'But it is not over yet.'
Nikos checked the time on his new watch. 'Sadly, for us it is,' he said. 'We must go.'
Elena gave a deep sigh and then nodded. 'Yes, I am afraid Nikos is right.'
'But it is early,' Annika exclaimed, disappointed. She glanced at her wristwatch. 'Only a quarter to five.'
Elena pulled a face and shrugged helplessly.
'We shall be busy tonight in the taverna I think.' said Nikos. 'Elena and I must be there. And Alexis has to go to school tomorrow. He has studying to do before he goes to bed.' He stood up. 'Alexi, come.' he called out. 'We must leave.'
Annika , Elena and Spiridakis also got to their feet.
Alexis made no move to obey.
Nikos called again. 'Now. Alexi. We are going. You have studying to do.'
Bitterly disappointed, Alexis looked appealing at Haldane.
‘Alexi!' Nikos called for the third time and with a firm note to his voice.
Haldane gave the boy a regretful. resigned shrug.
Together they began to haul the kite in. 'We'll fly it again tomorrow. eh?' whispered Haldane. 'After school.'
Alexis smiled broadly and nodded. Spiridakis strolled across the terrace and joined them. As soon as the last few feet of string had been wound in Alexis took the kite and its reel from Haldane and ran off with them towards his parents calling out loudly and excitedly. 'Leandros says that we can fly the kite again tomorrow.'
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