by Leah Fleming
She collected her belongings, found a horse-drawn cab and made her way up towards Halepa and the district where the Harringtons were lodging, paying off the cab and searching on foot for a villa called Stella Vista. She found a large elegant town house right on the top of a cliff, with a wonderful view across the Akrotiri peninsula and the whole of Chania Bay.
Just as she opened the iron garden-gate Gordon came rushing out.
‘Good, you’ve arrived. Go and help Judy out . . . Angela’s in such a state. Must rush . . . Things to do, things to do . . .’
Angela was sitting nursing a whisky glass, a blank expression on her white face.
‘The children keep asking what happened to Daddy. How can I tell them? What will become of us?’ She was rocking back and forth in her chair, shivering.
‘I hope you made that a strong one,’ Penny said to Judy, indicating the glass. ‘She’s still in shock. Where’s she billeted?’
‘Here with Nanny. We all are . . . there are ten bedrooms,’ Judy replied. ‘Might as well all stay put. We’ll be shipped out in days so I hope you are packed and ready to go.’
Penny smiled, lifting up her shabby carpetbag. ‘I’m afraid this bag is the sum of my wardrobe. How are the crew?’
‘In a clinic. Bruce saw to them. Good chap in a crisis, isn’t he? You two know each other, I gather.’
Penny could see Judy speculating. ‘He’s a friend of Walter and Evadne, my sister and her husband,’ she told her, ‘but I’ve no idea what regiment he’s in. He keeps popping up out of the blue.’
Judy smiled, tapping her nose. ‘We don’t know so we can never tell . . . Part of some overseas outfit, all hush-hush behind the scenes. His Greek is useful here – not as good as yours, of course, and you’re so brown you could pass for a native. How’re things at the hospital?’
‘They’re getting ready to ship out the nurses and the worst cases. Sand is no place for wounds, the flies are unbelievable and the dust gets everywhere. It’ll be a skeleton staff after that.’
Later, in the room to which Judy showed her, Penny stared out across the bay. It all looked so beautiful, and with the luxury of a bath and a bed with crisp cotton sheets under a net, the war seemed more distant than it had done for weeks. She lay listening to the night sounds: the wind, the hoot of an owl in the tree, the whimper of a child in an upper room. Suddenly her limbs turned to lead and she sank into the dreamless sleep of exhaustion.
She was woken by the roar of engines, the whistle of bombs and the crump of gunfire. Opening the shutters, to her amazement she saw a line of Stukas flying at window-level across the bay towards Souda, where anti-aircraft guns blasted out their riposte.
‘There goes our wake-up call, on time as usual. Get the kiddies down to the basement for a game of ping pong,’ Gordon ordered, making light of the raid.
Penny was worried about Sally and her nurse friends on Galatas beach. Surely the Germans wouldn’t bomb a hospital? But no one was letting her leave to find out until the raid was over.
Somehow the morning was taken up with preparing meals, sorting out the children, while there were comings and goings to the British HQ in the old prime minister’s residence.
Judy decided to organize a tea run for troops sheltering in the olive groves by the docks. ‘They’re softening us up for the kill, demoralizing the locals and the troops, making life difficult and cutting off supplies,’ she said. ‘I think we should gather up a few tins of our own and make a stash, just in case we’re stranded here.’
Ever practical, Judy was trying to keep everyone busy, taking their minds off the danger. Even Angela was rising to the effort. This was Penny’s moment to pick her way back to Galatas beach and report for duty.
She had gathered her cloak, was preparing to leave, when Gordon returned with Bruce, both covered in smoke and ash dust.
‘Been burning papers at HQ, just a precaution. Don’t want Jerry or any quislings reading our reports. Bruce has got some good news. There’s a ship out tomorrow so it’s time to pack for a sea voyage.’
‘Darling, there’s nothing to pack,’ Judy replied. ‘But there may be time to nip into the town and buy a few bits for the children while the shops are open.’
‘Better be off then,’ Penny said, sidling towards the door, but Gordon barred her path.
‘Not so fast, young lady, this means you too.’
‘Sorry, but I’m under orders at the hospital. I must do my bit there.’
‘You’ll do as you’re told,’ Gordon snapped. ‘You are under consul orders.’
She pushed past him, determined to escape, but Bruce strode after her and took her by the arm. ‘This isn’t some game we’re playing here, Penelope. Things are hotting up. This is no place for women once the show starts.’
‘Tell that to the Cretan women. Where do they hide?’
‘Their families will take care of them in the hills. They are not your concern.’
She stood defiant. ‘I’m Red Cross. Civilians are my concern too.’
‘Don’t be a martyr, this isn’t your fight,’ he said, his eyes blazing.
‘Isn’t it? I’m half Greek, a nurse by training and experience. The Red Cross takes no sides, remember.’
‘Do you think any of that matters once battle begins? Grow up, Pen. You’re a liability. Women are a liability . . .’
‘Listen to yourself, you pompous ass! We weren’t a liability on the Amalia or on the island, or have you forgotten who patched you up? I’m not leaving yet, not until I have orders. There’s a job needs doing on the wards. I’m sick of running away. I’ll go when there’s no longer a job for me to do. You can tell Gordon to give my ticket to someone else. And don’t you order me about any more.’
Bruce smiled down at her. ‘You’re magnificent when you’re angry. Come on, let me at least buy you luncheon somewhere. I think you need to think this all through with a glass in your hand.’
‘I ought to be heading back. I’m already late.’ Penny hesitated, aware that duty should come first, but not knowing when she’d see him again. If she’d ever see him again. His company would take her mind off what lay ahead and she owed him for getting her out of Athens.
‘Late for what? You’re not really official, are you? Is there a record of your work? Come on, I know a place where we can get good local fish. Then I’ll see you back safely; the roads are not exactly pristine. I shall be off soon, I expect, so a couple of hours won’t make any difference.’
It was no good, when Bruce spun his silken web she was trapped. He’d always have that effect on her. A short break wouldn’t do any harm. He led her to an open-topped two-seater truck and then she found herself bumping along up the coast, over the rutted tracks, her hair wrapped round her face like a scarf.
They were heading up towards the Akrotiri coastline, down narrow tracks and past guard posts, gun emplacements, winding through olive grove tracks and past golden stone monasteries, ancient turrets glinting in the fierce May sun. Then they were at a crossroads where some small houses jutted out and a little kafenion had chairs onto the street.
Here Bruce introduced her to Kyria Chrystoulaa, who showed her the fish which her husband had caught that morning before his boat was almost shot out of the sea.
She baked the tiny fish in a salty crust and served it with oil and lemon juice, and a plate of mountain herbs freshly picked from the fields. As she and Bruce washed down this simple and delicious food with a jug of village wine, Penny felt herself relaxing for the first time in weeks, as if there was no more war.
She looked across at Bruce and smiled. ‘Thanks, but this changes nothing. I’m staying put. No one orders me about now.’
‘Don’t be prickly, Pen. It doesn’t suit you.’
‘What gives you the right to tell me what I must do?’
‘I care about you. I feel responsible for bringing you into all this,’ Bruce replied, his eyebrow raised in a challenge.
‘Don’t flatter yourself !’ she said. ‘When
I refused to leave Athens with Effy and Walter’s friends, I knew it was the right thing to do, to make something of myself. I’m not giving up now. I’m not afraid.’
‘That’s what scares me. You should be afraid. There’s one hell of a storm coming and no one knows how it will end. I’d hate to think of you in some prisoner of war camp behind wire – or worse. It will be ugly.’
‘It was ugly in Arta, or have you forgotten last winter? Believe me, I saw things there . . . I will cope. I know deep in here,’ she said, patting her chest, ‘this is what I was put on this earth to do, to help people who are sick. I can’t explain, but coming to Athens just to be free from family changed when I started nursing. Suddenly it’s a matter of life and death, and here now on Crete even more so. This is my journey, my vocation, my destiny, and I have no regrets . . . This is my battle as well as yours.’
They fell silent as if her outburst had shaken both of them. Bruce grabbed hold of her hand. ‘Then good luck! You’ll need it.’
‘And you too,’ she said, putting her other hand over his. ‘We’ve come a long way since the Highland Ball.’
‘I can see you still sitting in the library in that awful frock.’
‘It was rather dreadful, so frilly . . . Where will you go now?’ Penny asked, sensing the intimacy growing.
‘Wherever I’m sent . . . can’t say much, but now you see me, then you won’t. Who knows where I’ll be tomorrow? Be careful, Penny, don’t trust any strangers if the worst happens and we’re defeated. Your presence will be already registered here. They watch the ports and the cafés to see who is new in town. You’re easy to recognize. Go native, perfect your accent. Say you’re from Athens and you’ll get by. Blend in, don’t stand out, dye your hair, cover up and act Greek. You are taller than most women here . . .’
‘What are you trying to tell me, Bruce?’
‘Only that if things go badly, they’ll need nurses in the hills with the francs-tireurs, the freedom fighters,’ he whispered. ‘Look to the hills. You’re a mountain goat, use your legs and head into the mountains if the worst happens.’
‘You don’t think we can win this battle?’ she asked in surprise.
He paused, looking around to make sure none of the other diners was in earshot. ‘I don’t know, I honestly don’t think our men have enough stamina, arms or guns to see it through, but we won’t be leaving the island in the lurch. That’s all I can say.’ He looked at his wristwatch and sighed. ‘Time to get you back to base.’
The drive back was silent, both of them lost in private thoughts. Any romantic notions Penny had sensed had been quashed by Bruce’s pessimism. He was heading into danger; whatever he was doing was clandestine, a secret mission he mustn’t discuss. He’d told her enough for her to know she must make her own plans too, and she wondered if she would be more useful with the other nurses on board a hospital ship after all. It was one thing being brave and daring and willing to serve, but another matter to put others in danger should she have to flee again. If she was caught as an alien amongst the locals they might be shot.
Bruce dropped her off at the guard post on the beach. She stood waving to him, listening to the screech of the tyres as the spray of sand gritted her eyes, wondering just when he’d appear again. His company was always such a delight, she sighed. Was this the beginning of a new relationship between them at last?
There was something different about the place now. It was quieter, with not so many prostrate men on the shoreline. She made for the hospital barracks and bumped into Douglas Forsyth, her senior medical officer.
‘Good Lord! What are you doing here?’ he shouted.
‘Reporting for duty, sir. Sorry I’m late. There was a raid . . .’
‘Never mind that . . . why aren’t you on the ship?’ There was a puzzled look on his sunburned face.
‘What ship?’
‘They’ve gone without you, Nurse. They all shipped out under cover, took on board the worst cases and all the female staff for Egypt. God Almighty, you weren’t on base, were you? You’ve missed the bloody boat.’
Penny’s resolve shook at the news. Escape from the island was no longer a choice. She was stranded. Oh yes, it was one thing choosing to stay on but another when the choice was taken from her. Suddenly the reality of deliberately staying away hit her. You’ve done it now, she sighed, her heart thumping, and her courage failed for a moment but she swallowed back her panic and took a deep breath.
‘I’m billeted with a consul family; I’m Red Cross.’
‘You’d better leave with them. I can’t have you here, one female, hundreds of soldiers, wouldn’t be proper.’
‘Sir, I can still assist; you know I’m experienced.’ Nurses didn’t argue with doctors but Penny was beyond such formalities. ‘Surely a pair of hands is a pair of hands.’
‘It’s the rest of you that’s a problem. It’s against regulations. Where will you mess? Not with the orderlies . . . You’re officer class. I can’t have you singled out . . .’
Just at that moment the second in command arrived, Dr Ellis. ‘Two more silly asses with sunstroke . . . Nurse George, can you deal with them? I’ve got five more cases of the squits need isolating or the whole camp with come down with it. Doug, have you a moment? There’s a private who needs looking at; don’t like the look of his back?’
Penny shot out before Forsyth could call her back. They would sort out logistics later. She went to collect the tubes to give the patients cold enemas, a transfusion of salt and glucose, and ordered lots of cold water from the well. These fair-skinned soldiers were suckers for the sun, lying about with no idea how dangerous it was in such shadeless terrain.
Penny sped on her way, knowing tomorrow she must formalize her position here with the authorities, irregular though it may be. They might protest, but she was Greek Red Cross; if necessary she could be transferred locally. The ship leaving without her was a sign. The decision had been made for her. This is where she was meant to stay, and stay she would.
2001
‘I know, it sounds so implausible, Lois, doesn’t it? Me being the only British nurse left on the island. “You’ve done it now,” I thought. Part of me had always known the risk I was taking. Yet part of me couldn’t believe it at first and kept searching round for Sally and the other girls. Surely someone else had hidden or forgotten the time, not heard the call back to camp, but no. I was the crazy one, left clutching little but my principles, and feeling my gut churning up,’ I said as we drove up the new National Highway, heading eastwards in a hired car from the port in Souda Bay, following printed instructions on how to find our villa. ‘I just stayed at my post and got on with the job, until things changed.’
‘One woman and thousands of men, how did you manage?’ Lois asked, while concentrating on driving on the right.
‘They brought me my food and I had a room of my own. I never went out at first, just on my rounds. Then, once things hotted up, well, all that formality went by the board but that’s another story.’
We turned off the main road, down towards the coast and the villages overlooking the bay, down a winding lane towards a village with a brightly coloured church at its heart. Then we turned down a winding drive to a fine two-storey stone house with a balcony on the first floor. It had an olive grove to the side, a courtyard in the shade and a gravel drive for the car. There was a sparkling swimming pool, which caught Alex’s eye immediately, and he shot out to examine it. I didn’t recognize any of it, though the name of the village, Kalyves, struck a chord somewhere in the back of my mind.
‘Do you like it?’ Lois was looking anxious for a positive response. ‘I thought you’d like something with character.’
‘I think it’s charming. We can walk into the village for supplies.’
‘You know it, then?’
‘I’m not sure. I can sense the sea isn’t far and there will be shops. I think we’ll be fine here but I insist you and Alex must not hang about for me. Take him on trips. I can hire
someone to drive me when I need it, but now I could do with a cool room and drink.’
Inside was chilly after the sun’s warmth. The hall had patterned marble floors, and a fan rattled overhead. There were clean simple furnishings and heavy dark-wooded tables and chairs, lace drapes and tablecloths, wall hangings and old prints.
‘You must choose your own room, Aunt Pen,’ Lois insisted.
‘The one nearest the bathroom will do,’ I laughed.
‘I counted twelve shrines on the way here,’ Alex piped up. ‘Why do they have pictures in them and lamps?’
‘To remind us life is short and brutal sometimes, and memories are long. The lamp burns as a prayer for the dead to be remembered and a photo helps keep them alive. I think it is a nice custom.’
‘When you die, shall we put one in the garden for you?’
‘Alex!’ Lois gasped.
‘I would be very honoured but I think the people who bought my house might not want my ugly mug stuck in their flower borders.’ I laughed.
‘Can I have a swim?’
‘Only if one of us is watching,’ Lois warned. ‘I’ll take you exploring later and we can make plans. It says there’s a sailing school close by, we could take lessons.’
‘Cool,’ he said, racing up the staircase to explore.
I, too, retreated upstairs and quickly chose my room. From the window was the most glorious view of the White Mountains of the Apokoronas, still snow-capped even in the heat of the late afternoon.
I felt tired but excited. After all these years of absence, why did I feel as if I was coming home again, back to those heady dangerous weeks in May sixty years ago? If truth be told, I’d felt a strange connection the moment we entered into the bay and I saw the harbour, smelled the diesel fumes and oily seawater, heard that loud guttural accent. I also had a strange feeling that my arrival was the beginning of something important. It was hard to explain what I was feeling deep inside.