by Beryl Darby
‘Yannis, wake up. The Widow is here to see you.’
Yannis brushed the sleep from his eyes. ‘The Widow? Why?’ He struggled into a sitting position and his mother pulled his jumper off over his head.
‘He looks fit enough,’ declared the Widow. ‘What’s this lump?’ She ran her fingers over the slight swelling.
‘The blocked gland,’ explained Maria.
The Widow frowned. ‘Maybe it sticks out inside and is hindering his breathing,’ she suggested. ‘Maybe a doctor could say.’
Maria smiled. As usual the Widow had reassured her. They had talked of a trip to Aghios Nikolaos and a visit to a doctor would be an added excuse for the journey.
As they entered the small town Yannis’s eyes widened. He had never seen so many people bustling around, intent upon their business. So many fishing boats in the harbour, men mending their nets, vendors crying their wares of oranges, apples, bread, olives and other goods. The main road was lined with small shops, gaily-coloured clothes, weaving and embroidery hanging outside to attract the passer-by. Interspersed were the usual tavernas where the old men spent all day, sitting with their cups of black coffee, clicking their beads and discussing politics.
They filed into a taverna, ostensibly for food, but also to ask for directions. Coffee was ordered for Maria, and Yannis was treated to a glass of fresh lemon juice whilst they waited for their moussaka to arrive. Yannis senior began to converse with two men at the next table and Maria and her son waited until he turned back to them.
‘Our luck is in. Yiorgo hasn’t gone out today. When we’ve eaten we’ll go and find him.’
Maria smiled happily. Her cousin had visited them occasionally and she was excited at the prospect of meeting his wife and family and showing off her own son.
The moussaka was not as good as his mother served, but Yannis was hungry. He cleared his plate, then wiped it round with bread, wishing there could have been more. Having eaten well and drunk two glasses of wine Yannis senior was in no hurry to move. Yannis began to fidget. Although he was tired after the long walk across the hills he wanted to see more of this new town. Maria coughed to attract her husband’s attention and reluctantly he rose to his feet. The bill paid, the little group made their way down to the quay until Maria gave a shout.
‘There he is.’
A tall, bronzed man looked up from his nets. His face was weathered by the open-air life he led, his hands gnarled and misshapen from his work.
‘Maria! I don’t believe it.’
Yiorgo packed up his nets, checked the moorings were secure, then led the way to his cottage. Coffee, lemon juice and raki were produced. Elena and Maria, wary of each other at first, were soon chatting amicably about their children. Yannis had been tongue-tied with Annita and Andreas initially, but when Andreas suggested they showed him the town he accepted with alacrity.
‘Be back in an hour,’ insisted Elena. ‘I will need Annita to help me then.’
‘I could stay now, Mamma.’ Annita had no particular desire to wander around her hometown with her cousin.
‘Off you go, all of you,’ her father ordered. ‘We have business to discuss.’
The children left the house obediently and Yiorgo smiled happily at his relatives. ‘It’s good to see you, but what has brought you all this way? If you just wanted to visit I could have brought you down in my boat next time I called at Plaka.’
‘Maria wishes to sell more embroidery and we need to see a doctor.’
Yiorgo raised his eyebrows. ‘Who is ill?’ Both Maria and Yannis looked the picture of middle-aged health.
Yannis explained. It was nothing much, just a small lump on Yannis’s neck that gave him a little trouble breathing sometimes.
Yiorgo nodded. ‘The doctor will know what it is. Maybe he should have his tonsils out. I’m pleased you’ve come, though. There are a couple of things I need to talk over with you, and the first concerns Yannis. Have you any plans for the boy?’
‘Plans?’ Yannis looked puzzled.
Yiorgo leant forward across the table. ‘You say he’s an intelligent boy. Maybe if he went to a proper school he could become a shopkeeper. There’s money in that – and you’re not out in all weather every day of the week.’
‘He’s used to being up in the fields with me.’
‘Does he want to be a farmer? The last time I visited you he was working away at an exercise the priest had set him and was reluctant to leave it unfinished. Also, I’ve looked around. Annita’s a good girl. She’s been brought up properly, knows how to cook and run a house. What’s more she goes to school with Andreas and can read and write. She’ll make a good wife, but there’s no one in Aghios Nikolaos that I would consider suitable for her. They’re mostly young ruffians and not likely to improve as they get older.’
Maria sucked in her breath. ‘Are you suggesting that Yannis and Annita are betrothed?’
‘Unofficially. Just an understanding between us for a few years time.’
Yannis was calculating rapidly. He had one farm and three sons. It was unlikely to provide a living for all of them. ‘I’ve no objection to a betrothal, but the schooling, that’s another matter.’
‘Yannis could stay with us and go to school with Andreas. See how he gets on. If he’s unhappy he could always return to the farm.’
Yannis shook his head doubtfully. ‘I’d need to think about this carefully. Go into the finance. I haven’t got a great deal of savings.’
Yiorgo rubbed the side of his nose and winked. ‘We’ll leave the ladies here to chat whilst we walk down to the taverna.’
Yannis followed Yiorgo obediently from the house and they strolled down to the quay. ‘Just thought we could do with a bit of privacy,’ smiled Yiorgo as he helped Yannis aboard his fishing boat. ‘Come and look in the hold.’ He ducked inside the small doorway and lit the oil-lamp that hung from a hook to give a feeble light. ‘This is my living,’ grinned Yiorgo.
Yannis looked around the empty hold. ‘There’s nothing here.’
‘When the Turks were here they ran a very profitable business. Often I would lend my boat for a few hours and be well paid. The Turks have gone, but the business is still here.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Sometimes goods have to be stored until they can be collected. Storage places can be difficult to find. You have two outhouses. Maybe they need enlarging?’
Yannis looked down at his clasped hands. He guessed Yiorgo was offering him a small part in a smuggling operation. If he was careful there should be little risk involved.
‘What would you want me to do?’
‘You have a contract from the Government to send produce to Spinalonga for the lepers. No one will notice an extra crate occasionally. You’ll make more money that way. The Government will pay you and you’ll be paid for storage.’
To Yannis it seemed too easy for words. Yiorgo winked at him. ‘I don’t need to tell you to keep it to yourself, you know what women are like, a little gossip with the neighbours and before you know it half a dozen people are offering storage space and wanting a share in the profits.’
Yannis had no intention of telling Maria. He had an idea that she would disapprove. He deliberately ignored the fact that if he and Yiorgo were caught moving contraband they would both face a spell of imprisonment. The immediate benefits were more important to him.
‘Now, we’ll visit that taverna.’ Yiorgo jumped off his boat and held out his hand to steady Yannis.
The two men finally returned to the fisherman’s cottage an hour after the children. Yannis’s eyes were aglow and he was recounting to his mother all the wonders he had seen. The school where not only Andreas attended every day, but Annita also, was enormous when compared with the tiny back room that belonged to the village priest. The shops sold all manner of exciting items. There was even a bookshop where you could by newspapers, which had been sent over from Athens. If you wanted information you could visit
the library and spend hours sitting in there reading to your heart’s content. Aghios Nikolaos, when compared with Plaka, was the most wonderful place on earth.
Yiorgo led them to a taverna by the side of a deep pool where they ate a delicious mixture of fish and rice. Yiorgo and Yannis entered into a very quiet conversation over their raki, whilst Maria and Elena discussed bringing up their families and running their homes. Yannis put his head down on his arms and was almost asleep before they noticed him. Shaking him gently, Maria made ready to leave with Elena and her children, leaving the men to talk and drink.
Yannis hardly remembered the walk home. He stumbled along, clutching at his mother’s hand, until he finally tumbled onto the mattress he was to share with Andreas. No sooner had his eyes closed than it was morning. He screwed his eyes up tighter and tried to ignore the light, but it was useless. He squirmed his way out of his bed. Today he had to see a doctor. He had never seen a doctor before in his life. The Widow with her scanty knowledge and common sense was the person he trusted if he were ill. He dressed in clean underclothes as his mother had instructed and went down to the kitchen to wash. Yannis was fascinated by the tap he could turn to get water into a bowl and turned it on and off three times.
‘Haven’t you seen a tap before?’ Annita was gazing at him curiously.
Yannis felt his face redden. ‘No,’ he answered honestly. ‘We have to use the pump in the yard at home.’
Annita raised her eyebrows. ‘Tell me about your farm.’
Yannis sat down at the kitchen table and told her how he helped his father in the fields.
‘Isn’t it boring?’
‘Sometimes,’ admitted Yannis, ‘And it can be cold and wet.’
‘Tell me about your school.’
Without waiting for him to answer she began to tell him how fortunate she was to be able to go to school with Andreas. There were only four other girls in the school and she was the cleverest.
The adults appeared and joined the boys at the table whilst Annita made coffee for them and cut slices of Madeira cake at her mother’s request. Yiorgo consulted his pocket watch and declared the doctor would be open in an hour and he would show them the way. He insisted, winking broadly at Yannis as he did so, that the wind was too strong for him to venture out fishing that day.
Apart from the Red Cross above the doorway there was nothing to distinguish the building from all the other offices and homes along the road. Inside it was cool and bare. A few chairs were placed along a wall for waiting patients to sit and most were already occupied. The waiting people looked at them curiously as they entered and a woman spoke to Maria.
‘Why are you here?’
‘My son,’ explained Maria. ‘He has trouble with his breath sometimes.’
The woman nodded, satisfied. ‘I’ve had a bad throat. The doctor says my tonsils should come out, but at my age…’
She broke off as an inner door opened and a voice called ‘Next.’
She scuttled into the surgery and was lost to their view. Yannis shifted uncomfortably on his seat. He did not want to go to a hospital and have his tonsils out. The other patients began to discuss their various ailments until Yannis began to believe he would catch something very nasty if he stayed much longer. The time dragged as people went in and came out until finally it was Yannis’s turn.
He sat in an upright metal chair whilst the doctor peered down his throat.
‘Nothing there,’ he declared. He looked into Yannis’s eyes and ears, sounded his chest and felt his throat around the lump. ‘Does it hurt when I do this?’
‘No,’ whispered Yannis.
‘Good.’ The Doctor turned to Yannis’s parents. ‘I can find nothing. How long do you say the lump has been there?’
‘Five years, about.’
‘Then forget about it. If it troubles you in the future come and see me again.’
Yannis’s father dug into his pocket for the necessary drachmas. The doctor had said there was nothing wrong. It had been a waste of time and money. The Widow had told them it was a blocked gland. He felt a reluctance to part with the money, which could have been better spent. He handed the coins over and thanked the doctor politely for his time, waiting until he was outside in the street before commenting to his wife on the futility of their visit.Maria did not agree with him.
‘I’m glad we know it’s nothing to worry about. Suppose Yannis had been ill and we hadn’t bothered to take him to a doctor until it was too late? We would never forgive ourselves.’
Grudgingly her husband had to admit she was right.
‘Come,’ she said, slipping her hand through his arm, ‘Let’s go to the church and light a candle to say thank you that Yannis is fit and well.’
Solemnly they entered the church, which was magnificent when compared with the tiny, whitewashed building in their home village. The candle was duly lit and a picture of the Virgin kissed reverently.
‘Now,’ smiled Maria, brightly, ‘Let us go and tell Yiorgo and Elena the news from the doctor, then we should think about leaving.’
Maria shifted herself restlessly. Her husband seemed enthusiastic about her cousin’s proposal that Yannis should live with them and attend the Gymnasium in Aghios Nikolaos, but where would they find the money? Schooling was expensive and the meagre amount she earned from her embroidery would not cover the additional cost to the family. There was also Yannis to think of, would he want to leave his home and live with strangers? What would he do when he finished at the Gymnasium? Would he want to become a shopkeeper as Yiorgo had suggested and marry Annita? Then there were the other two boys to consider. If Yannis went to Aghios Nikolaos to be better educated they should also have the opportunity. She sighed deeply and turned over again, disturbing Yannis as she did so.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m worried about Yannis.’
‘Why? The doctor said he was fit enough.’
Maria sat up and hugged her knees. ‘It’s this idea Yiorgo has about him going to school in Aghios Nikolaos. I’m not sure about it.’
Yannis sighed. He knew from experience that if Maria had something troubling her there would be no sleep for him until he had put her mind at rest. He sat up beside her and placed his arm around her shoulders.
‘We don’t have to make any decision tonight. We need to speak to Father Theodorakis and see what he has to say. There’s no point in sending the boy if he hasn’t got the ability. If Father Theodorakis thinks it’s a good idea, then we’ll speak to Yannis and see how he feels.’
Maria nodded in the darkness. ‘But the money? How are we going to pay?’
‘You don’t need to worry about that. Yiorgo and I have come to an understanding on a business matter. There will be more than enough money from that to cover Yannis’s schooling.’
‘What kind of business?’
‘A contract to send food to the island. Leave it to Yiorgo and myself. We’ll speak to Father Theodorakis tomorrow evening. Now that you’ve thoroughly woken me up, I can think of something that will take your mind off Yannis.’ Her husband reached out an exploratory hand and Maria gave a girlish giggle.
Maria busied herself in the kitchen and by the time her husband entered the house his supper was ready for him. He muttered to himself as he washed and changed into his best suit, then to Maria’s consternation insisted on sitting and smoking a cigarette before strolling leisurely down the road to the church.
Father Theodorakis greeted them with a glass of wine and a considerable amount of curiosity. Maria had asked if they could visit that evening, but had not disclosed the nature of their errand.
‘This is a pleasure,’ he beamed. ‘How can I help you?’
‘It’s about Yannis.’
‘Yannis? I thought you were coming to ask if I had room for Stelios in the school room!’
Maria smiled. ‘Stelios is too young. In another year, maybe.’
‘Is he intelligent? If we sent
him to the Gymnasium would he be able to keep up with the work there?’
Father Theodorakis smiled at the anxious father. ‘Yannis is the most intelligent boy I have taught in a long time. With the proper education he could become a school teacher, go into politics, almost anything he had a mind to do.’
Maria settled herself more comfortably in the chair and took a sip from her wine. Yannis shifted uneasily. ‘Are you sure? If he went to the Gymnasium and had his head stuffed full of fancy ideas what happens when he leaves?’
‘If he is successful at the Gymnasium there are scholarships offered for the University in Heraklion, even in Athens. He would have to work hard, but the opportunity would be there.’ Father Theodorakis could not help but think how his estimation would go up in the eyes of the villagers if a pupil of his went on to University.
‘And if he didn’t get a scholarship? If he’s not as clever as you think? He would hardly want to come back here and be a farmer.’
‘Have you asked Yannis what he wants? He might not want to go to the Gymnasium, he might want to be a farmer.’ Father Theodorakis avoided the question.
Yannis shook his head. ‘We wanted to speak to you first.’
Father Theodorakis drained his glass. ‘You speak to Yannis and let me know what decisions you make. I will happily write a recommendation for him.’
Yannis took the empty glass as a signal for them to take their leave. He rose and shook the schoolteacher’s hand. ‘We’ll think about it and let you know within a day or two. There’s just one other thing.’
Father Theodorakis frowned. What else could there be?
‘If Yannis did go to Aghios Nikolaos, there would be a space in your class. I’d like my Maria to get a bit of schooling, just to read a bit and do her numbers.’
Taken unawares Father Theodorakis could think of no good excuse to refuse the request. ‘I suppose I could have her, for a couple of mornings maybe.’
Yannis was sitting at the kitchen table reading when his parents returned. His father looked over his shoulder. ‘What are you reading?’