Among the Olive Groves

by Chrissie Parker

  Kate sat captivated and listened as Sophia translated everything for her. When Angelos had reached the part about the locket, Kate reached to her neck and unclasped the chain, handing it across the table to him.

  “This is the locket you gave Elena, isn’t it?”

  Angelos took it in shaking hands and turned it over and over, tears falling down his face. He could only nod.

  “Let us take a break,” Sophia suggested. Her father had never told her about any of this. She knew he had been hiding something, but had not expected the secret to be this big. Something nagged at her, though, and she knew there was more to come.

  Kate got up and followed Sophia into the kitchen, “Are you okay, Sophia?”

  “Yes. I think so. It is hard to hear my father’s past laid out so painfully. I never knew that he was forced to marry my mother. I never knew he was in love with someone else, and I certainly did not know that he had a child with her. He must have loved Elena very much; I can tell that much from his face. It seems that she is the ghost that haunts him. He has been that way all of his life, but I always figured it was because he lost our mother when I was so young. This has come as a bit of a shock.”

  “I am so sorry to have brought this hurt and upset to your house, Sophia. If I had known...”

  Sophia turned and hugged her tightly. “You must not apologise. I am glad you are here. I am learning so much about my family’s life. Things that I never knew. And I have met you. You are family now.”

  “I am?”

  “Of course. Have you not yet realised? Angelos is your grandfather. That makes you my niece, and I am very happy that you are here.”

  Kate reached for a nearby chair and took a seat, shaking with shock. She thought hard about it for a moment. Sophia was right Angelos and Elena Petrakis were her grandparents.

  “It can’t be. Someone would have told me.”

  “Well I do not know for sure, until Papa tells me, but the evidence is pretty clear Kate. Your mother was Athena; Papa’s daughter was called Athena. Athena’s mother was Elena and you look exactly like her. I would say that is strong evidence.”

  Kate was lost for words.

  “Are you okay?” Sophia sat next to her and placed a hand on her arm.

  “I think so. I just didn’t expect this. I knew that my birth mother said there was a family connection with the island, but to be honest, I didn’t expect to find out anything. I never expected to find all of you. It’s a shock. A good shock, but a shock nonetheless.”

  “I understand. It is a shock for me too. You need time to take it all in. Do not let anyone rush you, Kate. We will always be here for you, but take your time. Get to know who you are, get to know the island, then once you are happy, we will be here for you.”

  “Thank you Sophia.” Kate smiled at her new aunt. “Did you know Elena?”

  “No. I have heard rumours and stories about her from the locals, though. It seems she was a brave woman and, despite what my grandfather Loukas and others on the island thought, she most definitely was not a peasant, or the other things he called her. You have to understand, my grandfather was a breed apart. It was a different time and luckily for all of us, Papa turned out to be nothing like him.”

  “If Angelos decides it’s too much, Sophia, I won’t mind. I want what’s best for him. I don’t want to upset him or make him ill.”

  “I know you do not, but one thing you will learn about Angelos is that he is stubborn, and he will carry on until he tells you everything there is to know. And I have a feeling there is much more to learn.”

  Kate and Sophia stood and walked back outside. Angelos smiled up at them as they sat. He spoke in broken English. “You are as beautiful as your grandmother. She would have been proud of the young woman I see before me. I think she would want you to keep this,” he said as he took her hand and pressed the locket back into it. She closed her fingers over it, holding her hand in his. “My granddaughter. I still cannot believe it. You must promise me that you will always wear the locket. You must keep Elena alive in you, never let her die.”

  Kate blinked back the tears, “I promise.”

  Angelos released her hand and patted the top of it. Once more he began to speak in Greek and Sophia translated.

  “The war went on for years and our island was slowly torn to pieces. Families were pitted against families, friends against friends. My father forced me into an impossible position, making me spy on the locals for the Italians. My father thought of himself as an important man in the ranks of the new order, but it turned out he was wrong.” Angelos’s voice quieted. “When the Germans invaded, he was shot dead. His stupidity made us all homeless and we had to move in with Stelios, my father-in-law. I rarely saw Elena and had no idea that she had joined the resistance, although I had my suspicions. It was not long after the war began that she joined them, and she fought hard against the island’s oppressors any way she felt necessary. The more the war dragged on, the further Elena and I drifted apart, but I always tried to look out for her when I could, even though she never knew it.”

  Angelos stopped to take a sip of his water, with trembling hands. But his voice was strong. “Not long after the Germans invaded, they demanded the names of all the Jewish people on the island. Elena and I helped to rescue them and hide them in the mountains. She would sneak food to them, and look after them any way she could. She also helped save the life of an English airman who was shot out of the sky. She helped him escape from the island, and he took Athena with him. His name was Richard and he was the reason Athena survived. Little did she know, Elena’s involvement would end up being her downfall.”

  Angelos stopped for a moment and took another, longer drink of water, before continuing.

  “Maria, my wife, had always been jealous of Elena; she had always felt threatened by her. Maria knew that I had always loved Elena and always would do. On the day that the Germans killed my father, Elena let slip in front of Maria that she was resistance. Maria stored that information away. When we heard about what happened with the Jews, the islanders were so scared. They knew there would be trouble ahead.”

  Angelos shook his head; he could barely look at his daughter. Sophia took hold of his hand.

  “Papa. What happened?”

  Angelos could not continue; he had already said too much. How could he tell his daughter what had happened?

  “Please. Papa. We think no less of you. The war happened a long time ago. There is nothing that can be done now. But you need to release the demons you have been carrying all these years.”

  Angelos cupped his daughter’s face in his hands and gently kissed her forehead.

  “Maria, your mother, went to the Germans. She told the Germans that Elena was resistance. She sold her soul to the devil that had its stranglehold on all of us. I was furious. I had always wondered how the Italian Captain Cipriani learned of Elena’s involvement. I thought she may have given herself away, but she had not. It was all down to your mother. I was there when the Germans caught Elena and took her away. She had been assisting with the rescue of the English airman. She thought she was going to escape the island with the Italian captain and Athena too, but the only person who ever made it onto the boat was Athena. The Germans kept Elena for days at the headquarters, torturing her for information, but she never gave them any. She was brave till the last.”

  “What happened to her?” Kate asked. “What did they do to my grandmother?”

  Angelos stared out across the back garden. He thought of that day, standing near the German headquarters waiting to see if today would be the day that they released Elena. The modern world around him seemed to disappear and he was back in 1943 again. He could hear a ghostly echoing version of his own voice as he spoke.

  It all happened in slow motion. The door opened and the commandant and Captain Cipriani marched down the steps with a battered and bruised Elena dragging listlessly between them. She was barely conscious and looked so thin. He knew where they were taking her s
o he jumped onto the motorbike he had borrowed and raced after them. Angelos wanted to help her. He needed to help her.

  Eventually they reached Keri. Angelos stayed back in the hope that no one would see him. He ditched his motorbike, and made the rest of the journey on foot. He slowed to a walk and crept closer, hiding amongst the brush. As he peeked through some bushes, he saw Elena standing on the headland. Despite her neglected state, she was now conscious and her head was held high. She stared coldly and defiantly at the men who stood before her, the men whose very clothing was a symbol of hatred to almost everyone on Zakynthos and the rest of the world alike. Angelos saw that Elena’s once beautiful hair was matted and dirty and had fallen from its pins. Small wisps of brown waves fell about her beautiful strong face. Her clothes had been ripped in places, in a struggled bid for freedom. Her feet and legs were scratched and covered with dust and dirt.

  The Keri headland was a truly beautiful place. Angelos had heard the rumours, normally traitors were taken to Kambi. But Angelos knew that choosing Keri was a deliberate act. Pietro had been foolish to believe that Elena loved him, when all the while she had been a traitor to him. Coming to Keri was a way of Pietro showing her that he had all of the control. And it was here that she now stood facing down her aggressor. She had known the risks, but she thought Pietro was different, but he was not. Angelos hated him. Pietro Cipriani, the wolf in sheep’s clothing. He had tried to warn her off the Italian but she had not listened and the wolf now showed his claws and bared his teeth. So now, Elena stood, the chase over, facing Pietro down in the cold light of day, not knowing what would happen next.

  Outnumbered. Scared. Alone.

  Angelos wished he could do something, but he was only one man. He knew if he broke from his hiding place, he would only manage to walk two paces before being shot. He was a foolish miserable coward, and could only watch as the commandant and Pietro stepped forward to mete out her punishment. Pietro ran his fingers down Elena’s face, making her flinch. It was as if his touch was molten metal that burned the very flesh from her skin. Angelos watched in horror. Pietro slowly took hold of Elena’s arm and walked her to the edge of the cliff. Evil seemed to emanate from every pore, seeping out of him, staining the grass, the sea and the sky around them, choking the island with its embittered madness.

  Elena’s limbs shook from fear and she shuffled her feet forward at Pietro’s instruction. Angelos felt a single tear slide down his cheek. He knew that her view would be a beautiful one, a bright blue sea that stretched as far as the eye could see. Pietro released Elena’s arms and his lips breathed a warm gentle breath at her ear, a feeling that was all too familiar. It made her nauseous and tremble with fear.

  Despite being hidden, Angelos heard what he said to her.

  “I will always love you, Elena, but you have betrayed us, and for that you must pay the price.”

  Unable to tear himself away, Angelos watched as she breathed in sharply at the touch of the cold metal barrel against the back of her head. Tears instantly escaped her eyes, staining her face, but she stifled back a sob, not wanting to show her terror to the enemy. Before she could even utter a word, the shot rang out. Her death was instantaneous and her lifeless body tumbled forward, falling over the cliff edge. It struck rocks as it fell, her blood staining the chalky white cliffs, finally landing with a splash, surrendering itself to the vast ocean depths.

  Angelos stifled a cry, and remained hidden in the undergrowth. All he could do was cry. Cry for Elena, for his daughter who was lost to him, and for himself, the biggest coward of all.

  He brought his attention back to the present - back to Sophia and Kate.

  “It was dark and I was alone by the time I stopped crying. But only one thing remained true: my beautiful Elena was dead…murdered at the hands of the Nazis and their allies. I wanted to kill that damn Italian, I wanted to scratch his eyes out, but I did not get the chance. The commandant did it for me. I hate myself for it, but I was actually happy to see the fear and confusion in his eyes as the bullet left the gun. He was killed in the same manner and thrown over the cliff to join Elena. The Germans did not take kindly to one of their allies sleeping with the resistance.”

  Seeming a little more at ease, Angelos continued, “When I eventually returned home, your grandfather Stelios greeted me with terrible news. Maria had been taken away by the resistance and had been shot for being a traitor. The Germans rounded up the Petrakis family and executed them all, even poor little Georgios. I thanked god that Athena was with the airman. In one day, I lost the woman I truly loved and I also lost my wife. Worse still, both my children lost their mothers, and I had lost Athena forever. I never even knew if she had escaped, been lost at sea or captured by the enemy, but I prayed every day that she would find safety.”

  Angelos collapsed back in the chair and closed his eyes. The relief of finally being able to unburden his story was all too clear.

  Kate turned to look at her aunt. Sophia had turned the palest shade of white and she was crying. Without a second thought, Kate threw her arms around her and held her as tightly as she could.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Zakynthos, Greece, 2002

  Kate sat on the beach at Laganas. After she had pushed her way past the throng of tourists enjoying the highlights of the strip, it was not as crowded as she had expected. She was not interested in bars, clubs or souvenir shops. She wanted peace and quiet, if that was possible.

  She had learned so much since arriving on the island. Her grandmother and her mother had been born here. She herself was Greek, and only happened to grow up in England by a fluke. By rights, she was a Zakynthian, which had come as a shock. But even more of a shock was the fact that her grandmother had been a very active member of the Greek resistance. She helped to save the lives of the entire Jewish population by helping to hide them from the Germans. She did everything she could to try and upset their plans. She was such a brave woman, but her bravado had cost her her life. She was shot dead by a man she thought loved her. Looking around her now, she could not even begin to imagine what it must have felt like to live through the war. It was hard to imagine a place so relaxed and idyllic overrun with German soldiers.

  Kate desperately wanted to go to where her grandmother had died, but she could not do it alone. She just could not face it. As the merriment of Laganas carried on around her, Kate buried her head in her hands and cried. She cried tears for the mother she never knew, who had been taken from this life too young. There were tears for her grandmother, a woman who had been so courageous and had paid for her bravery with her own life, and tears for herself, for a life less lived and a man she had lost so many years ago.

  ~

  As evening clouds began to drift in, they coloured with the fiery orange glow of the day’s end. Kate finally stood up; it was time to find something to eat. She had missed lunch and was starving. She dusted the sand from her skirt and then picked up her sandals, swinging them in her hand. A group of drunken lads came running along the beach towards her. She stepped aside to avoid them, but only ended up clattering head on into one of them.

  “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, quickly sidestepping them to continue on her way.

  “Katie?!”

  The voice made her stop. She knew that voice. No, it could not be! It was just her mind playing tricks on her. She went to take a step forward, but felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

  The voice was barely a whisper as one word floated gently past her ear on the evening breeze. “Katie?”

  Slowly she turned and the shock hit her.

  “Fletch?”

  “Yes. It’s me.”

  She studied him. He still had a handsome face, but there were a few more lines and character to it. He was older now, they both were. What was he doing here?

  As if he had heard her thoughts, he answered her question. “Stag do, Shane is getting married next week.”

  “Ah. I see.” She did not know what else to say. It had been so long since she
last saw him, since he ran into the waves, leaving her alone and upset on the beach. He had never come back to her and had just disappeared. It had hurt her so much.

  “And you? What are you doing here?” Fletch asked. She looked even more beautiful, now that she was older. Her skin was kissed by the sun and looked as if she could pass for a local. He had missed her so much and just wished he had not abandoned her all those years ago.

  “Fulfilling a dying woman’s wish.”

  “Really? You finally did it?” Fletch was surprised.

  “Yes. To be honest I didn’t really have a choice. Mum and Dad kind of forced me into it!”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Fletch asked.

  “Your friends are waiting. I don’t want to spoil your evening.”

  That was a no then, and he felt the disappointment surge through him. “Right. Well it’s nice to see you again.”

  “You too, Fletch.”

  He turned to leave and then stopped. “If you do want to talk while you’re here, I’m staying at an apartment nearby.” He pulled a pen from his pocket and scribbled the name on the back of her hand.

  “Okay.”

  Silence fell between them. With nothing left to say, they turned and walked away in opposite directions, both regretting the loss of the other.

  ~

  It was Kate’s last full day on the island. She had still not been to Keri to see where her grandmother died and she wondered if it was actually for the best. After all, her grandmother died a long time ago, and there was nothing left up there except ghostly memories.

  She sat on her hotel balcony thinking things over and her mind wandered back to Fletch. The writing was still etched on her hand and she was reluctant to scrub it clean. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but it had been so long. She was still angry with him for abandoning her, but she missed him. She wanted her friend back.