with her mother and grandmother on beaches in Crete many years before as a child, although then its impact had been lost on her youthful self.
This time Calli watched closely in anticipation as the moon announced its appearance in the form of a yellow glow on the horizon. She sat motionless, waiting. Within moments, as if in a spectacular conjuring trick, an enormous amber globe began to rise from the sea towards the heavens. Calli held her breath and as she looked on, she was engulfed by a sense of wonder so powerful that it caused the tears to overflow from her eyes and her heart to ache. She sat on the warm sand for as long as it took for the moon to travel high in the sky and turn into a silver disc so bright that it lit up the restless sea. She followed its slow upward journey with her eyes, and her mind began a journey of its own, taking her back to the events of the past year which had caused her such pain. To her surprise she discovered that the sting in her heart was one not of sorrow but of joy. She looked around her and was filled not only with gratitude to have been transported to this blessed island, witnessing this awesome spectacle of nature, but also, for the first time in a year, with a positive anticipation for what the future might hold for her.
Gradually and without haste as the time passed, a few people rose from the beach and ran into the sea for a moonlit swim while others started to make their way towards the local taverna. Calli stood up, wiped away her tears, walked to the water’s edge and stood in the shallow surf. Tomorrow night I too will bathe in the moonlight, she promised herself.
Her companions all strolled unhurriedly to the taverna and sat in the scented night air at tables surrounded by pots of basil and geraniums, under a vine laden with juicy black grapes hanging over their heads. That first evening on Ikaria Calli found herself in the midst of this unconventional, likeable and most easy-going group, the likes of which she had never encountered before. These people, she was glad to discover, apparently took pleasure in leisure and gave merit to life’s simple joys of the moment, unlike herself and most of her driven friends back in London who valued work and its rewards above anything else. With a sinking heart her mind also turned to James, the man she had lived with for more years than she now cared to recall, whose principles and values she now found abhorrent. She looked around at all the new faces she had just met and her old life in London seemed as distant as the moon itself. They say that people are the same the world over, Calli thought, but it wasn’t really true. She saw something in the folk she was with now that she hadn’t seen since she was a child in Crete – a diversity in age that was quite uncommon among social groups in London. This group, she guessed, ranged from their mid-twenties to their sixties and more, and their age seemed to be irrelevant. Their common interest of nature and this island united them.
‘I hope you are not too fussy with your food,’ Sylvie said, laughing when she saw Calli searching for a menu, ‘because you’ll get what Kyria Erini gives you, which will be whatever she’s cooked.’
‘If she’s prepared fish, you know it was caught that very morning,’ Maya said, stretching across for the wine carafe in the middle of the table.
‘That’s fine by me. I’d eat anything, especially if it’s Greek,’ Calli replied, picking up her camera and leaning forward to take a photo of the earthenware carafe and the several glasses that Kyria Erini had piled on the table when they arrived.
‘So, Calli . . .’ Maya said, looking at her while filling everyone’s glasses. ‘If you are not here for the lunar eclipse, then what are you here for?’
Once more Maya’s direct approach caused Calli to raise an eyebrow.
6
Calli’s introduction to Ikaria and the people she met there proved to be as fascinating as she’d hoped the island would be. Sylvie and Christian were delightful, and she found Maya intriguing; once she had explained the reason for her trip, she found plenty of offers from volunteers to show her around and help with her story by introducing her