my girl . . .’ she said again and sat heavily back in her chair. ‘There is no end to what we women have to suffer at the hands of men.’ Froso let out a deep sigh. ‘Eleni told me about what you went through but hearing it now from your mouth breaks my heart further.’
Calli looked at her aunt and wondered how many women she had known in her life who had gone through experiences like her own. ‘Life has always been hard on a woman,’ Froso repeated, ‘no matter how many years come to pass the story gets repeated.’ She sighed again and opened her mouth to say more, but changed her mind and remained silent.
‘What? What, Thia?’ Calli asked. ‘What were you going to say?’
‘Eh . . . no matter, another time,’ Froso said and started to get up. ‘The tune of the lament is always the same,’ she said, looking at her niece, ‘it’s only the words that differ.’
Calli reached for her aunt’s hand. ‘Thank you for listening,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to upset you.’
‘Life is upsetting, my girl,’ her thia said, picking up their glasses and plates from the table and placing them on a tray. ‘There is life and there is death but there is also joy, we must never forget that.’ She gazed at Calli fondly and started to head towards the kitchen door with the tray.
‘Tomorrow will be even hotter,’ she said, changing the subject, ‘so you must go for a swim, Calliope mou. You missed it today.’
Once again Froso was right; the sun had only just risen when Calli woke the next morning, yet the temperature seemed already higher than the day before. Did her aunt instinctively know what the weather was going to be like each day, she wondered, or did she consult her radio in the kitchen? Whichever it was, Froso was proving to be a good meteorologist.
Leaping out of bed, Calli threw open the wooden shutters, stretched her arms to banish sleep from her limbs and took a deep breath. No time today for her usual morning reverie; she would run straight to the sea for an early swim.
She dressed quickly, wearing her swimsuit under her sundress, and headed down the path towards the beach. This early hour was her favourite; people were hardly starting to stir in their homes and the few summer tourists from mainland Greece or from Heraklion would still be tucked up in their hotel beds. She walked unhurriedly towards the seafront, trying to decide if she would just take a dip or stay out for the whole morning. If she was going to spend the day at the beach, Calli preferred to continue along the shore towards some rocks jutting out into the sea. Climbing over them, she would reach on the other side a small secluded little enclave of a beach almost like a lagoon. Most people couldn’t be bothered to make the extra effort in the heat, preferring to take the easy option of lying under an umbrella belonging to the two or three cafes in front of the long beach. Once Calli made her way to her private enclave, she would spend the day undisturbed, swimming, reading, sunbathing, and even do some of the yoga moves that Paolo had so expertly taught her. Although at first she was uncertain about partaking in the yoga ritual of Ikaria, Paolo’s coaching and influence had changed her mind. From now she decided that each day she would dedicate a short time to doing her stretches. This morning, because of the early hour, the shore was deserted so she decided to stay closer to home; besides, the prospect of her aunt’s breakfast would soon be beckoning her back to the house.
She plunged into the cool refreshing water and swam vigorously for several minutes, then, covering her face with her straw hat, she lay back on her towel and surrendered her body to the early morning rays of the sun. The previous evening’s conversation with Thia Froso came to mind and she berated herself for not taking the opportunity to show more interest in her aunt’s health. She had called her mother to say that the situation was evidently not urgent, much to the relief of Eleni, who had been fretting about not being there. ‘Your dad’s gone and sprained his ankle and I really should stay with him,’ she told her daughter anxiously. ‘It’s OK, Mum, everything is under control,’ Calli reassured her,