unknot the handkerchief, eager to taste the contents. Froso knew how her niece loved this sweet concoction which was always offered to the congregation after a memorial service: the cooked wheat, pomegranate seeds, almonds, sugar, sesame seeds, raisins and cinnamon, which, although a mournful offering in memory of the dead, was also a delicacy for everyone to enjoy.
‘Yes, there is usually one most Sundays,’ she replied. ‘Today was for old Nicholas, God rest his soul.’
‘Oh, I remember him, he lived up the hill from here,’ Calli said, already tucking into the koliva.
‘So, you had fun last night, eh?’ Her aunt was eager to return to the subject of the previous night’s party.
‘I did!’ the young woman replied through a mouthful, ‘and how about you? Did you have a good time?’
‘Seeing you enjoying yourself was all the pleasure I needed,’ the older woman said, smiling, ‘and as I saw, you made quite an impact on the young men!’
‘Really?’ Calli looked up in surprise at her aunt. ‘What exactly did you see?’ she laughed.
‘I could see our Michalis was rather taken by you . . .’
‘Ah! Michalis!’ Calli said, taking another handful of koliva. ‘He’s really nice, I liked him.’
‘Me too, he’s a good boy. He comes to visit me sometimes and brings me olive oil,’ Froso said, a little smile playing on her lips. Calli was surprised by her aunt’s lighthearted comments, having always found her rather serious and earnest and not given to playfulness, but this Sunday morning she was in a lively mood.
‘He’s single, you know,’ Froso continued, smiling.
‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ the young woman replied and burst out laughing. ‘Are you going to arrange a match for me by any chance?’ she said, trying without success to suppress her mirth.
‘You were always able to make me laugh,’ Froso said with a giggle, her own amusement evident on her face.
‘If the truth be known, Thia Froso, it is you that’s making me laugh,’ Calli said and leaned across to give her a tender kiss on the cheek.
‘I am so glad you came, my girl,’ she said, delighted with this display of tenderness from her niece and happy to finally have her all to herself for once. ‘Now tell me,’ she continued cheerfully to Calli before turning her head towards the kitchen, ‘what should I make for lunch?’
‘Oh no! No, Auntie! No lunch today,’ she pleaded. ‘I’m still full from last night and all that koliva – no room for lunch. Besides’ – she gave her aunt a playful look – ‘you might like to know that I’ve been invited by Michalis and his friends to spend the afternoon with them today.’
As much as Froso would have enjoyed preparing lunch for Calli, since feeding her niece was one of the main ways that she could express her love for her, Calli managed to convince her aunt to forgo the ritual once again. She couldn’t think of anything less appealing than to sit down to another large meal, the past few days of feasting having exhausted her appetite.
‘They are not picking me up till three o’clock,’ Calli told her aunt cheerfully, ‘so let me look after you for once. You sit in the shade and I’ll make coffee for us. Maybe we can eat together later when I return. We’ll enjoy supper so much more then.’
To Calli’s surprise and relief, Froso agreed, and to her further surprise nobody called unexpectedly to see them that morning either. Since everyone had already paid their respects to the newcomer over the last couple of days, they were now content to leave the two women alone to their Sunday.
They had a blissfully quiet morning in the garden, aunt and niece relaxing in the shade on two old deckchairs that Froso kept in the outhouse, while the thyme-scented breeze that blew from the hills kept them from overheating, and the relentless song of the cicadas lulled them into a kind of doze. It was marvellous not to have to think or talk for a while but just to bask in the sleepiness and tranquillity of the hot day.
Neither of them knew how long they lay there, but judging by how refreshed they both felt when returning to a state of wakefulness, it must have been some time.
‘Goodness me,’ Froso said, sitting up, ‘I have no idea how long I was asleep.’ She looked at Calli. ‘I can’t remember the last time I was relaxed enough to close my eyes under the tree . .