she stood up, ready for action. ‘Actually,’ she added, laughing, ‘don’t answer that. I’ll go and see what there is . . . and I’ll surprise you.’
Froso, as always, had been to the market and her larder was well stocked with produce; so Calli, rummaging through her aunt’s kitchen, found more than enough ingredients to make a meal. She was no stranger to cooking, having done enough of it for James and herself over the years; although, she mused to herself with a chuckle, it was a pleasure never to have to make a crème caramel or to see another ramekin again.
The tomatoes, green bell peppers and courgettes she found in the fridge offered inspiration enough for Calli to delve among the stock of recipes she had memorized over the years and come up with a plan. The vegetables would be perfect, she decided, stuffed with rice, pine nuts and raisins mixed with herbs and spices from her aunt’s cupboard – no Greek kitchen, she knew, would be without oregano or cinnamon or fresh mint. Once the stuffing was mixed and the vegetables prepared, she would bake them in the oven; by the time she had washed, chopped and dressed the salad and had a glass of wine or two with Froso and Eleni in the garden, the dish would be almost done. She gathered her ingredients together and, humming the song that she had woken singing earlier, set about making a feast for her beloved mother and aunt.
This is what life is all about, she thought as she busied herself with peeling, chopping and frying. It’s about the family and people who take care of one another, people who look out for each other, no matter what.
She recalled all that she had been through during the past year, including her conversation with Michalis that afternoon, and once again thought of the importance of family. She was learning more of this way of life every day, and had been ever since she arrived on Crete. Perhaps, she thought, it was this love and protective care for one’s own that had prevented Calli’s grandparents from divulging their gruesome family history.
It had been an extraordinary life-changing journey for her so far, and beyond that, she knew that there was more to come, not least from Froso whose story was apparently still incomplete.
That night after they had finished eating and were heading for bed, Froso came to Calli’s room.
‘It is time for me to continue. It is time now to tell you everything,’ she told her niece. ‘Please talk to your mother, Calli mou.’
Once again Calli had a sleepless night, this time worrying about what to say to her mother and where to begin. Her aunt’s story had been disturbing enough for her and she dreaded to think how Eleni would receive the revelations of her sister’s past. But there was something else too keeping her awake: Michalis’s confession had saddened her and she worried that her friend had opted for a life without love, conforming to some kind of prejudice which in their twenty-first-century world had no place. She had grown so fond of this man, her instincts about him had been right, he was all she thought him to be, sensitive, gentle, loving and tolerant. The idea that he had resolved to live a life of loneliness broke her heart.
Usually she liked to wait until a sunbeam slipped through the wooden shutters before jumping out of bed, but that morning, as soon as she heard the cockerel in the henhouse announce the break of day she was up, dressed for the beach and sitting waiting in the garden for her mother to come downstairs.
‘You’re up bright and early,’ Eleni said as she padded through the kitchen doorway in her nightdress with a cup of coffee in her hand. ‘What’s the rush this morning?’ She pulled out a chair next to Calli.
‘I thought we’d go down to the beach before it gets too hot.’
‘I don’t think your aunt is even up yet,’ Eleni replied.
‘Just you and me today, Mum, what do you say?’
Froso was glad to see the two of them go out on their own together, so they left her at home with her embroidery and mother and daughter set off for the shore.
As Calli had hoped, the beach was deserted, the cafes were just starting to set up their tables and chairs on their terraces and the day smelled fresh and cool. They swam around to the little bay where