8
When they finally arrived back at the villa, it was a big surprise to find Hector by the pool in the garden, chatting to none other than Katerina.
They were perched side by side on sun loungers and he looked more animated than Stella had seen him in a long while. What’s more, he was smiling! He quickly wiped the smile from his face when he spotted his mother, though.
‘I dropped by to make sure everything is in order,’ Katerina explained, rising and smoothing down her tailored navy trousers. ‘Hector seemed to think you have all you need? He said the girls are upstairs.’
Stella nodded. ‘Everything’s perfect, thank you.’ She was secretly marvelling at how quickly the old woman managed to get here. She can’t have left the village much before they did. She was like a mountain goat.
Stella was also in awe of Katerina’s ability to make Hector talk. What on earth could they have been chatting about? She’d love to know.
‘I gather you managed to rescue my friend, Jon, and Zenobia the dog from the man who runs the shoe shop?’ she said to the housekeeper with a grin. ‘Thank you.’
Katerina frowned. ‘Yiannis? Pah! He’s a silly old fool. He goes way over the top. He was talking about calling the police. Imagine! Because the dog was doing what dogs do when they smell food. They’d have laughed in his face.’
‘It must have been annoying for the poor woman who lost her chicken, though,’ Stella observed. ‘I hope she won’t have to go without supper.’
‘Very annoying,’ Katerina conceded. ‘It was right that Mrs Vasilakis’ son cleared up the mess. But you can’t go kidnapping other people’s pets. Yiannis went way too far!’ She clicked her tongue. ‘He always does.’
When Katerina left, Stella took her place by Hector’s side. She could hear Louise on the phone to someone in the kitchen. Her voice sounded different and she was laughing a lot and rather self-consciously, Stella thought. Josh, no doubt.
‘How long was Mrs Papadakis here?’ Stella asked, turning to Hector, hoping to draw him out.
He shrugged. ‘Not long.’
‘She’s nice, isn’t she?’
‘She’s okay.’
‘Did you have a good day?’ Stella persisted. ‘What did you get up to?’
He was twitching with irritation. She could sense it.
‘Nothing much.’ He rose quickly. ‘See ya later.’
‘Where are you going?’ Stella asked desperately, watching as he loped towards the door, his skinny black jeans hanging loosely from his hips, despite the studded leather belt that was supposed to hold them up.
Her whole body felt heavy and weary. Nowadays, he always had this effect on her.
‘My room. Too much fresh air. I’m a vampire.’ He laughed nastily and made a silly hissing noise. ‘I prefer the dark.’
A lump appeared in her throat and she felt like getting down on her knees and begging him to be nice, but what good would that do? He’d just say she was being over-dramatic and he hadn’t wanted to come on holiday in the first place.
Thank God for Louise, she thought as she got up and walked slowly towards the house. She was the only person Stella could talk openly to, even though she could be a bit too blunt at times.
Louise was still on the phone in the kitchen when Stella entered, and she disappeared upstairs to finish her chat. Meanwhile, Stella started to fetch plates and cutlery for supper and prepare a salad.
It was after 8.30p.m. and a long time since they’d had lunch in the taverna. The children must be ravenous, she thought. Even she felt hungry for once.
Glancing out of the kitchen window now and again, she watched the sun slowly turning from golden to orange, then pink to fiery red.
Apart from the rhythmical tz tz of the cicadas, the silence outside was so complete, she fancied she could hear herself think. It had been quite a day, what with Jon’s declaration of love, the stealthy octopus, the dog incident and Marina’s deadly warning. She’d be glad when it was over and she could go to sleep.
Louise returned while Stella was mixing a vinaigrette dressing for the salad.
‘Sorry, that was Josh.’ Surprise surprise. ‘He was in an unusually chatty mood.’
‘How is he?’ Stella wanted to know.
